People are looking to connect and build a relationship – with a person.  And this especially applies if you are a small business or solopreneur.  People want to get to know you, not just what you do for a living.  This is how they build trust in you.  Because there are a lot of business coaches out there – your clients choose you because of that something extra.  That part of your personality they connect with and relate to.

You don’t have to share private information or anything that makes you uncomfortable.  But, if you can find a way to share some of your personality, some of what makes you unique, you will see better results.  I realize this is often easier said than done.  I struggle with it myself.  Finding that balance between the “business you” and the “personal you” can be difficult. Start with integrating a few non-business related posts.  Maybe it is sharing about the music you listen to, your favorite sports team, your hobbies, your favorite food, or the book you just finished.  It is the little personal tidbits that help your customers relate to you.  Keep trying and you will find the right mix.  Once you do, you will start to really see the value of social media.

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/himmelskratzer/3252564869/

Social media can be time consuming.  But it can also be an incredible tool for your business.  Social media can help you build your brand, get to know your target market, build credibility and ultimately grow your business. So the investment of time is worth it!  What do you do when you know you want to use social media, but can’t seem to find the time?  Scheduling, Planning and Tools!

The first time saving tip I use for managing my own social media is to create a schedule. I am big on schedules!  Because my life is divided between work time and family time, I have to plan in advance what I need to accomplish during my work time.  I schedule in time a few days a week to find interesting articles and create new updates to post – and then I schedule them out.  I also plan for a little time each day to check in to my accounts,  follow up and respond.  You can even go so far as to decide what type of update you want to post each day – Maybe a quote on Monday, Tip Tuesday, Article Wednesday, Tip Thursday, & something fun for Friday!

In addition, I take advantage of the tools available,  to make it quicker and easier to keep my accounts up to date.  Tools such as Hootsuite.com allow me to pre-schedule posts out in advance.  I can also post to multiple sites at one time.  I also use tools within my WordPress blog to automatically post my blog updates to my Twitter and Facebook accounts.  When I am catching up on my RSS feeds or reading an article that I find interesting, I use the Tweet This & Facebook Like buttons to post that article to my social media profiles.  I also use Foursquare as a way to quickly share where I am & what I am doing – such as attending a networking meeting or enjoying a new restaurant in town.

Now, even with all of this scheduling and planning, you will still get the best results from social media by being personal.  Make sure within your planning that you have time to respond and interact.  This is the most valuable part of social media. Take advantage of the time saving tools to keep your accounts up to date and to free up precious time to interact and get personal!

See the example below :

As you can see, the businesses are listed above the regular organic listings.  Often, the links listed here are clicked on first. Since this is a free tool, it is imperative that you take advantage of the listing.

It is very simple to claim your listing. You will need a Google account, but that is free – and if you already have a Gmail account, you can log in with that. It is quick to sign up for a Google account if you don’t have one. Go to www.google.com/places, sign in and then begin to fill out your information.

The more information you include, the better! So make sure to put you address, phone number, website, and email. You can also upload pictures and video. Be sure to choose your categories carefully and take a look at the categories suggested by Google as well!

And you are done! Now when someone is searching for your business category in your local area, they can find all the up to date information for your business – and find you! Your Google business listing is an often overlooked, but very useful tool for customers to find your business online!

Step One – Strategy – This is an important one.  You need to think about who you want to reach and what your goals are before you start to implement anything.  This will help you narrow your focus and use your time wisely.

Step Two – Set-Up – Before you can engage with anyone, you need to have your profiles and accounts created and maximized.  After completing step one, you should know what communities to participate in, and now is the technical job of setting everything up, making sure it is easy for people to find and connect with you – and do business with you.

Step Three – Listening – Now that your accounts are created, it is time to start listening.  Pay close attention to how the community works.  And spend some time searching and observing it all.  You will learn a lot about the community, and by listening first you can create content that is specifically for that community.  Again saving you time in the long run.

Step Four – Reaching Out – You need to make a conscious effort to reach out.  People will not always come to you – you need to find them.  This is where your strategy and listening come in handy.  Find targeted people on your networks and begin to connect and engage with them.

