Author Archive
Burning Questions in Social Media
June 28, 2011 | 
Author Burning Questions in Social Media
After my last webinar, my email account filled with questions about social media, marketing, and making money online. I decided to go through and pull out some of the most frequently asked questions as well as some of the questions I frequently see on Twitter and Facebook and answer them in this informative webinar.
What is the Best Way to Use Social Media?
- Social media is not a Direct to Sales platform. It is a Social platform where you and customers can get to know each other.
- Social networking belongs in the first two tiers of your sales funnel where you are working to get Attention and generate Interest in your business.
- The best use of social media is to let people know you exist.
- Engaging people in your target market by talking directly to them, providing quality content that is relevant to their needs, and offering opportunities to participate.
Examples of this include:
- Commenting on their status updates
- Asking them questions
- Posting links to interesting articles
- Holding a contest where they can win something awesome
How Do You Determine the Best Outlet?
- Because social media is so popular, tons of sites have popped up over the internet catering to any and every interest. It can be challenging to figure which one is the best platform to start with.
- For business owners, the first thing you should do is create a professional social media profile with LinkedIn. These profiles show up in search results. So even if you do not currently have a website prospects will still be able to find information about you which is important for creating trust.
- Since a lot of people are on Twitter and Facebook, you should create accounts there as well. If you only have time enough for one, choose Facebook. Because of their groups feature, it is easier to target your market there.
- After that, the best social network for you is determined by your target market. Where are they hanging out?
- The more niche specific the social media network is the better. Niche specific networks offer more targeted leads. Example: If you sell crafts on Etsy, your target market is women. Joining female centric, lifestyle focused, or even green living networks is probably best for your business.
What Makes Good Social Media Content?
- In social media, the best content is the type that gets customers talking to and about you. This can vary from business to business and network to network.
- In general, though, the majority of the content you produce should be genuine conversation with other members of the site. Talking to people will give you insight into what they need and how your business fits in with their goals.
- You should also promote other people when you can. This is a good way to get in their good graces.
- You should also post links to content that informs, educates, and/or entertains the people in your target audience. Your goal is to become a trusted outlet for information in your industry that is of interest to your prospects. Good things to post are news pieces, informative blog posts, and useful or entertaining videos.
- While advertising your business is acceptable, you don’t want to overdo it and spam your readers.
How to Gain Exposure for Videos
- Most of the social media videos that go viral are entertaining in nature. So, creating a viral video starts with the content.
- Determine what the message is that you want to get out and then figure out ways to say it creatively. Example: A real estate agent can do a funny video (using actors to illustrate) on the things you should beware of when looking for a home.
- If you are promoting a site, be sure to include the link in your video.
- You need a catchy title and description that includes your keywords. You can have the best video in the world but your title must inspire them to click to watch it.
- Share the link on all of the social networks that you are on as well as your blog.
- Send the link to people your know and ask them to share it with their friends.
- Upload the video to more than one sharing site. (Metacafe, College Humor, Funny or Die, Failblog).
- Send it to the people on your email list.
- Connect with other members of the site with similar content and ask them to promote your video. Be nice and humble about it.
What Should I Use Instead of Internet Explorer?
There are 5 major browsers on the market at this time: Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, Chrome, and Safari. As of Nov 2010, Firefox is the most popular browser (44%) followed by Internet Explorer (28%)
- Firefox offers thousands of addons and extensions that can help you run your online business better.
- Adblock Plus – Block ads, pop ups, auto-play video ads, and other annoying ads that people put on their websites.
- Video Download Helper – Allows you to download YouTube videos to your hard drive so you can watch them later.
- Xmarks – You can port your bookmarks and passwords between multiple computers using this plugin.
- Fire FTP – Lets you upload files to your website using your browser instead of a standard FTP (File Transfer Protocol) program.
- Yoono – With this plugin, you can view the updates from all of your social networks in one place instead of logging in multiple sites.
- Feedly – If you use and RSS reader to stay updated on your favorite blogs, this application will compile all of your feeds and display them in a magazine style that’s easier to read.
- gTranslate – This is a language translator that helps you read articles written in other languages. It’s not always accurate but it’s good enough that you will be able to get the gist of the content.
- Multiple Tabs – This is a built in feature that opens content in multiple tabs instead of multiple windows.
- Amazon Assist – This plugin is for shoppers and affiliate marketers. Allows you to access Amazon for product suggestions while you are surfing the net.
- Personas – Not a tool so much. But this plugin allows you to personalize the look of your browser. The Personas section of Mozilla has thousands of designs you can download to customize your browser’s look.
What Kind of Analytical Tools are Available?
- There are literally thousands of analytical tools out there. If you have your own webhosting, chances are that you already have analytical software built into the Control Panel of your site. Common ones installed by web hosts are AwStats, Webalizer, and Referrer Tracker.
