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Posts Tagged ‘social networking’

10 Proven Ways to Optimize Your Facebook Page by Terri Seymour

Social media marketing is absolutely essential in today’s online business world. It has taken the internet by storm both professionally and personally. Social media marketing means to market your business with the use of social networks, blogs, message boards, discussion groups, online communities and other such media. Some of the most popular social network sites are Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn.

Social marketing involves a lot more than just signing up and pasting up your page. You need to maximize your page’s effectiveness and keep it fresh, updated and alive. Below are 10 things you can do to optimize your Facebook page to make sure your business is getting the maximum benefits.

1. Create an Effective Profile – Do not use a half-done profile. Fill in your profile completely. This is for your business so be professional yet show people you care about your customers and will be there for them. Make sure your photo (if of yourself) is professional. You could also use your logo. Let people know what your business can do for them. Write an effective mission statement. Let your visitors know why they should do business with you but be careful what you reveal for security reasons.

2. Get Your Visitors Involved in Discussions – This is a great way to get your visitors to “Like” you and to keep coming back. Start helpful and informative discussions about topics related to your products or services. For example: if you sell home décor, start discussions about home decorating ideas, budget decorating, home improvement, etc. Encourage people to join the discussions and leave their business signature for more exposure.

3. Customize Your Page – Don’t let your page be one of the cookie cutter pages like everyone else. Customize it to fit your business needs and the needs of your visitors. Use images that brand you and your business and make it enjoyable and memorable.

4. Events and Contests – Keep your page alive and active with special events and contests. Each time a fan RSVP’s the event, it shows up in his profile. And so on and so on. Thus creating a ripple effect for your business.

5. Special Offers and Sales – People are always looking for good deals and special offers so don’t disappoint. Show your visitors you want to give them the best possible deal on your products/services.

6. Multi-Media Integration – Use audio and video content for your page. Audio and video can be extremely effective in capturing and holding the attention of visitors. According to webnox, video is 58% more effective than just using plain text!

7. Make Your Tabs More Memorable – Facebook does allow you to change the usual boring tabs to more suit your needs. Make them unique to your page and business. You can also change the order in which you present your tabs. You can find easy to follow online tutorials on how to do this.

8. Utilize Your Sidebar – Take advantage of your sidebar space. This is a great place for testimonials or newsletter sign-up forms. You can also use this space for affiliate links, a survey for your visitors to help improve your page/business. Add links to your main website or special offers you may have going.

9. Add a Poll to Your Page – People like knowing their opinion matters so add interest to your page with a poll. You can add them using a free poll creator from Vizu. Polls can attract attention and encourage your visitors to interact with your page.

10. Post Regularly – I cannot stress this enough! Do not start your page and then let it sit for weeks at a time. You have to be there every day updating, adding new content, checking things over, and finding ways to improve your page. I recently started using social marketing and unfortunately need to take my own advice on this one. I have just not been involved enough with my Facebook page but that will soon be changing. The hold that social media has on the internet is astronomical so do not be left out in the cold!

So far I am involved with Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn so feel free to come over and see me. I would love to see your page as I am learning more about this phenomenal marketing tool. I hope we all can use these types of sites to help each other improve our business and increase our sales!

Terri Seymour has over twelve years online experience and has helped many people start their own business. Visit her site for resources, $1 and $2 resell ebooks & software, articles, and affiliate programs. Sign up for the RSS Feed for a free business ebook with MRR. http://www.SeymourProducts.com

Article Source: WAHM Articles

If you are with one of the Direct Sales companies and trying to build a portion of your business online, it is very important to get involved with popular online social media networking sites like Twitter.com. When new business professionals start marketing their businesses on Twitter, they often make a big marketing mistake by tweeting out massive amounts of business spam messages instead of trying to network and get to know their followers.

When people join social media networking sites, they don’t want to be spammed 24/7 with business messages. They do want to learn more about the company or business they are following along with the products you are marketing…but…they also want to engage in meaningful conversation with that company’s consultant who is doing all of that Tweeting. In the case of Direct Sales…that means they want to engage in meaningful conversations with YOU.

