Category Archives: The Welborn Social Media Experience

Yelp, Angie’s List and Other Review Sites Create Reputation Manager

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Zeb Welborn
The owner of Welborn Social Media and the founder of The Tutoring Solution.My goal is to help business owners share the passion they have for their business with as many potential customers as possible.By helping passionate people achieve their dreams I am helping to create a society of passionate leaders that will help inspire others to make their dreams a reality.
Latest posts by Zeb Welborn (see all)

Since the beginning of 2012 I have talked with a variety of businesses about the impact Yelp and Angie’s List are having on their business.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Yelp or Angie’s List, they are websites that rank businesses on their performance.  Customers can visit either of those websites and give feedback in the form of a rating and also comment about the services they have received.  The company has no control over these ratings and, for better or worse, they appear in search engine results when people are looking for a particular business.

System 1 Acoustic Ceiling Removal Gets Angies List Super Service Award

In the past month, we have been working with two different businesses to help build their online reputation.  Understandably, they had concerns about the impact feedback on these sites is having on their business.

At the beginning of the year I began hunting for an apartment and really had no idea where to begin. We traveled by car to local apartment complexes and I visited one that I thought was perfect.  It was in my price range and seemed to have a lot of extra benefits that really attracted me.  But just before I left, the woman trying to sell me the apartment told me not to pay attention to the ratings because sometimes other apartment owners sabotage the ratings or an evicted tenant leaves false information about their experience.  I hadn’t even thought to look at a rating site for apartments, but her statement made me want to see for myself what was written.

Thirty or so people commented on that apartment complex. Ninety percent of those people said something along the lines of, “Whatever you do, do not move here.”  There were stories of burglaries, drug deals, shootings and no help from the administration when a problem arose.  This was not a place I wanted to live.

The ratings on apartmentratings.com actively influenced my purchasing decision. I ended up choosing an apartment complex with a relatively high rating, Somerset Apartments, that I absolutely love.  If you have a business where people are rating and commenting about it online, know that these ratings are affecting and will continue to affect your business.

How do you ensure people are talking positively about your business???  Hire a reputation manager.

Check back in the next couple of weeks to see our tips for building a business that excels at the ranking and commenting websites to give you an advantage over your competition.

Welborn Social Media provides social media services for small and medium-sized businesses all over the United States.  If you would like more information about how Welborn Social Media can act as your reputation manager and enhance your online reputation please give Zeb Welborn a call at (909) 973 – 9089.

Five Tips for a Killer Presentation

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Lacey Welborn
Lacey and her brother Zeb Welborn founded Welborn Media. She has designed and launched websites, several projects, marketing materials, a podcast, a book and more. Her passions include her family, her friends, creating things and helping businesses grow.
Latest posts by Lacey Welborn (see all)

Whenever we meet a potential client we prepare a presentation for them. We share facts and ideas about what Welborn Social Media can do for their business.

Our presentations have been very successful.  Get our five tips for a killer presentation

Upon the completion of our presentation, our potential clients have a basic understanding of social media, how it can benefit their business, and, often times, business owners begin to see the massive potential social media has to offer.

Slide 1 of Our Presentation

Here are some reasons why our presentations are successful:

  • We alter our slide show to suit the business we’re presenting too. This is beneficial for two reasons:  we provide a personalized approach which gives us credibility that we can take their information and use it to communicate using social media, and it gives us on opportunity to delve into the business to better understand the needs of our customers.
  • We use lots of slides. Clicking through more slides during a presentation helps develop a strong, consistent flow of information to our potential customers. Instead of having one slide with a topic and three bullet points it’s much better for the tempo of the presentation to have four slides with very large, easy-to-read font.
  • Conversation is a must.  At the beginning of each presentation we explicitly encourage clients to ask questions.  Throughout the presentation we ask a lot of questions and make sure they are understanding the material we presented to them.  The presentation is less of a presentation and more like a guided conversation . . . our slides help guide the discussion.
  • Our slide show is very cohesive. It has a set color scheme, a few font choices and consistently placed items throughout.
  • While being cohesive we also have worked to make the slides more interesting. We have a lot of charts in our presentation to visually display some of the astounding facts around social media. We realized there were too many bar graphs and they became repetitive. By thinking of more creative ways to visually display information we’ve been able to make our slide show much more interesting.

