By Janette Speyer, Web Success Team –  

I have been in social media for the better part of eleven years and counting. I have never considered myself a guru, nor could I ever become one, because the biggest challenge in this industry has been to keep up with the technology.

I am a partner in a boutique Online Marketing and PR firm. A great portion of our efforts go into helping our clients with the new media and its ever evolving tools and best practices. A big emphasis is placed on ROI and we have to constantly deliver on “deliverables” — increased engagement, traffic, impressions and the Holy Grail – SALES!

At times we are under increasing pressure to get more exposure for our brands. Along with the “proof of life” results of social media, we have to juggle the shifting sands of social platforms. For example, just last month Facebook changed its platform and now Twitter is following suit. This all represents more learning and getting acquainted with the ways to get engagement and conversions for our brands.

Social Media Learning on Steroids

Enter Hugh Briss a fellow graphic designer and social media pro (yes I can say this about Hugh, he’s earned it!). He started a group called Social Identities a couple of years ago to provide a space for social media managers to collaborate and help each other grow. I personally have been faced with many social media’s daunting challenges with Facebook, Twitter and even Google Plus that Hugh has helped me resolve in a question of minutes.

Hugh’s new venture is an exclusive group called Social Media Masterminds, which is populated with the best and the brightest minds in social marketing.

Taking the Group for A Test Drive

I was invited to participate as part of the beta testing and was hooked from inception. Note I am a very busy person (who isn’t?!!) and I also belong to many Facebook, Google Plus and LinkedIn groups all offering good information. But flattery will get you everywhere so I joined gladly.

Once I joined, I read some of the posts and answered a few questions as I would do in any other setting. Then I started asking questions… all kinds of questions from naive to insightful just to get a sense of what was out there. Happily I got all great answers. Here is one of my questions looking for a response:

 “What do you prefer for link tracking Bitly or Post?”

This question came after I was strongly encouraged to use Post as a link shortener for tracking our in-house campaigns. I wasn’t sure it would work for me since I am a Bitly addict and have been for years. The consensus was to use platforms like Buffer, Bitly or Googl. I received 15 comments from this post. I typically don’t get any answers at all when I ask questions of this nature in other virtual groups.

This crowd is enjoyable friendly and sometimes mouthy but it’s all in good fun and you are strongly encouraged to participate. As they say there are no stupid questions and if there are you can certainly ask them here!

Other Perks and Takeaways

Social Media Master Minds offers its members the following:

Personalized help and in-depth advice along with blog posts that include tips and suggestions, screen-casts providing step-by-step tutorials and participation in regularly scheduled live chats. But the biggest takeaway for me is finding…

Answers to your questions tailored to your specific situation anytime you need! That is worth gold!

There is a nominal fee involved to participate in the group to have access to all its benefits. When you consider what you get, it is a very reasonable $24.95 a month. Take it for a test drive and judge for yourself.

I hope to see you in the group, sharing your insights, your questions and your good sense of humor.