Internet Marketing

  • 7 Great Ways to Market a Home Business

    Home Office

    One of the greatest challenges of any home based business is bringing in customers. Unlike a physical storefront, with a home based business nobody is going to just “walk by” and make a purchase. You have to be proactive. You have to get your message in front of your customers. You have to draw people in.

     

    Here are seven different ways to market a home business.

     

    ==> Method #1: Word of Mouth

     

    This is one of the most common ways of marketing a small business. Start with your social circle and anyone your social circle knows. Deliver great quality work and let people refer other people to you.

     

    This method works, but it’s slow. You don’t have much control over the speed at which you generate sales.

     

    ==> Method #2: Craigslist

     

    For many service-based businesses, Craigslist is a fantastic tool. If you’re a photographer, graphic designer, massage therapist, guitar teacher or any other kind of freelancer, Craigslist can send you a lot of traffic.

    Event

    ==> Method #3: Host Events

     

    Creating events is a great way to build your brand name and build your credibility. When you create an event and put yourself in front of a room, people automatically assume that you know what you’re talking about. As your event grows, so will your influence. Clients and buyers will come to you naturally.

     

    ==> Method #4: Search Engine Optimization

     

    Try to get your website(s) to rank in the search engines for specific key phrases. This takes a lot of work up front, but once you’re up in the rankings you’ll be getting tons of absolutely free traffic.

     

    ==> Method #5: Pay for Web Traffic

     

    You can make a lot of money if you’re willing to spend a bit of money. Paid web traffic can be a great way to bring in more customers.

     

    Popular avenues include Google AdWords, Facebook PPC, paid banner advertising and paid email marketing.

     

    ==> Method #6: PartnershipsPartnerships

     

    Look for other people in your industry who would want to partner with you. For example, say you teach a real estate investing course. You might look for real estate agents, estate planners and asset managers who deal with the same client base as you.

     

    Do joint projects, joint events, joint mailings and other such partnerships to share your customer and contact base. You all win as a result.

     

    ==> Method #7: Email and Newsletter Marketing

     

    Finally, start your own newsletter. Your newsletter can be in email format or it can be an actual printed newsletter.

     

    Newsletters allow you to build a relationship with people over time. They’ll come to trust you more and more as you consistently deliver quality content. People who would never otherwise become customers will eventually make the jump.

     

    These are seven different ways you can grow your home based business. Customers aren’t just going to come to you – you need to go out and get them. These seven tactics can help just about any home based business expand and grow their profits.

    At Strategize Your Success we help women entrepreneurs, coaches and small business owners with online strategic goal setting, marketing and planning.  We know what struggles you face and offer solutions to help make your business THRIVE. Contact us today for a FREE 30 minute Discovery Session.

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  • What’s “Client Attraction”?

    Do you know what client attraction is?  It’s about making the right client connection with everything you do in your business.  Targeting, positioning and figuring out your unique selling proposition are all about attracting the right clients.  When there is synergy in your business “client attraction” is like honey in a pot it will attract bees.  It happens because you have set up your business so that your ideal client knows exactly what you are conveying and that they are in the right place to get what they are looking for. Social engineering concept

     

    So who is your ideal client?  Do you know your demographics?  You hear people say that everyone is my client.  No way!  Not everyone wants what you have and not everyone will be attracted to your business or maybe even your personality. The more you can narrow down your “niche” the better it will be for your business.  After all what’s the point in advertising to potential clients who are not in your ideal “niche” or “market” it’s a waste of your money and time.

     

    Are you doing everything you can to get prospective clients to feel as if they know you?  It’s the old adage of the” know, like and trust” approach in marketing.  People feel more comfortable spending their hard earned money with people that they have gotten to know even if it’s through that a company’s marketing efforts.  Think about how you buy.  Would you prefer to trust a business that has been advertising in your local market since you were a kid or the person that you never heard of?  Sometimes creditability comes from something like a media presents or longevity.  They can hold a lot of weight with the market.

