Is your content COMPELLING?
I had the opportunity to attend Atlanta’s Digital Summit this week and it was the kick in the pants I needed. I’ve had quite a writer’s block – and now my mind is swimming with ideas of things to write about. One of the main things I took away from this summit was Annalise Kaylor’s advice of making the content COMPELLING. Annalise is the Director of Social Media Marketing at Intrapromote, and has been in the internet business since 1982 – her background is impressive to say the least. She pointed out some obvious ways companies (and individuals) are “gaming” Facebook’s Edgerank - and how we shouldn’t do that – there’s really no value to it, not only that, but it’s so obvious in some instances, it’s insulting to fans. (see insert) Can you see how it can do more harm than good and how you could lose fans by making the wrong types of posts on your fan page? What she said to do instead was to make the content COMPELLING, fascinating, significant, etc… By doing this, your fans will engage because they find your content worthy and interesting. Not only will they find your content worthy and interesting and engage, they will tell their friends and your audience will grow. You will build a community and if someone ever DOES have a negative comment about your company, service or product – this community you are building will defend you – stand up for you. Annalise said your influencers probably aren’t who you think. They are your friends and family. They are the people with whom have conversations, and who share your content. So – to recap: DON”T Game Edgerank – it may get you more traffic, but it won’t necessarily get you the results you want. Make your content COMPELLING – This is what keeps your audience coming back engaged and coming back for more as well as telling their friends about you and growing your audience. Did you find this helpful? I’d like to know!
Is sharing on social platforms hard for you to do? Sharing is quite easy if you know how. Sharing information-that’s what it is all about – especially through pictures. From Instagram to Facebook it’s about letting family, friends and even clients/potential clients peek into your world. Check into most forms of social media and you will be treated to pictures, pictures and more pictures. They are everywhere- from a friend’s adorable twins to Justin Timberlake’s latest song- sharing photos and videos- dare I say “has gone viral”. Maybe because doing so is so darn easy. It takes seconds to download them into your computer, or even better, from your phone onto your favorite social media site and Viola- your masterpiece is out for all to enjoy. Wait, did I just say your favorite form of social media? Why limit yourself to just one when with a couple of steps you can share that same photo on several sites. This is fabulous – especially if you have a business or service you want to share with as many people as possible. Instagram makes it super easy to not only add an artistic flair to your photos by using it’s editing tools, sharing them on other social media platforms. The glitch comes when you want to share that same photo onto your business Facebook page. Instagram does a great job of sending your photo from your phone to your personal Facebook page, but how do you then transfer that same picture onto your business page? It’s super easy. All you do is go to your personal timeline and under the photo you want to share click on share, when the drop down menu shows , you choose your business account and just like that you have posted that same photo onto your business Facebook page. How easy is it to get photos of your product or service out to potential clients? One photo taken and enhanced with Instagram will speak a thousand words to potentially thousands of people when shared with numerous forms of social media with a few clicks of the send button. No wonder, Instagram is quickly becoming one of the most popular forms of social media, or has it already arrived? Do you like sharing your pictures on social platforms?
Sometimes we forget about the basics. I had a request from a friend so I decided to share the same information she needed with you: If you forget your password, it’s easy enough to reset. At the login screen – type in your default e-mail address and click on Forgot password? It is important you put in the same e-mail address you set up your LinkedIn account. If you would like to change your e-mail address, I will show you how to do that, but for now, you need to put in your original e-mail address. Once you have logged in, At the top right corner, click on the down arrow next to your name and select Settings On the next screen, bottom left corner, select Account Here you will see your LinkedIn basic settings. You can add additional email addresses, change your default email address, change your password, and more. This is also where you need to be if you have multiple accounts and need to close one or more accounts. In fact, feel free to click around here, click on the Add & change email addresses (I would show you a screenshot of mine, but I don’t want to show my active email addresses. The address shown in this email is not one I check regularly.) Now that you’ve taken time to familiarize yourself with your LinkedIn basic account settings, now let’s look at the Email Preferences. If you find you are getting a LOT of notifications, this is where you can tweak your settings. Like account settings, email preferences is where you want to go if you are experiencing an overabundance of emails: I would recommend going to Set the frequency of emails first: If you make any changes here, be sure to SAVE CHANGES when you exit. I’ll let you familiarize yourself with the rest of the options at your leisure – but be sure to go through them if you feel like you are getting too many emails. We’ll discuss customizing your Profile and Groups, Companies & Applications in two separate posts at a later date. I hope this post was helpful for those of you who are just starting out, or who may have not taken the time to go through these settings. If you have a question, be sure to post on my Facebook fan page, or send me a tweet at @Knikkolette – I’ll write a post to answer your question.
The same question I keep getting asked again and again is “What do you post on Twitter?” or, “I don’t use Facebook because I don’t see the value of posting pictures of my dinner.” I’m sure you’ve all heard the same line – it’s called “social media” for a reason – be social! What does that mean exactly? Here are a few steps: Start by saying “Hi” and go from there. Sounds simple enough right? You’d be surprised how many people create accounts and just post advertisements, tips or their blog posts but won’t have any interactions with other people. If you find your tweets or posts are falling upon deaf ears so to speak – be what I call a “good listener” – read other people’s posts – and respond to people with common interests. Pay it forward: Share other people’s posts, retweet (RT) other people’s tweets, share people’s posts (don’t forget to cite your source – it’s not paying it forward if you don’t give credit where you got the info) If someone else is having a sale – or has a restaurant – your friends will be especially appreciative. Be social for a cause: Do you have a favorite charity or nonprofit? If so, be their advocate. Your friends, family, coworkers, and clients will see your values and that will go a long way. Once you have followed these steps, relationships will start to build. Once the relationships start to build, people will ask you what you do and that’s when your foot is in the door. Some of those people you have built relationships with may need your services. If not, they may know people who may need your services. How do I know? Because these steps have worked for me! I have sold paintings through Twitter by building relationships. I have been requested to several social media services so if it can work for me – it can work for you. Do you have any other tips I haven’t listed above that have worked for you?
I’ll cut to the chase and tell you up front. The “Suits” or decision makers writing the checks for social media want results. They want to know the money they are paying you is going to give them a return on their investment. They want honest answers for your expertise so don’t try to use a bunch of buzz words or throw a bunch of reports at them they won’t be able to understand. If you want to be hired and be retained you need to do the following: So how did you do? Do you have anything to add? If so, please share with me here or on my fan page. I’d love to write a follow-up post!
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