Mistake #8: “Buy My Stuff! Buy My Stuff!” – Top 10 Social Media Mistakes

This is probably the biggest mistakes, and it takes many forms – but the bottom line is if you’re treating social media like just another sales platform, you’re doing it wrong. Social media is not meant to be used as just another means of a way to advertise your stuff. It’s about building relationships and getting to know people on a more personal level. It’s about conversation and engaging with others. A good question to ask is: am I speaking to my connections or with them? You want to be talking with them not at them.

So exactly where does promotion come in then? More than likely you have services or products you want to sell. That’s great and people want to hear about them…but only in small doses and only when it makes sense for them. People will block you or stop following you if your feed is nothing but a sales pitch over and over and over. Think about how you would feel if, for example, your TV got stuck on a commercial and it just kept playing. You wouldn’t be too thrilled and would probably click the TV off. That’s exactly how your followers will feel if all you do is promote over and over.

As mentioned in mistake seven, don’t just post status updates linking to your stuff. Be sure to share other helpful relevant information too. If you found a really cool person on Twitter, let your followers know. If you found a great business page on Facebook, let your fans know. Just finished reading an excellent informative article – share it. You want your content to be as diversified as possible without getting off topic. And by sharing other people’s stuff you’ll probably find that they’re more than likely to share your stuff too.

To sum it up, you can become a person that people want to do business with via social media channels without promoting over and over and over. Here are some suggestions on how to make people want to do business with you:

Promote others not just your stuff.
Have conversations - start conversations (ask questions).
Be silly (have fun).
Be authentic.
Share valuable information.
Don’t automate your messages – be there ‘in person’ to interact with others.
Be human – this goes along with not automating your messages. People want to talk to YOU not a ‘robot’ (aka pre-scheduled status update).

The bottom line when it comes to social media is that people are looking to socialize and build relationships with others that share common interests with them. They don’t want to be marketed to, at least not on a regular basis but instead in very small doses.

June 1, 2016

How to Refresh Your Social Networks in 5 Days – Day One

Any time of the year is a good time to look through and check over your social networks. For me, the beginning of the year is a logical time to rebrand and freshen up my social networks. What I'm looking for, is to see whether my profile picture, my bio, and or any of the information are correct. Is the branding message correct or have there been technological advances that require me to make changes in my strategy.

Your social networks, much like mine, have probably changed over the course of the year, and therefore need some refreshing. So I take this time to make sure, that all of my branding throughout my social networks are in line.

In this series, I will discuss and share with you the strategy that I use not just for myself, but for all of my clients.

Day One

Assessments

My first step every year and rebranding my social networks, is to first assess the networks. This requires going through and making sure that the network is a part of my customer demographics.

Are my prime demographic still using this network? Has there been a major change in the networks technology? Has there been a major shift in how the network is being used by my demographic?
Does the social network have the approved profile picture? Does this network have the approved bio or description? Is the profile fully completed? Is all the contact information correct? Are there any extras that can be added to this network that will make it better?
This one is not a question but, more of a process. I change all of the passwords to all the social networks during this process as well.

Bonus: Is there a good quality call to action?

These are just some of the things that you should ask yourself when rebranding your social networks. Depending on which network you have, there may be other questions that you need to ask. But this is the process I start with whom ever I am in the rebranding process for my social networks.

I've also included, my social network rebranding worksheet, please feel free to download it . Just click the share button below -

[sociallocker] socialrebrandingassessment [/sociallocker]

As always if there are any additions that I missed, please feel free to add them in the comments below.

May 1, 2016

Lessons From a Homeless Woman Part 1

Yesterday my wife and I stopped by the local Starbucks to get a cup of coffee. As we went to our seats, we noticed young lady sitting at the table next to us. She had her Bible out and she also had numerous bags surrounding her.

As we sat down to have a cup of coffee, we began a conversation with woman. Her name was Desiree. And, she was homeless. Now, I mention the word homeless, only because it just sets up the story and the situation.

Desiree was a lovely lady who began to share with us her story. As she shared her story, there were some very good life and business lessons that I learned. Honestly, This was one of the best breakfast times I have had in a long time. So I just wanted to share these lessons I learned from Desiree that day.

