Category: Social Media Trends

You have probably been able to establish a large number of connections through social media. Many of those connections have actually turned into valuable relationships. If you are an intelligent business owner, which there is no doubt that you are, you have developed those relationships and have moved toward turning those people into loyal clients whenever possible.

Assume nothing
The truth is that you are faced with some challenges when it comes to turning business connections into loyal clients. They are certainly not one and the same and you may have to work hard at the relationship in order to produce the results that you want.

Relationships are not always easy to cultivate and there will be some relationships that start out looking like they will last for a very long time but then fizzle out for one reason or another. The fact is that not all relationships are meant to last. When it comes to establishing and cultivating relationships through social media, that can prove to be even more challenging. However, it is certainly far from impossible. In fact, you can can accomplish pretty much anything that you set out to accomplish. It is just a matter of going about it in the right way.

As powerful a tool as social media is for your business, you still need to approach it in a sensible, methodical, organized manner in order for you to achieve the results that you are seeking. The relationships that you share with other people through social media need to be nurtured properly and remember that nothing good ever comes from rushing.

Human connections need love and caring so remember to approach it in just that way. It will definitely serve you well to do so. At this point, you may be wondering where you begin such as process. Well, the following is a sequence of logical steps that will benefit you and your business.

• Expand your reach to your target audience members: Although quality over quantity is definitely the way to go, that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t increase the number of social media connections that you do have. It all depends on how many connections you actually have. However, it is always beneficial to bring new people into your social media circles whom you feel are beneficial to what you are doing. The truth is that the more valuable social media connections you have, the better your chances will be that those people will tell other people about you and your business. It doesn’t get any better than that. Most businesses (and, most likely, your business falls into that same category) rely on word-of-mouth to become more successful. It is reasonable to assume that.
• Make the most out of what you and other people are sharing: As you develop meaningful relationships with other people through social media, it is natural that those other people will want to share your valuable content with other people whom they know and trust. You want to make the most out of those opportunities whenever you can. Your content should be written in such a way that it draws a lot of attention. If it draws a lot of attention and is deemed valuable, other people will be more than happy to pass it on. Let them do the work for you. In fact, you are the only one who can’t do that. They can speak about you and your business in the most glowing of terms but they are the only ones who can. That is free publicity for you.
• Get involved with the algorithms of the your social media channels: A lot of the popular social media channels have ways to choose which content is posted and which is not. It is a way for the social media channels to eliminate (or, at least, reduce) what is being posted online. However, that also helps you and your business because it is far less distracting for the readers if they don’t have such a volume of content through which to sift. Unfortunately, in a lot of cases, a great deal of the content is not worth reading. With that in mind, it is extremely important for you to learn what content is appropriate to post an d what is not. The information is out there for you.
• Consider real-time as an aspect of your marketing strategy: In this age of instant responses (and instant gratification), real-time is a recipe for success. When a person makes a comment or asks a question online, he or she is very happy if the response comes right away. Of course, that isn’t always possible but you should try to make that happen whenever you can. That is a sure way to strengthen your relationships with other people online. You should incorporate information that is not only current but that is actually happening right now. People will find it compelling and will respond right away in many cases.
• Write content that will entice other people to respond: There is absolutely no doubt that your content is amazingly well written and exciting (not to mention, valuable). However, that is not enough. It also has to affect other people in such a way that they do whatever you are asking them with your call-to-action and clicking through. That is the first step to interacting with you. At that point, you will be on your way to establishing a solid relationship together.

Conclusion
If you follow the advice that has been offered here, you have a good chance of turning your social media connections into loyal clients. You establish the relationship, nurture that relationship, and, along with that you build trust, credibility, and the other person will regard you as the expert in your field. You should try to stay connected with people through all of your social media channels, which will help your relationships to grow and, eventually, your connections will become clients. Of course, once you have established the relationship, you will need to work at solidifying it more and more until you can bring it to the next level.