     

    How about blogging or social media?  If you see someone who is consistent in their marketing approach do you feel a certain connection?  What if they have lots of followers?  Does that provide you with social proof that they must know what they are talking
    about? So the same is true for you and your business. 

    Internet chart with red marker

    Here’s an example. Recently on Facebook, I asked for a reference for someone who does weed control in my area.  I had about 12 suggestions in under an hour.  What was I looking for?  Someone who was referred to over and over again. Those were the companies I narrowed my inquiries to.  There is an old saying “cream rises to the top” and I was looking for the “cream”.

     

    If you put a conscious thought into your client attraction efforts your marketing whether it’s in print or on the web will become a fine tuned selling machine of whatever your company sells or services it provides. If you haven’t a clue as to what you should be doing or you’ve put forth effort without a return then maybe it’s time to get some help. Check out the “Success Blueprint to Client Attraction”  course.

    At Strategize Your Success we help women entrepreneurs, coaches and small business owners with online strategic goal setting, marketing and planning.  We know what struggles you face and offer solutions to help make your business THRIVE. Contact us today for a FREE 30 minute Discovery Session.

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  • 5 Ways to Combine Your Email Marketing with Social Media

    Social media presents an opportunity to build your subscriber base with a wide range of different people and cross-promote your business from different traffic sources. If you integrate your social media marketing with your email list, you can harness the power of both of these sources for even more traffic and engagement.
    Social Media Sphere
    Let Your Social Networks Know

    On all of your social networks, let everyone know about your email sign-up page and tell them about the exclusive promotions you’re offering there. Your social media profiles work as a great entry point into your sales funnel. Absolutely any social network can be used to qualify prospects and get them to your sign-up page.

    On social networking sites, there are tools that allow users to share content they like. Features such as Facebook’s ‘likes’, Twitter’s ‘re-tweets’, and Pinterest’s ‘repins’ allow people to help spread the word for you. Encourage visitors to share and consider creating a reward system for those who share the most.

     The Facebook Sign-up Tab

    On your Facebook page, you can create a custom tab with a sign-up form so that your fans can sign up directly on your page. The best place to put this tab is on one of the visible ‘squares’ just below your cover photo. This is a prime area of Internet real estate that is visible as soon as people arrive on your main cover page.Happy group of finger smileys with speech bubbles

    Promoting on Your Blog

    Your blog is also part of your social profile. Make sure you’re promoting your email list there prominently. Put something on your blog’s sidebar that’s visible on each post and page so that it gets as much exposure as possible. Consider placing forms at the bottom of each post, or even in your header. Just like in your social networks, make sure that your offer or freebie is mentioned on your blog’s opt-in form.

    Getting Subscribers to Social Media

    Integrating social media and your email list means sending traffic both ways, so get your list members to connect with you on social media. One way to do this is to add social media buttons to your emails. These are buttons like Facebook’s ‘Like This’ and Twitter’s ‘Tweet This.’ Using these buttons, your readers can share your content or comment on it without leaving the email message.

    Some email services, such as AWeber, have social icons for networks like Facebook and Twitter that you can simply drag and drop into your emails. Then people can click on the icon to connect with you on those networks.

    One of the best ways to encourage list members to connect with you on social media is by offering exclusive content there. Offer something different in each place so they have a reason to visit you there.

    Going Mobile

     An increasing number of people read their emails and socialize online using mobile devices, so make sure that everything is mobile-friendly. Send emails in both text and HTML. Test any templates that you’re using. Make text large and images easy to view with short loading times. Typing on mobiles is difficult so make your opt-in form easy to fill out. Also make sure that your landing pages are optimized for mobile.

    The more touch points you have with your audience, the more valuable a relationship you can build with them. This is why it’s essential to communicate with them on as many channels as possible, and to not rely primarily on one platform. It also helps to find out what social networking and other sites your target market is using so that you can focus your email integration and interaction in those places. You should be online wherever your prospects and customers are.

    At Strategize Your Success we help women entrepreneurs, coaches and small business owners with online strategic goal setting, marketing and planning.  We know what struggles you face and offer solutions to help make your business THRIVE. Contact us today for a FREE 30 minute Discovery Session.

