LinkedIn Marketing: 8 Huge Benefits and 8 Awesome Tips to Master It

Ae you using LinkedIn as a platform to market your business? Do you need convincing about its benefits and want some tips to get started?

 

If you’re a B2B company LinkedIn is an absolute must, but that’s not to say a B2C company can’t achieve success too. LinkedIn offers a unique platform to build brand awareness amongst a targeted professional audience.

 

QuickSprout have put together this infographic showing the benefits of LinkedIn and some tips on how to implement your strategy.

 

 

http://blog.red-website-design.co.uk/2015/02/17/linkedin-marketing-8-huge-benefits-and-8-awesome-tips-to-master-it/

 

The Ultimate Social Media Marketing Checklist Every Newbie Must Follow

Are you just starting out on social media as a platform to market your business? Are you unsure about what you should be doing in order to be a success?

 

Take a look at these handy checklists from Andrea Vahl to see how you are getting along. There’s one for Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus, LinkedIn, Pinterest and YouTube.

 

 

 

http://blog.red-website-design.co.uk/2014/08/05/the-ultimate-social-media-marketing-checklist-every-newbie-must-follow/

 

How Often You Should Post on Twitter and Other Social Media Networks

If you’ve been using multiple social media networks to market your business you’ll know that they aren’t all created equal. What is the norm on one network would be frowned upon on another, especially when it comes to the frequency in which you post updates.

 

For the recommended guidelines for each of the major social media sites take a look at the infographic below from Constant Contact.

 

 

http://blog.red-website-design.co.uk/2014/07/28/how-often-you-should-post-on-twitter-and-other-social-media-networks/

 

7 Ways Marketers Can Get the Most out of LinkedIn

When you use the site to bolster your personal brand, you also strengthen your company's brand image.
 

LinkedIn may tag you an “All-Star” on Your Profile page—but you're a minor leaguer if you don't fully exploit the marketing and sales powers of the social medium used by more than half the world's professionals. “If your profile has the wrong information, it might as well be your tombstone,” says Mark Amtower, a consultant who specializes in LinkedIn strategy.

 

At stake are the current 313 million members, as well as the two joining per second, as LinkedIn reports. And let's not forget 3.5 million companies present there.

 

Facebook may have the B2C sex appeal, but when it comes to B2B marketing—and personal branding—LinkedIn is where it's at. Marketers can boost their own and their firm's reputations, market their wares, establish themselves and their organizations as industry thought-leaders, and harvest sales leads—with most of those benefits costing nothing.

 

“In my 30 years as a marketing consultant, I've never seen a platform that does so much,” Amtower says. “Traditional B2B direct marketers that do not fully embrace LinkedIn miss the opportunity to develop deeper relationships with key customers or be found by prospects looking for what they sell.”

 

Here are seven ways marketers can maximize LinkedIn themselves and their companies:

 

Juice Up Your Profile

 

LinkedIn Profiles average 53 million views daily. A marketer's profile should reflect that she's the face of her brand, not a job hunter. To entice prospects, marketers should share their expertise areas, the market they serve and what their company does, Amtower says. “Top the profile with a summary that's informative and fun, so it'll be read.”

 

Also upload six to 12 slides, PowerPoint presentations, or videos of your work to intrigue prospects without giving away too much to competitors, he says. And remember the basics: phone and email, so you can be easily reached.

 

Maximize Your Company Page

 

Sporadic updates aren't enough. See a company page as a mini website with appealingly packaged and SEO-jammed information, links, and contacts.

 

Look to marketing software firm HubSpot, which feeds its page almost daily with visually-adorned entries on products, achievements, new hires, and industry-related trends. It also cross-promotes the page across blogs, emails, and other channels. “We ask customers who give appreciative feedback on surveys to consider sharing their opinions on LinkedIn,” says Kipp Bodnar, VP of marketing.

 

The result: HubSpot touts 40,000 followers, 272 product recommendations, and a Culture Code slide share that's been viewed nearly 2 million times.

 

Each follower and comment packs heat, amplifying the firm's visibility on his or her own LinkedIn feed, Bodnar says:  “For us, LinkedIn traffic converts into leads more than traffic on other social platforms.”

 

Leverage Your Employees' LinkedIn Profiles and Activities

 

“Employee profiles become mini-marketing reaches that put your best face forward,” says Mike Derezin, LinkedIn's VP of sales solutions. “The more you provide, the more likely the message will be uniform.”

 

All of HubSpot's 900 employees have personal profiles and active feeds, Bodnar says. Executives set the tone by posting blog entries on their LinkedIn pages, and the firm provides profile tips, professional headshots, and a clear mission statement to new hires.

 

Join or Form a Likeminded Group

 

Sharing insights about an industry pays off: 86% of buyers say they'd engage with salespeople if they offered such knowledge, LinkedIn reports. Become a known thought leader and that rises to 92%.

 

HubSpot launched its Inbound Marketers group seven years ago, where 111,000 members currently discuss strategies and trends. Those who participate get 4 times the profile views of those who don't, Bodnar finds.

 

“Each member is a potential prospect,” Amtower says. “Useful entries also reinforce your name and brand.”

 

Use “In Messages” to Follow Those Who Check You Out

 

Look regularly to see who's examined your profile, as Amtower does thrice daily. Then pounce.

“Check out their profile, and if you see potential, reach out via message or In Mail,” he says. “You can say, ‘Hey, I saw you looked at my profile. Are you interested in chatting or connecting?' Start a conversation while it's hot—not two days later when they might not remember who you are.”

 

Use Sales Navigator to Convert Cold Calls

 

You can arm yourself with the personal information that thaws cold calls into warm introductions via LinkedIn's Sales Navigator app. Stats and analytics on targeted accounts reveal who you know in common, where workers went to school and other information, whether you're LinkedIn or not.

 

“It's hugely valuable, especially if you're B2B,” says Bodnar. “It's a lot easier to get prospects.”

 

Reach Those Who Really Matter Via LinkedIn Ads

 

Why advertise to the irrelevant? LinkedIn's display ads can target a desired audience by job title, company size, or other attributes—and HubSpot occasionally uses this feature along with its other LinkedIn efforts. “We've used some display ads in sponsored updates,” Bodnar says, “but we're advertising less on all channels, thanks to the success of nonpaid efforts, like those on LinkedIn.”