Our society is making major changes every day, and social media is dictating some of these changes and is influencing how our society operates. As a result, whatever changes we see in society will have a definite impact on what happens in our schools. To run effectively, schools cannot ignore these societal changes. That’s why our students and staff need to develop positive experiences with social media usage in our schools. Schools and school districts that decide to embrace social media are utilizing new technology to inform, educate, and prepare students and staff for the 21st century.

Each school year the following question will have to be answered: What if a student or staff member is using their personal social media account off school property in a negative, inappropriate, or confrontational manner that has an impact on the staff or students? Additionally, does this usage impact the student’s ability to learn at school or impact the educational day? If it does, then the school should have the right to investigate and issue appropriate consequences. This is an important problem that has impacted schools from all over the world. It is vital that our schools address this problem in their student code or face the possibility of students, staff members, or both disrupting the school.

In an effort to be pro-active, schools and school districts have decided to prevent problems from occurring by teaching students the proper way to use social media. Schools are now showing their students how social media can be used to collaborate on school projects, find summer jobs, participate in online chats, discuss books read in class, share and receive positive information on the school’s Facebook page, keep up with what’s happening around the world, do research, share successful educational stories, secure classroom information, etc. Teachers can use Twitter accounts to send homework assignments to students, provide classroom information for students, and have classroom discussions. By embracing social media, schools are empowering their students to communicate more with their classmates, which will develop a stronger community of learners.

School employees should have procedures in place for how they use social media in an effort to monitor how educators use their personal and school accounts to interact with students. Schools should consider employees using their personal accounts to communicate with students as inappropriate and as grounds for termination. While this might sound harsh, sometimes staff using their personal accounts with students can lead to the appearance of an inappropriate relationship. In particular, staff members should never have a student’s pictures posted on their Facebook. These concerns should be addressed at the first staff meeting of the school year, and staff members should sign an agreement that the school’s social media account be used for teaching purposes only and not for reaching out to students.

Overall, schools know there is a lot of abuse involved with the use of social media, but research has shown that schools that take the time to educate their staff and students on the proper usage are developing a community of learning that will be productive in the 21st century

You have a social media profile for every one of the social media channels that you have joined. You are probably aware of the fact that you must stay on top of your social media profiles once you create them. It isn’t enough to simply create the profiles and then leave them alone. If you do that, they won’t give anything back to you.

Quick and painless changes to your social media profiles

There are many different tweaks that you can make to your profiles and they don’t necessarily have to take a lot of time or effort to accomplish. However, if you make the changes (at least the ones that seem to make sense for your particular business), you will see a significant difference in the way that other people respond to you.

Enhancing your social media profiles will take you very little time and very little effort.

• Check the sizes of your images on the profiles: When dealing with the images, you will want to make sure that they are optimized (that means each and every one of them). Optimizing them means that you check the specifications of the particular social media channels and you ensure that the dimensions of your photos match those specifications. It will not take you any time at all to verify the dimensions and to make sure that your photos are within those guidelines.

  You shouldn’t necessarily assume that your photos should be perfect squares. That will not necessarily be the case. One good reason why you want to make sure that your photos are up to par is that they may be used (by you or someone else) in other places on the Internet.

• Make sure that your profile photos are consistent across all of your social media channels: Your photo should be a clean, professional headshot and you should use it on all of your channels. If that means that you need to get your photo taken by a professional, it is probably worth the investment. After all, that photo will be seen by so many people and your photo is a strong representation of who you are. You want people to get used to seeing that photo and associating it with your brand.

• Untag yourself: If you see that you are tagged in photos in the various social media channels and those photos are either not flattering or just plain inappropriate (or anything in between), there is nothing wrong with untagging yourself (or disassociating yourself) from those photos. Why would you want to be associated with photos that can potentially damage your reputation?

  You should be aware that some of the more popular social media channels allow you to disassociate quite easily. You will want to check the tags on a regular basis. If you don’t keep tabs on the tags, they may do your business some harm.

• Make sure that your profiles have keywords for optimization: No matter which business you are in, you still need to make sure that all of your content (no matter where you put it) is optimized. The reason that you want to do that is so that people can find you when they are searching for what you happen to be offering. The fact is that you want them to find you before finding anyone else first.