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  • Knowing What to Share in Social Networking

    Understanding your target audience and finding your unique positioning are crucial first steps to become a social media success and once you have those items a bit clearer in your mind, you’re ready to start experimenting with how you’ll participate in social media.

    The nice thing about working online and in social media is that you can reshape your plan as you go along. So don’t worry about having your target market and unique positioning engraved in stone. It’s not necessary as you will find that even if you have it figured out now, your audience and their needs change over time. And since your smart, I know that you will want to evolve with your audience.

    So with all that in mind, let’s look at our big 5 networks to see how you can fit in.

    Facebook

    7-a-fb-analytics

    This is a pretty visual social network with a lot of possibilities for sharing. Images and video do well, and while you can share text, you might find that if you add an image to your text, you’ll get more views and responses to your status update.

    Facebook also offers the ability to poll your audience which can be a lot of fun for participants and insightful for you. You can also share your company history through the Milestones feature, keeping in mind what would interest your audience most.

    Facebook offers pretty in-depth analytics and gives you plenty of clues on which content does well and which type of content doesn’t. Use these analytics to figure out how to hone your presence.

    7-b-twitter-repliesTwitter

    Twitter is a more text-based social network that requires you to be brief in your sharing, as you only have 140 characters to make your point. You can post images and link to videos, but users will generally need to click through to view them.

    One of the biggest opportunities with Twitter is to use their @ replies and RT (Retweet feature). Place an @ before a username, allows you to communicate directly with users on Twitter and can pave the way to new connections. RT allows you to share someone else’s useful update with your audience, which is another way to foster goodwill among like minded users.


    Google+

    7-c-hangoutGoogle+ is another visual network with a lot of images and, in particular, videos being shared.

    While using Google+, definitely take advantage of their Circles feature, which allows you to categorize your contacts in any number of ways. This allows you to keep friends and family separate from business contacts. It also allows you to categorize your business contacts as well. For example, you can make circles for your customers, affiliates, mastermind groups and more.

    One of the most unique opportunities at Google+ is Hangouts, which offer a group video and/or audio chat. It’s perfect for brainstorming groups, planning and getting to know your audience better…so take advantage.

    Pinterest

    7-d-pinAs you probably know, Pinterest is the most visual network of all because it is simply a collection of images. Videos can also be shared, but aren’t in as much abundance.

    Images that you share on Pinterest should be categorized appropriately and include a description that adds to the user experience. Choose images that are visually striking that make people feel like the item in the picture is in the same room as them.

    LinkedIn

    7-e-ln-groupsYour approach to LinkedIn should be that of an information sharer and connector. Connect people who should know each other and offer help through groups and answering questions. For LinkedIn, the key isn’t in the number of connections you make, but the quality of those connections so put your focus there.

    As you can see, each network is a little bit different. A lot of people attempt to use social media integration tools that simply broadcast their updates across all networks, but this is a short sighted approach. While I do encourage the use of social media integration tools, it’s important to use them wisely. Take the time to deliver the right information to the right audience on the right social network and you’ll have much better results.

    At Strategize Your Success we help women entrepreneurs, coaches and small business owners with online strategic goal setting, marketing and planning.  We know what struggles you face and offer solutions to help make your business THRIVE.  

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  • Know Your Uniqueness and Score Big on Social Media

    6-a-uniqueSocial media marketing requires unique positioning just like the rest of your marketing. In fact, it might be even more crucial in social media because you’re competing with hundreds or even thousands of other voices vying for attention at the exact same time. 

    When someone comes to your website, you still need to grab their attention, but there aren’t a bunch of other people shouting their latest tweet or status update all over your page. Unfortunately, that’s how it is on social media. Whether it’s your personality that shines through or the type of information you provide, there needs to be a reason your audience looks forward to your social media updates. 

    Start by thinking about why your readers are drawn to you. Why do they like and share your stuff? How are you fulfilling their wishes, helping them achieve their goals or how are you easing their worries? If you don’t know why, simply ask them. 

