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6 Hour Social Media Strategy

6 Hour Social Media Strategy

According to Social Media Examiner –

“25% of Small Businesses Spend 6 – 10 hours

each week on social media marketing.”

I asked my network what they thought – many of my followers responded that even if they had that time to spare – they wouldn’t know what they should be working on.

That got me thinking what a 6-hour social media strategy could look like –

To keep things simple I’m going to focus on 3 platforms – Facebook, LinkedIn & Houzz.

8:00 a.m.

  • Post to Facebook – Share a tip / cool photo / ask a question

20 mins

12:00 p.m.

  • Respond to any comments on your Facebook post.
  • Scroll your Facebook Feed, see if there is anything that you can comment on.
  • Scroll your LinkedIn Feed, see if there is anything that you can share or comment on.

20 mins

4:30 p.m.

  • Respond to any of your Facebook or LinkedIn comments. If no comments, find something to comment on.

10 mins

8:00 p.m.

  • Scan the Houzz discussion board, see if there is anything for you to comment on.

10 mins

This strategy gives you an hour per week of cushion… You can search for more content worth sharing, create your own or have a glass of wine… 😉

There is a lot time allocated for responding and interacting with your network. That’s one of the most important things that you can do –

“Focus on listening and responding not shouting at your community”

The above times are suggestions, pick whatever times work for you. I try to “check in” every 4 – 5 hours when I can.

Once you get into a rhythm you can alternate your posts between the different platforms.

You will also be surprised at how much you can do from your phone while you’re waiting on line at Starbucks or watching TV.

I wrote this post for all of the naysayers out there that tell me they don’t have time for social media.

Having a social media plan doesn’t have to take up your entire day.

If you would like to learn more about social media –

Click Here to register for a free social media course taught by myself and Denise Butchko.

I help my customers build a social strategy that creates authority, social proof and generates the leads that they want.

 

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Using Social Media For Your Business? Don’t Make These Mistakes –

You have finally decided now is the time to get involved with social media – That deserves an all caps – AWESOME!!

It’s the best thing that you can do for your business and your brand, as long as you don’t make these mistakes…

Social Media Small BusinessDiscuss Controversial Topics

This is at the top of my list and I know you’re reading this and saying – Duh…

I can show you multiple Twitter and Facebook Company accounts that are constantly posting about politics and it will only get worse as election season gets closer.

You don’t do that – Great!

What about on your personal page?

That is just as bad – once you put something online out it can and will be found.

I do my best to ignore those conversations. You don’t want your brand to be known as the next Sean Hannity.

Constantly Post Sales Pitches

Here is some tough love – nobody cares about your white sale as much as you. People don’t go to Facebook to be sold. Your potential customer is hanging out on Facebook to catch up with friends, maybe learn something new or take a quiz to find out which Seinfeld character they act like.

Don’t get me wrong sharing a sales pitch 10% of the time is ok, just make it less in the form of a coupon and more in the way of educating your client.

For example – Explaining the difference between a floor built closet and a hanging closet is great info for anyone looking and trying to make an educated decision. By showing your expertise it might make your phone ring.

Ignore Your Community

The point of social media is to – wait for it – Be Social! Yes you do have to respond to every comment and yes it should be a timely response… Not two days later. Your followers are watching everything that you are doing before they consider calling you. This is how people shop today – if you are not responding or worse respond negatively they will move on to the next company.

Go MIA For Months at a Time

This is almost as bad as ignoring your network. Imagine if you were dating someone and after the second date they disappeared for 3 weeks. When they showed up again – how would you respond? What if after the 3 weeks they showed up and asked to borrow $20? I agree ridiculous…

I have some bad news for you – when you disappear for weeks and than post a coupon or ask people to visit your showroom without establishing a relationship you’re creating the same emotion.

Are you using Facebook / Twitter?

What have you experienced?

Do you have any questions?   Leave them in the comments section below. I love to know what you think.

Thanks for reading.

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Build Your Brand or Risk Extinction!!

Build Your Brand or Risk Extinction

This post is for employees, business owners, recent graduates… Anyone that isn’t planning to inherit their rich grandparent’s fortune… 🙂

Yes the economy is back… My clients are busy no matter their market and there seems to be enough work to go around.

