1. Mississippi Crops Short Course December 2012

2. A little background.

3. Email reports…

4. AgFax.Com…

5. Web development…

6. So, were speaking from… Our own experience. The experiences of others. Mistakes (ours and those of others). Training. Conferences. Finding our own gurus. Formulating our own ideas, approaches. Kicking and screaming all the way.

7. Why were in social media… An undeniable trend. Evolving mobile technology, high adoption. A real-time source of information. A new distribution channel. A revenue source…well, maybe.

8. Why you should be, too… The most important language? Its not going away. Facebook : 1 billion-plus. People expect you to be there, too. Build, strengthen relationships. Promote my. Immediacy.

9. What well cover… Texting Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Etc. Blogging Email Reports Ag Forums YouTube, Video, Audio RSS Feeds Then, bringing it all together.

10. Terms I might use… Social Media Social Network Buzz Content Marketing 80/20 approach (or rule)

11. Texting, basic platform… Direct, to the point. Works in places you cant make a call. All but necessary with younger people. Drawbacks? A few, sure. Advantages? How valuable is your time?

12. Twitter: text on steroids… What is Twitter? Microblogging, CB, river. Evolution of Twitter: 2006 to 2012. 140 million users just in U.S. (7/1/12). Now, a serious field-level tool. Disadvantages: some B.S. Advantages: customizable, searchable.

13. Demo: The Angus & Owen Show… Pick your channels. Who you follow, who follows you. How do you find people to follow? The power of the hash tag - #mscrops. Retweeting, direct messaging, lists. Test Tweetdeck, other 3 rd party apps. Check out @agmidsouth.

14. A quick Twitter approach… Follow people who matter to you – 100-plus. Start tweeting, daily if possible. Your tweets define your followers. Tap into other communities. Set up lists. Questions – Twitter, Texting?

15. Facebook: 800-lb. gorilla… What is Facebook? Do you need to be on Facebook? Do you need a Facebook fan page? Questions about Facebook?

16. LinkedIn means business… Very much like Facebook, but… Plenty of features, expansion potential. High percentage of college grads. Should you be on LinkedIn?

17. Other social venues… Pinterest: Decidedly female site. Tumblr: Very youth oriented.

18. Blogging: who should, why? Understand the concept: content marketing. A presence on the internet. A place to put your content. A place where search engines can find you. A place to sell your expertise. A place to sell your.

19. Blogging, essential info… WordPress, self-hosted. Meaning, mysite.com. Register domain through Network Solutions. Avoid free hosting services. Avoid mysite.wordpress.com. Avoid mysite.blogger.com. Bluehost, Dreamhost, Hostgator. Call with questions. 601-992-9488.

20. Greenleaf Agronomy, N.C.

21. The Almond Doctor, Calif.

22. Seminole E-News, Georgia

23. California Rice Commission

24. E-letters: the big push… Dovetails nicely with blogs. Builds audience, builds social connections. Can be automated (more in a moment).

25. Forums, coffee shop on line… Non-threatening place to ask questions. Wide perspective. Crowd-sourcing ideas, experiences. Grain of salt, of course.

26. NewAgTalk.Com: our favorite…

27. YouTube: simple truths… Videos dont have to be pro to be good. The subject matters more than anything else. Anybody with a smart phone can do videos. YouTube has evolved into a search engine. Showing something can be very effective. People want to watch – and they can now.

28. Other channels… Instructional videos: Camtasia, et al. Podcasts: Audacity, Propaganda.

29. RSS: Real Simple Syndication Also known as news feeds. Every blog generates one or more feeds. You become a news distributor, if youd like. Heres the neat part: automatic e-letters. Feedburner (Google), Mail Chimp.

30. Setting priorities…

31. Questions?