If you aren’t a web designer, know nothing about HTML, or just haven’t been using WordPress very long… then it may not be a good idea for you to use a custom WordPress theme. Unless you follow some simple rules:

1. Hire an expert. Ok… I am not trying to promote myself here. But seriously, if you are going to use custom themes, plugins, bells & whistles… but don’t know how to maneuver WordPress CMS… then don’t touch it. Ask an expert to do it. Many experts will let you hire them on retainer so they can this “stuff” for you when you need it.

I get calls all the time… “Help! I broke my site!” 

A lot of you don’t have time to learn to fix it. So hire someone who can do it in a flash. 

2. Learn to use WordPress CMS. CMS means content management system. And really, its easy. You can never be prepared for every emergency that might happen – but if you know the basics, you can save a lot of money on retaining that expert. This means knowing some simple HTML, too. And knowing how to maneuver an FTP program like Dreamweaver or just SmartFTP. 

3. Check your site after every edit. EVERY. EDIT. If you make some changes to the image on your post… save it, then check it before doing any other edits. If you make some edits to a sidebar widget, check it every time you update. If you mess with the plugins, check it after each plugin update.

Some things to watch out for:

• Some plugins don’t work together and can break your site. 
• Some custom themes require a lot of FTP file editing.
• If you change from one theme to another – check all of your pages, some of the code might change. 
• Some themes have special “featured” articles on the homepage that use TimThumb and you will need to learn to use custom fields.

Pete Hollier of The Wizards Blog, posted some statistics and surveys indicating that the majority of North American companies believer that their companies can’t survive without social media. 

A recap: 

• 60% of American citizens used Social Media.
• 93% indicated business should have a Social Media presence
• 85% indicated businesses should interact via Social Networks with their customers

Consumers surveyed indicated businesses should use Social Media to:

• Solve Problems – 43%
• Obtain user feedback on product and services – 41%
• Enable consumers to interact with the company brand – 37%
• Market to consumers – 25%

Barriers to initiating Social Media Programs:

• Lack of understanding by Senior Management 58%
• Negative impact on employee productivity 49%
• Fear of unknown technology 58%

Companies currently using Social Media reported the following:

• Improved Feedback 78%
• Improved Customer Satisfaction 66%
• Improved Customer support 71%
• Increased Sales 40%
• Improved public perception of company 75%

Within the survey completed for Avande were some general statements which must be considered:

• 52% of respondents stated “Companies that fail to embrace social media technologies for business purposes will be left behind “
• 78% of respondents stated “As we enter a possible economic downturn we need to focus on new ways of communicating with customers which add real value.”
• 77% of respondents stated “If they did not initiate a Social Media Program Social Media would enter the company by stealth”

How much time is needed to be effective at marketing yourself through social media? Where should I invest my time online? What social media tools should I be using and how often should I use them?

Your time is valuable. I am a master multitasker, and even I have a hard time deciding where to invest the time I do have. 

1. How much time is needed to be effective at social media? Think of social media as a marketing project. It’s not a hobby (thanks @awpotter I like that line). The first step in any advertising or public relations campaign is research, then planning, then implementation. The research and planning phases – which are the foundation of your campaign – are going to take more time to build than the actual implementation. So in the beginning – you could spend 10-50 hours launching your campaign. 

2. How much time do I need to spend on a weekly basis promoting my cause through social media? Once your campaign is launched, it is a process of learning. The first time you do something it always takes longer than the second, then third time, and eventually you have it down and you don’t have to think about it anymore. But that doesn’t answer the question, does it?

The answer varies depending on:

     A. Your purpose and goal

     B. How fast your typing is, how fast you are at writing, your internet connection speed… are you getting the point? 

Scenario: You are promoting your wedding cake business online. You already have a blog setup with a linkedin account, facebook as well as twitter. You are experienced in your field and excited about weddings. So, you write one blog a week with good information for brides, then you use that blog to promote what you do by searching for brides on facebook and sending twitters out daily. You also find some unique wedding website communities to contribute to, like offbeat bride and weddingwire. So, you spend an hour a week on your blog, a half hour a day on facebook and another 15 minutes a day on twitter. Then you spend an average of 2 + hours a week on other sites. Minimum Time per week = 7 hours (an hour every morning with a cup of coffee!)

