Social Media Classroom

Mar 29

Add Impact to Networking with Photos

picture credit to ursispaltenstein

Many of us are using mostly text based social networking methods, but photos can be the perfect addition to your social routine. Pictures literally take seconds to look at and convey a lot more than you can in 140 characters. That old saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words” is one hundred percent true.

Unfortunately, many people don’t realize the power of photos in social media, so today we’re going to look at how you can use them to add a whole new dimension to your networking.

Photos are particularly useful when you are trying to explain something. Screenshots go a long ways toward making technical content understandable, but just about anything is better understood with a photo or two.

How to Share

One of the easiest ways to share photos is through Flickr. You can use the site for free, but a premium membership (which allows unlimited photos) is pretty affordable, less than $30 a year. On Flickr, you can upload photos and add tags, descriptions and titles. Within the description, add your website URL (HTML is accepted) so people who are browsing Flickr can jump to your site.

While a fair number of people will find your images through Google and Flickr searches, that’s not where it stops. You can blog your photos (they can easily be embedded in a blog or forum), link to them on Twitter or Squidoo and also on Facebook, as well as other social media sites.

Of course, there are dozens of places to upload your pictures to make sure they get more exposure . . . TwitPics and similar options are good and easily searchable, making it simple for people to find your photos.

What to Share

Depending on your area of expertise, you will want to share pictures of what would interest your audience. If you sell baby clothing, then parenting or baby photos are going to be a hit. Likewise, if you run an auto parts shop online, then shots of the latest car show will go over well. The idea is to generate interest in your business and reach out to new potential clients through social media.

Keep your photos simple, as many people are checking their social media updates on Blackberries and mobile phones. A lot of clutter will make it hard to see anything at that resolution, so try for closeups and clear, crisp lighting for the best results.

Images have long been overlooked in the world of social media, but it’s time to start using them They add so much pizazz to a regular social network and can help attract attention, as well as provide followers with clear information on what you’re trying to teach them.

Do you use images in your social networking?

Mar 24

Should You Have Social Media Icons On Your Blog?

Beginner's Track, Social Media Classroom 8 Comments »

picture credit to today

Using Twitter or Facebook is more than just updating your status from time to time or responding to other people’s comments. It often requires finding new people to follow and to follow you. Many bloggers add social media icons to their blog to help people find them, but a huge number of people haven’t done this because they aren’t sure if it’s really a good idea. Isn’t it spam to have Twitter, Facebook, Digg and StumbleUpon buttons on every post?

The Pros

The fact is that you need publicity and your fans won’t mind some extra bling on your site. Often they don’t bookmark your posts because there’s no super simple way to do it. In fact, it’s a well known marketing fact that you need to tell people what to do in order to get a good response, so don’t just put those icons up, remind them at the end of the post to bookmark it if they found what you wrote to be enjoyable.

The icons make it very simple for any reader to turn the post into something viral and many of your readers will do just that. It’s also a simple matter to ask friends to pop by your blog and bookmark a post or two that they like.

The Cons

There are few cons to this, but many people feel that too many social media and bookmarking icons make the site look cluttered and spammy. It depends on how you feel of course, as to whether or not you’ll use a plugin like Sociable to add these symbols to your site.

If you don’t like the idea of rows of icons staring up at your visitors, why not opt for just one or two. Use only a Twitter button, for example. Choose the social networking site that has been good to you and feature that instead of trying to be all things to all people. You’ll find that your efforts will be quite concentrated and you can gain a lot more attention on one particular platform. The only downside to this is that you may have visitors who shun Twitter, Facebook or whatever other venue you choose.

The bottom line? Social media icons can help your audience share your content, which is always a good thing. Keep it toned down if you don’t like to have too much clutter on your blog and remember to tell people to actually use the icons!

I use the “AddtoAny” plugin and it works great. How about you? Do you use any? if yes, which one? if not, why not?

