Tyler Olson's Blog

It has been on my to-do list for approximately three months to do a number of changes to LinkedIn and drive additional value through it.

On Sunday Evening, I was up late finally taking action on that goal.

I always have more with Social Media I want to do, it’s just a matter of the amount of time I want to spend, what should happen in what order, and thinking through ahead of time what my goals of a campaign are going to be.

For this campaign, my goal was to see how many people I could get interested in what SMCpros has to offer within one day. I think I spent about 45 minutes planning and implementing the campaign.

Tomorrow we will know more about how the final web traffic count turned out. However, Sunday had a significant spike and I didn’t start the campaign until 10:51pm.

I can say I ended the day with 12 e-mail that I can directly attribute to this LinkedIn Campaign and 3 phone calls (one almost signed a deal valued at $1,300 with us on the spot).

I always remind people that they should not expect to break-even on their first day working with us – but even I am amazed at how often we can achieve such extraordinary results in a short amount of time.

What’s your most recent Social Media success story? Please comment below

Update: After 48 hours, I had 22 e-mails and 3 phone calls all asking to meet with me to talk about what we do.

You’ve asked for it – and we are delivering it. In the coming weeks, we will begin offering classes on how social networking can help you and your business succeed in these difficult times.

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and others all create an awesome opportunity to generate leads for your business.

Stay tuned to learn more about how you can take advantage of these lead-generating opportunities.

According to comScore, Twitter grew 131% in March 2009. That followed 55% and 33% growth rates in February and January, respectively. Recently, twitter has received a lot of media attention due to the Kutcher v CNN battle to see who would be the first to a million followers. Oprah also had a full show about the impact of Twitter on people’s lives.

Studies show that a lot of people come to twitter a few times and never come back. Part of the reason for this is because the purpose of twitter is not intuitive. Twitter is designed to be a conversational tool and as expected, it is difficult to have conversations when you first join when you don’t know what to do and do not have anybody following you.

However, Twitter is a phenomenal marketing opportunity for salespeople. For many relationship-based businesses, twitter provides an opportunity to market to the people who know you, trust you, and are interested in knowing more about what you do. For example, when I tweeted that I started blogging for PCWorld back in January, a number of people who had been following me on twitter and facebook responded and asked if we can help their businesses and organization setup social networking strategies.

Your salespeople can and should be using twitter to generate additional leads as well as providing ongoing communication to their current accounts. Be warned, there are proper and improper ways of using twitter and if you do not follow twitter etiquette, you risk being blocked or potentially banned.

As an IT person, I regularly post on twitter and facebook the importance of backing up computers, tips on how to use social networking for business, and requests for referrals. These updates generate additional business from our clients and can help you generate more business as well.

Tyler Olson has a vision, a passion for technology, and a love for entrepreneurship. Tyler’s current business, HelpMeTy.com, started out of his dorm room two and a half years ago to fix computers and make Web sites. The company now provides remote IT support as well as web services for many people and businesses. You can follow him on twitter @TyOlson

Starting a business in the down economy is tough. Many people are looking to start a business because there is nowhere else to turn. Unfortunately, many startup business owners are forgetting to take into account the true cost of starting up a new company. 

Yesterday, I spoke at an event focused on training people what they need to know to startup a business. In today’s world, business runs on technology and marketing is frequently conducted through the web. Technology can provide great efficiencies, but as one panelist pointed out, can become a huge distraction if misguided. 

Some key points from the conversation:

1. If you can’t instantly find what you are looking for on your computer, you are missing out and should upgrade. 

2. Please backup your computer. Do it right now if you know it isn’t backed up. It’s cheap and it’s effective. 

3. You need a web presence. Be prepared to invest in a good website. A good website can help make your life easier, generate leads for you, and impress the people you are trying to impress. 

4. Be active online. Use Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and others. You will get business from them. 

Technology is meant to help your business get off the ground and help it run effectively. Accidentally underbudgeting for technology needs could spell disaster for your startup. Think through the complete set of needs your new business will have and don’t be afraid to ask for advice. There are people out there looking to help you.