Social Media + Blogging + Online Selling + Digital Strategy + Small Business Strategy

Editor's Notes

• #7: The Conrad Maldives Rangali Island Resort hosts the real deal! Situated in the tropical gardens on Rangalifinolhu Island, access to the resort is only by seaplane and while it may sound like any other exclusive get away, the Conrad Rangali will have you dining with stingrays and on special occasions, sleeping with the sharks
• #22: Small company: YouTube for How-To’s, Twitter/Facebook for curated content @ promos For a personal brand: hat builds your story, empowers your interactions, and helps you rise up from being just another voice in the stream You don’t like Twitter or Facebook, and think they are a waste of time?  Get over it. Your audience is there, your colleagues are there, your competition is there – can you really afford not to be there too? Consider another type of content bk it allows you to attract different audiences – vidoe/podcast It's become increasingly clear that with the proliferation of new platforms, no person or company can become the master of them all. Nor should they. The harder decision is figuring out which ones you should prioritize — or jettison. Establishing ROI has always been the holy grail of social media. We may still have a ways to go before we can quantify its objective, dollars-and-cents impact (if you read about something on Facebook, and then saw a tweet, and then went to the mall to buy it, does it count?). But even anecdotally, you probably have some good operating theories. For instance, if you target women, Pinterest is a great bet; if it's males, Google+ is currently their stomping ground. And as I've written about here on HBR.org, blogging is the best way to demonstrate true content mastery and thought leadership. The "best" platforms will be different for every person or brand. But in 2013, think hard about how you can cut back, so you can focus on what matters.
• #23: Why is it important for us to be active in social media? These social networks and communities offer a vehicle for us to nurture our relationships, tap the wisdom of our networks, monitor the latest developments in our fields, share our experience, and contribute to the conversation. It is also where the action is. According to a recent study conducted by Forrester Research, a staggering 100 percent of business decision-makers surveyed use social media for work purposes. Almost all (98 percent) read blogs, watch videos, and listen to podcasts); two-thirds comment on blogs and post ratings and reviews, and 79 percent of those maintain a profile on social networking sites “all in the context of their business activities.”
• #24: Tim ferris 1. Don’t post too often. Brands that post one or two times per day see 19% higher interaction rates than those who post three or more times per day. Space posts throughout the week to avoid overdoing it.
• #25: Interact and be responsive. Keep conversations going to draw attention to content and increase affinity with fans Life gets in the way
• #26: Stop doing the things that suck your time away from meaningful effective things topping what’s distracting, draining, or aggravating you doesn’t require any heavy lifting or stamina. Just love and self respect. The law of Subtraction Find the time⁄`=!
• #28: Pulse on Use Listening tools to see what conversations are already taking place and where Google Alerts TweetDeck Hootsuite Radian6/Sprout Social (paid, more robust) the market
• #29: Laborious and usually unfinished/not updated They rock to manage timing and content Keeps content integrated with your overall marketing and communications strategy Categorize your content Includes current/older content, but also integrates with PR schedule, event-driven mktg, blog editorial planning.
• #32: or example, automation is okay but manypeople HATE auto DMs and they will unfollow you immediately if youuse.  If you are too automated and seldom check in, if a crisishappens  (Newton) and your auto-tweets, posts, etc. are happily beingsent by bots into that stream, you could get slimed.
• #37: And hootlet to automate posting
• #46: Artisan is a fully responsive e-commerce-ready child theme for use with Divi by Elegant Themes. Food bloggers, commercial photographers, makers and creatives, Artisan is designed especially for you. Let your message and images shine. Artisan is e-commerce ready. It integrates perfectly with WooCommerce allowing you to accept payment from many payment gateways, PayPal, bank transfer and more. The child theme works with the parent theme, Divi from Elegant Themes. Purchasing Divi ($69 per year or $249 one-time payment) is required to make this child theme work. The child includes carefully crafted page layouts, for every page you see in the demo site. Install page layouts and add and remove sections with just one click, using a simple drag and drop interface. INCLUDES: 6 custom page layouts, as seen in the demo site, ready to load in seconds 3 gallery styles Layered Photoshop files for all graphics Links to the free fonts used from the help file Links to recommended free plugins to give your site added styling and functionality Can be standalone portfolio website, simple blogsite or full e-commerce store NOTE: Hosted Wordpress and the Divi theme for Wordpress are needed for this design.
