Social Media Marketing Made Easy | Facebook & Twitter for Business

What to Say on Social Media – 10 Talk Worthy Topics

Guest post Adeah Wetzel

Are you participating with your friends, followers and likes on social media?
Okay, I hear the mumbling…”What do I share? Who cares if I am at the car-wash?”

Right. I get that a lot.

Try using these 10 talk worthy topics on social media (1-2 posts per day for 30 days) and I promise your perspective will be different…So will your business.

What to say on social media- 10 talk worthy topics

1. Things you treasure- Think about things that light your fire! It doesn’t matter how big or small , it seems people love these insider warm-fuzzies. So what is it for you? Mine are spiritual and personal growth, yummy foods, and funny things my kids say.

2. Things that inspire you- Where do you go to affirm your greatness? Art? Songs? Favorite author? Mine include the ocean, women who are living their passion and chocolate.

3. Tools you often use- Stop and consider what items are you using throughout your day. Ergonomic chair? Astronaut pen? Vitamixer? Tell people how they bring value into your life/business/family. My top tools- headset for calls, Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap, ipod touch and pandora.com.

4. Bragging Rights- Share your accomplishments in your business. Did you help a client face her fear of asking for a raise? Tell people! Is your schedule booked with clients for the next 2 months? Brag about it! You get the idea, right?

5. Other peoples’ stuff- What e-newsletter do you always read? What blogs are you subscribed to? What events/products are your peers producing? What website offers great content for your community?

6. You couldn’t stop laughing because… Funny things (not at the expense of others of course!) are wonderful to share. Search on Youtube.com for a funny video or find a photo that cracks you up. Here is a great example: 

7. Ask questions- Get curious about your community. What are their thoughts about current affairs? What are they doing this weekend? How do they manage family and work life? What books are on their nightstands or Kindles? What cures a bad day? It doesn’t have to be about your work. Focus on getting to know who you are connected with on your social media profiles.

8. Witty musings- You know those strange and lovely things that happen to us in life? One morning I found a worm in my coffee and shared about it. These moments show your human side and give others a chance to connect on a common trait…being human.

9. Places or products- Where did you get your haircut? What is your favorite “I’m not cooking tonight” restaurant? Did your insurance agent go above and beyond? Did your cell phone company correct an error they made (what that could happen!)? Sharing your interactions with other businesses is a simple and lovely way to build community.

10. Promote your stuff!- Important to note this is #10 of 10 but it is still on the list. Earning a profit from your business is important, so share your goods too! Pull up those old blog posts from last year. Take quotes from your book. Tell people about your next event or you’re open for one more coaching client or your speaking on the local radio station as an expert in your field. Share about the services you offer in a balance with the other 9 items on this list.

The point is to nurture a connection with like-hearted people who will love being with you & your business just because of you! Remember to key into the emotions (human factor) of what you are sharing.

Adeah Wetzel brings her finely tuned sense of human behaviors, thoughts, and motivations into her true love affair with relationship marketing- the ultimate way to bring like-minded people from across the globe into your business.

Does marketing feel like flossing? You know it would be a good habit for your business but you keep forgetting to do it!  That’s why Adeah created The Reach Kit – a set-up and go system with hands-on support to habituate your marketing. Learn more at www.wholeheartedsocialmedia.com/ReachKit

Your First 1,000 Fans: How to Get Started in Social Media Marketing

Click “play” to get your first 1,000 fans (for free)

Register now for this free webinar and leave with:

• The one factor that tells me within the first glance if your Twitter account will be successful
• A behind-the-scenes look at the timeline of exactly how I’ve grown my following to 18,000 on Twitter, 16,000 on Facebook, and 7,000 on Google+
• The dead-simple secret sauce for ensuring that your social media fans actually visit your website
• The essential mindset shift that’s necessary to start seeing results from social marketing

Your First 1,000 Fans: How To Get Started in Social Media Marketing

Are My Tweets on Twitter Public or Private?

In this video, you’ll hear…

• Whether you should have your tweets be public or private.
• Who can see your tweets.
• What is a direct message, anyways?!

Read the Transcript ▼

How do you manage your Twitter tweets? Share your comments below!

Weekly Marketing Schedule for Warriors

Here are the core activities needed in the weekly marketing schedule:

1-2 emails per week

Email is the #1 medium for ALL online marketers. Use MailChimp or Aweber. The key here is to deliver real value to your email subscribers. Give them free stuff like ebooks or actionable videos. Then give your subscribers a discount off your app or service. Only after you have given your subscribers free and discounted stuff can you ask them to pay full price for your solution.

