Twitter for Business is like playing Snakes & Ladders!

Posted on May 20, 2013 by karenjpa

Remember the game Snakes & Ladders? I used to love that as a child – I’d play for hours until I beat those snakes and got to my goal … the 100^th square.

When I started to use social media for my business it struck me that it was very similar to Snakes & Ladders … I was playing Social Media Snakes & Ladders!

LADDERS: Some activities will help grow your followers, you get more engagement and you make useful connections.

SNAKES: Some activities will cause you to lose followers and it feels like tumbleweed is blowing across your @Connect tab.

So to help you get to your goals on social media here’s some Snakes & Ladders for you to think about if you’re using Twitter for business.

LADDERS

Use Twitter’s advanced search to find opportunities (find more targeted people to engage with)

Include important keywords in your Twitter bio (helps you get found in a search)

Retweet other people’s tweets (help others – it’s not all about you)

Create lists to filter out the noise (do most of your networking with the people most important to you)

Tweet links to your blog posts (give people useful info & send them to your website at the same time)

Use bit.ly to shorten links and track clicks (continue to tweet things that work and change the tweets that don’t)

SNAKES

Only tweeting once per week (you need to be consistent and tweet every day)

Not checking your @connect tab (you need to know if anyone’s talking to you)

Leaving the generic twitter egg as your photo (we need to know who you are)

Following anyone and everyone (it’s more effective if you follow a targeted network)

Only tweeting sales messages (it’s not an advert channel – talk to people too)

Not using a website link in your Twitter bio (a missed opportunity to get more traffic)

Keep ‘playing’ Twitter for your business, beat those snakes and reach your social media goals.

If you’d like to learn more about the principles of social media for business my FREE ebook is packed with useful tips you can put into practice today. Click here to download it Generating Leads with Social Media

Using Twitter to find local customers

Posted on May 15, 2013 by karenjpa

How would you like to find tweets that mention your topic of expertise, from people who are geographically close to you? Imagine how useful that could be to you! It would mean you could start up a conversation on Twitter and then have the opportunity to take it offline.

A recent client, who has a tyre repair service, has a search set up for the word ‘puncture’ – whenever he sees a tweet that includes that word he sends a reply to let them know he can help, and quite often he’s then booked to do the job.

While you can use the basic Twitter search box to do this you need to know something about search operators to get really specific, which can be complicated. However the Twitter Advanced Search page lets you search locally without knowing anything about search operators. Unfortunately Twitter seem to have hidden this option quite well – but don’t worry, because I’m going to tell you how to find it!

To access the Twitter Advanced Search page type the keywords you want to search for in the usual Twitter search box and press Enter on your keyboard.

You’ll see a results page that gives you a list of tweets that include those keywords. Click the down arrow next to the ‘cog’ in the corner of the page then click Advanced Search.

This reveals the Twitter Advanced Search page where you can really narrow your search.

Type in your keywords then go to the Places box. Enter the geographical area you work in and then click Search.

You’ll get a list of tweets that include your keywords, from people who are in the location you searched on.

To save this search for future use click the drop down arrow on the search results page next to the ‘cog’ and click Save Search. The next time you want to look at this search click in the basic search box and a list of your saved searches will appear.

Using Twitter search in this way helps you find opportunities and people to add to your network.

If you’d like more information on how to generate leads with social media check out my FREE ebook: Generating Leads with Social Media: 7 actions you need to take on Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook, Google+ or Pinterest to get people into your sales funnel

5 Ways to Grab Attention with your Facebook Cover Photo

Posted on January 17, 2013 by karenjpa

“You only get one chance to make a first impression”.

When someone visits your Facebook Page for the first time you want them to be interested enough to stay on the page and look around. The first thing they’ll notice is likely to be your Cover Photo but so many businesses are not using it to their advantage. You’ll either see nothing at all or it’s shouting their contact details at you (and why would someone contact you on first sight?!)

What NOT to do
Facebook have some terms & conditions relating to cover photos which some businesses are choosing to ignore. Ignore them at your peril because Facebook HAVE removed photos that break the rules.

You MUST NOT ADD:

Contact details e.g. website address, email, mailing address (basically anything that should be in the ‘About’ section.
Prices & promotions e.g. ‘only £199’, ‘get your discount coupon at … ‘, ‘25% off in Jan’.
Too much text: your cover photo is supposed to be an image so it should contain only minimal text (no more than 20%). Facebook are about to release a tool to help you stick to this rule.
Calls to action: don’t tell people what to do e.g. ‘get my ebook now’.
No Facebook references: e.g. ‘like my page’ (with an arrow pointing to the like button)

What should you do?

1. Portray your business with just a picture

Cafe Eight makes great use of their profile picture with the cover photo which adds to the overall view of the business.

