Social networks

3 Mistakes Business Owners Make On Facebook

November 7, 2011 by Kathleen Gage 1 Comment

Featured expert – Michele Scism

Today we are going to talk about three mistakes that I see business owners making on Facebook. These are mistakes that are all happening on personal profiles. Remember your personal profile is prime real estate on Facebook.

1. Not Linking Your Employment to Your Fan Page

On your personal profile one of the very first things someone sees on the page is your place of employment. You will also notice that it is a clickable link and I think it is extremely important that this links to your fan page. First, I guess I am making an assumption that you have a fan page (or business page, as they are also called). If you do not have a fan page yet then that is a whole different discussion that you and I need to have. In the image below you will see the location I am talking about.

You populate this field when you click on “edit profile” and then “education and work”. When you are typing in the name of your business Facebook should automatically offer to populate that field with your fan page. If it doesn’t (and remember it is only a computer program and definitely has glitches) click here to read an article about how to get around that.

Remember what our goal is - Too Make It As Easy As Possible For Our Ideal Clients To Find Us!!

2. Not Having a Link to Your Fan Page and Website on Your Info Page

I am a curious person, curious – nosey what’s the difference, and as such when I meet someone new I want to know everything I can about them. I find them on Facebook and I look at their info page to find their 1. fan page (because most of the time it isn’t linked as their employment) and 2. website and then I go visit their website etc. Unfortunately for a lot of business owners when I go to their info page there is no information to tell me what their website address is.

If you notice in the picture I have several links listed. There are links to a few of my programs, a link to my fan page and a link to my main site. You can put a lot of links in this section but Facebook will only display the first six so be sure they are the most important ones.

3. Not Expanding Your Network

At least once a week I have a discussion with someone who is concerned about using their personal profile to connect with clients and potential clients. This is a personal decision but I will tell you that I see Facebook as a profitable and powerful connection tool and as such I want to use it to it’s fullest potential. So let me ask you a question – Do you have 5000 personal friends? Do you know anyone who has 5000 personal friends and family members (ok that they know)?

I think that Facebook gave us the ability to connect with 5000 people and we should do our best to make that happen. This is a social networking site – get out and network.

To those of you who argue that you want to keep this personal and private for your friends and family I say “sorry”. Whatever you put on Facebook is public information. Even if you try your hardest to keep your clients from seeing your personal profile there are ways to do it. Your posts are searchable on Google – what makes you think that’s private.

Would you like to know more about how to use Facebook to promote your business and get more paying clients? How about how to use LinkedIn to get new clients? Click here to find out more!

Are your online strategies getting you massive visibility, credibility and profitability? Michele Scism and Decisive Minds partners with business owners that are tired of being the best-kept secret on the web. If you are ready to get the word out about your business and really start making money online Michele and Decisive Minds are here to help. For more information go to http://decisiveminds.com

Be sure to subscribe to The Marketing Mindset blog in the box to the upper right. STAY CONNECTED

Filed Under: Internet Marketing, Social networks

Do You Have a Social Marketing Plan? from featured guest blogger – Denise Wakeman

September 16, 2011 by Kathleen Gage 5 Comments

Something I have learned about serving my market is this; I don’t have all the answers, but I do know where to find the answers. Although I know a ton about building a business online, I know there are colleagues who have expertise in areas that will definitely benefit my readers, customers, friends, and connections.

One such person is my friend and colleague, Denise Wakeman. A few days ago we had the opportunity to share time at Brendon Burchard’s Experts Academy in San Jose, California. It was there I asked Denise to share information on social marketing. Without hesitation she agreed.

She is the first of many experts who will be a featured guest blogger for The Marketing Mindset. In the coming months you will hear other top experts.

Today, Denise Wakeman shares insights into the importance of having a social marketing plan.

Building a visible presence on the web takes not only consistent action, it also requires that you are constant…constant with your content production on all platforms.

You know, if somebody lands on a site that has not been updated in a few weeks or months, it’s like going into a shop with no stuff on the shelves, dirt on the floor and broken windows.

In order to stay constant, what do you do? You need to start with a plan. If you’re haphazard about your activity it shows. So here are a couple of things to think about when developing your plan:

What is your message?

Who do you serve?

What do you want them to know about you and your business?

Once you have those questions answered you create a schedule and plot out how you’re going to educate, entertain, and engage your community with your content.

