Social Media Savvy
Policy vs playbook 2
Using social media for building stronger relationships
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Good Twitter habits
Facebook’s EdgeRank
March 2016
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Social media and SEO
Content is king
Tone and attitude
Lifespan of your content
Responding to engagement
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Promoting sharing
Facebook Insights / statistics
Dealing with malicious comments
Clever Facebook tricks
Maximising interaction with the right content
Twitter for newbies
Ways to tweet
Hashtags
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Social media advertising
Free resources & contacts
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Social media is free, fast, portable, responsive and can be learnt very quickly. It can unite disparate people and move them to action. In short; it’s perfect for you.
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Mastering social media takes some time, application and ongoing experimentation. The aim of Social
Media Savvy is to speed up your learning curve. Carry on.
BTW: here are our upcoming public workshops: http://www.hootville.com/diary
We stage our public workshops at the Hotel
Lindrum.
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Social media ‘policy’ or ‘playbook’
Policy documents are often the source of consternation and procrastination. Too many policies discourage action instead of leading more people to use social media more often, more effectively.
We recommend swapping a social media policy with a social media playbook. We hate the sporting analogy (too common, too easy) but in this case it is appropriate as playbooks are focussed on achieving a goal literally and figuratively. Here’s what any social media policy should contain:
• Who shall publish? (We recommend several people are briefed, trained and let loose.)
• What content will be published? (Everyone should have an agreed understanding of what is and isn’t good content.)
• What tone will you use? (Does everyone have five key words memorised that can help describe your tone?) Say: personal, helpful, playful, savvy and topical.
• How will your various channels interact with each other? (What is good for the web, social media, newsletter? We think some content is worth repeating on several channels.)
• How will you deal with positive or neutral feedback? (Respond fast and friendly to all comments of this nature, to encourage more contributions in future.)
• How will you deal with negative or nasty feedback? There’s no set way to deal with negative feedback. 1. Monitor social media for mentions relating to you. 2. Decide to deal with the negative stuff. 3. Don’t overestimate the persuasiveness of your detractors. 4. You may want to deal with it off-line. 5. Be reasonable, never defensive. 6. Consider issuing responses (directly or indirectly addressing the issues) via social media or other channels.
• Who will report on this and how? Every organisation should have a set reporting mechanism.
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• How will we plug our social media? How will you get everyone on board? It takes much more than a Facebook button to really ramp up friends and followers.
• Oh yeah – why are we doing this again? It’s the fundamental question which can help you make lots of other decisions.
Your social media playbook should have an overview such as this:
We use social media to communicate in ways that we can’t via other means such as print and websites. Social media is about building strong supporters from our more engaged audiences. We do this by sharing knowledge, helpful tips and advice. It’s about having a less corporate and more personal relationship.
We will try to post interesting, helpful content regularly, including photos, quotes, trivia, humour, polls, links as well as promoting ourselves. We will be consistent and persistent or not bother at all.
It is the cheapest, most effective way to communicate and we should make the most of it. We will experiment to see what works best.
Social media is more about keeping friends than making
them. Events, advertising and media can be used to expand your sphere of influence to strangers. Websites help you meet new people but social media is better suited to moving those who give a
damn about you further through the sieve keeping them informed, angry, hopeful and taking action. Use social media to talk to your
comrades comrades.
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Social media (vs) your website
Google uses hundreds of criteria to judge whether your site is worth recommending for certain search terms. The ‘recipe’ for its recommendations is a tightly guarded secret but a majority of experts agree that Google increasingly prioritises a strong social media performance.
Google particularly looks at whether people use their social media networks to share links to your website. They see this as an electronic form of word of mouth. The more people who follow you and share links to you with their friends, the better.
Social media, your website and search engine results are interwoven which is another reason to emphasise social media.
Content is king (Some of the following is based on our notes for SEO Savvy)
You need to use social media early and often – one or two posts a week won’t cut it. Depending on the nature of your organisation and your ambitions, one or two posts a day may not be enough.
Clearly you’ll need content. A magazine publishes content in each edition that is very similar but never the same. How many stories can you devise about cooking, antique cars, accountancy or
World War II? Well magazine publishers find a way to create new stories for each edition and you must too.
