Tag: Social Media

#BuildYourTribe – Who is in Your Tribe?

Finding your tribe, your group of true fans, committed followers, and influencers, is a challenging prospect for many. What if I told you that you already have a community waiting for you? They’re out there. You just have to help them find you.
The best part is…you may have already found your core group.
Start with ten people. Name ten people who have supported you and your dream in some way. Who is supporting you? Who makes a great team captain when you need it? Who do you rely on when your back is against the wall and you’re not sure where to turn? Write them down.
Those ten people are part of your tribe. If you can’t find those people, perhaps your work has been unfocused, scattered, or you haven’t invited others to join you. But if you have found them, let them know that they are on your team and that you appreciate them.
Remember, a tribe is a group of people who are passionate about you and what you’re passionate about. The key to engaging that audienceis by making them feel as though they are part of a bigger purpose. You can do that by helping them improve their lives: making them laugh, providing self-helps or how-tos, brightening their days with art and photography, and helping them feel respected or understood through your personal storytelling. It should always be about “us” rather than “me”.
Start with the group you have, whether it’s on Facebook (or some other social media site) or a current mailing list. Ask them “What is your biggest frustration with _____?” and fill in the blank with something you feel passionate about. When you get responses back, create engaging content that speaks to their frustrations and helps them solve that problem. You are on your way to building that rapport you need.
Here are a few tips to help you communicate with your tribe:
  • You don’t have to be a perfect individual (This isn’t the same as grammatically perfect, by the way. Make sure your content is high-quality). As a matter of fact, your failures and struggles will connect you with your tribe in a way you never imagined. With every story you tell, however, make sure there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Show them the challenges you have overcome and they’ll love you for it.
  • You need to empower your tribe and make them feel as though they are part of a larger picture. You can do this by asking them questions, creating a survey, letting them know how much they mean to you, etc.
  • Know what you’re passionate about and commit to a path. If you knew that you already had a group of people who were passionate about you, how would you change the way you work? Would you stop campaigning? Stop chasing rainbows and “opportunities” at every corner? If you already had a core group of people clamoring for your content, what would you produce? That, more than anything, is what you should be doing.
  • No two tribes are the same. There is no “right way” to go about this. You have to find your own way. And you know, what? You can do it.

Members of your community, or tribe, will eventually become brand advocates if you work on developing, connecting and nurturing them. That will mean the work of promoting your business can be shared with a tribe that respects you and is excited about what you are doing. This is exactly what it means to #BeAwesome with your work and truly make an impact.
Be sure to Follow us and Let’s Engage!
Hollie Clere of The Social Media Advisor is a “#BeAwesome” Developer, Social Media, Brand Builder, Content Manager, Trainer and Author in LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Google+,YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram and the tools to manage them.

#EducationMatters – Educate Your Clients on All Your Services

Are you educating your clients on all of your services? You can’t assume a person will know everything your company offers based on a quick description on your social media pages (if they even read that). You also shouldn’t assume your clients know everything about you. It’s just not realistic.
Don’t rush out and flood your mailing list and social media platforms with a flood of updates, or one long unending message about what you do. That will likely frustrate your clients and make your reputation suffer. So how do you educate your clients without being spammy about it?
Here are some suggestions that will help you educate your clients AND get them intrigued about your services. You don’t have to do all of them, but consider one or two.
  • Update your site. Consolidate all your services into one informative page. Make sure it’s easy to read and understand. Break down each service into a three sentence (or less) description. ProTip: It’s also a good idea to develop a FAQ that covers common regular questions and any you receive about services. If you have one, make sure you link the FAQ on this information page.
  • Each service you provide should have a more detailed explanation. Whether you do this by individual web pages or as expanded tabs on your information page is completely up to you, but it needs to be there.
  • Create a blog postabout your services. Be informative, and explain how you help the client with each service. It can be as detailed as you like, but you can easily keep it as brief as the site update suggestion from above. Then, post your blog post link on all your social media sites. Make sure your title is eye-catching and the first three sentences are intriguing. Future questions can be directed at either this blog post or the information page you make.
  • Do you have two or more services that are normally purchased together? If so, why not combine them into a package that clients can purchase at a discount? This promotion can also be a great way to mention other services you provide. This one is excellent for mailing lists, by the way.
  • Choose a day of the week to inform your clients on all social media accounts about your business. Then, select one aspect of your business and talk about that. It helps to have an image to go with your post. That image should be easy to read and understand. One of my clients uses a definition image where they list a service they provide and then write out that two to three sentence description. Make the background eye catching. You should know that white text with a black outline can go on any background, so you should use that for consistency and viewing ease from mobile devices.
These are just some ways to inform your clients of your services. One thing to keep in mind: your audience for Twitter isn’t the same as Facebook. Nor is your mailing list the same as your Instagram. Expect that your clients aren’t all aware of the same information. Repurpose your content instead of setting up an information page on one social media site (like Facebook) and using that link to give your clients information.
One other thing, and this is important. Don’t just share your own stuff. Talk about other things, places, events, ideas, and more. If you are constantly trying to sell your services, you’ll come off looking cheap and shady. To #BeAwesome in social media you will need to take into consideration the type of content your audience wants and provide that regularly.

