July
29
2010
While this might be a layup to convince those online that they need to use social media, I think it is still vital to include here on social media strategy week. Some internet marketers have only recently, reluctantly started to use social media. Others have embraced social media full on and included social media strategy as an integral part of their internet marketing strategy.So let’s take a look at what will help all internet marketers more effectively use social media to increase their business.
1. Twitter is a great way to drive traffic to your website and is also a tremendous relationship builder. Even better use Twitter also to promote the educational videos and articles that we will talk about in later methods and you have the opportunity to engage people with amazing content about your latest and greatest methods of attracting visitors to your website, putting money in people’s pocket, gaining the health benefits you always wanted, and the list goes on.
Whatever you are promoting there is a viable group on Twitter listening and waiting for your amazing information. Do your best to stand out from the crowd and be different in order to optimize traffic to your blog and/or squeeze page. Remember: There are 50 million Tweets everyday that you have to compete with, so make sure to be authentic, entertaining, and informative in order to get the most out of Twitter.
2. Video is also another proven and effective method of driving traffic to your website. Video sites, such as Youtube, Vimeo, Viddler, Blip, and others are becoming a staple of finding engaged viewers and prospects. Then once you have accomplished this you start to find more interested prospects who stay longer at your website and also have a better understanding of your business, because they saw a video on what you do and how you have accomplished your goals.
3. Article Marketing is the third method that I would like to discuss with internet marketers today. Article marketing is great on sites, such as Ezine Articles, HubPages, Helium, and other sites where you provide free content to demonstrate your understanding of your industry. Becoming an authoritative source is crucial to your business.
4. Email marketing does not always fit in with social networking, however, I feel it is important to discuss here briefly. Make sure that as you are building your networks on other channels that you have a way to stay in touch with your database. You will meet a number of people and just in case you can not communicate with everyone at once make sure that you stay in touch with them through email. That way you do not have to rely upon one hit wonders, aka people who see your site once and then buy. It generally takes people 7 times to see something before they buy. Increase your odds with a great double opt-in list.
So for those already using the methods listed above keep at it. For those who need some help, you really need to incorporate these aspects into your business, because it is no longer feasible to just throw up some Google PPC and hope that the world is right and your business will take off. Craft a social media strategy to grow your online business.
July
28
2010
Today in the world of Social Media Strategy lets discuss how financial service professionals can use social media for their business. To start off, the big challenge most financial professionals will have is whether their company believes that using social media is against financial regulations. Some companies have not embraced the power of social media and others are hiding behind financial compliance. Done correctly that should not be an issue, however, I am not an attorney, nor your boss so please check with one or the other before you start. Back to social media strategy. As financial service professionals you will want to focus on communicating with individuals versus widespread mass marketing. That approach will help you find quality contacts and demonstrate your full and devoted attention to that client.
1.LinkedIn Answers is a great place to start. The reason is that executives and other professionals have questions about their finances and are specifically asking for a financial service professional to help them and answer their questions. This is your time to shine and demonstrate your knowledge to a potential client. Here are a few tips on how to do that without getting in whole world of hurt. Do not give specifics in your answers. That means mortgage brokers rates are out, financial planners do not mention ROI, and health insurance agents should stay away from quotes on LinkedIn. Additionally, do not use specific examples. Instead, talk in general terms that apply to a wide variety of people.
If someone finds your LinkedIn answer and it sounds like you are talking about them then you could receive a nasty surprise (lawsuit, loss of client, federal regulators on your case, etc). It is not worth it. Instead talk about the benefits of having a 401K, 30 year fixed, or whatever product you are looking to promote. Disclaimers like the ones I have been providing throughout this post are not bad.
2. When you want to get a little more in-depth on providing quality information to people start using a blog. Maybe a product of the week, how to deal with this financial challenge, or stay away from this scam today themes would be a great way to inform your current client base and potential prospects about how your business operates and the type of quality information and advice they should expect and receive from you.