 

http://www.dmnews.com/7-ways-marketers-can-get-the-most-out-of-linkedin/article/371328/

 

5 Reasons to Use Social Media Even If It’s Not Driving (Free) Traffic

Image via BigStockPhoto.com

Picture this situation: You’ve chosen the right social media platforms for your business and are posting good content to each one of them, but you’re not getting any more than just a handful of clicks.

 

How does it make you feel?

 

Frustrated!

 

But let me ask you a question: How many, of all the links that appear in your newsfeed throughout the day, do you actually click? The fact remains that you see oodles of links you don’t bother clicking. Hopefully, you’re feeling a bit relieved after this stark disclosure.

 

However, if traffic’s been dying down (especially after the recent organic reach debacle), you may need to revamp your social media marketing strategy (if you have one already) or create a new one with the assistance of an expert or an agency.

 

Today, the organic reach of Facebook page posts has reduced by a drastic 80%–90%. For example, a Facebook page like Picsity (with close to 1.3 million Likes) that regularly enjoyed a reach of 10,000 per typical post a few months back now suffers from an incredibly low reach of 500 per typical post.

 

But should you stop using social media sites because they aren’t driving your websites and blogs enough organic traffic anymore? Well, you shouldn’t (and, actually, you can’t) because there are ample reasons to be on social media other than traffic.

 

Here are five of them.

 

1. Build Relationships

 

Consistently, social media experts have reiterated that the focus should be more on “social” and less on “media.” You shouldn’t measure the worth of a social media account by the total number of its fans or followers. Social media, at its very core, is about building meaningful relationships, which depend on the quality of the conversations you have with your community. Lack of strong bonding renders even thousands of fans and followers useless.

 

In the traditional business world, organizations or companies are connected with their clients through transaction-based associations, as opposed to relationship-based associations. Relationship building gives social media platforms their uniqueness, and it’s something that traditional advertising can never achieve.

 

A few relationship building tips include:

• Participate in conversations in a genuine way
• Exchange original ideas with others
• Pay attention to others’ hobbies/interests
• Find opportunities to help others

Social media has been helping companies or business owners find partners, customers, and investors. If you approach social media as a relationship building tool, it’s still as powerful as it’s always been.

You shouldn’t measure the worth of a social media account by the total number of its fans or followers. — @obaidulhaque 

2. Remain on Top of Industry News and Best Practices

 

For a business, social media is not just about tweeting or posting updates to Facebook. Recently, LinkedIn conducted a survey to understand how SMBs look at social media in regard to their businesses. 81% of the SMBs the company surveyed use social media.

 

Of this group, 94% use social media as a marketing tool. However, 49% of the surveyed SMBs admitted that they also use social media as a tool to keep themselves abreast of the latest industry news and best practices. By following other businesses, industry experts, and thought leaders, they learn more about individual niches and markets while also getting answers to many of their important business questions.

 

3. Generate Content Ideas

 

Social media sites are excellent when it comes to finding intriguing content ideas. By creating meaningful conversations of your own or simply participating in the existing ones, you’ll be able to gather a lot of ideas to create a variety of useful marketing content.

 

Copyblogger, for example, creates a discussion on LinkedIn after they’ve published a new post on their blog. This opens up opportune avenues for them to discuss a particular topic on a deeper level, engage with the audience, ask for their feedback, and collect out-of-the-box ideas for future blog posts and content in other formats.

 

The Twitter Search feature is another good tool for finding content ideas. It allows you to quickly track the trending hashtags and eavesdrop on existing public conversations for new topics and ideas. Social media websites, groups, and communities, therefore, offer you abundant material to help with the content generation process on an ongoing basis. All you need to do is turn on your social listening ears when you’re using social media sites.

 

4. Find Better Hires

 

If you don’t want to waste time digging through a pile of resumes or wading through a sea of bad candidates when planning to hire talented professionals from a specific industry, social media is your answer. According to a report published by Staff.com, as much as 92% of companies leverage platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to locate, screen, and hire quality candidates for numerous job positions.

 

In an interview of 40–60 minutes, it can be quite an effort to evaluate an applicant in terms of their skills and personality. With the help of social media, however, you can quickly screen a candidate and identify the traits that could affect their performance at work. It’s crucial to note that 73% of recruiters say they have made successful hires though social media. Conversely, 1/3rd of employees also rejected applicants on the basis of what they found in their social media profiles.

There are several ways to find potential job prospects via social media, from your own social referral network to special features like Advanced LinkedIn Search. Once you’ve spotted potential candidates, you can start analyzing their social media profiles in terms of current employers, skills, work experiences, joined groups, interests, connections, quality of updates, and more.

 

5. Become More Productive

 

Being on social media, if you aren’t aware, increases productivity at work. According to a recent study by Ipsos and Microsoft, 46% of people agreed that using social media enhanced their productivity. But the result depends on what exactly you use social media websites for. If you’re checking out industry-related tweets and Facebook updates by competitors, it will certainly give your productivity level a quick boost. On the other hand, using the social platforms only for personal reasons won’t help much.

 

Don’t let social traffic become an obsession. Driving traffic to your websites and blogs should be one of the reasons to use social media, but not the only one. Change the way you look at social media, and you’ll soon see that it has a lot more to offer than you could ever expect.

 

http://www.convinceandconvert.com/social-media-strategy/5-reasons-to-use-social-media-even-if-its-not-driving-free-traffic/

 

What Are The Best Times to Post on Social Media?

Are you sending out your social media posts at the right time? Do you feel your posts aren’t getting noticed?

 

The best time to post on social media is very common question but is quite difficult to answer. There are a number of factors that can affect this such as the type of business you are, the social networks you are using, or even your target demographic.

 

There are certain noticeable trends when it comes to timings though and QuickSprout have put those together in the infographic below.

 

 http://blog.red-website-design.co.uk/2015/01/07/faq-what-are-the-best-times-to-post-on-social-media/

 

Why Social Media Is Important for SMBs, Plus 5 Helpful Tools

The internet is an extremely powerful tool for businesses that want to build an online presence and attract customers. Unfortunately it can be overwhelming and intimidating, especially if you have other areas of your business that need attention, such as finances and overall management.

