Today I was asked the most important question encompassing
the subject of Social networks and social media marketing. The question I was
asked is; What is the value of social media marketing, that is what are the
benefits of social media like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+. Although
these social networks are diverse in nature, they have common values both to
subscribers and business people alike. That’s right, even though these networks
operate in very different ways, their users often have very different
motivations, different backgrounds and personal needs. They all provide these seven
values to all that use them. Read on and find out why social networks and social
media marketing is changing the face of the internet from what we know to what
it will become.
Showing posts with label LinkedIn. Show all posts
Showing posts with label LinkedIn. Show all posts
Six Clear Reasons why you should be using Social Media to build your Credibility
An Ad agency client asked me the other day to provide them the
primary reason why their clients should use Social Media as part of their
advertising mix. Specifically they were talking about Facebook, Twitter and
Angieslist. The answer to this question is often confusing and misstated. This
article provides six concise reasons why Social Media is so important
today. Reading this article will make it
easy for the reader to see why Social Media has risen so quickly in advertising
circles and it will help them prosper from using it. Here are a few reasons why they should use Social
Media as part of their marketing mix.
What the best Social Media site for a Small Business.
A common question I get is; what is the best social media site for me to be on? Alternatively, they will ask; what social media site will bring me the most internet business? My answer to this question may surprise you, but here it is. There is no such thing as "what the best" social media site for a small business. A small business should create a presence all on as many platforms as they have time for.
You need to be everywhere if possible
Hector the Connectors Social Media Marketing Predictions for 2012
2011 is gone, and 2012 has rolled in without missing a beat. The social media industry is growing in leaps and bounds. I often hear business people say social networking is like the Wild Wild West! So answer this question for me. Would it be valuable if you knew the future social media trends for 2012? How wonderful would it be to know what trends are in store for the coming year? Could you adequately prepare for this rapidly changing industry? In this article, I provide my 2012 predictions for the evolving trends in the social-networking industry. It's always gratifying when my predictions come true. My predictions are not based on any kind of special powers. They are based on my industry research, what I read and what I see happening every day in my work. My accuracy rate in the social media industry has been about 97 percent. However, even when I’m wrong it's only because my timeline ended up being longer than I thought it was going to be. I have a knack for spotting social media trends. And this article lists four powerful trends unfolding right now. You can profit from what I say or ignore me, the choice is yours. Either way these trends will unfold as the year progresses. So read on and heed my advice. Prepare your social media marketing campaigns to take advantage these trends for 2012 and beyond.
The buzz you need to know about Google +
Image via CrunchBaseThere is a lot of hype on the internet, and every product launch brings its advocates and critic’s. The launch of Google+ is no exception, (read as Google plus). I am a huge advocate of social media and online networking. When a giant internet player like Google says, they are launching a social media platform, my ears perk up, and I pay attention. This article provides a quick synopsis of what Google+ brings to the table. It will show what is different about Google+ verses the current leader Face Book. It will also give you an overview of some of the cool features that only Google+ provides. The battle of Social media giants
First, Google+ is new, and new services from a giant internet player like Google are always news and always require some level of attention. Google is a powerful rival of Face Book, and this new entry will be a direct competitor to Face Book and the other social network contenders. Face Book is currently more than three times the size of it’s next competitor. In my opinion, competition is healthy for any industry. Google+ has the real potential to compete in the social network arena. Google is one of the world’s largest corporations, and they change the rules of any sand box they chose to play in.
Image by @superamit via Flickr Don’t get me wrong, I like using Face Book, LinkedIn and even Twitter. I joined these social media networks early on when they were at the beginning stages of widespread distribution. I wanted to see if they could rival the face-to-face networking I had been engaged in for many years.
On the other hand, it has been my experience that when companies mature and reach high profitability, they stumble. They enter a period of naive thinking that lends itself to a culture of arrogance, and the belief that they can do no wrong. Face Book has been implementing many changes to their network over the last six months without consulting their subscribers. These changes have angered a lot of it members.
Image via WikipediaHaving said this, Face Book is still on top. Any current disillusionment that has surfaced hasn’t slowed the rush of people who continue to join Face Book in record numbers. In fact, I recently read that they had reached the 750 million-subscriber mark this year. That’s up about 250 million subscribers in about a year and a half (depending on whose numbers you believe). I am only bringing this up because member disillusionment may be the kink in Face Books armor. This discontent may give Google+ the chance to make inroads into social networks market place. Something that Google has not been able to do in the past.Why Google+
Whether Face Book is showing weakness or not, here are several reasons why Google+ will make inroads this time around, (even if it’s only taking market share from other networks). First, they have made Google+ very easy to join and use. If you are a Gmail subscriber, it’s a matter of a few clicks and filling in your basic profile info. You are not required to fill out your complete profile. This process only takes a few minutes to complete, (especially if you are cutting and pasting from face book).