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The best social media content shares information of common interest. The information is helpful,
entertaining, relevant, current, an interesting diversion from what we were doing a minute ago.
How to maximise interaction?
Pictures, polls, requests for recommendations, quizzes, links to more reading and especially video.
Statistics prove that asking to be Liked gains more likes. So ask.
Mix up the lightweight and the serious.
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Tone & attitude: The right tone is vital. Social media works best with an informal, friendly, knowing tone. Remember – you are talking to people who know you and choose to connect to you.
Does your communications team have a list of five words to describe your tone? They should.
Clearly some people (KRudd) get it and others do not (TonyAbbottMHR).
KRudd scores well as he tweets in the first person, often live from around the world, he asks questions, he is generally upbeat and jocular. He mentions groups and other individuals.
Unsurprisingly he rarely links to other sites, instead keeping the attention to himself. (Not recommended.)
Malcolm Turnbull is a natural on social media – never ceasing to miss an opportunity to talk about his walks on Bondi Beach, small dog or visit with politically significant ethnic minority.
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Tone is as vital as the type of content you have.
You can send a link to an article on the Sydney
Morning Herald in a formal and dry way or in a friendly and fun way. That is your decision.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics was willing and able to be playful on Twitter during the 2011 census. Somehow, someone convinced the bosses that Twitter demands a different tone to other forms of communication. Kudos ABS.
Writing in the first person works – of course it works best if your writer is well known.
People respond to the same type of messages more readily if written by someone they know as this fundraising example shows.
Could your CEO, a special client or even your fictional mascot write for you some if not all of the time? Consider creating a persona.
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180 minutes
In three hours your tweet or Facebook content has already been read by half the total number of people who will ever read it. How do we respond to this fact?
• Consider repeating your content.
• Don’t wait for big responses to event-related content after a few hours.
• More content already, already.
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Be responsive and open
Also inherent to social media is the obligation / expectation to respond to comments.
This is the best way to promote more interaction.
You don’t need to write an essay
– just show that you are alive, appreciative and interesting.
Kudos NGV.
People will increasingly use Twitter to contact you as they would have previously used the telephone. A speedy response is vital to build credibility and followers. More on this: http://www.hootville.com/twitter-responses-matter
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Twitter: Yes, it can be the shallowest place in cyberspace but for many organisations Twitter can be worthwhile. It’s free, simple and quick to learn so give it a burl. Let’s explain Twitter really slowly and really simply – just the basics. Here goes:
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Twitter is a free, internet-based way to receive and / or send messages of up to 140 characters in length. You send and receive tweets on your PC, tablet or phone.
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To start you go to Twitter.com and register. Upload a pic and a bio. This takes about 10 minutes tops and is free.
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You can now send or receive tweets via www.twitter.com
or use software in the same way as you use specialised software (probably Outlook) to access email. We like TweetDeck which is free. Newbies should first use Twitter.com
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Then, using Twitter.com (and elsewhere online) you search for people to ‘follow’. You can follow as many or few people as you like – from movie stars and random individuals to great cultural institutions to mega-corporations. Following someone simply means you receive any messages they send out via Twitter.
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Whenever someone you follow sends a message (whenever someone ‘tweets’) you will receive their message (their ‘tweet’). You will find their tweets whenever you log in to your Twitter account; similar to checking your email.
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Some people tweet often, others rarely. Some people follow hundreds, others are more selective.
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You receive messages only from people you have actively chosen to follow. You will also receive tweets from people who deliberately include your Twitter name in their tweet. Your tweets will go out to only your followers. You can also reach people who don’t follow you if you include their Twitter name. There’s far less spam on Twitter than compared to email.
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Tweets messages are usually words but often include links to websites and images. Content is up to the author – from serious to banal. A typical message from an NFP may be Three days to go till AGM and awards night – book here www.agm.acme.org.au
Or Care about mental health? Read this from today’s SMH: www.smhnews.com
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You can “unfollow” anyone at anytime. Be ruthless.
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Initially you gain “followers” by following others because there’s a protocol that if someone follows you, you follow them. It’s not a uniformly applied but it sometimes the case.
