Like many of you, I watched quite a bit of the Olympics.  I loved watching all of these amazing athletes at the top of their game, doing what they love, and achieving their goals.  Throughout the Olympic games, I kept thinking about the similarities between business success and success as an athlete.  Many of the same core principals apply.  And with so many “get rich quick” or “make money fast online” schemes out there, it is nice to be reminded of what it truly takes to be successful:

I think it is helpful to look at people who are successful in other areas of life or business.  Especially when it feels like things aren’t moving as quickly as you would like in your business.  For me, watching the Olympic athletes has reminded me that starting and running a business is a journey.  And to keep pushing forward, looking for opportunities, and working hard  and I will be able to achieve my goals.  What has the Olympics taught you?

Do you stare at your blank Twitter profile wondering what to write about?  Have your profiles sat under-appreciated and unused because you just don’t know what to say.  It is understandable.  When you first start using social media it can be a bit overwhelming.  In the beginning it is hard to know what is the “right” content to share.  Not to mention that you have only a few followers, so who is really listening anyway?

Well, for social media to be effective for your business, you have to get over this hump.  You have to start contributing and adding content.  Simply having a profile isn’t going to do much good for your business.  It must be updated regularly.  Here are a few ways for you to start coming up with that all important content:

1. Read More.  Start to follow other blogs in your industry or that are of interest to you.  Look for good articles that your target market will also enjoy.  Then post links to the blog posts and articles that have good information to share.  You can add a little comment or just post the title and link.  Most websites and blogs make this very easy to do.  Just search for the “Re-Tweet” this or Share This button on the page and with a few clicks you have posted the link to your account.
2. Share your Own Content – If you have a blog, be sure to post the link of your new blog post on your social media accounts.  (There are wordpress plugins available to make this very simple to do)  If you have written articles, post those.  Got an event coming up?  Mention it.  One side note – make sure you aren’t only posting links to your stuff.  This gets old fast.  Mix it in with other content and interaction.
3. Comment or reply to someone elses post.  This is one of my favorites.  It doesn’t take long to reply to another tweet or comment on a facebook posting, and you are starting to build the ever important relationship this way.
4. Spend 1 hour a week brainstorming content ideas.  Schedule this time in your calendar and keep it an easy to access file (I use Evernote).  Think of 10 valuable bits of information you can share.  It is much easier to do when you have set aside the time to focus on it.  Now, when you do get onto your social media sites, you already have some great content to post .  You can now spend your time responding and commenting to others.  Instead of spending all your time trying to decide what to say.

It doesn’t have to be scary.  And the only way you will really learn what works for your business is to try.  Stop staring at the blank screen and make it a priority to start talking.  Jump in!

Photo Credit:

The Sex and the City Guide to Blogging by Julie Roads, on Copyblogger- I love this (and was a huge fan of the show, so go figure).

5 Steps to Successful Facebook Advertising, by John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing – This is a great blog, and John Jantsch always provides tons of useful information.  I listen to his podcast too and it is great!  If you are considering advertising on Facebook, check this out.

Both of the following posts are from ProBlogger – another really useful site geared towards blogging.  :

Your First Week of Blogging – Plan Your Future Blog Posts , by Darren Rowse- this has some great advice for coming up with content ideas, which I know can seem daunting at first, and for planning your posts.  If you are considering blogging for your business (a great idea, by the way), check this one out.  It gave me a few ideas to implement for this blog

Top 10 Ways to Drive Traffic to Your Blog Using LinkedIn by Lewis Howes - LinkedIn can become the forgotten social network, but it has some really useful tools.  This post shares some great ways to use LinkedIn to boost traffic to your blog.  Definitely read this one!

Hope you can gain some useful information from these posts.  All of the above blogs consistently have great information on them, so be sure to sign up for the updates!

Recently, I was thinking about my last career and if I would have used social media.  (I was actually asked this question not too long ago.)  I was the design center manager for a homebuilder.  I was extremely busy, worked a lot of hours, and went non-stop all day.  We were in the middle of a housing boom!  And I loved it.  But, when I look back and remember how busy I was, the thought of trying something new, like social media, would have been totally overwhelming.  It was only a few years ago, so many of the social media tools were available, but I just didn’t know about them.  I wish I could say, yeah, I absolutely would have embraced all this new media.  But, that isn’t true.  I wouldn’t have even had the time to figure it out!

