I’m told that translators have some interesting challenges when it comes to marketing. Although companies regularly employ in-house translators to deal with localization, a big chunk of the market is handled by freelancers who own their own business. In many cases, the client doing the hiring cannot independently evaluate whether or not the work done is of a high quality, so it isn’t as easy as providing a portfolio of previous work. Often, clients don’t understand that translators have specific areas of expertise – much like marketing and technical writers – and that hiring someone isn’t as simple as finding someone who can read and write the languages in question.

So what works well? Having excellent references. Demonstrating your understanding of a particular market segment (think med tech, or legal, or software). Exhibiting superior communication skills – after all, a translator is hired to communicate on behalf of a client or company.

I hope my presentation can shed a little light on using today’s web tools. While this presentation has been tailored to the needs of freelance translators, I think many of the strategies and action items are relevant to professional service providers.

Often skipped entirely or dismissed as unnecessary, drafting a social media strategy should be the cornerstone of every social media campaign – regardless of the company size. Whether you’re an individual looking to rebrand yourself before a job search or an international company trying to target a new market, you need to have a plan. Let’s take a look at what goes into a social media strategy in three steps.

One caveat: This three-step guide assumes that you’ve already spent some time online listening to your market and you’re able to make an educated guess at how to target them. Before you can build a strategy, you’ll need to have set reasonable goals for your social media campaign.

Step One: Resources: Social media isn’t free. Before jumping on the Facebook bandwagon, take a hard look at what resources you can allocate.

Will a new social media campaign replace existing aspects of your current marketing? If so, will it free up budget? What content are you going to contribute? Do you have a regularly updated blog that provides more than simple self promotion? Is your company in support of promoting themselves as thought leaders in their industry? How often can you add new content?

Who will search for relevant articles to post? Who will answer comments on your blog and moderate posts to your Facebook fan page? How many staffers can be dedicated to the initial setup and learning curve of various tools? Will each staffer specialize in a specific area or will you need to cross train your staff to function with multiple tools? What skills do your staff already have and what will need to be taught/learned? Will your outreach be limited to business hours only or is it possible to allocate manpower over a larger part of the 24-hour cycle?

How much budget can you allocate to purchasing support tools for your strategy? Can you foot the bill for Involver’s toolset to make your Facebook presence more powerful and easier to manage? Will you and your staff have smartphones capable of sharing content from anywhere with a 3G connection?

To build a successful strategy using social media, you’ll need to take a hard look at three resources:

• Time: How much time can you or your company dedicate to these efforts on an ongoing basis?
• Talent: What skills can you leverage that allow you to reach out online in a new format?
• Technology: Both hardware and know-how – can your current hardware get the job done and are your tech skills up to the task (or do you have a geek in waiting that could help you out)?

Step Two: Content: Before you create that corporate account at Digg.com, take a step back and consider what content you’ve got to share with the world.

The first part of content brainstorming should be a raid of your archives. Have you got good informational articles that can be repurposed as blog posts with a facelift? Do you have some PowerPoint presentations explaining your product or service that can be shared at SlideShare.net? Videos teaching someone some tips and tricks that you can add to YouTube? Audio files that teach – can they be made into a regular podcast? Content is king in any social media campaign, so consider first what you’ve got to use. In many cases, generating new content is also the most time consuming (and therefore resource consuming) aspect of your strategy, so make sure you use what you’ve already got.

But your own content is less than half of the equation. In order for your outreach effort to be a success, you need to become a valuable resource to your target market. And that means sharing a wealth of top-notch content that extends well beyond your own self-promotion efforts. If you’ve done a good job of building a successful listening system and know what content is relevant to your target market and where they can find those resources, you’re well on your way to sharing great links.

Instead of trying to steer your market to your content only, serve as an aggregator of relevant information on the Web in a variety of platforms. Become the go-to site for news and information, tips and tricks.

Instead of the staid model of solely diseminating information to your target market, become part of the discussion and encourage a focus group atmosphere.

Step Three: Tools: Finally, we reach the aspect of social media with which folks are most familiar. Once you’ve got the content, how are you going to reach your target market?

If you’re lucky, the most powerful tool in your social media toolbox might be your own Web site. If you’re unlucky, and your Web site doesn’t meet the needs of your target market, you’re going to have a hard time with any Web-based marketing campaign – despite your best efforts. Your own site is home base for your presence on the Web. If your ultimate goal is to sell a product, be contacted by a prospective client or be hired to perform a service, your own site is the most likely gateway for new business. Make sure you have your ducks in a row at home before spending resources trying to promote a weak site.

