With over 2 billion people using social media networks daily, there is no doubt that social media plays a big role in determining your success as an entrepreneur. However, despite the opportunities that social media has brought, many entrepreneurs are still struggling to create a strong social media presence.
Below are tips are a few tips to create a strong social media presence:
1. Have a plan
Before you even start creating a social media profile, you need to sit down and think of what you plan to achieve. Having a clear plan on what you want to achieve on social media platforms will determine how you will build and use your presence on social media.
2. Offer valuable information
The second most effective way to create a strong social media presence is by sharing useful and valuable information with your followers. Take advantage of your knowledge and post content that people are craving. People will always look forward to reading your next post if you are consistent in posting useful and relevant content. In addition to that, your post will be shared across various social media platforms, a factor that will enable you to reach out to more audiences.
3. Know your target audience
Who are you looking to reach on social media? There are millions of consumers across various social media platforms. However, not all of them will identify with your brand. It is therefore very important to know your target audience and then channel all your effort to build a strong relationship with them.
4. Be consistent.
Consistency is very important and will determine your success on social media. It would help if you were consistent in posting quality, informative and relevant content. You also need to be consistent when engaging with your audience to grow your presence on social media.
Here are a few simple steps to improve your social media presence:
Promote your social presence everywhere. And we do mean everywhere. …
Time your posts. …
Engage your audience. …
Thank your customers. …
Be creative. …
Use hashtags. …
Clean your pages of spam.
In conclusion, building a strong social media presenceis not difficult as many people think. However, you need to be strategic and consistent to breakthrough.
Are you looking for someone to help you with your social media presence? Use the contact form below, I’d be happy to help you figure yours out with you.
First of all, how are you using Facebook Live to engage your audience? For me, I know that I need to get motivated to do this. And YOU? Are you using it to reach your audience?
Overview
Brands and publishers alike have been experimenting with Facebook Live. They are using it as a means of providing their audience, a platform to interact and engage in real time. A video can enhance your Facebook reach, while taking less time to post, than creating a write-up. So if you are still wondering how you can start using Facebook Live to engage your audience, here is how to go about it.
Host a Question and Answer Session
In the past, when you wanted to create a YouTube Q&A video, you had to start promoting it several weeks in advance. This would allow viewers enough time to send in the questions they wanted you to answer. However, Facebook Live has changed those dynamics. All you have to do is inform your audience when they need to log in and catch up with the session. During the live stream, you can then answer the questions posted in the comments section.
Provide a Behind-the-Scenes
In order to let your customers know that they are valued in your business, it is important to give them a behind-the-scenes tour of your organization or brand. Your viewers want to know how you run your business. They also get to know you at a personal level, which is a great step towards relationship building. A great way to go about this is reviewing the products or topics that you intend to discuss during the live stream.
Collaborate with Other Business Owners
If you want to grow your Facebook Live channel, then you should consider collaborating with other business owners in the industry you are marketing your business in. Just do a short 15-minute video to sit down with another business owner in your industry or niche. Then discuss issues, ideas, and perspectives. You can both video together or individually, and then cross-promote them across your Facebook pages and groups together. Using Zoom to do this makes it very simple to do this, just hit the record button then share to your page or group.
Bottom Line
There are many ways you can use Facebook Live, to interact with your audience. The most important thing is to remain active and do it regularly. Additionally, be creative and you will see your reach expand.
Interested in learning more? Use the form below to connect with me.
How to get traffic from your Twitter account. So, are you struggling to harness the power of Twitter for your blog? Tweeting the title for your blog post and a link to direct visitors to your site is not good enough. You actually need to be more creative, active as well as connect more with people.
Below are 5 tips to help you get traffic from Twitter.
1. Use hashtags
Hashtags are crucial on Twitter because they allow you to label your content, making it searchable. It is one of the best ways to get your content seen by Twitter followers who are searching for specific keywords that you have used.
On Twitter, your updates can actually disappear in a matter of seconds. It’s therefore very important to share updates often to get your tweets discovered. It is not good enough to just post a tweet once, instead, you need to post it several times to reach several people who are using this social platform.
This ultimately means that you will be able to reach more people.
4. Get visual
Most people usually think that Twitter is a text-only social platform but that is not the case. Twitter now features visual content, were you aware of that? This means that if you accompany your text with your visual content, you will increase the chances of it being viewed and shared by more people. Posting visuals that stand above others will go a long way in helping you get more traffic.
