Last week we started Lesson Two: Facebook for Business by looking at the first step setting up your profile. This week will continue lesson two by focusing on getting ready for your Facebook Page.
Facebook Wall vs. Facebook Page
We’re going to spend some quality time on your Facebook Page because that Page will be your main business engine, when it comes to that particular social network. Ideally, you should use your general Facebook Wall for close friends and family, and interact with business clients, customers, fans and peer acquaintance on your Facebook Page.
Facebook pages are meant for your group, band, business, non-profit — any permanent cause that isn’t simply personal. (If you are your business, you can make it all about you.)
Public Audience
Your fans don’t have to “Like” your Facebook page: Facebook has changed it so that any viewer can comment, “Like” or share your content. They can also post on your page, which develops three key ingredients for successful social networking:
Interactivity
A sense of community
Emotional involvement
When you post frequently and invite engagement, it’s no longer a question of forcing people to press “Like” — artificially — to share your content (or even read it). The result? Facebook “Likes” are no longer a joke — something everyone knows you did to support all those begging friends. (Please “Like” my page — I’ll get my own custom URL if I get just 17 more “Likes!”)
Instead, if you are tuned in to the psychology of your followers, your calls to action should naturally prompt them to share your content.
Social Metrics
If you monitor your results and discover what your “hot” buttons (topics) are, you’ll be able to create content with a huge potential to go viral. And your fans will now be able to share it with anyone they like.
No more desperate, annoying pleas to “Like my Page.” (And what was the result of having a “Like” emotionally blackmailed out of you by someone you barely know? Did you ever visit their Page again?)
Have you set up a Facebook Page yet? If so, has your Page converted any visitors to clients? We would love to hear. Feel free to comment below.
Come back next week as we continue our subject on Facebook for Business. We will look at how the stars engage in social networking through their Facebook Page.
A few of you who missed our webinar last Thursday, January 19 on Introduction to Social Media for Business have asked if there is a recording. Here is a sample of our recorded webinar.
Go here to pick up the fr^ee recording and a report on Introduction to Social Media Business.
This info-packed webinar and report are excellent reference tools to have on hand for those who are engaging in social media networking.
Be sure to come back on Thursday, January 26 when continue our series on Social Media for Business. We will take a look at Facebook for Business as we begin Lesson Two.
We are not publishing a post this week. Instead we are presenting a webinar, in which we cover everything we’ve discussed over the past few weeks on the topic of Social Media for Business.
If you haven’t registered yet, you still have time. The webinar begins at 2:00 p.m. MST today. Go here to register. See you there!
This is the last post in this lesson on Introduction to Social Media. In the first post, Social Media for Business, we learned how personalities determine what type of networker your customers and clients are.
In the second post, Understanding Flow Patterns, we analyzed the flow patterns in social media interaction, including the social media metrics you should keep your eyes on.
In the third post, Social Media Procrastination, we took a look at the common causes of procrastination in regards to social media.
It’s only now that we are finally ready to arrive at the place where most social media guides start — asking yourself: “Where does my ideal target customer/client hang out?”
Take everything we’ve learned about personality types and put it into practice on the social networks you frequent, and you will have a much more accurate answer than if you relied strictly on keyword targeting alone.
Building Relationships
Social media is not where you will close most of your sales — it’s where you will build trust, connect and become known as an expert in your field.
Do you know where your ideal customer or client hang out? Where do you like to virtually go to do your social networking?
We will begin our second lesson on Facebook for Business in a couple of weeks. Stay tuned . . .
If you haven’t registered yet for our upcoming fr^ee webinar, Thursday, January 19, 2012 at 2:00 pm MST, you can register by going here. We will cover each of above-mentioned posts more in-depth, as well as have a Q&A session. Hurry seating is limited!
Two of the biggest hidden pitfalls in social media engagement are: Blind, token acceptance and a lack of analysis.
Blind, Token Acceptance
This is what usually happens: Your average Internet entrepreneur buys a guide to social media and business. They attempt to follow the recommendations, but because these recommendations are largely re-hashed, without presenting the psychology behind the recommendations, the new habits don’t “stick.” We discussed how to create new habits last week in the blog post Social Media Procrastination.
What does stick seems to be a half-hearted conviction that social media interaction is necessary. In an attempt to follow a prescribed path, all natural flow quickly gets tossed out with the bath-water: What the average Internet entrepreneur ends up doing is tweeting or posting either infrequently or inconsistently . . . or bombarding the social media platform with spammy post after post about other people’s links.