- Outside of your host provider the most popular web statistic tools used are Google Analytics, Statcounter, and Sitemeter.
- All three provide the same basic information. However, Google Analytics is more comprehensive. But, Google Analytics takes 24 hours to update. So your statistics for today won’t be available until tomorrow.
- Statcounter and Sitemeter updates immediately but are not as comprehensive as Google Analytics. However, you can use more than one web stats program on your site.
- For WordPress Users, there are hundreds of plugins you can install to get info in your back office. Examples: WassUP, WP-Stats, and Live WordPress Plugin
Analyzing Your Site
- Some stats are more important to track than others. It’s nice to see how many people are visiting your blog but you should also look at:
- The posts that are getting the most hits. Creating similar content may increase the number of visits to your site.
- Keywords people are using to get to your site. This can tell you how you are doing in the search engines. Also good for providing inspiration for additional content.
- Referrals – How people are finding your site whether through search engines, social networks, article directories or other websites.
- Returning Visitors – This tells you if people are coming back to your site. The higher this number the more loyal your readership.
- Bounce Rate – This tells you how many people visit your site and leave without looking at anything else. A high percentage may indicate that your content or website is not engaging enough.
- Visit Length – How long a person is on your site. The longer they are on your site, the more likely they are to engage with your money making content.
Facebook Etiquette
- Don’t friend people to spam them. Friend them to get to know them better.
- If you get a friend request from someone you don’t want to friend, refer them to your Facebook fan page. Especially if you use Facebook to post personal stuff that you only want your close friends/family to see.
- Likewise, don’t be offended if someone does not friend you. Most of the time it’s not personal.
- Your business fan page is for business stuff. Leave the personal stuff on the personal page.
- Don’t post anything on Facebook that you would not want broadcasted on the 6 o’clock news.
- When sending out friend request, personalize the message. This is especially good if you met them at an offline event. You may need to refresh their memory.
- Share what’s important. Unless you are a chef, no one really wants to know what you had for breakfast.
- Invite judiciously. Don’t send out an invite to everything to every friend. Too many and you will be unfriended.
- Ask before you tag people in a photo. Most people value their privacy. They may not mind you uploading the photo but would not want you to put their name on it.
- Respond to comments on your status updates.
- Speaking of photos, you may want to avoid uploading ones of you drinking, inappropriately dresses, or that are sexually suggestive if you want to maintain your good reputation.
- Take personal issue to private messaging. Don’t air the laundry with a public battle. You will destroy both your reputations.
- Thank people when they Like or share your content.
Twitter Etiquette
- Twitter is all about being social. Therefore, follow people because you are interested in what they have to say not to spam them with your sales message.
- Reply when someone messages to you.
- Direct Messaging should be used sparingly. Do not use it to spam your sales message. You will be reported for spam.
- If you are going to be tweeting a lot (because of a live tweeting event or Twitter chat) let your followers know beforehand so they can filter you out.
- Don’t change your Twitter name every five minutes. Despite what Twitter says, it does not update completely throughout the Twitterverse and can leave followers confused. Decide what your handle is going to be and stick with it.
- Take personal problem to a private arena such as private messaging or email.
- Keep your tweets relevant.
- Thank people when they share your content.
- Use a professional picture for your avatar.
- Avoid using foul language.
How Do I Get People to View Me as an Expert?
- Remember that what a person perceives is their reality. If you name comes up in association with a particular topic often enough, people will begin to think of you as an expert on it.
- Start a blog and write about the issues relevant to your industry and your target market.
- Post articles to article directories on those same topics
- Be seen with other experts in the industry. Guest blog on their sites. Leave intelligent comments on their articles.
- Connect with prospects and offer solutions to their questions and problems.
- Get interviewed by others in the industry.
- Your bio should highlight your experience in the industry and with the topic on the table.
- Create videos displaying your expertise and distribute them
- Try to get the media to talk about you.
- Be consistent in your marketing and brand development
How Do I Streamline My Social Media Marketing?
- Automate as much as you can. Use tools like Pluggio, Hootsuite, or Ping.fm to post to multiple accounts at once.
- Aggregate your social networks so you can see them all in one place. Hootsuite is a good tool for this.
- Set aside a specific time each day to do social media task. Stick to this time limit otherwise you will get nothing done.
- Create a schedule if need be of tasks you should do everyday for your social media marketing.
- Integrate your blog into your social media outlets. Use Facebook’s blog application to pull posts from your blog into your profile. Use the Twitter Tools application to auto tweet the titles and links to your Twitter profile.
- Integrate social tools into your blog so visitors can share your content.
- Continue to research and look for solutions that make it easier to stay on top of things.
How Do I Get Blog Comments?
- Getting blog comments is a struggle for many bloggers.
- Give to receive. Comment on other people’s blogs and most will return the favor.
- Invite people to leave a comment at the end of your articles.
