[Note: Originally posted June 15, 2010. Updated with more resources July 22, 2010!]

One of the things I do as a consultant is technology advising with the Silicon Valley Technology Advisory Program (aka TAP). TAP is a program that is part of the Silicon Valley SBDC (Small Business Development Center).

From the Silicon Valley SBDC website:

We’re dedicated to the success of entrepreneurs in the Greater Silicon Valley Area, which includes Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties.

The Silicon Valley Small Business Development Center offers a wide variety of services for present and potential small business owners. Our services include no-charge expert consulting, low-cost training, information resources, events and seminars. All consulting services are confidential and free of charge.

I’ve been a Technology Advisor with the Silicon Valley SBDC TAP for two years. Most often what I do is review (“audit”) websites of TAP clients — they’re usually owners of small businesses — and create a written report with recommendations for improvement, and then we discuss the recommendations. I review a wide range of websites!

Recently I’ve been working on creating a Social Media Report with a collection of resources that will help Silicon Valley SBDC TAP clients learn more about Social Media. Note: It’s for Social Media newbies! One of the Appendices that I’ve recently created is chock full of great links for people getting started on Social Media, so I’ve decided to share it here. Here you go!

Social Media Resources (general)

• Mashable’s 10 of the Best Social Media Tools for Entrepreneurs: http://mashable.com/2009/10/26/socia-media-entrepreneurs/

• Mashable’s Social Media News: http://mashable.com/social-media/

• Social Media in Plain English (video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpIOClX1jPE&feature=player_embedded

• Hotdesign’s Getting Started with Social Media: http://blog.hotdesign.com/2008/12/getting-started-with-social-media/

• Hotdesign’s 5 Reasons for Social Media Marketing: http://blog.hotdesign.com/2009/03/5-reasons-for-social-media-marketing/

• New! Monitoring Your Online Presence for Free: http://blog.hotdesign.com/2010/07/monitoring-your-online-presence-for-free/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

• New! 11 Free Services for Scheduling Social Media Updates: http://www.openforum.com/idea-hub/topics/technology/article/11-free-services-for-scheduling-social-media-updates-erica-swallow

LinkedIn Resources

• LinkedIn’s website: http://linkedin.com

• What is LinkedIn: http://learn.linkedin.com/what-is-linkedin/

• What is LinkedIn (video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVlUwwgOfKw&feature=player_embedded

• LinkedIn Learning Center: http://learn.linkedin.com/

• LinkedIn Webinars: http://learn.linkedin.com/training/

• LinkedIn Help: http://linkedin.custhelp.com/

• Mashable’s HOW TO: Build Your Personal Brand on LinkedIn: http://mashable.com/2009/07/27/linkedin-personal-brand/

• Hotdesign’s Getting Started with LinkedIn: http://blog.hotdesign.com/2008/12/getting-started-with-linkedin/

• LinkedIn for Dummies (video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tV_7yAPnkFw

Facebook Resources

• Facebook’s website: http://facebook.com

• Facebook Pages (with step by step instructions): http://www.facebook.com/advertising/?pages

• Facebook Pages Product Guide [PDF]: http://www.facebook.com/advertising/FacebookPagesProductGuide.pdf

• Facebook’s Help Center: http://www.facebook.com/help/

• Facebook Pages Help: http://www.facebook.com/help/?page=175

• Mashable’s Facebook Guide Book: http://mashable.com/guidebook/facebook/

• Hotdesign’s Getting Started with Facebook: http://blog.hotdesign.com/2008/12/getting-started-with-facebook/

• 32 Ways to use Facebook for Business: http://webworkerdaily.com/2009/07/21/32-ways-to-use-facebook-for-business/

Twitter Resources

• Twitter’s website: http://twitter.com

• Twitter 101 for Business – A special guide: http://business.twitter.com/twitter101/

• Twitter 101 (video): http://business.twitter.com/twitter101/starting

• Twitter Best Practices: http://business.twitter.com/twitter101/best_practices

• Twitter’s Help: http://twitter.com/help/start

• Twitter Search: http://search.twitter.com/

• Mashable’s Twitter Guide Book: http://mashable.com/guidebook/twitter/

• Mashable’s How to Make the Most of Your Twitter Profile Page: http://mashable.com/2010/05/10/organize-twitter-profile/

• What is Twitter?: http://webtrends.about.com/od/socialnetworking/a/what-is-twitter.htm

• TweetDeck: http://www.tweetdeck.com/

• Hootsuite: http://hootsuite.com/ (new to this list)

• Hotdesign’s Getting Started with Twitter: http://blog.hotdesign.com/2008/12/getting-started-with-twitter/

Blogging Resources

• WordPress: http://wordpress.org and http://wordpress.org

• Blogger: http://blogger.com

• Business Blogging Best Practices: http://socialmediab2b.com/2009/06/business-blogging-best-practices/