2. Show your products or services in action

I love The Creation Station Northumberland‘s cover photo – it just captures the essence of what this business provides.

3. Highlight your customers

People viewing See The Future‘s cover photo can see immediately the target market this business serves making it much easier to see if it’s relevant to them

4. Show the benefits your product or service can bring

In other words sell the sizzle, not the sausage which Camperscape does brilliantly.

5. Be abstract and give people something to think (and ask) about!

I’m definitely intrigued to know what Life Cover for All’s post-it notes are about. And even though it’s has text, it’s not trying to sell you anything.

And none of them have a contact detail in sight

Some extras to think about for your Facebook Cover Photo

Remember your cover photo needs to be 851 pixels x 315 pixels for it to fit the space perfectly.
Although you’re not allowed to put lots of text, calls to action and promotions on the cover photo, you can put more details behind the photo so when people click on it they can get more information.
Change your cover photo regularly to keep your page interesting – when you upload a new photo it can show up in your fans’ newsfeed and if it’s interesting enough they may just comment – more engagement for you.

Have you seen any interesting Facebook Cover Photos lately? Let me know in the comments box below. (I’m off to put some more thought into my own cover photo).

Related articles:
10 ways to attract new customers to Facebook

A to Z of Social Media: F is for Forums

Posted on December 3, 2012 by karenjpa

While everyone’s raving about Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter etc., let’s not forget about the humble Forum.

A Forum is an internet message board where like-minded individuals congregate to discuss topics, ask questions and generally network.

Wait a minute – isn’t that what social media is for?!

It certainly is, but social media sites can sometimes be complicated to use and a little daunting. An internet forum is usually much more straight-forward. You sign up for a free account (although there are paid levels on some of them) and then browse through the different discussion topics to find threads of conversation you find interesting and want to get involved in.

To find a forum that’s related to your industry or your target market’s industry, do a keyword search on Google, e.g. marketing forum, beauty forum, small business forum … you get the idea.

Once you’ve joined a forum you have the option to add a signature to all the posts you make. Be creative with this – add your website address or a link to your Facebook page. Note: some forums will only allow you to do this once you’ve made a certain number of posts or if you have a paid account.

What should you use a forum for?

Ideas for blog posts – look through the topics being discussed, many of the questions could be turned into a blog post
Answer questions – show off your expertise by answering questions, but remember not to sell in your reply. By giving people genuine help you’ll soon become known as the go-to person for that topic
Ask questions – forums are a great place to do some market research – the replies may often throw up things you’d never have thought of
Find new contacts – look for referral partners or suppliers, do some research on them by browsing their activity in the forum first

Here’s some fantastic business forums I’ve used in the last year and actually got a new client from one of them:

Have you found a forum useful in the last year? Let me know in the comments box below.

And remember to check out the rest of the A to Z series here

Twitter School: Which window shall we look through today?

Posted on November 22, 2012 by karenjpa

Have you ever noticed the #Discover tab on your Twitter account? It’s probably the one I use the least but from today I’m going to browse it regularly and here’s why.

When you click on the #Discover Tab you’ll see it has 5 ‘discoveries’ to choose from

Today I just want to focus on Activity because it actually reveals some interesting things.

The Activity section shows me what the people I’m following are up to, specifically:

who they’ve followed recently
what tweets they’ve favourited
and what tweets they’ve retweeted.

Why is that interesting I hear you ask!

Firstly, looking at who other people follow can alert us to new prospects, suppliers or influencers we might not have noticed otherwise.

Secondly, if someone has favourited a tweet it’s probably because they think it’s interesting enough to read when they’ve got more time. So if we’re following people who are in the same industry as us and they’ve favourited a tweet it will probably be interesting to us too. And if a prospective client favourites a tweet then it could be information that helps us understand their needs a little better.

And thirdly, if people we are following regularly retweet things in our niche we need to be building relationships with them as they could be great influencers.

So next time you’re on Twitter, take a look at your #Discover tab and click on Activity – you never know what you might discover!

What feature do you use least on Twitter?

10 ways to attract new customers with Facebook

Posted on November 20, 2012 by karenjpa

As small business owners time can be limited, but one thing a business needs to survive is new customers. With only so many hours in the day we need a customer attraction strategy that won’t take up too much time but reaches as many of our target market as possible.

Don’t think Facebook can help? Think again. Take a look at these 7 ways you can use Facebook to attract new customers.

1. Think like a publisher: Your Facebook page should give your audience what THEY want. They want to read posts that can help them solve their problems, or entertain them, or educate them, plus they’re more likely to comment, like and share these. So use it less as an Advert Channel and more like a magazine or newspaper.

2. Give variety: Different people like to receive their messages in a variety of different ways. Use a combination of types of post to attract those different people – photos, video, text and audio. It also makes your page look much more interesting!

