Business 101: Smart Social Media – How to Design an Effective Social Media Campaign
Just because registering an account on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn only takes minutes doesn’t mean that’s all the time you should dedicate to building your social media campaign. A successful social media campaign takes time, dedication and consistent branding.
Building a Foundation for your Social Media Campaign
#1: A Social Media-Friendly Website – More and more as networking turns into online networking your website is your virtual business card. It is essential to make that first impression a good one with a top-notch quality website. Don’t forget to include the social media icons linking web visitors to you on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and any other sites you are active on.
#2: Set up your Social Media Accounts – Claim your name and your business name for Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Complete your profile and upload your headshot or business logo, whichever applies, remembering to use key words that your target audience may use to find you.
#3: Register your Twitter Account(s) – Register on Twellow.com, WeFollow.com, Listorious.com and Twibes.com. Wherever applicable, list your ID in the appropriate categories and complete the expanded bio.
#4: Build Connections – Search Twellow.com based on keywords and categories and follow those that would be your ideal client. Join LinkedIn groups and participate in discussions and connect with fellow group members.
#5: Register with Business Directory Sites – Get listed on other business directory sites, including your social media profiles. For a complete list of directory sites, read “Social Everywhere – Simple Steps to Build Your Social Media Presence”.
#6: Create a Content Strategy – Content is the key to social media success. Share information that would interest your followers and attract your ideal client. Make sure when sharing content you are not being too salesy. Don’t get me wrong! It’s okay every now and then to promote your business, but proceed with caution – too much promotion and you can TURN OFF your audience and they will TUNE YOU OUT.
#7: Use a RSS Reader – Set up an RSS reader like Google Reader to subscribe to blogs to source other interesting content to share in social media.
#8: Set up Google Alerts – Use Google Alerts to monitor your name, business name and key words and search for relevant content to share. Set the alerts to go to your Google Reader instead of your email to avoid overloading your inbox with alerts.
The key to success in social media is to focus on one or two social networks to start with and then once you have achieved success on those networks, start expanding to new sites instead of overwhelming yourself from the get-go. Remember, the most important step to a successful social media campaign is to actually get started!
Want help with your social media? Connect with Social Media VA, Lissa Duty at LissaDuty.com, Facebook and Twitter.
Smart Start-up Tips: Outsourcing to a Virtual Assistant – How to Start Working With a Virtual Assistant
Lissa Duty and Michelle Mangen
When you hear the word ‘Virtual Assistant’ are you somewhat puzzled? Don’t feel bad – you aren’t the only one. We quite often get that puzzled look and message quite often from our potential clients. But if you are a small business owner, consultant or anyone needing administrative support on an as-needed basis, you should consider ‘outsourcing’ to a Virtual Assistant.
Why Outsource to a Virtual Assistant?
Do you need administrative support to perform a specific function that you simply don’t have the time to do? Perhaps you don’t do certain things because you don’t know how to (or don’t like to do). That’s where a Virtual Assistant can help you: from paying your vendors, balancing your checkbook, completing your tax reports, creating your monthly newsletter, updating your blog and maintaining your social media presence.
A Virtual Assistant will do pretty much whatever task you want them to do, but most tend to work in a specific niche. For example, Lissa Duty focuses on Social Media Marketing and Michelle Mangen handles bookkeeping. Hiring a VA can give you more time to do what you do best! In essence, a Virtual Assistant works in your business, while you work on your business.
Download this checklist to help you decide if you need to hire a Virtual Assistant.
If you are thinking, “A virtual assistant sounds just like an Administrative Assistant”, you are exactly right. The main difference is that Virtual Assistants work from their office verses working in yours. You save money on office space, equipment, printers, Internet connection, payroll taxes, health insurance, vacation, sick pay and holidays (and the list goes on). Plus Virtual Assistants are already trained administrative professionals.
Considerations when Outsourcing to a Virtual Assistant
#1: What a Virtual Assistant IS and IS NOT – When considering partnering with a Virtual Assistant it is important to take into consideration what a Virtual Assistant is and what a Virtual is not. The most common misconception is that Virtual Assistants are employees and therefore we must simply be “standing by” our email, phones, Skype, IM, etc. waiting for our clients to send us our next assignment.
#2: Outsourcing Relationship – Do you want to work with a Virtual Assistant on an as-needed or project basis to fill in the gaps when you need extra support or do you want to set up a monthly retainer and integrate the Virtual Assistant into your internal team?
#3: Business Readiness – How ready is your business to work with a Virtual Assistant? Do you have a set schedule of tasks and projects or do you manage by crisis? Most Virtual Assistants work with numerous clients on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. We must manage our workload and time in order to deliver projects by promised deadlines, which means scheduling out requests 2 to 3 days in advance.
On the other hand, we are well aware that sometimes “emergencies” happen. These unexpected and unscheduled requests may require other commitments we have to be pushed back and when that happens most Virtual Assistants will charge a “rush rate”.
