Archive | November, 2022

Social media sites provide an unprecedented opportunity to network and grow your business online. Don’t throw away this golden ticket by making these 12 costly mistakes!

1. Posting long, messy, nasty URLs. Use a URL shortener like bit.ly.

2. Posting too often. Rein this in by posting only when you actually have something significant to say.

3. Not spacing your posts. Sending 20 posts in 10 minutes and then not posting the rest of the day is – well – dumb.

4. Not making sense. Posting, “ARGGHHH” with no other information just annoys people. Post complete thoughts that actually mean something.

5. Too much personal stuff. You’re doing social media to promote your business or service, right? Then keep it 90%+ business and less than 10% personal.

6. Being boring. Posting that chocolate tastes good (No! Really??) or that you had cold cereal for breakfast is so……..
~ yawn ~
………………. Excuse me, I fell asleep for a second.
See what I mean?

7. No picture. Yes, you need a profile picture. And yes, it should be a good one. If need be, pay to get your portrait taken – it’s worth it.

8. Wrong picture. Your profile picture needs to be of YOU, not a puppy or a cheerleader (unless the puppy or cheerleader is you.)

9. Not giving credit or attributing the wrong source. Give credit where credit is properly due. Always.

10. Being wrong. Again, check your facts if you’re unsure.

11. Being a jerk. No matter how much you disagree, the other person is never an idiot, a moron or a jack***. Remember, once you put it on the net, you can NEVER take it back.

12. Getting political. You’re entitled to your own politics, but they have no business mixing with your business. Keep them 100% separate at all times.

13. Using TrueTwit. Someone wants to follow you, so you punish them by making them click a link and enter CAPTCHA code? What a great way to frustrate new followers and lose them in the process.

14. Ignoring shares and RT’s. Someone retweets or shares something of yours, what do you do? If the answer is nothing, you lose. Instead, THANK them for sharing your content and start a conversation.

15. Spamming. Think about community, relationships and building trust as your first priorities. Yes, you can send out an affiliate link now and then, but most of the time you should be sending content or having a conversation.

Most marketers using social media make at least 3 of these mistakes regularly… But not you. You’re smart. You read this article, and are going to use social media wisely, and profitably from now on!

Need some serious cash in a flash? Assuming you already have a customer base, here’s what you can do:

1. Identify your best customers. If you have only two lists, one of prospects and one of people who have actually made a purchase from you, then of course choose your list of buyers. But if you have a list of repeat buyers or customers who have made large purchases from you, then you want to choose that list. Whoever your best buyers are, those are the ones upon which you want to focus your efforts.

2. Talk to these people. You might call some of them if you have phone numbers, or more likely you will send them an email or survey. Identify what they most need and most want right now. Some things they might need, and other things they might want. What you’re really looking for is the one they both need and want.

3. Based on what you learn, create a high value offer with a matching price tag. In other words, you’re going to offer tremendous value and charge accordingly. This won’t be for all of your customers, but then again you’re only targeting your very best customers with this offer.

4. Make the offer to your valued customers. If you’ve done this correctly, you should see a nice cash infusion into your business, and this entire process can be done in less than a week.

Social media platforms offer a great way to create new connections and strengthen existing relationships. Here’s 10 simple ways you can engage people on social media to develop more meaningful, and potentially profitable friendships and partnerships.

1. Acknowledge. It’s no accident that this is #1. Comment on your friends statuses and posts. Reply to their tweets. Interact. Acknowledge when they say something bright, funny or helpful. The fastest way to engage others is to meet them halfway.

2. Like and retweet. Maybe you can’t respond to everyone, but it only takes a second to give a like on Facebook or retweet on Twitter, and it makes the other person appreciate you all the more.

3. Don’t tell – tease. Next time you post a new article or blog post, don’t tell all. Instead, simply post a teaser that gets your readers wondering what the post is about. And don’t forget to add the link – the better the tease, the more clicks you’ll get.

4. Play caption-this-photo. Find a weird/strange/bizarre/humorous photo, and then ask your friends and followers for funny captions.

5. Offer weird trivia and facts about interesting things. For example, “To keep food from freezing, Eskimos use freezers.” or “In the 1830’s ketchup was sold as medicine.” Here’s some weird facts that will get you stated: triviachamp.com/Weird-Trivia-Facts.php

6. Variation on #5 above – ASK weird trivia questions. You can do this one of two ways: Either ask a question they can find online, such as; “How many dimples are in a golf ball?” or “What is the only domesticated animal not mentioned in the Bible?”

The second way is to ask a trivia question they cannot find online. Example: “How did I earn $674 in one day when I was 12 years old?” Or if you’re good at research, you can find something online that’s obscure, such as; “About 100 people choke to death each year on what common object?” (Answer: A ballpoint pen.)

7. Play “who-said-it.” Post a quote from a movie you’re watching and ask people who said it and what’s the name of the movie they said it in.

8. Update your photo. This works better on Facebook than on Twitter, because on Twitter the photos are so small to begin with. But on Facebook you can post a new photo everyday if you like, and because people notice photos before anything else, they’ll notice yours.

9. Play “fill-in-the-blank.” You make a statement but you leave one or two of the words blank. This way your followers and friends can complete it. HINT: Always make the statement about THEM, not about you. Try to use potentially humorous subjects. For example: “I like to ___ while I’m ___.” or “In bed, I often ___ while thinking of ___.”

10. Ask. Ask for thoughts, opinions, help, advice, etc. People love to be asked and will take the time for surprisingly thoughtful responses. NOTE: Be sure to THANK them!

Employ a few of these social media engagement strategies, and become someone that consistently creates new value and interesting content that attracts people deeper into your circle of influence. 😉