1. Never let your situation dictate your outlook.

Desiree was homeless, but her present situation did not cloud the sunny future she saw for herself. She shared with us her dreams and her aspirations. She shared with us her plans on what she was going to be doing in the next 2 to 3 years. Desiree was bubbly and flowing over with enthusiasm about her future.

Take-Home - No matter where you are right now in your business make sure you keep a positive outlook for your future.

2. Break the mold-don't stay in the rut

One of the things, we talked about was how people seem to continue going in circles. How many of the people that she met on a day-to-day basis who were homeless, seemed to think they would always be homeless. Here was Desiree take on the situations. You have to determine in your mind that you are no longer going to stay where you are. Your future is determined by being able to break the mold.

Take-Home - If you are going to be successful; don't be afraid to get out of your own way. In fact, don't be afraid to break the mold. To bust out of the box. And more importantly, get out of the everyday rut.

3. Suffering is but a moment in the grand scheme of things.

Desiree spoke at great length about where she was going, about the changes she was making in her life in order to be better. She also spoke at length about the suffering that she was going through in her present situation. She began to tell us the tale of how she had been homeless for about a year. And that according to her plan she would have to be homeless and another six months to a year to get back on her feet. But what she said after that was mind-boggling. Desiree said in the grand scheme of her 43 years living, being homeless for two years is just a moment. In fact she went Bible on me and said, "if all of my life is suffering, it is still but a moment in eternity."

Take-Home - When we are up against the wall. When we are facing our biggest obstacles. We often huddle down and feel that we are being tried in the fire. If we really think about it, our suffering is just for a small time. In business, as well as life, we have to go through periods of what we consider to be suffering. The key is to understand that this suffering is just for a moment in the grand scheme of things. We will emerge sooner or later.

There is so much I learned from Desiree that day. I left much better than I came. I hope to one day run into Desiree after her process so that I can witness the miraculous transition that her journey has brought her.

March 1, 2016

Mistake #7: Poor Usage of Social Media Channels – Top 10 Social Media Mistakes

Is there really a correct way to use social media channels? Yes and no. It’s going to depend on what you’re using them for. If you’re a teen just using Facebook for the sake of using it then no, there’s not really a proper way to use it. But for business owners who need to maximize their social media efforts, the answer is absolutely yes.

You can’t think of social media as just another way to advertise your products/services. While you can advertise it shouldn’t be all about that (we’ll get to that in mistake #8). Each and every social media platform is unique and should be used for different things. Keep in mind that there will be different rules for all the social media sites as well. For example Twitter only allows you 140 characters to post an update so the etiquette there will be different than Facebook where you have a lot more space. Another difference between these two sites is that you can get away with posting more frequently throughout the day on Twitter than you can on Facebook.

Aside from the different rules and etiquette for each site, there are some other basic ‘rules’ you should follow, like:

Don’t be boring – while there isn’t a rule about how to be interesting, think outside the box and find interesting ways you can get your message across.
Don’t be offensive – this is pretty much a no brainer but is worth mentioning. Keep that old saying about treating people the way you want to be treated in your head. Just because we’re talking about social media and not being in person with people, it doesn’t mean manners go out the window. You still need to be respectful. Don’t post offensive content – steer clear of sexual, religious and political postings.
Don’t be too negative – one of the great things about social media is that you get to ‘let your hair down’ and ‘let loose’ a little. But be careful. If you’re having a crummy day, go ahead and share. But if every day is crummy you shouldn’t continually keep posting about it. People will get sick of too much negativity and unfollow you.
Don’t only push your product – one of the quickest ways to use social media incorrectly is by doing nothing but advertising and pushing your product or services. First and foremost you’re there to build relationships not sell! Keep in mind that when you do promote that you shouldn’t just be linking to your stuff. Share other useful resources. Point out other social media profiles that may be useful to your followers.
Never badmouth your clients or competitors – you never know who is watching, and the Internet is forever. Rant to your husband or your best friend or your dog – not on Facebook.

So what can you say on social media? Above all else, it’s a conversation. Sure, there might be millions of people involved, but it’s still nothing more than chatting among friends. Treat social media like the “social” space it is, and you’ll be fine.

March 1, 2016

Mistake #6: Failing to Promote Your Social Media Profiles – Top 10 Social Media Mistakes

Given the sheer number of links we see everywhere for Facebook, Twitter, and the like, it might be hard to believe that people aren’t promoting their profiles, but it does happen. You’d be shocked at how many small business owners don’t have links to their social media profiles in their newsletter or in their email signature line. One of the best things you can do is provide multiple ways for people to find and follow you and this means using all the communication channels you have available to promote your social media presence.