 

Fortunately, it isn’t that hard to make the jump to social media. Facebook and Twitter are both great social networks to start on, and by far the most popular. With billions of users on Facebook and over 500 million users on Twitter, it’s not too difficult a task to reach customers from around the world.

 

So where to start? First off, you should treat customers on social media just like you would in real life - they’re not robots, and neither should you be! Be friendly, timely in your communication, personable, and most of all engaging. For example, treat customer issues just like you would at the counter - and instead of marked down price tags, try promoting online promo codes and even freebies. There are literally countless ways that you can leverage social media to market your SMB.

 

The good news is that there are hundreds of available and affordable tools online to help you manage your social media accounts, allowing you to focus on other areas of your business. Some of these tools can help you schedule posts throughout the week, give you a general overview of your accounts, and even allow internal team collaboration to handle customer support tickets via social media. Below are a few affordable tools worth mentioning:

 

Buffer

Buffer is a very simple scheduling tool, that you lets you schedule social media posts as far in advance as you’d like. You no longer have to post manually to Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn - buffer lets you send posts to each of these social networks, and even has a nifty queue feature so that you don’t have to manually set a post time. Other features include basic analytics and team collaboration.

 

It’s only $10 a month to start, and pays off quickly - saving you hours of manual social media posting.

 

HootSuite

 

HootSuite is an all-in-one social media dashboard that lets you manage your Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and even Google+ pages all at once. It’s similar to Buffer in that you can schedule posts (even in bulk), but goes one step ahead by displaying your social media feeds and lets you engage by way of like, comment, mention and favorite.

 

HootSuite pricing ranges from free for management of 3 social media profiles, to several hundred dollars for unlimited team collaboration and social media profiles. You’ll probably want to start out with their $10/month tier, which includes management of 50 profiles and a bunch of cool team features.

 

Feedly

 

Feedly is the next generation RSS reader - it lives in the cloud, so that it can display your feeds across several devices including desktop, iOS, Android and more. RSS feeds are great for discovering relevant content to share via your social media channels.

 

The best thing about feedly is the built-in social media sharing integration, and it even works with buffer. Feedly is free, but to make use of most of its sharing features, you’ll need to pay $5/month.

 

Mention and Google Alerts

 

Want to track a certain topic, or are you looking for media coverage about your business? Mention is a great app that sends you notifications whenever one of your saved searches finds something relevant, so that you don’t have to manually search across the internet. Mention searches social networks, websites and the overall internet for articles that include your search terms. You can then share the content directly from the Mention app. Pricing starts at $29 for 3,000 “mentions” (web results containing your search keyword).

 

Alternatively, you can use Google Alerts to track media coverage and topics across the web. It’s free, but the only drawback is that it searches for content only through the Google search engine, so it can miss important content at times. I use both Google Alerts and Mention, just to make sure I’m not missing anything.

 

Social media can be an extremely powerful outlet for your customers to get the best updates and deals from your business. That one Tweet can go a very long way!

 

http://www.socialmediatoday.com/content/why-social-media-important-smbs-plus-5-helpful-tools

 

How to Create a Successful Blog Strategy: A Step-by-Step Guide

Today, age and experience no longer necessarily determine your credibility. Instead, people care about your ideas, your generosity, and your willingness to take risks and learn from mistakes -- those are the kinds of things that can give you a voice in the conversation.

 

We've witnessed a blogging revolution over the past fifteen years, where individuals have become famous on the back of 500-word snippets or rants that resonate with some online audience. Many of the thought leaders of our time became well-known because of their blogs. But as more people blog, the quality of blog content is becoming more important -- and this is especially true for businesses who are blogging to get found on the internet.

 

 

It isn't enough to simply have a blog -- businesses need to spend time creating a blogging strategy that allows for high quality content creation so you can, slowly, build a reputation for thought leadership that will pay off big time in the long term.

 

It's the strategy part that trips up a lot of businesses. I've found that documenting your blog strategy is a great way to bridge the gap to successful execution. Check To help you get started, here's a nine-step process for creating a successful blog strategy for your business. Each step is marked by a question. Adapt it based on your business needs and experience. 

 

1) Purpose

 

Why does your blog exist?

 

What to document: One defining statement articulating the purpose of your blog.

 

Before you can dig in to the strategy of your blog, you need to clearly articulate its underlying purpose. Take a moment to ask yourself these questions:

• What is the greater purpose your company is trying to fulfill?
• What story supports this purpose?
• Who shares your passion for this purpose?
• Is your team aligned with the meaning of this purpose?

If you can answer these questions with some clarity and then collate them into one defining statement, you create a powerful anchor for all future blogging (and marketing) decisions.

 

2) Buyer Personas

 

Who are your ideal customers?

 

What to document: A clear, detailed description of your ideal customer(s). 

 

Ideally, you'll tailor your blog content to people who might buy from you -- after all, your blog will become a great lead conversion tool. But who are these ideal customers? Once you can answer that question in detail, you'll be able to write blog posts that are better tailored to their interests. (Here's a helpful template for creating a buyer persona to get you started.)

 

Once you've arrived at detailed descriptions of your ideal customers, you'll need to research their behavior so you can adapt and tailor blog content for their biggest challenges, interests, and curiosities. But isn’t customer research expensive, you might ask? Sure, it can be -- but if you want to bootstrap it, here are a few places to start:

• Question and answer forums like Quora, Yahoo! Answers, and Fluther.
• Social media. I find LinkedIn Groups, Twitter Advanced Search, and Google+ Communities excellent resources.
• Tools that tell you about other content being created in your niche and how popular it's been with your potential customers (at least according to social shares). Examples include BuzzSumo and Topsy.
• Blog comments on other blogs your potential customers might read. What type of content are they already engaging with on other blogs?

One main goal of inbound marketing is to build trust with your audience. If you discover the information your customers seek and then become the go-to blog for providing that information, they will likely start to trust you. This trust gains momentum over time, and before you know it, that high trust relationship will bring your customers back time and time again -- and they'll probably bring their family and friends with them.