5. Use a call to action
Every aspect of marketing requires a well-formulated call to action. Do you want your followers to download your new eBook or do you want them to read your latest blog post? It is important to let your followers know exactly what you want them to do.
Use this worksheet to remind you what you need to do. Twitter
If you need help creating content for your Twitter account, fill out the form below.
Most social media marketing campaigns are primarily designed to help gain more social following, increase product/brand visibility or drive traffic to a website. Here are quick must-know tips you should consider when rolling out your next social media campaign.
1. Reserve your username across all platforms
Reserve all your usernames (business name) across all the social media platforms even if you don’t need them now. These keep other people from using yours, and trust me; you are going to need those usernames some day.
2. Decide which social media platform(s) best suits your needs.
Not all social media platforms are suitable for your kind of marketing campaign. Trying to build a presence and stay significantly active on all available social media platforms can be time-consuming and counterproductive. Instead, you need to identify platforms that bring the best results and focus on them.
There are simple ways that you can automate your social media posts by using an app. We’ll talk about that in another post another day.
Don’t forget to use your social media marketing by doing this:
3. Optimize your social media platforms
Once you’ve decided on the platform you intend to use, focus on optimizing your profiles in order to get more followers. A few things to consider include using a real profile picture, write clear and comprehensive about pages for your profiles, and where applicable, include a link to your website.
4. Connect your social media accounts to your website
Having all your active accounts connected to your websites helps to keep the conversation going. Visitors on your website can link to any of the listed accounts and your followers on social media can find out more about your offer.
5. Find and follow leaders in your niche.
Find the most influential people in your niche and follow or favorite them. Chances are they will share useful information about your niche or share their progress about a certain project, and you can look over their shoulders for inspiration.
6. Don’t forget the hashtags
Yes, it’s not just a pretty function to make your phrase turn into a link and look cool. Most people actually use hashtags to search for stuff on social media. And it’s a nice way to make your stuff (like your upcoming product launch) trend on Facebook. Just don’t overdo it.
7. Stay social
Whether you are running a personal profile or company/brand’s social media account, you need to actually stay social and interactive. Follow other users, send friend requests, comment on great ideas, like other people’s comments, update your status regularly, share interesting things you do in your business and so on.
Whatever you do…
8. Stay out of trouble
Each social media platform has its own sets of rules, and some rules cut across all the networks. For instance, Twitter has a limit on how many people you can follow per day, Facebook has restrictions on friend-requesting people you don’t know.
9. Track mentions
This is where PR kicks in. Use available tools to track every mention of your brand across all platforms and find out what people are saying about you or your brand. Don’t miss a chance to neutralize any negative talk.
10. Post as many times per day but again, don’t overdo it.
The number of times to post per day will depend on the network, the number of your followers, and how interactive your audience is.
If you’re looking for help with your social media, I would love to connect with you!
When it comes to social media, boundaries are important. If you have too few boundaries, you could end up oversharing. This can lead to damaged relationships in real life and depending on what you’re oversharing, the loss of your reputation. This doesn’t build up your confidence either!
To stay comfortable and confident on social media, use these tips…
Set Helpful Limits
Regina liked to lie in bed and surf social media on her phone before going to sleep. But after doing this for several weeks, she noticed the habit was increasing her anxiety and making it difficult to get a restful night’s sleep.
Try this: next time you’re on social media, take a moment to check in with yourself. Are you feeling stressed or overwhelmed? Getting a bit anxious? Or, are you comparing your life to someone else’s?
When it comes to social media, one of the smartest things you can do is to create limits for yourself. You may decide that you’ll only check in on social media once a day or you may want to set a time limit when you browse.
Definition of Confidence:
a feeling of self-assurance arising from one’s appreciation of one’s own abilities or qualities.
Your friends on social media are entitled to their opinions. But that doesn’t mean you have to hit like on every single one of Aunt Betty’s political rants or inform your sister that she shared a fake news story (again).
You can choose to hide status updates from people that are consistently negative or that bring you down. A good idea to follow is the three strikes rule. If someone is negative on social media for three posts in a row, hide them.
You can hide friends on Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks without having to unfriend or unfollow them. The other person never gets notified that you’ve hidden their content. It’s a great way to distance yourself from unkind remarks and unnecessary drama.
