Give People Something to Talk About. (part 2)

The hardest part of creating a social media presence from scratch is creating an audience. To do this, we need to look at Twitter and Facebook the same way we would look at the beginning of any new social interaction.

Bust out the way back machine and think about your first day of school. Chances are, you didn’t walk in the first day, yelling out, “HI MY NAME IS BILLY AND I AM HAPPY TO MEET ALL OF YOU! I HAVE PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY FOR LUNCH, ANYONE WANT TO TRADE?” Can you imagine how that would have gone down? I can tell you, it wouldn’t have been pretty.

A more accurate look at that first day of school would probably show you walking over to a group of children and listening to them talk. You got a feel of what they were discussing, and then volunteered information on the subject. You didn’t try to immediately dominate the conversation, and you didn’t interrupt. You joined into a conversation. Hopefully, you added to the conversation and gave the other people a reason to talk to you. In essence, you gave people something to talk about.

The same is true of Twitter, Facebook, or any other social platform. If you are brand new, you need to politely join a conversation, otherwise you will be that weird kid screaming about PB&J. Of course, the online techniques for doing this are a little different, but overall, the goals are the same.

The first step is to search for people talking about things in which you could add to the conversation. Search out the established people, and follow them. Read what they are saying. Retweet the statements you agree with. Get a following from your peers. Start dialogue with people that know what they are talking about. It will give your future followers proof that you are an expert in the field and are a valued member of the expert community.

Chances are, you aren’t planning on selling to these other experts or peers. You need to find customers. Step two is to start to follow your potential customers.

If you own a jewelry store, search for people that talk about jewelry. Do you not sell online? Better search for people by location, or you aren’t going to find customers. Search for local community events, and see if people are talking about them. Retweeting community events can lead you to additional local followers.

Remain positive. Misery loves company, and retweeting sarcastic comments can gain you sarcastic people. Although these people do buy things, you never want to give your business a negative personality.

I recommend asking if a sale will work before putting the sale out there. If you are making declarations and statements of a factual manner, what can people say about it? “Buy one get one half off today only” is not going to stir up conversation. Ask some questions. “Should we do a buy one, get one half off? Would you buy one today?” is more likely to get a response.

Take your time and build a strong community. I can show you how to get 1000 followers in a week, but they aren’t going to do anything for you. You want followers that add to the conversation, and respond back. Otherwise, you risk being followed by 1000 people named “BILLY!”

Fully Create Your Social Media Platforms (part 1)

Businesses often rush into social media avenues, without planning them out first. The thought is, “Better to be there sloppy than not at all!” I don’t think I am the only person that would disagree with that thought process... Let’s spend some time talking about your social presences on each platform.

The number of social media tools and networks available grows larger every day. Some of these are highly inclusive, and cater to everyone, while some are very niche market oriented. Many social media strategists start to talk about the universes that encompass social media, and there are several graphics that illustrate the hundreds of sites and programs related to social media. Today, we are going to discuss 2:

1. Twitter
2. Facebook

Don’t get overwhelmed with the other stuff out there. Start where 95% of the population is.

Remember, these social sites are an extension of your traditional website. This means that there must be a cohesive feel to all of your different sites. Do you have puffy clouds as the background of your website? Is light blue prominently featured in your color scheme? Chances are the default background on Twitter has nothing to do with your website. Therefore, we need to clean that up fast.

· Make sure there is a smooth aesthetic transition from one site (and sight) to the next. If your website has a red background, then so should your Twitter page.

· Your logo should be displayed as more than simply your avatar (the picture next to where you type, for those that are not comfortable with the word). Incorporate it into your background.

· Your profile is 140 characters long. Use this space to tell your readers who you are, not how to reach you. Do not clutter it with phone numbers, street addresses, etc. Instead incorporate geographical information into your background.

Facebook has been criticized for its lack of customization. This is no longer true. You can create a custom landing page for those who have never been to your Facebook page before. On this page, you should include:

· Branding (logo, tagline, etc.)

· Current Promotions (graphic links to ad pages, if you have any, or whatever else you are currently using as a promotion.)

· Selling points (Three bullet points as to why to do business with your company)

If you only have 3 seconds to grab someone’s attention, make it worthwhile! Make sure your landing page is up to date. Nothing will turn off your customer quicker than a 4^th of July Savings Ad in August. Have a “Facebook only” promotion, and list it as such. Now that you have the customers’ attention, keep them coming back, and looking for more. If they have never been on your Facebook page before, and all they see is your information page when they arrive, they may be too disinterested to go any further. We’ll talk about what types of content you should post in steps 2 and 5. For now, focus on making your social pages look as well put together and professional as your main website.

Social Media, Starting From Scratch (intro)

No one likes to be the last one picked for a team. When businesses finally decide to start using social media, they often feel the same type of anxiety. You cannot launch a brand new social media site, and instantly have hundreds of Fans on Facebook, thousands of followers on Twitter, or immediately have an award-winning blog read daily by millions. These things can take time.

The problem that most beginners have is that most of the help written about this subject is aimed at those who have an already-established online presence of some kind. We talk about Growing Social Media, Strengthening Social Media, Re-Kindling Social Media, etc. all the time, but forget about starting from scratch.

We are going to focus on building a social media presence out of practically nothing. We’re going to discuss ways to add additional relevant content from places you never considered looking. Rather than another blog that discusses social media maintenance, the following five blog posts will teach readers how to create new buzz.

That’s not to say, “Stop reading this if you’ve already got it going on!” There are some ideas in here that should be launched when you first start your social media campaigns, but if you didn’t complete our recommended steps, it’s never too late. The beauty of these postings is it doesn’t matter what level your social presence is at, it can always get better. The same way you can patch cracks in the foundation in your building, you can do the same with your social media. Let’s start this journey today. We’ll begin with Step one, Fully Create Your Social Platforms.