Is your small business ready to embrace social media? With all of the choices, tackling social media can be intimidating. It's best to start with a few sites to kick off your social media strategy. Here are some of the most popular and best for small businesses:
1. Blogs
Write them, visit them, comment on them. There have been 133 million blogs indexed by Technorati since 2002. They're a great way to engage with customers, learn and network.
2. Twitter
People constantly ask "What is Twitter?" Essentially, Twitter is a micro-blog where you have 140 characters to get your message across. The goal is to follow people and acquire followers. The best way to do this is by providing value through your tweets. Send your followers to interesting articles, products they may like or let them know what you're up to.
3. Facebook
What started off as a way to connect with old friends has quickly evolved into a way to do so much more. From promoting your business and products, to acquiring customers as fans of your Facebook page, Facebook is a great way to get feedback and interact with clients and customers in real-tiome -- plus so much more.
4. LinkedIn
More commonly know as "Facebook for grown-ups," LinkedIn is a business tool that helps colleagues connect. It's a great way to locate long lost co-workers, locate a new job or network your way to new clients.
5. Digg
This is one of the largest and most popular social news websites where you can learn about topics including politics, entertainment, technology and general news. In addition, you can comment -- or "digg" -- web pages you enjoy.
Speaking of social media, I'm on Twitter (allyjackson), LinkedIn and Facebook, so be sure to look me up. I'd love to connect with you.
Corporate Communication - Marketing - Public Relations
Monday, July 30, 2012
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Why Your Small Business Needs an Online PR /Social Media Assistant
Owning a small business means you wear many different hats, from marketing director to accountant, and everything in between. With the emergence of social media, including this type of promotion in your marketing mix is crucial to reaching customers. But how do you find the time? Enter the Online PR/ Social Media Assistant. By enlisting the help of a dedicated, knowledgeable resource, you can take your business to new levels. Plus, you ensure that you're leveraging social media to connect with your customers, improve your products and/or services and find new business.
The Role of an Online PR/ Social Media Assistant
Here are just a few of the responsibilities this position can assume for your company:
It seems that everyone today is calling themselves a "social media expert" so it's important to find someone that's a good fit for your business. Here are the top 3 credentials an Online PR/ Social Media Assistant should have:
Since social media is still fairly new, it can be difficult to find someone with an adequate amount of experience. That said, you may be able to get a college student or recent grad, who most likely is well versed in social media, for much less than someone with a few years of experience.
Here are a few options to help you find an assistant:
I'd love to get your thoughts. Do you think this is a valuable resource for your business, or would you rather do it yourself? Perhaps you already have an Online PR/Social Media Assistant. What has your experience been?
The Role of an Online PR/ Social Media Assistant
Here are just a few of the responsibilities this position can assume for your company:
- Write blog posts
- Submit articles to online publications
- Provide guest posts to other blogs or publications to help you gain exposure
- Manage your Facebook account and postings
- Monitor and post to Twitter
- Create and post how-to or promotional videos to YouTube
- Write and distribute press releases
- Coordinate media interviews
- Secure speaking engagements
- Identify other social media channels your business should leverage
- Participate in online forums within your industry
- The list goes on and on...
It seems that everyone today is calling themselves a "social media expert" so it's important to find someone that's a good fit for your business. Here are the top 3 credentials an Online PR/ Social Media Assistant should have:
- Experience -- You wouldn't hire an electrician who's not familiar with electrical systems or wiring. The same holds true for working in online public relations and social media. You want someone who is familiar and comfortable with a variety of media channels. For example, do they have a significant number of followers on Twitter and/or fans on Facebook? Have they helped other businesses reach their social media goals? Can they create an online PR strategy and execute it?
- Online writing skills -- Writing for the web and social media is vastly different from other kinds of business writing. Online writing needs to be succinct, catchy and to the point. It must engage customers, use the right keywords and generate buzz.
- Networking skills -- You'll want your Online PR/ Social Media Assistant to be able to collaborate and network easily and seamlessly to ensure your company gets the maximum amount of online exposure. From joining and participating in the right communities, to building relationships with bloggers, this role needs strong networking skills to be successful.
Since social media is still fairly new, it can be difficult to find someone with an adequate amount of experience. That said, you may be able to get a college student or recent grad, who most likely is well versed in social media, for much less than someone with a few years of experience.