2 YouTube videos per week

Keep these videos less than 3 minutes. Use Google Keyword Tool to find topics that have potential to rank you on the first page of Goolge. Laura Roeder and others have indicated that traffic coming from YouTube converts 10 times better than random cold traffic. Make sure to create these videos on your YouTube Channel. The more likes, views, and video responses you can get the higher this video will rank on Google. For more info on YouTube videos scope out this video from Laura Roeder here.

One Guest Post or Interview per week

Guests blog posts help with exposure, credibility, and SEO. Write a great piece of content (like this) and pitch it to sites that utilize guest posters. You need to sell yourself and the content in order to get published. Including a short action video along with your guest post will increase the chances that you get published. A video interview is just as good as a guest blog post. Sites like Mixergy.com, TheRiseToTheTop , or IdeaMensch are money video interview candidates.

One give-away per week

Reach out to relevant blogs in your space and see if they would like to do a give-away contest with your app. If you are doing a SaaS product offer to give the blogger 5 One Year subscriptions. Make sure the contest includes both comments and tweets. An example of a contest I did from AppSumo can be seen here. Just copy this format.

2 Blog Posts on your site per week

Use the Google Keyword Tool research to determine blog topics to go after and attempt to rank for. Think about re-purposing content. Write about one of the topics you spoke about in your YouTube videos then include that video in your post. This way you enhance your blog post and don’t have to re-create the wheel. Use basic SEO principles in every blog post.

Tweet and Facebook everyday

Tweet and Facebook early and often. Use Hootsuite and Timely.is to automate your social network marketing. Mention and reach out to customers, friends, and experts on Twitter/Facebook. Twitter is awesome for customer service. Tweets shot out earlier in the day will have better performance and reach. At least 3 tweets and one Facebook update per day.

This schedule will help you in every aspect of your online marketing strategy but it is not perfect. Unbounce did an EPIC Free ebook focused on a 6-month Online Marketing schedule. You get it in exchange for a tweet here.

What did I miss? Please comment below and let me know!

Matt Smith is the co-founder of BusinesPirate.com. He was previously one of the BizDev guys at AppSumo and is currently getting his MBA from Thunderbird School of Global Management. His current venture, Business Pirate, helps educate sales and marketing pros through online video courses. When he is not playing on the computer, he likes to exercise and eat raw fish in sunny Scottsdale, Arizona.

The Facebook Divide: How To Untangle Your Business from Your Personal Life Once And For All

Have you seen the new Facebook? Timeline, the ticker, your “talking about this” number – there are so many big changes it can be hard to keep up.

These changes are CRUCIAL to successful facebook marketing and we don’t want you to get left in the dark. That’s why we decided to hold a special webinar to get you up to date.

In this completely FREE one hour video, you’ll learn:

• All about the new “timeline” and how will it affect your business
• How to completely separate your business life from your personal life on Facebook (finally!)
• Why the new changes could actually have zero impact on your Facebook marketing
• The groundbreaking “off-page” way to market on Facebook
• The bottom line on pages versus profiles versus groups and where to send your prospects

You’ll also learn more about our in-depth program Zero to Facebook.

To Follow Back or Not Follow Back on Twitter

In this video you’ll learn about…

• What is “following” on Twitter
• Whether you have to follow everyone that follows you
• Etiquette of “following” or “unfollowing” people on Twitter

How do you decide to “follow” or “unfollow” someone on Twitter? Share your comments below.

Read the Transcript ▼

How to Use Your Personality to Increase Your Social Media ROI

Guest post by Kirsten Simmons

There’s so much social media advice out there. Search for like-minded people. Join in on conversations…but only the ones you can add something to. Automate your tweets. Don’t automate your tweets. Be interesting. Provide value… it’s enough to make your head spin!

For the past nine months, I’ve been working on a theory about the relationship between personality type and productivity strategies. I’ve been using it myself and I’ve taught it to clients and friends. They’re surprised when they realize how much easier their lives are when their productivity strategies are in tune with their natural personalities. And they’re realizing that it can be applied to almost every area of their businesses – including social media.

There are four personality types in the theory – the fantastical, environmental, analytical and the structural. Most online entrepreneurs are either fantastical or analytical. The fantastical is a creative problem solver and the analytical is goal oriented and motivated by success. The environmental type is fueled by the people around him, and the structural type is a natural organizer.

What type do you think you are? Take a guess at your type and check out the social media recommendations below!

Fantastical – Tell your people what you’re up to! Chances are it’s something fascinating and others will be interested in following along. Don’t worry so much if you’re not on social networks all the time – just engage when you’re around and let people know when you’re not.

