Beware shiny objects

Online marketing0 comments

I was at a networking event the other week, and a couple of people were talking about Pinterest and how they’ve found it useful in their business. One was an interior designer and the other person designed clothes. Now I could see that it would be a really good tool for people like that but personally I haven’t actually been on the site yet.

I know that everyone is talking about Pinterest at the moment and it’s very easy to feel that you need to be part of the “in crowd” and don’t want to feel left out. However, as far as I’m concerned, it’s not something that I think will be relevant to the services that I provide.

I have a clear idea of my marketing activities this year and the tools that I’m going to use to promote my business. And Pinterest isn’t on it! That’s not to say that plans are inflexible and can’t be changed; they obviously need to adapt with changing circumstances and demands. But it’s easy to get distracted by the latest shiny object that everyone is talking about without thinking about whether it’s right for your business.

So before you start using any kind of social media, whether that’s the traditional tools such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, or the newer kids on the block such as Google+ and Pinterest, do some research on which ones your target market is more likely to use. In fact, I’ve told clients to think hard before deciding to set up a page on Facebook or profile on Twitter. It may have lost me business but as far as I’m concerned, it’s a waste of the client’s time and money to use these tools if their prospective clients aren’t on there.

So don’t get dazzled by the latest shiny object – stay focused on those tools that will bring in the leads you need to grow your business.
 

How to Create a Profile on LinkedIn

How to, videos0 comments

I have started to use LinkedIn more and more recently as it’s a great tool to connect and engage with other business owners, especially if you’re like me and offering B2B services.  However, as I mentioned in my previous blog “10 Tips on Using LinkedIn”, a lot of people don’t understand how to use LinkedIn effectively.

One of the first things that you need to do is to ensure that you set up your profile correctly. If you want to know how to create a LinkedIn profile that looks professional and will get found in search results when people are looking for businesses such as yours, then watch the video below which will take you through the different sections of a LinkedIn profile and how to complete them properly.

Feel free to leave any comments or let us know how you use LinkedIn to promote your business.

Switch off – and get more done!

Small business, Time management0 comments

It’s come to that time of year when things have started to pick up again after the summer break.  I know that I’ve been busy over the last few weeks doing both client work and also marketing stuff for my own business.

However, I sometimes find it difficult to focus on projects especially with all the other things that grab your attention – such as emails, Twitter, Facebook, the internet.  So how can you minimise the distractions and accomplish everything you need to do within your working day?

Well the answer is to switch off!

One of the biggest distractions for most people is the internet, whether it’s checking your emails, seeing what’s happening on Twitter, or reading what your friends have got up to on Facebook.

And most people do these things to stop them from focusing on the important stuff like making that difficult phone call or writing up a proposal – I know I do!  In fact Seth Godin mentioned this in one of his blogs a while back where he talks about turning off the noise for an hour and seeing what happens.

So if you really want to focus on a project and come to the end of the day feeling like you’ve accomplished something then the best thing to do is switch off the very thing that is stopping you from working effectively.

This may seem radical to some people – in fact most of us come out in a cold sweat if we don’t have instant access to our emails and social networking sites!   But by switching off the Internet – even if it’s only for an hour each day – you will be able to give your full attention to getting your important tasks done.  And if it does give you the opportunity to make that phone call you’ve been putting off for weeks then think of the sense of achievement that will give you!

If this sounds appealing but you don’t think you’ve got the willpower to do this alone, then check out a website called Freedom which will lock you away from the internet for up to 8 hours at a time.

Now doesn’t that sound scary?!

Are Your Fans Seeing Your Facebook Updates?

Online marketing, Small business0 comments

If you’re like me and are running a business by yourself then you know how important it is to streamline as many processes as possible to save you time.  One way of doing this is to manage your social media activities from one place using tools such as HootSuite and TweetDeck.  However, apart from the fact that you shouldn’t post the same content to all your social media accounts (that’s another blog in itself!), when it comes to Facebook, it can affect how it appears in your newsfeeds.

Now I’m someone who had set up their blogs so they were automatically posted on to my Facebook Page when published and used HootSuite to update my Page with other information.  However, I’ve read several articles recently that this is not the best way to add content to your Page as it can affect how it appears in your Fans’ newsfeeds.  How does this happen?  Well as you may or may not know, Facebook prioritises what appears in newsfeeds and this is dictated by something called Edge Rank.  This is an algorithm that uses certain factors such as the numbers of comments or likes, or age of a particular update which affects how likely it will appear.

The Edge Rank of a particular update will also be affected by whether or not it has been posted via a third party application such as Networked Blogs or HootSuite because Facebook will sometimes display these differently to updates posted in Facebook itself.  This is because Facebook will often  group updates from various Pages that have been posted via third party apps, rather than show them individually.  For example, Twitter feeds from various sources will be shown together in a Fan’s newsfeed, as will blogs posted via Networked Blogs.  This means that those updates posted via third party apps will have poorer visibility, or lower Facebook Edge Rank.

So although many small business owners use third party applications to manage the scheduling and management of their social media activities; if you do have the time then I would advise that you try to create status updates in Facebook itself so that you can get the most visibility for your content in your Fans’ newsfeeds.

So what do you think?  Leave a comment below!

How a Virtual Assistant Can Help You to Use Local Marketing

Marketing, Online marketing, Virtual Assistant0 comments

As someone who runs their own virtual assistant business, I know how essential it is to have an online presence.  However, it can sometimes be very difficult to make yourself heard above all the other marketing messages being broadcast whether it’s via Twitter, Facebook or blogs.

So if you’re a business owner like me who wants to reach out to people in your area, how can you do this?  Well this is where the power of local marketing comes in.  By targeting your marketing to people within a specific area, you are able to become more effective in communicating your message.

So if you want to make yourself heard, here’s a list of the top 5 local marketing tools and how a virtual assistant can help you to set them up.

Google places. This free local listing service is the quickest and easiest way to get on the first page of Google.  A virtual assistant can set up your profile with all your company details, including information on your services, location and opening hours.  They can also upload any images or videos, and will include specific search terms within your profile so that your place appears when people are looking for your services or products within your area.

Facebook Places.  A VA can create a Facebook Places account for you where they will set up or claim your “place”, ie your business address and then complete your profile with details of your location, services and products.  Once this is set up, then people can “check in” when they visit your business and by doing this, they tell their Facebook friends about you.

Facebook advertising is like Google Adwords where you set a budget and then pay every time someone clicks on your ad.  A virtual assistant can create an ad with images and text and then specify who sees the ad by selecting criteria such as age, gender, interests and location as specified by you.  They can monitor the performance of your ads and manage your budget.

Foursquare is very similar to Facebook Places, and again a VA can create or claim your place, and set up your profile with any exclusive discounts or special offers for people who check in to your location.  When people check in, they share their location via social media which spreads the word about your business.

Google Adwords works in the same way as Facebook advertising where you set a daily budget and then pay every time someone clicks on your ad.  A virtual assistant can create an account on Adwords with criteria specified by you.  This includes where your ads are displayed, eg in a particular country or city, your cost per click budget, and which keywords you want to use – you can use location-based keywords so that your ad appears when people are searching for your services or products within that area.

So if you want to communicate to potential clients within your local area then these tools will help you do this and keep you one step ahead of the competition.  By using a virtual assistant to set these up and monitor them for you, you can focus on following up the leads that have been generated from these marketing activities.