Gmail Subscribers Welcome.
Image via CrunchBaseIf you’re a Gmail subscriber, some of your contacts will automatically be imported for you, and you don’t have to have any technical knowledge of CVS files or data exporting. Some of names in your contact list will automatically show up and begin the process of creating your circles of influence. You will simply drag and drop people from your list into predefined circles or create circles of your own.Circles, Circles Everywhere.
Speaking of circles, one of the coolest features of Google+ is their circles grouping feature. It seems much more intuitive and easier to use than the one provided currently by Face Books. This interface allows you to organize your contacts into groups that appear as circles, literally. There are a few predetermine groups, but you can customize them all you want and people can belong to as many different circles as you desire.
Image by Magnet 4 Marketing dot Net via FlickrCircles also allow you to filter your news feed (called the stream in Google+) so that your circle selection becomes your stream feed control. In other words, the circle you select can determine whose post your watching. It can limit your view of which posts are streamed into view. Changing your view is easy and intuitive. Some of the clean simplicity that Google+ demonstrates is by design. Some of its clean and uncluttered look is because Google+ is new, and it is unencumbered with all the trappings that come with a mature social media site. Either way, I appreciate the clean, easy to use, and fun interface Google+ has to offer.Do you like to Hangout?
Image by colmmcsky via FlickrSpeaking of other fun features, Google+ has two worth mentioning. The first is Hangouts. Google+ provides a video Chat room for groups of people. You can video chat, share You Tube videos, invite others and have a real online video conversation with several people. This is a face to face conversation. You need a video camera and microphone attached to your computer to use this service effectively. I believe this will be a standard feature on most if not all computers. Most laptops and tables computers come with this as a standard item so that the user can engage in video chat. This is a cool feature which I am sure it will get lots of use. I believe the maximum number of people that a Hangout session will hold is probably limited by your screen size and the speed of your internet connection. I believe between six to nine people will probably work well. After that, it will probably seem crowded. I suggest you check this feature out and start thinking of all the cool ways you could use this service.Did you say you wanted acclaimed games?
Another feature that I genuinely like is the games Google+ includes. Unlike the games used with Face Book, Google+ has a game's menu built in. The variety of games they offer is extensive. It includes 18 games like Anger Bird, Bejeweled Blitz, City Ville, Diamond Dash, Dragons of Atlantic, Crime City, Sudoku Puzzles, City of Wonder and Zynga Poker just to name a few. All of these games are designed to be shared socially. Even Angry Birds, let you share your score so you can play against your friends.
Image by quickonlinetips via FlickrSo there you have it, a quick overview of the buzz surrounding Google+ and how it compares to Face Book. Google+ is still extremely new, and it currently does not offer the number of subscribers, features and maturity that Face Book or LinkedIn offers. Having said that, Google+ is extremely user friendly, easy to navigate and provides several new, innovative features’. Features like circles, hangouts and the integrated games provide a high cool factor for most users. Add to this all the other Google applications and properties you have access to, (Google is prodigious), and you have the beginnings of a social media contender. It may not be a Face Book or LinkedIn killer yet, but its innovative approach and connections to Google’s vast library of applications and internet properties will help it to receive rapid adoption and meteoric growth. If you would like to see a video about this subject click here.
That’s my Opinion, what’s yours?
Four Principles That Use Leverage to Market Your Business and Produce Powerful Results
Image by juque via FlickrThere seems to be a huge cloud of mystery that surrounds the whole industry of social media marketing and Internet networking. I see business people flailing around with all manners of marketing techniques that are supposed to help them grow their networks. However, most people are attempting to "go it alone" without investing the time needed to learn the basic marketing principles that will provide them with success. In this article, we will focus on the principle of leverage. We will cover how it is used to make your work easier yet help you produce great results. By using leverage properly, you will receive results that exceed the sum of time, effort and money you invest. The dictionary says that leverage "produces a mechanical advantage". As a business owner, you want this advantage. It also defines leverage as, "The power to influence a person or situation to achieve a particular outcome." In essences, leverage is a means by which you can multiply your work and amplify your results. In marketing, we mean that leverage produces a result far beyond its intended run, even when the original advertising has ended.I often hear business people say that they can't keep up with social networking because it is too time consuming. This is true, if you're not using leverage. It's very easy to get engrossed with social networking. You are busy inviting friends, answering post, uploading your latest information and posting your own messages and pictures. It is common to hear someone say, "I sat down at 8 o'clock, and before I knew it, it was 3 AM." It's no wonder that business people say that social networking consumes too much time. This article will provide you with useful marketing tools and techniques that will leverage your time, efforts and resources. These techniques may seem simple; however, they will save you many hours of work and increase the shelf life of your marketing message. Use these to develop your social network, get more leads, receive more referrals and grow your business.