Environmental – You take to social networking like a fish to water! Your challenge isn’t being more effective, but making sure that you don’t spend all your time chatting with your new friends online. Use social networking time as a reward to get yourself through tasks that aren’t so fun, and set some timers so that you don’t lose track of the clock.

Analytical – Lists are your friends! Take advantage of your ability to sort your friends and followers into groups so that you can maximize your time on the most influential people in your network. As tempting as it is, don’t try to outsource your social media time – people will eventually figure out if you’re not the one behind the tweets, and your reputation will be shot.

Structural – Keep your circles tight! Chances are that you know exactly how many people are in your networks and you have a pretty good idea of who they might be connected to. But all that information will get overwhelming if you don’t keep it organized and stay on top of who’s coming into your networks and why.

Handling social media according to your personality type helps you come across as authentic, instead of having a fake veneer of interest or simply programming your tweets in advance. People can tell when you’re truly engaged, and staying true to your personality will up your engagement and help you attract friends and followers.

If you’re interested in knowing more about the personality productivity theory and your type, come over to Personalized Productivity and take our free quiz! You’ll get a definite answer and tips on time management, organization and productivity that are customized to your personality type.

Kirsten Simmons is an author, a coach, and the creator of the Personalized Productivity program that uses your personality to create your ideal productivity system. She’s a Fantastical (in case you were wondering) and she’s also a full time grad student focusing on mathematical models of epidemics. Connect with Kristen on twitter @kirstenasimmons.

The problem with your web designer: why hiring out your site could be your biggest biz mistake

Guest post by Amanda Aitken

Tell me if this sounds familiar.

You’re in the shower, lathering up with your fave shampoo, when suddenly, it hits you like a lightning bolt. A brilliant idea. An idea for a business that’s sure to change the world as we know it (or at least your little corner of it), and that you know you must act on NOW, or it will never happen.

Lit up like a Christmas tree, you jump out of the shower with your hair full of suds so you can scrawl down your genius thought before it vanishes into the ether.

As you skid back into the bathroom, your mind goes into overdrive dreaming up your branding for the new pursuit. You can’t remember the last time you were so excited. Fame, fortune, and that splashy trip to Paris are surely just around the corner!

But then you have another thought: “Crap. I’m going to need a website.”

The smile fades from your lips as the water goes cold.

Yep – you’ve got a tall order on your hands. This ain’t your first rodeo, and you know from experience how hard it is to find a talented designer who a) “gets” your vision, b) actually returns your emails, and c) is available sometime before 2014. Oh yeah – and you also need to come up with $2,000 for the project. Stat.

And just like that, the bubble bursts. You can already see the finished site in your mind’s eye (it’s gorgeous! flawless! primed to reel in the clients!), but you’re painfully aware that getting there is going to be a real struggle.

I know you’re trying to outsource the stuff that’s outside your zone of genius. That’s a smart strategy. But if you’re a creative solopreneur (especially one who’s a bit of a design snob), hiring out your website can be a massive mistake.

Let’s get very real here: after months of back-and-forth by email, costs that balloon with every revision you ask for, and a low-level migraine you can’t seem to shake, you could STILL end up with a site you don’t adore.

Does outsourcing still seem like the way to go?

—

So what’s a girl (or guy) to do? Why, DIY, of course!

That’s right – I said it! For visually picky solopreneurs, learning to create your own website – coding and all – is the smartest choice you will make this year.

Here’s why:

• Learning to code is easier than you think. There’s this perception that it’s scary and weird, but this is just what “web people” want you to believe. The end result? You end up paying them money to do something they get a real kick out of. Actually, learning HTML and CSS is no different from leaning any other new skill. I taught myself HTML when I was 13, and I’m not even a supernerd.
• Building your own sites saves you serious cash. You know the old proverb: Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. If you have ten ideas for new businesses or online projects over the next few years, you could be forking out as much as $50,000 for web design and web development work. That’s $50,000 you could be using to start a bold new movement, a charity, or an impressive shoe collection.
• Coding is what lets you create amazing, non-template-y  visual effects. Putting up a basic WordPress site has its place, but if you care deeply about your branding, you need to know how to code. Paired with graphics (which you can make yourself online, for free), HTML and CSS knowledge is a must-have for getting a gorgeous, customized look for your site. “Cookie-cutter” won’t know what hit it.
• Knowing this stuff makes you super business-nimble. Came up with a great new opt-in offer? If you know HTML and CSS, you can throw it up on your site within minutes of envisioning it. No matter how you slice it, that’s pretty darn awesome.
• If you’re taught the right way, code and web stuff can be fun. Like, not going out on Friday night because you want to stay in with your computer fun.
• Total empowerment. Imagine the feeling of freedom you’d have if you finally knew how to get the ideas out of your head and onto a computer screen – so that your ideal clients and customers can bask in their beauty.