- Ask a question at the end of your articles.
- Leave out a few things out of the article so that people can contribute to the conversation.
- Respond to comments but try to engage the commentator in conversation.
- Write content that gets people talking. Controversial topics works, lessons learned, mistakes you have made, etc. These topics encourage people to share opinions and experiences.
- Reward comments. Use a plugin like Show Top Commentators that highlights the people who have left the most comments on your blog.
- Interact on social media sites and ask for opinions on your articles (sparingly).
How Do I Deal with Conflict on Social Media Outlets?
- Unfortunately, it won’t always be puppies and rainbows on social media sites.
The longer you use social media, the more likely you will run into conflict on social media sites. - First decide if it is worth it to engage. Some people are trolls and will try to call you out just to be argumentative. You have to use your judgment here.
- If it is a customer complaint, though, ask them to contact you in private to resolve the matter.
- If someone is challenging your opinion on something, state your case respectfully. You can discuss the finer points of the issue but don’t let things get out of hand. Sometimes it is good to just agree to disagree.
- If you are being attacked, respectfully stand up for yourself. Cut them off if the other person starts becoming abusive. Offer to talk to them in private but make it clear that you will not continue a public discussion. Block them if you have to and don’t allow yourself to be goaded into continuing the argument. You will only ruin your reputation.
How Do I Make Money?
- Despite what you may have heard, social media is not a direct to sales tool. It is a discovery tool. A way for you and your prospects to find each other. However, social media can lead to sales.
- The goal is to lure people into your sales funnel. This is where social media excels.
- Use social media to find prospects who can use your product, services, or opportunity and network with them.
- Engage with your prospects. Some will naturally be curious and will click to your website to see what you are up to. It is best that you link to a blog rather than directly to your site so they see that you are providing something of value.
- Advertise your site within your postings. Don’t overdo to the point of spamming though.
- Offer a valuable Ebook or Email training course to capture their email address on a mailing list and then keep in touch.
- Use social media to find people to partner with that will help you extend the reach of your brand.
- You can also link to affiliate products and services. Use shortening services like Bit.ly to disguise and track these links.
- Write compelling tweets that capture the attention of your readers and link to sales pages.
- Use contests and giveaways to encourage followers to interact with you and your website.
Visit the Social Media Video Library for more blogging and social media training. Contact me for a free 1 hour consultation on how to use social media tools to your advantage.
So Why Should Anyone Pay Attention to You?
Getting People’s Attention is a Challenge
Major league baseball player Ron Kittle once said, “I’m so poor I can’t even pay attention!” Today it’s likely that many of your potential customers are saying the same thing. And not only are they referring to the sad state of their bank accounts, they are probably also talking about the sheer number of things in their life vying for their attention.
They have their work, their families, and their personal goals. There is the television, radio, and the internet full of blogs, news sites, and forums producing billions of pieces of content for them to consume. If you have a blog for your business or are thinking about starting one, the first question you will need to answer, in order to be successful, is why should your readers pay attention to you?
Attention is the New Currency
Of all the resources available to your readers their time is the only thing that is not renewable. Paying attention to one thing means that they are sacrificing time they could be spending doing something else. If you want them to read your blog (e.g. pay attention to you) then it is imperative that you make it worth their while.
To do this, you must understand what drives your readers and make sure they are getting what they need or want from your blog. People search the internet for a number of reasons including:
* To find a solution to a problem
* For entertainment
* To learn something new
* To understand a new technology
* Find likeminded people to hang out with
* Get advice on making a purchase
* Improve their finances by making money
* Get information on a topic or issue important to them
* And so on…
Developing content that solves your reader’s problem is the key to getting them to pay attention to you. And knowing your target market is the key to understanding what their problem is. If you didn’t get a chance to view my free webinar on finding and marketing to your target market, I encourage you to take a few minutes to learn how to figure out who your best customers are and what they want from you.
Tips for Ramping Up the Value of Your Blog to Get Attention
One immediate way to increase the value of the information you provide your readers is to answer reader submitted questions. You will actually knock out two birds with one stone using this tactic. Answering reader questions gives the reader exactly what they want and provides you with a steady stream of topics to blog about. In addition to that, readers will view you as an expert in the industry they can turn to for assistance which will only increase your brand’s value.
Another way is to write articles that are relevant and timely. Although the world is a dynamic place where change is the only constant, there are some things which remain the same year after year. People set goals on New Year’s Day and break them by the end of January. They tell their sweethearts they love them on Valentine’s Day, travel more during the summer, and whip themselves into a buying frenzy the day after Thanksgiving.
Every industry has times when people are looking for information around a certain theme (e.g. how to set goals for a New Year). Aligning your content schedule around the key times in your industry maximizes your audience’s attention.
