social media marketing — Shoestring Marketing

7 Tips for Blogging Newbies

July 26, 2011 By Jessica Swanson 2 Comments

As a new blogger, it’s important to look at where you eventually want to end up before you begin. As Stephen Covey suggests, highly effective people (and, in my opinion, highly effective small businesses owners) begin with the end in mind.

If you truly think about what you want to eventually accomplish through your blogging efforts, you’ll soon be rewarded with a loyal audience who connects with you and repays you with an abundance of links and comments.

Here are 7 tips to help your small business blog succeed:

1) Become your reader. Determine what your reader wants to read as opposed to what you think that they want to read. If you’re in doubt, ask them through a poll or survey.

2) Learn, learn, and learn. Since successful blogs are all about educating their audiences, you need to keep educating yourself. Keep up on reading, attending workshops and, of course, reading blogs in your own industry.

3) Give away your knowledge. Don’t be stingy with your knowledge, tips and advice; there’s no reason to keep your ideas under lock and key. Successful bloggers give away everything that they know.

4) Research. Read what other bloggers in your industry are writing about, check out your competition and stay current in your field. In the ultra-competitive world of small business, you can never, ever rest on your laurels.

5) Get organized. Create a blogging calendar that guides you as you plan out upcoming posts and topics; put together a list of possible blogging topics; develop a blogging schedule that works for you. Then stick to your calendar no matter what.

6) Offer up guest posts. Once you’re on a roll, you should begin researching blogs in your particular industry that accept guest blog posts. Then, get to know the bloggers, interact with them on their blog and eventually offer to write a guest post for them.

7) Create massive exposure. Make sure to spread the word about your blog in as many places as possible: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, articles, press releases, videos, podcasts, speaking, etc.

Decide exactly what you want to accomplish through your small business blog, and then apply the above tips. Remember, blogging isn’t an overnight marketing strategy; it takes time to grow a loyal audience.

But, if you hang in there and don’t give up, your efforts will be rewarded through more traffic, better leads and, eventually, more sales for your small business.

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Filed Under: blogging, shoestring marketing tips, small business marketing, social media marketing Tagged With: blogging, shoestring marketing tips, small business marketing, social media marketing

50 Ways to get more Facebook “Likes”

July 6, 2011 By Jessica Swanson 13 Comments

If you have a Facebook Page for your small business, it doesn’t take long to realize that you need people to “like” your page before you can do much of anything.

Here are 50 ways to directly (and indirectly) get more folks to “like” your Facebook page:

1) Create a vanity URL.

Instead of using the default Facebook URL, you eventually need to have a vanity URL that clearly describes your small business. Once you have 25 page “likes”, you can create a custom URL.

2) Upload a memorable picture.

The picture area on the left-hand side of your page is valuable marketing space, so let the creative juices flow. Upload a picture that gives your prospects a visually stimulating look at your small business brand.

Your picture size can be 520px wide and any height that you would like. You can download DreamGrow’s great cheat sheet to help you understand the Facebook picture dimensions.

3) Let your fans vote.

There’s nothing better than allowing your fans the chance to vote. It’s a great way to create user engagement around a hot industry topic. You can use the Easy Vote application to create your polls.

4) Integrate plugins into your page.

There are thousands of plugins that can enhance the overall experience of your Facebook page. Take a look at some of the more popular plugins on the Facebook developer page.

5) Invite your email subscribers.

Ask your email list to “like” your Facebook page. Of course, if you offer some type of incentive, this will only increase the amount of likes you receive from your list.

6) Include a Facebook “like” button in your ezine.

If you send out a regular newsletter or ezine, you should always have a prominent “like” button embedded in a prominent location.

7) Suggest your page to friends.

You can use the “suggest to friends” feature of your page to send out a request to your friends to “like” your page. However, make sure that you are only suggesting your page to folks that you know so that you don’t come across as a spammer.

8) Update your status at least once a day.

