Week # 7

In searching for businesses similar to Mary's bookkeeping, I have found that the majority of this type of business does not use social media. I looked at 25 + bookkeeping services and I stopped looking as soon as I found 3 that had any type of social media. I had to resort to New York City to find some users.

I couldn't find one with  Pinterest. The 3 below all have Facebook and Marks Book Keeping has Google+. His link to Google+ is really pretty good. He has used it well with great images and numerous postings. I could definitely see doing the same thing for Mary. I am so surprised at the small amount of social media in this industry. I wonder if that means I have a great opportunity to market these people or, it just hasn't paid off for anybody.

I believe Mary's business will do well with Facebook, Google+ LinkedIn and Yelp. I'm not sure what else would be important for her.

The YouTube link didn't work. I went to the site to try and figure out how to put Mary on there. I failed to figure it out. Most of what I was trying to do for Mary wouldn't work because to defaulted to my personal Facebook page.


http://www.ht2cpa.com/
http://www.marksbookkeeping.com/
http://hy-cpa.com/

Week # 7

I can see where all the network platforms are really important to business, however, I'm not sure all of them are that important for an bookkeeper. Guess I'll find out as we get further into this. I've struggled a bit with assignment because I'm not sure Mary's page requires all the resources.

Mary should definitely be on Linked In and probably Google+ but I'm not sure yet about Instagram or Tumblr. As a bookkeeper I suppose a Youtube video would work for capturing an audience. We will need to look into creating one (or more) that would benefit her.

The 4 most widely used platforms according to the number are Facebook at 1.39 billion users
YouTube at 5.4 million users, Google+ at 5.4 million users and Instagram coming in at 300 million users.

Facebook is miles ahead of everyone and for good reason. It's a great way to see what you need to quickly with little effort.

YouTube is of course very effective because it is so much easier to watch a video of something verses reading a PDF. You have to be willing to have your 5 minutes of fame or find someone willing to take on that role. I suppose it may be difficult to make a good video interesting enough to get folks to want to watch as well.

Google+ seems like it has a few things to offer similar to Facebook but the images can be quite a bit larger. It doesn't appear to have a timeline. I'm still trying to figure it out. It will be good for my own business when I get it up and running to hang images that will be in need of exposure for (graphic design).

Instagram is all about the pictures of course. It allows you to place images randomly for a "behind the scenes" effect. Not sure this will work for Mary but, I could be wrong. Maybe posting pictures of events that she could have (open houses for example) may show people her sense of community...

Week # 6 Continued

I created 7 posts, 5 with images. I geared all of it towards gaining new business, the majority aimed at tax season. I believe it should trigger a need in some people. This is such a crucial time for so many and coming from experience I realize that it's hard to find a good preparer. I struggled with that in my own business. Some if the images I created in Photoshop, some from morguefile.com and one from the internet and I made sure to give credit to the page I found it on, Huffington Post. In the future I would like to start creating my own shots. 

Week # 6

The businesses I chose for Mary's page were all local businesses in her area. Because Mary is a tax preparer and bookkeeper I thought the target market for her initially would be local business people. I can see how engaging with the conversations on these sites would enable Mary to be seen and she could possibly get to know some of the owners or who ever is managing the page. Also if something is mentioned about someone needing her service, she could jump in on the conversation.

It was interesting to see just how many businesses in high desert don't have FB pages. The restaurants especially. I looked at at least 5 websites for food and only one (that wasn't a national brand) had FB . They've always been a little behind in technology. Although, as always the realtors are on it! They wouldn't make it if they weren't....

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers
Farmers Insurance
Top Notch Networking, LLC
FindLaw For Consumers
Shank & Associates
Reservation Counter
Weichert Realtors
Shear Realty
Envision Photography

Week # 5 Facebook/Reach and Post Engagement

I did an internet search for the meaning of both terms and a site called pagemodo.com came up. The first definition of "post reach" is when users scrolling through posts, organically or viral post (shared posts) and hitting like. "Post engagement" is when someone actually interacts with you on your post or shares your post on their page.

It's important to understand each meaning because while it's nice for the acknowledgement of the likes, it's more important to receive feedback on your post to know how people feel about what you're doing. That way you can either keep doing what your doing or make necessary adjustments to receive the feed back you're looking for.

I looked at Facebook insights from my old page of Chrysalis Spa (closed in 2013) and reviewed the data that was listed. It shows how many likes you have received and the % that came in for the last week. It also shows the post reach and engagement in terms of % from the last week. It lists the comments and the number of shares as well.

You can go through the post comments review what clients are talking about. This will enable you to make the necessary adjustments to what you're doing with the page to ensure a positive result. It also gives you the ability to purchase advertising if desired. Pay per click is what is offered.

Week # 4 - Defining a Target Market

I'm choosing to represent my dear friend Mary Bentley to create her social media. She has over 25 years experience as a tax preparer and bookkeeper.  She has yet to market herself for her business. She has no website or social media platforms. She is ready to go to the next level to become self employed in her field.

I will be Mary's webmaster (first I have to build her site!) as well as attending to her social media promotions for the duration of class as well as after I complete the course. I'm anxious to see if I can make this happen for her. I would like to master my abilities in social media so that I can start my own side business attending to the social media of a few businesses.  I think this will be a good start for my portfolio if I can succeed in growing Mary's client base.

Mary Bentley and Associates

Target Market:  Individuals, New Businesses, Corporations, Partnerships and Sole proprietors
Age Range: 30-65
Income Range: $45,000.00 +
Gender: Non-specific
Geographic Area: High Desert Community, Victorville, Hesperia, Apple Valley, Adelanto, Phelan and Lucerne Valley.
Specialties: Quick Books, payroll, professional audits, and the setting up of books.
Location: In office or mobile.

Mary's business is broken down by the time of year.

Individuals: January - April 15th
Businesses: January - December