• #47: GotoWebinar has been around forever in more or less the same format. The best way to describe GotoWebinar is “If it aint broke don’t fix it”. Price 50 attendees – $99100 attendees – $99500 attendees – $399 Comments GotoWebinar has one and only one very nice feature – it works. Pretty damn well. It’s not pretty. It’s not feature packed. It’s certainly not modern or sexy. But it works. ◦ Expensive, old, clunky, pretty pricey. ◦ It works very well, it was the only one that worked seamlessly when I tested it by myself. ◦ Handles recordings however we’d often lose them and they don’t record the talking heads so it’s really just recording audio if you aren’t sharing a screen (which we often aren’t). Then pushing that recording to Youtube is a huge pain. ◦ Easy setup a lot of people probably already have the software. Although the need for dedicated apps on mobile and plugins on the computer is somewhat of a barrier. ◦ Worked pretty much flawlessly – recording worked well ◦ The video quality and response time is excellent, much better than anything else we used.
• #48: Selz is a feature-rich service for anyone looking to sell artwork, eBooks, music, software and other digital content. Selz will be of interest to moviemakers, since it supports files up to 4GB in size. Selz has a WordPress plugin, and each account comes with a free Facebook store account. Each store also has a built-in direct messaging feature. Selz provides audio and video previews, PDF stamping and the ability to set "pay what you want" pricing. Selz also has no bandwidth or storage limits. Fees: 5% + $0.25 commission per sale. No monthly fee.
• #49: Gumroad is one of the newest services designed to help you sell digital downloads of your eBooks, videos, photographs and software. One of the most interesting things about Gumroad is that it deals with credit card companies directly, bypassing PayPal’s 2.9% surcharge. Another benefit of this is that sales on Gumroad will work in countries that are not supported by PayPal. Gumroad also lets you sell physical products. Fees: 5% + $0.25 commission per sale. No monthly fee.
• #55: Editor note: This post continues the conversation of small business’ experiences with Yelp after SEJ’s Matt Southern wrote about their pending legal issues. The FTC has revealed that they have received over 2000 complaints to date about Yelp’s practices, including allegations that Yelp buries positive reviews and displays negative ones as a selling tool, forcing more businesses to pay for advertising. Yelp is supposed to be the last bastion on the Web for honest reviews. It’s a place where consumers are allowed to honestly and thoughtfully discuss their experiences with a business, and help others find services that will actually be useful to them. The star system keeps reviews easy to read, and multiple users posting about a location seem to give the reviews some credibility. But not all businesses are pleased with how Yelp presents their work. Yelp has been accused of shielding defaming comments, forcing businesses into paying for control over reviews, and a host of 2,000 other complaints filed with the FTC since 2008. With problems mounting over anonymous reviews and poor business practices, it’s looking less and less like Yelp is as user friendly as they have always claimed. Yelp Says: “You Can’t Pay Us to Remove or Reorder Your Reviews.” Yelp, for its part, says that they separate the content and revenue side of the business. They aren’t clear on what that means for businesses and end users, which is exactly the point. If a business like Joe Hadeed’s carpeting in Virginia suddenly shows up on Yelp, the owner may not even be aware of it. Yelp collects business data from third party vendors, and from user input. This means there is virtually no safeguard for businesses hoping to shield themselves from poor reviews. You can’t opt out of the process, you can’t ask for removal, and you have little control over which reviews feature on your page, unless you pay for the privilege. At least that’s the implied message. Yelp writes that they do not accept payment to remove reviews in their FAQ, but several business owners have claimed that Yelp sales people use negative reviews to drive conversions. The pitch involves paying for more control over a page, using terms like “controlling ad space.” Some, like 64 year old Randy Boelsems, say that the sales people will continually harass a business owner with offers to move bad reviews and buy up ad real estate for more control over a Yelp page. This pressure is very real. Business owners like Joe Hadeed in Virginia have even tried to fake reviews to raise their positivity. He tried to sue Yelp to reveal the identities of the defamers of his business, and the courts eventually ruled in his favor. The battle between what is real and fake leads to defamation suits too. Another Virginia case saw a disagreement over contract work stir up