Joseph Pass CSIT-155 Class blog

Man, what a semester it has been. It seems like it was last week that I was sitting down at my computer trying to understand exactly what this course would be like. It was my first time ever doing online courses like this and was something I really had to get used to. I was excited though, to be learning about social media for business since I had just started my own business several months prior. I definitely knew that I needed some help navigating through it to understand the real importance and how to implement it within my own work. Since beginning the course, my use of social media has definitely changed and I'm finding better ways to engage my audience. I have really seen Facebook to be much more successful in generating revenue compared to Instagram which has been better for interaction and brand recognition. Knowing this has helped me to prioritize the type of content I'm using on each platform. My target audience also differs from each platform and each demands differe...

It's great to find these sources for managing my social media platforms and there are many different tasks they can help with. The first one that intrigued me was a site called MeetEdgar which is best for automation. There are two paid options within the site and they both offer great services. They allow me to make unlimited scheduled posts, it organizes my posts into a searchable library so I can reuse them when I want and I can schedule specific posts for the right times.  Another source that is best for all around use is Zoho. This allows businesses to schedule posts, collaborate with their team, and check analytics. There are 3 paid options within the site and they all provide great features depending on the size of your company and your needs.  Buffer is another site that helps with scheduled posts and creating content that works for your brand, it allows you to team up with coworkers to draft up posts together, and lets you get analytics. For the publishing feature of t...

For the next few months I plan to utilize several avenues of marketing. These avenues include Instagram, Facebook and e-newsletters. I also plan to use LinkedIn, but this is more just for my own personal use of finding information, not for marketing. Facebook/Instagram Every Thursday + Sunday: setup scheduled daily posts to occur each morning around 10am and then around 6pm on Wednesdays to remind people to come to the Farmers Market on Thursday morning.  Post on stories daily with tagged posts from customers. Check engagement every 3 days. Adjust accordingly  Paid ads will be used in future months to come E-newsletters Create a bi-weekly newsletter on Tuesdays to keep customers up to date with what's happening at my company. Increase to weekly once website is established.

Throughout this semester's course on Social Media, I have really been able to get a taste of how to better use and understand the specific platforms in regards to my small business. As a millennial, I of course already had a fairly good understanding of how to use social media and knew that it is a vital part of running a successful business. Clearly, it's impossible to scroll through Instagram or Facebook without seeing ads for businesses with clickable links that direct you to their profile or website, so when I began my business I absolutely knew I had to have some sort of presence on those two platforms at least. What I didn't know, and what I've began to learn are the details and knowledge that go in to creating a business profile that is actually successful and efficient.  What this course has done is force me to look more in depth at what goes into a social media presence and how to operate it with more ease. What once seemed daunting has now become exciting and ...

As I'm browsing through my Facebook analytics page for ultimately the first time, I am amazed at all the information there is to be found. How did I not know this information existed? I blindly started my Facebook business page last year with absolutely no idea what I was doing other than the basic knowledge I had from using my personal Facebook for the last decade or so. Now that I know I can track all of this information I am eager to build my page and grow my customer base through quality and timely content. To begin, I'm able to get a quick overview of the information with the most recent weeks numbers. I can quickly see page views, likes, reach, and actions. Clearly I have been neglecting my Facebook page which is why my numbers are so poor. However, this is a huge eye opener and really encourages me to post more. As I dive in a bit deeper, I can click on any of those boxes for more information. For example, when I click "Actions on Page" it opens up to all the i...

Google Analytics is an incredibly useful program that can be used to grow your business. There are so many features within that allow you to track important data in regards to your website and social media profiles. Personally, I would use the analytics to track the specific engagement from my audience to determine which types of posts they react to best and and how often they are sharing my posts. That is incredibly important to me so that I can continue to deliver content that they find good enough to share with their friends and family.  I am also able to track how many new users I am getting and how many I am retaining or losing. I would also like to know when and through which methods they are finding me and subscribing to my page. This is important to know so that I can schedule my posts for specific times and where I need to direct my marketing. Of course we want to target our audience when they are awake and online so knowing those times is crucial to my business developmen...

These were three different ads that I paid to have run on Facebook. I actually have never looked at the analytics for these ads until now and I find it super interesting. There is so much useful information to be found and now that I know I can use this for future ads. Now that I'm starting to get a better handle on the labor side of my business, I have a lot more time to dedicate to social media and advertising.  These ads that I made before I really didn't put too much thought into so they may not have been the most effective. However, the first ad did reach quite a lot of people and that is ultimately what got me started with my business. Because of the Facebook ad running all the time, I ended up getting too many orders that I couldn't keep up on my own and had to move my business out of my home and into a commercial kitchen.  The ads are simple; "Fresh baked cookies made to order and delivered. Order now." A very simple call-to-action that works. My main cust...

I scrolled through my newsfeed on my personal Facebook account and got several sponsored posts and ads which are mostly relevant to my current interests. First there was a sponsored post for maternity shoots-my wife is pregnant and she's used my Facebook to search for things related to that. The post used photos done by a photographer of a family and the mother is pregnant. They use a call to action "Book Now" by advertising a discount and when you click it brings you to a website where you can choose a photo package. I get sponsored posts for Vistaprint and ZipRecruiter because they are clearly targeting me for my business side. I use hiring websites in order to find employees and I use a lot of printing services for packaging and labels. These aren't that annoying because they can be useful to me when I'm needing to complete a task or looking for better pricing. Another sponsored post was for Veteran's Loans using a call to action to refinance a home mortgag...

I created a free account with LinkedIn so I could explore what the site has to offer. There are so many inspiring people to follow and learn from along with many different brands that I can follow to gain more insight into the industry. I researched the groups section and found many groups that would be extremely useful to me and my business.  Some of my biggest hurdles in my business are my lack of social media presence, marketing, and packaging. With just a basic search in the groups section I found many groups tailored to these exact subjects. For example, I found a group called "Food Packaging Professionals" this would be an excellent group for me to join to get insight on the best type of packaging for my product and how to enhance my production. Not only that, I am able to find people for hire for areas that I am weak in or cannot execute myself.  Yelp is another outlet that my business does not currently utilize but will in the future. Yelp is great for promoting your ...

In today's world it seems that everything is moving to the online world. We use it for literally everything, we are glued to our phones for hours on end and have to rely on it navigating through the world. It makes sense that as a business owner, I would need to get on bored with the growing trend to make the most of what the internet has to offer in terms of helping my business grow.  We are all very familiar with Facebook and Instagram, but there are many other social networks that provide useful tools to broaden our business whether it be by actually gaining customers, or by networking with other business owners or people who we could use on our team, or just to gain information related to our industry.  I have been all too hesitant to join LinkedIn, not because I don't want to, but because it is just another daunting task that I must add to my To Do list for my still very new business. I am fully aware of all the benefits I could reap by joining and creating my profile and...