Bring in experts from other industries to talk about topics related to the theme of your blog. For example, if you are an insurance agent who sells auto insurance you could have a claims adjuster write about the process of evaluating the value of damage done to a vehicle. Collaborating with other experts boosts the value of your brand and extends its reach into other industries.
Your readers are always tuned into station WIFFM (What’s In It For Me). As long as you are broadcasting the right shows, your readers will always tune it to hear what you have to say. For more tips on how to use a blog to build a profitable business, read some of the articles in my archives. Or better yet, schedule an appointment for a free consultation where I will show you how investing in a blog can make you money. To have my articles on ways to market for attention delivered right to you, sign up for automatic updates by RSS.
Marketing on Facebook Opens Many Doors
Marketing on Facebook
Marketing on Facebook
Marketing in today’s world means thinking outside of the box. Social media marketing is even a part of the curriculum for many business and marketing degrees. When nearly everyone with internet access uses Facebook, marketing on the popular social media site is the premier way to really get attention. TV ads are becoming less effective since many people simply DVR their shows and fast forward through them.
It doesn’t matter what you’re marketing. It can be your company, a new product, or even yourself. It’s all about active promotion and marketing on Facebook is one marketing tactic that can definitely get you noticed. Facebook fan pages can get your company or its products and services in front of people who can then spread your marketing message simply by giving it a thumbs up. Coupons are an effective way to reward fans for clicking the “Like” button and providing you or your company more exposure.
Marketing on Facebook Requires Smart and Consistent Effort
Marketing on Facebook means setting aside time each day to add content and promote your page in addition to other marketing techniques you may be engaged in including developing a company website. In fact, marketing on Facebook can drive more traffic to your website since you are able to promote it on your Facebook page.
Make sure you add pertinent information about your company to your profile page. This may be the first contact anyone has with your company so make sure it looks its very best and puts your business in a good light. Take advantage of social psychology by working on getting as many people to like the page as possible. It’s strange but when people see that a lot of other people like something, they are more likely to get involved with it too.
Marketing on Facebook is Virtual Word of Mouth Marketing
Basically, marketing on Facebook comes down to friends. The more friends you have the more people who are able to promote your site. The more they promote your site, the more their friends will see your site and so on and so forth. Facebook marketing is virtual word of mouth marketing.
You can glean a lot of information about your user base from your Facebook profile or fan page. More specifically, you will be able to find out who your most passionate users are. Using this information, you can take advantage of their passion and connections by offering them special incentives for promoting your business. This can be more effective than any other marketing technique you employ since people are more likely to heed the recommendations of people they know and trust.
Feel free to contact me directly for a free consultation and to learn more about marketing on Facebook.
Posted in Facebook, Internet Marketing, Social Media Marketing | 
Tags: Facebook Marketing | 
1 Comment »
How to Use Twitter to Improve Your Visibility and Reputation
Your Prospects Are On Twitter
Twitter is one of the world’s largest and most productive marketing tools. Careful use of Twitter can improve your visibility and reputation in the digital world. Twitter is perfect for a number of things including selling yourself to a potential employer and promoting a product or a web site.
The social media site has the potential to make you or your product known worldwide in a matter of minutes or days if used correctly. The right tweet at the right time will be read by millions of people worldwide and, if properly planned, can produce the attention and web traffic you are striving for.
Like everything else, though, it takes thought, preparation, and planning to improve your visibility and reputation on Twitter.
Differentiate Yourself from the Crowd on Twitter
An effective Twitter marketing strategy requires that you know differentiate yourself from your competition. If you are selling yourself as a prospective employee do not just post a resume. Post your accomplishments as well. Post tweets that prove you are the best choice for the open position. For example, show that you understand how new developments in technology will affect your industry.
For those selling products or services, stand out from your competition by sharing how your product can help prospects achieve their goals. Look at what your competition is doing and think of ways you can do things differently. Partner with people that are in the same industry who are willing to promote your business or service on their twitter page.
Think Before You Tweet
Many people have scared away prospective employers and customers by tweeting before thinking. Even if they didn’t mean to be offensive, the way they worded their tweet gave a negative impression.
Carefully consider what you are tweeting and the reaction you want to elicit from your audience. Every word is judged by every reader. You want to make the best possible impression on the most readers. This takes careful planning because you only have a few words to get your message out there with.
Choose Your Twitter Friends Wisely
Do your homework about friends. Look up people that can assist you with your goals. For example, connect with potential employers or people who can help you in your job search and invite them to be friends. Look for people who can use your product or service as well as partners that would be willing to promote you service on their Twitter page.
Defriend advertisers, lost souls, relationship seekers, and anyone else who does not support your purpose for being on the social networking site. Get the garbage off your wall.
Maintain Your Twitter Profile
Regular maintenance of your account is essential to using to Twitter to improve your reputation or further your marketing goals. Respond to tweets and direct messages sent to your by others. Ignore the spam. Ask people that are your customers or supporters to retweet your best tweets.
