Kaye Flack

Social Media Friend or Foe?

… after discussions over the holiday period with family, friends and businesspeople I find there is still a reluctance to embrace Social Media as an opportunity to be used to connect with people / clients and to market products and services. There seems to be a real lack of understanding of what a powerful asset social media could be if truly comprehended. Maybe it’s because media reports always highlighting the pitfalls and negative experiences to being online. It’s interesting to look at statistics of the growth of online social media.

The phenomenon has moved through significant growth and is now experiencing AN EXPLOSION…even just within Facebook and Twitter networks, not counting the other social media sites. The power and influence of these networks are recognised as billion dollar opportunities, as evidenced by the acquisition of Facebook by Goldman Sachs this past week.

Just look at these statistics of just one network- Facebook. Over 500 million people are regular users worldwide. In Australia, with a population of 22,523,020 ( ABS estimate for 5 Jan2011), Facebook is the most popular social networking site with more than 8.6 million unique visitors per month !! Consider the significance of these statistics:-

• 78 % of Australia’s 9 million Facebook users have chatted, sent or shared photo in the past year

• 74% have shared a link

• 20% of Australians aged 55 or older have used Facebook

• 2.5 million is the number of Australian Twitter users

• People spending more time each day

• LinkedIn (Australia) membership now > 1 million

• 60,000 in people in SYDNEY are using Foursquare

• 2.1 million MySpace unique users in Australia

• Flicker has 10 million plus groups and more than 4 billion photos

What does this massive growth in online users in 2010 mean, and how does it impact us… and why?     Does this Social Media phenomenon ever look like slowing down? While the numerical growth must eventually reach saturation point, the power of social media as a major influence on our culture ……how we see ourselves, how we relate to others, and how we do business…. is still growing. As long as people have a need to be connected, to feel connected: as long as people are looking for a sense of community; as long as people have a message to be communicated or a product to be promoted: it is unlikely that the phenomenal growth will subside.

If we would position ourselves as master players in the social media phenomenon, what are some of the considerations we need to look at, and what could be considered “best practice” and what are the pitfalls that come with such an explosive growth in Social Media… Follow my next post as I explore the things that will bring us undone or make us Social Media master players

Make it a terrific day

These past few weeks I have been exposed to another amazing tool to assist people to connect and communicate with friends, family and customers. This tool has been cost prohibitive to many of us as only the top people in our companies could afford this luxury. But now the game has changed forever! One company, leaders in visual technology, has brought this powerful tool into your media workplace and at an affordable price.

Today, I‘d like to share concerning the power of using webinars to develop and grow a global business.

1. Is it really important to understand what is a webinar?

2. Why you can use this to share your business opportunity?

3. Then demonstrate a great low cost option to support you as you build your business.

To finish off my post I have an extra-special bonus webinar from my friend, top marketing guru Scott Scales that he created for his top marketing buddies a few weeks ago.

What Is A Webinar?

Is the named used for Web-based seminar; a webinar is a presentation, lecture, workshop or seminar that is transmitted over the Web. The key feature of a Webinar is its interactive elements — the ability to give, receive and discuss information. Contrast with Webcast (Podcast ), in which the data transmission is one way and does not allow interaction between the presenter and the audience.

The Webinar experience is made up of actual, live interactive learning experiences. Participants are able to ask by the instructor questions and receive answers in real time. The instructors are able to conduct polls and ask questions receive feedback. Participants can receive course materials by e-mail prior to the seminar and also are able to view the instructor’s PowerPoint slides during the seminar. It can be hosted by an individuals and invite guest presenters along with the ability to open up the lines and allow attendants speak if you so wish – quite versatile. These types of online webinar have a much higher impact than simply reading material on the web.

Webinars offer exceptional convenience. They are ideal for brown-bag lunch training. No travel is required. How many attendees can attend the webinar has been dependant on the subscription level that has been chosen by the customer.

The two company giants, Webex or GoTo Meeting have dominated the web-conferencing industry for years. it is said that the industry is worth billions now. In 2008 the industry grew to over $1.1 billion an increase of 19% … So these companies have had the enormous share and have made the price point prohibitive to a lot ordinary people. This is where its exciting for us all as I have found a company called Talk Fusion that has a monthly price of $20.00 per month along with other tools . WOO HOO!!

