I regularly train people on the amazing tools available to businesses today – Blogging, Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin.
I wanted to share some general guidelines which all of you can use right away in order to make the most of these free ways to enhance your online marketing beyond just your website.
There are really just 4 points which I feel will “sum it all up”. Have a read, have a think and let me know if you agree!
Fill out your profile properly. This is your public persona, so– include a proper description of yourself. I am amazed how many people have signed up for Linkedin and haven’t uploaded even a picture of themselves. Fill in the bio on Twitter. Upload a good quality picture – I recommend a cropped head and shoulders as usually you will be seen as a little thumbnail!
Vary your updates. When you are blogging, utilize all the different types of blog posts you have, not just news, but interview, reviews, best of’s how to’s, think about things which will be useful to your audience, the type of things they would share around. When tweeting on Twitter mix it up – links to useful articles, replies to other people, RTs, mentions. On Facebook keep things visual but still varied.
Don’t sell. These are not sales tools: They are social, so they allow you to make new friends, contacts and connections. They are networking, so you can use them for business. And they are marketing, so you can use them to raise awareness. But you will do this best by being generous and sharing, not salesy.
Keep learning. Read other blogs, follow other people in your industry, read other people’s profiles on Linkedin and check out how people are using Facebook for business. A great place to start is on Mashable, the leading blog for Social Media. See what you can get from the information they post online, and try and make yourself look as good as possible by emulating the best. there is so much information out there – I have run full day courses on this and still not covered all there is to teach – and not even come close to covering everything!
Overall the idea is to not get overwhelmed – follow these basic rules – and you will see the magical things that can happen with social media! Please comment below if you have ANYTHING to say – even if you WHOLEheartedly agree with ALL your HEART – or if you want to add anything!
