Google+: Bust or Success?
Do I REALLY Need a Google + Account?
I get this question daily. Google+ is NOT a social Media site – it is not going to replace Facebook. That is not the goal with this part of Google. Check out this article: Google + is not a social Network, but it’s not a Graveyard either
That article does a great job of explaining Google’s goals for Google+.
I feel that every business owner will need a Google+ account. The ability to tie all the Google tools together will be a great advancement for us. Imagine going to one place to get your email (are you still using Outlook?), get website analytics, access YouTube, Google Docs, and all the upcoming great tools they will offer. Social Search excites me – why not make it easy for yourself.
Get your own Google+ account – then link up to me! Dotty’s Google +
LinkedIn and Lovin It: A Review
I love a Good Read on LinkedIn!
Susan Johnston wrote an ebook called LinkedIn and Lovin’ It, and I had an opportunity to contribute to her book. This ebook is for anyone that has questions on LinkedIn. It covers topics like:
- How to create a great Profile
- How to build your Network
- How to Maximize your LinkedIn presence
- How to use Linkedin for research
- How to use LinkedIn Companies
It is a great overview, and look for my tips on creating a great LinkedIn profile. You can find it on Pages 19 and 20.
Get the ebook: LinkedIn and Lovin’ It then return here and leave your comments or questions. I would love to get them answered for you!
Facebook Changes
More Facebook changes to come: 2 very good ones!
There have been 2 changes this week in Facebook that I am really loving.
- Facebook Lists ~ I have been using lists for a very long time. I find it frustrating when others do not. It is so easy to do and it allows people to invite specific people to events, or to post updates for specific lists. It really cuts down on spam. Now Facebook has Smart Lists – ones it creates for you and automatically puts your friends into based upon profile information. Facebook created a Vancouver list, and Acquaintance list, and more. Now I hope people start to use this feature!
- The second enhancement that I like is the ability to unsubscribe someone from my News Feed. I found something in my News Feed tonight that I thought was inappropriate and when I hid the photo it asked me if I wanted to unsubscribe the person form my wall. This seems similar to the old Hide feature but it takes it one step further – I will never see anything from that person again (no loss) and he will not see anything from me. Not to be used lightly. It is also possible to unsubscribe from just photos, or just videos from a specific person.
I have heard many complaints this week about all the changes Facebook is making – I would like to say I think the changes are for the better. They are making it easier to use, easier to target updates (like Google +) and easier to filter my News Feed over time.
Facebook Q&A
Get your Facebook Questions answered
When: Feb 23rd from 2:30 – 3:30 PM (Pacific Time)
Where: My FanPage!
There is an Event on my FanPage where you can ask your question before the event. There will also be an opportunity to ask a question on the Live Webinar as well. Get your question in early to be sure there will be enough time.
You can also ask your question in the comment stream below!
Youtube Videos: Small Business Marketing
Video Marketing
You have heard that video marketing is the wave of the future ~ you will be left behind without using video marketing. Small business owners ask me this question often: Is video marketing really that important? Then; How do I use video to market my small business?
There are so many crappy videos on YouTube – yet they still get views and bring traffic. This is a great time to start learning Video Marketing – not very many people are doing it effectively.
As of May 2010 YouTube gets over 2 billion views per day. Customers usually ask me how to make a viral video that gets millions of views. I ask – why do you need millions of views? What if you get 100 views form people that are ready to use your services or buy your products? Would you be happy?
Most small business owners do not need videos that get millions of views – they just need targeted traffic. Here are a few things you can do to optimize your video efforts to get that targeted traffic:
- Put your main keyword in the title of the video
- Have contact information (phone and website) in the first part of your description
- Include keywords in your description
- Make use of the tagging system that YouTube offers
- Make use of the Annotations that YouTube offers
Business Videos
YouTube is a great place to host all your business videos. Just remember to optimize them with the tips above and you will start to get traffic from YouTube to your site. Don’t look for the millions of useless visitors – go after the few that are ready to buy and your ROI will soar!
Facebook FanPage VS Facebook Profile
What is the difference between a FanPage and a Personal Account in Facebook?
I get this question on a daily basis. Business owners are very confused about using [intlink id="twitter-for-business" type="post"]Facebook for Business[/intlink].
Facebook For Business
Here are 3 huge reasons why a business would want to use a FanPage instead of a Personal Profile for business marketing on Facebook.
- Facebook Fan Pages are public – they get indexed in the search engines ~ Personal Profiles do not.
- Facebook Fan Pages can have an unlimited amount of “Likers” ~ Personal Profiles are limited to 5000.
- Facebook Fan Pages can have numerous Admins that contribute to the page ~ Personal Profiles just have you.
Marketing On Facebook
The second question I get daily is how can I market my business on Facebook? Facebook is one of the most used social networking sites on the Internet today. Currently there are over 500 million active users. I personally only need a very small percentage of those people to get a positive ROI for using Facebook as a marketing tool. Here are a few ideas for marketing your business on Facebook.
- Educate potential customers on the benefits of your product or service
- Provide specials or coupons for your business through Facebook
- Create contests on your Fan Page to get people interacting and returning to your FanPage
- Promote your clients on your Fan page
- Promote other local businesses on your FanPage
- Use your page for Videos and Photos
- Use your Review Tab
- Use the Discussions Tab
- Create a custom Welcome Tab
- Use Facebook Events
Benefits of a FaceBook Fan Page
What has Facebook done for my business?
I have gained clients for my workshops through the Facebook Events feature. When people commit to coming to an event then my event gets put into their news stream. I have gained attendees that I did not actually know by using the Events tab on Facebook. Often times when a business owner attends one of my classes they will attend more, and some have also become website clients.
I get referrals to friends of fans because I use my page for education. This keeps me top of mind and when someone needs a website or help on their website ~ I am the person they think about speaking to for their project.
I also give referrals to my circle of trusted business owners through Facebook. Others know I am a great resource ~ which always comes back around to benefit me sometime in the future. Pay it forward!
Social Media Mistake #2 ~ Not Targeted Friends, Fans, or Followers
HUGE mistake #2 ~ Following and Friending everyone.
What would be better ~ Standing in the middle of this crowd and shouting your message or being in a more private room and talking with a few interested people?
What would be better? Having a really large number of people in your friend/fan base that do not care about your business, or having a small number of targeted people that want your services, like your products, or are genuinely a fan of yours? The smaller number of people are going to be way more responsive to your message than the large number that simply do not care.
How do you find targeted followers and friends online?
The trick is to look for people that are looking for your services or products. For example, Continue reading
Biggest Social Media Mistake
This one is HUGE!
Not Having A Strategy or Plan
I have talked with so many business owners that have “tried” Social Media and decided that it does not work. When I ask them what their strategy was and how it was to be measured they have no answer.
Would you create a marketing campaign off line without a plan?
Online advertising, branding,and marketing needs to have a plan and strategy just like the offline counter parts.
Without a plan Social Media is a HUGE WASTE OF TIME!
A Social Media Plan has many parts.
First of all Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.) profiles need to link back to a blog. Social media is social relationship building – it is not sales. Do not link a profile to a sales page. Building solid relationships online means providing valuable content.