One of the best pieces of advice I ever received was when I was running for political office. I was running for State Assembly in college. I was a little nervous and someone told me that “I need to be an assemblyman, not be someone running for the State Assembly.” What they meant was that you need to “Act As If” for those who are fans of the movie Boiler Room. Act as though the people you are talking to are already your clients, and give them all of the quality advice and then more. The idea is to create a loyal customer. Providing information is free and allows you to demonstrate knowledge of your industry. One quick note: Act As If you are NOT working in Boiler Room.
3. Facebook Friends are always great. The benefit of using Facebook is not only in connecting with new friends, but also with talking to current friends, family, old co-workers, college roommates, high school sweethearts, and so on and so on. Do not focus on connecting always with people you have never met. Instead look to your current network and expand on your relationships to those people.
Your best friend from high school is moving back home and needs a mortgage. “Great, I do that,” should be your answer. Send them a Facebook message, or better yet put it on his wall and let his entire network see that you can help him. I used to be part of BNI, and they emphasized that everyone has roughly 250-500 people in their social network already. Leverage that network for ultimate effect. You will be surprised how many people can use your services.
So, find out about the regulatory issues surrounding your business and then determine whether you can implement any of the above strategies. Communicating with your peers to help them is never a bad thing. Do not expect people to be running to your LinkedIn page or blog on day one, but as long as you continue to promote your industry and the benefits of your services in a professional way you will start to see the benefits of using social media and the branding effect that it has on your business.
July
27
2010
Social Media Strategy Week continues. Today I want to discuss how to use social media for network marketers. Network marketing is a growing business, as many people are joining the ranks of network marketing companies, because of the opportunities that exist in these businesses.Let’s take a look at the top 3 strategies for using social media to build your network marketing company.
1. Use Twitter and Facebook to build connections between prospects and and yourself. Social Networking is all about making connections online that can help your business grow. You do this by being human and building relationships. You will be amazed at the variety of people that you can meet on these two sites alone. The variety is staggering. Connect with people today online and tomorrow they might just become your down line.
2. Be visually appealing to your audience. Do you use photos and videos to show off your products? You should. One of the best ways to engage customers today is through video and photo sharing. Video sites, such as Youtube, Vimeo, Viddler, and Blip receive massive amounts of traffic and they allow you to engage with your network in a way that is not always possible through text. Ever heard the phrase a picture is worth a thousand words? Then think about how much a short video can be to your business. Every day as you look to promote your products and build your network you need to devise strategies to interest and retain prospects and clients. Using video and photo is a great way to keep them involved on a long term basis with your information.
3. Create a blog to provide quality information about your product and services. Additionally, discuss the opportunity for them to join your business occasionally and turn your readers into your downline. Blogging is a great long term investment in your network marketing business, because it will provide a hub for people to examine what you are working on from the products to the opportunity. This is where you discuss the benefits of network marketing. Additionally, it is a great place to teach your current downline more about the business and the events that take place in your company. Update it regularly with training content and it will allow your network to expand faster as people can now go to your blog to find the answers to their questions that they normally would have found by calling you.
4. Bonus! Use Skype to make weekly training calls with your team. That way you can get everyone on the same page with product development, training, and maintaining a positive mental attitude (PMA). Additionally with Skype you have the ability to connect worldwide with people for free (when everyone has an account).
Learn to use social networking as a communication tool. Especially, in an industry like network marketing where your network can be spread out across the country and the globe, having the right communication tools in place will make a huge difference in growing your downline. Having the right social media strategy will be a tremendous benefit to your company and yourself.
July
26
2010
I thought I would spend a week actually discussing how social media could be beneficial to different professions. Today I would like to address how to use social media strategy for real estate investors. While there are countless strategies, let’s discuss the top 3 that will bring buyers (and sellers) to your door.
1. Join BiggerPockets.com. This is the king of Real Estate Investor forums. A place where investors discuss everything from Short Sales to REO properties along with how to do deals on everything from Residential to Commercial real estate. This is a great place to meet people that want to discus real estate investing as much as you do. You can meet lenders, real estate agents, hard money lenders, appraisers, handymen, and more on this site. This is the site to get hooked into all of the different ideas that real estate investors and other real estate professionals have about the business.