Lack of Analysis
The second biggest hidden pitfall involves lack of analysis. Understanding yourself, your preferences and habits is the single most crucial factor in social media success.
You need to identify:
Your communication likes . . . and dislikes
Which social network feels the most comfortable
Your fears about social networking
Your current popularity level
What you want to achieve
How it will fit in with your overall business plan
Your personality type
This last point is especially important. It will tip you off ahead of time to potential pitfalls.
For example, if you are a Social type, you may find your particular pitfall becomes spending too much time on social networks. If you are an escapist and procrastinator, you may find yourself quickly becoming addicted to games. (When you consider that most social networking games are set up to keep you playing longer and longer, the danger becomes even greater.)
Both types of addiction result in decreased productivity.
There are other types of dangers to consider: For example, if you are the needy type who networks for feedback and approval, you may find yourself sharing personal details that detract from your business image. (Go to blog post Social Media for Business to refresh your memory about how personality traits determine the type of social networker you are, as well as determine what type of social networker your clients and customers are.)
Creating a plan and then diligently sticking to it is the best way to guard against these types of problems.
TIP: Say your goals out loud before every social networking session. Try to phrase them in a positive light, rather than focusing on what you don’t want in your life right now. We will go more into details about how to focus on the positive in our upcoming webinar.
Precautions to take:
Be selective
Don’t fall into the trap of “friending” or “following” someone just because you know them elsewhere online
Don’t fall into the trap of “friending” or “following” someone just because they ask you to
Do be aware that stalkers hang out on social media
Never, ever post article links because you have nothing else to say: Post them because you know it’s something your followers will find value in.
We will cover 10 mistakes not to make in social networking during our upcoming webinar.
Have you ever fallen into one of these social media pitfalls? Leave us a comment below. We would love to hear from you. Come back next week when conclude our first topic, Introduction to Social Media, in a series of five (5) topics. We will wrap it up with a discussion on your ideal client or customer.
As promised, we would let you know when our first webinar in this series will be held. The webinar is scheduled for Thursday, January 19, 2012 at 2:00 pm MST, and it is fr^ee. You can register by going here. Hurry seating is limited!
The points we’ve covered so far in our previous posts may seem pretty labor-intensive. They’re not. It’s knowing how to network effectively that creates a strong presence and following — not the precise number of minutes or hours you spend on social networks. If you missed our past two posts which led up to this post, click here to read the first post and here to read the second post.
Social Interaction
A habitual five minutes a day of acknowledging or making comment responses and hitting your “Like” button is more likely to increase your visibility and trust factor than all the educated articles in the world. Yet many people engage in social networking only on a “hit-and-miss” basis — or avoid it altogether.
Whether you’re a “hit-and-miss” poster or a socio-webophobe, it all boils down to the same sin: Procrastination.
Common Causes
The nine most common causes of social networking procrastination are:
Anxiety
Fear of addiction
Dislike of social networking
The belief it’s a “waste of time”
Disorganization
Distraction
Reactivity
Lack of proactivity and planning
Laziness
Whatever the cause, you need to tackle that issue right now. (Remember, we’re not talking becoming a social media guru here: We’re only talking about a few minutes a day with two or more of the “Big Four” networks.
Offline Business
Think about it. If you were running an offline business, would you put up a website, and then sit in your office waiting for the world to discover you? Or would you be out and about, drumming up business.
Even offline, your best business leads often come from word-of-mouth recommendations, and the fact that people “know” you. If they’ve met you helping out at the annual Sally Sue Run, they’re able to put a face to your name, when they discover it while looking for local web designers. People want the personal touch, and that’s even more true on social networks.
So ignoring them is like sitting at home, never, ever volunteering, taking a booth at a craft fair, offering to give a talk to your local Chamber of Commerce, attending networking breakfasts, carrying your business cards around with you or whipping out your elevator speech. Doesn’t make sense, does it? Perhaps in the movies large clients might drop out of the sky . . . but that’s not usually how it works.
Social Networking
When you realize that social networking replaces all this legwork when you run an online business, procrastination is not an option!
Start by spending five minutes a day commenting on posts you like, sharing highly relevant content with selected followers or simply clicking “tweet,” “Share” or “Like.” Make it the same time, every day — and don’t miss it for at least three months! NASA experiments show that the human brain will actually create a neural pathway for the new behavior . . . but it takes a good couple of months for these pathways to “grow,” if you walk there every day.
