by winstonbromley | Oct 18, 2012 | Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Social Media, Social Media Management, Social Media Tools
Social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn have taken over the world by storm, connecting people in ways that no one ever thought possible. There are many different types of people that use LinkedIn and access its benefits in the best ways possible, and this has quickly become a great tool for those seeking to expand their personal professional networks to others who they may only know from afar.
What is great about the success of these social media outlets, is that anyone can sign up for a profile and start meeting people, even companies. With the new LinkedIn Company Pages, companies now have the ability to make connections to others via the social network that wasn’t available a while back.
Getting a company page is akin to making a page on Facebook; both are meant to outsource a person, brand, or products availability in a way that is convenient and conducive to finding out more information. LinkedIn has created a way to share a company’s information on its site, versus the personal profile layout of the majority of its visitors.
The LinkedIn Company Pages allow companies to express their brand through pictures that they might not have the ability to share otherwise. This is invaluable since the internet is really about instant gratification and pictures can many times speak for themselves (I am looking at you Pinterest!). It also allows companies to showcase what they have to offer, such as being able to quickly give a customer the ability to scan what it is that you offer in a hands-off, non-intrusive way. This quickly builds a customer rapport on a level that regular advertising does not. These pages allow a company to highlight what’s important and keeps their followers up to date.This allows for a connection to the individual in a way that companies in the past could never even dream of!
People all over the world connect to each other every day through social media. Now, with the revised LinkedIn Company Pages, even companies can connect to their customers at the base level like never before through status updates, pictures, highlights, and comments. Companies are now able to interact directly with the people who are buying their product, supporting their brand, and who have questions. Although similar only in idea as a Facebook company page, companies can now interact so closely with their consumers like they can through LinkedIn Company Pages as LinkedIn is more about doing business and connecting, whereas Facebook is about sharing information.
Well done, LinkedIn.
by winstonbromley | Oct 16, 2012 | LinkedIn, Social Media, Social Media Management, Social Media Tools
LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network with more than 90 million users from across 200 countries. LinkedIn profiles have enabled numerous jobseekers to find the right job and have also been instrumental in companies’ quests to find the right candidate for a specific job. It is also an excellent way for Business owners and Entrepreneurs to get the word out about what they do and network.
To date, LinkedIn endorsements were considered to be the most effective marketing tool or a resource which could establish the credentials of a professional. Most people will tell you that these testimonials or client feedback do get a lot of attention from profile scrutinizers. Recently, LinkedIn has added a Skills section to the member’s homepage. This new Skills section appears just below the educational qualifications section.
For starters, the skills section is where professionals can mention their skills or expertise. Earlier, details about specific skills, certifications or achievement were either mixed in with educational qualification or put together in the summary section which was more out of sight and not very effective. With the dedicated section where professionals can list their skills, expertise and certifications, LinkedIn is now a much more friendly resource for jobseekers, networkers and Business owners.
Every LinkedIn member should utilize this skills section to its utmost potential. What it can do has to be looked at from three perspectives.
First, this skills section enables a user to update his or her profile with all the skills and expertise they would have. It allows as many as 50 skills which is very good as you may be very talented!
Second, these skills are searchable. People can now search for certain skills and based on whether those are listed in this new section of a user’s profile, the profiles would be displayed in the search results. It works pretty much how SEO works on major search engines. With the new skills section and the existing endorsements features, LinkedIn can become an even better job hunting and networking ground for everyone.
Third, based on the skills you have put on your profile, this allows you to connect with professionals having the same skills.
The three prong benefits of LinkedIn skills are unprecedented and should be use by anyone who uses the professional network.
Now, the skills are not just one or two qualifications or only desired expertise. It can be certifications, experience of specific hardware and software, experience in training the trainers or anything, the possibilities are endless. From a ballet dancer mentioning the variety of her choreography to a programmer mastering a new skill, everything can be given importance.
And the best part, once you have the Skills on your Profile, people can ENDORSE those Skillsets which allows others to see the Social Proof of your Skillset.
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by winstonbromley | Aug 27, 2012 | Facebook, Instagram, Social Media, Social Media Tools
Instagram in your Business
Instagram is a free photo-sharing program and social network that was launched in October 2010 and by now, you probably have seen a vintage styled image from this platform. Instagram is like an online photo journal that enables you to share your life’s experiences with friends and family in a fun and imaginative way using your mobile phone. The mobile app is free to download and use and you can share many outlets including Twitter and Facebook. Snap, filter, post!
Now if you haven’t used Instagram yet, not to worry. The Instagram interface is very user friendly to use using your iPhone or Android Smart phone.
Instagram can be used for a lot more than just personal use.. Much like Pinterest these days, Instagram can help build and expand your business exposure and needs.
With Instagram, you can develop a strong online presence, and get your name out there using images. This is a great way to leverage online and social media marketing into your strategies with a potential audience reach of over 37 million users as well as the ability to get instant feedback with this personalized outreach marketing by posting images of products or services you are currently selling or ones you are testing.
When using Instagram, make sure that you are using the appropriate tag words for your business, products or services so that people have a chance of finding you in their search results. Also make sure that include a good description to help people along.
Much like on other Social platforms, you will begin to see a major shift once you start interacting with consumers on an individual basis by commenting and liking their images (if you feel it is an image worth “liking” or commenting on. This will start to build social proof and in turn, make you Front-of-Mind and a great choice to work with as they will like and trust you easier.