2. Youtube is awesome for house showings. Ever walk through a house and then forgot about some of the features. The great thing in today’s Blackberry, Iphone obsessed culture is that in most cases we have a video camera with us at all times. Most new Blackberry’s, Iphones, Androids, and other smartphones come with a video camera, so you can take video on the go. That means you can shoot a video and then upload it to youtube wherever you are. The best part is that means with the right keywords you can advertise your property on youtube. Do not underestimate the 2nd largest search engine in the world. It can be a great place to drive traffic to your properties and also help alleviate buyers concerns about a property before they even walk through the door.
3. Twitter is great for getting your property out to large numbers of Real Estate Investors. One of my larger Twitter accounts: PogProperties is composed mostly of Real Estate Investors. Anytime I have a property that I want to advertise I send it over to there as well to provide additional coverage for my properties. Use the Youtube video of your walk-through and also include the basic address information, such as bedrooms, bathrooms and price. That way you can double up your exposure for the property by having the property being shown on Twitter and Youtube.
4. Bonus! Also, while the MLS can sometimes be an expensive proposition, Craiglist is a free option that can sometimes provide amazing returns. I love combining it with Twitter and Youtube for the greatest effect. Sometimes I will get 20-30 calls/emails within 24 hours after posting a Craigslist ad with a Youtube video that was posted on Twitter. Do not forget Craigslist and it’s millions of users.
Social media strategy is ultimately about leveraging the tools currently out there to get the most from your real estate investment experience. Remember in the end, however, that if you do not find great properties or do not make the right connections there is not a social network out there that can be a solution. With that being said, use these tools to enhance your communication and get the word out about your properties to a far greater degree than would be possible without the internet.
July
24
2010
What do you do to stand out with your marketing and brand management? Is it clever? Is it thought provoking? Do people think of it month’s later when writing a blog post? I am curious to know more.
July
23
2010
Facebook is the largest social network on the planet today. It has over 500 million users according to recent reports. That means there are more people on Facebook then there are people living in the United States today. It is important for those who want to use Facebook for business to make sure that they build effective relationships. Make sure that you use these Facebook Tips in order to make your time on
Here are three secrets to build better relationships:
1. The Newsfeed is the key to listening to others. Use the newsfeed on Facebook to find out what people in your network are discussing. The only way that you will be able to build relationships is to listen to what others have to say. The only way to listen to others is to go through your Facebook newsfeed. The idea is that you will connect the majority of your network by talking about them, not you. Once you have mastered the art of paying attention to others you will receive back 10, 100, 1000 fold.
2. It is not enough to always just listen to other people’s comments on the newsfeed. You should also engage people in one on one conversations. The best way to initiate this is to use Facebook message. It is the equivalent of an email in-box. You can send personalized messages to individuals and build on the relationship you created on the newsfeed.
3. The true secret of using Facebook is the following: The reason why you want to get as many people as possible on social networking sites is so that you can now get them offline. You create a relationship on the newsfeed, build it on Facebook message and then you look to grow by getting offline and meeting people either through face to face meetings, phone calls, video conferencing, or live and online networking events. The options are unlimited ,but the choice is easy. Connect with people in new and exciting ways to take the relationship to the next level. That is how you build your business. Using social networking to meet people and then your people skills to take them offline and allow them to work with you to build your business.
Facebook can sometimes seem like a vast business wasteland to those who do not look carefully. For those with a perceptive eye and the intention to do amazing things it is a place where relationships are fostered and business starts. Use the Facebook to master the secrets to build better relationships.
July
22
2010
Social Oomph is a great tool for managing your social networking efforts. There are two different versions. The free version allows you to manage your Twitter account by allowing you to schedule your Tweets in advance and also automatically follow people who follow you. The paid version does this and also allows you to automate your Facebook posts, Blog posts, a few other social networking sites, and has a host of other features to help you automate your social networking, so you do not have to do all of the work manually.
Quick Disclosure. I am affiliated with SocialOomph, but for anyone who has ever been on my Facebook and Twitter account know I use their services religiously and have been using it for the past year. The video below explains the basics of how to use SocialOomph.
There are a tremendous number of features that you can use to help boost your business. Check it out below.