Be sure to Follow us and Let’s Engage!
Hollie Clere of The Social Media Advisor is a “#BeAwesome” Developer, Social Media, Brand Builder, Content Manager, Trainer and Author in LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Google+,YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram and the tools to manage them.

#EducationMatters – Really Connect with Your Power Partners

Another relevant aspect of education is getting to know the businesses that refer clients and customers to you. These power partners are essential in meeting the needs of your customers.
But what, exactly, is a power partner?
A power partner is a company that isn’t direct competition but has similar client bases. This allows you and the power partner to refer clients to one another.
I’ve mentioned before that social proof is important and explained how team building is essential in your business. Referrals from your power partners are essential aspects of social proof. Why? Their customers and clients trust that your partners wouldn’t steer them wrong. The same goes for your referrals. When you suggest a power partner to a customer or client, you’re giving those power partners your personal stamp of approval. Your reputation is on the line so educate yourself on what, exactly, your partners can provide to your clients.
Remember when I said you don’t need to do everything on your own? You don’t have to be perfect at everything. If you get swamped with projects, doesn’t it make sense to know where you can refer clients when things get overwhelming? Not all projects will fall under your scope of work, and that’s okay.
Take the time to get to know your power partners. Where do their strengths lie? Keep tabs on how they’re doing and how stacked their schedule becomes. Also, make sure your power partners know what you do. This helps in their referral process as well.
Most of all, when you refer a client, let the power partner know they’re coming. It would be a great idea to build a tracking system for referrals. I say this for two reasons: 1. You can ask the customer/client how the connection went and 2. You can find patterns of behavior and cycles of customer/client needs that can forge a direct relationship with a power partner.
What do I mean by that? What if you are a marketing/brand consultant and one of your power partners is a web developer who specializes in building WordPress websites? Let’s say 75% of your clientele require website overhauls and 5% need new ones created. You refer them, of course, to your web developer power partner, but less than 25% of them actually convert. You and your power partner put your heads together and come up with a referral discount. Or you create a package deal in which you contract your power partner to do the web-end of the service. There are many other options out there. You’d be surprised how often that tiny collaboration can make all the difference in a successful business transaction.

A relationship between you and your power partners can weather storms greater than you ever imagined. The support network you build today can last for generations and is a genuine path for being #BeAwesome at what you do!
Be sure to Follow us and Let’s Engage!
Hollie Clere of The Social Media Advisor is a “#BeAwesome” Developer, Social Media, Brand Builder, Content Manager, Trainer and Author in LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Google+,YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram and the tools to manage them.

#EducationMatters – How Do I Keep Up With Changes in Social Media?


Social Mediatrends change every day. This summer alone has met with dramatic overhauls of Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest. Facebook Live, Instagram Stories, Pinterest Videos, and more have come on the scene. Less than 24 hours after Facebook Live was announced to the public, you had powerful influencers cornering the market while most of the business population was scrambling to figure out the details.

How did they get ahead? Education. Educating yourself on changes in social media is one of the most important things you can do for your brand, but how do you keep up with the trends? We’ve provided three sure-fire tips to keep up-to-date on social media changes:

Check popular social media analyst sites. Follow social media analyst sites like Mashableand the Social Media Examiner.

Social Media Influencers. If that’s not specific enough, search for experts in your favorite social media venues. Sue B. Zimmerman, for instance, is an Instagram expert. She always has great tips and video tutorials that prep for upcoming trends. Jon Loomer is focused on advanced Facebook marketing. Top Dog Social Media has fantastic generalist articles that cover how to communicate on social media, but their primary target is LinkedIn. Following the expert of your preferred social media site is a great way to stay ahead of the game. These are just a few of the experts in their respective fields.

Social Media TV. Set up social media TV using YouTube. Subscribing to a reliable social media channel is as simple as typing “social media” in the YouTube search bar, clicking on Filter & Explore to choose Channel (this sorts out the social media-related channels), and subscribe to any channels that keep you up-to-date in a way you enjoy.

Weekly summary newsletters or RSS feeds. Using paper.li or Smartbrief on Social Media can help you stay on track with current social media topics. Paper.li allows you to select your topics of interest while Smartbrief on Social Media is the most well-respected social media news summary you can have delivered straight to your inbox. Both are free to use.

For RSS feeds, consider using a feed reader to keep all your content in one place. Feedlyis a common one that is universal across all mobile platforms. It’s also compatible with most desktops and can also be used in any web browser. It’s also free-to-use. Find marketing gurus and tech crunch sites to follow. This is also an excellent resource for following podcasts that talk about social media change.

Taking the time to learn about social media changes is necessary to your business success. #EducationMatters when it comes to staying ahead of the competition so that you can #BeAwesome in social media.

Be sure to Follow us and Let’s Engage!
Hollie Clere of The Social Media Advisor is a “#BeAwesome” Developer, Social Media, Brand Builder, Content Manager, Trainer and Author in LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Google+,YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram and the tools to manage them.


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