3. Think about time: Your audience may be on Facebook in the morning, afternoon, evening or even through the night. Mix up the times you post so you reach a wider audience. If you want to reach potential customers on a different continent this is especially important. My previous post on how to schedule directly on Facebook will help enormously. Remember to check your Facebook Insights to see if your time strategy is working.

4. Engage with your target audience: There are millions of Facebook business pages – go and find active pages who have a similar target market, or pages of businesses who are your ideal customer, and then start to comment on their posts. Every time you comment as your page your Facebook avatar shows up next to it which then becomes a clickable link back to your own page – it makes you visible. Remember not to spam other pages, you’re there to network and add value.

5. Network, Network, Network: Facebook groups are a brilliant forum for meeting prospective customers. Search for groups your target audience would join and get involved in the discussions. Again, you’re not there to advertise, you’re there to network. You can only join Facebook groups if you have a personal profile, you can’t join from your business page – a great reason to use personal AND business pages.

6. Remember your existing customers: If you give your existing customers something extra, they’ll be more likely to refer you to their network. Create your own secret Facebook group for your VIP customers and give them extra tips, extra discounts or a place for them to get advice about the products/services you’ve sold them. Again you can only do this from a personal profile and not a business page.

7. Advertise: Facebook Adverts have a fantastic targeting feature – you can choose to have your advert show up on the pages of people who have specific interests, live in a specific town or read a specific book or those who have stated they’re engaged or married. Put some thought into who your ideal customer is and what their interests/hobbies/location/age etc might be and you can practically guarantee you’ll pick up some extra ‘likes’ that you can then get your interesting, educational, entertaining posts in front of. You do have to pay for Facebook Ads so take your time setting them up, and remember you can’t use FB Ads if you’re just using a personal profile for your business.

8. Custom Tabs: With a Facebook business page you’re allowed to create up to 11 customised tabs! (Basically a mini-website on Facebook, although I do advise you have an actual website too). Use a tab to create a landing page that has a compelling free offer that people have to sign up for – this helps you create a quality list you can use to build relationships and slowly convert prospects into customers. More on customised tabs on this previous blog post.

9. Promotions & Discounts: Why not use one of these customised tabs to offer people a discount or let them know about a new promotion you’re running. Make your Facebook fans feel special by only offering this promotion or discount to them if they mention a promotional code. Or if you want to use it to attract fans from other social media sites you can use the url link of that custom tab in your tweets or Linkedin status updates.

10. Run a Contest: People love to win things. Attract new customers by running a contest. Facebook doesn’t allow you to run a contest directly from your page (or wall), you need to run it from a 3rd party application – a custom tab qualifies as a 3rd party application. Why not combine your contest with a Facebook Ad campaign – that means you can target specific groups of people, give them the opportunity to win something of value to them and collect their email addresses at the same time to add to your list (with their permission of course). Social Media Examiner has a great blog post on Running Successful Facebook Contests – well worth a read.

If you found this blog post useful but would like practical help on all of the points mentioned just give me a call on 0795 267 1189.

Facebook is not an advert channel

Posted on November 14, 2012 by karenjpa

According to Mark Zuckerberg there are now 1 billion users on Facebook. Do you think some of them might make a good customer for you? YES, I hear you shouting … “but how do I attract them?”

Posting advert, after advert, after advert on your Facebook page is not the way to do it.

I mean would you really watch a TV channel that only showed adverts? (There’s bound to be one of you out there who says yes!) The majority of us would say no. There’s a reason why adverts are packaged during and in-between entertaining, informative and educational programmes. If you can grab your audience’s attention with something that they find interesting (e.g. I’m a Celebrity …. ) they’re more likely to notice the adverts in the middle of it – and as some very big companies are spending large amounts of money placing them I assume enough people actually act on them.

Using Facebook is just the same. If you send out posts that are entertaining, informative and educational then your fans will be more likely to take notice of, and act on, the promotional messages you slot in among them.

I know thinking up the interesting stuff is hard work, and it’s so tempting just to post an advert about your product, or your workshop, or your service but to attract prospective customers to your page and then get them to stay engaged you’ve got to do it, otherwise all you’ve got is a page with tumbleweed blowing across it!

Can’t think of anything interesting to post? Try some of these ideas:

Give a tip
Ask a question
Funny photos (this photo on Pinnacle Lettings Agent’s Page generated 89 likes!)
‘How-to’ video
Link to your recent blog post
Link to an article on the internet that your audience will find helpful
Run a contest (but make sure you do it using a 3rd party app and not directly from your page)
Offer a discount
Hold a Q&A session on a specific day/time each week

Remember make your page interesting and your fans will take more notice of the promotional messages you post.

What are you doing to make your Facebook page interesting?