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If you write a message (if you tweet) your followers will receive it.
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A tweet can take less than 60s to write and send.
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If you receive a message you find interesting, you can forward it much like an email to your followers.
This is called re-tweeting.
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Similarly if one of your followers likes what you’ve tweeted they can re-tweet it. Suddenly what you write will be shared with a new bunch of people who may consequently choose to follow you. Your influence grows!
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You can send private “direct messages” to specific people if you each follow each other. Your other followers won’t see these tweets. Needless to say – be careful.
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This can all be done via the web at Twitter.com, your mobile or with free pieces of software such as
Tweetdeck (see below). Surprisingly, Tweetdeck is a better way to receive, send and manage your
Twittering than Twitter.com. Tweetdeck can also simultaneously be used to update your Facebook.
Clever huh? And yes, it is free. Start at Twitter.com for a while, then graduate to Tweetdeck or
Hootsuite or the like.
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Hashtags are used to tell Twitter what your tweet is about. This enables Twitter to present your tweet to someone searching Twitter for tweets about that particular topic even if they don’t follow you.
Let’s say your tweet is about dachshunds. You have included the word “dachshund” or #dachshund in your tweet. Someone soon after searching Twitter for any tweet containing “dachshund” stands a good chance of being presented with your tweet.
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Hashtags are also used so that disconnected people with a similar interest can join a conversation about a topic. Eg: Roger Federer fans may all tweet including the hashtag #GoFed. They then follow that hashtag #GoFed the same way they follow an individual tweeter. All tweets with that hashtag will appear on their device.
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There’s a lot more but this is enough to get you establishing a group of people who have chosen to hear what you have to say.
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Tweet regularly or you won’t build a following.
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Tweet several times in a row in quick succession to create a visual impact on follower’s screens.
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Liberally use pics or images.
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Make your Tweets of use to your followers. Share; don’t sell.
A good guide: http://mashable.com/guidebook/twitter/
A superb 4m video guide. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0xbjIE8cPM
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The basic Twitter dashboard on Twitter.com
On the top left are your details as you have provided them to Twitter when you established your account and some stats – how many followers you have, tweets you have sent etc.
More importantly on the right are the most recent tweets from those you follow, with the most recent at the top. Just like email. Simple.
Twitter can email you notification when someone tweets you directly.
Ways to tweet other than Twitter.com
Using Twitter.com to send and receive tweets is clumsy but use it at first. After you’ve got the hang of Twitter upgrade to
TweetDeck (left) or Hootsuite which provide a better overview. They are free and quickly downloaded.
Use different columns to see tweets from those you follow, those that mention you and those that mention issues that you are following. It also enables you to easily tweet from different identities – perhaps a personal identity, organisational and the CEO. http://www.tweetdeck.com/ http://hootsuite.com/
Both have apps that can be installed on your phone. Use
Tweetdeck to schedule tqeets
You can use Tweetdeck to simultaneously send messages to Twitter and Facebook but that convenience can create content that doesn’t read quite ‘right’ on one or both the media.
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#Hashtags
Hashtags tell Twitter what you are tweeting about. This enables Twitter to present your tweet when somebody searches Twitter for tweets about that topic.
Eg: “Too much talk not enough jobs.
#closethegap”
Now people searching Twitter for tweets with the hashtag #closethegap are more likely to be presented with your tweet. Keep to a maximum of three hashtags per tweet. Two is better. You can do likewise on Facebook. http://wefollow.com/twitter/tags
The Fundraising Institute is tweeting without an appropriate hashtag or the word “fundraising”.
Anyone searching twitter for the term
“fundraising” will not be presented with these tweets.
This is membership dollars walking out the door.
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You can create a hashtag anytime you wish. For instance see how the ALP tried to popularise a hashtag: #CashForYou
The idea is to coin a hashtag in relation to an issue so people who care about the issue can use that hashtag to follow the issue and create a movement.
Warning – this rarely works. #ArabSpring and
#blacklivesmatter are exceptions. Hashtags can backfire.
A hashtag or two in most of your tweets is good practice. Use hashtags to ‘meet’ new people who care about your issues.
Third Sector is using too many which will attract the wrong people and put off the right ones.
