1. Social Media 101: Building Relationships, Online Groups, and Brands (Jan. 24)

Concluding our 'Social Media 101' series, this webinar explains how to establish yourself as a 'go-to' expert on social networks to build new relationships on social networks. Sharing high-value resources from a blog can boost your business marketing efforts and increase the likelihood that your content will be widely 'shared' and distributed, and attracts new followers to your personal or business brand, and to online groups.

We will discuss:

• Finding people on social networks that are discussing your industry
• Building rapport with individuals on social networks
• Growth strategies for managing an online group, helping your company become a social enterprise
• Using online meetings, webinars, events, and local meetups to expand online group membership
• How today's customers are talking about your business on sites like Facebook and Twitter, and reinventing sales and marketing in the process
• Creating thought leadership with a business blog, and using it to share high-value content
• Scientifically proven best practices for maintaining discussions and getting others to 'share' your content

Join us on January 24 @ 3pm CST for this power-packed presentation. This webinar is the culmination of four years of research in social media communication in both online and offline networks. We look forward to helping you increase your social media marketing effectiveness.

Tuesday, January 24, 3-4:30pm CST
 

2. Taking Your Website to the Next Level (Jan. 31)

You have a website, but is it working for you? More and more people are using websites like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter to talk about businesses and their products with friends and coworkers. These new technologies have changed the playbook for sales and marketing. Key items like social media integration, interactive website content, and good usability have a massive impact on your ability to do business.

We will discuss:

• How to turn your business into a social enterprise
• Effective blogging practices to get your content shared, and start positive discussions about your product or business
• Generating leads through social media and visits to your website
• Pushing your message out to pull clients in
• Research-proven best practices for selecting interactive, usable website content
• Integration of your brand on your website, ads, apps, social media pages, and company blog

With 71.4% of consumers stating that "blogs effect their purchasing decisions 'somewhat' or 'very much'," be sure Join us on January 31 @ 2pm CST to learn more about how to increase your overall marketing effectiveness. We look forward to helping you raise business revenue through an effective web marketing plan.

Tuesday, January 31, 2-3:00pm CST
 

3. Designing Interactive Software and Products (Feb. 3)

What are users saying about your software or product? Are your users happy and trouble-free, or are they frustrated and calling for customer support? A recent study by Karat & Lund described savings on customer service costs, following a user-friendly redesign of a product: "an improved experience by Schneider Automation resulted in $2 million saved in call-center support costs over the first 10 months after the change." Incorporating usability expertise ensures that the final product aligns with business objectives: with increased revenue and market share, as well as happier users and better brand perception.

We will discuss:

• Examining user interaction, collaboration, and engagement with human-computer interfaces
• Benefits of usability research, such as increased sales, better customer loyalty, higher user productivity and lower maintenance costs
• Basics of Interaction Design, and how it affects everyday products you use
• Designing products for collaborative use and happy users
• Qualitative vs. quantitative usability research
• Different types of testing and research for particular products and design situations
• How your product's usability directly impacts your brand image, and your bottom line

Join us on February 3 @ 2pm CST to learn more about how to incorporate usability research into product design for happy users, increased productivity, and reduced support costs. We look forward to helping you increase revenue through satisfied users and the positive branding of your products.

Friday, February 3, 2-3:00pm CST