You need to schedule time for your blogging and social media activity. So get a calendar and mark off blogging and social marketing time every week. Set aside dates and times. Schedule two to threes times per week for posting on your blogs. The indisputable fact is, the more you post, the more traffic you’ll get. Then also schedule time to read and comment on other blogs in your niche, so you stay up to date with what’s going on in your industry.

So, what goes on your blog? What goes on Twitter? What goes on Facebook? This is where your editorial calendar comes in. Debbie Weil, in her presentation for Blogging Success Summit, pointed out lessons we can learn from Whole Foods about how they organize their content:

Twitter for real time alerts
Facebook for less time sensitive news
Blog for longer, evergreen content

From my perspective, the information that goes on your blog is the deeper, more intimate content that enables your reader to really get to know you, what you stand for and how you serve them.

I often hear people always are talking about time — that they don’t have enough time to do all this blogging and social media stuff. And yes, if you want to build a powerful, visible presence on the Web, there are many things that you need to do. But if you plan it out, you and your team can get it done without it taking up your entire day.

Start with a half an hour day. Three days a week, write blog posts. Two days a week read articles on other sites and repurpose blog posts into other formats so you can leverage your content on other platforms. Automate what you can and what makes sense to save time.

The bottom line…you’ve got to have a plan for your content so you stay consistent and constant and can be found by your ideal client.

Recently I did a search for “editorial calendars.” Here are a few sites that offer free calendar templates you can download – take your pick:

2011 Blogging Calendar and Planner

Save Time & Stress – Blog Editorial Calendar Template

Don’t Miss a Post – Create an Editorial Calendar for Your Blog

An Editorial Calendar for You (and Your Sanity)

About The Marketing Mindset featured expert. Denise Wakeman is an online visibility expert. The focus of her work is helping you boost your online visibility by making sure the pieces are in place and creating a strategy with you to make sure you’re not spinning your wheels and your systems are working for you instead of against you. You can access more of Denise’s information at http://denisewakeman.com/

Filed Under: Blogging, Internet Marketing, Social networks

Avoid the most common mistake in email marketing

April 16, 2011 by Kathleen Gage 7 Comments

When it comes to using email in their marketing most people don’t have a handle on how to get the most out of their efforts. Or… they try one email to promote something and wonder why the results are not that great.

Find out the most common fears around email marketing and what you can do about it.

Go ahead and leave your comments on email marketing. What do you find works? Why do you hold back? And remember to retweet this.

Filed Under: Books, Internet Marketing, Marketing Ebooks, Social networks Tagged With: bestselling books, book marketing, email marketing, marketing products

Marketing books with social networks… worth it or a complete waste of time?

April 7, 2011 by Kathleen Gage 8 Comments

A very heated debate in many circles is whether or not social media marketing and social networks are a good use of time or simply the activity of fools. One writer’s group I belong to recently had just such a discussion.

The mud slinging by a couple of members got so intense the moderator of the group said, “Enough is enough.”

I discovered this when my post was rejected. Not for content but because the moderator felt the discussion had reached a point of nonproductivity.

I was in complete agreement with her stand but felt shortchanged in that up to that point there were lots of reasons why someone should or should not use social networks to market a book but very little on exactly how to effectively use social media.

As an author and a book marketing expert I can’t imagine not using social networks to market either my books or those of my clients. However, a very targeted approach is essential.

There are dozens upon dozens of things that can be done. Here are three that can prove to be very effective.

1. Facebook ProPage. Build a following for you and your book with a professional page. This does take time, effort and commitment. Avoid simply starting a ProPage and doing nothing beyond that.

Be visible, add value and interact. The more involved you are the more the members will be inclined to want to read your books. (If you add value)

2. Facebook event postings. When you have any type of event as it relates to your book(s) you can post on FB. However, avoid posting every single one or potential attendees may not pay as much attention.

3. LinkedIn Groups. You can begin your own group specific to your market and genre. Groups are a wonderful way to keep in touch. As with Facebook you need to continually add value.

If you do events in your local market you can either start, or join, a group specific to a geographic region. The video I posted shows exactly how.

A local group could be one of the best ways to build community and a loyal fan base.

In conclusion. All of these methods do take time. However, the payoff can be huge. To get the most out of your social media efforts keep an eye on just how much you are doing and what the results are.

Otherwise you will be on the side of the discussion where people say, “Social networks are a complete waste of time.”

