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How Franchises can benefit from Social Media

Written by: Doug Schadle

Article Overview: Social Media continues to grow and provide new opportunities for professionals to showcase their businesses. Franchise professionals need to realize that they can utilize social media as well to get their brand name on the map. It is imperative to join the social media movement, not necessarily to get ahead of the game, but just to stay with it!

How Franchises can benefit from Social Media

As the social media craze continues to spread, people from every industry need to realize that the importance social media carries is not going away and you must put your biases aside and embrace the good it can bring to your business. Franchise industry take notice! I was hesitant for a while, just like everyone else, but I decided to take the leap and have been very pleased with the results. I started out by setting up Twitter and LinkedIn accounts and doing the basics. On Twitter, I put a picture up and typed a few random thoughts because I didn't know where to go from there. On LinkedIn, I filled in my basic background information but really wasn't sure how to create business opportunities out of it. Eventually, I realized the keys to success with social media: listening, commenting, interacting and time. I quickly found out that social media does nothing for you unless you fully entrench yourself in the various networks. In order to truly accomplish this, you must spend time and energy on it. Now, I spend a few hours a day tweeting, commenting on blogs and interacting in business communities under the handle @DougSchadle, trying to connect with people interested in owning a franchise and discussing the latest franchise trends with other franchise professionals around the country. On LinkedIn, I have met several people who have ended up owning franchises after connecting with me. LinkedIn has professionals around the country that discuss the latest trends in their industry, and put their online resume up for anyone to see and look for new opportunities.

Franchise professionals can, and should, use social media for exactly these purposes. I tweet about the different opportunities I have available, industry news that I come across, replying to interesting posts by other professionals, and connecting to anyone I think that I can benefit from or can benefit from me.

Believe me, social media is not a phase- it is a new way to do business. I encourage all other franchise professionals to start networking via online communities because it has become a great way to enhance your business presence and brand awareness. Plus, in this economy, it is a free way to discuss the opportunities you have and the reasons people should believe in what you are selling.

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Article Tags: background information, biases, blogs, business communities, business franchise, business opportunities, franchise industry, franchise professionals, franchise trends, franchises, industry news, keys to success, latest trends, leap, linkedin, media craze, new opportunities, owning a franchise, random thoughts, twitter



Related Forum Posts
Re: Kevin needs "social glue" ideas - Hi, I like the idea of "10 items that could act as "social glue" because I am an internet marketer. But I agree with the rest that the 10 recent post is nice. Maybe we should open up a new section in the forums on Social Media...or Social Media Marketing. I will tell you that the world is about 1 1/2 behind when it comes to understanding social media. Building a section now will put EvanCarmichael.com is a great position a year down the road when people realize Social Media can produce more traffic than SEO. Jeff
Re: Kevin needs "social glue" ideas - [quote="WebBizIdeas.com":gvtxsu7g]Hi, I like the idea of "10 items that could act as "social glue" because I am an internet marketer. But I agree with the rest that the 10 recent post is nice. Maybe we should open up a new section in the forums on Social Media...or Social Media Marketing. I will tell you that the world is about 1 1/2 behind when it comes to understanding social media. Building a section now will put EvanCarmichael.com is a great position a year down the road when people realize Social Media can produce more traffic than SEO. Jeff[/quote:gvtxsu7g] Hi Jeff, Thanks for the suggestion. Why don't you start a new post (with a poll) to see if there's enough interest in your idea for a social media section?
Re: UPDATES: New Campaign! New Layout! New Ideas! - GT - thanks for the FYI - I'm not sure if we'll put a link back. Something to consider though! Trent - the new category is "Social Network and Media" which was put in to compliment the Online Businesses category that currently exists. Overall the new categories are: - Looking For, Networking and Events - Review My... - Social Network and Media - Brags and Rants These came as a result of Ringo doing research on other forums and thinking about what could be improved on ours to give a better experience for everyone. I hope you enjoy them! David, I'm looking forward to reading your Brag / Rant!
Re: Marketing 2.0 - What Are Your Thoughts - Hi Shri, Thanks for posting this. I also read it and I believe Social Media is here to stay, until the next best thing comes up. Social media proved to be useful for me many times and I think everyone should use it for their business.
Re: Social Media Marketing Ignorance - [quote="vbn411":7qciluxl]Social Media is space that you have to be in to succeed in our current climate. People are going to be discussing your brand / product whether you like it or not, so you might as well join the conversation and add value. [/quote:7qciluxl] I think that's probably one of the most realistic way to think about it. There's no real textbook way of understanding Social Media, it's the networks of people and their interactions that will exist with or without your input. As for Jennifer, You can always have 2 Facebook pages. Many people do. There is also LinkedIn, which is like a professional networking version of Facebook. The only way to know is to try it.


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