Getting Social

Mississippi Crops Short CourseDecember 2012

A little background.

Email reports…

AgFax.Com…

Web development…

So, we’re 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.

Why we’re 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.

Why you should be, too…

The most important language? It’s not going away. Facebook : 1

billion-plus. People expect you to be there, too. Build, strengthen relationships. Promote my <fill in the blank>. Immediacy.

What we’ll cover…

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

Terms I might use…

Social Media Social Network Buzz Content Marketing 80/20 approach (or rule)

Texting, basic platform…

Direct, to the point. Works in places you can’t make a

call. All but necessary with younger

people. Drawbacks? A few, sure. Advantages? How valuable is your

time?

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.

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 3rd party apps. Check out @agmidsouth.

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?

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

LinkedIn means business…

Very much like Facebook, but… Plenty of features, expansion

potential. High percentage of college grads. Should you be on LinkedIn?

Other social venues…

Pinterest: Decidedly female site.

Tumblr: Very youth oriented.

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 <fill in the

blank>.

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.

Greenleaf Agronomy, N.C.

The Almond Doctor, Calif.

Seminole E-News, Georgia

California Rice Commission

E-letters: the big push…

Dovetails nicely with blogs. Builds audience, builds social

connections. Can be automated (more in a

moment).

Forums, coffee shop on line… Non-threatening place to ask

questions. Wide perspective. Crowd-sourcing ideas, experiences. Grain of salt, of course.

NewAgTalk.Com: our favorite…

YouTube: simple truths…

Videos don’t 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.

Other channels…

Instructional videos: Camtasia, et al. Podcasts: Audacity, Propaganda.

RSS: Real Simple Syndication Also known as “news feeds”. Every blog generates one or more

feeds. You become a news distributor, if

you’d like. Here’s the neat part: automatic e-

letters. Feedburner (Google), Mail Chimp.

Setting priorities…

Questions?