Mar 23

How to Create a Quality Video

Intermediate Track, Social Media Classroom 3 Comments »

image credit to vnvjiet

I talked last week about the importance of using videos in your social networking, so today we’re going to look at how you can create a video that’s worth watching. You don’t have to be a filmographer to put out a quality and by quality, I don’t necessarily mean the image. You can have the best looking image out there, but if the content isn’t there, no one will watch it.

Planning

The very best thing you can do before starting your first video is to sit down with a pencil and paper and figure out what you want to do.

Write down what you want to accomplish with the video. Do you want people to come to your website? Do you want to inform them of problems with the method they currently use to do something? Offer solutions?

Once you have an end goal, figure out how you’re going to get there.

Pick a format

There are many business videos that have nothing but a computer screen so don’t feel that you have to be onscreen if that makes you uncomfortable. In fact, it may be easier to explain things if you show your audience via the computer.

For some, being onscreen is fine and works better for their purposes, so think about it carefully before you select a format. At its simplest, a PowerPoint video is quick and easy and can get the point across nicely. You don’t have to do a world-class production, just make sure it’s interesting and informative.

Write a script

Even if you end up winging it, writing out a brief script will cement the order of things in your mind. You want to have an introduction, your presentation and a call to action. Don’t forget, if you’re loading things up on YouTube, random strangers will come across it so you need to mention who you are right at the beginning.

You can distill your script to notes if you prefer and keep them handy while filming.

Technical tips

One of the biggest issues with online video is the lighting. Most people don’t have adequate lighting and while this isn’t necessarily going to dissuage people from watching your video, why not improve things? Sit with a window to one side and film during the day so you have plenty of daylight, which will make the camera very happy and add a more professional look. If the opposite side is too dark, you can easily fix this by placing a whiteboard or even a sheet on the other side (offscreen, of course) to reflect light back on the other side.

A few more tips . . .

Avoid wearing red, stripes or plaid which can look odd and cause visual issues onscreen.

Mount your camera at eye level, rather than tilting it. It should be placed at least three feet away . . . zoom if you need to, to avoid that fish eye lens look.

Use the white balance setting on your camera. It will help, trust me.

Chill out and be natural. You are best when you are totally YOU!

Do you have any more video tips to share?

Tagged with: better video • Social Media • video

Mar 18

How to Build Expert Status in 6 Weeks

Beginner's Track, Social Media, Social Media Classroom 8 Comments »

Everyone knows that if you are considered an expert in your niche, you will be able to sell your products and services better. Unfortunately, most people don’t realize how they can feature themselves as experts without spamming everyone on the sites they frequent. Let’s take a look at a quick plan to gain you expert status in just six short weeks.

Week One: Build It and They Will Come

This is actually false, since most people won’t show up at your blog until you start advertising it, but it’s a good idea to have a place to redirect your followers to. A blog is your best bet, since it will also rank faster in the search engines, but a regular website will also do. Make sure to post regular updates if you decide to blog. In fact, this first week, you can easily write 12 blog posts and set them to publish twice a week . . . thus eliminating the need to write every week.

This week, you should also be looking at blogs in your niche and making comments on them.

Week Two: Establishing a Twitter Presence

Whether or not you have a Twitter account already is irrelevant. This second week, you need to build up your presence on Twitter, which means you will be online every single day. Set yourself twenty minutes in the morning and twenty at night to work on Twitter, more if you have the chance. And avoid fooling around. Stay focused on cultivating your community. Remember the 12 to 1 rule (promote your fellow experts 12 times before you promote yourself).

Step 1: Befriend people. You can search for those who are in your niche and start following their followers, or do searches for people who are interested in your area of expertise.

Step 2: Start posting quality information. Again, these can be written ahead of time if you like and posted.

Step 3: Respond to other people. Now that you are following all these Twitter colleagues, you need to start interacting with them. Talk to them, answer their questions, make comments on their updates . . . basically, get yourself noticed.

Step 4: Find the relevant #Hashtags. This is the best way to know the threads and conversations around your area of expertise. It’s also a great way to find who is already engaged, who needs to be followed, promoted, learned from. Ideally, become friends with those leaders by trying to offer your own experience and get on the phone with them.