a legal battle between a contractor and his customer. Solicitation And Sales Practices Wall Street Journal reported that the Yelp receives roughly six subpoenas a month that request reviewer information. Many of these relate to businesses who feel they have been unfairly defamed, or poorly reviewed. When these owners pay for the privilege, Yelp is quick to help them establish a greater presence on the website, even selling ad space to them on competitor pages. If these owners cancel, Yelp is just as quick to push those good reviews into the “not recommended” category. Yelp seems to be using their power as a database to force businesses into paying them. First, they recruit you without your consent. Then they mask your best reviews, effectively creating a pay-wall where business owners must pay out to retain some integrity. Some Changes at Yelp Yelp has quietly made a few recent changes to its design, layout and verbiage.  Back in November, the link to the filtered reviews, which appeared on the bottom of all reviews changed from “Filtered Reviews” to “other reviews that are not currently recommended “ Last month Yelp also changed the layout to the review pages by showing scrollable images on top. Is Yelp Guilty of Abuse? As a reputation management expert, I deal with clients that have Yelp issues on a daily basis. I analyze Yelp results and have a great deal of knowledge about how the Yelp filter works. I do not think that Yelp would purposely filter reviews of those who refuse to advertise. However, this could have been a practice done a few years back and it is also possible that a few sales people have tried to say this to potential clients to gain their business. People that have seen their reviews get filtered or unfiltered after refusal to advertise could have been just a coincidental incident.  I hate to come to Yelp’s defense, because I dislike many of their practices, but I do not think that Yelp would risk so many lawsuits and their public image just to close a deal. A Possible Solution If anyone from Yelp or other review sites should happen to read this, I do have some recommendations for them on how they could change things to keep their customers happy: 1. Display the full name of the poster, including their Facebook link, if they have chosen to link it. 2. Require cell phone authentication or some sort of other authentication to validate the reviewer’s identity. 3. Disclose the user’s identity, including email, IP address and any other data in the business owner’s dashboard or at least when a business owner requests it. 4. Provide an arbitration service for a small fee to resolve disputed reviews. The reviewer should have evidence such as a receipt or an agreement that they have been to the business or used their services. If not the review should be removed. The business owner should be able to submit documents to prove whether the review is false.  This service may also be outsourced to a few authorized companies, such as attorneys or reputation
• #56: 1. Take ownership. It's important to "claim this business," on Yelp. By doing so, you'll be able to respond to reviewers, or "Yelpers," who have given you a weak rating in a public forum so that future visitors can see that you're working to amend any issues. 2. Fix it. After responding to negative reviews, the obvious thing to do is fix the problem. For example, a fish dish that doesn't pair well with round cabbage may be better served with spinach. The light varnish you use for your particular wood products should be dressed with a heavier coat. However, it doesn't make any business sense to throw out all of your wood products because one Yelper thought the varnish coat was too light. You should at least make the effort to resolve any problems or areas of concern but within reason. 3. Flag it. Flag any false reviews. False reviews are not permitted by Yelp and can be flagged for removal. A false review can be a post that is hearsay or even one that is misleading such as telling users that the bikes at a certain shop are of poor quality when the shop actually serves Korean food. 4. Get the most out of Yelp. As a business you can subscribe to an array of tools that can help bring more customers through the door. With more Yelpers utilizing your products and services, this creates an opportunity to boost your overall rating. You can also partner with Yelp to participate in events where the majority of those attending are active Yelpers. Put on your best showing at these events and watch your Yelp rating grow over time. 5. Create a social following. Build your reputation through other social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. If your business can build a community and establish itself within local social groups, active Yelpers are more than likely to be lenient and go a little easier on negative reviews. To put it simply, you don't want to be talking trash about everyone's friend.