Leverage Principle #1 Make it easier for people to find you.
If you use twitter, always use hash tags within your post to extend your reach. Hash tags make any word that is tagged searchable. By tagging specific words with hash tags, you make it easier for 200 million Twitter subscribers to read your message. Hash tags turn your words into key words. That's right, instead of it just being shown to your 283 followers; all 200 million Twitter followers can look it up by just typing in your key words.
An example could be where you tag the words ecology and green in your post that said something like "check out the newest #green technology, it helps the #ecology." The hash tags will turn the words ecology and green into key search words that can be found by millions of subscribers. No doubt sending a message to potentially 200 million subscribers is a great example of leverage. It's definitely would provide more leverage than sending the same message to just 283 people.
Leverage Principle #2 Regular posting raise your ranking.
YouTube videos and Tweets show up in Google's searches! They also have high organic ranking in many cases because they are often current and relevant to someone search. Most businesses today have a website. One of the biggest concerns of any businesses is that people won't be able to find their website. Their concern is that the Internet is so vast, that it will be lost in the crowd. I have heard customers say that their website is like a billboard in the desert. A good way to make sure people can find your website on the Internet is to leverage your social networks by having all of them linked to your primary online presence.
Image by thms.nl via FlickrAnything that is posted to Twitter using hash tags or YouTube is added to Google search mix. If you often post consistent messages to YouTube and Twitter, your post will start to show up on page one organically in Google and other search engines, (assuming the prospect types in your key words for their search). People like their information to be current, short and relevant. Tweet and videos are often current, short and relevant. Tweets are 140 characters or less in length, and most videos average five minutes or less. They also include many current events. If your prospects search key words match the key words in your short marketing message, (i.e. your tweet or video), your message will rise to the top of the search page listing. Google pays particular attention to key word matches being exact, current and relevant. It also places an emphasis on video since Google owns YouTube. It is no wonder that YouTube is the number one destination on the Internet today.Leverage Principle #3 Back Links are like magic for ranking.
Creating "back links" to get exposure and to increase your organic search engine position is a powerful method that only requires an investment of time. A back link can be defined as any link on the Internet to leads back your website. Google places a high emphasis on back links. The total number of back links pointing to your website will have a big impact on your page placement.
Image by Frederick Md Publicity via FlickrEvery location on the web that contains your business name should list every primary URL you own and all your contact information. This will make it much easier for people to find you. It also increases the number of links pointing to your primary website. This includes Face Book, Twitter, LinkedIn, My Space,Four Square, Google +, Merchant Circle, the Yellow Pages online, profile websites and literally hundreds of others not mentioned here. These links are a type of back link to your primary web address. Don't forget review sites. Review sites that list what people are saying about you, your company, your product or service also count. These can be extremely valuable, especially if your customers are providing you with recommendations and testimonials. Review sites can also hurt you if you're not taking care of your customers.
Link exchanges are the best-known type of back links. You can create lots of these types of links by participating in link exchanges. Contact like-minded companies and agree to exchange links with them. By participating in link exchanges, both businesses will benefit and improve their reach and search engine rankings.
Another type of back link is a URL link listed as part of a bio for an article that gets published on the Internet. This includes articles published on your blog or in article database like EzineArticles.com. Most article sites provide a place where readers can leave comments on the articles they have read along contact information for the person leaving the comments. This contact information usually includes your name, email address and a web address. These comment areas become back links to the URL you list on them. If you read lots of blogs and online articles, make sure you leave lots of comments and always include your website URL.
Leverage Principle #4 Make your Marketing material Go Viral
Use effective web links in all online marketing material. This includes Internet ads, banners, directory listings, articles, blog post and eBooks. By including links to your landing pages and website, you increase the chances that your marketing piece will go viral.
Image by The Next Web via FlickrA great way for your message to take on a life of its own is to produce a marketing piece that has lots of useful content in it. Give this item away as a gift. Make sure you include lots of back links to all your web URLs, especially landing pages. This will allow you to close more business and more capture leads. The item you give away could be a useful document, an educational video, audio recording, a white paper, a donation to their favorite charity or any item that is perceived as useful and valuable, etc.... It can even be a combination of things. Get your gift out to as many people as possible. If you make your content useful, entertaining, and easily copied, it will be passed around even more.
People want information that's entertaining, relevant to them and ultimately meaningful in some way. Your gift must have intrinsic value. Anytime, you provide a gift, make sure it is designed to allow others to re-gift to their friends. Doing so will ensure that it will be copied repeatedly. The pasting of your gift from friend to friend will create a viral message that can often produce a flood of new business. Viral marketing is a great tool for social networking. Just make sure your message doesn't look like any kind of scam. It must provide some form of value to your prospect. If your gift has no perceived value, it won't be passed on to others. If it looks feels or smells like a scam, it won't produce anything at all. It must provide a gift of knowledge, fun or other useful information. If it does, it will produce big results with little effort on your part.