Keep Slides Interesting

Our presentation is a constant work in progress. We are always trying to improve both the design of the slides and the manner in which we share them.

We love giving our presentation to business owners. By the end they can see the potential for social media in their business. They can imagine the success it can bring. They can visualize the ways it can allow them to share their passion for what they do.  Use our five tips for a killer presentation.

Don’t be the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, the Lion or Dorothy – Be Toto

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Zeb Welborn
The owner of Welborn Social Media and the founder of The Tutoring Solution.My goal is to help business owners share the passion they have for their business with as many potential customers as possible.By helping passionate people achieve their dreams I am helping to create a society of passionate leaders that will help inspire others to make their dreams a reality.
Latest posts by Zeb Welborn (see all)

With a new year comes optimism and excitement. What will 2012 bring?

We are in the midst of an historic economic recession, because of that, just like Dorothy and her friends in Oz, our journey down the yellow brick road has been full of struggles and turbulence.

To stay afloat we’re having to adapt, downsize, economize, increase efficiency,  cut the fat… We’ve had to search out better, faster, more effective ways of operating. No question this prolonged recession has been difficult. But it also has forced us to restructure, to streamline, to try new things, to innovate. This is a good thing.

This morning I attended a networking event at the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce with a presentation by Ronnie Kovach, a radio & television personality for Fox Sports West and the Angels. His presentation was titled “Becoming a True Business Wizard:  What We Can Learn from Dorothy.”

During his presentation he said that many people believe this will be considered a “dark time,” but that we are taking the steps to bring ourselves into a period of prosperity and happiness.  Our response to this recession may, in fact, be laying the foundation for ingenuity and innovation that will translate into growth and prosperity for years to come.

The recession has forced many people to step out of their comfort zone and pursue things they hadn’t imagined.  When times get tough,  people have two options:  they can give up, or they can fight back and take control.  It is by fighting back that I found my passion . . . which coincidentally, is inspiring others.

Some of the most passionate and inspiring people I know are business owners.  At some point in their lives they took a huge risk and worked to build a company or a business. The only way to continue building and promoting your business is to have a strong passion — a desire to continue doing the work because you love it. I want to share that passion with the rest of the world.

Social media can demonstrate your knowledge, passion and expertise for a trade like never before.  People want to do business with people they can connect with, know and trust.  And nothing builds that connection stronger than demonstrating your passion for the work at hand.

Mr. Kovach said during his presentation that the dog in the Wizard of Oz, Toto, comes from the latin meaning for “everything.”  And the theme of the book/movie was that whatever we fear is missing from our self is actually inside of us.  The scarecrow, the tin man and the lion all felt deficient in some way, when the reality of the matter was they had the tools they felt they were lacking.

This economy has forced many people to do those things that are holding them back from achieving their full happiness in life.  We all have the ability for greatness and that ability to succeed lies within each of us.

We want to help small businesses excel and reach their full potential in order to share their passion and expertise with the world and provide customers the opportunity to connect with businesses that improve their lives.  To schedule a free consultation with us please contact Zeb Welborn at (909) 973 – 9089.

The Top 11 Moments for Welborn Social Media in 2011

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Lacey Welborn
Lacey and her brother Zeb Welborn founded Welborn Media. She has designed and launched websites, several projects, marketing materials, a podcast, a book and more. Her passions include her family, her friends, creating things and helping businesses grow.
Latest posts by Lacey Welborn (see all)

We founded Welborn Social Media in June 2011 and despite being open for business for roughly six months, we have many memorable moments.  The following is our top 11 moments for Welborn Social Media in 2011.  Thank you to our friends, family and the businesses who have used our services this year.  We are extremely optimistic about 2012 and can’t wait to see what the future has in store for Welborn Social Media and the people we interact with.