When it comes to marketing your business on Twitter, here are a few important tips that you should know.

1. Try to engage your followers by asking them questions or asking them for their opinions on the products you are trying to market.

2. Don’t make your Tweets all about business all of the time. Mix them up with some general chit chat topics. You can discuss non-confrontational current events or daily life topics with your followers.

3. Don’t have every Tweet contain a link to your web site. That is viewed as link spam and is often reported by followers to Twitter as spam.

4. Offer up some general Direct Sales, home business, networking, marketing, etc. types of tips that you find beneficial that you think other’s would be interested in. You can visit other web sites that offer home business resources and tweet out links to those articles if you are not great at sharing your own business tips. In addition, if you enjoy great inspirational business quotes, tweet out a few of those a day too!

5. Never send out out direct messages to followers with your business information in it unless that specific person has asked you for the information.

6. Never send @ mentions to people who are not following you advertising your products or services. This is considered to be @ mention spam and is reported by followers to Twitter. If people want to follow you or they want your information, they will request it from you.

7. Make sure your profile page is filled out correctly with a working live link to your web site or blog. Many times when I click on profile page links they are broken and incorrect. In addition, you will need a business logo or a photograph of yourself to use as your avatar. No one enjoys seeing the Twitter standard bluebird avatar when they are talking to someone.

8. Don’t bombard your followers with too many tweets! People will quickly unfollow someone who sits on there 24/7 sending out hundreds of messages.

Marketing your Direct Sales business online can be a profitable endeavor if it is done correctly and if you work on it consistently. By following the tips I have outlined above you will have more sucess with your marketing efforts on Twitter.

This article was written by Shelly Hill, copyright 2011, All Rights Reserved.

I love networking on various online social networking sites, especially Twitter…but for the past few months, I have been seeing way too many home business owners using Twitter improperly.

When you are networking on the all too important social networking site Twitter, it is important to Retweet a few things that your followers Tweet that you feel other followers would like to read or an important tip/link etc. However, 80% of your Tweets should not be Retweets or self-promoting Tweets. For an example:

I follow Jane Doe over on Twitter and have done so for a few months now. Today though, I unfollowed Jane even though I think she is a nice person. Why you might ask? 80% of Jane’s Tweets are Retweets of links and self-promoting business links. I know we all want to get the word out about our businesses, but I won’t follow what I call “self-promoting spammers” nor will I follow those who 80% of their Tweets are Retweets of other Tweets that folks posted.

Case in point: I love to follow some Etsy Sellers and I do buy a lot of goods on Etsy…but a lot of Etsy Seller’s fall into the trap of too much self-promoting or they sit all day on Twitter Re-Tweeting 50+ links a day to ‘other’ Etsy Seller Goods. When followers see this, they get over-whelmed and you are giving the perception to them that you are only there (on Twitter) to promote yourself and your Etsy friends 24/7.

My Tip to the Etsy Sellers: Try mixing it up…post some home business tips, links to your favorite recipes, parenting tips or just tell us about your day. No one wants to read 100 Re-Tweets from you every day that are nothing but self-promotion or promotion of your fellow Etsy Friends.

Social Networking is just that…networking….and it takes a lot of hard work to get it right but with patience, hard work & the right advice, you can make social networking work for your and your home business.

Shelly

Almost every day when I get online to check my email I receive some type of spammed invite to come join some type of social networking site or networking group. Frankly, I am just tired of it now.

In my personal and professional opinion, it is NOT okay to spam everyone on your contact list with an invite every time you go out and join some new networking site or group. Sure, so and so might be interested but surely, not everyone will be.

If I wanted to receive these types of emails from people, I would sign up for them or I would let you know. However, I feel that this is just another type of spam email method.

I am a very busy person and I am sure you are busy as well and getting emails on a daily basis to come check out this new forum, this new social networking site or group is becoming ridiculous and frankly, I am tired of it. To me and many others…its spam!

Now on when I get these types of ‘spammed’ invites, I reply with a not so nice message about it and then, I block them from emailing me that nonsense again.

