As we all know, it is in our nature to want to win!!! offering sweepstakes for your social media platforms is a great way to create engagement as well as develop your fan base. Sweepstakes are highly effective for many reasons:

- People love an opportunity win

- Entering online contests is one of the most popular online activities

- Sweeptakes can be targeted to specific demograhics

- Analytics provide key information on the sweepstakes campaigns

- Users share contests creating  viral opportunities

- Database development

We recently launched a few promotion to help increase awareness and drive fan base for a few of our clients:

The Westin St. John has partnered up with Yacht Haven Grande to offer a joint promotion where fans can enter to win a 2 night stay, dinner at Wikked Restaurant and a Ferragamo Purse. In order to be eligible visitors will have to like both pages to qualify. Offering a program like this provides both companies with the ability to tap into each others fan base. In addition, a Facebook ad strategy will provide each company with the ability to generate new fans.

Westin St. John Contest Page

Yacht Haven Grande Contest Page

The US Virgin Islands Hotel and Tourism Association and The St. Croix Hotel and Tourism Association have an ongoing sweepstakes program where we offer a 4 night stay to one of their partner hotels.

St. Croix Hotel and Tourism Association Sweepstakes tab

US Virgin Islands Hotel and Tourism Association Sweepstakes Tab

The Marketing of these promotions are crucial to the success of the campaigns. Putting them together and posting them on the page is simply not enough. Having an ad and posting strategy is key.

In addition to Sweepstakes, promotions are also an effective way to increase your fan base and engage with your current fans. Coming up with innovative ways to track your page success is also a very important piece of the puzzle. In the following example, we created a Wikked Promotions tab on the Yacht Haven Grande Facebook Fan Page. Fans will be able to click on the page and print a coupon which they can present to receive a complimentary plus complimentary appetizer or dessert with purchase of $50 or more. The success of the promotion will be measured by the number of people who present the coupon.

Wikked Promotion With Yacht Haven Grande

All in all, these social media platforms allow you to be creative and innovative on how you achieve your goals. Thinking outside the box can help you develop new fun ideas to engage and increase your visibility.

Be sure to become a fan of the Associates in Business Facebook Fan page to stay up to date on news, promotion and contests.

Tags: Associates in Business, Contests, Ferragamo Purse, Online Contest, St. Croix Hotel and Tourism Association, St. John, St. Thomas, Sweepstakes, United States Hotel and Tourism Association, USVI, Westin St. John, Wikked, Yacht Haven Grande// Category Marketing Tips, Social Media Marketing // Add Comment »

Social Media has quickly become one of the most popular outlets for everyday users, businesses, and various organizations to communicate and share what is going on in their world from their perspective.  These social platforms allow for real time interaction and sharing, this instant ability to communicate ideas is one of the major factors in the  growth  of social media but also a potentially dangerous aspect of social interacting for both individuals and organizations.

Having said that, it is important that people learn the good, the bad, and the ugly of these incredibly fast growing social networks.

It is important to understand that information put out on these channels lives on cyberspace (sometimes forever) and can be shared to thousands if not millions.

Here are some examples and tips of things you should be cautious of:

Pictures: Posting pictures that are questionable:

Keep in mind, many employers, schools, and organizations are reviewing social media as a source of someone’s character. Know this, and be sure to post pictures that are in line with the image you want others to see  you in.

The fact is that you can use social media as a tool to help you accomplish certain goals. For example if you’re a young athlete, then you should post pictures and information that highlight your skills, achievements and  characteristics that are positive and show your contribution to your school and community.  Of course you can have fun and share with your friends and family, but always remember that prospective schools, agents, and recruiters will also be seeing your social imprint so make sure its something you can hold your head up high about.

Postings: Posting comments

The posting of comments is one of the key benefits of social media. Posting and responding to information creates conversation, interaction, and engagement.  These are the core features that these sites were built on and what they were intended to do.

Comments and posts are also virally distributed where potentially thousands of people can see the information. Again, post information you do not mind anyone reading and portrays the image you want them to see.

Here’s an example to keep in mind: If you post “Looking forward to getting away for the weekend with the family” – Now anyone can see that your home will be empty for the weekend.

