Final Blog Post

Overall, I think this semester has been a great learning experience for business moves in the near future.  Even though my business was not real, I have learned many useful social media sites and tactics to use when I plan on starting a business.  I loved this class because it let me have my own freedom.  I had all week to do my assignments when I had time and I had the freedom to write what I actually felt rather than a strict right or wrong answer.  I feel like this helped me learn a lot more because I was open to interpretation and did not fear getting the 'wrong' answer.  Lastly, I am glad I took part in this class this semester because business and technology are my passion and I was able to participate and effectively learn and pursue these topics in a school setting.  Thank you for teaching me and taking the time to read my thoughts and feelings.  Cheers.

Variables

For Always Fit Personal Training, I think I would Facebook would best suit my business style.  Even from day one, Facebook has been my top choice and it remained the same.  Instagram and Twitter would have to be my other top choices to the simplicity and user usage on both platforms.  On Facebook, I think the strategy of queueing posts would be great for me since I don't spend much time on Facebook.  I also think the ads would be a great way to promote business growth.  For Instagram and Twitter, I think hashtags are the best way to interact with my customers.  I think having contests for the biggest improvements each month for six months would be a great way to keep my users active.  I could use a hashtag like #alwaysfitprogress so I could keep track of the posts people put up.  Since I don't use social media such as Facebook or Twitter too much, I wouldn't spend that much time per week on the platforms.  Maybe for Facebook, an hour a week, queuing statuses for the month.  On Instagram and Twitter, I would only spend maybe two hours together.  For instagram, I could post 2-3 pictures per week and Twitter, I could tweet for 15-20 minutes a few days a week as well.

Next month of usage:

Facebook - Every monday, I could queue 5 posts for each weekday & Saturday.  The posts would include coupons, advertisements and updates.

Instagram- Every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday I would post pictures.  The pictures would be of potential meals, exercise tips, and customer progression.  And of course, Sunday would be selfie sunday :-)

Twitter- Every Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday I would get on Twitter and reply to people's questions most importantly.  I would post about upcoming training sessions and coupon deals.  I would also promote my other social media platforms so I could grow on each different site.

A Review...

This semester, I enjoyed using Facebook for my business for several of reasons.  The first reason is it's simplicity. Since Facebook has been around for forever, it was easy for me navigate and work with.  I also like the feature of the admin panel.  I feel like this feature gives you all you need to know/use right at your fingertips.  Lastly, I love the feature of being able to set status posts ahead of time, like they are running on a queue.  I think this is the best for a person with a busy schedule because you can go on once and set several posts to be posted throughout the week, month, etc...  I think my least favorite to use would be Twitter, simply because it doesn't really fit my business type.  Don't get me wrong, I love Twitter for my personal life, but looking at a business aspect, I don't think it suits it very well.  Lastly, even though we didn't get to work with it, I think Instagram would be awesome for my business.  The fact that you can post pictures and short video clips would be easy for me to post tips and advertisements.  With Instagram's growing popularity, I think expanding my business through that social media platform would produce the most success.

Google Analytics

I think one of the best tools provided by Google Analytics for my blog is the feature that shows the amount of new visitors each day.  This way, I can gauge if my business is growing steadily or not.  If the numbers stay the same or start to drop, I know that I need to make some changes in order to please the viewers.  Another useful tool is the time spent on each page of my website.  This will allow me to see what customers prefer to see and what to steer away from. If the viewers stay on some pages longer than others, I will know what is more appealing and I can add similar features. Lastly, I think the social overview is extremely useful because it can show me what form of social media is the most successful for me.  If I figure out that my Instagram followers are more active and engaged than my Twitter followers, I can make adjustments and hopefully communicate better with my Twitter followers.

Coupon Deal

I think a coupon that gives customers discounts on their first couple workout sessions would be the most beneficial coupon for my business.  For example, if my coupon offered 50% off regular priced sessions for the first 3 training sessions, the customer would be much more inclined to try it out.  I think that once I get the chance to work with someone and workout with them, they will become accustomed and comfortable with me and much more likely to continue.  A coupon is the perfect way to gather in a new customer base and hopefully grow and expand my business.