Last week I gave a speech at the Red Bank Toastmasters club about social media. I started by asking the audience a simple question, “Who here is involved with social media?” 

Now, how many questions outside of, “Who here breathes air?” do you think you could ask where every single hand in the room goes up?

Apparently social media is as common these days as the air we breathe…crazy! 

After my speech I had a few people approach me with questions about how to get better at social media. One person didn’t have a company, but wanted to work on his personal brand. I gave them a few ideas such as registering his name (URL), starting a blog and completing his LinkedIn profile.

I had another gentleman tell me that his company actually frowned upon their employees engaging in social media. I gave him a few ideas to bring back to his boss, and then showed him how to set his privacy on Facebook so that he can still mingle socially online, because let’s face it, with a boss like that who knows when he may be looking for a new job…of course that was a joke, but he understood the point, that you need to stay connected because you never really know, right?

So even if you don’t completely get it yet, start “social”-izing…it’s the only way to stay relevant…The Time Is Now!

John Zalepka

Let’s say you were advertising your brand as the greatest, most reliable HVAC contractor in all of the land. But you never connected with past clients that would have been more than happy to post on your Facebook fan page just how great, and reliable you are.

And let’s just say that someone does a Google search because they are in the market for a great, reliable HVAC contractor.

Instead of finding a well-crafted social presence that you control, Google sends them a link to a blog post from that nightmare customer a few years back who had a less-than-reliable experience with you. In fact, not only are they are telling everyone how un-“reliable” your business is, they even have a link recommending someone else, your competitor.

It could happen, in fact it IS happening, EVERY DAY. And if you are not integrating your online and offline marketing efforts, you are doing more than just losing a potential customer - you are potentially damaging your brand.

People are talking on many different social media platforms, some you may not even be aware of, and they may even be talking about your business. There could be a conversation going on RIGHT NOW that you don’t even know about. Wouldn’t you like to be a part of that conversation, good or bad?

It’s not enough for YOU to tell people how great you are in your advertisements. People are very skeptical these days when they see what they know are “paid” ads, either online or offline. Studies have shown that only 15% of people actually believe advertisements…and those same studies show that over 90% of people believe peer recommendations.

So get moving…get your raving fans to talk about you & refer you to their friends…just make sure to give them something for their efforts so they will want to continue helping you out.

Stay friendly, my friends!

John Zalepka

We have all heard the many success stories about how average everyday people are just crushing it (you know making million$) with social media. The great news is that these average everyday people are using the very same social media platforms that we all have access to, and the best part is that most of them are FREE!

However, just having access to them for FREE! does not guarantee you anything.

It is the equivalent of having a FREE! gym membership and expecting to have six-pack abs because you go to the gym once or twice a month. You need to put in the hard work necessary to really get in shape.

Similarly, your FREE! social media membership will only benefit you in direct proportion to the amount of hard work you put in.

This is how I’m getting started…

I believe that the best way to get started is to concentrate on your core. Much in the same way it is important to have a strong core when working out, it is important to have a strong core when starting out in social media…my Core 4:

Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, YouTube

Studies have shown that people only believe about 15% of online advertising, while they believe 90% of their peer reviews.

Get your accounts up and running and start connecting with people. But whatever you do, don’t start selling (adverting) right away. Instead, start posting great information (content). Information that your customers and prospective customers will find useful. Try to become THE source for when people need information about something in your industry. Become the local celebrity expert! We’ve all seen people become famous recently just because of something “crazy” they posted on social media. But really aren’t they just positioning themselves as the expert of ‘how not to jump off your roof onto a trampoline while riding a bicycle’?

After you have connected and engaged your friends / readers / followers / subscribers by providing great content, they will start to give you back their information and hopefully start to refer you to others who may find your product or services useful by retweeting, reposting, liking, etc, etc, etc.

Make sure to put links back to your website where people can get more information and make a purchase; only then will you be able to capitalize on your hard work on the Core 4: Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin & YouTube.

So let’s get started!

John Zalepka

“How can you squander even one more day not taking advantage of the greatest shifts of our generation? How dare you settle for less when the world has made it so easy for you to be remarkable?” – Seth Godin, Seth’s Blog

Some of you have been following my progress this week (if you missed it, check me out at Zalepka.com) and I must say that my brain is exhausted. Not exhausted to the point where I need to lie down and take a nap, but more like how I used to feel after the first 5 two-a-days back in football training camp, exhausted, but excited and hungry for more.

Through my writings and by utilizing some of the different social media platforms, I’m attempting figure out how companies are using social media to grow their businesses. My hope then is to bring that information to you, our loyal customer base, and help you to take advantage of this social boom as well.

After a long day on the job it takes some effort to do the extra things that you know you need to do in order to achieve success in your field; much in the same way it has been a struggle for me to write for 5 days straight. However, once you get past that fatigue and you push through the lactic acid buildup in your brain, you will be stronger and wiser for it; while putting yourself in a position to capitalize on the opportunities that will seem to virtually pop up out of nowhere. They call this is called creating your own luck.

So stay tuned, because at Adpro Imprints we’re committed to your success!

John Zalepka

Here I am, 4 days into my commitment to myself to post for 30 days straight. I got the idea from the #Trust30 prompt of the day, which is basically a fantastic marketing tactic for promoting a book. The book, Self-Reliance, is in celebration of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s 208^th birthday.

When I received the prompt today however, I was having a difficult time trying to formulate an answer that somehow related back to marketing. So I decided to skip the prompt and just focus on the marketing.

When I first began my social media journey (this past Monday), I found myself with about 100 tabs open on my browser as bounced around the internet trying to absorb as much information as possible. I think I saw the link on a tweet… ralphwaldoemerson.me

Upon landing on this very basic looking site, I was immediately asked to take a challenge. Being that I am such a competitive person, I am always up for a challenge. And the best part was, I would only be competing against myself (which isn’t as easy as you may think, but that’s another topic for another day).

So here I am committing to better myself through writing this blog. And I am grateful for #Trust30 for making me take on this challenge and make that commitment, that pledge. And yet, they never asked me to buy the book, sure they let me know it was for sale, but they gave me value first.

It appeared as though they really wanted me to increase my own self-reliance and better myself. And all they asked for in exchange for helping me along was the proper credit in my posts, tweets, and updates.

And even though I didn’t use their prompt today I’m still talking them up, aren’t I?

I’m sure there will be quite a few people in my network (friends, followers, connections) that are bound to see, click, read, or perhaps buy the book (note to self: maybe I should figure out how to monetize these referrals).

And what did it cost them?

Domain Registration $10… Design $1000… Hosting: $100… Thousands of people blogging and referencing your book on social networking sites for free: Priceless!

So basically, if I figure out what value I can give first, maybe more people will buy my “book”… I just bought theirs.

John Zalepka