At Social: IRL we regularly provide in-house training for clients. We also host a nationwide conference series that takes some of the most respected names in social and new media and goes beyond the typical conference experience to provide highly engaged interactive learning in a boot camp type environment.
Educating and empowering is a key focus of what we do. A business should not simply hire a consultant, or contract out management of social media accounts without any real investment on their own part beyond paying fees. There are certainly times when that type of support is needed and properly given, but at a local level it is typically more effective when the business or community organization can handle social media themselves. We believe in an integrated approach, that social media should be part of what you do, not handled as some separate entity.
Ultimately social media is about relationships. This is especially evident at a local community level. It requires authenticity and should present an online personality that accurately reflects the offline personality of the business or individual.
Many business get that social media is important, but are put off simply because they are confused, intimidated, overwhelmed or afraid of time or cost commitments.
That is why we are offering this four part class, Social Media for Small Business & Community Organizations.
The class is designed to help educate and empower small businesses, community organizations, and anyone else interested in using social media as a positive and productive tool. A goal of the class is to focus on effectively using social media to connect with the local community, reach prospects, build relationships, provide customer service, and help drive sales.
Each week we’ll progress to a new level, at all times combining teaching with practical hands on assistance to help get you up and running.
We’ll start with the very basics to help you understand what social media is beyond the typical talk about Facebook and Twitter. We’ll look at key social networks, help with account setup and branding, how to use each network. We’ll cover best practices, promoting your new accounts, finding the right people to connect with and what to say. We’ll also look at developing a basic strategy that helps you integrate social media with existing marketing and customer service efforts, and look at creating an effective content plan. We’ll also cover location based service such as Foursquare, listening to conversations and monitoring specific keywords, using video and photo services, blogs, and tools and techniques to help with managing your account in an effective and time efficient manner. We’ll set goals, review progress, and compare results.
We’ll look at why social media is not a “magic solution” or stand-alone solution, but needs to integrate with existing marketing, customer service and outreach efforts. One of the goals of this class is to help you understand and achieve that integration. Another goal is to empower you to feel confident running these efforts on your own, not contracting out and paying someone to run accounts for you.
Each class will include two hours of teaching time plus one hour of Q&A and practical support. We have sought to make the class as affordable and accessible as possible and will be offering a total of 12 hours of class time for a flat rate of $250 per attendee.
Our first class will take place in four parts:
Part One – Friday, June 17, 9:00am to Noon
Part Two – Thursday, June 23, 9:00am to Noon
Part Three – Thursday, June 30, 9:00am to Noon
Part Four – Friday, July 8, 9:00am to Noon
Classes will take place in the Media Room at The Oread Hotel in Lawrence.
For additional information and to sign up visit our event registration page, or contact us with any questions.
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