July
21
2010
Social Media Keyword Research can become a huge component of your social media efforts. Having the right keywords for customers to find is you a huge component of using social networking and can be different from one social network to another. Remember that someone on Youtube will not type in videos as much as they might type in music videos. The reason is that they have
1. Think about your audience. People on Etsy are a completely different group of people from MySpace. You can dominate the keyword Lady Gaga on Etsy without even having to try, but at the same time who on Etsy will even know or listen to Lady Gaga (pop singer for those scratching their heads). At the same time, not many people care about a cross stitch on Myspace, but that could be a popular search term on Etsy (embroidery technique for those still scratching their heads). It is important to understand the differences between an Etsy versus a Myspace in order to get the right keywords.
2. Use Social Media Searches to determine how many people actually check out a keyword and what they are talking about when they describe the keyword. For example, Twitter Search is one of the best ways to get an idea of what everyday people are talking about on Twitter. Trending Topics on Twitter is huge, because thousands of people can find out what you are discussing online on the new and hot topic. Do a Twitter search to determine whether people are discussing the keywords you are interested in right now. If your keyword looks like a old west ghost town it is time to look to use other words to describe your post.
Additionally, use keyword research from sites like Youtube keyword research to determine how many people actually type in a certain keyword on Youtube every week. It is a great way to determine traffic numbers for your new video.
3. “If it does not fit, you must acquit!” OK! So your social media keyword research is not as vital to your life as OJ Simpson’s glove was. However, when your keywords do not fit with the rest of your sentence then you must not include it in your content if it does not. “Barbi dreamhouse” might be a great word, however, you do not see me using it as part of my keywords(maybe I should just for the fun of it). Instead, you will see my keywords relate to social media and business development. Users allow only so much craziness on social networking sites from businesses promoting their products. Do not step to far over the line.
Now that you know three strategies for using keyword research in social media also take into consideration why this should only be part of your online marketing efforts. Do not focus as much on the keywords as connecting with potential prospects and helping them with their challenges. No amount of keyword research will make up for a lack of good service.
July
19
2010
Breaking News! If you consider a social network that is 100 years breaking news. I saw this commercial recently about Coleman Company stating they had created the first social network. For those of you who do not know who they are, the company makes camping gear, such as Coleman tents, Coleman Lamps, Coleman Grills.
So, how do they figure they started the first social network? They feel that when people started camping using their gear that it was an early social network. We are not talking about flashy graphics and an web interface network. Instead, we are talking about the old fashioned sit down and talk with people type of social network. It just goes to prove that social networking has more to do with people bonding and forming relationships than fancy gadgets and technological know how.
Question: Now that we know that social networking has been around for 100 years, I just want to know when was your first experience with social networking?
Twitter Programs I Use
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Improve the web with Nofollow Reciprocity.
Users Allow Social Networking To Thrive
Users allow social networking to thrive! They are the reason that we go to social networks every day. We go because of our friends, family, co-workers, associates, and business contacts who all use and share these networks with us on a daily basis. Sometimes it is easy to forget that social networking is not about Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Youtube. Also, it is not about the newest technology? It is not even about the breaking news events. Instead, it is about the users and how they allow these networks to thrive with their continual participation and make the online networks we participate in so viable for us to use in the first first place.
Imagine going to LinkedIn and no one had posted a comment in over a week. What would your thoughts be about returning? What motivation would you have to use the site again? Sites that have lower participation rates generally do not attract the numbers that a site with information continually coming in. User information is one of key ingredients of any social network. Without having someone to provide the massive amounts of information, a network would recede and not be a viable place to connect with others.
Additionally, think about what would happen when you looked to connect with people they had all been on another network or did not use social networking at all anymore. We would have no incentive to continue to use social networking.
Why am I pointing out something that might seem obvious to many? Because, everyday we go about social networking as if the networking were all about us. Instead, we need to start shifting our focus to others in our social network in an effort to continually treat others with more respect and awe.
I am as guilty as everyone else at forgetting to remember others. That is why I believe we need to continually think of others as we network. Whether for personal or professional reasons it must be about the people around us in our network. It is the users around us, our close friends and associates that make these networks amazing. So do your best to think about someone else for a few moments after this post and help at least 1 person today. It will be worth your time. In fact, it is the reason we should all be using social networking in the first place.