Whenever possible, your use of social networks like Facebook and Twitter should be a means of getting people back to your own Web site. Don’t let your networks serve as an end point. While it’s useful when someone shares your Facebook fan page, you’ll have a lot more leverage if the link they share is to your blog or Web site. Train your target market to come back to you as a destination for useful content. Any links to your site that are shared will improve your search engine optimization – this technique is known as inbound marketing.

Which networks are the best fit for your target market? Will you reach the same market on two different networks, such as Twitter and Facebook? What sites for rich media fit your content the best? Does your Web site have tracking software in place to determine from which sites people click through to you? Which networks are best suited to your specific goals?

In summary: Evaluate your resources, raid your archives for content and target your market on the networks that are most conducive to achieving your goals.

We’d love your feedback on our new series – Social Media 1-2-3 – here on the blog at Pixel/Point Press. To read more articles in this series, please bookmark this category.

While I strive in our classes to provide a wealth of knowledge in a very short time span, hoping to keep our students busy for several months after the classes end, I’m beginning to realize something: There’s a market for brevity.

To meet that growing need, I’m hoping to create a series of blog posts explaining how to get started in the wide worlds of social media networking and marketing. Topics will include:

• Blogging
• WordPress
• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• Twitter
• Third-Party Twitter apps: Seesmic, TweetDeck, Bit.ly and others
• Making the most of RSS feeds

And more. I’m also hoping my regular readers will help me generate some more topics. My goal is to provide a new post every Tuesday until I’m stumped for topics.

In another new addition to the blog, I’m asking readers for questions about how to use social media, drafting a strategy, etc. With your permission, I’ll reply to these questions and more every Wednesday on the blog so that others can learn from your questions. To send me a question, please email at kelli@pixelpointpress.com.

As always, thanks for reading, commenting, subscribing and sharing our content with others!

Back by popular demand is our Social Media Marketing class. Our first class will be held in Jerusalem starting on September 3.

This is a popular class so please reserve your spot as soon as possible. This time we are meeting at the beautiful JBS Business Class Center in Talpiot, Jerusalem. For anyone who missed a session from a previous class, please note that on your RSVP.

• Date: Thursdays,  September 3, September 10, and September 17

• Time: from 9 am until 12 noon

• Location: JBS Business Class; http://www.jbsbusinessclass.co.il/

• Address: Hataasiya 8; 4th Floor; Talpiot; Jerusalem

Directions: The office is at Hataasiya 8. Hataasiya Street is the extension of Yad Harutzim after the Achim Yisrael mall. The building has an electrical appliance store on the ground floor called Traklin and an Orange office. The entrance to the office part of the building is on the right side – look for a big statue of a lion in a glass case. Go down the path, into the building and take the elevator to the 4th floor. Make a left and then a right when you get off the elevator.

Do you want to learn how to make the most of your presence online? Need help starting (or customizing – or promoting) a blog or Web site?
Consider joining us for three sessions to build your Web profile, reach new clients, and market yourself using free tools.

Cost for all three sessions is NIS 350. We’ll meet once a week a for three weeks.

Session 1: An Introduction to Social Media

• Starting a blog
• Using Facebook and LinkedIn for professional networking
• Using Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter for marketing
• Tips and tricks to get started quickly and effectively
• hree ideas you (and your competition) haven’t tried yet
• What not to do – common mistakes and how to avoid them

Session 2: Promoting your Social Media Efforts

• How to promote a blog
• RSS/Social bookmarking
• SEO – Crafting effective headlines and tags, using XML sitemaps
• Facebook groups and fan pages, LinkedIn user groups, Twitter tweets, FriendFeed

Session 3: Advanced Social Media Techniques

• Creating custom blog templates
• Developing Facebook apps
• Plugins and more – bringing it all together
• What’s next? Staying ahead of the curve
• What to do when that’s not enough to beat your competition

I will be teaching the classes and am happy to answer any questions. I have several years of experience using open source tools for Web design and development, SMM and SEO.

After our social media marketing course comes to a close, we’d like to fulfill requests for two other classes: Using WordPress as a CMS and Creating Custom WordPress Templates. If you’re interested in these classes (or others), please let us know by dropping us a note at kelli@pixelpointpress.com or filling out the contact form below.
[contact-form 2 "Classes"]

Involver.com's array of tools for Facebook fan pages

RSS

To import your RSS feed – whether it’s a blog site or regular news site or press releases or Twitter – you need Social RSS. This very handy app allows you to import up to five RSS feeds into a page. You can choose how many items post from each feed and have a little flexibility in the placement. What’s better, you can still add the feeds to a page tab so fans will see “RSS/Blog” when they visit your site. Don’t forget to add a box to the main page so your feeds are prominent.