#4: Skill Set Requirements – Because skill sets vary and Virtual Assistants tend to specialize, you may need more than one Virtual Assistant. When you interview potential Virtual Assistants, have a standard list of questions so you can compare “apples to apples” and find the Virtual Assistant(s) who best fits your needs and business model.
#5: Budget – Just as skill sets vary widely so do the rates that Virtual Assistants charge for their services. Factors that impact the rate include skill set, how many hours per month, if it’s a short-term project or a long-term arrangement and so on.
#6: Communication Style – How do you communicate? For not too technical, you can have phone conversations to go over tasks for the week. For the tech savvy, Skype or email may work best. Each Virtual Assistant will have communication preferences. It’s important to choose a Virtual Assistant whose preferred method of communication closely matches your own.
The most important consideration when outsourcing to a Virtual Assistant is fit. If you get along with your Virtual Assistant and your personalities work well together, the outsourcing relationship is sure to be a profitable one for both of you! Download this checklist questions you may want to ask to help you interview prospective virtual assistants.
This blog post was written collaboratively by two Virtual Assistants, Lissa Duty and Michelle Mangen. You can connect with us on our websites — LissaDuty.com and Your Virtual Assistant. Connect with us online on Facebook – Lissa and Michelle and Twitter – Lissa and Michelle.
The BIG Idea File: Social Everywhere – Simple Steps to Build Your Social Media Presence
When you think about social media do you immediately think of the big four – Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube?
However, there are lots of other social networking opportunities available that will help you get the word out about your business. When you create a social media presence you want to include some of these other sites in your social media plan. The key is finding the social networking platforms that fit your business.
#1: Directory Listing Sites
Every business should go out to the directory listing sites and claim their business. Many have a place where you can list your business hours, website, and your customers can review your business.
Don’t just think of reviews as negative. Customers like to give positive reviews for a job well done. Remember, whether you use social media or not, your business is still being talked about online. You need to be involved in the conversation.
Yahoo Local (www.local.yahoo.com/)
Best of The Web (www.local.botw.org/)
Bing Local (www.bing.com/local/)
Google Places (www.google.com/places)
HotFrog.com (www.hotfrog.com)
Merchant Circle (www.merchantcircle.com/corporate/)
Yelp (www.yelp.com)
Urban Spoon (www.urbanspoon.com)
#2: Article Marketing Sites
Writing articles and blogging is an important piece of social media and is one of the best methods for branding yourself as an expert in your field. After creating an article or blog post, submit them to FREE article and social bookmarking sites.
Go Articles (www.goarticles.com)
Ezine Articles (www.ezinearticles.com)
Article Directory (www.articledirectory.com)
Digg (www.digg.com)
Delicious (www.delicious.com/)
StumbleUpon (www.stumbleupon.com/)
Reddit (www.reddit.com)
When you submit to the article sites, you cannot be self-promoting, such as listing your business name, your name, website in the body of the post. However, you can list those in the
biographical information. It takes some effort and in some case revisions to get approved, but once you get through the red tape you will be on a roll submitting content.
On some of the social bookmarking sites you cannot submit your own article content. You’ll need to find a strategic partner and submit their content for them and in return have them submit yours.
#3: Event Listing Sites
If do you do public speaking, or host workshops and webinars, event listing sites are the best way to expand your audience and brand yourself as an expert. Plus taking your online connections to an offline venue, builds the relationship.
Plan Cast (www.plancast.com)
Zvents (www.zvents.com/)
Event Sync (www.eventsync.com/)
EventBrite (www.eventbrite.com)
#4: Niche and Upcoming Social Media Networks
There are many other Social Media sites out there and new networks are developing all the time.
Bizzy (www.bizzy.com) Bizzy is a newer social networking site that is growing and expanding to new cities/states. Get in on the ground floor, if they are in your city and grow with them.
FriendFeed (www.friendfeed.com) Friendfeed is quite similar to Twitter. You can set your GoogleReader to feed to your FriendFeed account, which you can setup to post to Twitter as well.
Plaxo (www.plaxo.com) Plaxo is in essence an online address book. It syncs with your Outlook. It has been making some updates and has a social networking feature. You can post status updates to your network on Plaxo and get a weekly birthday reminder email of connections who have birthdays coming up.
NameChk (www.namechk.com/). The NameChk site will let you see all the social networking sites where your username is available or taken to ensure your branding is universal across the board. I recommend only registering for the popular or growing sites.
Don’t be overwhelmed by all the websites out there. Take it one website at a time. You cannot do it all of overnight, but once you have mastered one, add another one into the mix. Eventually, you will be using them all and won’t even realize it.
Social Media can be time consuming, but in the long run is worth the effort! If you find you have difficulty mastering some of the technology, there are lots of social media professionals that would be willing to help you out and get your accounts set up for you.
Special Thanks to @AnaLuciaNovak for her added contribution to this blog post. Your HotFrog.com find and share is another great example of your social media knowledge and willingness to share resources with fellow professionals!
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