Week 3: Get Going on Facebook

Now that you’ve established yourself on Twitter, it’s time to get noticed elsewhere! Don’t forget to keep up on Twitter, though.

Step 1: Set up a fan page for your business and load at least a couple of photos and an article or two. Make sure you fill out all the relevant information.

Step 2: Let people know! Tweet about the Facebook page, post about it on your blog and add a button to your sidebar to make sure people know that you can be found on Facebook.

Week 4: Hit the Forums

Forums are excellent places to spread the word about yourself. Look for 2-3 forums that focus on your niche or cater to potential clients and start looking for questions you can answer. Make sure you follow the rules of the forum and attach a signature with your link in it.

Week 5: Open the LinkedIn Treasure -

Step 1: Answer questions related to your topic: I’m not sure if you’re aware, but the LinkedIn questions/answers are getting hot! I have a few friends who have gotten pretty good contracts through this platform.

Step 2: Join relevant groups: Of course, not only join but participate actively in the groups. Volunteer your opinion and if you can, back it up with research results. You can also finish your answer with “I elaborate further on this issue on my blog http://the super expert on this topic . com but please don’t make that your only answer as it will seem opportunistic.

Week 6: Rinse and Repeat

For the final week, continue to post on Twitter, Facebook, forums and LinkedIn on a regular basis. Also, continue to post on your blog and comment on other blogs and you’ll find that you have gained expert status by the time a month and a half has gone by. If you do that again and again, your path to success is guaranteed.

Remember that if you can’t keep up with it, it’s much better to skip a platform all together than trying to pretend to “be in”. You can always come back to the platform on the second or third round. What’s key here is that a particular community recognizes your “expert” status.

Oh last thing: Please, please, please try not to call yourself “the expert” – “the best” – “the guru” or whatever! You can only do that on a sale pitch where nobody else but your client is listening. Everyone hates the new kid on the block auto proclaiming himself as “the best”. Even if you’ve been in the industry for many years and you are just new to the social media platform. It is so much better and classier to wait patiently for someone to give you the title. I promise you 200% that if you are consistent and really know your stuff, the title will come sooner than later.

Mar 17

How to Focus Your Niche and Increase Influence

Beginner's Track, Social Media Classroom 11 Comments »

picture credit to haywoodemc

Real State = Location, Location, Location

But……

Social Media = Community, Community, Community!

The area that you specialize in is called your niche and the vast majority of people aren’t very good at really focusing on it. If you use social media, you need to be very careful about how you are presenting yourself. You can certainly be the jack or jill of all trades, with knowledge in ten different areas, but you will do best if you stick to one particular area.

Before you jump online, you need to distinguish your niche. It needs to be fairly specific. Just saying that your niche is cars, for example, won’t cut it . . . what makes you special in that area? Maybe you specialize in car decals, or even a specific type of car decal. The idea here is to narrow it down so you can find an audience easily. It’s very difficult to reach everyone in the general car niche, so by being more specific, you’ll be found easier.

Once you have your niche, make a plan. I’ve talked before on this blog about making a social media plan. It’s vital that you have one! You need to have goals and know what to do each day in order to reach them.

Your social media needs to be focused. That means posting mostly on things that pertain to your niche and that are interesting to your audience. If you are posting 50% on your niche and 50% on random things that interest you, you’ll find that you don’t get as much traffic as you really could.

How do you stick to your niche? Here are some tips:

Have a theme and stick to it. All your tweets, status updates, etc. should revolve around this.
Find others like you. It’s a lot easier to stay on topic if you are following people who are talking about the same thing.
Have a list of keywords related to your niche and use them regularly, this forces you to stay on topic.
Write your goals down. This will help you out when you get stuck, you can keep looking at them and reminding yourself of what you need to be doing.

By focusing on your niche, you will find that people will tend to flock to you. Anyone who wants to know about your topic will be interested in following you, which is why it works so well. Stick to your niche and you’ll find that the traffic generated by social media goes up drastically. People want experts and you can gain that status by sticking to what you know best.

