Cajun, Zydeco, Blues and Country performances can be enjoyed across the six stages.  Shaded dance floors, free dance lessons as well as Cajun and Creole food are what makes Gator By The Bay your single destination for Cajun-Zydeco music, food, fun and entertainment.  Can’t wait until May? Join in the Gaslamp’s Mardi Gras festivities and visit Gator By The Bay’s stages with San Diego’s favorite local bands, including: Bayou Brothers, Theo & the Zydeco Patrol, Sue Palmer, and 2nd line parades led by Euphoria Brass Band.

2013 line-ups, Mardi Gras updates, event updates and good ole Cajun fun can be found all year long on any of the Gator By The Bay’s online platforms including: Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, You Tube and/or their website.  Now get to marking your calendars for February 12, 2013 and May 10-12th, 2013….these are events you do NOT want to miss!

1. Profile Picture: When in doubt, use a picture of yourself instead of a logo when setting up the profile/avatar picture. Using a picture will personalize the experience and increase your conversions. So that’s a picture of YOU. Not an object, your pet, scenery, a logo or a snapshot of a libation. Y-O-U.

www.twitter.com/LMSAgency

2. Background: A nice tailored background is great but don’t go background overkill. Simple, clean and pertinent images are going to go a long way. If you have a real estate business chances are a background image full of cutesy kittens is not really the best choice. In the medical business? Don’t put a picture of a car as your background or logo; not only is this confusing it isn’t going to make anyone want to hang around to learn more.

www.twitter.com/_IFB

3. Header: Implement the new Header option on your business account. Simply click “Edit Profile” and chose a compatible design, picture or logo for this area. The text in this area by default is white so make sure the image doesn’t minimize or take away from the white text. Busy patterns will distract from the text, so find something simple, at least on the bottom part of the image.  Original image size cannot exceed 1252×626 pixels (max file size of 5MB); anything smaller than 640 pixels-wide will appear poor quality. Remember, first impressions go a long way.

4. Logo: Simple is always better. As there are a million different shapes, sizes and colors of logos, choose the approach that works best for you and your goals. A simple justification to the left of the page can go a long way and avoid producing sensory overload. If you want to “tile” an image make sure that your visitor can read or interpret the text or image that is being tiled. There is nothing worse than not knowing what you are looking at when you visit a page.

www.twitter.com/theBrokerList

5. Write a Bio: You only have a limited amount of characters to fill in this area so make every character count. It’s OK to be witty but also be concise. If you want people to get hold of you include your email address.

www.twitter.com/REA_INC

6.Hashtags: So you’ve heard the importance of #hashtags. #Great! That doesn’t mean that you need to abuse hash tags in your posts and/or on your profile. If you want to put hash tags in your bio keep it to a minimum. #NothingWorseThanOverdoingIt #Understand?

7.Website: If you don’t have a website or a social page that you want to be associated with, then don’t list a website. And of course don’t link back to your Twitter Profile (this is just pointless).

8.  Settings: The remaining profile settings are personal preference, but we highly recommend that you don’t protect your tweets. Unless of course you have somebody out there that you really, really, REALLY don’t want to see your profile; if this is the case maybe a social platform for business isn’t the place for you.

9.  Follow Like Minded People: Follow people that are pertinent to your goals. Don’t follow people just to follow them and make your numbers look higher. The difference between how many you are following vs. how many are following you is important. If an account is following 5,000 people and there is only one person following them back this is a red flag for a junk/spam account and gives off the impression that no matter what message you are pumping out, it is obviously one that no one wants to follow.

10. Get Ready to Tweet: When Tweeting remember the following golden rules to be successful (in 140 characters or less):

• Be “you”: being personable goes a long way with anything in life. Show your followers the real you—not the hardcore sales person. Share tips related to your business and work-life balance. Be “Casual Friday”.
• Be polite: Want to know the way to get someone to not follow you? Ask them to follow you. If that doesn’t work you can: spam them, not listen to them, not respond to them or constantly drill your message into them until they quit listening altogether. Want someone to follow you? Do the exact opposite…and most importantly, be polite.
• Be useful: Chances are you know a thing or two so why not share it with the world? First, listen to your followers. Then Engage. And Engage. And then engage some more. Provide a tip, a laugh, and a helpful response. Whichever tickles your fancy, show the world what sets you aside from the rest.
• Be an Original: post original thoughts. Re-Tweets and Re-Shares are nice but come up with some of your own work.
• Mess Up then Fess Up: No one is perfect. If you make a mistake then fess up, remedy the situation and move on. You will gain more respect for admitting wrong than not mentioning any fault.