If people are going to “like” you, then they need to see that you’re active within you page. Make sure to update your status at least once a day (and even more if possible).

9) Drive visitors to your page from your blog.

Whenever you post to your blog, encourage your readers to become a Facebook Fan at the end of the post.

10) Include Facebook Share button on your blog.

Your blog should allow your readers to easily share your content with their Facebook friends. A great share plugin for WordPress is Share This.

11) Include a link in your email signature.

Every time you send out an email, you should have a link to your Facebook page embedded in your signature.

12) Invite fans to join via SMS.

Your fans can join your fan page via text message. Once you secure your Facebook vanity URL users simply send a text message to 32665 (FBOOK) and include the words “fan yourusername” (minus the quotes).

13) Create a landing page.

When new visitors land on your Facebook page, it’s important that they don’t land on your wall. Instead, create a static landing page that gives them a succinct overview of your small business and what they can expect if they “like” you.

Here’s an awesome example of a landing page from Red Bull.

14) Make a welcome video.

When new visitors land on your page, there’s nothing like a welcome video to entice them to join. Your video should be 3-5 minutes long and describe the benefits of “liking” your page.

15) Interact with your fans.

There’s nothing worse than landing on a Facebook page in which the administrative doesn’t respond or interact with the fans. If you want more fans, then you need to interact with your fans in a variety of ways.

16) Embed “how-to” videos on your site.

Videos are hot, hot, hot right now. Record a few “how-to” videos and embed them on your site. Your fans will love it!

17) Use pictures.

Remember that a picture is worth a thousand words, so upload pictures about you and your small business.

18) Upload audios or podcasts.

If you produce podcasts or audios of any kind, don’t forget to add them to your Facebook page for additional reasons for fans to “like” you.

19) Use Slideshare.

Create a quick PowerPoint that educates your target market. Upload it to Slideshare and share it on Facebook.

20) Run a contest.

There’s nothing quite like a contest to get loads of new “likes” to your Facebook page. Using the Wildfire app, you can create a contest around any topic imaginable.

21) Include a link to your Facebook page on your business card.

There are now quite a few companies that print your Facebook URL right on your business card. Here are a few examples from Zazzle.

22) Display a placard at your front desk.

If you run a physical business, place a placard inviting your customers to join your Facebook page. You can even offer them a coupon or other incentive to join.

23) Add a Facebook badge to your website or blog

Don’t forget to add a Facebook badge to your website or blog in a very prominent location.

24) Link to your page as your place of employment.

Now that the info box under your profile picture has been phased out, you can add a static link to your page under employment. Once you do this your Facebook Page will appear under your name on your Profile Page.

25) Offer an incentive for people to “like” you.

If you want more “likes”, then you will need to give visitors a valuable incentive to become a fan. You could give-away an ebook, whitepaper, video or coupons.

26) Install a Facebook “Like Box” on your site.

Installing a “Like Box” allows visitors to become your fan without leaving your website or blog.

27) Include a link to your page in forums.

If you are active in forums, make sure to include a link to your Facebook page.

28) Connect your page to Twitter.

Connecting your Facebook Page to Twitter is a simple way to convert your Twitter followers into Facebook fans.

29) Hook up your RSS Feed.

Using an app from Involver, you can syndicate your blog to the news tab on your Facebook page and utilize the power of blogs and updatable content to widen your reach and encourage people to join your conversation.

30) Connect your YouTube channel.

Deliver video directly to your social networks by incorporating your YouTube channel as a tab on your Facebook page.

31) Use a Facebook link in your blog comments.

Include a link to your Facebook Page when you comment on blogs.

32) Press releases.

Include a link to your Facebook Page in an upcoming Press Release.

33) On-line or off-line articles.

Whenever you publish and article, include a link to your Facebook page in your author’s bio box.

34) Link to your Facebook page from your Linkedin profile.

LinkedIn allows you three slots on your profile to include outside links. You should write the anchor text as a “call to action” such as: Join my Facebook Page for exciting Shoestring Marketing updates

35) Track your growth with Facebook insights.