Twitter is a numbers game and you need good planning, a definite goal, and regular maintenance to increase your chances of success in promoting yourself and your business. Knowing what you want to get out of Twitter, making a small number of well-planned tweets, finding the right friends, and regular maintenance of your Twitter page will improve your chances of attracting the right kind of attention.
Social media marketing is a large and growing industry that it is difficult to know exactly where to start. Save yourself some time and aggravation by downloading my social media checklist (form in sidebar). I love helping people to succeed so call me for a free consultation on the best way to use internet marketing tools, like Twitter, to increase your brand visibility and value.
Posted in Social Media Marketing, Twitter Training | Tags: marketing with Twitter, Twitter, Twitter as a marketing tool | 6 Comments »
Twitter as a Business Generation Tool
Twitter Connects Businesses with Customers
Twitter is a social network that has flourished in the last few years. It came about because the creators felt that there was a market for people wanting to what they were thinking and doing at all times. Thousands of people started using it and it has become one of the most visited websites online.
As a result of this success, Twitter has also become a powerful business tool. The followers of an individual on Twitter receive every message that the person posts. If the person chooses to post messages regarding his business, then those will be pushed to all of the people that follow him.
This provides a way for you to promote your business as well as get others to do the same. If a celebrity decides to ‘Tweet’ about your business or service then you are one lucky person! The number of followers that a ‘normal’ person has pales in comparison to what a celebrity would have. One tweet from a celebrity like Kim Kardashian or Ashton Kutcher will expose your brand to millions of people around the world.
Tips for Using Twitter Effectively
If Twitter is a network that you have decided to use in conjunction with your business, be careful what personal posts you add to the site. It may be best if you have both a personal and a business account so as to avoid posting non-pertinent things on each profile. Post fresh and engaging content to keep people interested in following you.
Avoid posting nonsensical fluff that adds no value to the lives of your followers. Doing so may chase people away from your business feed. If they think that all they are getting from you is low quality content or spam then your followers will drop you like a hot rock.
Twitter is a great resource since you are able to obtain information and tips on how to accomplish your goals as well. Connect with industry experts who provide the information you need to be more effective in your field. Not only will you improve yourself and your business but you will increase the value of your Twitter feed when you share those tips with the people following you.
Be careful to be professional at all times on Twitter and make sure to do something interesting now and then, like a giveaway, so that people are more inclined to continue following your feed. There are other ways that you can make your feed more attractive. It will just take some time and research.
Twitter is a Powerful Business Tool
When used correctly, it can increase sales and traffic to your website as well as generate top of mind recognition of your brand. Download my free social media checklist (sign up in sidebar) for a daily to do list of all the things you need to do to increase your following. For personalized help, contact me for a free consultation on the best way to market your business online including using Twitter and other internet business tools.
Posted in Social Media Marketing, Twitter Training | Tags: marketing with Twitter, Twitter as a marketing tool | 1 Comment »
Create a Tornado in Your Sales Funnel with Social Media Marketing
Social Media is Perfect for Finding Prospects for Your Sales Funnel
Whether you are looking to replace a full time income or you are just building something on the side to fill in the gaps, chances are pretty good that you are looking to make more money. With rumblings of another recession on the horizon, now is a good time to kick your marketing into high gear and start scooping up prospects with your sales funnel.
The most challenging part of the sales process is getting people to notice you and be comfortable enough with you to go through your sales funnel and give you their money. I’ve already written a few blog posts on ways you can increase sales. Today I’m going to show you how social media marketing can send a wave of prospects tumbling down your sales funnel.
How Social Media Marketing Factors into the Sales Funnel
If you want to make more money online then you need to get your face in front of as many prospects as you can. Social media marketing provides the perfect venue for finding people in your target market and introducing yourself to them. If the internet was one big dinner party, then everyone would be having pre-dinner drinks on Twitter and Facebook.
The casual environment on these sites encourages people to just start a conversation with each other; even if they are complete strangers! Done correctly, you can use these social media sites to send a steady stream of prospects down your sales funnel and to your cash register.
Using Social Media to Create a Sales Funnel Tornado That Captures Prospects
The goal of social media marketing is to not only create awareness of your business but to get people to join your club. People who feel as though they are a part of a group tend to be more loyal and will buy every product you put out. The best way to cultivate these passionate users is to focus on creating a space where they not only interact with you but each other.
Facebook and Ning are particularly well suited for this. Both sites allow users to create profiles your prospects can use to connect with other passionate users of your products and services. Facebook, however, is the better of the two because it can be integrated with your blog or business website.
To use Facebook to connect with prospects, first create a Facebook fan page for your business. (Watch my presentation on Facebook fan pages if you don’t know what they are). Then use the following suggestions to attract the people you want to your business:
* Post links to articles and other media of interest to your target market. For example, if you sell baby products then linking to parenting articles and funny kid videos will appeal to your target audience.