• Make sure that your profiles are complete: You don’t want people to look at your profiles and not be able to see the whole picture. That is just not effective. You can easily avoid that by just paying attention to your profiles and filling in the gaps. It won’t take you very long. As you are filling in the missing content, make sure that you make that content as engaging as possible.

• Connect one social media profile to the others: That is a really good thing to do and it will produce great results. You will want to test the links among the social media profiles. There is nothing more annoying than clicking on a link only to see that nothing happens.

Conclusion

Your social media profiles are an important part of your business and you can’t afford to let them stagnate. Using share buttons will help you to keep it interesting. Not only should you fill in all of the fields in your profiles but you should also make sure to update them on a regular basis (but not too frequently). You will want to share all sorts of interesting information (both words and images) so that you hold the interest of your target audience. You always want your content to be fresh, current, and engaging at all times.

According to Common Sense Media research, teens now spend an average of nine hours a day glued to their devices, with tweens not all that far behind at six. And that doesn’t account for tech’s use in our nation’s classrooms, nor all the computer-required assignments that follow our children home after school.

Billed as a learning tool, many teachers now incorporate the likes of Twitter and video games into their lessons, negatively impacting attentions spans and critical thinking, right there along with spelling and writing skills.

As for the teachers who refuse to jump on the ed tech bandwagon? They’re called “resisters” and are often criticized as being old school and way behind the times.

Fortunately, they are not alone.

Among the concerned is Steve Fischer, eBay’s chief technology officer, who sends his children to a Waldorf School instead of his local tech-heavy public one; so, too, do many Silicon Valley employees.

That’s because founder Rudolf Steiner designed the Waldorf curriculum to focus on the academic, artistic, and practical with an eye toward developing students’ imaginations and getting them ready for the real world–no screens required.

The result for everyone else’s kids, though, is a tech-driven world, both in and out of school.

Indeed, Common Sense Media CEO and founder Jim Stryer calls the amount of media tech in children’s lives “mind-boggling.” As he notes, it dominates their world, and they can’t seem to resist its lure.

One result: Multi-tasking. Now, 50% of teens say they “often” or “sometimes” use social media or watch TV while doing homework; 60% say they text and 75%+ listen to music at the same time.

Pushback is growing, though, with outfits like the Truth About Tech: How Tech Has Kids Hooked.” Sponsored by Common Sense Media, the Center for Humane Technology, and others, it held an event in D.C. earlier this year. Its mission is to expose the techniques used by tech companies to hook our kids and find a way to ensure their digital well-being, as well.

As the Center points out, “Technology is hijacking our minds and society.”

And it’s all been done intentionally.

In fact, Facebook’s founding president, Sean Parker, has admitted that he and other higher-ups came up with “a social validation feedback loop” that makes the social media platform addictive.

At one point, another early FB exec, Chalmath Palihapitiya, accused his company of creating “short-term dopamine-driven feedback loops that are destroying how society works.”

And though he tried to walk back that statement, it still has legs, so to speak.

Even Apple CEO Tim Cook gets it. Though childless himself, not only does he set firm limits on his nephew when it comes to social media, he doesn’t consider it a success if we’re all are using tech all the time.

As it is, 50% of teens feel they are addicted to their mobiles, with 60% of their parents agreeing.

Confided one teen, “I would rather not eat for a week than get my phone taken away. It’s really bad.”

Moreover, Jean Twenge, a San Diego State University psych professor and author of iGen, says that heavy–5+ hours a day–device users are:

• 56% more likely to say they are unhappy;
• 27% more likely to be depressed; and
• 35% more likely to have one risk factor for suicide.

These numbers are substantiated by numerous experts and backed by brain-imaging studies, too.

Nevertheless, Dr. Nicholas Kardaras, author of Glow Kids: How Screen Addiction Is Hijacking Our Kids, notes that none of us wants “some buzz-killing truth-sayers telling us that the emperor has no clothes,” and that the devices we’re so attached to pose a problem, especially for kids’ developing brains.

Regardless of the disturbing evidence, though, Facebook is not stopping, not by a long shot.

