This summer we have been spotlighting social media here on our web site, blog, and of course on facebook, google plus, Linkedin and  twitter  – all to help you grow your online presence with great tips, strategies and concepts that work on social media and beyond.  We set a goal for our selves to double our followers in the most popular social media forums, and to help our clients, readers and followers learn the ways to do the same and of course benefit from those increased social circles.   It turned out to be a lot more than just adding followers and ‘likes’ for us, and our clients – we found new opportunities, new ways to communicate, and yes we have actually seen a direct increase in sales just due to the awareness of people’s social circles .  We more than doubled our followers, but more than that – we’ve started to communicate through social media in conversations, not just talking to or posting to an audience – but talking back and forth and really listening.  The social media challenge so far this summer has helped us to open new channels to communicate with both current and potential clients.

Part of this social media focus this summer revolved across a national social media challenge sponsored by American City Business Journals in 42 Cities, including here in our home town of Albany, New York.  We competed against 100+ other companies here in our City, and lead the pack almost since day 1 with our “3 C” approach (Content, Communication and Contests!). In fact, our contest to win a free iPad and Visa Gift Cards continues- and we continue new social media related content to bring you the very strategies and tips we have been using our selves.  You can view the competition here, and if you haven’t already shown your support or voted, we would appreciate a vote!  You can vote, and view that competition at http://www.bizjournals.com/albany/exclusives/socialmadness

So a number of people keep calling, emailing and replying to us on twitter and facebook asking for that secret tip that has had us in the #1 seat for over a month, and put us now in the final round against OverIT Media (final round ends July 17th, so if you haven’t voted you still have time!) .  While there is no silver bullet – it is hard work, with real people who create content, intersting conversations, and meaningful information to get people’s attention.  But there is one little secret tip we didn’t mention until now, what we call our Social Media Secret Weapon!  OverIt Media  is a great bunch of people here locally in Albany, and fantastic at the marketing and design work they do – and we feel honored to be among them in the final round of the competition.   While we may not of known we would be competing with OverIT Media in the final round, we didn’t blink when the chance to hire some of their great tallent came upon us!  This summer a new addition to our team, Jared R.,  formerly one of OverIT Media’s team mates the past 2 summers has now taken up the flag of TurnKey, and helped us launch and maintain our entire Social Media Challenge program this summer.   We call Jared, our Social Media Challenge Secret Weapon!  Jared works in our marketing department and fully focuses on the social media platforms.  Jared brings great creativity and ideas to the table, and his previous experience at OverIT Media couldn’t of served him (or us!) better.  And it doesn’t hurt being a little bit lucky either – we are quite fortunate  having a new team member that knows the other team’s play book!  We sure are glad he is on our side as our Social Media Secret Weapon!

Please be sure to give a shout out on our Facebook wall, twitter, google plus or Linkedin to welcome Jared to the TurnKey Family!   In Jared’s own words:

Jared R: I’ve been active on social media websites for years, and I always knew businesses had accounts where you can like their pages, follow them on twitter, subscribe to emailing lists, etc. but I always thought their followers and likes were just for show; like they just want to say “we’re the best company because 5,000 people say they care about our status updates.”  It wasn’t until I started in the design and marketing field that I realized there’s an entire underground (or rather digital) realm of marketing, where these numbers become a matter of life and death.

My first exposure to the business end of social media was right out of my freshman year of college.  With a major in New Media Interactive Development at the Rochester Institute of Technology, I was never really able to learn too much about marketing because of the intensive focus on programming and graphic design.  Before TurnKey Internet, I had my first internship at Overit Media in Albany, NY, where I was able to put my skills from school to use in a business environment.  The experience I gained there has helped me succeed here at TurnKey, where I continue to advance my marketing experience.  The work I do now involves working the Social Media platforms for TurnKey Internet to help amplify its online presence.

So welcome to the TurnKey family Jared, and look for more from Jared in the next few months!