Community Law Victoria is smart - it is not trying to create its own hashtags but instead is using well established, appropriate hashtags. Well played.
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You will have the chance to upload a profile picture and description of you and your twitter feed. Make it interesting and upbeat.
Make it clear what people will receive if they follow you.
Images: Want your tweets to be more interesting? Make constant use of images wherever possible.
The images needn’t be earth shattering nor professional quality. Show images of your key staff, the annual reports arriving ready for distribution, the calendar marking down the sleeps to your big event, the prizes you are giving away, the band rehearsing, the manager during her conference presentation. Be fun.
Block tweeting means tweeting in rapid succession to create a bigger impact on people’s screens and gain more attention.
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Asking a popular tweeter to
retweet your tweet. A cunning ploy.
Call and response:
Want a response? Just ask for help.
People looove to recommend, suggest and warn.
This sort of interaction is exactly what the medium is good for.
Tweets with links are more interesting and retweeted more often.
As the bible says: Ask (for a retweet) and ye shall receive.
What a difference (to retweeting) a day makes.
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EdgeRank: EdgeRank is Facebook’s algorithm that decides the content to be displayed in your newsfeed.
It is very stingy.
EdgeRank’s aim is to keep you on Facebook by providing you with more content that you are more likely to engage with.
This EdgeRank is keen to evaluate what content gets your attention. More previous interaction – making comments, liking content, answering polls, clicking photos, watching videos - from certain sources equals more likelihood of more similar content from the same sources being shown to you.
The cycle continues. That’s why some people / organisations / pages keep popping up in your
Newsfeed and why the same people keep engaging to your Facebook page.
EdgeRank also favours content that is fresh.
We hate EdgeRank because it keeps most of your content away from people who would enjoy it.
Your next post will be seen – ever so briefly – by 8% to 16% of your friends and interacted by 1% to
2%. How depressing.
Note - Facebook don’t use the term EdgeRank anymore.
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Promote sharing:
You can also encourage sharing by displaying this plug-in called Sexy Bookmarks (above) beneath your content. There are many alternatives to Sexy Bookmarks.
This effective plug-in lets people share your content with a simple click.
It also offers people the ability to easily print out your content or share it via old-fashioned email.
Statistics also show that asking people to share content leads to more sharing. Who knew?
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Show your social side: You can also install a Twitter or Facebook plug-in (previous page) on your website and it will automatically update as you tweet. That’s a fast, lazy way to update your website. Similarly the plug-in on the left shows the pics of your Facebook friends. Displaying your social media content on your website is a very direct way to promote it. Both are highly recommended and superior to the alternative below.
This is very subtle promotion.
Too subtle.
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Custom Facebook tabs – especially Welcome tabs
A smart change you might make to your Facebook pages is to introduce some tabs. (See left below the banner.)
Tabs allow to provide information and links to YouTube, your email sign-up page, terms & conditions etc. Warning – few will utilise them.
At the very least a Welcome tab allows newbies to understand you. The principal is that a gentle welcome leads to more likes, engagement and stronger relationship.
More on tabs here: http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/26330/How-to-Create-Custom-
Tabs-for-Facebook-Business-Pages.aspx
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Facebook Insights reveals statistics about how people interact with your page.
Several types of Facebook pages do enjoy a greater level of interaction or
virality. Christian Facebook pages, particularly those that are well stewarded, can enjoy massive virality.
Other Facebook pages which might do particularly well are those with a younger and voluntary audience; by which we mean people who choose to strongly identify with a certain cause or group.
Animal welfare Facebook pages enjoy a higher percentage of interaction because people are there by choice and they give a damn about the issue. Similarly, gay and lesbian rights Facebook pages enjoy a more passionate readership and generally speaking anything youthful might enjoy the same.
The Sydney anti-lockout campaign is a natural for social media.
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Dealing with unwanted Facebook comments
Relax - Facebook allows you to delete or hide comments. You can report people who are malicious.
Be careful not to delete comments which are critical but constructive.
Facebook allows you to block “#@!%&^*” profanity automatically. Read about it: http://www.insidefacebook.com/2011/02/10/keyword-moderation-profanity-blocklist/
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Consider competitions / tools as a way to increase Likes and subsequent engagement.