Step Five – Continued Maintenance – you can’t just set up a social media presence and forget it.  It has to be consistently nurtured and grown to benefit you.  So, you must update your accounts and continue to connect with others.  Also continue to search for new connections and build those relationships.

As you can see, social media is an on going process.  So try not to expect results overnight.  But, if you are consistent and continue to work on your social media presence, you will see some incredible results.  And if you need help implementing any of the steps listed above, contact me

There is so much knowledge to be gained just from listening and paying attention to what your customers are saying about you and your industry.

Here are some cool tools to help you listen and learn:

• search.twitter.com ~ This allows you to search twitter for specific phrases or keywords and see real time results.  You can also use the advanced search to narrow down the results by location or time period.
• Kurrently.com ~ this website allows you to put in keywords or phrases and will search both Facebook and Twitter, as well as the major search engines
• Google Alerts ~ You can set up alerts based on your company name or specific keywords and Google will email you daily with the latest results that include those terms.  You see articles and blog posts.
• LinkedIn Answers ~ You can research the types of questions that are being asked related to your industry.  As well as answer the questions and build your expertise.
• Board Tracker ~ allows you to search discussion forums for specific terms.

By taking some time to follow specific searches, you can gain really valuable information about your industry and customers.  All of the above are great tools to help you!

I attended sessions on How to build a good reputation online, HyperLocal blogging, Useful WordPress plugins, and Search Engine Optimization.  I learned something in each one both from the leader of the session and from the people attending.

There was a really good turnout, but considering the number of realtors and real estate professionals in the Sacramento area, I believe more should have attended.  Especially since it was free!  I think it shows that people are still slow to adopt social media in their real estate business.  I am not sure if it is lack of interest, lack of time, or just lack of knowledge.  If it is lack of knowledge, than an event like REBarCamp is a great place to start.  There were 101 sessions all day on blogging, Twitter, Facebook and more.  Between the sessions and the attendees, there was plenty of information available!

I thought the whole event was worthwhile and full of value.  If you have a REBarCamp in your area, try to make it.  No matter what stage you are in – beginner or big time social media player, it will be well worth your time!

There are certain aspects of your social media that can be outsourced to a virtual assistant.  So that you free up your time to make the relationships, create the content and follow-up with prospects – along with the rest of your to do list .  Some of the areas that a virtual assistant can help are:

1. The Technical Stuff – social media virtual assistants spend a lot of time online and they are well versed in the tools and technology required to create an online presence.   So the technical side – from creating your accounts, maximizing your profiles, customizing your pages, creating a blog, and connecting everything together – can easily be handled by your virtual assistant.  And, usually much quicker than you could do it anyway!
2. Research – your social media virtual assistant can research keyword and conversations and create a report for you.  As well as, find relevant people for you to follow and connect with.
3. Keeping your accounts updated – your virtual assistant can find relevant articles and information to post on your social media accounts to keep them updated.  Leaving you to do the relationship building and commenting.
4. Re-Purposing Content – One of the best uses of your time is to re-purpose content that you have created and re-use it.  So, for example, your VA could extract some short tips from one of your blog posts to use as status updates.  Or turn a newsletter article into a blog post.  This way you get the most mileage out of every piece of content you create.
5. Tracking your Progress – your virtual assistant can keep track of your analytics.  So, whatever metrics you are using to measure your progress can be tracked and put into a report for you to review.

As you can see, there are many tasks related to social media and internet marketing that can be delegated to your virtual assistant.  It is just a matter of determining what are the vital items that you need to take care of, and then outsourcing the rest.  Leaving you time to focus on the most important tasks – relationship building and following up!

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1.  Add the web address to your social networking profiles to your business card.  This way everyone you meet in person can also find and connect with you online. For example, www.twitter.com/devonzimny is the url for my Twitter profile.

2.  Add your web addresses to all for your offline marketing materials – such as postcards, brochures, and flyers.  This way you offer the opportunity for people to get to know you and connect where they want.  Many people who spend time on Facebook are comfortable there.  And they may choose to get to know you a little better through your Facebook page before taking it to the next step.

3.  Search for the people you meet at offline networking events online – Do a search for them on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter.  By expanding your online network with people you have met in person, you can further that relationship and create a stronger network.