Are Webinars limited to anyone? And can participate?

Webinars are open to every type of business that you can think of. Use a webinar to present to a few – or a few thousand . Anyone who wants to share any type of information as it can be designed for any audience for training to sharing the latest news of your company, to home based business owners or to build team spirit, for professionals eg: engineers, scientists, university faculty, graduate students, manufacturers and consultants.

Submit your details below and I will send you a link to the webinar where my friend Scott shares in a 17 minutes webinar the benefits of using webinars as a part of an everyday tool to build YOUR Business.

Take time to share if you have used webinars as a part of building your business and what were the benefits. If you are wanting more information of how you can get your hands on this technology as its to be released in days…

Make it a terrific day

Hey!! Who struggles with following a system? Interesting, I was listening this week to Robert Kiyosaki saying that “having a system in place is a matter of necessity as a basis for success”. Our personality profiles often come into play with how we develop or follow a system. If you are an analyzer following a system is in your blood (as well as picking up all the spelling mistakes and typos)!!! LOL…. For us promoters it’s sometimes a challenge. We hate systems!!! Having an operating a system is necessary evil, (just like a computer operating system running behind the scenes and needing to be updated regularly). When the operating system works smoothly, life is a breeze and work is productive, but just let a virus in to corrupt your operating system, and everything grinds to a slow, painful halt.

Who struggles with following a system? And who struggles because with that system they don’t have the right tools that serve them? We put systems in place and make things work effectively to assist us create success. But even a great system may not be utilizing the best tools …and that’s a recipe for frustration.

It’s been interesting that when looking for the right tools that are going to serve me in business many have a price tag. So, find what works! Why reinvent the wheel? Success is about optimizing your time too. Why would you duplicate energy, time, and resources to discover and create the tools that smart marketers are already using?

Last weekend I was reminded of this as I attended business training/introduction to a new business system that partners with my primary business. This training was by the top income earner of our company. It was refreshing as he was very transparent, openly and honestly sharing why he had spent twelve months developing a system and why he believed this system was simple and easy for anyone to use. It was very inspiring and encouraging as he shared the philosophy behind the creation of the system…

The three things that got my attention were that it’s simple, duplicatable, and automated. I am always looking for systems like this, so it made sense to add this as part of my tool kit to build my business.

As you know communication is the lifeblood of any business, offline or online. You might be already using communications tools like: email, video emailing, Skype, SMS, phone, social media, video email, web conferencing, blogging, website, training, web conferencing, videos, newsletter, mail outs , sending cards, trainings.

A few months ago I did a blog post on a company called Talk Fusion “Funky New Tool For Real Connectedness!!” Check it out. It’s an amazing suite of tools that you can use to connect and communicate in powerful way whether its in your business or family.

This month they made the most exciting announcement, one that brings incredible value enabling easy, low price personal branding. Also making team building simple duplicable as it can be. Along with automation is at its finest but also BEST prices… Talk Fusion has announced that in September they are going to launch Video Broadcasting (Webinar style presentations) and Video Conferencing ( Skype’s one on one video chat is good look however this one on one can be viewed and used on multiple computers all at the same time). All this is High definition quality at an incredible low price point.

It’s interesting to compare prices with the most popular Webinar Company out there at the moment. As it is GoToMeeting/ Webinar you pay $99 a month for a room that can hold up to 100 people. As with Talk Fusion’s new Video Broadcasting you have all the same features – whiteboarding, screen and file sharing, recording, etc. but you can have an UNLIMITED number of people on your meeting!

WOW I’m so excited about this as I am able to host small and large webinars for the same price. All these incredible tools, integrate with my system! Video Email, Video Conferencing, Video Auto-Responders, Video Blog, Fusion Wall, web conferencing, video broadcasting and video conferencing for just $20 a month! Truly amazing value!!

Also there is an opportunity to earn an additional stream of income when you help others use the same cutting edge tools.