Facebook insights helps you analyze what activities drive the most growth so that you can duplicate your most successful activities.

36) Analyze your demographics with Facebook insights.

Facebook insights allows you to analyze the demographic make-up of your Facebook fans. This important information will help you target your ideal market more closely.

37) Make a Facebook window sign.

Bluesky has created a fun window sign that you can use to entice folks to “like” your page.

38) Ask your customers or clients to become fans.

Don’t forget to ask your current customers and clients to “like” your Facebook page. They are often your biggest fans!

39) Use status tagging.

Use status tagging by entering the @ sign, then typing the name of the page or person you want to tag.

40) Promote your events.

Through EventBrite, you can let your Facebook fans know about upcoming live or virtual events.

41) Use Hootsuite to manage your page.

Sometimes a little organization goes a long way. Use the free application Hootsuite to manage your Facebook page from one location.

42) Host a “fan of the month” promotion.

To encourage active fans, you might consider running a “fan of the month” promotion that highlights your most active and involved fans.

43) Remind your friends to “like” and “share” your content.

Facebook has simple sharing buttons that make it easy-as-pie for people to promote your page to their network of friends. Remind your fans to click the “share” button so that their friends will also receive your updates.

44) Publish testimonials.

iEndorse allows you to use testimonials as a way to build trust with your visitors.

45) Use “fan-only” coupons and promotions.

A great incentive for visitors to “like” your page is to offer “fan-only” coupons and promotions. You can grab a great coupon app at Klout.

46) Include a FAQ page.

This simple FAQ application allows your users to ask questions for you to answer.

47) Offer a quiz.

Who doesn’t like to take a fun quiz? You can create a fun quiz for your fans through the Quiz Maker app.

48) Create a contact form.

Your visitors will feel more inclined to “like” your page, if they notice that there is a way to contact you and your small business. You can create a simple contact form through the Contact Me Contact Form .

49) Deliver an amazing user experience.

Your Facebook Page should be a place filled with content, information and education that will help your visitors solve their most pressing problems.

50) Be a social participant.

Although delivering useful content is important, it’s equally important for your fans to see you as a real person behind your small business. So go ahead and be a bit transparent allowing your connections to get to know you in a meaningful way.

So, if you’re looking for ways to increase your Facebook fan-count, this little list should keep you busy!

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Filed Under: shoestring marketing tips, small business marketing, social media marketing, top 50 Tagged With: facebook marketing, shoestring marketing tips, small business marketing, social media marketing

50 of my Favorite WordPress Plugins

June 8, 2011 By Jessica Swanson 2 Comments

One of the most powerful aspects of WordPress is the plugin capabilities. However, since there are literally thousands upon thousands of plugins available, it can also be incredibly overwhelming.

Here are 50 fantastic plugins that I personally recommend you consider using on your own WordPress blog:

ADMIN TOOLS

1) Jetpack - Adds cloud power to your self-hosted WordPress blog.

2) Server Buddy - Tests server configuration and hosting issues. It also tests compatibility with WordPress themes and plugins.

3) WordPress Backup – Backs up your theme, plugins and images.

4) WP-DB Manager – Gives you more control over your WordPress database backups.

ADVERTISING

5) Awesome Ads – Integrate Google Adsense into your blog.

6) Chitika Premium Ads – Integrate Chitika premium ads into your WordPress blog.

7) WP125 - Manages your 125×125 block advertisements.

COMMENTS

8) Akismet — Protects your blog from comment and trackback spam.

9) CubePoints – Allows you to award points for each comment posted by visitors.

10) Disqus Comment System – An advanced comment system that provides a simple way for your visitors to comment and engage on your blog.

11) Keyword Luv – Adds an extra field to your comments where people can enter their website URL.

12) Liz Comment Count – Displays a comment count on your blog.

13) Show Top Commentators – Allows you to display your top commentators automatically.