Use Pin to Top as a way of sticking an important post to the top of your Facebook page for added exposure. The pin will be in effect for seven days.
Use Highlight to double the width of a post and thus make it more prominent.
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Pre-schedule your Facebook posts ahead of time. This sure beats working weekends.
Tagging people who appear in your Facebook images. http://www.facebook.com/help/463455293673370/
So is social media as effective as email? http://www.hootville.com/social-media-versus-email
All Hootville’s blog posts on social media: http://www.hootville.com/?s=social+media
Read more, learn more, do more, earn more.
Curious about LinkedIn? http://learn.linkedin.com/new-users/
EdgeRank? http://www.edgerankchecker.com/
Google +?
Pinterest?
Instagram http://mashable.com/2011/07/16/google-plus-guide/ http://pinterest.com/jasonmiles/pinterest-beginners-guides/ http://blog.hootsuite.com/how-to-use-instagram-for-business/
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How to maximise interest. Combine forces.
Not enough content, will or resources to go solo? Combine forces like these North Korean ladies and create a Twitter or Facebook presence with critical mass. Perhaps 10 tennis clubs in one region can unite or all the local arts groups. Could South Australia’s ballroom dancing groups synchronise?
Starting a Facebook group
This is an excellent alternative to a Facebook page.
Why? It lets you control who is and isn’t granted access, allows you to invite Friends (but not strangers) to join and can automatically alert all group members to new content. Strongly recommended. Ideal for teams, programs, clubs and groups that want to keep themselves informed. More here: https://www.facebook.com/help/162866443847527/
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Social media advertising:
Not only does Facebook to limit the exposure you get to your friends via
Edgerank, it then has the chuptzpah to offer you the chance to pay to be exposed to the very same people who chose to like you in the first place!
That said, maybe it’s worth $10.
Facebook allows you to advertise in three ways.
You can create a sponsored post on the right hand side of the screen or in people’s newsfeed.
(See Beyonce.)
You can also pay to “boost” your posts for a range of fees starting a very low cost. This means Facebook will show more of your friends and potentially some of their friends, your post.
Quick and simple. It may be worthwhile – boosted posts gain far more exposure. See below.
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Guess which post was boosted? $5 well spent, we say. Compare the impact of this $5 compared to
$5 worth of stamps.
Get an advertising overview from Facebook https://www.facebook.com/business/connect
Google AdWords: Besides and above the
“organic” search results on the left, are advertisements. These are Google AdWords.
Advertisers create small, generally textbased advertisements.
They then decide how much they are willing to pay to have their ad appear when
Googlers type in specific keywords or phrases.
The idea is to have your anti-smoking course advertisement appear just as the Googler is searching for anti-smoking courses.
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Advertisers compete in an auction system – the more you are willing to bid for your ad to appear, the more often and more prominently it will appear. You are only charged when people see and click through your ad.
Warning: managing a Google AdWords campaign is complex. You need to tweak your ads, your keywords and budgets using the dashboard above. Warning 2: it can be addictive. Warning 3: it can lead to no worthwhile result.
Read this post we published in early mid-2015 about Facebook advertising. http://www.hootville.com/facebook-advertising-an-introductionand-our-experience
Do some research, set a budget and advertise online. Facebook advertising is far more accountable and tailorable than traditional options. Start with a limited budget to test the waters.
LinkedIn: is under-estimated and can prove a great way to connect to professionals and corporations. http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/23454/The-Ultimate-Cheat-Sheet-for-
Mastering-LinkedIn.aspx
A word of warning: Don’t end up like this guy. Please. http://www.theonion.com/articles/hey-everybody-this-cool-new-tide-detergent-video-i,28356/
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that:
Most trainers lock away their knowledge, exchanging it only for dollars. Hootville isn’t like
If you’re looking for free marketing advice try these videos, many of which will help you. https://www.youtube.com/user/Hootville/feed?view_as=public
These and other free eBooks at: http://www.hootville.com/giftshop
Contacts Brett de Hoedt, Mayor, Hootville Communications. 0414 713 802 / brett@hootville.com
@Hootville www.hootville.com
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