The Insatiable Solopreneur™

Succeeding and Surviving as a Solopreneur

Archive for the tag “Social media tips”

10 Apr 2013
2 Comments

Why Small Biz Owners Need to Make It Personal

Using social media to market a business requires a lot of time (no news flash there!) – particularly if you’re serious about Social Media Interactionmaking your efforts pay off. And it’s no secret that small business owners struggle with maintaining the consistency needed to really do social media well, so some delegate or outsource their posting and engagement to some degree.

While there’s no shame in getting a little help with your social media, it’s important that you, as the business owner, never ever divest yourself completely of being engaged. Even with someone managing your accounts, you personally need to stay in tune with what’s happening on your pages – and make it known that you are personally interested in interacting with others in your online business community.

So how do you show some love to other entrepreneurs and customers so you’re generating a steady supply of goodwill and stay in good standing?

Make sure that you – via your personal social media accounts – follow, like, circle, pin and connect with the same organizations and businesses your business social media accounts are connected with. And then follow through and interact with them as your own personal self.

And that’s important why?

You’re an ambassador for your brand.
As a small business owner, most people probably recognize you as the lead spokesperson for your brand. When you generate goodwill by interacting with other businesses, you’re projecting that goodwill on your brand as well.

You won’t overload your brands’ followers’ and fans’ news feeds with likes and comments on posts that may not be interesting to them.
This is particularly true with Facebook! I’ve already unliked Facebook business pages because they littered my news feed with that stuff. Friends of your personal Facebook profile, however, will likely have a higher tolerance for seeing your likes and comments. After all, most of their other friends are liking and commenting on posts in abundance as well.

Your personal endorsement means something.
Because businesses recognize that not all business owners are doing their own social media posting, a like, +1, or comment directly from you is more easily identified as genuine and real. The fact that you, the small business owner, took the time to personally interact demonstrates that you care. And that can facilitate stronger relationships online and offline.

Certainly, it does require some time to take inventory of the key companies and organizations your business accounts are connected with on your social media channels, but after some initial effort to align your personal accounts with them, keeping on top of it won’t be quite so bad. If you’re strapped for time – as so many small business owners are – identifying those connections is something that can very easily be delegated or outsourced. But from there, you’ll need to let your own personal sense of social savvy be your guide. There’s no satisfactory substitute for you and your voice when it comes reinforcing your personal commitment to building relationships for your small business in the professional community.

Your turn? What brand benefits have you discovered by connecting personally with other business on social media?

Image courtesy of AdamR / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Posted in Facebook, Marketing, Outsourcing, Social Media and tagged , , , ,
11 Dec 2012
2 Comments

Is Too Much of a Good Thing Turning Off Your Facebook Page Fans?

Like so many Facebook page owner/admins, I have experienced the benefits of actively engaging with other pages. It Cautionbuilds goodwill, it incites reciprocity, it generates awareness. But with the way Facebook news feeds work these days, there really is such a thing as too much of a good thing. While your engagement might be appreciated by the pages you’re proactively interacting with, it might also be annoying to your fans.

How can it be that engagement – the not-so-secret recipe for creating a formidable online presence – might bite us in our social media derrières? While most of us think Facebook overly throttles the status updates, links and photos that we post, it seems to more than generously display our liking, sharing and commenting activities. Are our fans more interested in our engagement with other pages than what we post on our own? My guess is “no,” but they’re seeing a good bit of it regardless.

Easy does it!

So be judicious when liking, sharing and commenting. Don’t do it all in one fell swoop at a single point during the day because your fans’ news feeds will be inundated with posts showing (seemingly) everything that you liked, shared and commented on. Honestly, I’ve unliked other pages when my news feed was disproportionately filled with posts showing that they liked this or commented on that. And, before I caught on to the fact that I might be subjecting my own fans to the same bombardment, I’m sure I lost a fan (maybe 2) for the very same reason. Engage, but pace yourself, so your interactions are more evenly spread out rather than condensed into a short time span.

Don’t cause hard feelings.

Also be aware that the admins of the pages that follow you will see which pages you’re showing the most love to. And if it’s not them, well, they might feel a bit dejected. Naturally, you’ll have some favorites (either because they’re your clients, raving fans, or prospects), but try to more evenly distribute your engagement to avoid appearing overly selective.

Make it meaningful

Make it count when engaging with other pages. Don’t like, comment or share without putting any thought into it. Aim to engage only when posts are truly interesting, informative, entertaining or otherwise give you a reason to interact with them. That will help you keep the quantity of your interactions in check so you’re not overpowering your fans’ news feeds. Plus, it will demonstrate that you have intent when you interact…that it’s not done solely for the sake of throwing someone a bone.

Proactively engaging on Facebook really is a great thing. It’s just that – for now – it might be in your best interest to tone things down instead of going full throttle.

Your turn? How have you modified your engagement with Facebook pages since likes, comments and shares are prominently displayed in your fans’ news feeds?