Here’s a great site with some people who have gotten burned through social media: http://www.burnedbysocialmedia.com/p/test.html

The bottom line is this….. Social Media Platforms can be a great tool for success of used properly. Be cautious of what you post as it can also hurt you in any of your future efforts.

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We hope you were able to tune in yesterday on 880 The Biz with Jim Fried. We have launched a Make Over series focusing around online marketing platforms for Fried on Business. Every other Thursday we will be on air introducing a new platform or marketing initiative. We invite you to follow along as we redesign and develop their social media site and website.

Yesterday we introduced the new customized Facebook Fan page for Fried on Business.

Welcome Page/Social Internet Makeover Tab:  With so much traffic on the internet these days, it is very important to have a welcome page to ensure the visitors that they are viewing the Official Page for the company. The page should feature an invitation to join the page as well as branding elements of the company.

Video Player Tab: Rather than featuring videos on a  library view, we created an application that allows fans to view a playlist from YouTube on ribbon view. Fans can scroll through the playlist and view the videos of their choice right on the page without being redirected to YouTube. The video player will be automatically updated with new videos when the video playlist is updated on the YouTube channel.

Calendar Tab: A full month calendar application allows fans to view events by month. A pop up window displays the daily events when clicked.

Reviews Tab: A tab that allows fans to post reviews

Having customized pages increase fan engagement. The more time fans spend on a page the more likely they are to engage and share your information. And that is crucial to viral distribution of information.

We also discussed 3 key things for engagement:

Posting: keep in mind that whatever is posted on the fan page will go to your fans personal pages. So, it is important not to post too much information and to also make it engaging. Although the goal is to drive business from the page, there should be a good mix of business and generic posts to create engagement that can develop into conversations.

Monitoring: Social Media provides 24/7 engagement. Setting up a system to monitor postings to the page will help keep the page active. As we are also seeing, spammers are now using social media to distribute their information. You are able to hide or delete anything that is posted to the page.

Responding: People fan the page because they are interested in the product or business. Responding to question or commenting on posts will create page loyalty and also create conversations.

For the next segment, we will be discussing the following:

- Customization of the YouTube

- Website update

- Facebook Marketing

- FB Sweepstakes: We will be introducing a sweepstakes for the page where fans will be able to enter to win a great prize

Don’t forget to follow us as we get Fried on Business SOCIALiZD.

Social Internet makeover by Associates in Business

Tags: 880, alex thomas, Associates in Business, biz, faacebook, fried on business, Javier Morales, jim fried, Social Caddie, Social Media, Social Media Management, Social Media Marketing, twitter, youtube// Category General Marketing Advice, Marketing Tips, Social Media Management, Social Media Managment, Social Media Marketing, Uncategorized // Add Comment »

The other night as I sat up trying to fall asleep, I decided to get on Facebook and look at some of my cousins pictures. As I looked through the pictures, I realized that the there is no possible way I could ever catch up with all my family and see what they have all been up to.

My grandparent, Juan and Carmen Vega

You see my mom is from a very very big family. With over 15 kids, my grandmother had a lot of grand kids and at this point she is a great great grandmother. Unfortunately, when she passed away in Allentown, PA. several years ago, the family seemed to grow apart. Our lives continued and many of us are just to busy to take the time to reach out to everyone to see how things are going. I know that I have over 1oo cousins  and many that I do not even know.

So, I created a fan page in memory of my Grandparents  and started inviting some family. I had no idea how much that page would impact my family. My aunt in Allentown posted some pictures of the family and it included some pictures of my parents that I had never seen before. My father passed away over 35 years ago. And there are very few pictures I have seen of him and there were a lot of pictures from my moms siblings as kids. Truly incredible. [Read more →]

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I was playing around on Facebook tonight and came across some cool applications. Click on these and check it out….

You can make these as part of your Face Book and share it everywhere,…

Tags: Associates in Business, Country Club of Coral Springs, Facebook, Signs By Tomorrow, Social Media, Social Media Management// Category Social Media Management, Social Media Marketing // Add Comment »

On Sunday March 7th, I had the pleasure of participating in the Miami Walk to Cure Psoriasis.  I really did not know much about this disease until an old dear friend told me that her husband Carlos had it. And then I did some research and learned how common it really is…

Our booth at the event

Carlos’ story is a story of a fight for a CURE…. [Read more →]

Tags: National Psoriasis Foundation// Category Miscellaneous, Social Media Management // Add Comment »

Having a Facebook or Twitter is a great start. However, it is extremely important to continue to provide interesting information to keep visitors engaged. The more engaging you can be the more you will build loyalty and credibility.