 

3) Competition

 

Which of your competitors have blogs?

 

What to document: A list of 5-10 of your closest competitors with blogs you could conduct a content audit on.

 

Do you want your customers seeking purchasing information from your competitors? This is a rhetorical question -- of course you don’t. But if your blog doesn’t provide the information your customers are looking for and your competitors’ blogs do, what choice do they have?

 

Try conducting a content audit of your biggest competitors. If they're ranking higher than you for crucial keywords, then write and promote better content for those keywords. If you see gaps in the content on their site, capitalize on those gaps.

 

4) Keywords

 

Which keywords are you targeting?

 

What to document: A list of 5-10 keyword groups you want to rank for and their associated long-tail keywords you can include in blog content

 

Keywords let search engines understand what your content is all about. When one of your customers searches for a specific phrase, you want them to find your blog (or web page), not a competitor’s. But what are your potential customers searching for? You'll need to dedicate some time researching which keywords they tend to type into search engines, and then including those keywords in your blog posts.

 

Just remember: Google's algorithm is constantly changing and is becoming more and more intuitive -- and old tactics like keyword stuffing will hurt your ranking nowadays. Instead, marketers are better off writing copy that engages humans first, and search engines second. 

 

5) Distribution Platforms

 

Where will you distribute your blog content? 

 

What to document: A list of the platforms where you will distribute your blog content.

 

Rand Fishkin, SEO Expert from Moz, once quipped: "'I hit 'publish' for the first time, and everyone just showed up' – said no blogger ever."

 

I love this quote. Writing quality blog content is a great start toward running a successful business blog, but the hard part is getting that content discovered and turning your platform into an authority.

 

But creating blog content can be time consuming, especially when you aim to command authority in your niche with well-researched posts. One tactic I've found very useful is repurposing your blog content. Take a look at the content you used to write a blog post -- the ideas, research, structure, and stats -- and using that same information in a different form. You'll reach a wider audience and engage with people that may not have read your blog the first time.

 

There are many things you can do to get better results from your blog. Here are a few:

• Take key quotes and takeaways from your blog post and schedule them across your social media networks, including links to the blog post. Even better, put these quotes into images using a platform like Canva and post them on social media.
• Split up the blog post as a string of emails to your community, with links back to the blog post.
• Create a SlideShare using content, stats, and so on from your post.
• Create an infographic. This isn't as hard as it sounds, and all you really need is PowerPoint.

 

6) Promotion

 

How will you promote your blog content? 

 

What to document: A list of potential influencers in your niche, as well as all the other promotional tactics you will use to get your blog content discovered.

 

When it comes to blog strategy, "promotion" simply means getting your content out there so people discover it, read it, and (hopefully) share it with others. There are lots of inbound marketing tactics for promoting your blog posts, but for the purpose of this post, I’d like to focus on influencer marketing.

 

Using an inbound approach to promoting your blog content requires a lot of deliberate effort up front. You need to identify key influencers in your industry -- people your customers perceive as credible and trustworthy. These influencers command authority in their field and provide access to authoritative sources.

 

First, create a list of influential people in your niche. Then, you can start placing deposits -- for example, if they have a blog, read it, comment on it, and share it. If they have an email list, sign up for it and respond to (some of) their emails with thanks, and encourage others to join up. If they have a book, read it, review it, and generously promote it to your network. In the words of Adam Franklin, “Lead with generosity."

 

It's important to remain in regular contact with your list of influencers. I schedule time into my calendar to place further deposits with certain people. Typically, this looks like a brief email message or a social share, but sometimes it might play out as something more meaningful. If you work hard on placing deposits you expand your network to a group of people that command great authority with your ideal customers.

 

Now you can leverage the combined power of an extended network next time you publish a blog post. Influencer marketing is just one component of my blog promotion strategy, but I believe it's the most important.

 

7) Headcount

 

Who will run your blog?

 

What to document: Exactly who is accountable for each role within your blog strategy.

 

You need to decide exactly who will execute on your strategy. As you can see from this blog post, there are lots of moving parts -- and if you don’t create ownership around each of those components, your chances of success decrease. Here are some examples of the roles you need to effectively implement a blog strategy. (Depending on the size of your marketing team and the skills available, you may find one person holds responsibility for multiple roles.)

• Keyword research
• Facts, stats and examples research
• Copywriting
• Editing
• Strategy and editorial calendar governance
• Creative
• Promotion
• Repurposing

 

8) Rhythm

 

How many blog posts can you commit to scheduling?

 

What to document: An editorial calendar and the number of blog posts you can commit to scheduling per week.

 

The beauty of creating a blogging rhythm and publishing that in an editorial calendar is that it’s not about frequency, it’s about creating accountability. It makes sure that every blog is optimized for keywords, CTAs and is developed and scheduled on time. This gives you a consistent stream of blog content that your readers can get in sync with.

 

Your editorial calendar should be designed to align with the rest of your blog strategy. I like to incorporate the specific promotional tactics, goals and resources required for each individual blog post.

 

9) Metrics

 

Which metrics matter to you?

 

What to document: The goals you aim to achieve from blogging and the metrics that contribute to those goals. (I recommend setting goals over a 60-day period. This gives you long enough to see whether your strategy is working, and allows you to then adapt and change your goals based on the results you experience.)

 

Traffic, likes, plus ones, re-tweets, follows, backlinks, subscribers… What do all of these metrics mean? How do any of them contribute to your bottom line?

 

Metrics are helpful, but they're pointless if you can’t track them back to a meaningful outcome. Perhaps the most important element of an effective blog strategy is accurately defining the goals you want to achieve. Here are three helpful questions you can ask yourself while defining a goal or outcome:

• Does this goal help us achieve our purpose, or is there something more relevant we can aspire to?
• Is this goal aligned with the initiatives of other parts of our business?
• Which metrics track the progress towards this goal? Are these metrics complementary or counterintuitive?

Answering these questions will help you set meaningful goals, and consequently, understand the metrics that will help achieve them. There is no exact science to measuring the effectiveness of your blog strategy, but this process creates a direct line of sight from your activity to a desired outcome. Once you understand exactly how many of a specific metric -- say, a social share -- contributes to a specific outcome -- say, a sale -- then your strategy becomes more targeted.