Not satisfied with its current 2.13 billion users–supposedly all 13 and older–it’s now aiming lower with Messenger Kids, created with children as young as six in mind.

This video, calling, and messaging app lets kids connect with friends and family via tablet or smartphone, and it boasts that countless parents and children’s advocates had a hand in designing it.

However, many of those contributors received funding from Facebook…

Meanwhile, among Messenger Kids’ boasts: Parents must first approve of all contacts, and it gets kids and parents chatting with each other in “a safe, controlled environment.”

Safer than what, face-to-face conversations?

Countless child development experts and others disapprove.

Organized by the Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood, a number of them recently sent a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg urging him to take down Messenger Kids. Citing its potential for harm, they pointed out that young kids aren’t developmentally ready to handle social media, online relationships, or the misunderstandings and conflicts that can arise from them.

Nevertheless, Messenger Kids is still up and running, so…

Bottom line: Keep it personal, not virtual.

As if the citizens of the US were not already over monitored by Internet companies, advertisers, phone companies, employers, authorities, cable companies, and oh yes those smart meters, it seems they are starting in on our kids too. Children are being introduced to surveillance on social networks and don’t seem to understand the problem, which makes sense, and by the time they grow up, they will have never lived in a time period that didn’t know everything they did.

In walks 1984, Gatica, Minority Report and Vannevar Bush’s concept of “recording a life” or life-log (read about Bell Labs and his concept). In the near future you don’t just have to worry about your smart phone spying on you, your car will too, every single device you own to simple your life will give away your every move. Your life is hereby recorded, deal with it? Now then, about our children, some say they shouldn’t expect privacy, and since they’ve never known it, why should they even care. Well, that’s just it, not only do they not care, they are growing old enough to vote.

Now then, there was an interesting privacy issue that came to my attention, yes, another one, an article titled; “California school district hires firm to monitor students’ social media,” by Michael Martinez, published on CNN on September 15, 2013. The school is doing this to prevent bullying, but I imagine in the future it will be used to see who posts during school hours to catch kids doing that, or even who logs in during school hours, from there it’s going to be a pre-conditioned reality of the next up and coming generation that “the authorities” have a right to look at your social media, and are at all times.

Judging by the movements of law enforcement, FBI, NSA, that’s already happening, your privacy no longer exists, how does that make you feel? Anyway, just think now in the event you are innocent yet suspected crime, all that surveillance is proof you didn’t do it. But if you do have tendencies to misbehaver those social media posts can convict you, be used against you or as I said, in some rare cases be used to prove you were not there and didn’t do it.

Some parents are saying they like the idea of the school checking up on their kids, why? Well, so they don’t have too, which means they are giving up some of their parenting responsibilities to the state (so to speak, actually just the school for now) but this is problematic because we already have a problem with parenting in our country. But that my friends is for another topic and article. Until then, please consider all this and think on it.

Social media is literally changing the way projects are cast. All other things being equal, if three actors are up for a role on a big project, chances are the actor with a substantial following will nab the role. This means that if you’re a savvy actor, you’ll start building your social media empire BEFORE you’re up for a series regular.

If you’re like some of my clients, the thought of using social media for your acting career can be completely overwhelming. I’m here to tell you – don’t panic! Here are four simple steps you can use to get your social media mojo started, giving you a leg up on the competition!

1. Start Small

There are many social media platforms to choose from, but my advice is to start with one and get really good at it. If you’re already using Facebook anyway, why not start there? Do you love taking photos? Try Instagram! Maybe Twitter is more your speed. No need to overload yourself right away. You can always add another once you’ve got the first one down.

2. Create a Plan

This is where you can get creative! Keeping your actor brand in mind, think about some themes that you would like to post about regularly. For example, do you have a charity that you work with? Do you like to make people laugh? Are you a foodie? You can also repost or retweet other people’s content, and give them a shout-out. Of course, don’t forget to post your acting successes, too!

3. Make a Schedule

Once you have some daily themes in mind, it’s time to schedule your posts for the week. I recommend using a free app like Bufferapp.com or Hootsuite.com. I’ve found that scheduling daily posts ahead of time (for the week or the month) is much more efficient than trying to post every single day.