Image courtesy of mrpruen / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Posted in Facebook, Marketing, Social Media and tagged , ,
09 Oct 2012
7 Comments

Getting the Most from a Fan Page Follow Fest

I was skeptical at first when I commented on Mari Smith’s Facebook Fan Page Friday post last Friday morning.Like button

“Please add your fan page URL or @ tag on this post or on my wall. It’s a great way to discover new fan pages, make new friends, and get new fans.”

I had been down that road before on LinkedIn group discussions, chamber of commerce Facebook pages and other social spaces that encouraged a mass “follow fest” – only to find lack of reciprocal participation. Disheartening most definitely. And those past experiences almost stopped me from making the effort on Mari’s page.

Not sure why I decided to do it anyway, but I’m so very glad I did for my Facebook page and two others that I assist with.

The results in fan growth:

  • My page – a 12% increase
  • Client A’s page – a 38% increase
  • Client B’s page – a 22% increase

Why such favorable outcomes when past efforts didn’t provide this level of return? Well, I think a lot of it has to do with the mind set of Mari Smith’s community of fans. She has built a following that believes in reciprocating – and knows the value in it!

Of course, it’s true that number of fans doesn’t always equate to quality engagement and conversions, but I believe this Fan Page Friday exercise was absolutely the right thing to do and well worth the time and energy expended for these reasons:

  • My two clients’ pages were just ramping up and had few followers. They needed a “shot in the arm” to build their numbers so their posts are more likely to get some air time and interaction. Maybe not all the new likes are in their target markets, but fan count and engagement definitely adds appeal and builds momentum. It certainly won’t hurt their pages to have a higher fan count – and judging from what I’ve seen so far from the new likes that came from Mari’s community, my clients’ pages will experience more ongoing likes, comments and shares on their posts.
  • In my case, virtually all businesses are either potential clients or sources of referrals.

I’m not sure how often Mari offers the opportunity to promote your business on her page, but I highly recommend that you “Like” her page and keep your eyes open for the next time she does. When the door opens again, keep these things in mind as you embrace the chance to expand your reach:

  • Over a thousand people commented on Mari’s posts that day – she actually did two identical posts, probably to keep the comment stream more manageable. Therefore it’s quite impossible to show love to every worthy page who participated. Take about a half hour to scan the thread to find and like business Facebook pages that fit one of these scenarios:
    • They might be potential clients.
    • They might be a good source of referrals.
    • They offer services that are complementary to yours.
    • They’re local.
    • You find them interesting.
  • If you manage more than one Facebook page, don’t undertake this exercise for more than two pages at a time. I had to step lively to keep up with three, and I’m so very happy I didn’t participate with all the pages I administrate. Just two would have been ideal.
  • When liking a page, do so when logged in as your Facebook page and also as your own personal self. Here’s why…
    • Business pages’ fan counts don’t increase when other business pages like them – only when unique people do.
    • You want to gain exposure for your business page, so make it easy for other page owners to discover and like your page in return. Logging in as your page to like them and when commenting on their posts makes your page known to them and their followers.
  • Write a note on the pages’ timelines that you’ve just followed to make them aware of your like and to introduce yourself, your business and the type of content you share regularly. With likes coming in left and right during an event like Mari Smith’s, it’s challenging to keep up with new followers. Your introduction will ensure you don’t get lost in the shuffle.
  • Reciprocate! Make the effort to like the pages that have proactively followed your page, and reply to comments that they made on your timeline. Getting off on the right foot by building goodwill will lay the foundation for continued interaction.

The incremental value gleaned from the several hours I had spent liking, reciprocating likes, and posting introductions and gratitude remains to be seen, but I’m encouraged. For me, it was a matter of being in the right place at the right time…for you, my hope is that you’ll put your senses on alert to purposely take advantage of the next opportunity to grow your network when Mari gives the green light!

Your turn! What success – or lack of – have you had with Facebook page fan posts that facilitate page likes? What growth have you experienced in fan counts and ongoing engagements?

Image courtesy of [image creator name] / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Posted in Facebook, Marketing, Social Media and tagged , , , , , ,
06 Sep 2012
5 Comments

Blurred Lines: Your Professional and Personal Social Media Personas Are One

Fact: The lines are blurred between “professional” and “personal” personas on social media.Blurred personal and professional lines

Is that a positive thing? Is it negative? Quite honestly, I think it’s a little bit – or maybe a lot – of both.

Like it or not, you are your brand on social media. Whether you’re a small business owner, a professional working for someone else or someone looking for a job, what you post on your personal social media accounts will, without a doubt, color how others see you professionally as well.

So what? Do you:

  1. …walk on eggshells and only post plain vanilla content and commentary so you never ruffle any feathers?
  2. …take a “devil may care” attitude, speak what’s on your mind, and say “to hell” with anyone who doesn’t like it?