  1. We began the year by expanding our social media, graphic and website design knowledge by learning new ways to promote The Tutoring Solution.
  2. In June, Welborn Social Media got it’s start with our first client Scrapbook Expo.  We have been running the Scrapbook Expo Twitter Page ever since.
  3. In July, we started work on Los Serranos Country Club‘s blog, Facebook and Twitter pages and continue to run their social media presence.
  4. In August, we began working for WireSpeed Systems, a global supplier for new and refurbished networking equipment.  We run their Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn pages.
  5. In October, we started a Facebook and a blog for System 1 Interiors, Los Angeles’s best acoustic ceiling removal company.
  6. We launched the Welborn Social Media website and began developing our own social media presence.Welborn Social Media Online
  7. Attended the Arizona Business Growth Expo and began developing business relationships with wonderful people that will continue to help us as our business grows.
  8. As a result of our work, our client, WireSpeed Systems, was recognized by Cisco, the largest corporation in the networking industry, as their Facebook SuperFan. WireSpeed Systems has been featured in Cisco’s Facebook profile picture since the beginning of November.
  9. Hosted our first Twitter chat for our client Scrapbook Expo. It was a success and we’ve been hosting two Twitter chats a month ever since. Follow #ScrapChat at 6pm PT on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of each month to join in!
  10. Launched DLT Growers brand new website, built by Welborn Social Media.  DLT Growers sells ground cover to companies like Lowe’s and Home Depot.
  11. Helped the Women’s English National Football team’s starting goalkeeper, Karen Bardsley wish fans a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

It’s been a truly memorable year. The most exciting part of this year is the possibilities for next year. In the past few weeks we’ve been talking with a variety of businesses about enhancing their brand with our social media services. We already have some exciting things in store for 2012 and can’t wait to write the year in review at the end of next year, it’s bound to be packed with even more memorable moments.

Happy New Year!

Enthusiastically Share Your Business with Others Using Social Media

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Zeb Welborn
The owner of Welborn Social Media and the founder of The Tutoring Solution.My goal is to help business owners share the passion they have for their business with as many potential customers as possible.By helping passionate people achieve their dreams I am helping to create a society of passionate leaders that will help inspire others to make their dreams a reality.
Latest posts by Zeb Welborn (see all)

Every week I attend a meeting with the department heads at Los Serranos Country Club where we discuss ways to improve the experiences of our customers.  Recently, we have begun taking turns discussing sales strategies based off of the book, Cunningly Clever Selling by Andrew Wood.  One point I really connected with was the role enthusiasm plays in business – enthusiastically share your business with others and love what you do.

Cunningly Clever Selling by Andrew Wood

Do I love what I do?

Through a lot of soul searching and development, I discovered my life’s purpose in 2010.  I traveled across the country in a 2007 Toyota Tacoma with no real destination. My goal was to find a job . . . any job.  After 3 months, I returned home with no job, in a worse financial situation then when I began my journey.  It was at that point . . . when I returned that I decided I wanted to help people, because I felt helping people would make me happy.  This may sound obvious, I think everyone in the world would probably say they want to help people, but it was making that conscious decision that changed my life’s course.

Instead of finding a job I started The Tutoring Solution in 2010 because I felt education was the best way I could help people.  Education develops minds and opens doors to brighter futures and more satisfying lives.  Through this venture I got the opportunity to interact with many business owners. These business owners were caring, passionate and had a real zest for life.  Why did they seem so much happier than most people I met?  The answer is simple – Passion.

My life’s purpose is to inspire others to find their passion and pursue it.

Using Social Media as a tool has given me a tremendous opportunity to spread passion. Every business owner we work with is passionate about their business and what they can offer for people who choose to do business with them.  On a daily basis, I get to see the passion and enthusiasm these people bring to their businesses and their customers.

  • General Manager, David Kramer at Los Serrranos Country Club is extremely passionate about providing an amazing experience for golfers who visit Los Serranos Country Club.  He works hard to entrench the customer into the history of the game of golf and is constantly figuring out ways to improve their golfing experience.  When you speak with him, his love of the game and love of the customer is unquestionable.
  • Richard McKinnon, President of System 1 is extremely passionate about improving the homes of people in his community by removing their acoustic ceilings and painting their homes.  When you speak with Richard, you have absolutely no doubt that his company is the best Acoustic Ceiling Removal company in Southern California, because he puts his heart and soul into the business.
  • Jennifer Davis, the Owner of Scrapbook Expo is extremely passionate about putting together amazing Scrapbook shows for scrapbookers across the United States.  She is constantly thinking of new and creative ways to enhance the experiences of those who attend her shows while figuring out ways to improve the experience for all the vendors who take part in her shows.

It is by sharing the passion of people like David Kramer, Richard McKinnon and Jennifer Davis that I am able to fulfill my life’s mission . . . to spread passion.

Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “Life is what you make it. Always has been, always will be,” and I whole-heartedly agree.  We all have immense potential inside of us and many of us refuse to maximize our potential because we are afraid of failure or afraid what others will think.  To enjoy life you must take risks.