3. What social media tools should I be using and how often should I use them? There are four basic tools every professional should be using: Blogging, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. Each has a different purpose in gaining new leads, check out my training on becoming a trust agent. Your field is going to have additional tools available (like weddingwire for cake makers or photographers). But how much time you spend on each depends on your field and your purpose! Check out the scenario above. 

And to respond to Chris Brogan’s thoughts on being realistic about time, Chris points out that ever since the web happened our expectations about response time has changed. Chris says, “We can reinstate boundaries and manage expectations. Business has to move fast, but do we really want the future where we’re all tethered to Twitter?”

It’s true. Boundaries are important. Nobody can expect people to be as good as me at multitasking (hah!). But – it is also true that the internet and social media has changed our ability to response quickly. We can get emails, twitters and facebook responses on our mobile phones. We can hire virtual assistants to manage our LinkedIn accounts! 

As I have said before, Social Media has turned 6 degrees of separation into new and instant connections across the globe! So, set your boundaries, don’t overexpect people to revolve their valuable time around you – but also know that there are tools out there so we can capitalize on our God-given abilities and human beings to be the ultimate task-masters! 

Check out our social media 101 program that will help you get a hold on your marketing >

Social media tools arent’ just about networking. They are about making life more efficient… and sometimes fun. Last Christmas I sent out a holiday newsletter for my company, Expressions Laboratories. Instead of giving people more information in an already busy holiday season, we decided to give everyone a little gift: we elf’d ourselves. Along with hand written cards (nothing beats a personal hand-written note) we plugged our faces into elfyourself.com and made fools of ourselves. It was a hit. 

This Christmas I wanted to renew the gift. Here is me and my two favorite men (David and Kaleb, 5) in a holiday dance: 

What did I learn from this experiment? 

1) People want to see your sense of humor. It makes you a real person. That is part of what social media is all about… showing people that you can relate to them on more than one level. 

2) It saved time sending out extra hand-written cards. I sent the ones I wanted to send, but I didn’t have to spend an entire afternoon writing cards… or spend $100 because those little boxes only hold 10 or so. 

Make some of your own: jibjab.com

Yesterday I showed Val from Absolute Bridal & Formal this website, Marketing Helper… which is actually my blog. This was his response:

“Remember DOS?” He asked me. “Imagine that I am DOS and you are Windows… that is how beginner I am on this computer stuff. So forgive me for saying this… but your blog looks just like a website.” 

I responded to Val by affirming his correctness. A blog IS a website. 

“Well, then… why do I need a website? If I can just have a blog?”

Good question, Val! Very good question. 

What is the difference between a website and a blog? 

I think it goes back to the difference between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0.

The ‘Essential Keystrokes’ blog defined “getting social on the web” as defining the difference between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0: “In the first generation of the web, it was all about providing information to your readers – the web was a one-way street. Web 2.0 is all about the user and giving the user a voice – thus making it a two-way street.”

While a blog is a “species” of website… hehe… it is still very different.

We can say that websites are online brochures that offer information and make people aware of products and services but also create opportunities for customer convergence (signup for a newsletter, buy something, download something, etc), and SHOULD interact with search engines for new customers to get information. The more intractable a website is, the more it is Web 2.0.

Blogs not only have a very specific trend/style to them, but the key to blogs is that every page allows for comments and interaction. It is a journal – not necessarily a personal journal – but a place for information and interaction. 

The ‘Intuitive.com’ blog said it well: “The real value of blogging isn’t the capability of the tool, but the ability for each and every page on the site, each and every article, to invite and display feedback from readers–comments, as they’re called in the blogging world. This is a dramatic difference because it changes a monologue, a “brochure,” into a dialogue with readers or customers.” 

So… there you have it. 

Thoughts?