Go Getters Share Knowledge Base of Social Media Marketing

Go Getters is a small group of close knit United First Financial^® agents who found each other through Class 1 of the UBranding course offered by UFirst^TM Senior Branch Manager Brooke Barnett (accomplished internet guru in his own right). That class was designed to teach us marketing and self-branding on the internet. We began our journey together approximately six months ago and have built strong relationships, the likes of which I have never known, from people whom most of us have not met in person, as yet while creating our sites promoting the Money Merge Account^® service.

We decided to band together and support each other in our endeavors to build our internet presence and to help each other learn all we can from each other with each member sharing information from their particular area of expertise. The time we spend together and the knowledge shared will be invaluable to each agent as we will be able to share the content with members of our own organizations. We will be able to help future agents navigate the ins and outs of social media marketing and self-branding techniques which in turn will help to create stronger teams for everyone involved with the Go Getters and United First Financial.

The topics we have chosen will be addressed by the member who feels the most comfortable within that niche. Members may even invite guest speakers that they themselves have been able tap into through their current use of some of the social networks.

Our first meeting held January 23,2009 covered the following topics:

1. Keywords, Longtail keywords and the use of Google Analytics and Google Reader 2.The Power of Squidoo and building your own lens 3.The Benefits and ease of use in relation to UStream videos- Mr. Ken Kinstle (a prominent presence on twitter-mrKen777) was a guest speaker and enlightened the group on the last two topics. All in all I'd have to say the first meeting went extremely well once some of the technical difficulties were overcome. Future topics will include but are not limited to:

Facebook- Digg- Social Media Marketing Mastermind- Twitter- Better Networkers- Our Web Pages- HubPages- DirectMatches- iGoogle- Blogs- New Browser/Flock- Activerian- FriendFeed- AskYahoo.com- Forums- Social Marker- YouTube- Auto Responders- Audio Recordings- Podcasts- MySpace- Plaxo Pulse- LinkedIn- Entreprenuer Connect

As you can see we have alot of good information to cover that will all be of use to every member and there teams. Through these meetings we will in essence be conducting a Train the Trainers style of wokshop and the Go Getters will be the ones to share this knowledge base with others.

Moving on, I'd like to go over three key components necessary to ensure a successful effective meeting for as we all know Time is a rare commodity that once lost may never be recaptured.

• Meeting Agendas should be explicit about the objectives to be accomplished. Tangible goals should be set. Coverage should be clear in respect of who will be responsible for presenting the topic, summarizing, and securing any guest speakers and this should be documented and sent to group members prior to each meeting.
• Opportunity costs of a meeting should be carefully considered. Define the time parameters clearly. Include, and stick to, start and ending times to respect attendees schedules. Intended attendees who question the need for the meeting , coverage of certain topics, or think that the meetings are too long/short should speak up prior to the meeting or at the close of the meeting.
• Always conduct an evaluation, even if informal, after each meeting. Consider: Clarity and completeness of topics discussed, effectiveness of the speaker, time-too much vs too little and be prepared to always tweak the process in order for the meetings to continue to be effective and run like clock work.

If the Go Getters and others follow these keys to a successful gathering and meeting of the minds then when the members get together, the information should flow downstream with no fight against the upstream current.

We use Go To meetings- Online Meetings Made Easy as our platform for we are a diverse group of individuals from across the nation. This platform allows up to 15 attendees and this way we are able to keep the group small and intimate. Currently this is being accessed through UTracker Pro Plus, a contact management tool used by many United First Financial agents.

In the near future, we will be accessing this platform through the newest, updated, revolutionary home-based and small business management tool called BizPack, which is being made available to agents and clients of United First Financial as well as independent business entrepreneurs as previously stated. BizPack is in pre-launch now and is offering Free registration for anyone who signs up prior to the 'live' launch on March 16, 2009. Being able to access the webinar capability is just one of the many superior benefits of owning the online web based BizPack business management tool. Mr. Ken Kinstle, our guest speaker, had never used this technology before and from his reaction, I feel safe to say that he will definitely be considering this as a tool for himself in the future. What impressed him the most was the interactive capabilities and how he was able to feel as though he were right there with us.

I am looking forward to our future meetings of the Go Getters and know that we will continue to make a difference in the lives of those we connect with through the UFirst opportunity and product offerings.