• #57: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/yelp-cant-trusted-try-one-alternatives-now/
• #62: embrace thought leadership marketing offering the information your prospects are seeking by providing useful, honest information at each stage of the buying cycle that helps them make informed buying decisions. Not Self-Promotional Marketing There’s a lot of bad informaiton out there Get your subscriber list beyond You your parents and your dog People think they know everything about blogging and social media because they know how to “move the pieces” – (say they know how to play chess) but they do not know strategy – when it comes to a result you want – seek out/invest in an expert so you can get your result faster (not bk you can’t do it/learn it, or it makes you look weak). WHEN THE RESULT MATTERS MOST THAT’S WHEN YOU TALK TO AN EXPERT
• #66: I;m a social media marketer who specialized in SEO, photography, Twitter, FB, etc.). Alll those commas mean its hard to remember. Adage reports that there are 181,000 people who call themselves social media experts, mavens, ninjas, and gurus on Twitter1. Not how do I get traffic and converst sales – it figuring how what you’re doing fits into what everyone eles is doing and more important how it is different and/or better People think they get blogging and social media because they know how to move the pieces around. 3 strategies to become memorable OINE Find your niche – no commas – something so small that your’ scared its too small, people can commit it to memory because it is insanely specific Establish yourself as an expert Not about something unique, but combinging what is unique in a different wa Forget about pleaseing all the people all the time This is a tough one for some – myself included.  Gary V starts each episode of Wine Library TV with a high-energy, over-the-top introduction.  As he states in his book, he loses 12% of viewers right then and there.  But the other 88% totally dig it and keep coming back for more. When you write blog posts, are you more worried about the 12% or the 88%?  Does one negative comment in a set of hundreds cause you grief?  The key here is to remember that some folks aren’t going to fall in love with your personal brand.  That’s fine.  Take it in stride, and get back to work connecting with the other 6.7 billion people who just might.
• #67: I;m a social media marketer who specialized in SEO, photography, Twitter, FB, etc.). Alll those commas mean its hard to remember. Adage reports that there are 181,000 people who call themselves social media experts, mavens, ninjas, and gurus on Twitter1. Not how do I get traffic and converst sales – it figuring how what you’re doing fits into what everyone eles is doing and more important how it is different and/or better People think they get blogging and social media because they know how to move the pieces around. 3 strategies to become memorable OINE Find your niche – no commas – something so small that your’ scared its too small, people can commit it to memory because it is insanely specific Establish yourself as an expert Not about something unique, but combinging what is unique in a different wa Forget about pleaseing all the people all the time This is a tough one for some – myself included.  Gary V starts each episode of Wine Library TV with a high-energy, over-the-top introduction.  As he states in his book, he loses 12% of viewers right then and there.  But the other 88% totally dig it and keep coming back for more. When you write blog posts, are you more worried about the 12% or the 88%?  Does one negative comment in a set of hundreds cause you grief?  The key here is to remember that some folks aren’t going to fall in love with your personal brand.  That’s fine.  Take it in stride, and get back to work connecting with the other 6.7 billion people who just might.
• #68: Choose what stands out. Tell the story and anchor it over and over. What ist he that works best for your intended audience – the one that most suits the situation Make your fans’ lives easier. Post relevant information for your fans, and they’ll thank you by engaging back. Provide them with desirable content, whether it’s informative, entertaining or amusing, and watch the reach of your content grow.
• #69: Be as specific as possible. Tell me who your ideal customer is. Tell me what problems you have getting their attention. Is there too much competition? Do you struggle getting their attention? Do people read your site… but they don’t convert into sales?