14) Subscribe to Comments – Allows readers to receive e-mail notifications to follow-up comments.

ECOMMERCE

15) WP-Ecommerce – Allows you to provide an online store on your WordPress blog.

16) Affiliate Program – Provides a way to create an affiliate program through your blog.

ENGAGEMENT

17) BuddyPress – Create an extensive social network on your WordPress blog.

18) WP Forum – Integrate a forum into your WordPress blog.

19) Thank Me Later – Send an email to thank visitors for leaving a comment on your blog.

20) WP Greet Box – Create a custom greeting based on the referral URL of your website visitor. It also includes support for RSS, Delicious, Digg, Twitter, Facebook and many more.

POST MANAGEMENT

21) Best Posts Summary – Automatically generates a daily, weekly, or monthly review post. Includes both post titles and brief descriptions.

22) In Series – Allows you to easily group a series of posts into a series.

23) No Self Ping – Prevents your blog from sending pingbacks internally to your other posts.

24) Popularity Contest – Monitors your website traffic and gives you reports on your popular posts. Plugin is fully customizable allowing you to set the values used to calculate your posts popularity.

25) Related Posts – Uses keywords in your post URLs to display a designated number of related posts.

26) Related Posts by Category – Uses category to locate and display related posts.

27) WP-Super Cache – Creates a cache of your posts to avoid server load.

SEO

28) All-in-One SEO Pack – The Ultimate SEO WordPress plugin. Allows you to set your homepage meta information and automatically generate custom meta information for your individual posts.

29) Google XML Sitemap - Creates an XML-Sitemap compliant sitemap supported by Ask.com, Google, Yahoo and MSN.

30) Mobile Press – Optimizes your WordPress blog for mobile phone viewing.

31) Permalink Redirect – Creates a 301 Redirect to avoid duplicate content penalties with search engines.

32) SEO Smart Links – Also great for SEO, this plugin helps engage your users by linking keywords within your site.

33) SEO Slugs – This plug-in removes all the unnecessary words from post titles. This makes post titles more search engine friendly!

34) Simple Breadcrumbs for WordPress – Allows you to provide your readers with additional blog navigation.

35) WP-Page Navi – This widget adds navigation from one page to the other so visitors can easily view your numerous blog posts you’ve worked so hard on.

SOCIAL NETWORKING

36) Tweetmeme - Allows your visitors to easily retweet your blog posts.

37) Sociable - One of the most popular social sharing plug-ins that supports the majority of social networks.

38) Add to Any – Allows your visitors to share your content to a variety of networks quickly and easily.

39) WP-Email – Add an “Email This!” button to your WordPress blog.

40) LifeStream – Enables you to stream content from your social platforms across the social waves to your website by leveraging RSS feeds.

41) LinkedIn Share Button – Allows your visitors to share content on LinkedIn.

42) Facebook Live Stream – Provides live streaming from your Facebook fan page.

43) Facebook Like Box - Allows visitors to “like” your Facebook fan page In addition, it displays photos of your fans, number of fans and recent Facebook activity.

44) Sexy Bookmarks - Allow your visitors to share your content with striking buttons that you place in your blog.

45) TwitterCounter – A cute button that you place as a widget to display your number of Twitter followers.

TAGS

46) Better Tags Manager – Allows you to better manage your tags, as well as convert your categories to tags.

47) Recommended Tags – Looks at your post’s content and recommends tags. Includes additional features.

MULTI-MEDIA

48) All-in-One Video Pack – Upload, record, import and edit videos directly in your blog posts.

49) Dynamic Headers - Display unique headers for each page of your blog.

50) MP3 Player – Embed MP3 audios on your blog.

Of course there are amazing new plugins being developed every single day of the week. Please let me know of any plugins that YOU personally recommend!

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Filed Under: blogging, shoestring marketing tips, small business marketing, social media marketing, top 50 Tagged With: blogging, shoestring marketing tips, small business marketing, social media marketing

How Much Time Should You Spend Marketing Your Small Business?