There you have it, four principles that use leverage to market your business. This article has introduced you to four marketing principle that did not exist before the beginning of the 21 century. These leveraging techniques will make it easier to do business on the Internet and with your social networks. Use these techniques every day to minimize your work and time investment. Use them to amplify your message and use them to create marketing messages that acquire a life of their own. By doing so, you give up working late, and losing sleep. On the other hand, gain the profits and marketing results, you seek.
That's my opinion. I welcome yours.
Hector Cisneros has been an entrepreneur for 25 years, a veteran of BNI for 18 years and was a BNI director for over five years. He is still an active BNI member and follows the philosophy of Givers Gain. He is the owner of several businesses in Jacksonville, Florida. He actively coaches business owners in the fine art of Internet advertising, Networking and Word of Mouth marketing. He is the president of Website Know How, Inc. a holding company for his business ventures that include online advertising, word of mouth marketing, real estate holdings, health and wellness product sales and Adventure sports. He is also a partner in a new company called Successful Campaigns LLC. This company provides training and support for nonprofit organizations helping them with their marketing efforts, growth, retention and sustainability. To learn more about Social Media, Internet Advertising and Word of Mouth Marketing read my other article on the Networkers Apprentice workshop. To visit my companies website visit http://www.Websiteknowhow.com. To get a free preview or find out about my new book http://www.60secondstosuccess.com.
Three Internet Marketing Techniques That Use Leverage To Produce Great Results
Image by Getty Images via @daylifeWe all know that internet marketing is vital for the sale of many types of products and services. It is also very important for the growth of many businesses. We live in a society that is seeing rapid change with completely new market segments cropping up in what seems like over night. As a consultant and small businesses owner, I need to keep up with these rapid changes. A marketing, management and learning principle I have always adhered to for staying ahead of the game is leverage. The principle of leverage allows you to do something once and then repeated it several times without having to add more energy. In essence, it allows you to do more with less effort. This article will discuss how to use the principle of leverage on the internet and in social media. Although there are numerous ways to use leverage for internet and social media marketing, this article will focus on three examples that any business can implement. Although this article will only provide three examples, it will become a nice down payment for understanding and using leverage to get results from your social media marketing.Leveraging Technique #1 Link Your Networks
Image via WikipediaUse the linking applications built into most social networks. These applications are usually free and are often included in the setting section of social networks like LinkedIn, Twitter, Face Book, MySpace, Google + and others. These applications let you automatically share the same post on multiple networks without you having to retype anything. These applications are free and usually have the approval of the social media host providers. They also work even when you are posting via your smart phone, table or web browser. Enter your post once and it is share to multiple social networks.Leveraging Technique #2 Use Aggregator Software
Another way to achieve leverage is to use third-party aggregator programs that are not directly connect to the social media networks. These applications allow you to post to several networks simultaneously just like the "built-in apps" but the also allow you schedule your post at some future time. Another important feature of aggregator programs is that "you can pick and chose" which social networks sites receive your posts at the time you make your entries. The "build-in apps" generally don't allow changes after the fact. It's an all or none type post. Again, this allows you to leverage your communications, your work and your time. You can actually enter two dozen post today that are scheduled to be released over the next three or four weeks. Two good examples of these are Tweet Deck and Hoot Suite. Both are available as free downloads of as commercial applications.
Leveraging Technique #3 Make it Easy for People to Find You
Any time you're in the public eye, make sure these potential customers can connect with you. If you're posting information, make sure you include some kind of contact information. It can be your phone number, business address, your web URL, or email address. Email and URLs are easiest to remember so I often include these. Now this is not appropriate for all social network sites posts. For example, both Face Book and LinkedIn users would frown if you posted your contact info with every message. They already have your contact information as part of your profile and it is not necessary since your connection is automatic.
Having said that, all your email communications, business cards, brochures etc... should include your contact information. All your printed ads should include references to your social network URLs, website and more. In other words, all your regular advertising should invite people to connect with you through whatever means they like.
I use Twitter quite a bit. It definitely lends itself to including URLs in every message. Your web address can be used as a mere link, or as a push link with an added enticement. The point I am making here is this. Always make it easy for people to find and connect with you, the way they prefer to communicate. The more way a person can find you, the higher they likely hood they will.
There you have it, an introduction on how to use leverage in social networks. These three techniques are just the tip of the iceberg when compared to all the different leveraging techniques you can implement today. The sole purpose of using leverage is to do more work in less time and these three techniques deliver by multiplying your message and amplifying your work it in a viral way. By doing so you give up the countless hours of late night posting and prodding of tweets and comments that so many entrepreneur complain about and trade them in for a good nights sleep while your marketing leverage works for you.