• Business Blogging Best Practices (video): http://everything.typepad.com/blog/2009/02/typepad-business-class.html

• Blogging Best Practices: http://www.echoditto.com/blogging

• New! 30 Tips On How To Make Your Company’s Blog Rock: http://www.jeffbullas.com/2010/02/21/30-tips-on-how-to-make-your-companys-blog-rock/

• New! 20 Blogs Every Business Owner Should Read:  http://www.businessinsider.com/20-blogs-every-business-owner-should-read-2010-7

• New! The Yahoo! Style Guide: http://styleguide.yahoo.com/

As a public service for social media and social networking novices, New York Times Personal Technology writer, David Pogue, demystifies Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Foursquare, and Yelp in his article For Those Facebook Left Behind.

If the novices didn’t get it before, I’m not sure this article will change things, but I love reading articles by Pogue, none-the-less.

In summary, Pogue writes:

THE BOTTOM LINE These sites all derive their power the same way: We, the people, provide the information — not the Web site owner. Some of these services establish lines of communication between people who might otherwise never meet, joining them by interest rather than geography. Others connect you with people you do know, or once knew, so that you can help each other out.

Read the full article here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/08/technology/personaltech/08pogue.html?_r=1&ref=technology

Here are some past goodies from Pogue:

http://saraisenberg.com/2009/04/06/david-pogue-on-twitter/

I’m back. I took a four month break from blogging. I didn’t plan it that way but it happened anyway. All said, it wasn’t bad to have one less thing on my list to worry about for a while. During that period, I used my Facebook Page as a quick substitute, and that worked well.

What’s new?

My website has been rebuilt and relaunched. It may look similar to my old website (which — if you want to compare — still lives for now at technicalprojectservices.wordpress.com).

However, underneath the hood, saraisenberg.com is all new and is now based on the Thesis Theme for WordPress.

Why did I do it? I wanted…

• my website to live at my new domain, saraisenberg.com, rather than my old domain, http://technicalprojectservices.com (which now redirects to saraisenberg.com).
• more control over my SEO, which I’m still working on.
• to have a more robust theme. I had heard great things about Thesis.
• to move beyond hosting at wordpress.com, which I had outgrown.  wordpress.com was great when I was getting started, great for learning wordpress, and FREE! Indeed, I still strongly recommend hosting at wordpress.com for many bloggers, especially newbies who want life/hosting to be as simple & free as possible.

Special Thanks to Melissa Smith, my special consultant and personal guru during this relaunch onto Thesis! Melissa, by the way, works at Equity Marketing Solutions.

I admit to not having blogged very much lately, and when I ponder why — aside from the holiday break — I think it’s because it’s often easier to simply post quick information to my Facebook (business/fan) page.  So if you’re looking for tidbits, tips, and news, check out:

http://www.facebook.com/SaraIsenbergConsulting

Ironically, clients often ask me how to decide whether to post to a blog or enewsletter ,or Facebook, or twitter, and my usual response is “all of them” however I’m going to have to walk the talk, or come up with a new answer, or simply say that we do what we can do.

Happy New Year!
Sara

Short and sweet blog entry but I wanted to pass this along quickly…

Here’s helpful and easy-to-understand information — in a video — about Facebook’s new privacy settings.

http://www.allfacebook.com/2009/12/facebook-privacy-video/

I’m now offering two new services: Referrals to Experts and Training for Beginners

1. Find your Team — Referrals:

For more details, see: http://saraisenberg.com/training-and-sourcing/

Please contact me and let me know how I can help you!

Sara Isenberg
Sara Isenberg Web Consulting & Project Management
sara@saraisenberg.com
http://saraisenberg.com
831-334-0701

Yesterday I attended the Green Business Camp in Santa Cruz.  I love the unconference format but wasn’t sure if I would stay all day.  It turns out it was a great event and I was there until the end.

I facilitated a group called “Using Social Media to Promote Your Green Business.” It was well attended and I gave a brain dump presentation about it.  Here are the basics:

Why

• Easy way to find your tribe.
• Using Social Media is a marketing Best Practice these days.
• It’s inexpensive.
• You can make the edits and updates yourself.
• It’s an easy way to engage with your community.
• Great for SEO.
• It’s GREEN!

What

• Facebook Pages (for your Business or Organization)
• Twitter
• Blogging
• Youtube
• LinkedIn
• Email Marketing (eg Constant Contact)
• Google Local Business
• and many more!

To view all of my blog posts about Social Media, go here (and scroll down).

Below are some examples of Facebook Pages for a variety of businesses and organizations. (Note: if you have more than 25 Fans, you can get a vanity URL.  Also, here’s some information about Facebook Pages vs Facebook Groups.  More here.)