But, things have changed.  I have learned all about social media and how to market online.  It was due to personal changes in my life that I started to learn, but I soon found a passion and love for it.  I can look back to my previous career and think of so many ways social media would have helped us.  From interacting with our customers, to informing our buyers, to customer service.  This is why I am so passionate about social media now – I can see the potential for so many businesses.  I can see how useful the tools are.  I can see how you can grow your business by using these marketing tools.  And I want to help you learn them.  I want to help you take your business to the next level online.  Just like I want to go back in time and tell the old me to start thinking outside of the box and learn about internet marketing.

A few things I think are worth checking out this week:

The Albert Einstein Guide to Social Media from AltitudeBranding.com – there are some great points on using social media.

Frightened, clueless or uninformed? by Seth Godin – he always writes interesting posts that get you thinking.  This was one of them.

That is it for this week – I didn’t get to as much reading as I would have hoped!

I hope you find these posts helpful, I did!

Who has time for social media, right?  You are busy running a business!  I mean come on!  Even though it is mostly free, social media still takes time and effort to really see results.  But, isn’t that true of any marketing?  It all takes time and consistent effort, and social media is no different.  It is just a new way to market online.  I think the benefits of social media outweigh the effort and time you have to put in.  There are ways to manage your social media efforts, however, that can make the most of your time.

1. Use a tool like www.tweetdeck.com or www.hootsuite.com to manage multiple accounts.  You can connect your Twitter, Facebook Fan Page, and LinkedIn accounts all within one tool, and post to all 3 at once.
2. Use the available tools to automatically pull your blog posts into your various social media accounts.  There are plugins available on Wordpress to post to Twitter automatically, you can use the Notes application on Facebook, and there is a Wordpress application for LinkedIn.  You don’t have to do anything – other than actually write on your blog, and it will be posted to all of your other accounts.
3. Use the Share This and ReTweet This tools to share articles and blog posts that you find interesting and think would be interesting to your network.  They are becoming much more common on blogs, article and news sites.  You are able to share a link with just a few clicks.  As you are catching up with industry news online, also consider what is worth sharing.
4. Schedule time into your day – put it into your calendar and make it routine to check your accounts daily.  Make sure you respond to replies and comments.  And take some time to interact with others.
5. Use your phone to share interesting thoughts, pictures, and events throughout your day.  Smartphones have made this very easy to do.  So it doesn’t take much time to post throughout the day.

You do have to commit some of your time to social media.  But, you can put systems in place and use the available tools to make it easier and more efficient.  Just like any other form of marketing, the more consistent effort you put in, the better the results.

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/webtreatsetc/ / CC BY 2.0

One of the most common reasons I hear for not using social media is lack of time.  I absolutely understand this.  Especially as a small business owner!  You are super busy, doing just about everything, and the thought of figuring out one more thing is just too overwhelming!  But, I also think you can’t ignore what social media can do for your business.  And the fact that social media is completely changing the way we do business online!  The tools may change, but being social online isn’t going anywhere.  So, what are you to do – I say make time for social media.

Start by choosing one social network to begin using.  Whether it is Twitter, Facebook, Linked In, YouTube, a niche site, a forum, a blog – just pick one.

Commit to using that one social network.  Fit time into your day to spend time on the site – listening, learning, interacting.  Schedule in the time everyday!  Whether it is in the morning with your coffee, during your lunch, in the afternoon.  Find the time and commit to it every day!

Listen and Learn from others.  Pay attention to how others use the site.  Read what they are talking about.  Comment, connect, interact with people there. Create your own content and share.  Don’t just jump in and start bombarding people.  Take it slow, and use it as a learning process.

Once you have spent some time getting up to speed with your first social network, join others.  The same general rules apply to every tool – be real, be authentic, be helpful, be caring, and build relationships.  So once you have gotten the hang of one of the sites, you can take that knowledge and apply it to the others. Although, each social network or group has their own set of rules, so don’t forget to listen first whenever you join a new network.

