Hollie Clere, Author at The Social Media Advisor

January 20, 2015
Social Media Marketing

Why LinkedIn Prospecting Works

If you are in business in any fashion, LinkedIn is one of the first platforms networkers will recommend that you join. Most of us have created an account, probably because of receiving a connection request from someone you know, or someone you have met.

“Sure, I have a LinkedIn account, but I don’t do anything with it …” or “I created an account to get a job … “ are the responses we usually hear in our Workshops or networking events. So, if I should create a profile on this account and do nothing with it, then why bother? It isn’t just a tool used for job searching as many would believe.

Let me share with you why.

LinkedIn has a lot of amazing features to pull up relevant search results for business people you could be looking for. From interests, experience, potential individuals you may be interested in connecting with, for networking purposes, or desire to reach out as a prospective client. Your profile has ample space to share information valuable to your history and the entire network is searchable (meaning every word you choose to use on your profile is relevant and important. I call LinkedIn “My Rolodex of business contacts”.

There are specific techniques people have used to actually build relationships through the tool to generate a network of Power Partners, a network of people of similar interests (within and outside of work), Group discussions to bring clarity to news and issues going on in day to day work atmospheres, community or regions, a CRM database to build notes, tasks and history, perform research on Companies and opportunities, read articles and blogs shared by others, to name a few.

Taking the step to further a relationship with a “potential” someone on LinkedIn can be just as beneficial as a relationship you build in Facebook; but on a professional level. How does someone do this? There are specific processes that we have learned, refined and used over the last 7 years; that changed the way we have been able to enhance professional relationships and do business using LinkedIn.

We have developed a workshop that we offer locally (Denver Metro) that will show you the specific steps to do this, increasing your visibility, engagement and relationship potential with others you network with in LinkedIn. You can learn about our workshops by visiting: http://thesocialpro.eventbrite.com

There are even many ways to build your contact database of clients without you spending hours online doing it yourself. If you find you and your team are not at a place to spend this time combing LinkedIn for potential clients, we have a management package to do this for you as well.

What is your biggest struggle on LinkedIn? Let us know and we may be able to help you overcome it!

~ Social Media is changing the way people do business. Don’t get left behind ~

Hollie Clere, of The Social Media Advisor is a “Be Awesome” Developer, Social Media Brand Builder, Conent Manager, Trainer and Author in LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Google+ , YouTube, Pinterest and the tools to manage them. Click here for her Social Media Workshops, Classes and Seminars

Curious on whether your social brand is built properly? Get your Social Media Analysis today.

http://www.thesocialmediaadvisor.com/Social_Media_Analysis.html

November 25, 2014
Social Media Marketing

Facebook Announced Privacy Changes Effective Jan 1, 2015

https://www.facebook.com/about/terms-updates

Facebook announced Privacy changes in Terms and Conditions effective January 1, 2015. They have developed something called Privacy Basics which is a tool to assist in understanding all privacy options.

They are covering information on:

GEO Targeting or getting location information to provide you with enhancements for where you are and friends nearby.
Enhancements to Purchases on Facebook
Information on the apps use with your device down to battery, signal and permissions
Information on the suite of companies now working with Facebook
Additional control with Ads

Though the information provided so far is very general, it has a nice appearance to its instruction tutorial module and walks you through some of the popular questions you would see in forums. They are also developing videos in 30+ languages to provide instruction as well.

Though I can’t give a thumbs up or down on this Privacy initiative, I will say that as a user of Facebook, this is a step in the right direction and I am encouraged to see if there are mild or massive changes users will need to make upon the official launch, if they have made adjustments to layouts and how this will effect the user experience. The biggest complaint people have when we talk about Facebook in consultations is, “They just don’t make it easy to find answers to my questions” So hopefully this will help with that!

View the details about Privacy Basics, Terms and Updates at: https://www.facebook.com/about/terms-updates

~ Social Media is changing the way people do business. Don’t get left behind ~

Hollie Clere, of The Social Media Advisor is a social media manager, trainer and author in LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Google+ , Pinterest and the tools to manage them. Click here for her Social Media Links

Curious on whether your social brand is built properly? Get your Social Media Analysis today.

November 24, 2014
Social Media Marketing

Top 5 Tips To Fill Your Business Bellies With Fundamental Social Media Strategies!

Social Media is a tool that ANY business can use to fill their funnel of “hungry bellies” with solid relationship marketing strategies. This 4^th Quarter is the perfect opportunity to build the foundation for successful routines to catapult you into the New Year!

So, you may have built a Facebook Page, Gathered connections on LinkedIn, Dabbled in Twitter or Launched a Google+ Profile for your business. We hear frequently that people have “tried them on” and left them undernourished due to a variety of reasons. Maybe you have never closed business using social media, known how best to navigate the changing temperatures of updates or had time to dedicate to this relationship tool. Now is the time to reconsider your strategies.

A good friend of mine (Sabina Claus, Business Coach and Accountability Partner at www.sabinaclaus.com) says, “I love the MONTH of Thanksgiving”. You heard me right, not the month of November, but the month of Thanks and Giving. She is also the person who asked me this question, “How do you eat the elephant?” As all of us know, you eat it, “One bite at a time”. She said this isn’t correct. Here is why. You invite the village (your community), and you have a feast (or in other words, you tackle that battle together). Wise words from a wise lady.