4. Be Social!

It’s called social media for a reason, so be sure to spend a little time every day responding to your likes, retweets, mentions, and other people’s posts. Reciprocation goes a long way, so keep the dialogue going with your peeps!

5. Watch the Clock

Be careful not to fall down the rabbit hole. Social media sites are made for you to kill time, so be mindful of how you’re spending yours. Fifteen minutes a day is all that’s needed to stay social.

Marketing on social media the right way can take time to understand. Many of the social media sites are a way to make new friends or speak to existing ones.

Already an internet marketer? If so, you will already understand and be aware they are more than just for entertainment and escapism. Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and many more have become a way to make money if the right strategies are in place.

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and so many more are entirely made to make you money. However, you must understand you need to take some time and effort to get recognized by other social media users.

You need to have an effective strategy that will help you build an audience.

Understand unless you are already a well-known celebrity, no one knows you, so your audience does not know what you represent, and why you need to build up an image on your chosen social media platform, if not on more.

Engage with them regularly. Does this mean you need to have an existing store or business? Quite simply, no, not unless you want, or already have one. You may even be a current business owner already looking at how marketing on social media can take you and your company forward.

As your audience grows and you gain a more significant following, newer opportunities will present themselves.

Once you have gained a decent following, there are then many ways to start making money on social media.

Today with celebrities, many brands are turning more and more to well-known figures in the public eye who already have an audience, and usually, this will be in the millions. These people are otherwise known as ‘social influencers’.

With the aid of a well known public figure, companies can get their products promoted and endorsed by them.

They know their followers will copy their every move in many a cases, it would seem.

If you too can create a good following, and with the right strategies in place, there is no reason why you can’t, then do not be surprised if a company or companies reaches out to you asking for their brand promotion. Companies know this is a great way to reach a targeted audience.

You only need to look on social media, television or whatever social media channel you prefer to see, the brands that are continually being endorsed. The simple truth is marketing on social media works, and it works very well if you know what you are doing.

Whether or not you are considering marketing on any platform, it is essential, if possible, you find someone. It can even be in your immediate locality who you think is a local celebrity and who might be willing to endorse your product or service. Do you remember ever boing told, ” if you don’t ask, you don’t get”, this is so true of today’s marketing world.

Are you a big arts and crafts lover? Do you have a talent for it yourself? There are billions of users worldwide who love this, and if you were marketing on social media, you would most probably find there are a lot of people who will be interested in what you do.

I love seeing the talent of others, it’s fascinating to see what someone can achieve and sometimes with tiny things.

Their art of making is truly a craft.

Using the medium of different platforms, you can showcase your talents very quickly, if you know what you are doing.

You may already see many things being advertised on Facebook, Twitter, and many others. Marketing on social media is a science and done correctly, the rewards can be significant. Done incorrectly, and you can end up losing a lot of money on advertising costs, time, effort and ultimately disappointment in your results.

However, running a business and keeping your audience constantly engaged can be quite a challenge. To post regularly and the content to be relevant can also be quite a challenge. If you are not careful and continuously track what you are doing, it can become too much.

With all of the hard work it takes to get your business up, running, and profitable, it’s no wonder why so many entrepreneurs struggle to find the time to maintain their social media presence.

That’s why I’ve invested in figuring out little social media “hacks” – tools and methods I can use to maintain my presence, grow my followers, and make money with social media WITHOUT actually adding to my workload each day.

In this article you are going to discover 7 of those time-saving social media tools:

1) Tweet Adder – With this piece of software, you can automate sending Direct Messages to new Twitter followers (a great way to offer your followers free gifts for following you on Twitter, thereby building your list in a completely automated way). You can also quickly and easily generate lists of relevant people to follow without ever having to log in to the Twitter platform. Easy peasy!