Tagged with: guru • niche • Social Media

Mar 03

5 Tips for Stagnating Social Media Strategies

Intermediate Track, Social Media Classroom 7 Comments »

image credit to rostock.de

You started out with an awesome social media strategy, one that you just knew was going to bring in all sorts of traffic. And it did. But then it all stopped . . . you haven’t changed anything, but the traffic isn’t increasing and your followers have stopped growing. Now what?

A stagnating social media strategy is one that needs some tweaking. The very nature of social marketing demands constant changes in the way we do things. In fact, if you continue to do the exact same thing all the time, you’ll find that you hit a plateau after a while, where nothing really goes forward.

To help you prevent this common problem, here are a few tips:

1. Re-evaluate your target market. Maybe you’ve saturated the existing market and need to branch out. It can be worth taking a second look at your target market and see whether or not you need to adjust your aim. You might need to reach some other people, as well, in order to continue growing.

2. Try something new. If you’ve only used text until now, why not try making a relevant video and sharing it? Sometimes just the excitement of doing something new can draw in more followers and interested potential clients. It’s certainly worth a try. Contests, video, audio and free reports are all excellent methods of giving your readers a bit of a boost.

3. Add a social media account. Once you’ve become familiar with Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook, it might be time to add another network to the mix. Reaching out to a new area will help increase the number of people you come in contact with, as well as increase the visitors to your site.

4. Be more active. Sometimes you just need to be a bit more approachable and that often happens by upping the amount of time you spend on social media. Even increasing by ten minutes a day can have some great effects and get you out of that rut.

5. Make a plan. Do you have a plan as to what you’re going to do each day on social media? If not, take a look at your goals and then decide what you need to be doing every single day. Don’t be vague, make notes on specific topics to cover, etc.

There’s so much you can do with social media to promote your business, but if you’re finding that you’re stuck, then it’s time to change things up a little. Re-evaluate where you are and what you’re doing with your marketing and come up with a better plan that will allow you to get out of the rut and start growing again.

Tagged with: social marketing • Social Media • Strategy

Mar 01

Social Media Metrics You Need to Pay Attention To

Intermediate Track, Social Media Classroom 3 Comments »

image credit to hair website

Ok, it’s Monday and some of us question why we even exists at the beginning of the week. Imagine then what some of our clients ask us on Mondays. Here are some answers! If you’re using social media as a promotional tool, it makes sense that you’ll need to monitor a few specifics in order to know if it’s working or not. Most businesses just look at the amount of traffic that is coming in from those sites that they are using for promotion, but they fail to check other very important areas.

So, what should you be paying attention to? Here are a few tips:

How long the visitors stay. If someone comes through a link on Twitter, but clicks away before your page has a chance to load, it’s not going to do you a lot of good. You want people to stick around. A common reason that visitors leave quickly is because your website wasn’t waht they were looking for, so make sure you are nice and clear about what you do on social media sites.

Whether they bother to share your content. In an ideal world, you’d be able to enjoy viral reposting on every single blog post you write. In the real world, you might not get that very often. However, by writing viral content and promoting it the right way, you’ll have a far better chance of getting others to spread the word about your business.

How many people answer the call to action. Your site should have a call to action, be that to sign up for your newsletter or make a purchase. You need to track the number of visitors from social media to see what the conversion rates are like. This is an area that can always use improvement, so keep tweaking your social media strategy and see where you can go with it.

Who’s talking about you and what they’re saying. Keep a running search for your business name and check it frequently. Google Alerts is a great way to do this and keep track of who has been talking about your company. You should find out what people are saying. If it’s good, you’re fine, but if they are badmouthing you, it’s time to look for a solution and a way to deal with those who are having a hard time with your business.

Staying on top of your social media presence is vital if you want to make sure that you are doing things right. If you see a decline in conversion rates, for example, you can adjust your networking strategy to make sure that you get the publicity necessary to boost the number of visitors and to increase conversion rates, as well.

Happy Monday

Tagged with: Social Media • Strategy

Feb 24

Why Being Yourself is the Best Strategy

Beginner's Track, Social Media, Social Media Classroom 16 Comments »

Online, it’s easy to adopt any personality you like. You can even pretend to be of the opposite gender if you so choose. The point is that no one knows you online, so you can literally be anyone. And many people choose to change themselves and present a more scholarly persona.