If you want to keep those who are in your contact lists and email address books happy, I suggest that you NEVER spam email invites to them unless they have specifically told you that they would like to receive that type of communication from you.

How do you feel about this issue?

Shelly

Making Facebook Central to Your Business by Debbie A. Everson

For businesses thinking of venturing into the realms of social media, Facebook is one of the most logical choices wherein to wage a marketing campaign. After all, Facebook is inhabited by more than a hundred million people spanning continents, cultures, and preferences. And this number is increasing everyday with no end yet in sight. That sheer number makes Facebook marketing a not-so-alien idea and hints of an immense potential for business.
Facebook Marketing for Your Business

Getting down to the nitty-gritty of Facebook marketing is not that difficult. There are only a few simple activities that must be done properly, and they are listed below:

1. Create a Facebook account and profile that effectively advertise your business. Facebook marketing starts with establishing your business or brand through a careful creation of an account name, and an informative profile that subtly casts your business brand in a good light.

2. Create a Facebook fan page for your business or product that you carry. Post updated content on the page to keep users informed of any activities related to your business, or provide them with useful links to resources or events that you organize. The idea is to create and sustain brand or business awareness as part of your Facebook marketing campaign.

3. Integrate your Facebook marketing campaign with Twitter or MySpace. Inter-linking social media with your blog site or website increases the number of your marketing channel, consequently widening marketing coverage.

4. Make a conscientious effort to increase your friends or followers, but don’t be annoying doing so. Relationships built carefully through time and with sincere effort make for a successful marketing campaign.

5. If you have funds to spend, Facebook ads give your business the opportunity to reach a targeted audience. If funds are short, network. Networking means joining Facebook groups related to your business niche. These networks are where common-interest users flock together, making your Facebook marketing efforts that much easier in reaching your target audience.
What’s in Store for Your Business

Once you have been hanging out in Facebook for some time, you will understand the culture that pervades within. The first thing that will strike you is how personal everything is. It’s all about people posting their thoughts, and what they are doing at that very minute. The deluge of posts can range from mundane to significant, from gossip to news.

In creating a Facebook marketing campaign, these eccentricity latent to Facebook is what businesses have to deal with, turning these quirk into a business advantage. Because behind the mundane, there are actually many benefits to Facebook marketing, such as those below:

1. Free advertising with each posted content that is read and shared by friends and followers.

2. Increased market coverage — from targeted or niche audience, to general Facebook populace, even reaching previously unreachable channels.

3. Connecting with business peers and competitors through a follower relationship or by simply visiting their walls or pages.

4. Business image enhancement through a steady flow of image-building posted content.

With Facebook leading the social media game, many businesses are now in for the ride, crafting and launching their own made-for-Facebook marketing campaigns. Shouldn’t you?

Debbie Everson is the CEO of SearchMar.com, the leading provider of search engine optimization, social media & online marketing solutions to over 2,000 small businesses. Read my SEO Blog. Follow me on Twitter or call 866-885-6263 for a free consultation.

Article Source: WAHM Articles

Are you aware that nothing you post online is private? Furthermore, just because you delete something online…doesn’t mean it’s really gone?

Way too often I see people posting all kinds of things online and then later on they go delete what they posted and pray that it’s gone. Well…let’s be clear about something…if you are representing yourself online to be any type of business professional you should never post inappropriate looking photos, hate comments, vulgar language and so forth…those kinds of things can come back later on and bite you in the butt.

There are hundreds of search engines online and they do indeed crawl web sites, blogs, social networking sites, online forum boards, etc. and what you think is something privately posted….really isn’t. Those words and photo’s get picked up by search engines and archived in their files…even things you posted 10 years ago…can still be found online.

What you once posted when you were young and wild is now coming back to bite you in the butt 10 years later when you want people online or employers/customers to take you seriously and it’s damaging your reputation.

The best piece of advice I can give any online user is to always think about what you are posting before you post it. Is it something that can hurt you 10 years from now? If so, don’t do it. Cleaning up your online reputation is very difficult to do so protect yourself now and be careful of the things you are posting online.

Shelly