That's my opinion. I welcome yours.
Image via WikipediaHector Cisneros has been an entrepreneur for 25 year, a veteran of BNI for 18 years, and was a BNI director for over 5 years. He is still an active BNI member and follows the philosophy of Givers Gain. He is the owner of several Businesses in Jacksonville, Florida. He actively coaches business owners in the fine art of internet advertising, Networking and Word of Mouth marketing. He is the president of Website Know How, Inc. a holding company for his business ventures that include online advertising, word of mouth marketing, real estate holdings, books sales, health and wellness product sales and Adventure sports. He is also a partner in a new company called Successful Campaigns LLC. That provides training and support for non profits organizations. To learn more about Social Media Marketing, Internet Advertising and Word of Mouth Marketing explore The Networkers Apprentice workshop or visit us at http://www.Websiteknowhow.com or http://www.60secondstosuccess.com. Friend us on Face book by clicking here. 
How to win friends and influence people in the 21 century
Image by Cristiano Betta via FlickrEvery business I know love referrals. In fact, they all say that word of mouth is the best type of advertising you can get. Wouldn't it be great if you could produce that kind of word of mouth advertising on a regular and consistent basis? You bet it would be. What would you do if I could show you a formula that will produce, recommendations, referrals and testimonials 95 percent of the times it's used. Does that sound interesting? Well here's how to create recommendations, testimonials and referral on a regular basis without lying, cheating, or having to give away the farm. Read on and learn "how you to win friends and influence people in the 21st century.Discovering the Magic Formula
Image by mvellandi via FlickrIt wasn't but a few years ago that most of my testimonials were in the form of letters, emails, verbal recommendations, thank you cards and short blurbs on business website. I even occasionally rated products reviews so that others could see how I felt about those products.
However, in the last three years I have discovered that using social media is like magic for helping others. The converse of that is also true. It is also magic when the law of reciprocity works in kind for you.
Were to use the Magic Formula
Image via WikipediaI don't limit my recommendations to just my referral partners. I also go out of my way to recommend and thank, business associates, clients, family members and the companies I like using. Most social media sites have a mechanism for you to do this, without you having to jump through lots of hoops.
For example, in Face book you can just post a thank you, a recommendation or even a testimonial. You can upload a picture of you letter of recommendation. Provide a link to a testimonial letter etc... You can also do this for a business Fan Page, as well.
In Twitter, you can just Tweet your recommendation. You can re-tweet someone's post as a way to thank them. It's also easy to include a link to your testimonial letter or to their website in your tweet. You can also tweet about how great a referral was, all without breaking a sweat.
Image by sitmonkeysupreme via FlickrFoursquare is almost made for recommendations. However, I sometimes see it used as a double edge sword where people dining out do the opposite of recommending the restaurant or it's food. Here, a second principle is at working. The principle I am referring to is the law that states that bad news travels much faster than good news. Bad news use to travel fast. With the advent of the internet, it now travels at the speed of light! Anyway, I digress, back to Givers Gain.Ecademy, LinkedIn and some others social media sites actually have a recommendation function built-in them. I use LinkedIn quite a bit. It's built-in recommendation function is designed like a reciprocating tool. When you recommend someone, it in turns ask your recipient, if they will return the favor and recommend you.
Increasing the Magic Formulas Effectiveness
Image by Cristiano Betta via FlickrMy recommendations and testimonials are usually specific, providing examples of why I am making my recommendations. The same is true when providing a testimonial or when provide a referral. I always mention specific reason why I am recommending that person or business. Being specific carries more weight for the reader than being general. This is because general recommendations don’t risk any ones reputation. They don’t really say any thing about you as a person.I also don't qualify or limited my recommendations. I either endorse them fully or not at all. Obviously, you cannot recommend everyone equally nor should you try. Strive to be honest, positive, specific and unequivocal in your recommendation. Finish by providing your contact information if you feel strongly about the value they provided. This sends a very clear "Thanks you" message to your recipient and it makes your gift even more powerful. If you really can't recommend someone, be honest and share with them your reservations. Don't compromise your integrity but also don't try to insult someone who ask for your help. Find a way to help them to fix their issue, so you can then recommend them.
A few last notes on providing testimonials, recommendations and referrals
Image via WikipediaMake sure your writing is proof read several times and that the spelling and grammar are clean and professional. Nothing dilutes your gift more than bad spelling or grammar. Last but not least, make sure their names are spelled correctly. This kind of mistake will all but make your recommendation null and void, (ask me how I know).I have been using the law of reciprocity to help others for a long time now. In turn, this principle has provided me with more recommendation, testimonials and referral than I though possible. I now know that the law of reciprocity is alive and well in the 21 century and that you should use it as part of your formula for success. As a businessperson, it makes sense to follow business principles. Following this principle will increase the number of recommendations, referrals and testimonials you receive and it will help you grow your business.