Really, that’s up to you. But be aware that choice “b” will probably have consequences. Assuming that not all of your business colleagues, clients, bosses and potential employers hold the same position on issues like politics, religion (or lack thereof), gay rights, and other potentially volatile topics, you’re likely to either piss off or completely alienate people.  And that could hurt your business, ax your chances of a promotion, or put you out of the running for a new job.

I’ve focused on the extremes here, but I believe there are also ways to respectfully share your positions on certain topics and beliefs without appearing confrontational and exclusive. Your approach means EVERYTHING when addressing sensitive topics. If you invite civilized discussion and respond without attacking those who respectfully disagree, you stand a better chance of maintaining good will and keeping relationships intact.

Your turn to share! How do you manage the lack of divide between your personal and professional social media personas?

Posted in Branding, Social Media and tagged , , ,
13 Jul 2012
4 Comments

Do #Hashtags Make a Difference?

I’m not a big hashtag user. Yes, I have used them, but generally that’s when I’m retweeting someone else and they’ve Hashtag imageused hashtags in their original tweet.

I guess the writer in me looks at them as a bit of an annoyance:

They’re an interruption. There you are just reading along and “Blammo!” There’s a hashtag disrupting the flow of the content.

They’re blatant attempts to get noticed. They seem so ostentatious. “Hey, look at me! I’m tweeting about something REALLY important!”

Ben Rimalower’s recent post Hastags are Over pretty much echoes my sentiments, but unlike Ben, I do still see some Twitter veterans using hashtags in their tweets.

Why?

One reason that makes me scratch my head in wonder…

I get that hashtags are a way of identifying that a tweet focuses on a specific topic or brand. People interested in that subject can search by typing the hashtag into the “Search” field on Twitter.com or filter by that hashtag in Hootsuite or some other dashboard tool. But when you’re using a specific word or phrase in the tweet anyway, there really seems to be no reason to make it a hashtag. Anyone interested in that keyword will find you regardless of whether or not you use a # in front of it.

One reason that makes sense…

Then there’s using hashtags for Tweet Chats. That one still makes sense. If you’re holding or participating in a live Twitter group discussion, a hashtag (like #smallbizchat for example) enables people to filter out everything else and only see tweets that are a part of the conversation. And by adding that hashtag to the questions or responses that you tweet during Tweet Chats, other participants will be sure to see your tweets.

Hashtag use: Necessary or not?

So it seems hashtags are both obsolete and highly relevant at the same time. Although I currently use them sparingly, I’m curious to see if they would in any way make a difference in how quickly or how slowly my base of Twitter followers grows. I’ve been tracking my weekly followers for some time so I’ve got a good baseline metric for comparison purposes.

Starting Sunday, I’m going to make an effort to add at least one hashtag to every tweet for the next 4 weeks. At the end of my little experiment, I’ll report back on how the new approach affected the growth of my network.

#Staytuned!

What about you? Do you use hashtags and are they helping you grow your Twitter following?

Posted in Hashtags, Twitter and tagged , , , ,
07 Jun 2012
1 Comment

Painless Ways for Finding Content to Share on Social Media

In talking with other solopreneurs and small business owners in my community about social media, I’ve found that their biggest challengesSearching for content are:

A. Finding the time

B. Finding content that interests their audience

It’s rather nice that by addressing B, you can also alleviate some of the stress of A!

Having a pool of relevant content sources available to post and tweet from each day cuts down on the foraging work you need to do – and that saves precious time.

Some ideas for having a constant supply of content at your fingertips:

Keep Your RSS Reader Well Stocked

Subscribe via RSS to quality blogs that post quality articles – and that do it consistently. Follow at least 10 that are focused on your industry and provide info on the types of topics your audience can really sink their teeth into.

Get on Twitter

If you’ve already got an account, great! If you don’t (even if you have no intention of actively tweeting), sign up and start following Twitter users who primarily tweet about the topics you and your target market care about (To find them, search by topic or hashtag). Twitter provides a virtually endless stream of links to content. Sort through your Home Feed to find what strikes a chord and share on other social media networks.

Be Smart – Be Briefed

As a rule, I try to keep my in-box clear of e-newsletters, but SmartBriefs are an exception. Sign up for a SmartBrief specific to your industry or niche (they cover nearly every business discipline) and get a daily digest of featured blog articles, news and videos specific to your interests – delivered directly to you via a single email. Peruse the latest and greatest, pick and choose, and share the best links with your social media fans and followers.

Consistently sharing content that matters to your connections starts with having a well-planned and sufficiently substantial inventory of sources at your fingertips. You’ll need to devote some up-front time and energy to the cause, but it will pay off in the long run as save you significant amounts of both!

Your turn! Where do you find quality, relevant content to share with your fans, followers and connections on social media? Please share your tips and tricks!


Dialing 8 Project

Consider joining the Dialing 8 Project! A forum for learning, sharing & getting the most out of your social media efforts for your small business.

Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Posted in Marketing, Social Media and tagged , , , , , , ,

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