Your Linkedin Profile: 4 key sections to get right

Posted on November 12, 2012 by karenjpa

Do you want to stand out in a crowd?

Too many people on Linkedin blend into the background because they haven’t put any thought into their Profile. It isn’t something you can just create in 5 minutes during your lunch break – it’s an important part of your Linkedin strategy so take some time to get it right, especially the following 4 key sections.

1. Your Name: This is where you put your real name, not your business name, not your nickname or something obscure. It’s your Personal Linkedin Profile so it needs to have your actual name at the top of it. If someone is trying to find you make it easy for them!

2. Your Photo: This should be a recent professional head and shoulders shot of you. It shouldn’t be your logo or a picture of you playing with your dog in the park. This is a professional business network, make sure your photo reflects that. Again if someone has met you offline and is trying to find you in a search to connect, if you have a common name or they don’t remember your name correctly, a clear head & shoulders shot will guarantee they pick the right person to connect with.

3. Your Headline: This will default at your current title e.g. Owner of XYZ Company. When someone uses the Advanced Search function on Linkedin the list of results shows only a snapshot of each profile – this snapshot includes your name, your photo and your headline. Instead of getting lost among a list of ‘Owners of xxx’ or ‘Manager of xxx’, customise your headline and make it stand out. If you were looking for someone to help you with your presentation skills and you came across these two profile snapshots, which one would you click on? You get 120 characters so get creative.

4. Your Summary: If you’re lucky enough to stand out in a search and someone clicks through to your profile to find out more, make it easy for them to find out exactly what you do and who you help. You’ve got 2000 characters to play with in your summary so make them count. Remember to use relevant keywords as Linkedin is very Google friendly and your profile may well show up in a Google search. Make people think ‘this is just the person/product/service I need’ when they read it.

Have you noticed any great Linkedin profiles recently, or is your own profile fantastic? Let me know why you think they stand out.

If you want to SUPERCHARGE your social media activity check out my FREE ebook: Generating Leads with Social Media: 7 actions you need to take on Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook, Google+ or Pinterest to get people into your sales funnel

Facebook Gifts: Is Shopping about to get easier?

Posted on September 29, 2012 by karenjpa

Facebook revealed their shiny new toy this week in the shape of Facebook Gifts (to be rolled out soon).

You may have wished a friend Happy Birthday from the birthday reminder section of your newsfeed – which is a nice thing to do, but with Facebook Gifts you’ll be able to take it a step further. By clicking on the ‘Give a gift’ option you can send your friend a birthday gift!

The ‘Give a gift’ option will open up a selection of relevant gifts for you to choose from, all you need to do is add your message and it’s ready to send. Your friend will immediately receive a Facebook notification and they can then choose to accept the gift or decline it. When the gift is accepted your friend just needs to enter their address details and they’ll also be able to select a different size, colour etc if preferred.

You can choose to pay for the gift when you select it or wait until your friend accepts. It’s then gift-wrapped and delivered to their door.

What a fantastic idea – men should never have a problem choosing a birthday or anniversary present for their wives or girlfriends again

From a business perspective this could really boost your sales. I assume it will work like Facebook Ads – companies will pay to have their products appear on the gift selection. If the targeting options are the same as in Ads your products will be aimed at the people they’re most suitable for … making choosing gifts for friends simple.

I usually tell attendees of my social media workshops “People aren’t sitting on Facebook with their credit cards out“. With Facebook Gifts that could all be about to change.

What do you think? Great idea or not?

Personal Trainer has Success with Twitter

Posted on September 23, 2012 by karenjpa

At my regular weekly Network North meeting we have a five minute session at the beginning where we all get to mention the successes we’ve had that week. One of my fellow networkers, Martin Whitaker of Fitness Camp Academy, has been standing up every week to tell us about the fantastic success he’s having on Twitter so I’ve asked him to share them on my blog. Over to you Martin …

Success 1: Sitting on a Saturday evening I noticed a tweet from Sunderland City Council looking for Sunderland based Health and Fitness specialists interested in being involved in a new festival they’re planning – I immediately responded and a few tweets later I was invited to a meeting. As a result of Social Media I’m now part of the steering group for a new Health / Beauty / Fitness festival to hit the City.

Success 2: A major local radio breakfast show was recently discussing their lack of training for the GNR. I immediately sent them a tweet offering my assistance as a trainer – a few tweets and emails later we’re looking to do some work together in the future. Another Social Media success!

Success 3: After reading a blog post that I’d Tweeted a link to, I was approached and asked if I’d help publicise a GNR feature Sky Tyne and Wear were promoting. The result has now led to the offer of an opportunity to provide content for a new feature they’re adding to their website soon. Without social media this wouldn’t have happened.

Follow Martin on Twitter: @MartinWhitaker1

If you’ve had a social media success and would like to be featured here email me at karenjpa@sky.com