Congratulate yourself for making it to this point, but now is not the time to get comfortable… It’s time to double down!!

Are you sharing content?

Are you creating fans?

Are you building a network?

If you’re not you’re competitor is…

This might not affect your bottom line today or tomorrow…

The problem is that by the time you realize that you need to start creating your army it will be too late…

Want to avoid extinction??

  • Start by taking a look at your social media profiles. Are they complete and current?
  • Is your content appropriate? Does your audience care that Kim Kardashian’s baby just turned 1?
  • Are you sincere? If not your audience will pick up on this right away.
  • Do you share content with a smile? You have heard the expression, you can hear a smile over the phone, well you can hear a smile in your writing.
  • Do you appreciate your network? Always thank your audience for listening to your thoughts and sharing your content.

Your turn – did I miss any?

What do you do to build your brand? I love reading your comments.

If you enjoyed it, please share with your network.

Are you using any other platforms? Let’s connect on Twitter, Facebook or G+.

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How Can Local Businesses use Social Media?

How can local business use social mediaI grew up in a tight knit neighborhood in Brooklyn – as if my accent didn’t give it away.  For anyone that has ever lived in the “city” you know that once the weather starts to warm up, around 7:00 p.m. everyone migrated to their stoops.

My mother would come downstairs with her freshly brewed cup of coffee and catch up on the local gossip.  My mother and the neighbors would discuss topics like the upcoming supermarket sales, who bought a new car or what stupid thing the kids got caught doing…

As I look back I wonder if my Brooklyn stoop was the original social media platform??

I have since moved to the suburbs – mainly because my wife couldn’t parallel park – and out here nobody sits on the stoop.  We all wave and smile, but there’s not a nightly exchange of info…

I believe the reason is because you can find out everything that you need to know on Facebook, Twitter or any of the other platforms…

If we bring this back to – How can local businesses use social media?

What if you were the one curating all of the local content?

Think about how that could increase traffic to your site.

Couldn’t you create a newsletter that had all the gossip going on in your area?

How much time would it take you to tell your potential customers what’s happening in their / your community?

You can discuss new restaurants opening up, the upcoming summer fairs, or cover the high school teams. Parents love to read about their children, even if it’s in the local closet company’s newsletter…

Here’s the best part of this strategy, every 7th story is something related to your product or service.  There could be a story about organizing a garage or storing the children’s toys… Maybe include a photo of Mrs. Smith’s new mudroom. See where I’m going with this…

Oh and by the way I don’t care what you sell, I think this will work for most local businesses.

A few tools to help you create your newsletter are MailChimp, ConstantContact or Aweber.

Are you currently doing anything like this?  I would love to hear your thoughts.

If you have any questions leave them below.

Filed Under: Marketing, Social Media Tagged With: , 2 Comments

Get Social to Increase Quality Leads…

Get Socail to Increase Leads

Today I would like to get back to things that you should be doing to increase your leads…

I know I said the magic word – We all want more leads…

How do you get them??

Get Social to Increase Your Leads

You can keep wasting money on pay per click and traditional advertising or you can start investing in social media, SEO and email marketing…

I know your eyes just glazed over…  This is important and the future of your company depends on getting started.

Create a “complete” profile on the platform of your choice…

Pick anyone that you like –

It doesn’t matter which you decide on because your customers are there… Each platform requires a different strategy and form of engagement.  Pick the one that you feel most comfortable with.

Think and act like your ideal customer. 

What is important to them?  What questions are they asking you before they buy?

Give them that information.  This creates better quality leads and will help you work with the type of clients that you want to work with.

Provide value for free without expecting anything in return… 

Giving is easy  – not expecting anything in return is the hard part.

If you’re keeping score, in the long run you will lose.

Respond to all comments… Especially the bad ones. 

If someone calls to complain I’m sure you do your best to fix the problem…

What happens if that same customer tweets to 1000 of their closest friends and you don’t respond… I know you’re not on Twitter so how can you respond…

Guess what your competitors are there and if they are doing their job on social media they have a perfect opportunity to steal your client…

I would love to hear from you.

Have you started using social media?  What has your experience been like?

 

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