    If you’re still not sure what makes you different, take a look at your competition or other companies that you follow on social media. What do they do that makes them unique? Write a list of about 10 companies and determine their unique social positioning. That doesn’t mean you have to copy what they do, but by exploring it and being able to recognize uniqueness, you can find your own too.

    Some of the things that might make you and others unique include the ability:

    6-b-questions– to make people laugh
    – to inspire people
    – to make people ask themselves tough questions

    …and just about anything else that evokes a strong emotion or thought. How can you get your audience feeling and thinking about something?

    Your uniqueness can also be found by the type of media you are known for sharing, whether it’s:

    – Video
    – Images

    …but there needs to be something unique about those videos, images or other media. After all, everyone and their dog has their own YouTube channel, but what makes your production different than everyone else?

    Well, one way to ensure your content is different is to understand that uniqueness requires some self-development as well. It sounds airy-fairy, but it’s absolutely true. Offering something deeper doesn’t come because you want it to, it comes from being deeper yourself. That includes:

    – Sharing an opinion: Don’t be afraid to say what you think, even if it’s not conventional wisdom. It doesn’t matter if people think you’re wrong, you’re getting people to think and you’re showing yourself as someone who is able to think for themselves.

    – Look at things from different perspectives: In addition to having an opinion, take the time to understand different perspectives. The more you understand the opinions that oppose yours, the stronger your opinion will be.

    – Avoid simply copying what everyone else is doing: Just because ABC Company is doing a series of videos on gardening tips, doesn’t mean you have to follow suit. The more you can pay attention to your own audience’s needs and disregard your competition (unless you’re in a one on one battle of some type), the more likely you’re to find your uniqueness.

    – Experience things: Don’t just talk about stuff on social media, get out and do it. By doing more, you have more valuable content to share with your audience. Whether it’s opinions based on your experiences, photos, videos or something else, by getting out and experiencing life, you bring more to the table for your audience. 

    If you look at all this again, you’ll see that being unique really comes from bringing your best self forward.

    If you want to stand out from the crowd, dig deep to find your best self and serve your audience faithfully. The benefits will be worth it.…and just about anything else that evokes a strong emotion or thought.

    At Strategize Your Success we help women entrepreneurs, coaches and small business owners with online strategic goal setting, marketing and planning.  We know what struggles you face and offer solutions to help make your business THRIVE. 

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  • 5 Reasons Marketing Should Be a Business Priority for the New Year

    HatsSmall business owners wear many hats.  They are often the accountant, receptionist, secretary, repairperson, and much more.  They multi-task like there’s no tomorrow, tackling administrative, sales, and all sorts of other functions.  Even if they hire employees or contractors to handle some of these things, they still have a lot to do.  So it’s easy to forget about marketing.

    But marketing is one of those things that it pays not to forget about.  It is essential to every business, no matter how large or small.  Here are five reasons that marketing should be one of our top business priorities for the New Year:

    • Marketing can bring us new customers.  Doing a great job is wonderful, but if you don’t have any customers in the first place, who’s going to know what great work your business does?  Marketing introduces your business to new people who may be interested in your products or services.
    • Marketing keeps current customers happy.  Customer loyalty promotions and sales keep those who have previously done business with you coming back for more.  Those happy customers are also a good source of referrals.
    • Putting forth the right image is crucial to our success.  Large companies often spend a huge portion of their budgets making sure that their image is just right.  Smaller businesses may not have the big budgets that larger ones do, but it’s just as important that they present themselves in a way that is pleasing to their target markets.
    • Marketing is not all about advertising and finding other ways to market effectively can lead to higher profits.  Word of mouth marketing is one of the most effective ways to get customers, and the costs associated with it are low in comparison to paid advertising.  Taking the time to examine customer service policies and other factors in customer satisfaction can pay big dividends in the long run.
    • Good marketing can keep you a step ahead of the competition.  If your competition is running large marketing campaigns and you’re not doing any marketing, you could be left in the dust.  That doesn’t mean that you should try to outspend the competition, it just means that you need to make sure that they’re not the only visible player in the game.

    time

    If you don’t have the time or inclination to deal with marketing, you could hire an assistant to handle it.  Having someone who can dedicate a fair amount of time to marketing efforts is more economical than letting it eat into your work time, and it can pay off generously in the long run.