FastPencil:
http://www.facebook.com/FastPencil

Scott Design:
http://www.facebook.com/scottdesign

Bookshop Santa Cruz:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Santa-Cruz-CA/Bookshop-Santa-Cruz/15717401422

PIE:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Santa-Cruz-CA/Project-for-Innovation-and-Entrepreneurship/142280165784

Stone Soup Magazine:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Stone-Soup-Magazine/43559462699

MBL:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Marine-Biological-Laboratory/50485835333

GoGirl:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/GoGirl/46433772774

Integrative Medicine:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Santa-Cruz-CA/Santa-Cruz-Integrative-Medicine-Chi-Center/99090316125

Johnson Art Studio:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Santa-Cruz-CA/Johnson-Art-Studio-Lighting-Design/143666508455

Sara Isenberg Consulting:
http://www.facebook.com/SaraIsenbergConsulting

Here’s one of my favorite examples of a creative use of Youtube for free advertising:

DevaCurl The DeVaD Promo Video:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=HtnLEHCQ8iA

The following is by my colleague and friend, Kirsti Scott, of Scott Design: http://blog.hotdesign.com.  I value everything that Kirsti writes in her blog about social media.  Here’s another great post from Kirsti:

Here’s a quick rundown of the who, what, where, when, why, and how of using social networks to help kick-start your social media plan.

Who

You should use social media if you have a business and want to do any of the following:

• Reach new customers
• Build relationships with existing customers
• Create awareness of your products or services through PR and marketing
• Decrease customer support costs
• Drive traffic to your website
• Find new employees
• Improve teamwork at your company

What

Social networks are now used by millions of people every day:

• Social networks are web-based, online communities of people with shared interests who communicate with one another and share information.
• Social networks allow you to connect with friends, family, colleagues, and customers online.
• Social media marketing is the use of social networks to promote your company’s products or services.

Where

You should create a presence on the following websites:

• LinkedIn: Set up profiles for key employees. See “Getting Started with LinkedIn.”
• Facebook: Create a Facebook Fan Page for your business. See “Getting Started with Facebook.”
• Twitter: Set up a Twitter profile for your company or brand. See “Getting Started with Twitter.”
• Local Search: Set up listings for your business on Google Local Business Center, Yahoo! Local, Best of the Web Local, and Bing Local Listing Center, by visiting GetListed.org.
• Reviews: Set up a listing for your business on Yelp.

When

• Today: Set up profiles on the major sites. It takes about a day.
• Every day: Keep up with what’s happening in your industry or marketplace.
• Every week: Spend a few hours participating in conversations with people in your networks.
• As needed: Post news about your company.
  

Why

There are five main reasons companies should do social media marketing:

• It is now considered a best practice.
• It drives traffic to your website.
• It improves your search engine rankings.
• It lets you join the conversation.
• It amplifies your marketing messages.

For details, see “5 reasons companies should do social media marketing.”

How

It’s easy to get started with social media:

• Sign up for LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, local search engines, and Yelp.
• Fill out the basic information (you can add more later).
• Join groups of peers and/or customers.
• Listen and get a feel for discussion etiquette.
• Get social by joining into conversations with your peers and customers. See “Connecting with customers through LinkedIn,” “Connecting with customers through Facebook,” and “Connecting with customers through Twitter.“

More information

• For more in-depth information about using social media marketing, take a look at “5 Steps in a Social Media Marketing Plan“  and “Promote your business using social media.”
• For an overview of the components in an online marketing strategy, check out the Marketing Treasure Map video.
• For details on the most popular social networking websites, check out the slideshare presentation called “Free Online Tools to Create Conversations.

It’s old news that you can get a vanity URL for your personal Facebook profile.  For example, what used to look something like:

http://www.facebook.com/gobbltygookitybla234882930718729blablablah239482038203482xyzabc

is now just http://www.facebook.com/saraisenberg

That’s my individual, personal profile.

However, Facebook Pages (for businesses and celebrities), previously gave vanity URLs for pages created before March 2009 AND having more than 1000 Fans.  Apparently, Facebook has quietly changed that number to just 25.

I’d like to introduce my new Facebook Page URL (ta da):

http://www.facebook.com/SaraIsenbergConsulting

Yeah!

PS- For info on Facebook Pages vs Facebook groups, see:

http://www.squidoo.com/facebookpage

As you may know, I’ve decided to rebrand away from from my (old) business name Technical Project Services!  The new name of my business is Sara Isenberg Web Consulting & Project Management.  I’m still working on this as I write.

However, Facebook doesn’t allow me (anyone) to edit the name of a Page, so I’m setting up a new business Facebook Page.  Here’s a link to it:

Sara Isenberg Web Consulting & Project Management

I need your help to get the word out!  I invite you to become a “FAN” by going to that page and clicking on “Become a FAN” button.  Friends, please help me get 25 Fans to I can get a vanity URL.  Sorry to any inconvenient to my first 17 FANS.  You’re the best!

Thanks!

Sara

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