 

Growing an influential blog in your niche is a surefire way to nurture your potential customers. By creating regular content that solves the challenges of your readers and fulfills their biggest curiosities, you'll start to build a vault of trust and advocacy, which will inevitably contribute to the overall success of your business. Start with your purpose -- the big why -- and slowly unpack the individual levers that will contribute to your blog marketing performance.

 

http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/blog-strategy-guide?utm_campaign=blog-rss-emails&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=15415390

 

10 Insights: How to Use LinkedIn to Build Business Success Faster than Your Competitors

Ever been to a business networking event and wondered why you bothered.

 

You had your ear twisted, cards shoved into your hand and the next day emails arrive in your inbox trying to “sell” you? You then thought… “there has to be a better way?”

 

Recently I bumped into Alex Pirouz, not in a room full of suits and ties but on LinkedIn. I checked him out on Google, then LinkedIn and after that we caught up for a coffee.

 

Much of the conversation was how he had used LinkedIn to reinvent his business and apply its technology to enable effective and powerful business networking and grow his revenue.

 

While we chatted over a coffee he revealed how he had used LinkedIn over the past few years to:

• Get featured in over 50 media publications without sending out a single press release
• Grow his business advisory firms by over 328% by securing joint venture partnerships through LinkedIn
• Generate thousands of leads whilst spending $0 on advertising or marketing

I thought that it was worth asking him some more questions so I could share his insights into how to use LinkedIn to build business success.

 

1. What made you focus on LinkedIn instead of Facebook, Twitter or even Google+?

 

I came across LinkedIn more out of frustration then anything else. At the time I had just moved back to Sydney after exiting one of my previous businesses (door to door sales company) to start a business advisory firm.

 

By that point I had failed in 4 businesses and exited 2 so I thought it would be a good receipt when mentoring others. But when I moved back I soon realised that the industry was filled with a ton of coaches, out of which 95% had no business experience.

 

I knew at that point that the only way I was going to stand out and out compete against my competitors was to build a personal brand both on and offline. After speaking to various PR agencies I decided to do it myself . I also came across an article by the Artike media group which said that over 94.2% of journalists are on LinkedIn. It also revealed that for most journalists, LinkedIn is their preferred social network.

 

The light bulb went off.

 

What started off as connecting with journalist here and there eventuated to a network of around about 250 contacts. This resulted in getting featured in 50 media publications over the course of just 6 months.

 

2. How important is the creation of that optimum LinkedIn profile?

 

In my opinion how we do business has changed significantly. Nowadays people are buying into people first, your company and than your product. You could have the best product but if they don’t like you they will not enter into that new business relationship, buy your product or try your service. It’s as simple as that.

 

Because of the sheer size of LinkedIn most often when you Google someone’s name their LinkedIn profile will come up first within the search result before their company website or even blog.

 

 

 

 

The problem is that most people’s LinkedIn profiles look and read like a resume. I call this approach the inside outside approach instead of the outside inside approach.

 

Rather then thinking internally on what you should put in your summary, job experience, heading etc you should instead think about the top challenges and objections your clients are facing and build a personal brand around that so that when your clients read your profile they see that you understand them and have a solution to offer.

 

In this fast paced world your first impression could be your best or last.

 

3. LinkedIn has recently opened up its platform for its members to publish. How important is this and why should members participate?

 

The LinkedIn publishing platform is a great way to build a following on LinkedIn and get your message in front of key decision makers and or potential clients.

 

When you publish an article on LinkedIn those who read your article can then follow you for future posts even if you are not connected. If your content is good it will get liked, commented and even shared which in a relatively short period of time could go viral and therefore get your message in front of thousands if not millions of people. The more people who follow you; the greater your reach.

If your article is good, LinkedIn will publish it in one of the categories within Pulse or even better on the homepage which is exactly what happened to me.

 

My very first post reached over 65,000 views, over 10,000 shares and I gained 1,500 new followers. Out of that exposure I secured 3 new clients and another media appearance. Because of its viral nature, you just never know who could read your next article.

 

4. You mentioned that over 90% of journalists are on LinkedIn. How do you use LinkedIn to gain mass media attention including interviews?

 

Well the first thing you need to do is make a list of the top 5 publications you want to get featured in. These would need to be publications that your audience are currently visiting/reading etc.

 

You then visit each publication and look for journalist and editors who are covering stories on your chosen topic or industry. You simply connect with them, discover what their key challenges are so you can add value and than once you have built a relationship with them, naturally throughout that process they will find ways on helping you gain exposure. What networking is all about, you scratch my back I scratch yours.

 

5. Business networking can lead to more opportunities and sales. How do you recommend people use LinkedIn for networking?

 

I mentioned earlier that I originally joined LinkedIn because I was looking to build my personal brand and get some exposure throughout the media.

 

After getting featured in so many publications I became very excited about the potential of LinkedIn. At the time I was spending a fair bit of money on traditional forms of advertising, so I wanted a more cost effective way to generate and convert leads.

 

Having had success already on LinkedIn I decided to use it again to find joint venture partnerships. Over the next 6 months I connected with over 500 accounting firms out of which I created 16 partnerships and grew my business by over 328%. So finding, connecting and developing joint venture partnership is my first recommendation.

 

My second recommendation would be to attract one on one clients especially if their clients are B2B. Over the past 3 years I have gone from 50 contacts to over 7,500 and successfully used that to and hundreds of clients, hold multiple events with some reaching over 300 people in attendance as well as generating thousands of leads for my business.

 

With over 300 millions members and 49% of them being key decision makers, LinkedIn has become one of the most powerful business tools of the 21^st century.

 

6. Building online credibility is vital in a digital age where the social web can define you. How do you use LinkedIn to build online authority, credibility and trust?