While there are occasionally reasons to change your online persona (such as when you’re on a company account), it really is best to just be yourself. There are a few reasons for this:

Better Off-Line Experience. When people meet you in real life, they’ll already know what you’re like. You might not think you’ll ever actually meet anyone that you interact with online, but these days, more and more people are meeting in real life, after knowing each other online. Meetups, tweetups and such are all times when you could be meeting others from your Twitter network and they’ll probably notice how different you are!

Relax and Focus. It’s also a lot easier to keep up your real personality. If you’re trying to be someone you aren’t, it can be very difficult to keep it up and you’re likely to slip up. If someone realizes that you are essentially lying about who you are, you will lose credibility. There’s no point in losing trust for no good reason. You can relax and focus on your social media goal without having to guard a fake personality.

Only you are the You. The final and best argument for just being yourself online is that you are the only you. Everyone is unique and you are the only person who can really be yourself on social media! By portraying your real personality, you’re bound to stand out because you ARE unique! There’s no need to try hard to be someone more exciting or interesting. You might not be as wild or hilarious as some people out there and that’s ok. By being who you really are, you’ll find that people respond to you and you’ll have loyal followers who are interested in you for you. Why do you think we love @GaryVee talking about m&m flavor in his wine?

Are you being yourself online? Why or why not? Share your reasons in the comments, I’d love to hear what you think.

Tagged with: be yourself • Social Media • unique

Feb 23

10 Ways to Find Time for Social Media

Beginner's Track, Social Media Classroom 13 Comments »

picture credit to nofatclips

“I just don’t have time to do more in my day!”

Does this sound familiar? If you find yourself struggling to find time for online networking, it might be time to take a second look at your schedule. I’ve compiled some ways you can find the time in your day for 15 minutes of social media, if you have more ideas, please share in the comments.

1. Get up 15 minutes earlier. It’s not a lot and you can use those early morning minutes to tweet, check your Facebook fan page and update your LinkedIn profile.

2. Cut into your lunch. Eat a little faster and spend the extra time on social media. I often have lunch with my cyber friends. Nothing wrong to send some tweets in between bites.

3. Make the most of your commute. Stuck in traffic? Hanging out on the subway? Use those moments to network with others . . . they all add up!

4. Use your bathroom breaks. Before heading back to the couch, office or wherever you’re going, take a moment to update your status. If you spend one minute each time you head to the washroom, you’ll rapidly add up to the allotted amount of time.

5. Network during commercials. Did you know that the average television show has at least 8-10 minutes of commercials? If you jump on social media during the commercials, you’ll easily gain around 20 minutes every hour.

6. Update while you walk the dog. Mobile devices mean we can network anywhere and what could be a better way to multi-task than to tweet or update your Facebook while getting some exercise?

7. Skip television. Why not turn the TV off and get promoting your business, instead? While you can tweet and such during commercials, actually leaving the television off is even better for productivity.

8. Stay up 15 minutes later. Those extra minutes won’t really affect your sleep, but they could have a major impact on your online social status.

9. Carpool. By letting someone else drive sometimes, you can easily use up your travel time on a social media site or two. Just don’t forget to talk, too, or no one will want to share rides with you!

10. Workout body and social media. My best posts have been written when I’m working out on the treadmill. So, turn off the TV or the radio and workout your social media presence too.

11. Treat it as email. If you’re the formal type that needs to set aside a proper time for everything. Then you want to treat your social media presence like email. So before you check your emails, open Twitter and reply to all important direct messages and replies, do the same with Facebook, Linkedin, Blog comments and whatever else you got yourself into.

If finding time for social media has been your excuse, you now know how to find that extra time in your day. You don’t need to spend hours and hours on Twitter to be effective. In fact, if you only have a 15 minute chunk of time during the day, you can set your posts to publish throughout the day, giving the impression of being online far more often than your situation actually allows for.

Don’t let excuses hold you back!

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