May 30, 2011 By Jessica Swanson 4 Comments

How much time should you spend marketing your small business? In my humble opinion, this is one of the most important questions to consider when it comes to running a small business.

But, here’s the crazy part. I attempted to pull together some quality research about this question and couldn’t come up with any solid data. Hard as I tried, I just couldn’t find a definitive answer.

So, all I can do is offer my own answer (which is backed by personal experience as opposed to research).

So here goes: You should spend at least 60% of your work-time marketing your small business.

I know, I know, it’s all a bit suspect. I teach marketing, so of course I would recommend spending an inordinate amount of time marketing your small business.

But, if you can cast your skepticism aside for a moment I have another important question for you to consider: Have you invented a product or service that can sell itself?

If you have, I offer you my heartfelt congratulations. But, most of us don’t have that luxury.

Unfortunately, there are hundreds and thousands of truly excellent products or services that haven’t made a dime in sales. I’m sure you may even know a few examples.

And, the only reason why an excellent product or service isn’t making sales is because the small business owner isn’t spending their time marketing the product. Instead, they’re spending most of their time working “in” their business.

Here’s my simple 3-step process for running a successful small business:

1. To run a profitable small business, you need to make sales.

2. To make sales, you need to get the word out about your products or services.

3. To get the word out about your product or service, you need to market.

That means, like or not, you are a marketer first, small business owner second.

And, if you’re on a shoestring budget, you certainly don’t have a lot of money to spend on marketing, so you’re going to have to put a lot of time into your marketing. There’s really no way around it.

So, how did I come up with the fact that you should spend 60% of your time on marketing? Because that’s how much time I personally spend on my own marketing activities including: posting on my blog, social networking, publishing articles, creating videos, hosting webinars, speaking, SEO and networking (just to name a few).

Here’s a quick survey to find out how much time you spend marketing your own small business.

CLICK HERE to tell us how much time YOU spend marketing your small business.

CLICK HERE to find out how much time OTHER small business owners spend marketing their small businesses:

Let me know your thoughts!

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Filed Under: article marketing, blogging, shoestring marketing tips, small business marketing, social media marketing Tagged With: blogging, shoestring marketing tips, small business marketing, social media marketing

5 Social Media Marketing Tips

February 22, 2011 By Jessica Swanson 2 Comments

Even though social media sites are a tremendous way for small business owners to promote themselves on a shoestring budget, most small business owners don’t utilize these powerful platforms effectively. They vacillate between feeling completely overwhelmed and feeling that the sites are a huge waste of time.

Social Media is one of my favorite ways of generating interest around my own small business. But, there are some basic principles to keep in mind in order to make your marketing more effective and efficient.

Here are five important tips that will enhance your overall social media marketing experiences:

1) Create a landing page.

A landing page is a one-page website that offers your visitors a quick peek at you and your small business before they are “overwhelmed” by your business website. In addition, successful landing pages offer visitors a valuable free offer in exchange for their name and email address. Landing pages are crucial to business success because they allow prospects to connect with you on a more personal level, quickly highlight the benefits of doing business with you and give your prospects a small taste of what your small business is all about.

2) Set up complete profiles on your social networks.

If you want your marketing efforts to work, make sure that your social media profiles are complete. If prospects land on your profile page and it doesn’t have a picture and contains sparse information, they aren’t likely to feel any connection with you. You should provide as much information about yourself as possible. Remember, people want to get to know you, so give them what they’re looking for.

3) Participate; don’t push.

When marketing on social media platforms, always keep in mind the 80/20 rule. You should spend 80% of your time sharing, answering questions and interacting with others and only 20% of your time promoting your small business. If you stick to this rule, you’ll be viewed as a true participant as opposed to a pushy sales-person.

4) Be consistent.

Social media marketing is all about consistency. It’s extremely important that prospective clients see you on a regular basis. Exposure is the key to gaining your client’s trust and eventual business. So, get on those sites and interact on a daily basis.