4.  Make sure to invite those that you meet offline to join your email list.  Let them know about the value you provide and ask if they would like to receive updates from you.  Email is a great way to stay in front of people.  And by providing consistent value, you will build a really strong relationship – and be the person that comes to mind first.

5.  Attend events such as Tweet-Ups, which are offline meetups of people on Twitter. These events are a great way to meet people you connect with on Twitter face to face.  They are also great for meeting new people and expanding your network.

6.  Do a little research before attending a live conference or event – check to see who else is talking about the conference.  Also, check to see if a hashtag (#) has been created for the conference.  If so, be sure to include it in your updates and to follow along with others mentioning the conference.  By preparing ahead of time, you can determine some people who you want to connect with at the event and even schedule some coffee chats.

Just because you are starting to utilize online networking tools does not mean that you abandon all of your offline efforts.  By integrating both of your online and offline efforts, you can strengthen your relationships and build a strong network.

You will save yourself time in the long run if you strategize in the beginning.  Coming up with a plan will help you narrow your focus and save your precious time. Before you make the leap, consider the following 5 things first:

1. Determine Who You Want to Reach – A vital part of an effective social media plan is understanding who your target market is.  Who are you talking to?  Is it first time homebuyers?  Move Up buyers?  Buyers who are downsizing?  Narrowing down your focus to a specific market will help you fine tune your message and save you time!

2.  What Information is your Market seeking? What are their questions?  What are their problems and concerns?  What information do they need to know and understand before they buy?  By getting to know your target market, you can create content and share information that answers their questions and solves their problems.  This will make your content creation much easier.  As well as providing your clients, customers, and fans with the information they are searching for.

3.  Where do your target customers hang out online? Do some listening and research to find out where your customers are spending their time.  Maybe there are specific forums or niche social networks that cater to your potential customers?  Doing this research ahead of time will allow you to focus solely on the communities that are most beneficial to you.  Since there is never enough time in the day, choosing where you need to spend your time online is an important decision.

4.  What do you want your target customers to do? Think about your sales process.  As you bring more potential clients into the funnel, how do you want to direct them. Should they sign up for an email newsletter?  Should they visit your blog or website? How does social media fit into your current sales process?  You want to focus your social media efforts in such a way that directs your potential customers to take an action.

5.  How are you going to measure success? Once you know who you are trying to reach, where they are hanging out, what you want them to do, you want to be able to measure your results.  So decide on how you will measure your progress.  Maybe it is to track newsletter sign ups or website visits.  Whatever the measuring stick is, you want it to be in place when you start.

By spending some time strategizing up front, you will keep yourself from spinning your wheels in the long run.  So, set aside some time and work on these 5 questions.  You will be happy you did!

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mfinleydesigns/

A Facebook profile is your personal page on Facebook.  If you have been using Facebook already, you have a profile.  To connect with others through your profile, you must friend them and they have to friend you back.

Once you have become friends with someone, you then get their updates, can see their pictures and videos,  and can send messages back and forth.  The same is true of what you post.  Anytime you update your status, comment on another post, upload a picture or RSVP to an event, all of your friends can see it.  You have control over the privacy of your page and how much is shown to those who are not your friends.

Your profile is not meant to be used for business.  When someone becomes your friend, it is ok to mention your business here or there, but your Facebook profile is truly meant to be personal.

Now the business page  is a little different.  Your business page (previously called a fan page) is essentially the storefront for your business on Facebook.  It is a completely public page that can be found via a search engine (such as Google or Yahoo) or through Facebook search.  Anyone can see the information on the page.

Those who want to keep up with your business page will click the “like” button.  This will allow them to see any updates made by your business page.  So anytime you update your status, post pictures or videos, or add an event to your business page, anyone who has liked your page will see that.  It is simple to “like” a page, and you do not need to approve it or friend them back.  They are essentially opting in to receive updates from you through Facebook.  Since they are dealing with the business page, they expect to here news and information related to your business.  So be sure what you are posting is valuable and helpful.

Creating a business page is the best solution for a business presence on Facebook.  It allows you to keep in contact with current customers, as well as future customers.  By simply updating your status or posting a link to an interesting article, you are keeping your business at the top of the mind of your customers.