You Can Use LinkedIn As a Landing Page and Facebook For Blogging |  |
- You Can Use LinkedIn As a Landing Page and Facebook For Blogging
- 10 Ways You Can Avoid Becoming An Email Robot
- 4 Social Media Trade Show Marketing Tips
- Control Your Email Inbox: Stop Email Notifications From Twitter, Facebook
| You Can Use LinkedIn As a Landing Page and Facebook For Blogging Posted: 05 Mar 2013 02:00 PM PST
The current findings, research and metrics are very substantial, impressive and bare close attention. Those of us that live and work out of our websites and blogs sometimes forget there are a lot of small businesses and professional consultants who may not be able to afford one or don’t need a full blown website. This can be achieved using LinkedIn as a landing page and the notes feature on Facebook to blog. Both are acceptable, affordable and effective ways for startups, professional consultants, micropreneurs and solopreneurs to have a professionally branded landing page and a place to blog. Using LinkedIn as a Landing Page You can create a personal page as a landing page and highlight your story, services, contact information and professional activity. Or you can create a company page. Linked In has certain requirements for creating a company page, so make sure you meet the criteria first. Both options offer the ability to professionally present and market yourself, your products and services and connect them to other platforms where you engage. LinkedIn is the professional playground for professional connections, so if you are serious about being taken seriously and meeting business decision makers, then LinkedIn is an amazing, turn-key ecosystem. Join Groups, Start a Group, Post a Job, Look for a Job LinkedIn is one of the most comprehensive job search and job posting sites out there today. Need employees, looking for more work, want to change jobs or find a job? It’s all on LinkedIn under jobs. Get the Latest News, Trends and Articles in the News Center, Tailored Just For You LinkedIn aggregates the best daily articles and journalists from top news and information sites like CNN, Wall Street Journal, Business Insider and more. You can customize the industry sources you want to receive and then receive them daily. LinkedIn is developing into a major go to publishing machine. Discover What Skills You Need to Succeed in the Skills & Expertise Area Learn what you need to know from the thousands of hot, up-and-coming skills LinkedIn tracks daily. This is where you can really create your personal branding statement and fully develop your profile. Here are some great tips for optimizing your SEO on LinkedIn to boost your page and profile visibility and connectivity. Use the Facebook Notes Feature as a Blog This is a feature on Facebook most people don’t know about or leverage. Since Facebook is the top social engagement platform of choice, using it to post articles, write articles and share stories is another way you can optimize it and your time on it. The notes feature is in Microsoft Word format, so its easy for most people to use and allows you to include images and links to other sites. Once you create and save your article, you can easily share them on other social sites and in your email marketing. It’s really a nifty, fun tool. LinkedIn and Facebook are top social marketing tools, which most people already use and are comfortable with. Used together in tandem, they offer a no cost, low cost option to all of us to professionally brand ourselves and help us move forward with our content marketing. The post You Can Use LinkedIn As a Landing Page and Facebook For Blogging appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
| 10 Ways You Can Avoid Becoming An Email Robot Posted: 05 Mar 2013 11:00 AM PST
I know. When you’re busy and doing everything yourself, it’s easier to slap together an email as fast as you can without bothering to customize it or really consider what would provide the most value to your customers. But if you don’t do this, you’ll quickly see your contact list shrinking and your sales dwindling. Never fear! Below are 10 ways to avoid this. 10 Ways to Avoid Becoming an Email RobotReally Customize Your Email Just a few years ago, simply putting “Dear Sally” at the top of an email was the pinnacle of customization. But now there’s no excuse for you not to go deeper with your emails. There are plenty of tools that help you track customer behavior online, which can guide you to delivering more customized content and offers in email. While most entry-level email marketing programs don’t offer these capabilities, it may be time to graduate to one that does. Don’t Over Send We all have examples of companies that send emails too frequently. What do we do with those? Either ignore and delete or unsubscribe. You don’t want that to be your company’s email. Instead, test out different schedules to figure out what works best. I recommend that my clients send one email newsletter and one to two promotional or announcement emails each month. It’s not too much, but it keeps them on the minds of their contacts. Don’t Make It Lengthy Like