    Marketing is an important part of any business and should always be a priority.  Without it, no one would know that we exist or what we do.  By making marketing one of our top priorities, we give our businesses the opportunity to grow and prosper.

    At Strategize Your Success we help women entrepreneurs, coaches and small business owners with online strategic goal setting, marketing and planning.  We know what struggles you face and offer solutions to help
    make your business THRIVE.

     

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  • Using Articles to Market Your Business

    The Internet is filled with content. Content of all types can be found on websites and posted on forums. Just about any subject you are looking to learn about can be accessed on the Internet. Using articles to market your business is a free promotion that is highly effective.

    What have you spent? You may have spent a few hours doing research on your topic and then you sat down to write some interesting content. The content was posted on your own site or sold to other sites that deal in buying articles.

    The best way to use article marketing is to write about something that you know. A topic that is familiar offers a host of different spins on one subject that can be marketed in a variety of places. You can submit articles to online sites, e-zines, print magazines, and newsletters. Any one of these places will give your work more exposure.


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    Come up with several ideas for article content. Keep a notebook with you so that you can jot down article subjects and titles. If you are putting together several “how to” articles, keep a list of what to include in the articles. The more information that you have on hand, the quicker you will be able to produce an article.

    Surf the Web to see what types of articles are out there. If the subject that you have chosen is pretty much done to distraction, choose something else to focus on. Most of us have more than one area of interest or expertise so we can use that to find another marketing avenue.

    What about rewrites? If you are the owner of the content, exercise your right to use it again and rewrite it from another angle to get more use out of the subject. Tailor your articles to the specific guidelines of the site or publication where you will be submitting them for consideration.

    Above all, don’t forget to plug your website or product at the end of the article. Most sites will let you have a small bio at the end. If they do, use it to the hilt. Always, always include a hyperlink to your website so that people can find you easily. They will want to read more on the subject and this can’t be done if they can’t locate your site.

    A hyperlink will take them directly to the website. If you forget to use the http:// at the beginning, they will have to copy and paste into the browser. People want things to be as easy as possible and so do you if you want their traffic.

    Article marketing is free and fun. Use the knowledge that you have gained on a particular subject to enhance your business and make you some money. People are always looking for good sources of information.

    At Strategize Your Success we help women entrepreneurs, coaches and small business owners with strategic goal setting, marketing and planning.  We know what struggles you face and offer solutions to help make your business THRIVE. 

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  • Growing a Highly Targeted Social Media Following

    We’ve all seen pages on Facebook with thousands…even millions of followers. We’ve seen the same with Twitter and other social networks. It may seem a little overwhelming if you’re starting with a small following and it may feel like you’re just not going to get anywhere if you don’t have a huge following.4-a-million
    But the truth is, a targeted following is always your best bet. While you should always work toward growing your following, you can still get results from your well-cultivated following. So keeping pushing forward. It’s worth it.

    To get you started, here are some tips for growing your following:

    Invite Your Website Visitors4-b-invitation

    When someone visits your website, one of your main goals (if it’s not for them to buy a product) should be to get them on your email mailing list. That way, you can contact them directly over and over again through your list. But another thing you want new visitors and even regular visitors to do is follow you on social media. Having multiple avenues to communicate with your audience is a good thing and allows you to stay in the mind of your prospects.

    Include buttons on your site that allow your visitors to follow you directly on your main social media networks. While, it may be tempting to offer up a ton of options and include buttons for every social network you’ve joined, do consider these pitfalls:

    – By including too many choices, you decrease your chances of getting your visitor to do anything. The old saying that “the confused mind always says no,” is absolutely true.

    – Add to that, when you include buttons for networks you’re not that active on, you don’t provide a very good experience for your following.

    Instead, keep it focused and limit your follow buttons to the networks where you participate readily. In addition, include invitations to follow you on social media in your blog posts and other content. Don’t just rely on buttons in the side bar…ask them to follow you directly.