Twitter

Though there are countless Twitter apps out there that allow you add your Twitter feed to your page and update Twitter from Facebook (and vice versa if you’re using TweetDeck or Seesmic, among others), sometimes the simplest solution is the most effective. Instead of adding another app (and another tab) to the top of your page, add your Twitter feed via RSS as one of your five RSS feeds using Social RSS. To find the feed for your Twitter page, just visit your own page in Twitter – http://www.twitter.com/pixelpointpress, for example – and click the RSS link on the right-hand side. You’ll have similar control and fewer apps to manage with Social RSS installed.

SlideShare

Well, this is a no brainer. Instead of using Involver’s Slides for Pages app, just use SlideShare’s own app to share your presentations on your page. Link your Facebook account with your SlideShare account and fans will see your latest presentations as well as those you’ve marked as a favorite. Don’t forget to add both a tab and a box to the page to make it easier for fans to find your presentations.

Video

As it stands, I haven’t found a good substitute for YouTube for Pages. That said, Facebook’s own application allows you to upload video – several fan pages have made an impact using this simple but useful tool. A few to view are Pringles and Victoria’s Secret. The main benefit to using Facebook’s video function is that users can share their own videos with the same interface – no more separate tabs for user-generated content.

All the rest

When it comes to coupons and polls – as well as other custom branding – and your Facebook fan page, it’s time to learn some Facebook Markup Language (FBML). In short, it’s time to dive into the deep end and become a developer. Give it a shot and let us know what you learn by posting in the comments!
* For the record, social media is anything but free. The tools are free to use, but your time commitment is a very valuable resource. Please understand that social media isn’t for everyone – and that any serious marketing campaign takes resources. You get out of it what you put into it – and if you’re lucky, you get a bit more.

Head on over to GeekChart.com and sign up. Point them toward all the content you share online – YouTube, Twitter, Digg, Delicious, StumbleUpon, Flickr, your blog RSS and Last.fm. Click the magic buttons to create a nifty dynamic pie chart that shows where you’re sharing content online.

Clearly, I’m a Twitter and blog kind of girl.

Create your pie chart once and then import it into your site, blog, sidebar, you name it. It will update automatically, always reflecting your web activity.

It’s not bad, and a lot of fun, for a start. But for those of us who are “heavy users” of Facebook, a substantial piece of the pie is missing. I’d also like to see FriendFeed, Picasa, Google reader and Ning added to the mix.

How accurate is your pie? Is it what you expected? Let us know where we can see it on your site by leaving a comment.

We’re pleased to announce that Commtouch will be hosting us for three classes at their offices in Netanya. Class will be held on June 9, 16 and 23 from 10 a.m. to noon.

Our regular three-session course will be condensed into two classes in Haifa. Class will be held from 10 a.m. to noon on June 11 and 18.

Session 1: An Introduction to Social Media

• Starting a blog
• Using Facebook and LinkedIn for professional networking
• Using Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter for marketing
• Tips and tricks to get started quickly and effectively
• Three ideas you (and your competition) haven’t tried yet
• What not to do – common mistakes and how to avoid them

Session 2: Promoting your Social Media Efforts

• How to promote a blog
• Lifecycle of your social media content
• SEO – Crafting effective headlines and tags, using XML sitemaps
• Facebook groups and fan pages, LinkedIn user groups, Twitter tweets

Session 3: Advanced Social Media Techniques

• Creating custom blog templates
• Developing Facebook apps
• Plugins and more – bringing it all together
• What’s next? Staying ahead of the curve
• What to do when that’s not enough to beat your competition

Details:

• Classes are taught in English
• You do not need a laptop to attend
• You will receive a cheshbonit mas

Cost:

• NIS 250 for all three sessions
• NIS 100 for a single session

To register for classes, please send your contact information and preferred course location to kelli@pixelpointpress.com.

From one participant:

I would just like to post a review on Kelli Brown’s Social Media Course that was originally advertised on Digital Eve.

So – what can I say?  So far – So EXCELLENT.

Kelli held her first lesson in my lounge in Tel Aviv last Thursday and I would like to say that she more than exceeded my personal expectations. She had certainly done her homework and came very well prepared (projector and all) and delivered a very well thought out, professional presentation covering everything that she said she would in her original email.

I also would like to add that on a personal note, I found her unpretentious, down to earth manner to be nothing short of a breath of fresh air.

So, there you go – if any of you are interested in this course –  in light of the first lesson that we received – I WARMLY recommend it and would even go as far to say it’s a MUST do for those that don’t want to get lost in the social media shuffle.