5) Create a daily schedule.

If you don’t have a schedule, it won’t take long before you’re sucked into the “social media black hole.” Determine how much time you have to devote to your social media marketing and stick to it. If you only have 30-minutes each day, then only utilize three social networking sites and generate a strong presence on them. I like to use a timer (honestly!) to keep myself on track; when it beeps, I’m off to the next site.

Social Media marketing is extremely effective as long as you understand how to tap into its power. If you implement these five tips into your marketing efforts, you should quickly generate impressive results for your small business.

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Filed Under: small business marketing, social media marketing Tagged With: shoestring marketing tips, small business marketing, social media marketing

7 Deadly Twitter Sins

February 7, 2011 By Jessica Swanson 6 Comments

Many years ago, a man is following a path through a deep, dark forest. Suddenly, he loses his way and becomes lost. He is able to find many paths that lead him nowhere and eventually gives up ever finding his way back to the right path. At the pinnacle of his despair, he is rescued by a great man and brought to a terrible place that reads “”Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.”

All who reside in this place have lost all faith and have no possibility for a better life.

Do you remember this famous allegory? It’s one that I taught many times as a high school English Teacher. It’s the epic poem, “The Divine Comedy” by Dante Alighieri.

In the poem, Virgil guides Dante through the nine circles of Hell. The circle of Hell are concentric and each level houses greater sinners and, of course, greater punishments.

But, even if you’ve never read Dante, you may be familiar with the seven deadly sins: lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and pride.

So, what does Dante have to do with marketing? What an excellent question.

Many well-meaning small business owners are committing one (or more) of the seven deadly sins, every single day, on one of today’s most popular marketing platforms: Twitter.

So, let’s run through the seven deadly sins one more time to ensure that you’re not in danger of falling deep into Twitter hell.

Lust: Many small business owners join Twitter in hopes that it will make them rich beyond their wildest dreams. In my opinion, one of the main reasons that Twitter has such a high drop-out rate is that small business owners are lured in by the promise of easy money, and when it doesn’t happen immediately, they give up. Twitter is a relationship tool. It’s not a “get-rich-quick” platform. Ironically, as you develop more exposure and start acquiring loyal followers and fans, you’ll begin generating more prospects, leads and sales. But, like any marketing tool, it takes patience and persistence to reap the rewards.

Gluttony: Twitter is an amazing marketing tool. But, it should be one of many marketing tools in your toolkit. If you’re spending more than thirty minutes a day Tweeting, your small business is suffering. Twitter addiction is not going to grow your small business. As Aristotle once taught, “everything in moderation” and that includes Twitter as well.

Greed: One of the main advantages of social media is the chance to share what you learn with others. If you refuse to link to content that will help your followers, you’re going to lose followers quickly. Social media only works if you spread your knowledge around.

Sloth: Social media is a NOW environment, not an “I’ll get to it later” industry. When prospects Tweet you questions, make comments and interact, you need to respond – immediately. If it takes you too long to react, the opportunity will vanish.

Wrath: Twitter has its share of offensive, boorish and bad-mannered folks. You should never allow these types of people to provoke you. Remember, you can never take back what you post on Twitter; it’s there forever and ever. Instead of responding in a wrath of fury to a thoughtless individual, simply block them without saying a thing. They won’t be able to Tweet with you ever again.

Envy: Don’t get obsessed with how many followers someone has or become jealous of their Twitter success. Chances are that they’ve been Tweeting with consistency for quite some time. The good news is that Twitter is a medium that be accessed and learned by any small business owner. Study, interact and network with others; but, don’t get wrapped up in their success.

Pride: Twitter is not the place to demand attention and shout out to the world how wonderful and amazing you are. Twitter is social, collaborative and interactive. You are part of the Twitter community to make connections and help others. If you stubbornly try to sell your products and services directly from the Twitter platform, you will fail.