Create a Separate Account
Natalie creates art that makes people think. She likes to explore controversial themes in her work and she’s not afraid to push the envelope. But some of her family members don’t agree with her views and aren’t supportive of her creations.
So, Natalie started a private Instagram account where she shares her art. This allows her to post about her hobby without dealing with negativity from her relatives.
Just like Natalie, you want each of your social media profiles to serve a specific purpose. You might have a Facebook account for staying in touch with distant family and loved ones. But you might dedicate another account, like Instagram or Twitter to sharing content privately.
Social media can be a wonderful tool for connecting and communicating. To get the most out of each network, keep your social feed positive and uplifting. Follow people who inspire you and share your own thoughts authentically.
Learn how to find and connect with your tribe when you download your free workbook!
Thanks for reading the 5 articles on Social Media. Next week we’ll be moving to a new topic.
If you crave genuine connection online, you have to be authentic. Some people mistakenly believe that to be authentic, you have to share your entire life online with absolutely no filters.
But that’s not true.
You can be authentic and build lasting relationships without oversharing or annoying your community.
Authentic
Though the people who preach its virtue often don’t understand exactly what the word means. Authentic is defined as: “not false or copied; genuine; real.” And, my favorite definition, “representing one’s true nature or beliefs; true to oneself or to the person identified.”
Here a few ways to show your true self to your online friends and followers:
Share the Bad
Most people automatically share their good moments on social media. For instance, they take a selfie of their new hairdo or post about their vacation adventures or proudly display their sonogram.
There’s nothing wrong with publishing these details online. But if you only show the good side of your life, people may struggle to trust you.
You’ll appear more genuine if you post about your bad moments occasionally. This means you can go ahead and upload that post-workout gym selfie, broadcast a shot of your messy workspace, or share a snap of how your fuzzy your hair looks after you ran in the rain. (But this hair pic for me, NO!)
Present a Slice of Life
You know sometimes, being authentic can be as simple as posting about a common occurrence that other people can relate to. For example, Faydra Koenig, a crisis coach, frequently posts photos of her coffee cup from Starbucks.
She shares the images to show the unusual ways servers attempt to spell her name. And she does it in a light-hearted way without embarrassing anyone or shaming them. She simply has a laugh and lets her friends in on the joke.
Participate in Conversations
You wouldn’t take your friend to a crowded restaurant and spend the entire meal ignoring her. If you did, your friend wouldn’t feel very loved. She’d be upset and wonder why you bothered inviting her if you had no intention of spending time with her. And please, be present and stay off your phone.
It’s the same concept with social media. If you have friends and followers responding to your updates, take a moment to engage with them. You don’t have to write lengthy responses. When a friend comments, you can say something simple like, “Thanks for listening!” or “Hearing your perspective on this blesses me!”
Own Your Quirks
What do you geek out about? Maybe you love collecting Funko Pop vinyl figures and you’re always adding new ones to your collection. Maybe you live for cute shoes or you’re obsessed with trying different coffee flavors.
Sharing something you love and showing off your inner dork is a great way to be authentic online. You’ll attract other people who geek out over the same things and you’ll have a good supply of frequent content since your hobby is already part of your life.
You can be authentic online and still have your privacy. The key is picking which parts of your personality and life you’d like to showcase online.
Want to build your own tribe online? Learn how when you download your bonus workbook!
Ok, now this is not big news. But, did you know that selfies are photos you take of yourself? Usually, people share their selfies on social media websites like Facebook and Instagram. Taking selfies can be a helpful way to track your weight loss, boost your mood, and even increase confidence.
Yet there can be a DARK SIDE to selfies. Taking dozens of selfies while searching for the right angle or obsessing over how various filters will make you appear can be warning signs that your selfie habit might be going too far. Ya think?
But, HOW do you know if your selfies are actually a bad thing?
Definition of selfie
a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and shared via social media.
It can be helpful to ask yourself four simple questions after you snap a picture…
How do I feel?
Why am I sharing this?
How much of my life should I be publishing?
Am I ok if this goes viral?
Now, I’m asking going to ask you these questions, what are your thoughts? Here are some ideas to take into consideration:
How Do You Feel?
Jennifer took a selfie and felt anxious. So, she changed into jeans and a cute sweater then took another one. She still didn’t like the way she looked so she picked out a different top and changed her hairstyle to go with the outfit.
Sometimes, a selfie habit is more about seeking external validation than anything. Jennifer had always suffered from low self-esteem so those pictures were her way of feeling like she mattered. When she realized this, she knew she needed to make a change.
