Social Media Platforms
LinkedIn (link to my LinkedIn page)
This is where business people network. It's a great business resource. Most professionals now realize that having a LinkedIn page allows people to find them effortlessly through a simple google search. And fortunately, you have control over whom you link up with, so you control "spammers" (newbies to social media that only post things that outright sell their products, as opposed to building relationships with readers). I only have LinkedIn's basic services, because I have not found that I needed the paid services that they offer, but some people might find them helpful. Try it for free, and if you need more, buy more. This is the first step a small business owner must take to have a presence online. Write your resume, and upload a copy for all to see (LinkedIn is about people, not businesses, but by making yourself available, you advertise your business). Start by inviting your friends and start exchanging recommendations and endorsements, because that is the coin of the realm. Join some groups, start some discussions. This is why its called social media. I check in every day and there is always good information and good networking opportunities.
Facebook (link to my Facebook page)
Facebook is the biggest social media site out there (although the Alibaba site is quickly threatening that position). It is a social site, here many of your friends and family (and clients) may use it to post things about subjects that they care about, in order to engage with their readers, and practically everyone on the web has a FB page. Yes, there are many cute pictures of cats on Facebook, but mostly, it is people writing about or reposting things they care about (at least in my circles). There is a wealth of information on non-profits and small businesses on Facebook, so for those of you intrested in those areas, I highly recommend a presence there. For small businesses, the strategy is to join FB groups that deal with things related to your business, network with similar business owners, and engage with your clients and potential clients. I post and read FB every day, at least twice a day. See some example Facebook pages:
Twitter (@guayaba, my twitter handle)
Twitter is an amazing "micro-blogging" site. Micro-blogging because you can only post words or sentences that are less than 140 characters per 'tweet'. That means that not only do the letters in the words you use are counted, but also the spaces and punctuation marks, and in all, you cannot exceed 140 characters. This framework forces you to summarize what you are trying to say down to a few words, and also forces you to use URL shortening services (URL's are very long internet addresses for webpages) like bit.ly and owl.ly, which automatically (and for free!) shorten your long URL's into short URL's so you can include them in your tweet and drive traffic to your website or other links. Aso, bit.ly now offers all sorts of data crunching analytics, which you will really want, once you get your presence going! There are many misconceptions about tweeter. Ashton Kutcher became famous for being the first to have a million followers. But twitter for small business is all about letting your clients know what is going on, real time, particularly if your services demand that kind of engagement. It's not really about how many people follow you (unless you are looking to get sponsors that pay you to tweet, which does not really work unless you are a marketing machine like the Kardashians).
If a small business were to sponsor a booth at a conference or event, and wanted to let their followers know all the exciting things that were happening at the conference, tweeting about it would be the way to go. If you took some pictures while at the event, you could also post them to instagram and Facebook, and let everyone know by tweeting it; IM your vines and snapchat to your celphone friends, and post short videos on youtube and vimeo. And definitely mention that you are at the conference on LinkedIn. I check in to twitter three or four times a day; but many people with smart phones have twitter sent to their twitter mobile app on their phone, so they monitor twitter feeds in real time (this usually means they have a defined network of friends that are on twitter at all times as well, and tend to send each other messages at all hours).
Below you can see various twitter pages, and how you can personalize them to your tastes
Sites like Blogger.com, Wix,com and Wordpress.com are platforms where a person like me, who does not 'code' (write code for the internet, or know how to write html, the internet language), can go to find a place where all the coding has been done for them, and all you have to do is cut and paste your content on to a blank template, and publish it. The learning curve here is finding out whether you have something to say, and can find an audience that wants to hear it. But if you do have something to say (and you will) and can find like-minded people that want to read it (there are, surprisingly, many!), blogging is a very satisfying way to add value to your client services. It allows for long-form writing, for explaining things, for keeping a log of what you do, for writing one chapter at a time, and by explaining what you do or the services you provide, your clients can decide whether they actually need your services, or they can solve their problems themselves. The trick is to include 'Keywords', both in your text, as well as in your keyword finder box, usually at the bottom of each blog, where you can write in the words you want the article to be indexed for, so that when a person googles those words, your article will pop up in the search.
This means you get much 'cleaner' leads from your blog, because the client already knows exactly what they want from you. And blogging is a great way to form relationships with people you otherwise might never get a chance to meet in person. And by building trust and camaraderie with your readers, they will know who to call or contact when they need your type of services. One caveat: blogging is expected once a week or twice a month at minimum. Remember that your clients will probably not see most of your posts, so you must keep posting in order to have a better chance at getting their attention.
Below you can see several blog pages, and the many ways they can be configured and presented.
For example, for a friend that specializes in social media, a blog helped her clients and potential clients understand social media and choose which of the social media platforms they wanted to use and how to use them. But after learning this, they also realized they did not have the time to dedicate to social media, because they had a business to run. So blogging gave my friend two benefits: her clients realized the utility and efficiency of social media, and they decided to hire her as a social media manager, because they needed to actually run their business as opposed to being on the web at all times. Blogging was also helpful in getting clients ready to understand that social media is not easy and it's very time-consuming, and average pay for social media managers run in the $50/hr to $100/hr range for consultants, and in the $35/hr to $50/hr for starting salaried employees. Yes, you can hire a college student to run your social media for less than that, but that may create more problems than it solves. Social media is your name, your brand, your soul. It cannot be left to the lowest bidder, and believe me, people on social media know the difference between second-hand posts and real engagement. Paying a consultant to set you up with the right media and show you how to work them is a good option if you have the time to keep it up yourself (one to two hours a day minimum). If you don't have any time at all, a social media manager is a must. And if you want to have a presence in all social media, a Social Media Team is the only way you'll be able to do it and get credible results. Begin by taking baby steps, then decide your next move.
More social media by clicking the "More" button up top.
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Contact Monica at 646-863-3388, or guayabapr@gmail.com