I will be the first to admit that social networks can be a huge time sucker with very little result other than people knowing what you had for breakfast.

I will also stand by my position that in today’s world of book marketing social networks and social media marketing are incredible additions to a well planned campaign.

Be sure to RETWEET this post.

Filed Under: Books, Internet Marketing, Social networks Tagged With: bestseller, bestselling book, book marketing, linkedin, marketing a book, social media

Getting the most out of Social Media Marketing

February 21, 2011 by Kathleen Gage 4 Comments

Social Media Marketing and Social Networks are huge. That is, if you know how to get the most out of your efforts.

Here are a few tips on optimizing your time and energy.

1. Know why you’re involved.

2. Limit your activity to a handful of targeted networks such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and one or two more at most. Where you invest time is based on your market and your overall goals.

3. Avoid simply using the platform as a way to market yourself. Granted, you can do some outstanding marketing but if you are not doing the “social” thing you are missing the mark.

4. Learn how to get the highest value for your time invested with each social network.

Here are a handful of things you need to focus on:

Profile
Take time to complete as much as possible on your profile. A scantly filled in profile will give you nowhere near the credibility as one that apparently took some thought and effort to complete.

Content
What content are you posting? Each social network will be focused on something unique. Facebook may include more personal information than say, LinkedIn. Post your content according to the environment.

Event promotion
Many social networks allow you to post upcoming events. As with your profile be sure to add enough content to create a robust description.

Article marketing
Not all social networks allow for this feature, but those that do can be very valuable. You can easily establish credibility by posting well written, relevant articles. Depending on the network you may be able to put a resource box at the end of the article to drive readers back to a landing page to opt in for something. This allows you to increase your opt in subscriber list.

Group postings
Many social networks have a group feature. You can join groups according to your market and interest.

However, in order to gain benefit from the groups you belong to you have to be actively involved.

There may be features with groups that allow you to get more “bang for your buck”.

Below is a video on how to get the most out of LinkedIn Groups. This is a very little known feature and one that can serve you well.

In conclusion
Remember to keep the “social” in social media marketing. If all you’re doing is promoting and selling you will lose credibility fast. Create value for the people you connect to and they will respond positively when you do have an offer to make.

Filed Under: Blogging, Internet Marketing, Social networks Tagged With: Linked In, linkedin, LinkedIn groups, LinkedIn involvement

The report is going up and…. some outstanding events to build your business

July 5, 2010 by Kathleen Gage 1 Comment

36 hours left to get the Discover how to Write, Publish and Market a book with no out of pocket expense! Report and all extras for only $17.

This report Reveals How to Leverage Your Knowledge to make tons of money and reach a global market… Goes up to $27 on July 6th

Click here to get your own copy.

Ideas to Income Magazine

My friend and colleague, Marnie Pehrson, Creator of IdeaMarketers.com is at it again. She put together a new magazine featuring some of the top experts around the globe.

As a subscriber to the Ideas to Income Magazine not only will you receive our strategy-packed PDF magazine, but you'll also receive an exclusive audio interview with a well-known expert each and every month! These interviews are downloadable in MP3 format – ready to listen to on your iPod or MP3 player!

Janis Pettit, Denise Wakeman, Phillip Davis, Adam Urbanski, Lisa Rae Preston, Ellen Britt, Michele PW, Nancy Marmolejo, Milana Leshinsky and yours truly will be featured in the coming months.

http://www.TheIdeaMag.com

Sell more books with this simple method… plus NAMS4 almost sold out

June 14, 2010 by Kathleen Gage Leave a Comment

Most authors have the desire to sell lots of books. The challenge for many is the marketing. How do to it. When to do it. And how to do so cost effectively.

Here are a few tips on how you can market effectively to sell more books… and lots of them. First, you have to know who is interested in your topic. From there, you must plan out a book marketing campaign.

There are three phases to a successful campaign

Phase I Pre launch preparation
Phase II Launch
Phase II Post launch

Setting a success time line
Giving yourself enough time to handle all the details of the campaign is essential to your success. It is better to take as much time as you need to do things right rather than rushing through and experiencing less than stellar results.

Where to sell
Not only do you want to think in terms of selling books from a website, blog or online book stores, but also by creating opportunities.
Many authors realize that if they get speaking engagements they could sell lots of books. However, many organizations don’t have budgets for speakers due to tight economic times.

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