* Use the Network Blogs app to link your company blog to your Facebook page so that it automatically updates with the latest articles. Many people log onto Facebook and never leave. Okay, maybe not never. However, they are more likely to discover your content on Facebook than anywhere else.
* Encourage users to contribute user generated content to the page. This could mean letting them submit tips, links to their articles, or uploading videos. Use a theme to inspire them. For example, users can upload pics of them and their cars on the Mini’s Facebook page. Your prospects will feel more invested in your business when they are able to be a part of it.
* Use polls, quizzes, and surveys to learn more about your prospects and what they want and use that information to fine tune your offerings. Fun polls and quizzes are particularly useful because people will share their results (with a link to your page) with the others in their network and, thereby, extending the reach of your brand.
* Generate awareness with contests and giveaways.
* Use Facebook Questions to get people talking about popular topics in your industry.
Although Twitter is not as feature rich as Facebook, it can be a powerful community building tool as well. One specific way you can use the microblogging service to connect with others on the site is to host or participate in a Twitter chat. This is where a group of people gather together at a specific time to discuss topical subjects. All tweets are marked with an identifying hashtag so members can use tools like Tweetdeck to TweetChat to keep up with the conversation.
Hosting your own chat takes a lot of work but is well worth the effort. However, it is probably a good idea to join a few chats to see how they work before you put in the time creating your own. You can see a list of current Twitter chats here.
The most important thing is to make sure you are linking to pages on your website designed to get people moving through your sales funnel. While you want to focus on building relationships using social media marketing, let’s not forget that you are doing it to build your business. So be sure to promote your business whenever you tactfully can.
Do you need help learning how to use social media effectively? I can help. Connect with me for a free consultation where I will show you how to use internet marketing tools to make more money online. Also, get your free copy of my social media checklist which will help you take daily steps towards social media marketing success and a full sales funnel.
Sending a Facebook Email Whether You Want To or Not
Converting Status Updates into a Facebook Email
Facebook has taken over most of our lives. It’s a great way to stay in touch with even our most distant friends and family. A quick note can lead to a text exchange here and there over the course of a week or a month during which you easily find out what’s been going on with everyone in your social network. Sometimes, though, when you want to post a note to someone’s profile it fails to go through. Instead, Facebook will decide to send a Facebook email on your behalf instead.
A status update is meant to be a quick little note to someone that shows up on their homepage which allows everyone else to see it, too. If, however, your message appears to be a little too long, Facebook will assume that you made a mistake and wanted to send an email. Instead of asking you, however, it converts it to a Facebook email and sends it on your behalf, whether you wanted it to or not.
So if you make your chat too long, you may not get it posted exactly where you want. If it converts into a Facebook email then you lose the ability to have everyone make comments on your post. That’s half the fun of being able to send someone a message on Facebook.
To avoid this, keep your chats short and concise. If you need to, post a series of shorter notes instead of a really long one.
What is Facebook Email?
A Facebook email account is pretty much like every other email account except this one will let you share photos and videos much easier. You will only get to see the message when you are logged into your Facebook account. It will be posted in the messaging portion of your profile so no one else will be able to see it. The message posts like a single thread so it is a little easier to follow the conversation rather than having to open multiple Facebook emails.
Sending an email on Facebook should be a choice. You have two ways to communicate with someone. You can post a quick note to their page or you can send them a private message. When you do this, you’re doing it for a reason – either to get their attention or to keep it private. Either way, it should be your choice and not something that is automatically done on your behalf.
Handling the Facebook Email Issue
Facebook isn’t always the greatest site for getting your communication to go through properly, but it’s popular and helps you to stay connected to the people you care about. If this is the only glitch it has that would be magnificent. As long as you know that Facebook will automatically convert your chat into a Facebook email then you can keep an eye on this. Before hitting the ‘post’ button, look to see which format your message is in.
When you are anticipating replies but don’t get any, go back into Facebook and see where you sent your note. Many people leave messages to read for later on, where as quick chats are often replied to via mobile phone, too. Just remember if you want to make it a status update on someone else’s profile, keep it short so that Facebook doesn’t decide to change it into an email for you.
Are you just starting to use social media to help you market your business? Download my social media checklist (sign up form in sidebar) for a list of simple daily tasks that will lead to a bigger following on Twitter and Facebook. Contact me for a free consultation on the internet marketing tools, including Facebook email, that you should be using to effectively market your business.
Building Your Brand With Blogging
Blogging to Build a Brand is Necessary in Today’s Competitive Market
These days you must have a blog if you want to remain competitive in your industry. In this webinar, I talk about the benefits of blogging, the steps you need to take to set up a blog, and provides tips and tools that will help you make the most of your blogging experience.