    Invite Your Mailing List4-c-email

    Asking your mailing list to follow you in social media gives you yet another way to communicate with your audience. Include follow buttons at the end of your emails, but also mention some of your interesting posts inside the emails you send. For example, if you posted a video you know they will want to see, send them to Facebook to view it. Or if you’re online and are available to chat, start a Hangout on Google. 

    Just one tip…make sure the updates you share are public. While it might make sense to make them private, so people have to follow you to see them, it can be frustrating for your subscribers. After all, your subscribers have ALREADY told you that they’re interested in your stuff and have ALREADY given you their email address. Don’t make them jump through hoops to see your additional content.

    Make Friends in Your Niche

    One of the easiest ways to grow your social networking and online following is by making friends with others in your niche. That effect is even more dramatic when you make connections with influential people in your niche. Always spend time on developing meaningful relationship with like minded people because it has a lot of benefits:

    – You can share one another’s content

    – You can share ideas and give each other advice

    – You can cross-promote products. 

    And we’re talking about meaningful relationships here. Not just simply following someone on Twitter and hoping they’ll notice your @ replies. You need to connect them directly, meet them in person or offer to help them in some way. Real relationships don’t develop through liking someone’s Facebook status, so do the work necessary to grow your network of friends.

    Get Involved an Interact

    Even though liking someone’s video on Facebook isn’t going to make you best friends, interacting regularly with people can help you get noticed. Provide useful commentary on content that is complementary to your niche, get involved and be visible. If people can use you, they are more likely to follow you.

    Of course, balance this with the importants of keeping your schedule and avoiding distraction. Always be very purposeful about your participation and you will reap the benefits.

    Remember, Growing a Following Goes Both Ways4-d-2way

    Remember, that growing a following through SM goes the other way too. Get people to share your content on social media, so you can drive that traffic back to you. Getting that traffic back from social media helps you grow your list and sell your products. 

    Always make it easy for people to share your content. Include sharing buttons on your blog posts, free report download pages and just about anywhere you publish content. The easier it is for people to spread the word, the more likely they are to do it.

    More Advice Coming in the Next Couple of Posts

    Obviously, the most important key to gaining and retaining your following is to be interesting and useful. These are huge topics that deserve some discussion of their own. So we’ll be talking about just that in the next couple of posts. Next up, we’ll examine how to be interesting by understanding your target market and really getting a grasp of who you’re talking to. Then we’ll talk about being useful and providing something unique that others in your niche don’t. When you master that, it’s much easier to grow and nurture your following.

    At Strategize Your Success we help entrepreneurs, coaches and small business owners with strategic goal setting, marketing and planning.  We know what struggles you face and offer solutions to help make your business THRIVE. 


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  • Managing Your Social Networking Time

    3-a-time-moneyGetting Lost on Social Media?  Social media is one of the most important business communication developments in a long time, but it’s also one of the biggest sources of distraction and is often a time suck for otherwise productive business owners.

    Learning to manage your own social networking time will help you leverage all those great benefits and help you get rid of those unwanted side effects.

    Here are some tips to get you going…

    Know What You Want to Do
    3-b-plan

    Before you log into another social network, make sure you have a very clear idea of what you want to accomplish with your social networking participation. While you should know where you’re going before you go there in all aspects of your life, it’s even more important on social media because it’s just too easy to get distracted. Whether it’s political stuff that gets you all fired up or a funny meme of a cat saying something hilarious, we’ve all been there.

    I’m also talking about knowing what you want to accomplish on a large and small scale.

    You should know what you want over the long term (ex. expand your reach, get more loyalty from your audience, etc.) and what you want to do on a daily basis (ex. respond to comments, post a new video). Whether you use paper and pen, mind map software or voice memos to yourself to plan, record your ideas, so you have a rock solid plan for what you hope to do.

    Limit the Networks You’re Involved In

    Too many business owners try to be everywhere at once. It’s a recipe for burnout and it isn’t likely going to grow your business because you won’t have time to work on your actual business. It’s important to select only a handful of key social networks and if you’re just getting started with social networking, simply start with one network and move from there.

