I often hear new business owners seeking a way to check their brand name availability on the social networks. With the high activity of social media it is important to check your potential branding. Here are two easy tools that will check the social networks for any name you may be considering.

User Name Check

and

NameChk

When you are thinking of a new product or new business you should run them through these easy tools and see if they are already in use. If they aren’t in use then go sign up and retain the names for when you are ready to use them…or they be gone before you get the chance.

Ok, you’re building your network. You’ve done all the research, or had someone else do it, as to who you should add to your network. You’ve got your list ready. You start sending, ‘Will you join my network?’ to everyone.

What’s wrong with that Erin? Here are the top 3 reasons not to use the generic invite.

1. If they don’t know you, why should they just accept your invitation? If you are looking to make quality connections you need to tell this person who you are, how you know them and why you want to connect.

2. Give them a link. Add a link to your site or blog so they can check you out if they want. If they have to scour the internet looking for you they are not likely to accept your invitation.

3. Add some content, but not too much. Try not to write a novel. Be sure you let them know who you are in a short and respectful manner. None of us want to spend 5 hours a day on our social networking activities.

Go create an introduction template that you can use to guide yourself when you are seeking a new connection. Be sure you customize the message to each person before hitting send. Let them know you really are looking to connect with them and that you’re not wasting their time.

Happy Networking!

To Tweet or Not To Tweet? This seems to be a hot question with businesses new to Twitter. Why do I need to hear what people had for lunch, or that they’re walking their dog? Well these posts are allowing you to get to know the person beyond the virtual world. The majority of posts are not lunch or dog related, but rather helpful and useful information that you can then share with your followers. So how do you use this new social media platform? Lets take a look at some of the basic features to get you started.

The Tweet

This is a 140 character mini blog post. This will post will appear to each of your followers. This is a short summary on what is going on, what you are doing, something interesting you want to pass on and information you want to share.

Who to Follow?

Twitter is about connecting and networking. People will follow you and you can follow people. When you have found someone that peaks your interests you can follow them and receive their Tweet updates. When you are on their Twitter profile you will see their picture and just below will be a follow button. In one click you are their newest follower. Do you have to follow someone who is following you? This is up to you. You do not have to, but keep this little tidbit in mind. If you are not following someone they cannot direct message (private message) you in the future.

Finding people to follow:

Search on Twitter.If you know their user name, first name or last name this can be the easiest way to find them. To do this click on the Find People button at the top of your Twitter page.

Your other networks. If you are on Facebook, LinkedIn or other social networks check your connections and see if they are on Twitter. This is an easy way to get directly to their page and follow them.

Email/RSS/or Text follow. You can invite your connections to Twitter if they are not Tweeting yet. Send them an email with your information and invite them to join you. If they do not want to sign up for Twitter at this time let them know they can subscribe to your RSS feed and get your updates that way. To do this all they need to do is click on the RSS button in the right column and insert that URL into their RSS reader. The other option they have is to receive your updates to their wireless device as a text message. All they have to do is “follow [user name]” to 40404.

If you decide you do not want to follow someone any more, just visit their page and hit the unfollow button below their picture.

The Art of the @ Reply

You received a Tweet that must be shared now what do you do? Quite simple, from the Twitter interface click the little grey arrow to the right of that specific Tweet. Now you will be taken to a Tweet post that will display @ and their name (ie. @VAerin) Then be sure that you paste in their original message, if you have room you can add a statement about it.

I just want to send a message to one person. This is also a function of the @ reply. Just type in the post box @ and their username proceeded by your message. Now remember this is not a private message, your whole network will see this message.

Direct Message Anyone?

Now here is how you send that private message. To do this type a capitol D followed by a space and then the username, then of course your message. This will arrive to that user only.

Favorite Tweets?

Here is a nifty tool. You can use this in a few ways. I use this as a Twitter Testimonial Area. What the world are you talking about Erin? If I receive a thank you, a good job, a recommendation over Twitter I favorite it. Then when some visits my favorites they will see all the wonderful things I have helped with. The other use for this feature is to remember Tweets. Favorite it for future reference, because you like the quote or what ever reason you want to!

What other Twitter questions do you have? Please let me know here: http://premierevirtualoffice.com/contact-erin

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact Info: Erin Stinson
Web Address: www.premierevirtualoffice.com
Business Blog: blog.premierevirtualoffice.com
email: info@premierevirtualoffice.com
Phone: 309-750-5147

Premiere Virtual Office Now Offering Certified Social Media Marketing Services

Social Media is essential for all businesses and Premiere Virtual Office is here to help you get the most out of this new marketing avenue.

(Rio Rico, AZ Monday, June, 15, 2009) – Certified Social Media Marketer, Erin Stinson, is excited to announce her new line of services. Premiere Virtual Office is now offering consultation and coaching services to businesses that are new to social media, and businesses looking to improve their current social media campaign.

Social media marketing is now the 4th most popular online activity noted by Nielsen Online. Bringing in 67% of the global online population, time spent on social networking is growing at three times the internet rate. Now is the time to act on this vast growth for the benefit of your business and your brand recognition.

Social media is a large task for every business, but none the less a necessary one. Implementing these daily routines will create your online reputation, brand recognition, and drive more traffic to your online real estate. All of these objectives are also laser targeted to your specific audience. This is the miracle of social media marketing, you are not throwing an ad up that will be seen by people uninterested in your product or service, rather you are knocking on your viewers door.

Premiere Virtual Office can take the stress out of this new explosive market and turn it into success for your business.

For more information
About Social Media Services please visit www.premierevirtualoffice.com or contact Erin at info@premierevirtualoffice.com

About Erin Stinson
Erin founded Premiere Virtual Office in 2008. During this time she has received an entrepreneur award as well as her Social Media Certification. Her love for this field helps entrepreneurs, small business owners, and virtual businesses all over the world.

Social media has grown leaps and bounds in the last few years. New platforms emerging and trends changing all within this short time. Many companies have joined in on this social networking and have seen great results.

Social media marketing is unique and growing like wildfire. It is unlike the traditional marketing methods in many ways. Social networking is about help the users, the audience. Giving them reliable information, exciting news and events, and letting them know you’re listening to what they have to say.

Here are the recent statistics from Marketing Charts on how many are joining in on the social media excitement. I find it very interesting to watch the numbers. You can get a feel for how much experience your competition has by doing some in-depth research. You can also determine where and what they are doing and this will help you when you begin the planning stages of your campaign.

As you can see social media is growing and is about to hit an all time high. Social media networking, or social networking some call it, can have a huge benefit for you business. This is the time to “get in the game” and start making a difference. Start with the research, create a structured plan with specific and measurable goals. Then put your plan into action. Be sure you go through an evaluation period as well after about 30 days and see what is working and what you need to improve on.

If social media seems like a foreign language to you then you should consider seeking the assistance of a social media consultant who can walk you through the important concepts of social media. Giving you a good over view and understanding to get out there and share your knowledge and build your brand.