First let’s talk about your newsletter and why you should link to your social media accounts from it. Don’t just assume everyone on your mailing list is already aware of – and following you on – your social media pages. It’s important to have this information available and in front of people at all times so that with the click of a button they can find and follow you. For example, let’s say that you just sent out your weekly newsletter and one of your readers found something that a friend of theirs would benefit from so they forward it to them. Having your social media sites in your newsletter now gives this new person a chance to find and follow you quickly and easily.

If you use Aweber for email marketing they make it really easy to link your social media accounts. It’s pretty much as simple as clicking a button and entering in the relevant information (if you’re using their new message editor). They even provide step-by-step instructions: https://help.aweber.com/entries/21776966-how-do-i-add-social-media-buttons-to-my-messages.

Now, let’s talk about your email signature line and how you can link up your social profiles. One of the quickest and easiest ways is by simply adding a text link (for example something like ‘have we connected on Facebook yet’ and linking those words to your FB page). Another way you can do it is to insert actual social media icons into your email signature and link the images to your profiles. While it’s not difficult, it can be a bit finicky to insert images into your signature line. A simple Google search for ‘how do I add social media icons to my email signature’ will bring up tons of resources with step-by-step instructions on how to do it. And if you’re a Gmail, Yahoo, or Windows Live user, check out Wisestamp.com, a great little plugin that allows you to completely customize your email signature.

Not linking your social media profiles to all your other communication is such a common mistake marketers make. But it really shouldn’t be because it’s simple and doesn’t take long to get it set up. Now, it’s time to look at the next mistake which is not using social media channels correctly.

March 1, 2016

Mistake #10: Failing to Measure Your ROI (Return on Investment) – Top 10 Social Media Mistakes

Do you know if social media works for you? Do you know whether Twitter or Facebook or LinkedIn produces more sales? Have you tested and tracked your efforts when compared to results? If not, you’re guilty of making mistake number 10.

Going hand in hand with this mistake is that many marketers will look at how many Twitter followers or Facebook Fans they have and if it’s a fairly high number they think they’re doing something right and getting results. While these are important stats to know because you do want to be building your number of followers/fans, they’re not the main thing you should be looking at to figure out if you’re getting a good ROI.

Some people wonder if it’s even possible to measure social media ROI and the answer is yes. In fact, there are several different ways you can do this. Here are four easy ways that you can measure your social media marketing ROI:

1. Traffic – one of the main goals you probably have with social media is that you ultimately want to increase traffic to your site. Keep an eye on your analytics (if you use Google Analytics) or other stats that will give you the information you need to track your traffic. Checking your traffic stats is probably one of the easiest ways to monitor your social media marketing ROI.

2. Sales – another way to track your social media ROI is to pay attention to whether the increased traffic (from social media) is converting into sales. Ultimately you want that traffic converting into a sale.

3. Unique links – don’t use the same link on Facebook that you use on Twitter. Set up unique links that you can use on the different social media platforms. This will help you track the traffic that’s coming from each site.

4. Social media only specials – you can set up different landing pages on your website for each of the social media sites your running a special on. This doesn’t mean you have to run a different ad for each individual social media site (although you can). For example, let’s say you’re running a Twitter special and a Facebook special, all you’ll do is set up two different landing pages on your website so you know whether the traffic came from Twitter or Facebook. This will help you be able to easier track the ROI of each of the social media offers.

There are other ways you can gauge social media ROI, it’s just a matter of figuring out how you want to track things. But keep in mind that until you have a goal in mind of what you want your results to be, you won’t be able to know whether or not social media is producing positive results for you.

Conclusion

Perhaps even more damaging to your business than these 10 social media mistakes is not using social media at all. It’s clear that this is one trend that is not going to go away, so it’s critical for every small business to learn to use social networking to your advantage.

If you’ve been active in social media for a while, now is the time to look at your strategies and take steps to eliminate what’s not working, and to start improving your efforts. With these top 10 mistakes in mind, you’re in a good position to greatly increase your social media effectiveness – and have some fun doing it!

