Social Media 101 for Business, EDM, October 13

Editor's Notes

• #12: All your social media activities should in some way be about growing your blog and website and email database and you can only do that with amazing content.
• #14: Social Media sites like Twitter and Facebook provide you with a really good way of getting feedback. It’s almost like it’s an online survey. Want to know how people felt about their dining experience in your café? Go on Facebook and ask them. This takes some bravery because you have to be prepared for negative feedback. But negative feedback is so important because it helps you improve your services If you have a business with a physical location then uploading a gallery of photos on Facebook can be an excellent way to introduce people to your location. If you have a physical product you can do the same – upload photos and show people what they are getting or how it is made. As you are probably realizing, social media for small business is all about making meaningful connections with people. By sharing photos you are breaking down “web barriers” and reminding people that you are around and your product is really really good. Grow your mailing listInternet marketers say that a mailing list of 10,000 subscribers is worth at least $100,000 a year to your business. With that in mind, you need to use social media to start capturing as many loyal and engaged email subscribers as possible. Here are some reasons why: You can promote new productsImagine selling a widget to a young lady for $50. You get her email address and then the next time you have a widget sale you email her and all the other widget lovers. You instantly boosted your sales for free. You can promote eventsGot an event or a lunch coming up? Email your list. You can get helpNeed help from your loyal customers promoting a new product or perhaps a new store location? Just ask. If you can direct your social media activities so that you capture email subscribers you will be setting your business up for a lot of success in the future. Hold contests to increase your following Facebook contests are really big nowadays. It basically consists of giving away some really cool prize in order to attract more Facebook followers and get the word out about your business. You have to be careful though as some contests are against the terms of service and can get your page banned. Research is important. When holding a contest you should make sure that you have a really nice prize (worth at least hundreds of dollars) and an entry method that is exciting and simple.
• #20: When someone clicks on a hashtag on any of these social networks, they’ll automatically be shown all other public posts that include the same hashtag. This is incredibly valuable for a small business because it can expose your content to a wider audience, and help your business get found. If someone does a search on a social network, or Google, for a hashtag you used, your post — and potentially even your profile — can be found by someone you never would have reached without hashtags. 
• #21:  Instead of having a Twitter profile full of self-promotional news or links to your own website, share other interesting, educational, or even funny industry news from websites other than your own. You’ll build a following more quickly, and you’ll likely be retweeted more often . And it’s not unprofessional to ask your followers how their day is going. Business blogging is a great marketing tactic, and so is sharing your blog posts on Twitter. However, these shouldn’t be the only blog posts you share. It only takes 10 minutes a day to contribute valuable content on Twitter. Check your RSS reader daily and share interesting articles you see there. Also, find other relevant bloggers in your industry on Twitter and retweet their articles . Give to get; these bloggers may reciprocate and share your content as well. Ever see a Twitter profile of someone with 10 followers who’s following 10,000 people and think “oh, they must be interesting!” Me neither. If you follow a ton of just anyone, not only will your Twitter stream be filled with irrelevant content you don’t care about, but you’ll look spammy to people who see your skewed follow numbers. Be picky about who you follow, especially in the beginning. You can use Twitter Search or Twitter directories such as Twellow or WeFollow to find people interested in your industry and what you're talking about.  Ever see a Twitter profile of someone with 10 followers who’s following 10,000 people and think “oh, they must be interesting!” Me neither. If you follow a ton of just anyone, not only will your Twitter stream be filled with irrelevant content you don’t care about, but you’ll look spammy to people who see your skewed follow numbers. Be picky about who you follow, especially in the beginning. You can use Twitter Search or Twitter directories such as Twellow or WeFollow to find people interested in your industry and what you're talking about.  People on Twitter want to follow people who might actually interact with them. So if you’re only putting content out there, even if it’s engaging content , you might turn away people who want to know you’ll reply. Twitter isn’t only about sharing one-sided content. It’s about sharing other Twitter people’s content and engaging in conversations about that content. Make sure to retweet and reply to at least a few people each day so that you’re making Twitter a two-way conversation. If you tweet only once per week, it will be hard to get noticed in the Twitter streams of people who follow thousands of even hundreds of users. But if you follow some of the advice above, by taking a few minutes each day to retweet interesting tweets and share relevant content , you shouldn’t have a problem here.