 

Going back to my earlier point, in most cases the first thing people see when they search for your name through search engines is your LinkedIn profile. Knowing this and the importance of building your profile based on the outside, inside approach, I would recommend doing the following:

1. Cut down your skills and endorsements to 3-5. This shows you are an expert not a generalist
2. Look at how many recommendations your competitors have and then aim to double it. Recommendations on LinkedIn are perceived to be twice as more powerful than those listed within your own website.
3. Make sure your headline tells potential prospects exactly what you do (try not to make it too salesy)
4. Ensure your summary is written in a story format, targeted at showcasing how your service/product is solving the challenges your target marketing are facing. Also important is having it written in third person. This section is by far the most important within your profile given it’s one of the very first things people look at.
5. List publications, interviews, key achievements, endorsements and provide any links where possible.

7.  What do you think is the biggest mistake people make when using LinkedIn?

 

Whilst there are many mistakes people make, the one that I see the most is not having a plan or purpose for being on LinkedIn. Most people are generally on LinkedIn because a friend or associate told them they should join or maybe they read an article about it and thought it would be worthwhile to join.

 

And usually that’s where it stops, they put up their profile and visit the network a few minutes here and there without any concrete plan on how they plan to use it as a marketing tool.

 

My advice to anyone in this position is to look at your marketing objectives over the course of the next 6-12 months. Then think of the people you need to connect with to achieve those results and use LinkedIn to connect with those individuals.

 

For example, if I own a business advisory firm, my marketing objectives could be to secure a total of 10 new clients over the course of the next 6 months. Then I now know that in order to achieve those goals I would need to do the following, connect with lawyers, accountants as potential JV partners. Also important is to connect with journalists who write on the subject matter.

 

8. What is one tactic that you have implemented with LinkedIn that surprised you?

 

I would have to say connecting with journalist and editors. For years now it has been extremely hard getting in contact with those in the media simply because of the red tape you would have to go through. When I first started connecting with journalist through LinkedIn I found the process of finding, connecting and building relationships with them so easy and effortless.

 

9. How do you identify and then connect with your ideal customer on LinkedIn?

 

First of all you need to get very clear and specific in terms of whom your target market is. Some of the things you need to look at is: industry, profession, location, organisational role, gender, company size and other demographic data.

 

Once you are clear on the above metrics, you can than search for them in one of two ways through LinkedIn:

1. Quick Search: Do this if you are looking for one person or wanted to get more of a generic result on your target market. For instance if you are looking for accountants in Sydney, that’s what you would type using the quick search box which can be found at the top of your profile located in the middle
2. Advanced Search: To the right of the quick search box there is the “Advanced Search” function. In my opinion this is the best method to use because of its ability to really drill down and get specific about your target market. Using this function, you can search based on all of the metrics listed above which will ensure you have a more targeted list of contacts to connect with. Once you are happy with your criteria click search and start going through the various profiles within the search result.

Now, in my opinion quality is better than quantity. Even though I now have over 7,400 contacts quite easily I could have 15,000 to 20,000 if I wasn’t as selective with who I connected with.

 

There is no point having connections for the same of increasing your network if those connections are not going to help you achieve your marketing objectives.

 

In saying that, there are 3 things that identify whether a contact is going to be a good connection or not:

1. Good profile photo
2. Over 150 connections
3. Filled out at least 50% or more of their profile

If they don’t fit these  three guidelines, chances are they are not as active on LinkedIn or take it seriously. So generally what will happen is that they will connect with you but hardly respond to your emails which defeats the whole purpose of connecting with someone.

 

10. What are your top 3 tips for making the most of LinkedIn?

 

1. Value Bank

Connecting and effectively communicating with people through LinkedIn is no different than dealing with people outside of the network. Whether they are a supplier, potential partner or customer you need to build enough value for them to trust you in order for them to grow an interest in your company and therefore your product/service. I call this: “Value Bank”

 

2. Connecting with a purpose

Building your connections for the sake of having a large following is not really a sound strategy if you want to effectively grow your business using LinkedIn. Every connection needs to be linked to your goals and objectives in business both now and in the future.

 

3. Segment your connections 

Most people don’t realize that  LinkedIn is in effect a very powerful CRM system that allows you to segment your contacts by tagging them into specific folders. This is extremely important because the key to LinkedIn success is ensuring that your communications is targeted and personalised to each individual person you are connected with.

 

Unfortunately if you don’t have your contacts segmented you simply can’t do this without going through your entire network one by one which is very time consuming.

http://www.jeffbullas.com/2014/05/23/10-insights-how-to-use-linkedin-to-build-business-success/
 

4 Ways to Improve Your SEO and Increase Your Traffic on Etsy

We use Google, Yahoo, or Bing for hunting down a variety of places, items, and information and probably don’t really concern ourselves with how the info at the top of page one got there. Or why, for that matter, the sites that we expected to find aren’t there.

 

The art of getting found in a search engine’s results is big business. Depending on the type of site, organic search traffic is usually one of the biggest traffic drivers for all websites — the art of which is called Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

 

Search Engine Optimization is a mouthful, but don’t let the title put you off. Sure, if you read up on the subject, it can seem very overwhelming, but SEO is actually a simple series of steps that can make a huge difference to attracting free traffic.

 

Are you ready to get started? Here are four simple steps for increasing your chances of being found in search engine results pages.

 

1. Know That Content Is King

 

Search engines love unique content — they use it to determine what a web page is about and then match up a page to a search query. As an Etsy seller, there are several main content components areas you need to concentrate on:

• Create unique and strong product titles. Think about keywords that shoppers would use to search for your product and include them in your product titles. If you carry similar products, ensure that each product title is unique. For example, if you have two black tote bags featuring slightly different patterns, don’t call them just “black tote”; instead, add details, such as “Black Tote Bag With Blue Diamond” and “Black Tote Bag With Red Design.” Be obvious about what you’re calling something and use standard terms. Don’t use excessively long product titles — instead, aim for about 80 characters. If you’re unsure what people are searching for, Google’s keyword research tool can help you find out.
• Flesh out item descriptions. Use less obvious terms to describe your shop items and expand your product titles.
• Fill out your About page. This will tell the search engine all about your shop.