That's my opinion, what's your.
Hector Cisneros is an entrepreneur with over 25-year experience. He is a 18-year veteran of BNI, and was BNI Director for six years. He is a firm believer in the BNI philosophy of "Giver Gain". Currently, he manages three businesses, writes and coach's business people in the art of Word of Mouth, Social Media and internet marketing. He has several intl. published articles covering word of mouth, social media marketing and how to improve your 60-second presentations. His new book "60 Seconds to Success" is aimed at helping business people make great first impressions and make more money through referral and word of mouth marketing campaigns. To learn more about Hector Cisneros, Social Media, Internet Marketing and Word of Mouth Marketing visit http://www.60secondstosuccess.com or the Networkers Apprentice Workshop at http://networkersapprentice.com/ To contact Hector, write him at hecisneros@gmail.com
Three Common Mistakes Business People Make When Using Social Media
Feel lost about using social media as a marketing tool. Are you afraid of violating net etiquette. Are you worried that these mistakes can ruin your reputation or brand? Do you want to avoid the most common mistakes business make when using social media? If so, read on and learn about how to avoid three of the most common mistakes.
Common Mistake #1 Posting commercials on the pages.
The most common mistake I see is business owners posting commercials on their face book pages. This is also a common problem in other social media sites like Twitter and LinkedIn. This ranks high on my mistake list because it violates one of my cardinal rules of social media marketing. The rule I'm referring to is "give people what they want". I don't know anyone who signed up for Face Book, Twitter or LinkedIn to be bombarded by your infomercials.
Social media is about being social not selling. The best way to sell on social site is not to sell. Social media is best used it to build your credibility, understand your customers and to connect with them. Do a good job for your customers. Get them to follow, friend, or connect with you and have them promote your business, product or service for you. This is usually done by asking them to provide you with written recommends or testimonials. When you say something about your business, product or service it a commercial and most people are jaded by all the hype they're exposed to each day. When a friend, customer or follower says something good about your business, product, or service, it's viewed as true. Don't hesitate to ask for endorsements. Make sure your don't ask publicly on your social media pages. Write your customers and follower directly. If they feel you have done a good job they will respond in kind.
The best place to post a commercial about your business is in the detail section of your profile. Many social media site also offer the option of setting up separate business pages. Put your infomercials on these pages instead of posting them to your wall.
Common Mistake #2 Posting too often.
Another big mistake I see is when a business post too often to their site. This is usually easy to spot. You will see two, three even four of their post before seeing one of their followers posts. Make sure your posts are spread out. If you do all your social media posting at a specific time of the day, use an aggregators program to schedule your post to show up at different times.
Two of the top aggregators programs are Hoot Suite and Tweet Deck. These programs will allow you to spread out your posting by scheduling them at different times. I usually keep at least an hour between my scheduled post, just encase traffic is light that day. Remember the last thing you want to see on your wall is all of your post. Leave room for your followers and they will like your site even more.
Common Mistake #3 Posting inappropriate material.
The last item I will mention in this article is posting the wrong kinds of material. I know what your thinking. Who died and made me the content czar. I may not be the content czar but I am a prudent businessman. I am smart enough to always be respectful of my customers feelings and ideas. I am willing to post links to controversial articles in areas that I am passionate about, but I do set very specific limits on what I feel is appropriate. I make sure anything I post is on worse than PG. I avoid sexually oriented material. I also avoid any material that uses vulgar or racially explicated language. If kids can view my pages and post without being offended, I am happy.
Along these lines, I also monitor the followers and friends who are posting to my pages. If their posts violate my sense of what is appropriate I hide their post. In some cases, if they consistently post items that violate my sensibility I un-friend them. If they are on Twitter, posting in a negative way or being vulgar, I un-follow them. If your site is showing content that you or your customers feel is inappropriate, make sure it's gone, otherwise you are giving tacit approval to those posts and you will lose customers.
That's it, we've covered three of the top mistakes that businesses make when using social media as a marketing tool. As a summary, remember this. It's important to avoid posting commercials to your sites. Social media is not about selling. It's about fun, friendships, entertainment, connecting and useful information. Instead, take care of your customers and encourage them to be your raving fans by posting recommendations and testimonials on your pages. Post all commercial information to a dedicated business page or in your profile detail. Next, avoid posting too often. Your post should only show up interspersed between your followers posts. Use scheduling software to spread out your posts so they give your followers space. And lastly, avoid posting inappropriate material. Links to controversial articles can be OK, but stay away for sexually suggestive, negative, racially oriented or post using vulgar language. This goes for your followers as well. If they are stepping out of bounds, you need to either hide their post or un-friend/follow them.
That's my opinion, I welcome yours.
