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Posts Tagged ‘Social Media’

Small Business Simplicity: Your New Year’s Challenge

Dec
2011

The year is drawing to a close and there is no shortage of great advice floating about the Interwebs or newstands on how to be your very best in the New Year. Personally, it’s easy to get crushed under the overwhelm of all the things we *should* be doing. Sure, we nod in agreement and make vows (silently, outloud and even in writing) that we’ll do better this next year. We’re super-humans, right? Quite the contrary: we can only do so much and what’s more, we can only do so much *really well*, especially when we’re charged with numerous commitments, demands and expectations. In our “gotta be the best” society, is it any wonder the best of intentions are left to ferment sometime around the end of January?

So here’s what I’m proposing for your small business: take it easy and bite off what you can chew fully and nothing more, at least until you’re ready. Be simple in taking on your challenges in the New Year and choose those things that you feel adamant about, those things that will be impact decisions in your business. Have you postponed getting an accountant, thinking you have a handle on your books? Maybe this year is the time to turn your numbers over to people trained and dedicated to handling accounting. Is this the year you finally formalize your brand? Sit down and go over the aspects of this and put a plan to have it done and rolled out by a certain date. Or maybe this is the year you finally embark on the social media journey. Look thoughtfully at what that will take, as well as how you can commit to this kind of marketing for the whole year.

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Social Media and the Unwilling Business Owner

Nov
2011

Many of our readers are already knee-deep in the use of technology and social media tools; they thirst for it, see it making their life and work easier and have a hard time understanding how they could do with it. Then, we have readers and even clients that are what we term “techno-phobic”; they know they need social media to keep up and remain relevant, but seem to be brought to it kicking and screaming. They have a love-hate relationship with it and often say, “It’s just not my thing, so I’m not going to use it.” This thinking reminds me of what it must have been like when computers first came on to the scene with small businesses.

It’s pretty natural to be a bit nervous when new things come our way. Many resist learning it, accepting and just coming to terms with it. Part of it is fear of the unknown, concern about the time it might take, and part of it is a desire to keep things in the past, where things seemed more simple. The fact is it wasn’t really wasn’t it more simple then, it just seemed so because it’s what you knew, it’s what you were taught and it served you just fine for quite awhile.

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“Free” Costs Someone: 9 Ways to Show Your Love

Nov
2011

As frugal and savvy business people, we need to find information and tools for as inexpensively as we can, and free if at all possible. This kind of thinking prevents us from burning too much of our own resources and also keeps us in the “hunting” frame of mind, always on the look out for something to make our business brighter and better. There is, though, the other side of this coin: someone developed that free something for you to use. Was it a web app, seminar, blog post? Was it a workshop, podcast, newsletter? Or was it simply a useful link? Whatever it was, you benefited from the work and time of someone else, and have moved your business forward in some small, maybe even a large way. So read this twice: Someone else did the work and you benefited. How are you showing your love?

Here’s the reality: In order for them to continue to keep giving you useful free stuff, they must have enough paid work to make it happen. Just like you, they have overhead, bills, and costs associated with doing business. They juggle schedules, deadlines and demands. In order that they meet their obligations and continue to provide the free stuff you’ve come to know and love, they need to have the resources available to divvy up and slice some time away to work on that stuff that’s helping you. This means they need not only your thanks, but your support and recommendations.

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[Video]: Setting LinkedIn Vanity URL

Oct
2011

If you’re just getting started with LinkedIn, or if you’re an avid user, this short tutorial will come in handy. (Trust us, we’ve seen plenty of accounts that still haven’t set this up!) When you set up a LinkedIn account, there’s no reason to put up with the long, ugly URL they assign up; customize it instead, so it’s more reflective of your name and is easier to share. Share this with those you love, and if you will, give us a thumbs up on Facebook once you get it set!

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Why Auto Follow Apps Suck (Really Though)

Sep
2011

Recently we talked about why you should rethink automating your content on your Facebook fan page; the main reason being because it dramatically lowers fan engagement. Now we’re here to tell you about another icky trend we have noticed that hurts more than it helps: automated following. Auto follow apps have become increasingly popular on Twitter. For those of you who are lucky enough to never have run into this, here’s the break down: Auto follow apps are applications that follow every user on a specified list automatically, the users follow you back automatically, and viola! You have thousands of followers to call your own.

So what’s so bad about that? Everybody wants to have a large amount of followers, right? After all, isn’t that often times the first thing you look at when visiting new a Twitter page? It can be very discouraging when you’re working hard to tweet lots of great content and feel like no one is out there to read it. You might even feel embarrassed that your numbers aren’t quite what you were hoping for. We’re here to tell you that despite what you may have heard, automated apps like these are not the solution. Here are 4 reasons that auto follow apps suck (yes, we said it… they SUCK!):

Say No to Mr. Roboto: Why You Should Rethink Automated Social Media Posts

Sep
2011

We know all too well that small business owners usually have a million things on their plate. You’re likely playing the role of manager, accountant, customer service rep, among other things– and now to top it off you have to add social media to that list. Depending on your company and what social platforms you’re using, you may or may not have quite a bit of content to generate and post everyday. Guess what? There is an easier way to do it that will save you a lot of time in your daily routine. What is the miraculous thing? Automation. But like with anything else, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

There are two types of automated content that we generally see being posted on Facebook. Both can save you time, but both can also work against it when it comes to building a community around your brand.

Thinking Social Media? It’s Okay to Be Super Choosy

Aug
2011

As a small business owner, the question you should be asking yourself isn’t if you should be using social media, but rather how you should be using social media. Admittedly, if you’re trying to keep a handle on things, it’s better to set up what you can logistically maintain. There are a lot of options out there– Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and more. Each channel has its own unique advantages and disadvantages as well as devoted audiences that use them. When we first take a look at our client’s channels, one of two things appear: Either a company is completely under utilizing channels or over-advertising and missing out on valuable connections with customers, OR in a good-hearted attempt to use social media have decided that any and all channels will work — and they don’t maintain any of them properly, if at all. Below we will differentiate between five of the most popular social platforms to help you decide which channels are right for your company.

Posts Tagged ‘Social Media’

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