I’m delighted to announce more half-day training courses that I’m delivering through Shropshire Chamber of Commerce, we’re now into the second year of our partnership, time has flown!

So if it’s time to dust off your Twitter account, boost your Facebook and blogging efforts or poke your toe into the Pinterest or Google+ water, the courses below will cover your needs and get you right up to speed.

The courses have grown and have become longer (3 1/2 hours) to allow more time for the hands-on learning part of each workshop so you walk away confident to implement what you have learned.

Dates and course titles are below, booking and course details are available via the Shropshire Chamber website.

Wed 30th January – A Social Media overview
Wed 6th February – Using LinkedIn for Lead Generation (CPD Certified)
Tues 12th February – Twitter for Business
Wed 27th February – Facebook for Business
Tues 5th March – Blogging for Business
Tues 12th March – Google+ and Pinterest for Business
Tues 19th March – Social Media for Professional Services

All the courses go from a fairly introductory level through to advanced so are suitable for all levels of understanding. This cycle of course will be based at Stafford Park, Telford.

There will be more courses coming in 2013 in Telford and Shrewsbury, so as they say, watch this space! If there is a course you’d like that I don’t currently offer, just leave a comment below.

Any questions, just let me know. I hope to see some of you soon!

Jan

p.s. If you know anyone that might benefit from these courses, feel free to pass this on (and thank you!)

The post 2013 Social Media Workshops at Shropshire Chamber of Commerce appeared first on The Net Advantage.

 
Every time I’ve hit another 1,000 followers on Twitter, I’ve marked it with a competition to say thank you for following & supporting me. I recently hit 3,000 (engaging, fabulous, informative & entertaining followers – yes, YOU!) so it’s competition time again.

So what do I have to do?

It’s simple – tweet me your best social media tip (or tips, as many as you have!). Start the tweet with the hashtag #mysocialmediatip and include @JanMinihane somewhere in the tweet.

You have from 9am on Monday 8^th October until 5pm on Friday 12^th October 2012.

And if you fancy retweeting the competition tweet, well, don’t let me stop you

But what will I win, Jan?

I asked you for suggestions on Twitter and you said cake, chocolate and an advisory session with me (clearly the booby prize!). Well, if cake is involved, I’m happy to oblige

The winner will win a delicious red velvet cake, some yummy chocolate and a free 2 hour social media advisory session with me (in person or via skype).

What should the tip be about?

Your tip can be about any aspect of social media that you’ve picked up on the way, either about one particular site….

e.g. #mysocialmediatip be sure to use Facebook’s scheduling icon to space out your content @JanMinihane

….or an overall social media tip….

e.g. #mysocialmediatip do less, better. Concentrate your efforts on a couple of sites & do them well rather than be everywhere @JanMinihane

The more creative/insightful, the better!

I’ll then shortlist and retweet/blog about all the best ones and choose a winner from the shortlist.

I hope you’ll jump on board and share a little of your knowledge for everyone’s benefit – surely more of an incentive than the prizes

Go for it and good luck!
Jan

The small print:

• You can enter the competition as many times as you like.
• Your tweet must include both #mysocialmedia tip and the username @JanMinihane to qualify for consideration.
• The shortlist will be decided by Jan Minihane as the week progresses.
• The shortlist will be reviewed and the winners will be notified on Monday 15^th October.
• The winner must respond to the winning email notification within 72 hours or another winner will be chosen.
• No cash alternative.
• The prize is non-transferable.
• The prize is a cake & chocolate (chosen by Jan Minihane) and a free 2 hour social media advisory session which can be carried out in person or via skype.

Image courtesy of fan pop.com

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I’m diving straight back into work with new half-day training courses that I’m delivering through Shropshire Chamber of Commerce.

So if it’s time to dust off your twitter account and poke your toe into the Pinterest or Google+ water, the courses below should cover your needs.

Dates and course titles are below, booking and course details are available via the Shropshire Chamber website. There will be two cycles of these courses before Christmas.

Tues 17th Sept – Introduction to Social Media
Wed 25th Sept – Twitter for Business
Tues 2nd Oct – Facebook for Business
Tues 9th Oct – Google+ and Pinterest for Business
Tues 16th Oct – Using LinkedIn for Lead Generation
Wed 17th Oct – Social Media for Professional Services

Tues 6th Nov – Introduction to Social Media
Tues 13th Nov – Twitter for Business
Tues 20th Nov – Facebook for Business
Tues 27th Nov – Google+ and Pinterest for Business
Wed 5th Dec – Using LinkedIn for Lead Generation
Tues 11th Dec – Social Media for Professional Services

All the courses go from introductory level through to advanced so are suitable for all levels of understanding.

Any questions, just let me know. I hope to see some of you soon!

Jan

p.s. If you know anyone that might benefit from these courses, feel free to pass this on (and thank you!)