Which takes us back to our original question . . . Do I love what I do?

I wake up every morning excited about what the day will bring.  I work Monday through Sunday at all hours of the day, not because I need to, but because I want to . . . Because it’s fun . . . Do I love what I do?  You betcha!

 

Working From Home: The Good, The Bad, and 6 Rules to Make it Work

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Lacey Welborn
Lacey and her brother Zeb Welborn founded Welborn Media. She has designed and launched websites, several projects, marketing materials, a podcast, a book and more. Her passions include her family, her friends, creating things and helping businesses grow.
Latest posts by Lacey Welborn (see all)

One of my favorite things about my job is that I can work from home.

Here’s the good and bad about working from home.

It’s GOOD because…
you have a flexible schedule.
you can sleep in.
it’s easier and often healthier to eat at home.
procrastination often leads to doing the dishes, cleaning the house, or doing laundry.

It’s BAD because…
there’s no one to keep you accountable.
it can be hard to get work started.
it’s easy to procrastinate.
there’s no interruptions to provide needed breaks.
you don’t spend time around other people.

There are definitely good and bad things to working from home. The important thing is to find solutions to the bad side of things. Here’s how I have found the balance to get all my Social Media work done on any given day.

#1 Create a Schedule
I decided this was necessary when I began postponing my start time for work every day. I tend to be more of a night owl. The main problem was that I would stay up later and later every night, then I’d sleep in more and more every morning. A big problem! I have set a schedule for myself. Even though I work from home and I could wake up whenever I want, I set my alarm clock. From the time my alarm goes off till I start working I have one hour to eat breakfast, check my personal email and social media accounts, anything that I want to do before I get to work. For me, an hour is a good amount of time to get everything sorted out before my work day begins so that I don’t feel stressed throughout the work day. Then I start my work schedule which lists each of my tasks.

#2 Follow the Schedule
You must follow your schedule. One of the benefits of working from home is having a flexible schedule. However, it is way more important to get everything done that needs to get done on any given day. For me I have written a schedule that includes how long each daily task takes. If I have a meeting to go to I can push some tasks back, but I still have a very clear idea of how long everything takes and how much time I will be working on any given day.

#3 Take Breaks
I mean short breaks. They really don’t need to more than 5 minutes long, but you should take a good amount of them (this is not including a longer lunch break). Preferably, you will use these short breaks to get up out of your chair and give your body and eyes a break from staring at a computer screen. This might be a good time to grab a glass of water. Or to quickly tidy up your room. Or perhaps to take a shower. If you work from home I highly recommend working a shower into your schedule.

Working from a coffee shop.

#4 Work Outside Your Home
Another great thing about working from home, is that often you don’t actually need to work from home. If you have tasks you can do on your laptop make yourself mobile and work from a coffee house or some other establishment with WiFi. For me, it can sometimes be helpful to work when there are other people around, even if I don’t know them. Also, ordering a drink from the Barista or striking up a conversation with a stranger in the coffee shop is a good way to make up for human interaction that you may have been missing out on.  Also, there is the chance that it will be a good networking opportunity.

#5 Know When To Stop
This rule is very important, but it also is the one most likely to be broken. The truth is, you need to get all the necessary tasks done every day. If you’re not going to be able to finish before your self imposed ‘quitin time’ then you need to work after hours to get it done. There are two key things to understand when it comes to following rule number 5. One: you must know what counts as a necessary task and what doesn’t. Two: You need to make sure necessary tasks don’t flood your schedule. Leave room in your schedule for things like self education (reading blogs, talking to colleagues, doing research in your field), random work related tasks, making new contacts; things that will help your business, things you maybe could do daily, but are not absolutely necessary. These tasks are what make your schedule flexible, if you have to cut back on them one day it won’t set you back for the next day.

#6 Love That You Work From Home
Working from home provides so much freedom and convenience. While the freedom could let you start work at 8am, or 12pm, or 2pm, or even 5pm; and the convenience makes it easy to eat a snack every fifteen minutes, or to watch just this one tv show, or to do your laundry and then iron everything and then sort everything so you know what you’re wearing for the next two weeks; freedom and convenience also let you meet up with friends at any given time, they let you travel and work from your laptop, they can make it easier to be healthier and they save you from sitting in traffic.