• #70: When most people provide people with advice, they share what they know and leave it up to the reader to figure out how to use it Don’t miss the huge opporutnity to further connec the dots, invoke the minds eye of your readers with the goal of enticing them to share END SLIDE: CTA – if you like this share. Do you have a friend who is makign this mistake – help them stop losing out on …
• #71: Writing Headlines: The Most Important Copywriting Skill Most writing designed to persuade sinks or swims right out of the gate. Whether the title of an article or the headline of a sales page, readers make snap decisions based on a quick scan of the top of the page. More often than not, they’ll simply move on to something else unless you craft an excellent headline. Learn how to write headlines that work with the Magnetic Headlines tutorial. http://www.copyblogger.com/10-sure-fire-headline-formulas-that-work/ Use Hootsuite (or another dashboard) Scheduling and monitoring Dashboard Set aside a chunk of time first thing each morning (or Monday) to find a handful of truly interesting content that is worthy of sharing for your brand. Experiment with Buffer & Tweriod Tweriod analyzes your Twitter followers, past Tweets and the people you follow and gives you the best times to Tweet Buffer lets you easily share Tweets, Facebook posts and LinkedIn updates at optimal times With one click in Tweriod, you are able to start Tweeting at optimal times inside Buffer a typographical symbol with ambitions - hashtags Events, interesting news, games/memes #firstworldproblems #wheredidigowrong.” hashtag, a web meme that’s gotten so big that people now use it in daily conversation A quick review: Hashtags are words or phrases preceded by a hashmark (#), and they’re used to identify a piece of information—a tweet, an Instagram photo, a pin, a blog post—with a larger theme or topic. They gained mass popularity thanks to Twitter (the microblogging service started hyperlinking all hashtags on July 1, 2009), but hashtags are now used all over the web, even in places where they don’t seem to belong.Read more: http://www.thedailymuse.com/tech/firstworldproblems-how-hashtags-have-taken-over-the-world/#ixzz2IuoYVDDo
• #72: Buttons in your blog – email post to a network
• #73: #1: Answer Common Questions All businesses, regardless of industry, have their own frequently asked questions. These are either directed at the owner or manager, the sales team or customer service employees. Rather than have your team answer these 10 or 20 common questions over and over again on the phone, in person or through email, turn them into blog topics. Write a blog post to answer each of your frequently asked questions. It saves you time, while solidifying your status as an expert. Also, consider incorporating the questions into your blog post titles. This vinyl replacement window company took a common homeowner concern and turned it into a post. Answer common questions in your blog. You’ll build trust and solidify your status as an expert in your field. Answering your customers’ FAQs through blog posts is not only a time-saver, it may lead to additional sales down the road. Once you have enough common questions posts, add a FAQ page to your blog where you list the questions and link to the blog posts with the answers. Update the page as you answer more questions. #2: Create a “How-To” Post How-to articles make excellent posts. First, they’ll do well in Google searches. Plus, educating your audience on how to use your product or how to do something related to your niche is an excellent way to pique their interest. For example, this men’s formalwear company created this blog post with images on how to tie different styles of neckties. A reader who learns how to do something from you will likely return to your website for more tips. This type of post is another way to share your expertise with your current and potential customers. #3: Make an Announcement It’s important to limit promotional content on your blog, just as it’s important to limit your promotional content on social media. However, a blog post is a great way to share company news with your readers. Share detailed information on new hires, store openings, new products and services, sales and promotions. If your business receives an award or does company-sponsored community outreach, write about those too. Posting company announcements on your blog also makes that news more shareable on social media. #4: Host a Q&A Q&A posts change up your typical blog post content, while providing a more personal angle on your business, brand or industry. This Q&A–style interview from The Blueprint with Ayah Bdeir, the founder of littleBits, an open-source library of electronic modules, gives readers insight into her background and motivation. When you interview industry leaders on your blog, it gives readers extra insight into their background and expertise. There are a variety of ways to use a Q&A format for your business blog. • Interview a new employee. This can be especially beneficial if you’ve appointed a new top-level manager at your business, and want to share what the changes might mean for current customers. • Interview industry leaders. They can express expert opinions on significant industry happenings. • Interview a happy customer. Ask him or her to