Here are some tips to use Intagram in your business model:
– Double tap when you want to like an image including your own (sounds odd but it works)
– Add in Hash Tags or keywords to help people know about your business and be able to find you in searches
– Add in a good description of the image
– GeoTag your location so that the images can be found via GeoMapping or via an online GPS Map system
– Comment and Like other users images that fit with your Demographic, i.e. If your market is brides-to-be, if you find images from those users, like and comment on them and they will notice you Account and most likely return the favour.
I am still tinkering around in Instagram but I will post more tidbits as I get them
Got any tips you want to share? Post them below.
Enjoyed this post? If so, please share on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest to let your friends know about it. Your help spreading the word would be really appreciated.
by winstonbromley | Aug 8, 2012 | Facebook, Google+, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Social Media, Social Media Management, Social Media Tools
In the twenty-first century, the World Wide Web has become a great way for anyone to reach an audience. From blogs to online businesses, social media takes on many different shapes and sizes.
To help illustrate what can go wrong in Social Media, I pieced together 5 Social Media “What Not To Do” Tips so that Businesses can avoid these costly mistakes. These are based on working with my Clients, being active in Social Media and some questions that I have got from our Online seminars.
The 5 Worst Things you can do in Social Media as a Business owner:
- Selling all the time: Social media involves many aspects, the first being you should be social and connecting with people, however that does not mean that you have to constantly be trying to sell something every time. If you have a blog, and all you do is sell things to your readers, you will soon see all your readers disappear because they get tired of it. Imagine meeting someone at a party, then they call you up every few days asking you to buy from them. I am sure you would soon block their number (I know I would)
- Ignoring your Users: Using the blog example once again, you have people who are going to your blog regularly (hopefully). It is highly important that you keep in touch with the people that frequent your website. This can be in the form of a regular posting every Thursday or having them sign up for a Newsletter so you can stay in touch weekly with them with even more tips. The idea is to stay Front of Mind.
- Targeting the wrong niche market: It is very important that you target the right people to your Social Platforms so it’s a match between your product/service and customer. For example, if you are a Mechanic on Facebook, discuss the types of cars you work on such as Chevy or Ford. Stay focused on that Market and , as the Mechanic, don’t start blogging about your new favourite Restaurant, unless it deals with cars some how. Stay on one Path.
- Using the right social media platform: Are you using the right platform for your business? There are a lot of choices out there to choose from when it comes to social media such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest and many others? Take the time to figure out what system covers your Audience Market the best or you will be spending too much time on Platforms that will not bring you more business. As an Example, if you are a knitter, you will most likely find that most of your audience is on Facebook and Pinterest. There would be no need to join Twitter or LinkedIn for that Business type. Focus your Energy where you Audience resides. It will pay off.
- Not using social media at all: This is an interesting one. I have met businesses that still feel that Social Media will not end up with a Return on Investment for their Time (ROI). Here is my comment on that: The World Wide Web reaches millions of people, and any business that does not take advantage of it, is truly missing a golden opportunity. Just imagine all the customer contact you are missing out on from the sharing, commenting, and searching that goes on in these Platforms. Did you know that Facebook and Twitter are in the top 5 of all the Search engines for people looking up things? Google is number one of course. Social Media is here to stay. It’s time to figure out where you want to set up Camp.
Social media can be a great Marketing tool for your Business or it can be a double edged sword that can do more harm than good. Use social media effectively and you will reap the rewards. Use it poorly, and people will go elsewhere.
If you are stuck or don’t know where to go next, and want to learn how to use Social Media properly, consider hiring our services to get you on track and up to speed, or using our 1-on-1 Coaching that will get your Platforms and Businesses to the next level in Social Media, attracting new clients and being profitable. For more information and a no obligation quote, contact us at sales@thesocialmediabreakthrough.com or call us at 1-888-634-1465. We are here to help.
by winstonbromley | Jul 5, 2012 | Google+, Social Media, Social Media Management, Social Media Tools
Google Plus (Google+) is a great option for a business looking to get noticed and wanting to standout from other pages. Easy to create and easy to use, it is a growing platform for business sharing. The following explains just some of the great aspects why Google Plus is becoming a must for business leaders and webpage designers and just how it might benefit your business.
Easy Distribution of Ideas
Sharing is important and your business needs to take an active role in doing this with their webpage or website. This act is not simply about promoting a product or idea but actually creates an interactivity between the consumer and the business itself. With Google Plus for business this can be completed quite easily. One of the greatest tricks to get a response from clients and potential customers is to share photos and other images and messages that help to promote the brand without overtly doing so. It leaves the client interested, gets them talking, and thus builds the brand from the backend of the business rather than overt advertisements all the time.
Clarity
Google plus is a great way to tailor your business to the individual or client themselves. With Google plus in business, the beauty is that there can be clearly delineated separations between different aspects of your business. This means that if an individual is interested in one area, they can focus on that while others can find exactly what they are looking for in another section. This is a highly touted point as described by business webpage owners who say that clients respond better to the ability to find what they are looking for easily without getting lost in a web of other information that is unneeded. In this way, then, Google plus for businesses provides a clarity and ease of specificity that business webpage designers thrive upon.
Social Media
Social media is an ever growing platform for recommendations and discussions in customers’ lives. For this reason, Google plus has made it easy to share and promote your business through easily navigable and usable social media sharing options. Just one share can lead to a trickle out affect which holds the potential to get your business noticed even more. There is also a button on Google plus that allows customers to actually make a recommendation, all with a simple click of the mouse. Be sure that your webpage has this as this is one of the best tips you can know to really getting a mass discussion and recommendation for your business page.
What is your take on Google+?
