SSS for Success: Simplified Social Media Solutions

Social Media Made Easy

I Am Now A Certified Search Engine Marketer

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SearchEngineCollege.com Certified Search Engine Marketer 2011 #00980 | Kindra CottonI recently became a Certified Search Engine Marketer through Search Engine College after spending a bit of time enhancing my Online Marketing skills.  I came across the Certificate Course through my local community college when I wanted to update my skills for the new digital economy.  The Course is entirely online and you get all the benefits of online instruction like learning up-to-date and in-demand job skills, and having the ability to start working any time you have the time, and set your own pace for completion.

One of the things I liked about the course is that it helped me to refine my Search Engine Optimization, Pay Per Click Advertising, and Website Copyrighting skills, even though I have been informally performing these skills on the job and in my own businesses for more than a decade.  I like how the course brought together the "random" nuggets of knowledge I've acquired throughout the years, and presented it in a standardized, easy-to-follow format.  I also appreciate that the Certificate Study that I completed included tutor-guidance, which meant that I could get help and feedback, in addition to graded work assignments that help me further improve my skills in each of the classes I took.  What I've learned has helped me improve my skills and it makes me more marketable as Technology & Social Media Specialist.  You can read more about my classes and experiences on my website here: http://www.kindracotton.com/about/certified-search-engine-marketer.html

Keep me in mind for your Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Pay Per Click Advertising (PPC), and Website Copywriting needs.  I’m here to help (Contact Me).

Are you in need of a Certified Search Engine Marketer?

Kindra Cotton, Certified Search Engine Marketer

By the way, you can click the image below to learn more about Search Engine College and their course offerings, if you’re interested.

More Changes are Coming to SSS for Success

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Under ConstructionKeeping up with the ever-changing pace of the Technology and Social Media realm, SSS for Success will be making some changes over the next few weeks.  While still offering the same great service, we’ll be tweaking our brand to be more competitive in the Web 3.0 environment (that’s right, the Web 2.0 environment is on its way out the door).

Change with us: Use this time to update or re-design your website, add a blog, or start a Social Media Marketing Campaign on Facebook or Twitter.  Get into Video Marketing with an Introduction to Video Marketing, where you’ll find out how quickly you can get started creating and uploading videos to YouTube to market your brand.  Fill out the Contact Us form to get started.

Are you ready for Web 3.0?

Social Media Secrets You Learned in High School

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Social Media Secrets You Learned in High SchoolBill Murtha had an excellent guest post article on Jay Baer's Convince & Convert called Secrets of Social Media You Learned in High School.

In it, Bill talks about the 5 things most of us learned in high school and how that translates into what we know today about social media and how you can get it to work for your company.

Here are Bill's 5 lessons with a bit of my own logic peppered in (feel free to travel over to Jay Baer's Convince & Convert read the entirety of Bill's post):

  1. Cliques and groups define you: Here Bill talks about the importance of knowing your audience, what they're thinking, and how you can connect to what's important and relevant to them. In the social media sphere, this adage is very true, as you have to feel genuinely connected to your audience in order for them to embrace you and your message and share it with their network.
  2. Word spreads fast (True or not): The bottom line here: Word spreads fast. I always like to tell people that Social Media is like the "Word of Mouth Marketing" of 30 years ago, only taken up a few 1000 notches with technology.  Now, instead of being able to reach 4-5 people with your opinion in minutes, you can reach 200-1000 in a matter of seconds (and at times, in 140 characters or less).  Online reputation companies are cropping up fast, but not faster than the speed that bad news travels (and stays) in the online world.
  3. Friends want to hang out with other friends: People like to hang around people that are like them. The great thing about social media is the ability to find a kindred spirit across the globe that has your same love of all things from Bono to embroidery.
  4. You can't be a friend without being a friend: Engagement is key here. In order to get "the social media world" to work for you, you have to work for it.  I like to follow a 7-to-1 (them-to-me) promotion model on throughout my social media strategy.  I find that by promoting others, and adding to the conversation, I also meet other like-minded people who are not just interested in what I have to say, but also the interesting things I've promoted from others that share our taste.
  5. You can try to belong to a bunch of groups (but you can only really belong to as many groups who allow you to join): I think this relates to engagement and being a friend as stated in #4. We all have a finite amount of time and resources, and as such, we should all be working to maximize those by engaging in activities that are worthwhile for us both personally and professionally. For this reason, it makes sense NOT to join EVERY group we come across that piques are interest, because ultimately we won't have the time devote the attention needed to nurture those relationships. You can try barging your way into many places, but the true testiment to your acceptance is your ability to be embraced by the members, and in social media, that means not just having a high number of friends, fans, followers, subscribers, and connections, but having a high rate of engagement, where you interact with your varied stakeholders and do all that's necessary to continue to faciliate your relationship.

Kindra Cotton, Small Business Survival Specialist