Image courtesy of zatchels.com

The post Back to [Social Media] School time … appeared first on The Net Advantage.

These workshops will take place at the new training facility at The Academy, Shrewsbury.

The aim of these workshops is to provide advice and hands on training to allow businesses and organisations to maximise their return from Social Media, or get going with how to use each of the main sites more effectively, while applying a healthy dose of reality in terms of what is achievable in our busy business lives.

Each session stands by itself (but obviously we’d recommend you come to as many as you can to get the most benefit for your business!).

Full information on each workshop is available on the Shropshire Chamber website via the links below:

May 2nd 2012 – Building a Social Media Strategy
May 9th 2012 – LinkedIn
May 15th 2012 – Twitter – an introduction for business
May 23rd 2012 – Facebook – an introduction for business
May 30th 2012 – Blogging for Business
June 13th 2012 – Advanced Twitter
June 19th 2012 – Advanced Facebook
June 27th 2012 – Latest Social Media developments & top tips for Online Marketing success

Please note that first and final sessions are workshops, sessions 2 to 7 require a laptop to get the most out of the session. If you do not have one or cannot borrow one please let Shropshire Chamber know at the time of booking and we will do our best to ensure you have one.

If there are other workshops you would like to see us do, please let us know in the comments below and we’ll see what we can do.

I hope to see you at the workshops soon….
Jan

The post Social Media Workshops at Shropshire Chamber – Shrewsbury dates appeared first on The Net Advantage.

The aim of these workshops is to provide advice and hands on training to allow businesses and organisation make sure they are maximising their return from Social Media, or get going with how to use it effectively, while applying a healthy dose of reality in terms of what is achievable in our busy lives.

Each session stands by itself (but obviously we’d recommend you come to as many as you can to get the most benefit for your business!). All the details for each workshop is available on the Shropshire Chamber via the links below:

Jan 25th 2012 – Auditing your Online presence for enhanced return

Feb 1st 2012 – Using LinkedIn proactively to develop quality business leads – SOLD OUT

Feb 7th 2012 – Using LinkedIn proactively to develop quality business leads

Feb 22nd 2012 – Setting up a Facebook Business Page

Feb 29th 2012 – Advanced Twitter: Using Twitter to find & engage with your target market

Mar 7th 2012 – Advanced Facebook: Using Facebook to build your Online presence

Mar 13th 2012 – Blogging: How to optimise your Blog content for better engagement

Mar 21st 2012 – Latest Social Media developments & top tips for Online Marketing success

Please note that session 1 and session 8 are interactive workshops, sessions 2 to 7 require a laptop to get the most out of the session, if you do not have one or cannot borrow one please let Shropshire Chamber know at the time of booking and we will do our best to ensure you have one.

If there are other workshops you would like to see us do, please let us know in the comments below and we’ll see what we can do.

Hope to see you at the workshops soon….

Jan

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Why Google+ should be used for business:
- It has nearly 50m users on there already (although I question how many are active on there, as with all social media sites)
- If you have researched whether your target market are on Google+ and you have a distinct strategy for engaging with them on Google+ (i.e. not churning out the same posts you put on Facebook, Twitter et al – each site needs a separate focus, otherwise all you are doing is duplication effort and making noise, not adding valuable content).
- IF YOU HAVE TIME TO DO IT WELL (excuse the caps, it’s the usual falldown for most users social media).

Why Google+ should not be used for business:
- If you don’t know why you’re going to use it but think you should because other people are….
- If your target market aren’t on there – have you checked?
- If you haven’t got time to maintain your current social media presence, adding one more site will not enhance your brand sentiment.

Should I get a business page set up now?:

There is an argument that you should go and set up a business page now so you can ‘claim your name’. However, you can’t get specific URL’s (yet) for your page so this argument carries less weight for me. If you do set one up, make sure you say on there why you have set the page up (give a compelling reason to follow you) and whether you’re using it yet to manage expectations to new visitors who find the page.

Otherwise I think it’s just too soon to set one up – wait, watch, think a bout where and why you want to be on social media and go from there.

I have a Google+ business page set up so I can better inform clients as to the benefits, or otherwise, of it plus I’ll be hosting Hangouts on there (for me the single best feature of Google+ over the likes of Facebook and Twitter) to have realtime social media discussions.

So what should I do now?
I’d set up a personal account if you have the time & inclination – business page functionality is not too dissimilar so you can get to learn the tricks and benefits of Google+, see if you like it, have some new conversations, see who’s on there and what works. Remember,social media and marketing in general is becoming so much more about the person or people behind the brand, so what do you have to lose?

I’d love to know what you think of Google+ so far or if you haven’t dipped your toe in the water, why not?

Over and out!
Jan

p.s. if you want to connect (sorry, circle) on Google+, feel free – personally here and/or the business page here – I promise you’ll get different posts to what you see elsewhere!

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