Once you’ve created the habit, you will have plenty of time to hone your social networking skills.
But start today!
Do you suffer from social media procrastination? If so, do you recognize any of the common causes listed above? Leave us a comment below, we would love to hear from you. Come back next week, when we discuss the two deadly hidden social media pitfalls. RJ’s Internet Marketing Services
Last week we looked at how our customers’ or clients’ personalities determine how they engage in social networking, as well as which social networks they tend to hang out at. We also learned how to gauge where we are on the social network scale; what are our social network preferences and habits. This week, we will back up last week’s information with our analysis of flow patterns in social media interaction.
Analyzing Flow Patterns
We start by asking ourselves basic questions:
What kinds of posts you create get the most comments?
Who and what type are your most engaged friends or followers?
Who always show up on the other networks you visit?
What motivates your most engaged fellow networker?
Basic Social Metrics
Also, there are some basic social metrics you should keep your eye on; for example, visitors, traffic sources, comments, bounce rate, etc. We will cover this more in our upcoming webinar.
Although, the four major networks provide some form of tracking and feedback, studies show that approximately 85% of all online entrepreneurs and small companies don’t bother to track.
Start by ensuring that you install the social sharing widgets into your blog, websites, and social media pages. This way, your site visitors can “like,” “share,” and “tweet,” your published content.
Track which posts generate the most comments and are socially shared.
Include calls to action in posts and on social networks enticing people to share, tweet, etc.
Use YouTube to create “how to” videos, video reviews, etc. to share on social networks.
Use Google Analytics to track your content. We will cover more on specific tracking for Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, and Twitter in the upcoming blog posts and webinar.
Promptly answer or acknowledge every comment or if on Facebook, respond and/or “like” the comment.
Data Value
But how can you recognize the value of your data?
When analyzing results; for instance, increased participation, did it have any impact on converting visitors to subscribers or sales?
Keeping Your Followers Engaged
Keep in mind that “flow” doesn’t just refer to metrics but also means keeping your fan or follower happy and engaged.
Try out different types of content to see which one keep your followers engaged; for example, polls, quizzes, contests, “how to” videos, questions, etc.
Although pre-scheduled posts keep you in front of your fans and followers, it is important that you personally participate in order to engage with them.
Do you track your data? If so, which analytical tools do you use? Leave us a comment below. We would love to hear from you. Next week we will continue our discussion on social media for business. We will cover social media procrastination.
During the next five – six months, we will focus on social media for business. In our blog posts, we will discuss five topics on social media for business. Within each topic, there are five to seven subtopics. Each of our posts will cover each subtopic.
After we complete the last subtopic, we will offer a free webinar, which will cover the entire topic, (including the subtopics), more in depth, as each blog post will be only an overview of each subtopic. We will keep you up to date as to when the webinar will be held, as well as registration information.
This week we will discuss Introduction to Social Media and share various methods to figure out where you are on the social media scale. Do you love engaging in social media or do you dread having to social network?
To ensure that your social media plan help to grow your business and increase your niche community, make social media a part of your overall business plan, as well as understand your customers or clients.
First, it’s important to understand your own online social preferences and habits; where you are on the social media scale.
It’s vital to realize that you and your customers’ or clients’ personalities change when interacting on any given social network. For example, when networking on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, or LinkedIn, you have a different personality based on the network.
Also, the type of personality will determine how the social networker will use a particular network. For example, a user that only uses Twitter is generally more extroverted than introverted. For an introverted Twitter user, social media involvement feels more of a chore than a pleasure. An extroverted Twitter user hates wasting time.
Part of having a successful social media business plan is to determine your personality as well as your customers’ or clients’ personalities. You can take the free Twitter-oriented personality test at Ipersonic.com. Myers-Briggs (from Human Metrics) and Keirsey Temperament Sorter (free mini-report) are a couple of more tests you can take to determine your personality type. In the webinar, we will discuss personalities more in detail.
Studying personalities will help you to learn your customers or clients, where they hang out, as well as how they interact on each social media network. Learning your personality type will help you determine who you want to do business with. You may even learn how you interact on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, or LinkedIn.
Come back next week as we analyze the flow patterns in your social media interaction. Which network do you spend the most time on? Do you know your personality type? Mine is the Good-Natured Realist based on the personality test over at Ipersonic.com. See you next week!