With this season of Thanks and Giving, I invite you to have a feast with me. Here are 5 things you can do to incorporate solid Social Media Strategies into your Online Marketing plans:

Tip #1: Choose the right Meat for your Social MediaMarketing Campaigns

The only way you are going to know if the platform (i.e. Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, YouTube, Pinterest, Twitter) is right for you, is to create an account and search for your target market. A Social Media Analyst will be able to pinpoint the best for you, but this is the first step. If your clients aren’t present, will your ideal client be found in this platform? Probably not unless you change your core focus and that is another situation all together.

Tip #2: Be consistent in your Cooking (activity) in Social Media

Social Media is intended to be a Social Engagement medium. It isn’t a website. Websites generally are pretty static (or don’t change much) once they are created and launched. Your social tools are intended for you to post weekly (worse case scenario) or daily (and in some cases many, many times each day depending on the platform). Without activity, you decrease your chances of engagement and you also decrease your chances of being found, followed and gain new followers. If you are going to post an update, be sure to post at the best times of day for that platform which you can learn easily from a social media consultant based on your niche and target market.

Tip #3: Adding Media will be your Gravy to your Mash Potatoes

It is always good to add links to your website or other articles you are sharing, images that tell the story about your post or video to enhance the user experience even further. When you think about the psychology of a user, they may tend to gravitate more to “color” such as use of media than a post with just text because it is more visually appealing and can draw them in. Posts that use media generally have a higher click through rate, share rate and expand your visibility to the networks that share it.

Tip #4: Build a Solid Routine using the Right Taste Testing Tools for your Social Media

Tools and scheduling options provide you with the most opportunity for flexibility in your social media marketing experience. If you are able to have messages scheduled for you, you can easily promote events, seminars, promotions and product launches at inception and not worry about the visibility component each week (or day) leading up to the event. Tools such as HootSuite are a great medium for that. Schedule your posts, moderate comments, messages and engagement from any device, any place via this tool. You can learn more by visiting: http://bit.ly/ZbYgiW

Tip #5: Hire a Social Media Chef (Social Media Manager)

Whether you choose to select an internal employee dedicated to marketing your business (online) or you outsource it, this activity should be the primary focus of this individual. You are brilliant at the work that you do. You generally don’t have the time nor capacity to be brilliant at your specialty and at something else. If you wear too many hats, you tend to be just good (or ok) at one or the other. It makes sense to bring in the experts to fill the spaces your business needs to launch to the next level, so you can focus on the things you love doing.

How does all of this tie into “filling your bellies”? the more you build your brand, you build the relationships with your viewers. Once they “like” your page, they get to “know” you, once they get to know you, you have the opportunity to build “trust”, and with trust business happens.

Thank you for the opportunity to “FEED” your business! Let’s FEAST!

~ Social Media is changing the way people do business. Don’t get left behind ~

Curious on whether your social brand is built properly? Get your Social Media Analysis today.

November 4, 2014
Social Media Marketing

How Google+ is different from other Social Platforms

https://thesocialmediaadvisor.com/google_.html

One of the questions we are frequently asked, “How is Google+ different than other platforms?” The answer is simple but yet complex. When you think of a social media platform such as Google +, you should consider your target market.

First and foremost, is your target market present in the social media space you are looking to use?

Let’s consider Facebook … How many users use Facebook for personal use? We have found that various users utilize Facebook on a daily basis from CEOs of large corporations to people that take care of their loved ones on a day to day basis. Your audience is not only vast, but people use it for personal use which bleeds into professional use. There are Executives to Home Makers that use this platform daily to get information about personal and professional uses, though the majority of users engage on a personal level.

Let’s consider LinkedIn … This platform is engineered to tailor to the people who use it primarily for business related connections. You won’t generally see status updates of people sharing images of their children, their pets or their day to day happenings, but you will see interactions on professional activities such as events, industry related articles and company business.

Let’s consider Google+ …You will see a wide variety of users who conduct Professional and Personal interactions, This platform is the happy medium between the active Facebook and LinkedIn users. Both types of activity are accepted in this platform and there is many reasons to do so.

Google+ has options for:

Share, Comment and +1(which are your known likes in the other 2 platforms)

Hangouts – which are you alternative for online group meetings (with limited numbers) for video and chat sharing conversations (with options of recording)

Communities (or groups) for deeper conversation to build credibility and relationship with users in a more private setting.

Want to consider the best of both worlds? Are your clients present in Google+? With over 4 million users, it is very possible.

Added benefit: Status updates posted to your Company Google+ profile are searchable in THE GOOGLE (as some say). Can you pay for that type of visibility? Not sure that FREE Google search results are options for you, but they are for me and I have enjoyed the traffic I have gotten from it.

Consider trying it on. But, build your profile with a lot of meat and plan to commit to consistent activity. You may find a deeper reach than you had planned for.

My 2 cents, for what it’s worth.

~ Social Media is changing the way people do business. Don’t get left behind ~

Curious on whether your social brand is built properly? Get your Social Media Analysis today.

Free + Free = Win!

Are you telling your brand story in social media?

Author: Hollie Clere

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