Here are a few options to help you find an assistant:
- Referral/word of mouth
- Craigslist
- Monster.com
- Careerbuilder.com
- College boards/forums
I'd love to get your thoughts. Do you think this is a valuable resource for your business, or would you rather do it yourself? Perhaps you already have an Online PR/Social Media Assistant. What has your experience been?
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Top 5 Reasons Your Small Business Needs a Blog
Social media, and blogs especially, are all the rage when it comes to small businesses. Blogs offer a great forum to interact with customers, gather feedback and understand what customers like and dislike. In addition, there are additional benefits of a small business blog, including proving your value by providing engaging content, driving traffic through that meaty content and learning more than you ever imagined about your customers. Need some more reasons to start a blog? Here you go:
Reason #1 -- Start a Conversation
Having a blog enables you to build a relationship with your customers. The way the blog posts are written (light and fun or serious and formal) and the topics covered will help shape a small business' personality and style. As a small business owner, you will need to determine if you will personally write the blog posts or if you will outsource that work to a freelancer.
Conversations invite feedback from customers, which can be vital for products and services that are offered. Engaging customers is a great way to build loyalty and provide customers with a sense of community.
Reason #2 -- Become an Authority in Your Field
You should be able to provide commentary about newsworthy items relative to your business. Was there a recent news story related to a key product offering? Provide a blog post outlining the small business' view. Giving opinions and comments begins to build a small business owner's authority. Blog posts allow owners to showcase their knowledge and expertise -- a great business builder!
Reason #3 -- Provide Potential (and Current) Customers With a "How-to"
What better way to showcase your knowledge and expertise than with a how-to blog post? Be sure to include photos (a picture is worth a thousand words) and even upload a short video. Customers will appreciate detailed instructions on how to use a product or how to order a service.
Reason #4 -- Tell a Story (With a Happy Ending, Of Course)
Everyone loves a good story, and including a personal story in a blog gives you and your business a personality. How did the business begin? Offer a great customer service story (what better way to highlight the importance of customers).
Reason #5 -- Offer a Product or Service Review
A blog post is a great venue to demonstrate why a product or service offering may be superior. While this isn't the time to bash competitors, it is a great way to highlight key differences and benefits.
You can offer one type of blog or combine all of these to keep your blog posts interesting. Creating an editorial calendar can make the frequency and types of blog posts you create easier to monitor. For example, Mondays may be a product or service review, Wednesdays offer an opinion and Fridays have a how-to blog post. A great tool for creating an editorial calendar is Google Calendar.
You'll want to create a blog that has your business's domain name attached to it. To get started with a small business blog for free (there are costs with a domain name and hosting), check out Wordpress or Blogger. It's that simple!
Reason #1 -- Start a Conversation
Having a blog enables you to build a relationship with your customers. The way the blog posts are written (light and fun or serious and formal) and the topics covered will help shape a small business' personality and style. As a small business owner, you will need to determine if you will personally write the blog posts or if you will outsource that work to a freelancer.
Conversations invite feedback from customers, which can be vital for products and services that are offered. Engaging customers is a great way to build loyalty and provide customers with a sense of community.
Reason #2 -- Become an Authority in Your Field
You should be able to provide commentary about newsworthy items relative to your business. Was there a recent news story related to a key product offering? Provide a blog post outlining the small business' view. Giving opinions and comments begins to build a small business owner's authority. Blog posts allow owners to showcase their knowledge and expertise -- a great business builder!
Reason #3 -- Provide Potential (and Current) Customers With a "How-to"
What better way to showcase your knowledge and expertise than with a how-to blog post? Be sure to include photos (a picture is worth a thousand words) and even upload a short video. Customers will appreciate detailed instructions on how to use a product or how to order a service.
Reason #4 -- Tell a Story (With a Happy Ending, Of Course)
Everyone loves a good story, and including a personal story in a blog gives you and your business a personality. How did the business begin? Offer a great customer service story (what better way to highlight the importance of customers).
Reason #5 -- Offer a Product or Service Review
A blog post is a great venue to demonstrate why a product or service offering may be superior. While this isn't the time to bash competitors, it is a great way to highlight key differences and benefits.
You can offer one type of blog or combine all of these to keep your blog posts interesting. Creating an editorial calendar can make the frequency and types of blog posts you create easier to monitor. For example, Mondays may be a product or service review, Wednesdays offer an opinion and Fridays have a how-to blog post. A great tool for creating an editorial calendar is Google Calendar.
You'll want to create a blog that has your business's domain name attached to it. To get started with a small business blog for free (there are costs with a domain name and hosting), check out Wordpress or Blogger. It's that simple!
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