Hector Cisneros is an entrepreneur/businessman with over 25 years experience, is a 17-year veteran of BNI, and was BNI Director for 6 years. Currently he manages 3 businesses, writes and coach's business people in the art of Word of Mouth and internet marketing. He has several intl. published articles covering word of mouth marketing, social media marketing and how to improve your 60-second presentations. His new book "60 Seconds to Success" is aimed at helping business people make great first impressions and make more money through referral and word of mouth marketing. To learn more about Social Media, Internet Marketing d Word of Mouth Marketing visit the Networkers Apprentice workshop at http://networkersapprentice.com/ To contact Hector write him at hecisneros@gmail.com
Common Mistake #1 Posting commercials on the pages.
The most common mistake I see is business owners posting commercials on their face book pages. This is also a common problem in other social media sites like Twitter and LinkedIn. This ranks high on my mistake list because it violates one of my cardinal rules of social media marketing. The rule I'm referring to is "give people what they want". I don't know anyone who signed up for Face Book, Twitter or LinkedIn to be bombarded by your infomercials.
Social media is about being social not selling. The best way to sell on social site is not to sell. Social media is best used it to build your credibility, understand your customers and to connect with them. Do a good job for your customers. Get them to follow, friend, or connect with you and have them promote your business, product or service for you. This is usually done by asking them to provide you with written recommends or testimonials. When you say something about your business, product or service it a commercial and most people are jaded by all the hype they're exposed to each day. When a friend, customer or follower says something good about your business, product, or service, it's viewed as true. Don't hesitate to ask for endorsements. Make sure your don't ask publicly on your social media pages. Write your customers and follower directly. If they feel you have done a good job they will respond in kind.
The best place to post a commercial about your business is in the detail section of your profile. Many social media site also offer the option of setting up separate business pages. Put your infomercials on these pages instead of posting them to your wall.
Common Mistake #2 Posting too often.
Another big mistake I see is when a business post too often to their site. This is usually easy to spot. You will see two, three even four of their post before seeing one of their followers posts. Make sure your posts are spread out. If you do all your social media posting at a specific time of the day, use an aggregators program to schedule your post to show up at different times.
Two of the top aggregators programs are Hoot Suite and Tweet Deck. These programs will allow you to spread out your posting by scheduling them at different times. I usually keep at least an hour between my scheduled post, just encase traffic is light that day. Remember the last thing you want to see on your wall is all of your post. Leave room for your followers and they will like your site even more.
Common Mistake #3 Posting inappropriate material.
The last item I will mention in this article is posting the wrong kinds of material. I know what your thinking. Who died and made me the content czar. I may not be the content czar but I am a prudent businessman. I am smart enough to always be respectful of my customers feelings and ideas. I am willing to post links to controversial articles in areas that I am passionate about, but I do set very specific limits on what I feel is appropriate. I make sure anything I post is on worse than PG. I avoid sexually oriented material. I also avoid any material that uses vulgar or racially explicated language. If kids can view my pages and post without being offended, I am happy.
Along these lines, I also monitor the followers and friends who are posting to my pages. If their posts violate my sense of what is appropriate I hide their post. In some cases, if they consistently post items that violate my sensibility I un-friend them. If they are on Twitter, posting in a negative way or being vulgar, I un-follow them. If your site is showing content that you or your customers feel is inappropriate, make sure it's gone, otherwise you are giving tacit approval to those posts and you will lose customers.
That's it, we've covered three of the top mistakes that businesses make when using social media as a marketing tool. As a summary, remember this. It's important to avoid posting commercials to your sites. Social media is not about selling. It's about fun, friendships, entertainment, connecting and useful information. Instead, take care of your customers and encourage them to be your raving fans by posting recommendations and testimonials on your pages. Post all commercial information to a dedicated business page or in your profile detail. Next, avoid posting too often. Your post should only show up interspersed between your followers posts. Use scheduling software to spread out your posts so they give your followers space. And lastly, avoid posting inappropriate material. Links to controversial articles can be OK, but stay away for sexually suggestive, negative, racially oriented or post using vulgar language. This goes for your followers as well. If they are stepping out of bounds, you need to either hide their post or un-friend/follow them.
That's my opinion, I welcome yours.
