I like to think I can see things from the perspective of a service provider–a company that provides similar services to those provided by Saxum–and also from the viewpoint of the customer. I am also a consumer; I don’t like being cheated or charged more than a service or product is worth.

Setting up a Twitter account is free. Yes, it’s free and it takes 5 minutes to do. It’s also really simple…it consists of entering your email address and choosing a user name, basically.

But Saxum did more for ODOT than just set up the account. They apparently provided 10 days worth of consulting and training to the staff at ODOT. Okay, so that works out to $750  per day, if they charged them nothing to set up the account. Figure they sent out one or two staff people to the ODOT offices to do this, that works out to $375 per person per day, or about $9 an hour…and I KNOW those Saxum folks make more than that.

They also created a custom Twitter “look” for the ODOT page. So throw in a few hours of time from a graphic artist, who also makes considerably more than $9 an hour.

So say $250 to set up the Twitter account, $300 for the graphic artist, that leaves you about $700 a day for training. $700 a day for training for a group of employees is incredibly reasonable.

The ODOT staff are presumably tweeting now, thanks to their training. But they had to get some followers. To get 500 Twitter followers within a couple of days of launching your account is pretty darn good (think Ellen Degeneres and Oprah Winfrey). Saxum undoubtedly did some footwork to gather followers quickly for ODOT.

So to say that ODOT was charged $7500 for a “free service” is really not accurate. Yes, a Twitter account is free…but they got a lot more than a Twitter account.

Saxum is doing all of us in this industry a favor. They have set a price tag for service and expertise that is consistently undermined and undervalued.

“Anyone can make a web site!” “Anyone can write a press release!” “My nephew can shoot that video, he has a Mac!” How many times have we heard this!?

Yes, anyone with a camera can shoot a video. Yes, you can get “web site tonight” for $10 on Godaddy and probably get a web page set up. Will it be effective? Will it do the job you want it to do for your business? Will it convert customers? Will you be able to get any information from it on how it’s performing? The answer is unequivocally NO.

It’s almost always true that “you get what you pay for.” ODOT needed a turnkey solution rolled out in a very short time frame. Saxum delivered.

By the way, Oklahoma Media Group provides these services too…but we don’t have the overhead Saxum does. We can help your business engage consumers and gain new customers. Let’s talk about how Twitter (and Facebook, and other social media, and an effective web presence) can help your business.

1. Chris Brogan’s Social Media Starter Pack - Chris Brogan is an authority on social media, a great writer and just a genuine nice guy that you’d really like to hang out with. He has great advice. Some of it is more designed for people trying to sell products, but really everything is, in one way or another, “selling”. I recommend subscribing to his newsletter as well.
2. From DoshDosh: Social Media Marketing Campaigns: How to Set Goals and Define Your Target Market – Before you can do anything with social media, you need to think about it and develop a plan. Trust me: it’s SO much easier to do if you have a plan and have established goals. This will help you do that.
3. 35 Tips for Getting Started in Social Media – This has some great strategy tips for things to do to lay really solid groundwork for your social media campaign.
4. How to Build a Social Media Cheat Sheet for Any Topic – This is great information and how-to (with screen shots) on how to find what other people are doing in social media in your field. It is very useful to see what other people are blogging, Tweeting, etc. so that you can learn what they’re doing. It’s kind of long and the steps are intensive, but the payoff is great; the information you gain will help you infinitely as you go forward.
5. Problogger’s Blogging Tips for Beginners – Problogger is a wonderful site with a wealth of resources for bloggers of all experience levels. Here’s their guide for beginners.
6. 10 Easy Steps for Twitter Beginners – A great, simple, easy to understand overview of Twitter and how to use it.
7. IIG’s Social Media Beginner’s Guide – An easy to understand primer on social media: what it is, how to get started, how to use it. Really good primer.
8. Beth Kanter’s guide to non-profits that tweet – Beth Kanter is the US authority on blogging and social media for nonprofits. I would suggest you follow her on Twitter and subscribe to her blog. (she’s got lots of great tips for for-profit companies as well)
9. Superlist of what NOT to do in social media – This is a very informative list, with some videos, about major mistakes and what not to do. It’s always interesting to chuckle and say, “Oh, I’d NEVER do that!” (or at least, you THINK you wouldn’t…)
10. Here are a few books as well, if you’re interested in reading more in depth: Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies. This is a fascinating study in why social networks are so powerful. Well written and easy to read.  This study is based on comprehensive research.  Marketing to the Social Web: How Digital Customer Communities Build Your Business. This book covers extensive case studies and is very useful in understanding the big picture of social marketing.   Influence: the Psychology of Persuasion. Robert Cialdini is the master of understanding how to market to people. His book is illuminating on a personal and professional level. These are just a few books out there; much is being written and published every day on this topic. If you’re interested in reading more about the the theory and practice of social media, these are my favorites.

Do you have other web sites that you’ve found helpful? If so, please post comments here so we can all check them out!