with blogs and websites, consumers want to speed read their emails and get to the good stuff quickly. If they have to scroll and scroll, they’ll lose interest. Break your content up into chunks (most templates will help with this), use headers and subheaders and add in bullet points or lists to break up content. You can also cut off the copy and include a hyperlink for people to click to keep reading on your site. Don’t Make It Look Icky While some people do prefer a text-only email (and you can add in a text version when creating an email), most want an HTML version rich with pictures and color. You’ll get better engagement if your email is attractive. Write Like a Human Because, after all, you are. There are plenty of sources that provide recommendations for writing to your audience’s reading level. If you know they’re all PhDs, fine. Use highfalutin language. But assume they’re not and write in a conversational tone that makes it easy to skim and understand. Include Contact Info If someone wants to email you when they get your newsletter, but you have a “do not reply” email, it gets frustrating. Include an email address, phone number and web links for your company in each email. Make It Easy to Unsubscribe There’s nothing more frustrating than a difficult unsubscribe process. I click the spam button for them, which is, of course bad for the company. So make sure you have a simple, one-click link for contacts to unsubscribe. Forcing them to receive your emails doesn’t do anything to nurture that customer relationship. Create Lists All of your contacts likely don’t need to be lumped into the same group. If you’re in retail, you can separate your list into those that buy women’s clothes, those that buy men’s clothes and those that buy kids’ clothes. As well as those who haven’t yet made a purchase. Or if you have a long sales cycle, you can use key behaviors (see #1) to sort them into whatever stage they’re in in the sales cycle. Then you can target your content to each list rather than mass mailing everyone the same email. See What They Respond To In my MailChimp account, I can see the 5 most clicked emails. If I’m smart, I’ll go into each and see what was so appealing to my contacts, then try to create similar content in subsequent emails. By paying attention to patterns, in terms of content and open times, you can better tweak future campaigns. Keep Your Strategy in Mind If you’re just aimlessly sending emails out because you’re supposed to, stop and consider what your goal is. Is it simply brand recognition? To increase sales through your emails? Get more subscribers? Make sure each email addresses that strategy and your goals. Email Robot Photo via Shutterstock The post 10 Ways You Can Avoid Becoming An Email Robot appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
| 4 Social Media Trade Show Marketing Tips Posted: 05 Mar 2013 08:00 AM PST If you’re not using social media marketing to improve your trade show success, then you’re missing out on big opportunities. Follow these four social media trade show marketing tips to boost interest, create buzz and keep people interested in your business ideas. Make as Many Connections as Possible
Social media makes it easier for you to connect with others. Easier, however, doesn’t mean “effortless.” You need to put effort into forming connections to build a hive of interconnected colleagues. Make a professional profile for yourself on LinkedIn and create profiles for your business on:
Use these sites to branch out to other people and organizations in your industry. Don’t feel bashful about sending a friend request. They want to connect with you for the same reasons you want to connect with them. Incorporate Social Media Into Your Blog Posts
Ideally, you already have a blog that draws in readers with compelling content. If you don’t, then you need to get on that as soon as possible. If you have great articles, videos and infographics, people will want to share your content with others. Honestly though, they will only share your blog post if they have an easy way to do so. Include buttons that let readers share your posts immediately on G+, Facebook and Twitter. This lets them share your ideas without exerting any effort. Create a Buzz Before the Show
Use your social media connections to generate buzz before your trade show. The more people you can attract, the more people you get to influence with your presentation. How do you create buzz? Those social media connections will come in handy as will your content creation skills. Video content typically creates a lot of buzz. Exciting music, interviews and demonstrations can make your ideas more engaging. You can also mention contests and giveaways to motivate people with free stuff. This is an essential step in the marketing process. If you don’t have an in-house video producer and director, then you should consider farming this part out to a local business that can help you. It will cost a bit of money but the potential returns are great. Make More Connections at the Trade Show