Hector Cisneros is an entrepreneur/businessman with over 25 years experience, is a 17-year veteran of BNI, and was BNI Director for 6 years. Currently he manages 3 businesses, writes and coach's business people in the art of Word of Mouth and internet marketing. He has several intl. published articles covering word of mouth marketing, social media marketing and how to improve your 60-second presentations. His new book "60 Seconds to Success" is aimed at helping business people make great first impressions and make more money through referral and word of mouth marketing. To learn more about Social Media, Internet Marketing d Word of Mouth Marketing visit the Networkers Apprentice workshop at http://networkersapprentice.com/ To contact Hector write him at hecisneros@gmail.com
Six Cardinal Rules for Success in Social Media Marketing
Image via CrunchBaseYou've heard everyone talking about how powerful social media is for marketing your business. How if you're not using it to market your business you're is stuck in the 80's. So you go out and create a Face Book page, open a LinkedIn account, start tweeting on twitter, build a Blog and start looking at You Tube. Now what do you do?You're told by a friend to post snippets about your businesses and create a blog post about things you know, (although you're not sure what a blog is). You start to share information on various sites in the evening and before you know it. Bam, you're spending dozens of hours a week and getting nothing to show for your efforts. You say to yourself, what a pain in the neck social media marketing is!
If you want to avoid the pain of spending too much time posting to social media sites and not getting anything in return, then read on. I will show you a half-dozen cardinal rules you need to abide by to keep your credibility. I will show you how to avoid the most common pit falls beginners make, and I'll help you get the most from the time you spend marketing to your social media sites.
Social Media is not Advertising
Image via WikipediaFirst, remember that social media posts are not advertisements in the typical sense. You need to post what I call the cardinal 4 wanted items! People are looking for useful information. They want interesting facts. Participants want to be entertained and they want to connect with others! Posting information about your product/service should be a rarity. To be successful on social media, you have to give participants what they are looking for. If you want to do conventional advertising on social media sites, use their pay-per-click/view services. Their ads run about $1 to $3 per click through, other wise posts only the cardinal 4 items.Create and stick to a schedule
Image via WikipediaSecond, set aside a scheduled time to post your information and stick to it. It's all too easy to sit down, start posting your information and before you know it, it's three AM! I schedule my post twice a week and spend an hour each time. During the week, I gather useful information and links from my daily life. These include; email communications, my current events, new and old photos I find, online article I read, RSS feeds I use, internet headlines I like and just surfing the net. I suggest you do the same. Use these as part of posting the cardinal 4 items I spoke of earlier.Be patient and stick to your growth plan
Third, don't create false expectations for your results. Before your network can produce meaningful traffic, you need it to grow to a reasonable size. Having a total following of a couple of hundred Face Book Fans, contacts on LinkedIn and followers on Twitter is cool but it not a big enough network to produce powerful results. Your social media influences (i.e. power to make things happen), is directly related to the number of members in your network. Social media has a viral quality to it. In this sense, it is a type of word of mouth marketing. Word of mouth depends on your credibility and the size of your network.
Save time by using aggregator software
Forth, you must leverage technology to save time. If you are not using aggregator software for your post, start using one today. Aggregator programs allow you to post to several social media site simultaneously. They also let you schedule post at future dates. These programs can save you lots of time and energy. I personally like Tweet Deck and Hoot suite. Search for them on the web and you will find they are free to use.
How big is big enough
Image via WikipediaIf you concentrate your efforts on building your social network by providing your followers with what they are looking for (i.e. the cardinal 4 items), your network will grow at a slow but steady pace. If you want it to grow faster, provide them with what feeds their needs more often. Post to your network every day if you have time. The more often and regular you post, the better. The only other way to make it grow faster is to either spend more time on growing it or pay someone else to spend more time growing it.
What does this cost
Sixth, you have to set financial limits. I know what you're saying. You're already spending too much time (and money), posting to social media sites. If you still find this to be too time consuming, hire a service to do your posts. They can be had for as little as $100 a week. It can also run you $2000 a month if you're wanting to grow big and fast all at the same time.
If you have, an organized method that you developed, you can hire a college student to enter your post for a lot less. As a marketing expert I can generate anywhere from about eight to twenty new followers per day. You can do the same by following my advice.
Image via WikipediaBy following these six rules you will get a lot more out of your social media marketing efforts. Remember to post the cardinal 4 items regularly. Create and stick to a schedule, even if you don't finish, stop posting when your hour is up. Set goals and limits for time and money your spending. Use aggregator tools to be more efficient and above all be patient. You know the saying. Rome was not built in a day, well that also goes for building your word of mouth social network. That will take some time also. Stick to your plan and before you know it, you will be ready to start harvesting rewards from your social media marketing campaign. That's my opinion, I welcome yours!Hector Cisneros is an entrepreneur/businessman with over 25 years experience, is a 17-year veteran of BNI, and was BNI Director for 6 years. Currently he manages 3 businesses, writes and coach's business people in the art of Word of Mouth and internet marketing. He has several intl. published articles covering word of mouth marketing, social media marketing and how to improve your 60-second presentations. His new book "60 Seconds to Success" is aimed at helping business people make great first impressions and make more money through referral and word of mouth marketing. To learn more about Social Media, Internet Marketing d Word of Mouth Marketing visit the Networkers Apprentice workshop on a regular basis at http://networkersapprentice.com/ To contact Hector write him at hecisneros@gmail.com
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