So, if you’re committing any of these Twitter sins, there’s still time to slow down and find your way back to the true Twitter path. Dante would be proud.

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Filed Under: shoestring marketing tips, small business marketing, social media marketing Tagged With: shoestring marketing tips, small business marketing, social media marketing, twitter

You’re Invited to a Social Media Party

January 20, 2011 By Jessica Swanson 8 Comments

If you’re a small business owner, you’re probably aware that social media marketing is all the rage right now. Not only is it popular for personal use, but also for savvy business owners looking for ways to market their small businesses efficiently and economically.

But, if you find yourself tentative about jumping into the social media marketing scene, you’re not alone. Marketing through social media platforms is an entirely different experience for most small business owners. And, of course, “different” always causes hesitation.

Interestingly enough, walking into the social media scene is much like walking into a huge cocktail party. In both instances you’re going to meet people of all shapes and sizes.

Here are the seven types of people you’ll meet at any party (or social media platform):

1) Shy and awkward.

This person lurks in the shadows and is afraid to interact with anyone. They stand on the sidelines listening and observing, but are too afraid to step into the party and start meeting people. Unfortunately, by remaining in the background, they’ll never fully appreciate the entire experience.

2) Loud and obnoxious.

You know this one. You can hear their voice booming from miles away. They talk too loud, too much and monopolize the conversations. No one can get a word in edgewise.

3) Life of the party.

These are the people that make you laugh. They have funny stories to tell, crazy comments to make and just make the party more fun. You always look forward to talking with them again. They may get a bit goofy and dance with a lampshade on their head, but you must admit that they always add that extra spice.

4) Know-it-all.

There’s always at least one person at the party who seems to have all the answers. In addition, they aren’t afraid to tell you what you’re doing wrong, how to do it right and why you should listen to them. Always remember that the know-it-all usually doesn’t know-it-all.

5) The bore.

We’ve all been stuck in the corner, at one time or another, with the person who drones on and on about their “Aunt Mary’s blood pressure medication.” Since there doesn’t seem to be any easy escape, you end up nodding in agreement at their mind-numbing stories for hours on end (desperately hoping that someone will come by and save you).

6) The no-show.

There’s always someone who doesn’t show up. They say that they’ll be there, but “something always comes up.” They RSVP, have the best of intentions but just never quite get their act together.

7) Friendly interactor.

This is what the party is all about. It’s all about the friendly people who ask questions, make you smile, share fun stories and remind you that coming to the party was worth it after all (even if you did have to suffer through a few obnoxious, boring, know-it-alls in the process).

So, in my own experience social media mimics the real world. You just need to decide how you want to be perceived, the type of people you want to gather around and, of course, the type of people you want to avoid.

So, join the party. In the end, you’ll be glad that you did.

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Filed Under: shoestring marketing tips, small business marketing, social media marketing Tagged With: shoestring marketing tips, small business marketing, social media marketing

12 Tips for the Social Media Newbie

December 21, 2010 By Jessica Swanson 7 Comments

Many small business owners are silently watching social media marketing from the sidelines. They’re intrigued, interested and attracted by this new marketing channel, but don’t feel quite ready to join in on the game. But, no worries.

Here are twelve simple tips to help get your social media marketing in top form.

1. It’s not too late. Many small business owners think they’ve missed the boat when it comes to jumping on the social media bandwagon. But, nothing could be further from the truth. Social media is in its infancy and still considered a newborn in the marketing world.

2. Have a plan. You certainly wouldn’t jump into a new business without a plan of action. The same is true for social media marketing. You should know exactly what you are trying to accomplish before you get involved.

3. Start slow. There are hundreds of social media platforms out there. But, limit your involvement to Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. Once you’ve mastered these three, then you can broaden your horizons.

4. Be realistic with the time-commitment. If you’re going to fully succeed through social media marketing, then you’re going to have to commit some time and energy to making it work. As with all new marketing adventures, it always takes longer in the beginning.

5. Use automation. There are dozens of automation tools to help you manage your time on social media. Use them wisely and in moderation.