Social media marketing can increase attendance at your next trade show exhibit, but you shouldn’t think of that as your end goal. Consider how you can use this event to build a reputation, make more connections and attract a bigger audience to your next event. How do you make more connections at the show? Put tablet PCs on a table and ask people to sign up for a drawing by friending you on Facebook or sharing one of your posts. As important as social media is, you also have to use your personality to work the crowd and meet new people. Smartphone apps such as Bump make it easy to share contact info with the people you meet. Always carry business cards for people who haven’t caught on to the smartphone revolution. What are some of the best social media marketing strategies that have gotten you to visit a trade show? The post 4 Social Media Trade Show Marketing Tips appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
| Control Your Email Inbox: Stop Email Notifications From Twitter, Facebook Posted: 05 Mar 2013 05:00 AM PST
Yes, social networking in particular has managed to open up our lives to the wider world in a way we never would have thought possible before the creation of the miracle known as the Internet. But it has also created a whole list of minor irritations and distractions that can build up and make life a little more stressful. For me, the most irritating of these minor annoyances is social media notifications. Emails flooding my inbox about every little comment or activity on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn is a hassle. With more social networks becoming a part of life, they can now also come from Pinterest, YouTube, StumbleUpon and a dozen other sites you just don’t need to be constantly updated on. Here’s how I handle the email craziness:
However, it took me ages to realize that I could stop this. All it takes is a few alterations to your settings and you are free. Or just get one of the programs made to make it even easier. Using SettingsAll social media sites have an area of your settings, sometimes in your account settings, that lets you specify what you would like to be notified of. In Facebook, just simply go to Account Settings through the little gear in the top right hand corner of any Facebook page. On the left hand side will be a bar with options. Select Notifications > Email. You can choose to get all notifications except those specifically unsubscribed from, important notifications about you or activity or only notifications about problems with your account, security or privacy. You can also select what text message notifications you get (if you are subscribed to mobile use). This includes comments on your profile, friend requests/confirmations and everything else. You may also set the times you get notifications if you don’t want them at certain hours of the night or morning.
Twitter isn’t quite so customizable, but you can still specify what you want. Just go to your account, hit the gear button on the top header, then select Settings > Email Notifications. You can choose when you get an email and who it applies to on your list. You can also choose to get an email digest weekly, daily, etc. Using Gmail FilterWhether you want to avoid or better organize older social media updates that get archived in your inbox (to stop them from interfering with your inbox search) or to stop the clutter from the future ones, this Gmail search command will come in handy:
You can now set up a filter to send these emails to a separate folder, bypassing your inbox. Now just create a calendar reminder to check that folder once a day or a couple of times a week, depending on your workload.
Using Tools
If you want more thorough directions for changing your settings, or you want them for a different site than those above, you might want to check out Notify Me Not. They cover all the social networks, including those that are only social in a secondary way like Amazon. Easy to follow, helpful and with a complete guide on the subject, it is the number one authority on banishing annoying emails to Hell, where they belong.
Not only does this program allow you to get rid of unwanted emails, but it also rolls everything into a very simple, highly organized inbox for you. That means all of your emails are better formatted for easy sifting, reading and storage. Plus, it works for both Yahoo and Gmail, which means it isn’t compatible with other clients. But come on, who uses them anymore? Know of any good programs or tips for stopping annoying social network notifications? Image source: sps The post Control Your Email Inbox: Stop Email Notifications From Twitter, Facebook appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
Now that you know how not to be a 
Social media is one of the greatest inventions of the modern world. It allows us to connect with people we lost touch with, keep up with the daily lives of people we care about but don’t see often in real life, and share content that can be truly rewarding. Not to mention the ability to find others from around the globe to chat with. Whereas before, it was a difficult prospect.
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