Embrace the good! Find solutions for the bad! And, be glad that you can do whatever you want so long as you do awesome work and make all your clients happy!

-Lacey Welborn

Cisco Recognizes WireSpeed Systems (Our Client) as Their SuperFan!

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Lacey Welborn
Lacey and her brother Zeb Welborn founded Welborn Media. She has designed and launched websites, several projects, marketing materials, a podcast, a book and more. Her passions include her family, her friends, creating things and helping businesses grow.
Latest posts by Lacey Welborn (see all)
WireSpeed Systems chosen as Cisco's SuperFan on Facebook

Cisco’s Facebook Photo

Our client, WireSpeed Systems, is a small hardworking business that sells new and refurbished networking equipment.

Cisco is a multinational corporation and the world’s largest manufacturer of networking equipment.

When we began implementing our Facebook strategy for WireSpeed Systems we followed Cisco closely because our clients work with their products often. With well over 225,000 fans, Cisco has a terrific Facebook presence. Last year they began featuring SuperFans on their Facebook profile. SuperFans are their most active and engaged followers.

On Tuesday Cisco changed their profile image to the one seen here and they posted, “We changed it up this month for the Cisco SuperFan! Instead of an individual, we are highlighting WireSpeed Systems, a company who has been extremely active on our page and has even been sharing our content on their Facebook page as well. Thanks for being such a fabulous Cisco SuperFan, WireSpeed Systems!!”

Obviously our clients are thrilled. We are very excited and proud to get one of our small businesses noticed by the biggest company in their industry. Having the WireSpeed Systems logo alongside the Cisco logo on Cisco’s own Facebook page adds a great deal of credibility and instills trust in WireSpeed Systems.

We’re very fortunate to have such wonderful clients. It makes the job of getting their name out there and recognized by new people so rewarding.

A big Thank You! to Cisco and their Social Media team. Highlighting smaller businesses is such a wonderful thing for a huge corporation to do. Thank you!

The Story of Welborn Social Media

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Zeb Welborn
The owner of Welborn Social Media and the founder of The Tutoring Solution.My goal is to help business owners share the passion they have for their business with as many potential customers as possible.By helping passionate people achieve their dreams I am helping to create a society of passionate leaders that will help inspire others to make their dreams a reality.
Latest posts by Zeb Welborn (see all)

My sister and I were unemployed and living at our parents home.  My life had completely changed, I had gone through a difficult divorce and left my full-time teaching job.  Lacey had been working an exhausting job as a video editor at a local news station when they cancelled her show.

Zeb and Lacey Welborn Barbecuing Our Turkey on Thanksgiving Day

In February 2009, I began tutoring my first student and found I really enjoyed the sense of accomplishment that came along with developing students in a one on one setting and experienced a lot of success.  Referrals came freely and my schedule became very full.  I decided to expand.

Lacey went back to school, taking graphic design classes and had been learning website design on her own.

I asked if she would help me with my business.  She created The Tutoring Solution logo and built a website. When the website went up, almost immediately, people began to find us online.

This was cool!

For months we added content to our website; using blogs, pictures and videos.  But, I also wanted to direct people to my website and needed to find an inexpensive way to do that.  Facebook and Twitter provided me with a free way to promote my business.

That’s when The Tutoring Solution took off.

My sister and I attributed our success to our efforts in Social Media. We did more research and began to attend classes, read articles, communicated with successful companies and kept up to date on best practices for Social Media.

Jennifer Davis from Scrapbook Expo was the first business owner we talked to about developing a Social Media campaign for their brand.  Jennifer was already active on Facebook and had generated a massive following.  I asked her if she would be willing to let me run a Twitter campaign for her company.  Welborn Social Media was born.

Many other companies began hearing about us through a variety of different avenues. Currently we do Social Media and graphic design work for the Creative Scrapbook Source, DLT Growers, Los Serranos Country Club, Scrapbook Expo, System 1, The Tutoring Solution and WireSpeed Systems.

Our story has only just begun.

Our mission is to build connections for our clients with potential customers and develop stronger relationships with current customers and to help their business grow.

If you’re looking to expand your business, schedule an appointment with us today.  We will work with you to create a personalized plan designed to help your business grow.

Schedule your free appointment today by contacting Zeb Welborn at (909) 973 – 9089 or WelbornSocialMedia@gmail.com