Laura Roeder will be asking HootSuite founder Ryan Holmes:

• Can you outsource social media?
• Can you schedule in advance or does it have to be live?
• What trends is HootSuite seeing in effective social media campaigns?
• What is their secret for growing so fast, and how did they get their tool to “go viral”?

Wednesday, Feb 8 at 1 pm PST / 4 pm EST / 9 pm GST

Three Million In Three Years: The Insider Interview on How HootSuite Grew To Three Million Users in Three Years Flat is a post from: Social Media Marketing Made Easy | Facebook & Twitter for Business

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: 

Click here to view the embedded video.

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

What to Say on Social Media – 10 Talk Worthy Topics is a post from: Social Media Marketing Made Easy | Facebook & Twitter for Business

Click here to view the embedded video.

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

Your First 1,000 Fans: How to Get Started in Social Media Marketing is a post from: Social Media Marketing Made Easy | Facebook & Twitter for Business

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

Click here to view the embedded video.

Read the Transcript ▼

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

Are My Tweets on Twitter Public or Private? is a post from: Social Media Marketing Made Easy | Facebook & Twitter for Business

Guest post By Matt Smith

A marketing schedule is crucial for long-term success and consistent results. Put your optimal schedule down on paper then stick to it. A schedule makes you accountable and ensures you are getting enough content and exposure out there. I’m currently leveraging this exact schedule to promote my company BusinessPirate.com

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.

Weekly Marketing Schedule for Warriors is a post from: Social Media Marketing Made Easy | Facebook & Twitter for Business

• 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.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Read the Transcript ▼

To Follow Back or Not Follow Back on Twitter is a post from: Social Media Marketing Made Easy | Facebook & Twitter for Business

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.

How To Use Social Media To Boost Your Sales (Ick-Free!) In One Hour A Month is a post from: Social Media Marketing Made Easy | Facebook & Twitter for Business

• How to stay timely on twitter
• My super secret “personal assistant” that helps me manage my twitter stream
• How you can make the most of those genius tweets when they hit you

Get your own personal twitter assistant by signing up for Timely!

Get Timely: How to Save Time on Your Twitter Marketing is a post from: Social Media Marketing Made Easy | Facebook & Twitter for Business

These questions are especially challenging for the one-man-show who is toeing the line between “business” and “personal”. That’s why I created this free webinar specifically for solopreneurs – one-person businesses without a marketing team on-call to enact a complicated twitter strategy!

In this free hour-long webinar you’ll learn the smartest twitter marketing strategies that work for the very small business with less than 20 minutes a day to spend on twitter.

After all, you’ve got a business to run (by yourself!)

Twitter Marketing for the Solopreneur is a post from: Social Media Marketing Made Easy | Facebook & Twitter for Business

In this screencast video you’ll learn:

• How to get your first testimonials without devaluing your services by giving it all away for free
• How to create a free get-the-job-done website in five minutes
• My “ninja move” for getting fantastic market research out of this process
• How to use social media to generate buzz about you and your business
• How to use twitter to show off live testimonials

Once you’ve put this into action come back and share your results in the comments below!

Creating Fans Out of Thin Air is a post from: Social Media Marketing Made Easy | Facebook & Twitter for Business