6. Get personal. Don’t rely entirely on automated tools. You need to interact with your friends, followers and connections. Social media doesn’t work if you aren’t interested in forming real relationships.

7. Don’t outsource from the start. Although eventually you can outsource some of the tedious social media tasks, it’s in your best interest to be personally involved in every aspect of social media so that you can understand exactly how it works. Then, once you have wrapped your brain around it, you can outsource.

8. Don’t expect a miracle. Social media is a tool. Nothing more, nothing less. It’s never going to fix a broken business.

9. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. There’s not a “rule book” for social media success. Go ahead and get started, if you make a mistake, it’s not the end of the world.

10. Don’t overcomplicate. Social media is mostly a mixture of common sense, interaction and dedication. Don’t make it more complicated than it is.

11. Have fun. At the end of the day, social media is, well, social. So, wipe that frown off your face and have a little fun Tweeting, updating and posting.

12. Just do it. The most important tip of all is to just get started. You’re never going to learn to swim if you don’t jump in the pool.

There’s still plenty of time to get involved in social media marketing for your small business. Once you get started and find success, you’ll never look back.

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Filed Under: shoestring marketing tips, small business marketing, social media marketing Tagged With: shoestring marketing tips, small business marketing, social media marketing

Avoid These 5 Twitter Mistakes

December 16, 2010 By Jessica Swanson 2 Comments

I admit it. I’m a Twitter gal and I absolutely love what Twitter can do for small business owners. It produces massive visibility, it’s a top-notch lead generation tool and a powerful networking platform.

Unfortunately, Twitter continues to mystify many small business owners who aren’t quite sure what all the fuss is about.

The good news is that Twitter doesn’t have many rules. It’s by in large all about using common sense, being polite and exercising good judgment.

But, that being said, here are five ways to ensure that your Twitter experience is a tragic disaster:

1. Toot your own horn too much.

Obviously, you are passionate about your small business and want to let the world know about its strengths and virtues. However, Twitter is not an advertising platform. It’s a social community. When you constantly shout sales pitch to your followers, they’re going to unfollow you. Instantly. Instead, try to immerse yourself in the Twitter community and join the conversation.

2. Use the default Twitter profile.

If you’re using Twitter as a marketing tool for your small business, then you need to avoid the default Twitter profile. That cute, little default cloud background is certainly not doing your small business any favors. Take a few minutes and put together a customized Twitter profile and brand your small business by utilizing all of that valuable advertising space. (And no excuses, you can even do this for free at MyTweetSpace.)

3. Tweet once a week.

Your followers have hundreds, if not thousands of Tweets flowing through their Twitter stream on a daily basis. If you think that your weekly Tweet is going to get noticed, you need to reset your thinking. Twitter works best when your followers see your Tweets flow through their stream again and again. Repeated exposure is the only way to get noticed on Twitter.

4. Don’t interact with your followers.

There are all sorts of nifty Twitter automation tools that can help manage your time on Twitter. And I’m a big believer in sending out a few automated Tweets. But, if you want Twitter to work, you actually need to personally log into your account and send out Tweets. Answer questions, retweet your followers, make conversation. Your followers want to see a real person in front of your small business. They’re not looking for a bunch of automated, impersonal Tweets.

5. Give up too soon.

This is one of the most common problems of Twitter. In fact, Twitter has one of the highest “drop-out” rates of any social networking platform. And, it’s a shame. Small business owners everywhere, start on Twitter only to drop out a week later. Twitter isn’t an instant fix for your business. It’s a relationship tool and relationships take time to develop. So, give Twitter the time that it deserves and it will reward you.

Whether you’re a Twitter newbie or a seasoned Twitter professional put these five tips into play and make your Twitter experience one that truly benefits and grows your small business.

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Filed Under: shoestring marketing tips, small business marketing, social media marketing Tagged With: shoestring marketing tips, small business marketing, social media marketing, twitter