About Blogging
- Blogging has been around in various forms for almost as long as the internet
- The word “blog” is short for Weblog. It was first coined by John Barger in 1997
- Blogging as we now it today was started by Brian Redman. Members of his usenet group, mod.ber, would share interesting things they found online.
- At last count, there were over 126 million blogs online
- People are blogging for all sorts of reasons; online diary, news gathering, or marketing
Why Blog for Business
- Blogging is the best way to create a community around your business
- Unlike other social networking sites, you have more room to get into details
- Your blog can serve as a sales funnel that directs people to your products and services
- Blogging can help you build a reputation as an expert
- Blogs are easily branded
- Blogging can lead to opportunities to crossover into other media such as television and radio
- Social networking tools can be integrated into the blog that allow you to create a conversation hub about your business.
- Search engines loves blogs which make it easy to gain traffic when you optimize your blog correctly.
Setting Up Your Blog
- You have two options when setting up a blog; self-hosted and third party hosting.
- Third party hosting is free. Think WordPress.com and Blogger.com. However, some third party hosts limit the type of content that can be put on their servers. Also, if the service goes away so does your blog.
- Self hosted blogs require more effort to set up. However, the pay off is greater. You have control over the branding, content, and marketing of your blog.
- For branding purposes, it is recommended that you self host your blog on your own domain. You will look more professional.
- Purchase a domain name from a reputable registrar such as Namecheap. Use your name or a brandable business name.
- Purchase web hosting from a high quality provider such as Hostgator, WireNine, or Namecheap.
- Use WordPress for blogging. It is popular, easy to set up, and simple to use.
- To install manually, you will need to download a FTP tool such as Filezilla or CuteFTP to upload files to your web hosting account.
- Download WordPress from the WordPress.org site. The site also has step by step instructions for installing the blog software on your site. Be sure to follow directions perfectly or you may end up with problems.
- WordPress has a repository of free themes on their site at WordPress.org. However, it is best to either purchase a professionally designed theme or have one custom made.
- The criteria for a good blogging theme is that it must fit in with your business brand. It should be professional and give you enough space to advertise your business, integrate social tools, and be enticing to visitors.
- For a professional look, light colors are best such as white, cream, and grey. Good contrasting colors are blue, green, and black.
- Customize your header to your business name. You can do this yourself using a program such as Photoshop or hire a professional.
- Fill out your “About Me” page
- Once your blog is set up, install plugins that will assist you in building your brand and creating a community around your business.
- Sign up for Feedburner and integrate it into your blog so you can track RSS subscribers.
Your About Me Page
- Create a short biography of yourself for your “About Me” page.
- The bio should detail your expertise.
- Include a professional photo of yourself
- Most importantly, your bio should focus on how your knowledge and experience can help your blog visitors.
- If need be, include contact information for you. Do not put your email address or you will receive spam galore. Instead, point to a contact form on your blog.
- Only relevant information should be included here.
- The bio should not be longer than 400 words.
Good WordPress Plugins
- Facebook Likes – Allows visitors to like your content which will show up on their Facebook wall.
- Twitter Tools – Will automatically tweet your new posts to your Twitter accounts.
- Akismet – Helps manage spam
- All in One SEO Pack – Assists in optimizing your blog for search engines
- Dashbar – Allows you to move between the front of your blog and the back office with ease
- Secure and Accessible PHP Contact Form – Contact form that prevents spam from getting through
- TweetMeme Retweet Button – Allows visitors to tweet your content
- Subscribe To Comments – Helps visitors stay on top of the conversation by emailing them whenever there are new comments on a post.
- SexyBookmarks – Allows visitors to share your content on up to 50 other sites such as Digg and StumbleUpon
- Yet Another Related Posts Plugin – Puts a section on your post that shows similar posts to the one the visitor is reading. Helps increase the time visitors stay on your site.
- Google XML Sitemaps – Makes it easy for search engines to index your content.
- Math Comment Spam Protection – Increases spam protection
- Pretty Link (Lite Version) – Great for hiding affiliate long affiliate links and encourage people to click the link.
Branding Your Blog
- Your blog’s brand begins with its physical presence. Take time picking a theme and color scheme that is attractive to your target market. Study other blogs in the industry for ideas and inspiration.
- Use an icon that is recognizable and sums up your brand. You can even use your own image especially as you are the face of your business.
- Integrate your social networks into the blog. Place a Twitter and Facebook widget into the sidebar so people now where else to find you online.
- The content should be of interest to your target market. You will want to try and stick with one or two main topics that interrelate. For example, marketing and business development.
- The tone of your writing should be yours. If you are a funny person then incorporate humor. When people come to your blog they should be getting to know you.
Blogging Tips
- Blogging more often is better. However, pick a blogging schedule that you can stick to. Consistency is better than quantity.