Best,
Jodie Clements
Marketing Communication Services

Fan pages are Facebook’s response to marketing. Unlike groups, fan pages are (in theory) created and administered by an official representative of the business, celebrity, etc. Fan pages allow you to share and leverage content created inside and outside Facebook with dedicated followers. And when you’ve got news, it’s easy to send a message to all your followers using Facebook’s interface.

There’s a fine art to making a fan page that works for you. Instead of creating yet another web entity that you must update and moderate regularly, carefully tool your page so that content is distributed automatically and updates regularly.

Here are five tips for making the most of your Facebook fan page:

• Provide usable content: For many of us, the heart of a Facebook fan page is the content we’re producing elsewhere. If you’ve got a blog, you’ve got content: make sure your blog’s RSS feed is loading into your FB fan page automatically. Add to that regular content with occassional Facebook-exclusive updates – otherwise blog readers who have already viewed your writing have no other reason to visit your page.
  

  Involver.com's amazing free tools for Facebook fan page functionality

• Automate: Unless you’ve got a lot of free time to continually cross-post all content in multiple social media outlets, you should take a few steps to automate the process. My favorite tools for sharing content on a FB fan page are created by Involver. Aside from the premium services they offer, there are a wealth of free tools to greatly increase the functionality of your FB fan page.
• Be human: One aspect of social media that is continually forgotten is the importance of presenting a human side to your company. When you get new fans, welcome them – on a regular basis. When people post discussion questions, answer them. You’ve opened a forum for your clients and customers. Most of us know better than to ignore a waiting room full of prospective clients, yet I frequently see pages and companies who fail to respond to clients online. If you can’t (or won’t) respond to your followers, don’t build the page. It will hurt you more than it will help you if you appear to ignore consumers.
• Raid your archives: Content is king – so what to do if you don’t have any content to share? Don’t underestimate yourself. If you’ve got PowerPoint presentations, use slideshare.net and an RSS feed to leverage them on your FB page. If you’ve got screen captures of your interface in action, use them as photos in your fan page. And don’t forget to encourage your fans to submit their own content – blog posts about your company, images of your product in use, case studies, success stories, testimonials – online or not, we’re still taking the marketing basics and putting them to work for us.
• Make a splash: If you’ve played around in Facebook long enough, you’re familiar with the alerts you receive whenever anyone does anything anywhere. The second your publish your fan page and become a fan of yourself, all your friends will know. Your message will spread virally. And that’s a good thing. But consider saving this one-time boost when you’ve got a big event on the horizon – a conference or trade show, a new product release, etc. Even if you don’t have something big coming up in the near future, take advantage of Facebook’s ability to delay publication while you get your ducks in a row. Post content so that your first viewers have something to read – you want to reward them for being first to the fan page and give them a reason to join and share your link.

If you haven’t already, consider getting to work on building your fan page. Once you’ve got one up and running, please post the link in the comments so we can take a look at your work and give you a little traffic – and possibly new fans. And check back next week when I take a look at five fan pages that are generating a buzz – I’ll present case studies so we can all learn some new tips and tricks.

I was last on the docket to present and we were running a bit late, but was overwhelmed by the number of people who stuck around to hear me speak and asked great questions afterward. Presenting to such a receptive audience really is a delight.

This case study features RADVISION, an Israeli high tech company that is doing a brilliant job at leveraging their web presence with social media tools: blogs, Twitter and a web community. Their strategy allows them to cover both a B2B and B2C demographic at the same time, saving them precious marketing budget.

For those of you who weren’t able to attend, I’ve posted the presentation here for you to view, download or share. As always comments and feedback are welcome.

| Get your Presentation Pack

If I can finagle a little time later this week, I hope to add the mp3 file to the presentation to improve the experience for online viewers.

I’ll be presenting on how and why to use social media tools for marketing, as well as a case study of one company in Israel that has had great results in a business-to-business format.

PR Newswire invitation

The presenters look great! I hope to cover the basics of using social media for business:

• Corporate blogging: blog benefits, who should be blogging, what to post
• Twitter: benefits, how to use it, what makes Twitter different
• Web communities: user groups, forums, conditional knowledgebases – how to use them and what the potential benefits are
• All the rest: webinars, videos, newsletters and more

The amazing thing is that one Israeli company is already doing all of this and more – and they are doing it well. We’ll learn about their successes.

My hope is that all seminar attendees will go home with something they can implement, whether it’s one new idea or an entirely new strategy for marketing on the Web. There’s also a question and answer session after the presentations.

Look forward to seeing you there!