1. Monetizing Your Business Initiatives in 2014 via Social Media Outreach by Richard Sink, Founder of Critical Connections

2. Get Social or Get Left Behind The companies that perform best over time build a social purpose into their operations that is as important as their economic purpose. —Harvard Business Review

3. Unstoppable Success Social media is growing exponentially, dubbed “Web 2.0.” LinkedIn has over 240 million professionals in 150 industries in over 200 countries and is more of a pure-play business networking site. (Source: LinkedIn.com) Facebook: Over 1B active users (Source: Facebook.com) Twitter: 140 million unique visitors worldwide. (Source: comScore) Social Media is Your Brand, live and in motion

4. What Is Social Media? Conversational Marketing Powered by Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and >3000 other platforms With Your Customers, Prospects, Shareholders and Communities Unorganized and Uncontrolled

5. Enough with the Social Media Blah, Blah Give me the real deal!

6. How to do Social Media Facilitate discussions - Be Provocative Make social media part of the job, just like email Offer help, advice & support Personalize requests and approaches Promote value-add across channels Emphasize quality, not just quantity

7. Keep the Relationship Alive Don't neglect your fans once the connection has been made The biggest mistake companies make with social media is that they set it up and abandon it Keep followers engaged  Spark conversation  Share common interests  Avoid being "spammy”

8. Building Business on LinkedIn Participate and Investigate Find and join groups in your industry and your prospects industry Participate in online discussions in groups that are important to your industry Use LinkedIn Polls to ask questions and get insight and tips from your network Source vendors, partners, suppliers, and new hires Review competitors’ information Check references on people you hire or do business with

9. Building Business on Twitter "The real-time conversations that fill the Twitterverse offer an abundance of market insight and unprecedented visibility into consumer sentiment." --Ryan Holmes Track conversations about your brand—and your competitors. The dialogue on Twitter gives you a real-time focus group to help drive innovation and adaptation. Find your most influential Twitter followers. Engage your influencers with exclusive offers, sneak previews, or just friendly acknowledgment. Measure the effectiveness of your campaigns. What is not measured is not known.

10. Building Business on Twitter… Have more than one Twitterer at the company. People leave. People take vacations. It’s nice to have a variety. When promoting a blog post, ask a question or explain what’s coming next, instead of just dumping a link. Ask questions. Twitter is GREAT for getting opinions. Follow interesting people. If you find someone who tweets interesting things, see who they follow, and follow them. Tweet about other people’s stuff. Again, doesn’t directly impact your business, but makes us feel like you’re not “that guy.” Promote your employees “outside of work” stories. Share links to cool stuff in your community and industry.

11. Building Business on Facebook

12. Google+ Local Search Listings By creating and optimizing local search (SEO) listings, businesses can have greater control over how they appear in local search results. In addition, a recent study found that 43% of all Google searches have a local intent43% of all Google searches have a local intent Google likes consistency and relevancy

13. Social Media Purpose 1. Goal-based 2. Magnetic 3. Aligned 4. Scales 5. Evolves 6. Low risk 7. Measurable 8. Community-driven

14. Critical Failures 1. Goal contradiction – The purpose doesn't match strategic goals, business needs and community desires 2. Process disconnect – Social media programs are not connected with other business functions. Be organic! 3. Multiplicity – Many uncoordinated efforts that reduce effectiveness and cause confusion 4. Monologue – Ignoring the potential for discussion and collaboration within your communities 5. It’s not about You! – It’s about Them!!

15. Success Plan Recommendations 1. Consistency – Keep the purpose consistent with strategic goals, community needs and the response authentic 2. Coordination – Make sure attempts into social media are not disconnected from other business functions 3. Charter – Assign responsibility for plan development, education, execution, governance and refinement 4. Conversation – Engage with your targeted communities by creating opportunities for discussion and collaboration 5. Creativity – Encourage individual creativity, passion and controversial

16. The Simple Way to Get What You Want From Social Media You don’t get if you don’t ask

17. Action Plan for Social Media Agenda Monday Morning - Begin examining how social media is already impacting your business - Connect with existing partners, clients, database, prospects and Open Networkers. Start building your value-based network now! Next 90 Days - Assemble a team and build a social media strategy. Look at competitors, clients and prospects conversations and associations Next 6 Months - Deploy a social media initiative from the strategy - Begin evolving leadership and corporate culture in a direction towards social media familiarity - Plan for and execute on building a corporate competency in social media

18. It’s not about Marketing, it’s about Engagement! www.linkedin.com/in/rsink www.facebook.com/criticalconnections twitter.com/Richard_Sink rsink@critical-connections.net (949) 226-9844