Why Are You Sharing This?
Some people take selfies as a way to document a moment and remember it later. That’s why you might be tempted to take a selfie during a fun vacation or snap a picture during that beautiful sunset.
But before you share that picture on social media, ask yourself why you’re sharing it. Are you hoping to impress someone? Are you secretly wishing to make your ex-jealous? Or are you genuinely eager to record the moment?
How Much of Your Life Should You Be Publishing?
When you snap a picture, take a moment to review it. Pay attention to what’s in the background of your selfie, or you could accidentally put yourself or someone else at risk if you’re not careful.
If you’re walking around your neighborhood, is your street address visible? If you’re in a medical setting like a hospital, are there other patients in the background? If you’re inside the changing room at your gym, are people in the background exposed?
Are You I OK If This Goes Viral?
A tasteless selfie can seriously damage your reputation and even cause you to lose your job. So before you post, ask yourself if you’d want your employer or extended family to see this photo.
Don’t rely on privacy settings to save you. Anyone can take a screenshot and share your private photo with the whole world even if you’ve deleted the original image. Once a selfie is online, you have to assume that it may be digitally accessible forever. So make smart choices that won’t come back to haunt you.
Selfies can be a great way to make you feel confident or document a special moment. Just make sure you’re snapping and sharing for all the right reasons. Mmmmkay?
Use social media to boost your confidence—discover how when you download your free workbook!
So, if you are looking for additional help with this, fill out the form below and I’ll be in touch.
Hannah noticed her teenage daughter seemed sad one day. When she asked about it, her daughter shared that she’d been on social media. So, all of her friends were taking lavish spring break vacations and having plenty of fun while she was stuck at home.
And she was allowing it to get her down.
After listening, Hannah opened the Facebook app on her phone. She pulled up her best friend’s profile and handed the device to her daughter. “Look through her first ten photos and write down what you see on a notepad.”
Her daughter rolled her eyes but did as she was asked. When she was done, her short list read like this: Victoria is pretty, thin, has a cute boyfriend, and a good job. She’s a big fan of the Steelers and she loves rock climbing.
What she didn’t find out was:
Hannah tapped the list, “Victoria was homeless for a few months as a kid. In college, she was diagnosed with a serious digestive disease. She battled an addiction to painkillers following her last surgery. She just got out of rehab last year. But you can’t see all of that just by looking at her photos. On the outside, her life looks perfect.”
So, are YOU listening? Are YOU comparing yourself to others on Social Media?
Social Media
so·cial me·di·a noun: noun: social media; plural noun: social media websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking.
Looking Beyond the Selfie
It doesn’t matter how old you are. On Facebook, it’s tempting to think that what you see is the whole story. But it’s important to remember that most social users are presenting a curated look at their life.
It’s not that people on social media sites are trying to be deceptive. It’s just that many people document their happy moments. This includes things like vacations, pregnancy news, graduation ceremonies, and weddings.
Why Social Media Can Make You Feel Bad
The downside to all of this positivity is that it can leave you feeling like you’re lacking in some ways. You might look at a picture of someone else’s family where everyone is smiling and think that your friend has a wonderful life.
But what she won’t share are the unsupportive remarks her husband makes about her online business. She doesn’t post about her son’s struggle with a learning disability or talk about her daughter’s crippling depression.
How Social Media Affects You
Frequently comparing your life to the lives of others on Facebook can lead to anxiety and depression. You may find yourself asking questions like:
What if I’m not as popular as her?
What if no one likes my selfie?
Does that mean I’m ugly?
My life isn’t as awesome as hers!”
Ironically, spending more time on social media means you have fewer conversations in real life. This can worsen anxiety and depression, creating an unhealthy cycle that leaves you unhappy and isolated.
So, What Do YOU Do?
You don’t have to stay stuck in comparison mode. You can disconnect from social media when you notice that you’re feeling bad about yourself or your life.
The more you do this, the easier it will become to break social media’s effect on your outlook.
Maybe something you can add to your business is a mentor to help you work on this.
Can selfies be a bad thing? Find out when you download your free workbook!
Stay tuned for Part 2 of The Social Connection in my next blog post, Selfie Love and Over-Sharing.
Do YOU need help with your Social Media? Contact me for a 15-minute call to see how I can help you. Use my calendar link here: Discovery Call