• #24: Use a professional photo.  The ideal size for a LinkedIn profile pictures is between 200 x 200 px and 500 x 500 px. Often times your photo will display differently across LinkedIn (see image to the right). It should be clear and professional. If you’re trying to come across as a friendly business owner, that’s something to keep in mind as well. Complete your professional profile.  LinkedIn is a place where you can put all of your work experience. Include any and all experience that you think will help showcase your personality and your brand.  Keep in mind you don’t have the “1 page” rule on LinkedIn like you do with a resume.  If there are certain skill sets you want to elaborate on LinkedIn is a place to do that. Your summary.  In order to add a bit more of a personal touch to your LInkedIn profile I suggest completing a summary of yourself.  This is a great place to talk candidly about why you started your business and what it means to you. Furthermore, if you are looking to gain specific connections on LinkedIn for a certain purpose, here’s a good place to point that out.  Try to keep it short and entertaining. Use keywords.  Not only should you use keywords in your profile, but you should also include some keywords in your summary. Often people will be looking for someone with a very specific type of experience. Your tagline. This is a great place to emphasize your brand. I highly recommend avoiding the generic. Try to stand out. Instead of just putting “business owner,” get fun with it.  Or at the very least describe what kind of business owner you are. I.e. “SF Sustainable Furniture Company Owner.” (Side note: have fun but try not to come off as arrogant.) Connections. Many people are hesitant to connect with just anyone on LinkedIn.  However, I recommend connecting with as many people as possible.  Don’t go out and start trying to connect with everyone in your group, but why not accept an invitation to connect? You shouldn’t be posting anything too personal on your LinkedIn account anyway. Why not get your name and your brand in front of as many people as possible? Recommendations. Testimonials go a long way for your business right? Word of mouth is everything.  Well the same can be true for yourself.  Ask those you’ve worked with, or even those who have worked for you, for recommendations. Groups. Join groups relevant to your industry.  After you’ve joined these groups try to share any unique and original content from your company blog whilst prompting engagement. Furthermore, comment on popular discussions. If you have selected to get weekly digests about updates from these groups you can quickly determine which discussions are generating the most buzz. Go for those. LinkedIn is not just for people looking for a job.  It’s a great way to put yourself out there as a leader in the industry you’re in.
• #30: 1. Make sure you have website and a blogYour website and blog is your most important online asset. Period. All your social media activities should in some way be about growing your blog and website and email database and you can only do that with amazing content. If you don’t have a blog I have written a pretty comprehensive guide to setting one up. Just follow the steps and see how you go. As with most things online, if you find it too hard you can just hire someone to do it for you. I’m more than happy to get you on the right track in that respect. 2. Set up a Facebook PageEvery business should have a Facebook Page as far as I am concerned. And as they are quite simple to set up and run you can practice on Facebook before expanding out to other social media sites. Here are the steps you can follow: Research the best Facebook PagesI think the best thing you can do in the beginning is research some of the best Facebook Pages out there. These are individuals and companies who are getting it right. Some of them include Pat Flynn, Problogger, Neil Patel, Porsche, Battlefield, etc. Have a look at those guys and take note of not just how they look, but how they interact with their customers. Set up a PageYou need to get a Facebook Page, not a profile. If you have a profile you need to change as Facebook regularly takes these down. Add your informationMake sure you add a really detailed set of information like your business address, services, opening hours and what it is that you do. Make it as comprehensive as possible. Add some photosClick the “Photo” link up the top and then “Create an album” and go ahead and add some photos of your shopfront. Then create another album for your various product lines. People can now share these with their friends. Make sure you give them all meaningful captions. Add a profile photoYou’ll need a profile photo. This is the little photo on the left hand side. It needs to include your logo as well as a high definition image that really conveys what it is that you do. It should be at least 180 pixels wide. Invite your friendsIf you are already active on Facebook as a personal user it is a good idea to invite all your friends and get them to spread the word. This can give you a really important initial boost. Start interactingNow you can begin interacting with current and potential customers. You can share photos, ideas, tips – anything that will compliment your brand and make people loyal to yourself. Not sure what to do? Check out down below. Once you have mucked around with Facebook for a while you will start to develop enough confidence to move in to other areas. 3. Decide where else you need to beThe next step is to decide after a couple of months what other social media sites work for a small business like yours. Sign up for a few test accounts on Twitter, Google+ and Youtube and see what the “vibe” is like for your niche. If something looks promising then give it a go.