Yesterday Tag-On has reached a milestone in the implementation of Social Media at the Expatriate Archive Centre.

For the First time, we integrated all the social media elements to broadcast an announcement about an academic research that was conducted using source material from the Archive.

We started by thinking about the angle of the message that we want to post and who would benefit from hearing about it. We created a blog post . Then, we wrote a tweet about it, shared the blog with the Archive’s Linked In group, and shared the blog with our Facebook group.

Finally we put key words in Google Alerts to check the responses and feedback. So now, the only thing that is left is to monitor how many people read the blog and as result of it want to conduct their own research at the archive too…

Please join our discussion in the Tag-On LinkedIn group about Integrating Social Media elements. Share your own experiences

You meet people on various occasions. Some you meet face-to-face, some have shared information on the internet, some participated in a virtual discussion. Others, you have heard their name through someone else, etc.

Eventually, you ask them to join your network, but did you ever take a moment to ask yourself why do you really want them to join your community? Is this just for being able to say that you have a large number of followers or is it for a particular purpose?

An interesting approach to deciding who you invite to your virtual network is by looking at their potential “role in your business” and their level of involvement .

They could be now:

• prospects/competitors who are listening, but not getting in the way  
• colleagues who are providing resources but no getting personally involved
• prospects who are actively involved in the community and participating in discussions

and potentially:

• your ambassadors who are taking a stand and talking about you and your ideas with their contacts.  
• Your sponsors or customers taking a high personal risk

This approach will only be successful if you focus on those activities that nurture the relationships between you and the ones you have invited.

 How do you decide who to invite? Please share

I have been following America’s Best Business Practices blog by Mike Clough for the past few months. I am really impressed by the way in which Mike simplifies the whole concept of Web 2.0 and explains how its elements are used in today’s business practices.

One of the articles Mike published in January reveals the secret to success in today’s economic world. It’s all about being able to evolve from a Traditional Mechanical Marketing model into an Emerging Organic Marketing Model whereby relationships and trust with consumers and communities are built. This will lead to long-term success and revenue!

The more I read about this topic, the more I became intrigued about the subject and its potential and decided to set up  Tag-On where  I  advise and support businesses throughout their Web 2.0 (and Web 3.0) journey and help them make the necessary transition from broadcasting their messages to customers (one-way) to creating a dialogue with their customers (two-way).

Imagine this: You have created a fantastic web site. This is your baby and you are very proud of it. You have spent many hours planning it, nurturing it, adding content. You thought about it in great detail and decided how to display it. You are now satisfied and content.

But, all of the sudden, somebody asks you if you are using social media in your Web site. Social WHAT???

Is somebody actually asking me to change my web site, expose myself and waste company time whilst socializing?

This is a situation that I encounter quite often, where many people in the business world are still reluctant to use social media because they are convinced that social media is all about sharing their most private pictures and ideas to an unknown audience. They are not aware of the potential of promoting their company, finding new customers and doing more business.  Will those people miss the boat?