- Take an afternoon and draw up a blogging schedule for the month. A content schedule will prevent you from drawing a blank when it comes time to provide content for the blog.
- You can even write posts in advance and schedule them to post on the blog on certain days.
- Some of your content should be ever green. Meaning, it should be high quality and apply for years after the day you post it. An everlasting quality.
- Sign up for a email service and begin building your list. Put the code for people to sign up in your sidebar.
- If you are stuck for content, you can post articles from directories such as Ezinearticles on your site. However, people come to your site for your thoughts so post as much original content as possible.
- Always reply to comments left on your blog. This will help build up a community. In fact, you should leave comments on the person’s blog to build good will in the industry as well as develop traffic to your site.
- Make your posts more interesting by incorporating videos. Either make your own or pull relevant videos from YouTube.
- Create content around controversial topics to attract attention and links. Study what is happening in your industry and comment on burgeoning trends.
- To save time and money, take advantage of the services of a professional company who can set your blog up for you. This will leave you free to generate content and market your blog.
Marketing Your Blog
- Use Tweetmeme or Twitter tools to tweet your posts when they go live on your blog.
- Another service you can use is Pluggio which will post links to your content on a rolling basis.
- Integrate your blog with your Facebook account using their blog app. Links to your posts will automatically be posted to your wall.
- Comment on other blogs in your industry to get the attention of their readers. Leave quality comments, not spam.
- Collaborate with other bloggers to guest post on their websites and have them guest post on yours.
- Include a link to your blog in all of your marketing materials.
- Study SEO and use good keywords in your content to capture search engine traffic.
- Participate in Blog Carnivals and Blog Memes like Thursday Thirteen.
- When doing article marketing, make sure there is a link back to your blog in the author bio section.
- If you are on YouTube put a link to your blog in the appropriate place in the bio section.
- In fact, post your link on all of your social networks and any place that you can.
- Make sure your blog is pinging search engines and other blog tracking sites, like Technorati, whenever you post an article. Use Pingoat or search for information on automatic pinging on WordPress.org knowledgebase
- Bookmark your own posts on social bookmarking sites like Digg, Reddit, Delicious, and Stumbleupon
- Create a Feedburner email widget which allows people to be emailed whenever you post something new.
Visit the Social Media Video Library for more blogging and social media training. Contact me for a free 1 hour consultation on how to use blogging and other social media tools to your advantage.
How To Keep More Money with Home Business Tax Deductions
Posted in Home Based Business | Tags: Business Development, Home Business, Tax Advantages | 1 Comment »
Keep It Private with Facebook Privacy Settings
Facebook Privacy Settings Controls Information Leaks
Facebook is a great way to keep in touch with friends, family, co-workers and almost anyone else in your life. But do you really want everyone know what you’re doing? Think about what you have posted on Facebook as well as what that information could do if it fell into the wrong hands and you’ll see why Facebook privacy is important.
It is a good idea to keep the different aspects of your life separate using the Facebook privacy settings. Your social life really has nothing to do with your work or business. Your relationship with your co-workers, subordinates, and business partners can be negatively impacted by the things you put on your Facebook page. Using Facebook privacy settings to limit who can find out what you’re doing in your social life can prevent you from getting into trouble!
Ignoring Facebook Privacy Issues Can Lead to Unemployment
Many companies are using Facebook whether you realize it or not. Employers are looking for social media profiles of possible candidates. Managers are checking Facebook to see if someone called out because they’re really sick or just partied too hard. If you post about how you went to a great party on Sunday and then you called out too sick to work on Monday, you could find yourself without a job on Tuesday.
Use Facebook privacy settings to control what gets seen. Even your best friends probably shouldn’t know some things about you and your relationship with others. In addition to shooting yourself in the foot, many games will rat you out by posting updates on your profile too. Maybe you don’t want everyone knowing you just leveled up in Mafia Wars particularly if you told a friend you had something else to do to avoid hanging out with them. To prevent this type of embarrassing slip up from occurring look for the pop up that ask if you want to post your game results to your profile.
Be Smart About Your Facebook Privacy
So how does all this get avoided? You must take control of your Facebook privacy issues using the tools available. Control who sees what on your Facebook profile by grouping your “friends” into different lists. This way you can have a work list and a friend list. When you post a status update, you can select which groups gets to see what you have written and thus protecting your Facebook privacy.
You can also enhance your Facebook privacy by removing yourself from the search aspect of Facebook. This will prevent people from finding you by name, email address, or any other identifying information. Your boss or potential employers won’t be able to find out what you do in your social life and judge you on it. However, people you want to find you, like college friends, won’t be able to.
Ultimately, it comes down to what you want. If you’re not easily embarrassed and don’t mind being an open book with your statuses, photos, and posts, then you have nothing to worry about. If you’re like most people who value a certain amount of privacy then start looking at your Facebook privacy settings to control who can see what’s going on in your life.
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