2. Get Link-Happy

 

Because search engines use links to determine ranking order, links have always been one of the most important elements of SEO. There’s no rule on how many links will help, as each link will have a different value. For example, a link from CNN to your Etsy shop might be worth more than 10 (or 100) small blog links. But all links (big and small) help. Here are some simple tips to help draw in links:

 

• Do you have a blog? Don’t be shy about self-promotion — don’t go overboard, but certainly link to your Etsy shop/listings where possible.
• See your items featured outside Etsy? If the blog doesn’t include a link to your item, contact the editor to request a link; they might say no, but no harm in asking!
• Link between listings on your site. Internal linking helps pass link authority from one page to the next, giving search engines signs that pages are also related or grouped.
• Network. If you know sites that are seeking content and guest blog posts, volunteer to put your content on other people’s sites.
• Don’ts: Never buy a link and don’t use spammy techniques such as third-party forum postings or directory listings — search engines can see through dodgy link building practices.

 

3. Put Your Social Media to Work

 

Social media’s not just great for being social; it’s a great way to showcase your shop listings. Using Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Google+ are great ways to show search engines that people are talking about your shop or listings. Yahoo and Bing particularly use social signals as a ranking signal, so if you have one of these channels running, use them to promote yourself. The other secondary bonus is people may link to you from your social promotion.

4. Be Patient and Don’t Obsess

 

SEO can take time to take effect, so be patient. Also, you’re not the only Etsy seller tweaking pages, so you might see your pages start to rank slowly and see some ups and downs. While search engines like fresher content, don’t think this means you should tweak your pages each day. Keep pages reasonably static (for example, no changing unless you have to). Also, try to use pages several times; if your listing sells out and you’re able to restock, try to reuse this page when it’s back.

 

Importantly, don’t stress about Google’s PageRank value. This is a rather old way of viewing pages and is too generic to mean much in today’s SEO. PageRank is often misunderstood and not necessarily accurate now.

 

https://blog.etsy.com/en/2013/4-ways-to-improve-your-seo/

 

Social Media for Business - Be Part of the Conversation

In today’s world of social media people are going to talk about your business online – so why not be part of that conversation?

 

 

© Shotshop GmbH / Alamy

 

 

In less than a decade social media has become part of the fabric of everyday communication. More than a billion people now have Facebook accounts, and well over a quarter of a million use Twitter. These tools offer businesses new opportunities to connect with customers and employees, usually at very little cost. And while it is not essential for companies to maintain a presence on all social networks, ignoring them altogether would seem somewhat out of touch to many customers and employees.

 

Being active on Twitter, Yammer, LinkedIn or Facebook can make a business seem more ‘human’ and approachable. It can also keep it informed of the latest trends and customer desires, and establish it as an expert on important issues. What is more, social networks can provide businesses with a vast amount of information on how they and their rivals are perceived by customers, suppliers and staff. This allows them to fine-tune their communication strategies, target certain groups or broaden their appeal.

 

 

 © Yammer

 

 

Secure, private social networks such as Yammer are breaking down hierarchies and internal silos, giving every employee a voice and ensuring that worthwhile ideas and opinions receive a fair hearing. More than 400,000 companies worldwide (including 85 per cent of the Fortune 500) have already adopted Yammer, so that everyone within the company can share their insights, ask questions, create polls and contribute to projects. That means frontline staff with valuable customer insights can share these with the rest of the business immediately, rather than pushing them up the chain through long-winded reporting processes. Feedback from colleagues can be in real time – right up to senior management level.

 

Twitter’s real strength lies in its ability to allow both existing and potential customers to communicate with a business on a more personal level. Businesses can draw attention to important campaigns and special offers, and deal with customer enquiries – including complaints – in a quick, satisfying manner. Praise for what the business has done right can be tracked and shared, helping to build its reputation as a reliable, open and trustworthy brand. Regular updates and photos detailing life behind the public façade often strengthen bonds with both customers and suppliers.

 

Social media gives businesses the chance to share expert opinions and insights with staff and customers. A company might tweet a link to an article on its website or blog, or help people solve everyday problems. Both LinkedIn and Facebook allow businesses to set up a company or fan page, which acts as a hub for sharing images, video, text, blogs, updates and product information with online communities. LinkedIn’s analytical tools allow businesses to track engagement with their posts, their follower growth and other key trends. Similar data is available on Twitter, Facebook and other social networks, allowing you to refine the content you share and build a strong online following.

 

http://conferencemarathon.uk.msn.com/Articles/Article/social-media-for-business

 

 

Small Business Tips: How to Use Social Media to Boost Business

 

Social media is transforming the way business is carried out. A recent study by the Internet Advertising Bureau UK found that nearly 80% of consumers would be more inclined to buy more often in the future because of a brand's presence on social media.

 

For small firms, knowing how to capitalise on this is crucial. Julia Bramble, founder of social media consultancy Bramble Buzz, says: "If businesses haven't got the right [social media] presence then they're really going to be missing out, because customers are expecting to find businesses and brands on there."

 

What SME owners must focus on, says Bramble, is their target market: "The key message is to think about who your customers are, think about everything you know about them, where they live, what their lifestyles are, what their interests are, business wise and outside of business, and that'll give you big clues as to the social networks they're likely to be using."

 

Once you've got your social media strategy in place, she adds, you need to think about how this is going to translate into sales and development for your business. Will it drive traffic to your website? Get bums on seats at an event? Or drive footfall into stores? "How does all that fantastic activity and buzz translate into tangible results for the business? That's the key to getting social media to grow your business," she says.

 

Claire Mitchell, founder of The Girls Mean Business, saw the conversion of her Facebook 'likes' into a business venture as an opportunity she couldn't let pass her by. Having done some business coaching already, she decided to use The Girls Mean Business brand to offer coaching programmes, webinars and e-books for women entrepreneurs.

 

Using Facebook has expanded her reach on a global scale. Her page now has nearly 14,000 'likes', from countries as far and wide as Canada, Australia, the US and South Africa as well as the UK and the rest of Europe. She says: "The Facebook page really took on a life of its own, which was wonderful."

 

Knowing what to do with social media in order to be successful is key and Mitchell found several things to be vital for engaging customers: asking users questions – whether general or business-related – sharing users' quandaries with others, putting feelers out for advice and solutions, and posting inspirational quotes. She says: "I get great feedback that it helps people, because when you're sitting there in your house running this business and trying to juggle it with kids or other jobs, it's a really lonely place to be sometimes and it just makes people feel as though they're not alone."