Then, once you have spent some time on a few of the sites, you can determine what social networking tools will be most beneficial for your business.  And focus your efforts there.  But, you have to start somewhere, and waiting until you have the time means you never will.  Just take it slow and work social media into your current marketing – see where it takes you!

I read a lot of blogs.  There is so much information out there, and I find new and interesting blogs every day.  I will be sharing some of the best articles and blog posts that I have read each week on Friday.  So, here we go…

Framing Your Social Media Efforts by Chris Brogan – Great post that breaks down the basics of social media.

Could Your Blog be Ruining Your Business by James Chartrand – Reminder that when blogging for your business, that you need to make it easy and obvious to actually do business with you!

11 Mind-Blowing Reasons Your Company Needs Facebook by Jay Baer – more reasons to love Facebook for your business.

14 Mistakes Many Business Bloggers Make by Denise Wakeman - another business blogging post – very useful information!

I hope you get as much helpful information from these posts as I did!

You have created this great Facebook Fan Page and have loads of useful information to share, now where are the fans? Well, it isn’t really like Field of Dreams –  if you build it, the fans may not come.   With Fan pages, you have to promote your page, especially in the beginning, to let people know that it exists. Here are some simple ways to do just that:

• Add a link or widget to your website – this is a must!  When someone visits your website you want them to know all the other places they can connect with you.
• Add a link to your blog
• Send an email out to your current email list letting them now you have created a Facebook page and invite them to become a fan
• Send a out a tweet and let your your Twitter followers know they can find you on Facebook too
• Invite all of your current Facebook friends to become fans of your business
• Add your fan page link to your email signature
• Include your Facebook Fan Page URL on any printed marketing materials, such as brochures, post cards,  business cards, etc.

The point is to get it out there!  Let people know you are on Facebook!  Then from there, you can start to build a community, share, and engage with your fans.

If you are wondering where to get the link to your page – you can just copy and paste the url directly from your page:

And once you have 25 fans, you can create what is called a vanity url – so you can specify a nice, pretty url, like www.facebook.com/yourbusinessname .

Facebook also has some widgets for your website and/or blog that can be found here – Facebook Fan Box Widget

Now, get sharing!

So, as I mentioned in my last post, I am on a little Facebook kick.  People are spending a lot of time on Facebook and the site is growing very quickly.   With the amount of traffic Facebook receives, it makes sense for businesses to start participating on the site.  Once you have set the basics up for your Fan Page, you may want to consider customizing it.  Now, this is not a technical blog, so I won’t go into the how to customize your page, other than offering a few tools.  But, I wanted to share some ways that you can make your page more customized for your business.

1.  Use a custom “Welcome” landing page to send new visitors to – this page can include information about your business, a call to action to “Become a Fan”, and some of the benefits you will provide to your fans.  This custom Welcome page helps to simplify the process and get you more fans.

2.  Integrate your blog – you can use the Notes application to pull in your blog feed, allowing your fans on Facebook to see each new blog post you create.  Once it is set up, you don’t have to do any more work – your posts will pull in automatically.  There is another application called Networked Blogs that accomplishes this and the ability for Facebook users to follow their favorite blogs through Facebook and see what blogs their friends are following.

3.  Add links for your other social networking profiles, such as your Twitter and LinkedIn accounts.  As new users find you on Facebook, they can also see what other networking sites you participate on and connect with you further.  Check out Lennar Sacramento’s fan page below.  They have made it very easy to find multiple ways to connect with them.

4.  Add your email newsletter sign-up box.  The more you connect with your fan on Facebook, the more they will want to interact with you.  Offering a way for your fans to also sign up for your newsletter makes it easy for them!

Here is another fan page that has added some customized features to provide great information for their fans:

Think about how you can engage with your fans – what will they benefit from?  How can you customize your page to make it most useful to your fans?   The more you are able to connect with, provide useful information to, and help your fans, the more results your business will get out of using social media.

And, of course, if you would like help with any of this, please contact me!