February 23, 2016

Mistake #9: Failing to Brand Your Social Media Channels – Top 10 Social Media Mistakes

Even if you think you don’t have a brand, you do. And since Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Pinterest (and whatever other social media profiles you have) are simply mini networks that make up your overall Internet presence, it’s important that they all be instantly recognizable as being yours.

The last thing you want to do is confuse people by having different profile pictures, images and messages on all your different social media platforms. Just as consistency is key when it comes to blogging, posting on social media, podcasting, etc it’s just as important when it comes to your brand.

You want to build your brand all across your network including the social media networks you’re utilizing. If possible, you should always use the same name/handle on each and every site. Similarly, you should also try to use the same image on every site. You can do this by setting up a profile and selecting one main image (that you’ll use as your profile image) on Gravatar.

If your brand has a tagline involved, make sure you’re carrying that over to all the social media sites as well. Basically, when it comes to using your brand on all social media channels it comes down to whatever your main website brand is you want that exact same thing on each and every micro network site (social media platforms) you’re using.

Another reason it’s important to use your brand on all sites is because it’s a way to build expertise and recognition. People will get used to seeing the same logo, profile picture, tagline, and message on all networks. This will not only help them begin to recognize you and your business but it will also help you become the go to (the expert) in your niche.

A social media platform that sometimes gets overlooked is YouTube. A lot of people shy away from it because they’re nervous to put themselves on video. Keep in mind that video doesn’t necessarily require you to film yourself. There are lots of great ways to do video without actually putting your face on camera. YouTube is another great platform to get your message across and just one more opportunity for you to get your brand out there. Video is extremely popular and on YouTube alone there are hundreds of millions of users. And not only is YouTube another way to brand yourself across all networks, it’s just one more opportunity for you to gain expert status.

These are just a few of the reasons why you should be using your brand on all social media sites but the main and most important reason is because you don’t want to confuse people by different messages, images, etc across the platforms.

June 22, 2015

Mistake #4: Posting Irrelevant, Unnecessary Content – Top Ten Social Media Mistakes

One of the nice things about social media is that it lets you be a little more personal and lets your audience be a bit more personal too but you still don’t want to only be posting things about what you’re eating (unless your niche is food related), what’s bugging you today, etc. While you want to be personal, you don’t want to be too personal. You need to keep things as relevant and as on topic (to your product/service/etc) as possible.

Someone who happens upon your Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or any other social media profile should be able to figure out what you’re about right away. In mistake #3 we said you want to be posting on a consistent basis but whatever you do don’t mistake frequent posting for relevant posting. Every once in awhile you should logout of your social media profiles and view them as if you’re a first time visitor. Pay attention to your posts and whether or not what you’re sharing is relevant to your brand/products/services, etc.

Because social media allows you to be a little more personal you may find it hard to decide what is relevant to post and what’s not. Again, there is no right or wrong answer here. It’s up to you to decide what is relevant for your audience and what you should share. Obviously if your Twitter account, for example, is branded for your life coaching business it’s probably not going to be relevant to post a bunch of Tweets about pit bull puppies. Since we’re talking about Twitter, keep in mind that anything you retweet can be just as important as what you’re Tweeting yourself. Don’t just retweet a link without actually following it yourself and making sure the article (or image or whatever) is really worth retweeting. A quick way to lose credibility is to retweet a bunch of spam or junk things.

It’s worth mentioning here even if it’s not directly related to relevant information – grammar. While it’s okay to make a spelling error or grammar error here and there (hey, it happens – we’re all human) you want to be as professional as possible. As an example, you don’t want to use abbreviations like this in a Facebook post: 4 (for) u (you) gma (grandma) b (be) – the list goes on and on. Facebook gives you a lot of room (400+ characters) to post a message so there shouldn’t be a need to use those kinds of abbreviations. It just doesn’t look professional. Twitter is a different story. You only have 140 characters to work with when it comes to twitter so sometimes you have to get creative and use abbreviations. Just use your best judgment but keep in mind that spelling and grammar mistakes can make you look bad.

And another thing that again isn’t directly related to posting relevant information but is definitely worth mentioning here – don’t be offensive or inappropriate. Be cautious when it comes to posting religious, sexual or political comments. Think about who is going to see your comment – potential customers, your kids/family/friends – and use common sense. The same goes for pictures you post. Remember, your reputation is at stake!