 

For Adam Ball, owner of the design company Concept Cupboard, Twitter made it possible to expand his network. He says: "Twitter gives you a free platform to let the world know who you are and what you do. When you're looking to approach someone for potential partnerships, meetings and so on, this can be a great tool to reach out to people. A lot of professionals use the platform and it can be a great way to introduce yourself, as long as you're not just spamming people. I've had quite a few meetings set up from a conversation that started on Twitter."

 

While Facebook and Twitter are social networks with the emphasis on social, Kimberley Waldron, co-founder of SkyParlour PR, has found LinkedIn, which is aimed at professionals, to be instrumental in building contacts internationally. She says: "In the past 12 to 18 months it's generated some real opportunities for us. I spent five weeks in New York in February this year going around meeting potential customers and trade bodies, and 90% of all the contacts and meetings I had were set up via LinkedIn."

 

One feature of LinkedIn that has been particularly fruitful for Waldron is the recommendations: companies or individuals can recommend someone as a potential colleague or client. Having a visible online reputation creates an instant transparency and, Waldron believes, makes potential clients more likely to trust you. She says: "We pitched to a big business earlier this week and straight away the guys we pitched to checked out my profile and added me on LinkedIn. They feel that they trust me because they can see my career history and the recommendations from other people, so it takes away a little bit of the, 'Who is this person?'"

 

Emerging social media platforms are also making a huge difference to how small businesses market themselves. Rebecca Mortby, for example, co-founded Greenfinch Graduations, a graduation planning service for the families of international and online students in the UK, in March this year. She has been able to tailor Pinterest to meet her company's specific needs: "We started to share hints and tips on everything from graduation outfits and hairstyles to getting around on the day, useful posts and links for international and online students and news and motivational quotes and stories."

 

Pinterest has also allowed Greenfinch Graduations' customers to tailor their package how they like. Mortby says: "The option to set boards to private has allowed us to share ideas and visions with our clients. They and their family can also then add ideas to the boards and effectively communicate their vision without the need for lengthy phone calls, email exchanges or even a shared language."

 

The success of Pinterest is an example of how effective images are as a stimulus. Instagram is another social media platform which has exploited this, as Lyndsey Haskell, who owns the gardening retail site What You Sew, has found. She says: "Instagram has really helped What You Sow go from strength to strength. I post styled pictures of my stock as well as on-brand images of my gardening adventures; plants, flowers and gardens I've visited. A large part of the What You Sow identity is lifestyle orientated, so not only can people see images of things I'm selling, but they get a real sense of my gardening inspirations too."

 

Bramble adds: "I think the whole world is waking up to how powerful social media can be in terms of growing business."

http://www.theguardian.com/small-business-network/2013/aug/29/social-media-boost-business-tips
 

9 Steps to Get Your 'Social-Selling' Program Off the Ground

These days small businesses are being bombarded by consultants, pundits and thought leaders telling them they need to get their businesses on social media.

With hardly a moment passing where we aren’t told to follow something on Twitter or like a page on Facebook, the proliferation of social has reached epic proportion. With this hyper-awareness comes a certain sense of urgency for most entrepreneurs -- primarily the desire not to miss the ball on social media.

With this in mind, the desire alone doesn’t serve much purpose: Companies need to focus on an agenda or goal. One way to do this is using social media to ramp up revenue, specifically through a tactic called "social selling." In the age of Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and what seems like a million other social platforms, the idea of social selling is for companies to use content, social media and traditional communication channels to more successfully sell. (Otherwise, businesses may not be able to keep up with their competition.). Think about it. As social media has evolved, consumer behavior has changed. No longer are they relying on one channel (a sales person) for information, but they are actively seeking out data on the Internet – everything from your products, evaluating your vendors and looking at clients – before making a decision.

And consumers are coming out in droves on social media to find this information. Indeed, there are currently more than 1 billion regular monthly users across social media platforms. And buyers tend to do their research before making a purchase, with the average consumer viewing more than 10 piecesw of content prior to making a purchase. Plus, people are much more likely to make a purchase when someone they know (via social) recommends it. Seems like a win-win for businesses – that is if a company implements it correctly.

Here are a few tips to get your business (and customers) invested in social selling:

1. Get your sales team on board. Make sure you introduce them to the premise of social selling. This means spending time mining data and information that helps them understand how social media may help them connect to customers and can lead to sales.

2. Take baby steps. Sales executives often need some simple tactics such as how to use social media or content. I usually recommend a very simple program where the sales execs share three to five pieces of content a week via LinkedIn or email with at least five different customers and prospects. Make sure the customer gets a personalized message that says why the content is being shared and why it matters to the client. I also recommend setting up a follow up in the email that spells out an explicit action, like a follow-up meeting.

3. Show results. Wins don’t have to be just sales. I advise clients to track conversations and appointments generated from the tactics I suggested above. For instance, have the sales person mark down responses to their social-selling tactics, coffee or other meetings that they may have led to and then of course any revenue opportunities that can be directly correlated to the efforts.

Once you got you sales team on board, here is how to customers excited about social selling.

4. Have your ear to the ground. Keep an eye out for content that is useful for your clients. Generally the content should be on topic and with some good tips or actionable items. Note that these may also be good for future clients and prospects.

5. Keep track. When you find useful content, it is a good practice to keep an Excel or Word document where you keep the article titles, links and main topic. Also, look to software that can help keep track of metric, like views, clicks and time spent examining the content.

6. Find connections. Look for opportunities to pair the content with specific clients. Keep tabs of this in your document to know what you sent to an individual. Over time you should build an aggregate of useful content that helps provide more clarity to your message and your customer needs.

7. Make it meaningful. Deliver the content with an email and a simple message that helps the customer or prospect understand the topic and why you think it is important. Often referring to a previous conversation where the topic was discussed.

8. Include a call to action. Make sure the client needs to take some sort of step. Some examples include a follow-up call or a meeting, where you can discuss the information.

9. Be consistent. The response rate will likely not be 100 percent but that doesn't mean clients aren't reading it. With so much information out there if you can be the person that consistently delivers solid content then you will be front of mind when buying decisions are being considered and made.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/234824