    Of course, finding out what works best for your business will take some experimentation. Just don’t rush to do everything at once because you need to dedicate the appropriate time and effort to seeing what produces the most benefit.

    Finish Other Tasks First

    On a daily basis, work on your core business tasks first and then try saving social networking for the end of the day. That way, you can ensure everything that needs to get done gets done. This strategy also allows you to do more exploration on social networking so you can find new people to follow, interesting information and more.

    Carve Out Your Time

    Know how much time you are going to spend and what you’re going to do before you log into any of your accounts. Setting a limit is important, particularly if you have other business tasks or personal things to attend to when you’re done. Making sure you have your tasks outlined also helps you stay on track…instead of following that link to a YouTube video of an amazing 5 year old opera singer.

    And always remember, when you log in…serve your audience first. You can’t go wrong by focusing on your audience.

    Have a Notification Strategy3-c-notification

    There’s nothing more detrimental to productivity than being interrupted all day long with emails telling you about new retweets, likes and comments. You can limit these interruptions in a few ways:

    – Turn notifications off completely. Rarely, is there a social media emergency and if you’re already checking in regularly, you don’t really need to get an email notification for everything.

    – Some networks, like Pinterest, allow you to get a daily digest of notifications, instead of receiving an individual notification of each update.

    – Don’t send the notifications to your main email address. Choose an address you check less frequently, so you aren’t constantly distracted by the new updates.

    Keep Your Business and Personal Accounts Separate

    While you may share some personal information on your business accounts, it’s easiest if you keep your business social networking activities separate from your personal ones. There are actually a few benefits to this.

    The first is eliminating distractions. So if Aunt June sends you a private message and your friend Steve post a funny picture of his toddler, you won’t distracted from your to-do list.

    Keeping things separate also helps you stay informed about your niche and makes it easy for you to be a useful for source of information for your readers. So follow personal connections on your personal accounts and follow industry leaders and information providers on your business accounts. That way, your news feeds will be relevant to what you are working on.

    And finally, it makes you more relevant to your followers. Many online business owners broadcast business related information to their friends and family when it doesn’t really make sense. And the reverse problem is true. If you’re posting a lot of personal information, it may or may not be of interest to your business followers. You can avoid this, by separating your social media activities.

    Get Help

    There’s no reason you have to do all your social networking yourself. Even if you’re a solo entrepreneur, you can build a team or have someone alongside to help you. You can have someone help you with:

    – Posting updates

    – Scheduling updates you’ve prewritten

    – Creating and collecting images and other useful content you’d like to share

    Building a team that represents your brand takes a lot of pressure off you and allows you to focus more on strategy and business building. At Strategize Your Success we can help you with this (strategizeyoursuccess.com).

    Use Tools3-d-tool

    We are going to talk about various tools that can help you in a later post, but there are plenty of tools that can help you schedule updates, allow you to view your various network streams in one place, compile analytics for you and more. These are very useful tools to ensure you keep tabs on your interactions, allow you to participate more efficiently and can help you rework your strategy for maximum effectiveness.

    At Strategize Your Success we help entrepreneurs, coaches and small business owners with strategic goal setting, marketing and planning.  We know what struggles you face and offer solutions to help make your business THRIVE. 

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  • Social Media and the Big 5 Networks

    What is Right for Your Business? If you’ve ever looked at Wikipedia’s “list of major active social networking sites”, you’d see they list over 200. That’s a lot of social networks to potentially get involved in, but of course, you can’t be in all those places and you shouldn’t be. 

    You may find that some of those networks fit perfectly in with what you’re doing, but for the most part, you’ll probably focus your efforts into some of the 5 big networks we’re going to talk about in this post. My goal is to help you understand what these networks are all about and how they might fit in with your marketing plan.

    Facebook

    Facebook was launched in 2004 and reported they have 955 million monthly active users at the end of June 2012. They are the largest social network by far that reaches a wide audience and age ranges.