11. Additionals:

• Use bit.ly to shorten your links. It comes with built-in stats and a bit.ly is trusted by the Twitter community.

• Utilizing 3^rd party Twitter tools for the purpose of scheduling tweets or creating automated direct messages are only valuable tools if you pay attention to the responses these tools may elicit. HootSuite or Tweetdeck for scheduling tweets or SocialOoomph for automated Direct Messages…whatever tools you decide to use remember that the follow up tweet is just as important as the initial tweet, if not more.
• Do: Link your FourSquare and share professional check-ins, photos of your latest conferences, travel, products and other interesting finds. Don’t: Link your FourSquare and check in continuously over and over again at frivolous, way-too-personal places that are unrelated to your business or your branding goals.

Have some Twitter business account tips?  Drop us a line in the comments and let us know your tips so we can add them to the list. Want to take your Twitter to the next level? Check out our article on how to optimize your twitter account for business.

Now that you have your Business Twitter page in place it’s now time to optimize your efforts. Here is LMS Agency Inc.’s Mini-Optimization List that will help bring your Twitter page to the next level, get you noticed and bring you the return on investment you deserve:

1. Exercise “Casual Friday”: This LMS coined term refers to how businesses using social media should be casual but not too casual when engaging online.  Much like the Casual Friday dress code that is utilized by companies, when engaging online you want to be professional and at the same time be comfortable and personable. Think of it this way, if two companies are offering the exact same service what is going to set one aside from the other? Answer: personality. So go out there and make professional friends. Network. Get to know your target audience. Speak with them; not at them. Listen. Share a laugh. Show them your human side. Just like you wouldn’t wear that Go-Go mini-skirt or your favorite ripped up jeans to the office you shouldn’t engage in a fashion that is inappropriate online.  When in doubt on what is proper etiquette in online engagement remember: if you wouldn’t do it at the office; don’t do it online. Ever.

2. Picture Tweets: When posting a tweet remember that we as humans are all very visual and pairing a Twitter picture with a tweet increases the chances that your message will get noticed. Choose non-stock-looking photos that are relevant to your topic and your message. The six most recent photos are the photos that visitors will see when they visit your page so again, be selective in the images that you post as first impressions are the ones that last.

3. Quit Ignoring Me: Ever been ignored? Ever received a form letter that you completely disregarded because you know it wasn’t truly meant for you? There is no better way to describe this blown-off feeling other than to say that it stinks. Period. So before you set up generic, self-promoting auto-messages or get ready to repetitively blast out a tweet saying the same thing over-and-over again, remember these four simple words: Don’t ignore your followers.

4. Engage Don’t Smother: chances are that we all know someone in life that comes on a little too strong. The over-talker, the over-sharer or the person that can talk about nothing other than their job or themselves. Learning the art of Casual Friday doesn’t happen overnight but with the help of a few LMS Agency Inc. tips you can learn how to engage….without turning-off or smothering your network.

Something you feel should be added to the list? Let us know in the comments below or check out our Top 13 Tips to Help You Excel on Twitter . Better yet, send us a Tweet and show us what you got!

• Consistency: Make a Tweet schedule and stick to it. This may sound like an easy task but it is the most difficult out of all of these tips. Being consistent in your efforts will help build up your quality network as well as their trust.
• Thank You: Mind your Ps and Qs on Twitter. Say “thank you” to your followers and acknowledge each new person.
• “@”:   Use the “@” to Tweet to others. Think of it like picking up the phone instead of sending an email. Being a little more personal, will get you noticed and will make your network remember you.
• Re-Tweet:  Re-Tweet things of interest or when someone mentions you; either way re-tweeting will get you noticed
• Hashtag: Use the hashtag (“#”) for searching industry related terms, track conversations about a specific topic, help others with problems by using the hashtag for your industry term and to give a boost to your bio.
• Favorite: Use the Favorite button when you like something or when someone tweets to you.
• Follow Friday: Do #FF and the favor will most likely be returned; which in turn will increase your visibility and your quality following. Win-Win.
• Follow the Follow Friday-ers: if you were included on someone’s #FF take the time to follow others that were included in the thread and say “hello”.
• Engage: ask questions, be interesting, recount past engagements to show you are paying attention, and speak “with” your network not “at” your network.
• Direct Messages (DMs): regularly check and respond to your direct messages no matter how painful the spam can be at times. The good news is that if managed correctly the spam will lessen and your network will strengthen.If you utilize automated messages make sure that you implement personal messages and that you are still paying attention to these messages and responding accordingly.
• Cut the Dead Weight: inflated numbers are just that; inflated. With the amount of qualified activity that is happening every minute on Twitter it would be far more beneficial for you to have 100 quality followers rather than 200 followers that are non-quality or spammers. Cut loose the dead weight; they are only bringing you down.
• Connect Accounts: Connecting accounts such as: Foursquare, Pinterest, Klout or Facebook are great ways of increasing your reach and sharing your personal and professional sides.
• Use Lists: as with any marketing strategy organization is the key; keeping lists of different groups will help eliminate the feeling of information overload