share personal experiences working with your company. The Q&A format is a nice change of pace from typical essay posts for the writer, as well as the readers. #5: Feature an Employee Help customers and potential customers get to know the “who” behind your brand by featuring employees. This will strengthen the connection and loyalty between customers and your business. Be sure to include the employee’s picture. Shine the spotlight on your employees. This blog post approach is a win-win. When you feature employees who go the extra mile or highlight their accomplishments, it also serves to bolster employee morale. #6: Review a New Product To maintain your status as an expert in your field, you need to provide your readers with the latest news and information. Do product reviews to keep your audience informed. Companies are always trying to improve their products, and release the latest versions to the marketplace on a regular basis. It’s especially true in the tech world, though it does apply to a variety of industries. This product review from Home Theater Solutions discusses improvements made to the Nest Thermostat. It highlights the features that homeowners would find valuable. If they choose to purchase it, they can call this installation company to do the work. Review a product related to your business to help potential customers, and possibly turn them into current customers. Publishing reviews of products related to your business provides customers with valuable information on the pros and cons. It also helps them make informed buying decisions. If they choose to buy the product from you, that’s even better. #7: Compare Products Product comparisons are similar to product reviews. When customers or potential customers narrow down their buying decision to two different choices, they look to experts to guide them. Write blog posts that compare popular products to one another. A quick Google search for a comparison between social media management tools Hootsuite and Sprout Social yields more than 22,000 results. There are many competitive products that would make informative blog posts. Blog posts discussing product comparisons aid customers in making their final decisions. #8: Educate Customers If you feel like your industry isn’t exciting enough to blog about, think again. People constantly search the Internet for information on all topics that impact their lives, no matter where it lands on the “excitement” spectrum. The blog post below, written by a New York attorney who specializes in small business law, is about choosing the type of legal entity that is best for your business. Scintillating topic? Probably not. Necessary? Definitely. While discussing the ins and outs of S corporations and LLCs is not exciting, it is a significant decision many business owners face. Share your expert knowledge with your readers so they can learn (and benefit) from your blog posts. #9: Compile Top 10 Lists People love lists. Lists concisely assemble a lot of information into one place. Whether they consist of top websites, products, resources or tips, lists serve as a resource guide for your readers. Incorporate links to your products or services, website pages or previously published blog posts into your lists. Create lists of external resources, internal links or a combination of both. #10: Repurpose YouTube Videos One of the most recommended content marketing tips is to create more videos. Given how much time, effort and planning goes into creating just one video, it’s best to utilize that content in as many ways as possible. Each time you upload and optimize a video for your YouTube channel, copy and paste the embed code into a new blog post.
• #75: Send a Personalized Email to 100 Bloggers Within Your Industry. (This is THE most effective strategy we use for blog promotion – outside of paid advertising.) In fact, if you ONLY used just this one strategy, you could still generate 90% of the results. We’ve used blogger outreach to generate 10,000+ visitors to a single blog post. Here’s our formula… If you have a valuable piece of content that you want shared around the blogosphere, the very best thing you can do is to contact 100-200 related bloggers. You can find related bloggers using sites like: Topsy.com BuzzSumo.com Alltop.com WeFollow.com Twellow.com CircleCount.com Create a list of 100 influencer’s in your market. You can do this within Excel or using a more sophisticated program like BuzzStream. After you’ve built your list you’ll need to send a personalized message to each blogger. This works out even better if you’ve included a link to their website in the article itself. Here’s a sample email… Subject Line: I Love Pat Flynn! (and your latest podcast :) Hey Pat! Just wanted to send you a quick note to let you know how much I enjoyed your latest podcast with Neil Patel. ROCKIN! Shared it on Facebook and encouraged all of my readers to listen in as well. Also wanted to let you know I’ve included SmartPassiveIncome.com in our latest blog post at: http://mytrafficmentor.com/23-steps-to-100000-visitors/ Would love to know what you think. Thanks so much for all that you do! Cheers, Kim
• #76: Whose attention do you want? Write for ideal customers NOT industry pros Water the flowers not the weeds
• #78: http://www.business2community.com/seo/dont-seo-neither-0782205