As an entrepreneur, I can’t tell you how valuable it is for me to be able to get a new site online, exactly the way I want it to look, within hours of it popping into my head. You can have that feeling too!

Amanda Aitken is the incurable entrepreneur and longtime web designer behind The Girl’s Guide to Web Design:  the online course that teaches design-minded women to create gorgeous, totally unique WordPress blogs and sites – coding, graphics, and all – in a fun, whimsical video format. Find out which learning track would fit you best (First Class or Jetsetter) at http://girlsguidetowebdesign.com, or  follow her on Twitter at @amandaaitken.

How To Use Social Media To Boost Your Sales (Ick-Free!) In One Hour A Month

Guest post by Jenny Shih

I avoided Twitter for 2 years. I wasn’t gonna do it. You couldn’t make me. I don’t care how cool people said it was. I was afraid to get sucked into a vortex of wasted time.

Then one day in April this year, I bit the bullet. I knew it was time. For whatever reason, my fears disappeared. I’d be okay, I surmised.

And within a few short months, I fell in love.

Not because it helps introverts like me easily network without having to go to a networking event.

Not because it forces other people to keep their message concise, 140 characters or less, so I’m not reading dozens of 1000 word blog posts or listening to endless rambling.

And not because it made me feel cool. (It doesn’t.)

I fell in love with Twitter because it simplifies selling. It completely removes the ick factor from selling. It saves me time. And it keeps me focused on building relationships.

How to save time, remove the ick, and stay focused on relationships

Here’s what I’ve done to fall in love with Twitter and simplify selling with social media and how you can do it, too.

1. Set your intention

Ask yourself why you use social media. I don’t mean to go all life-coachey on you, but it’s important to know why you engage in social media. It will help you effectively use your social media time.

2. Set the stage

With your intentions in mind, think about your social media presence in approximate percentages. How often do you want to sell? Mention your free stuff? Share information? Talk about life in general? Those percentages should reflect your overall intention.

3. Do some prep work, just this one time

With your percentages in mind, write a set of standard tweets for your products, services, and free stuff. These would be things that you would repeat regularly. Keep things interesting by using a variety of tweets for the same offer. For example, I tweet 6 times each month about my free idea flight kit, the opt-in for my newsletter, but each tweet is different.

4. Schedule the pitches

Block out one hour each month to schedule your tweets and Facebook posts using a service like HootSuite or Timely.

During your hour, schedule your prewritten tweets to publish throughout the month. Be sure that the number of tweets you schedule for your free and paid offers is within the percentage guidelines you intended.

5. Fill in the gaps

Schedule other tweets and Facebook posts to fill in the gaps of how else you want to use social media, such as inspirational quotes or anything that resonates with your followers. Pepper them in between the sales posts so you’re covered every day of the month, in case you forget to post something one day. This will generate effortless relationship building as people reply to what you have to say–even though you may have posted it a month ago–making it easy for you to complete the relationship connection with a simple reply.

6. Engage daily and repeat monthly

Use your daily Twitter and Facebook checks to talk about what you’re up to, share relevant, recent resources, and continue to build relationships. The selling, however, is done.

Next month, repeat steps 4, 5 and 6.

That’s it. In 1 hour you set yourself up for a month of social media activity that included spreading the word about what you offer and initiating connections with your followers.

Simplifying selling to focus on relationships

When I created this simple process to sell without feeling like I’m selling, I was able to use Twitter in a way that my previously fearful brain never thought possible. I am able to focus on people and avoid a time-sucking vortex. I share my free offers on Twitter without worrying if I’m doing it too much or too little, because it’s all planned out in advance.

When you simplify social media selling, you can focus on building relationships. It doesn’t mean you aren’t in business to make money; we all are. It merely means you are focusing on the relationships, not the selling. Hence, no ick. Like Howard Behar says of his company Starbucks, “It’s not about the coffee. It’s about people.”

Jenny Shih of jennyshih.com is a coach and consultant for solo entrepreneurs. Her clients are “idea factories” with growing businesses who need help planning, streamlining, systemizing, and strategizing. Jenny combines her life coaching expertise, background as a corporate manager, fascination with technology, and love of plan-making to help passionate people change the world.

Jenny is the author of the idea flight kit, a free guide to help you get your ideas up and flying. You can grab your free copy here.

Fall Reboot – The Great Q&A Webinar

Is your business ready to get a fresh start this fall, but you still have some nagging questions that are holding you back?

Then register to this no-holds-barred, all Q&A FREE webinar!

I’m going to “lightning round” as many questions as I can in one hour.