What tips do you think should make the Top 10? Have an example of someone that is excelling at Twitter? Share it with us so we can add it to our list. In the meantime Happy Tweeting!

LMS Agency Inc. is proud to announce our newest Social Media Seminar with world renown clothier J. Hilburn.

J. Hilburn provides custom, luxury menswear for the modern man. Direct from the finest makers in the world, their tailored men’s suits, shirts and trousers are delivered to the buyer at a value that is impossible for traditional retailers to match. With a growing network of over 2,000 stylists across the country J. Hilburn’s rapidly growing success can be accredited to their fiercely competitive prices, their impeccable stylists, and the convenience of the stylist meeting with client’s either in the comforts of their homes or offices.

LMS Agency Inc. is honored to be providing J. Hilburn with a tailored social media experience through real life examples, industry best-practices, on-line reputation management support and detailed step-by-steps to help each J. Hilburn associate further optimize their social media presence for business.

Help us welcome aboard J. Hilburn!

Headquartered in San Diego, California, WholesaleWarranties.net represents a national network of dealerships, brokerage firms, and repair facilities which allow consumers across the country wholesale pricing on the best extended warranty coverage available. With over 10 successful years of experience in the industry, WholesaleWarranties.net specializes in selling established and fully insured service contracts for the RV, ATV, Marine and Automotive industries.

Contact WholesaleWarranties.net today for all your RV, ATV, Marine and Automotive warranty needs and most importantly….get ready to join in the social conversation that will be happening on the soon-to-be LMS-optimized social sites!

Welcome aboard WholesaleWarranties.net!

25 successful years in the tenting industry, MATRA is the premier industry organization that supports and educates rental owners about safety, education and new products. Ms. Sadowski will be educating business owners on how to implement and manage their social media campaigns through engagement and creativity.  This annual conference is attended by top U.S. tenting professionals from the Mid-Atlantic as well as across the Nation and LMS is privileged to be part of this distinguished group for the second year in a row.

Tuna Squish is an innovative, cost-effective cooking solution that allows tuna lovers to open up canned tuna effortlessly while eliminating the mess, smelly and sore hands you get from ferociously squeezing all of the unwanted juice or oil out of the can and the risk of cutting yourself on the jagged can. Sound to good to be true? Well it’s not! With your very own Tuna Squish stinky hands and cut fingers will be replaced with the pure and personal enjoyment of consuming all your favorite tuna dishes.

Simple. Easy. Delicious.

Stay tuned for LMS Agency Inc. updates on Tuna Squish’s fancy new website and social platform releases in October 2012 and most importantly find out how you can get your (non-smelly) hands on your very own Tuna Squish!

Tuna Squish: Never Touch Your Tuna!

Scheduled for September 29, 2012, the Fall ARTS Fest will be celebrating the arts with over 300 Artisans, featuring the “Etsy Studio”, Gourmet Food Vendors, Live Music, Performing Arts, Craft Brews, Wine Tasting, Scarecrow Competition, Chili Cook-Off and other Creative Activities.

To stay up-to-date on the festival, local art and music, creative arts and crafts ideas, or to attend or be part of the festival, make sure to become a friend of their shiny, new social media pages (listed below) today and we will see you in September!

Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Linked-In, Pinterest

This is Mamoun’s first foray in social media so stay tuned to learn more about the great things that will be happening at the Mamoun Learning Center.