How Businesses Are Succeeding at Social Media

Have you ever wondered what it takes to succeed in social media?Want to know how the most successful business owners, savvy entrepreneurs and powerhouse professionals are capitalizing on social media?Today's “Breakthrough Social Media Success,” interview with Stephan Hovnanian is designed to invoke passion and purpose into your online presence.Not only has he created a name for himself in the offline world, but he's successfully transitioned that reputation into viable online currency.The goal of this interview is to give you a sneak peek into his life as an online and offline marketer. Plus, offer actionable tips, tools and techniques that you can infuse into your business.

During our chat you'll learn:

• Why you owe it to yourself to build a solid online presence
• The biggest challenge businesses face online and how to overcome it
• The one thing every business owner and entrepreneur should do right now to succeed
• How to be strategic in your use of social media
• Why Google+ is a vital component to your social media success

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Welcome Stephan Hovnanian! Stephan is a web, E-mail marketing and Google Plus strategist, the host of the “Google Plus Business Spotlight,” and the author of Google Plus Pro-Tips.I've known Stephan for quite some time via social media and have come to appreciate his consistent, strategic and forward-thinking approach to business. He's a wealth of information and someone you need to know.Below is an excerpt from our time together. Listen in as we discuss how businesses are succeeding at social media

Social Media and Business Strategy

Rebekah:

Share with us a little bit more about yourself. How did you become an expert within your field?

Stephan:

I've been in the web business for 14 years now, and what I bring to the table is a full-service approach. Web development is a very fragmented business right now and oftentimes, if your business is having a WordPress site developed, you're working with a bunch of different teams.So the fact that I've been able to provide a one-stop shop concept has been a great advantage. And what it's allowed me to do is to get out into social media and into the world of web strategy and understand what works. I also get it from a technical standpoint and can then relay that back to my clients what makes the most sense.I grew up without the Internet. When I was a kid, you had to go to the library and look in a card catalog to find something. So it's a different world, and I like working with businesses that work in the real world.I'm meeting, and talking about the online challenges faced by traditional businesses and helping them figure out how to make the online space work.

The Biggest Challenge for Businesses Online Today

Rebekah:

Talk to us a little bit about your clients. What are the top three problems that you are solving for your clients today?

Stephan:

I work primarily with smaller businesses, mainly nonprofits. Actually I have a variety of churches and religious organizations in our portfolio. And the biggest challenge a lot of these guys have is that the online world this isn't their world.You know the Internet is not what they do for a living, and they're trying to keep up with the constant changes and things like that.Having someone who knows what they’re doing to manage your online presence and then create, implement and execute an online strategy is essential.That’s how we work on with our clients, to be that go to, to be that support.

Effectively Merging Online and Offline

Rebekah:

You and I both come from the traditional marketing world. We now work with people to transition all that they've worked so hard to establish offline and transition it into a powerful and profitable online presence.However, making that shift can be very difficult.Can you offer one tip to on how to effectively merge marketing mediums?

Stephan:

Think it through. You have to know what you want to accomplish and you have to then put the pieces in place to accomplish those things.The biggest challenge right now for people is that they're being fed so much information, from best practices to suggestions tips, but they don't know what any of that means.Understand your business goal, no matter what you’re getting into, and think it through. Any decisions, whether big or small, should flow back up into your overall goals. Then you can check off against that strategy, against that goal or decision and it gives you something to evaluate.And then if somebody comes up with something new you can ask yourself how it flows into your goals and impacts what you’re trying to accomplish.You'll be more effective with your time, more effective with your money, and you'll have a better quality product at the end of the day.

Listen to the full interview and subscribe within iTunes!

And connect with Stephan here!