Last week we wrapped up a series on Internet marketing for start-ups. We explained that social media marketing is an Internet marketing strategy. This week we will discuss how to use social media marketing to build relationships.
Building Relationships
According to an article, “How to Build Better Business Relationships” on the website Inc.com, relationships are the fuel that feeds the success of your business. “Without strong relationships, it is impossible to have success as a business owner,” says the founder and CEO of Denisoff Consulting Group Michael Denisoff. Go here to read the entire article, “How to Build Better Business Relationships.”
What is Social Media Marketing?
Social media marketing is simply using social networks to convince your target audience that your products and/or services are valuable. Although you want to sell your products and/or services, you can’t be blatant about it. It is a “soft sell” while building relationships.
The major three social networks are Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. After you have identified your target audience and determined what their needs are, as well as how your products or services can fulfill that need, then find out which social networks your target audience hangs out at. From there you can start building relationships with your prospective clients.
Following are some statistics to help you learn where your target audience does their social networking.
Age
According to an article, “A Portrait of Who Uses Social Networks in The US,” written on June 16, 2011 by Gregg Finn over at Search Engine Land, the average age user of Facebook is 38 years old, LinkedIn is 40 years old, and the average age user of Twitter is 33 years old.
Gender
The same article states that 43% of Facebook total users are men and 58% are women. LinkedIn is the only network with more men users than women. Sixty-three percent of Linked users are men and 37% are women. On Twitter 64% of the total users are women and 36% are men.
Race & Ethnicity
The article also cites the White race as being the vast majority users of social networks in the US. On Facebook, there are 78% White users, 9% Black, 9% Hispanics, and 12% Other Race. Over at LinkedIn, there are 85% White, 2% Black, 4% Hispanic, and 13% Other Race users. Twitter has 71% White users, 9% Black, 12% Hispanic, and 21% Other Race.
Overall, 92% of social networking users are on Facebook, 18% uses LinkedIn, and 13% social networkers use Twitter. More importantly, based on whom you are targeting, the above-mentioned statistics will help you determine which network(s) you will exert your energy and time based on age, gender and/or ethnicity.
In order to build relationships with your potential clients at the various social networks, get involved with their discussions, reply to their comments, offer pertinent information that will provide solutions. This is not really something you can outsource. Only you can be you. However, virtual assistants can help you set up your profiles and company pages.
Which social network sites have you been able to successfully build relationships? Leave us a comment below.
Now that you have your start-up business up and running, it’s time to let your target audience know that your products and/or services are available. They will not be aware of your existence, unless you tell them.
Whether you have a brick and mortar or an online business or both, one of the best strategies for spreading the word about your new products and/or services is through Internet marketing. We will cover some of the more popular Internet marketing methods and strategies in this post.
Website
It’s vital to have a website. This is your online business card. Having a website makes you and your business look credible. Not many people will do business with a company or entrepreneur if they don’t have a website.
Blog
Next you need to have a blog. You can use your blog to share your knowledge with your target audience, while at the same time become known as the expert in your field. This will drive traffic to your website, possibly converting your site visitors into clients.
Social Media
Then you need to get involved in social media marketing. This will also drive traffic to your website. The more popular social networks are Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Facebook
On Facebook there are two different accounts you want to create. One is called Profile and the other is known as Page. Your profile account is for socializing with your family, friends, and colleagues. It also allows your potential clients to see the human side of you. Your Page is strictly for showcasing your business.
Twitter
Twitter is a real-time information network that enables you to follow conversation and topics you are interested in, as well as the latest information. Connect with your target audience and drive traffic to your website. You can socialize on Twitter, while at the same time become recognized as an expert in your industry.
LinkedIn
LinkedIn is for professionals only. Sharing personal, non-business type of information is not acceptable on LinkedIn. LinkedIn also has groups geared toward your interest. Just do a search using search terms of your interest on the LinkedIn group drop-down menu to locate the groups you want to join. The groups are similar to forums where you can share information as well as gain knowledge to help you operate your business.
Come back next week when we continue our discussion on Internet marketing for start-ups.
Click here to schedule a fr^ee Social Media Marketing Solutions session.
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Last week we started Lesson Two: Facebook for Business by looking at the first step setting up your profile. This week will continue lesson two by focusing on getting ready for your Facebook Page.
RJ’s Internet Marketing Services
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