LinkedIn marketing is very “in” right now. Along with that popularity, I’m seeing many businessmen and women using cringy and ineffective methods to pitch and sell their products or services.
This week’s blog is brought to you by my LinkedIn inbox. It might seem obvious that these strategies are ineffective and should stop being used effective immediately, it’s not.
Usually when a social network makes changes, there is a lot of push back and outrage from it’s users. This past week, Twitter made some changes that you’ll most likely happily embrace.
Tweeting started out as a simple 140-character text message that allowed you to connect with a broad audience in real time provided you didn’t run into a Fail Whale which you’ll remember if you were an early adopter.
Much has changed in the twitterverse – with links, hashtags, photos, videos and more, it was time for Twitter to adapt the character count restrictions…or run the risk of falling behind other social networks. This is what they have done to improve your user experience:
You may not have noticed, but Facebook has added three new features in recent months that can help you manage time and relationships in your business.
Those features are Search, Save, and Stop.
Let’s start with Search and Save. How can they help you in your business?
Because, business is about people. Therefore your ability to find information about the people who matter to your business is important.
Have you ever been on your newsfeed in Facebook reading something when suddenly the newsfeed jumped and it disappeared on you?
LinkedIn is slowly rolling out their own publishing functionality for you to share your original content. Last week, I received an invitation to try it out.
If you would like to publish content on LinkedIn, you can apply for early access here.
To learn a bit more about what that means, check out this article by Ryan Roslansky.
LinkedIn’s publishing platform is a powerful way to build your personal brand <- Tweet This!
My first published post on LinkedIn can be found here -> “Seven Simple Steps to Publishing Your Content On LinkedIn”.
I thought it might be helpful to share 7 simple suggestions with you on how to get started.
Now can you do me a favour? This is my first published post on LinkedIn and I would love it if you could read it and if you like it, give it some social media endorsement love!
As a thank you, here are a few other posts I have written about LinkedIn and content creation that might be of value to you. Are you still feeling unsure about what kind of content you should create? Watch this video below to find out how to get unstuck.
LinkedIn Ratings, Endorsements and Recommendations
4 Ways to Create Great Content That Will Build Relationships
One of the top obstacles for entrepreneurs is trying to figure out how to market their business online and share on Social Media.
If you are stuck in this rut where you feel like you’re saying the same thing over and over again and no one is really listening, you need to know that it can be easier.
Content is key — it is the reason why people want to visit your website and pay attention to what you do. They are seeking out your expertise and want information that can help them.
Your expertise and knowledge can make a huge difference for someone else when you share and can assist with building a strong and connected platform for your business via Social Media.
In this video I share some of my best kept secrets for taking content creation from overwhelm to systematized.
And this only scratches the surface of what the members of the Content Pilot will learn! (find out more here: https://www.lisalarter.com/contentpilot)
So, check out these secrets then let me know – What is the one thing you are going to do today to make content creation easier for your business? Share in the comments!
Content can be simple and effective, if you have a plan.
There are lots of ways to generate content and it doesn’t have to be difficult. In fact, with just a few tricks, you can turn boring copywriting into exciting marketing for your business!
If you start with clarity around what you want to create content on, it will be much easier.
Don’t get caught trying to “wing it” at the last minute… you know it doesn’t always work!
Watch this week’s video for some of my own secrets to making content planning easy and sustainable. Then, if you’re ready for more ways to help get your Content Marketing Engine going, check out the new Pilot Project —>https://www.lisalarter.com/contentpilot/
You probably have the same questions about social media as everyone else, like:
“When is it the right time to post?”
“How often or how long do I need to be online?”
“Why would I even bother with Social Media? Will it really work for my business?”
A vital part of successful Social Networking is knowing how often to promote your business and engage and connect with your audience online, because when and how you talk with them through Social Media is key to really connecting with your peeps and creating the sense of community you, and they, are looking for.
Think of it like this, Social Media is a bit like the radio in that you only hear what is on when you are tuned in.
You can’t expect to post a couple of times a day and reach your audience. They aren’t always there waiting for you to say something. On the other hand, you also don’t want to be broadcasting constantly or you will be spamming people when they are there. You have to find the balance.
On my Facebook page I share a lot of what others are putting out there and provide information that can help you improve your business. You should be doing the same for your community.
Ask yourself these four questions and use what you find to create your content plan:
Ideally you may want to post content to either drive traffic to your website or to build your list a couple of times a day—not much more.
The rest of the time you should be connecting and engaging with other people. You want to ask questions and find out what’s important to the people that you are connecting with.
Think of being online as just like being at a networking function. You wouldn’t march up to someone at an event and say “Hi – I sell Widgets, do you need any?!”, so don’t do it online.
At an event, you make small talk and learn about other people. You focus on getting them to know, like and trust you because you know that is how to get them to buy from you. Do the same with Social Media.
In an ideal situation, you want to find ways to be helpful to other people. You want to encourage them, to connect them with other people or services and generally get acquainted. Think about how great it feels for you when someone helps you. This community that you build will be much more receptive to helping you spread the word about your products and services if you do the same for them.
This part is really all about reciprocity.
Are you using Social Media to help others build their business as you build yours? Share a link below to content you have either created or found recently that you feel others need to see.
Are you one of the many business people out there who says “Social Media just takes up too much time!”?
It’s ok, you are not alone. And, even better? YOU can change this misconception and make Social Media work for you without spending a lot of time on it.
Even if you know about Social Media, you may not be sure about all of the different platforms that are out there and you may not know the one secret to making them work for you.
But now you do!
The big secret to making Social Media work for your business right now is…Having a Plan.
Yes, it really is that simple.
One of the easiest ways to get lost in the time warp that is Social Media is to post something without a plan. If you don’t know what to say on Social Media you will start reading the posts of others to “get an idea”. Then, you begin commenting on those posts, sharing their content, etc. Right?
Before you know it, an hour has slipped by and you have accomplished nothing more than sharing some cat pictures with funny captions, reading strange news stories and catching up on what your friend had for dinner last night.
If you create a plan for what you want to share you can be strategic about using social media to grow your business and make great connections. You can still engage with people, but you will also ensure that you have shared your message.
Ideally, you should have three objectives when spending time on social media: be helpful, drive people to your website, and build your list.
Here are a few easy steps to help you PLAN your Social Media content and save tons of time:
1. Know your audience and what they want – There is a reason these people are connecting with you and that is the exact thing that will cause them to share what you are posting, tweeting, blogging, etc. Review what has worked well for you in the past – which posts got a lot of comments, what tweets were retweeted – and use that as your starting point to create new content.
2. Get some backup – Find a few places you can source content from. Note, I said source, not steal. Keep a couple of blogs and sites that post some great content that resonates with your audience bookmarked. Use them to get ideas for your own posts or even to share with your audience what they’ve posted, giving them the proper credit of course. Don’t know where to start? Make a list of topics that your audience would be interested in and then set up Google Alerts for those keywords.
3. Decide how your audience will access your content – Some of it, like blog posts, may be easily found via your website. Other items should be considered premium content and you should ask for an email address in order to access that content. These would be things like eBooks, free resources etc. In order to grow your list, you must have a good mix of completely free and opt-in content.
5. Choose the Social Platforms that will work best for you. – Don’t try to do every single Social Network right away. Focus on just one to get started and make sure it’s the right one. You want to be sure that this is the place to reach your audience and grow your business. As I said in this Shop Talk video on Maximizing Your Social Media Presence and Saving Time, you do not need to be everywhere at once.
Creating great content is just one part of building a business. Using social media to share your content so people know about it is critical to your success because, if you create content that other people think is great they want to share it too.
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