    With Facebook, you can create a Facebook Page where your audience can sign up to receive your updates. Over the past year, Facebook has become a much more visual network with companies and individuals sharing more photos and videos.

    A wide variety of businesses benefit from participation in Facebook. Businesses can also advertise cost-effectively to grow their following and Facebook provides “Insights” which provide Analytics to help understand the effectiveness of posts.

    It is also a very interactive network that allows for the sharing of detailed content and the commenting system makes for an even more cohesive interaction.

    Interestingly enough, Facebook is a more closed format than networks like Twitter and Pinterest, in that it’s more difficult to have your content seen by people outside your direct following. Still, with the large number of people on Facebook, it’s difficult to go really wrong with your Facebook presence if you built it strategically.

    Twitter

    Launching in 2006, Twitter now has over 500 million active users and receives over 1.6 billion search queries daily. Twitter also reaches a fairly wide demographic like Facebook does.

    Twitter’s uniqueness comes from it’s 140 character limit on updates, creating a need for businesses to create interesting, entertaining and concise content for their users. While, you can upload photos to Twitter, it is a more text-based social network and that works very well for some businesses.

    It is also a very open format where, unless your Twitter updates are made private, users can search and easily find content from people they don’t follow. As I mentioned, the site has over 1.6 billion queries per day which presents a tremendous opportunity for businesses sharing content on popular topics.

    LinkedIn

    The oldest of these big 5 networks, LinkedIn was launched in 2003. While considerable smaller than Twitter and Facebook, they are a more focused network. With 175 million followers, LinkedIn’s focus is on professionals making connections.

    Service providers do very well on LinkedIn, but most businesses can benefit from a LinkedIn presence. The site is a source for not only finding employment and clients, but also allows like-minded business people to share ideas, advice, connect to work on projects and more.

    Google+

    A relative newcomer, Google+ was launched by the search giant in 2010. They have over 400 million users, but only about 100 million are active on a monthly basis. Google+ attracts a more technically-mind audience, but offers interesting possibilities due to its connections with Google’s other products, including search.

    Like Facebook, Google+ allows for the sharing of lengthy content, creating discussions, sharing photos and photos. And while Google+ doesn’t necessarily reach the average social media user, the strength in Google+ comes from a number of sources and a couple of notable ones are:

    – The +1 button: On the network and throughout the web, Google users are able to show appreciation for content by giving it a “+1”. The +1 can help grow word-of-mouth audiences, but also can have an impact on traffic through search engines.

    – Hangouts: Sophisticated video / audio conferencing software is built in to Google, allowing businesses to make more meaningful connections with their audience. Even the President of the United States and other public figures have held their own Hangouts.

    Bottom line is, if your audience is on Google+ (it may or may not be), it’s a good idea to explore the possibilities.

    Pinterest

    Pinterest is social media’s current darling. They officially launched in 2012 and according to Comscore, by January 2012, had 11.7 million users. While on the surface, it seems like they have a very small audience, it’s a unique network that many business strategists are keeping an eye on and many businesses are tapping into.

    This is the most visual network by far, as it’s focus is on sharing photos (videos can be shared too) of things that interest its users. These shares are called “pins” and allow users to create virtual “pin boards” in a variety of categories. The site also attracts considerably more men than women, giving you something to consider in your participation.

    If your web content tends to be very visual or your product photos are visually appealing, there could be a place for you on Pinterest. Like Twitter, Pinterest is a very open network and you will find that your Pinterest content is readily seen and shared by people who don’t directly follow you.

    Parting Thoughts

    Where you put your focus, is up to you. Just remember it’s always better to do one or two things really well, instead of a bunch of stuff haphazardly. If you’re just getting started with social media, pick one to get your feet wet. If you’re already involved, consider if you’re putting your attention into the right areas and perhaps make a plan to explore new areas or dig deeper into existing ones.

    At Strategize Your Success we help entrepreneurs, coaches and small business owners with strategic goal setting, marketing and planning.  We know what struggles you face and offer solutions to help make your business THRIVE. 
    Visit our website for information at  strategizeyoursuccess.com.
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