Treat social media as you would a conversation, when people ask you for information you provide them with what they want. And many times you wish you can reach out to them when you have a similar product or information.

Social Media can be a great way to build brand loyalty

These platforms allow you to this and more…

Here are some great tips::

http://www.dmnews.com/social-media-can-boost-customer-loyalty/article/126250/

Tags: Social Media Management, Social Media Marketing// Category Marketing Tips, Social Media Management, Social Media Marketing // Add Comment »

Have you been trying to find a great vacation at a reasonable price? Well, look no further…. The Our Lucaya Beach & Golf Resort has some great rates as well as world class amenities.

Located on the Island of Grand Bahama, The Our Lucaya Beach & Golf Resort as something for everyone. The choice is yours…

Paradise is waiting

Our Lucaya Kids Club

Camp Lucaya, has a 3,000-sq.-ft activity space available for children from 3 to 12 years of age. Their activities include: Junkanoo parades, limbo and beach Olympics. They’ll get a taste of island culture with shell and Junkanoo mask painting, straw weaving and coconut arts and crafts. And when it’s time to really cool off, we have a waterfall and tower waterslide at the Sugar Mill Pool.
For the little ones, the Grandma Lucaya’s” nursery services are available seven days a week, and day care hours are from 9 am to 5 pm for infants and children up to three years old.

Our Lucaya Golf

Choose from 2 – 18-hole golf courses. Our Lucayan Course boasts 6,824 yards of lush, championship golf. Designed by Dick Wilson, this course features tree-lined doglegs and elevated tropical greens. Their 6,920-yard Reef Course was the first Bahamian course to open since 1969. It’s a signature Robert Trent Jones, Jr. design with water playing off 13 holes. Our signature golf courses have been recognized by some of the sport’s top magazines. LINKS Magazine named them “Number One in the Bahamas.” And The Golfer, “Top 100 Golf Resorts in the World.”
For the die hard golfers, they offer a great unlimited golf package.

Our Lucaya Spa

Spa: Their 25,000-sq.-ft spa will soothe your soul. They offer many island-inspired signature treatments that will          sweep you away. Indulge in their variety of spa services designed to slim, detoxify and purify, using local ingredients such as native gammalami and cuscuate bush tonics. Or, melt into their water treatments including submerged massages, rain massages and luxury hydro baths in seaweed, sea salt or algae. It’s all amidst breathtaking island surroundings.

Our Lucaya Casino

Casino: The Our Lucaya features a 35,000 sq. ft. Las Vegas Style Casino. Try your luck with 21 tables of baccarat, Caribbean stud poker, blackjack and roulette. You can also test your luck on 400 exciting slots.

Check out their current deal which offers a great rate and Kids Eat Free!!!!!

Tags: Our Lucay Golf, Our Lucaya, Our Lucaya Casino, Our Lucaya Kids Club, Our Lucaya Spa// Category Travel // 1 Comment »

Open your mind and think outside the box

At Associates in Business, we believe 100% in the Art of Networking. It is the way we have built our business. I am sure you have heard the phrase “It’s not what you know but who you know”. Well, that phrase has helped us help many of our partners succeed. We have all done it. When was the last time you offered someones services to help a person or even a company. The key is having an open mind when entering into a conversation. Think outside the box and listen to what other people are saying. And say to your self, who do I know that can help this person succeed….

Here is an interesting article on “The Art of Networking”

http://www.theartofnetworking.com/

Tags: Social Networking// Category General Marketing Advice, Miscellaneous // Add Comment »

Don’t let your lack of resources or knowledge keep you from engaging in Social Media. Ask me how we can help…..

Social Media Implementation and Management

Tags: Associates in Business, Javier Morales, Social Caddie, Social Media, Social Media Management// Category General Marketing Advice, Miscellaneous, Social Media Management, Social Media Marketing // Add Comment »