2) Pay With a Tweet – With this piece of software, you can offer followers an alternative to opting in with their name/email address. Instead, they can “pay with a tweet”(they tweet a message out on their Twitter profile, and in exchange, you give them access to your offer). I like to use this to kill 2 birds with one stone: adding value to my list, and building my list. The way this is done is by only allowing existing newsletter subscribers the option to pay with a tweet. When your subscribers send their tweets out, the tweets will contain a link leading back to a landing page which DOES require an opt in. So anyone who clicks from their tweet is then required to opt in to the mailing list, thereby growing your list (again, without any added work)!

3) Meet Edgar – The typical social media scheduling softwares that entrepreneurs use (ie. Hoot Suite and Sprout Social) still require quite a bit of manual work because you have to enter the days and times that the posts go out for each profile. You also can’t re-use content automatically (you have to actually re-enter it in the system). With Meet Edgar, you can load in a bunch of content in bulk and let Edgar choose when to schedule them. And, the more content you post, the smarter Edgar gets (so if a certain post is getting a lot of traction, Edgar will re-use it automatically to help increase engagement on your pages). Love it!

4) Fan of the Week – This app is a great way to show some love for you most active fans on your Facebook fan pages. Each week, the software evaluates which of your fans was the most engaging on your profile, and will reward the fan by announcing them as the “Fan of the Week”. This is an easy and automated way to keep your followers happy!

5) Hub Spot Blog Topic Generator – One of the most challenging parts about social media is coming up with stuff to post about. This includes coming up with blogs to syndicate on your social media. With this tool, you can enter in a couple words related to what you want to write about, and it will generate a list of blog topic ideas for you.

6) Canva – Unless you’re a graphic designer, creating branded graphics for your social media posts can be a pain in the neck (and if you hire people to do it for you, it can cost a pretty penny). I’m techy, but I’m not a designer, so what I do instead is use Canva to create my social media graphics. I customize their Free Layouts with my brand colors, images of myself, and quotes or messages that would resonate with my followers.

7) WooBox – This one’s pretty neato, because you can do quite a lot with it: Contests, Coupons, Quizzes, Polls, Social Media Landing Pages, and more. But the social media “hack” and time saver feature they one that allows you to set it up so that whatever you post on your Fan Page automatically posts to your Twitter. Now, the downside of this is that your content on these platforms is the same (so why should someone bother to follow you on Twitter?) and if you post a longer post, it’ll show up weird on Twitter. But, if you’re super strapped for time, keep the length of your posts in mind, and set up another means for why people should follow you on Twitter (ie. giving followers a unique freebie for Twitter followers only, using Tweet Adders Direct Messaging feature mentioned in #1), then it’s totally worth it.

Armed with these 7 social media tools, you will be able to build a following of fans who love you without having to sacrifice hours each day to coming up with content, creating posts, and thinking of ways to create engagement. (woohoo!)

Now go out there and get sh*t done!

<3 Amanda

Social media marketing is a good way to get the word out about your business, products and/or services. But, there are times when you have to be aware of the fact that social media marketing has the potential to draw you in and become a major time sucker.

If you want to ensure that social media is not controlling you, follow these tips.

Have a Plan of Action

Don’t do anything without a plan. You need a GPS to get to your destination. You also need a plan to ensure that social media marketing will work well for your business.

Create a Social Media Publication Calendar

Plan ahead according to the products and services you want to promote to craft posts and updates that have a purpose. If you have a calendar with pre-written posts, you can easily schedule them to work with your product launches.

Avoid Time-Sucking Activities

You know it is simple to get sucked into yet another personality quiz or discussions about that delicious plate of pasta your friend just made, not to mention all the games – but don’t do it. It’s fine to have fun, but do it after your work is complete.

Outsource Scheduling

Once you create a publication calendar that matches your promotions you can give the list of updates to someone else to schedule and monitor. However, don’t make that an excuse not to engage personally.

Take Time to Comment and Engage

Even if you outsource parts of your social media marketing, be sure to personally comment and engage your followers so that they know you are a real person to trust and know.

Do More of What Works

If you do something that works, do more of it and less of what doesn’t. Monitor the metrics of everything that you do so that you are positive about what is working and what is not working.

Each Post Needs a Reason for Being

Don’t post something without a purpose. If you don’t know why you are posting it, don’t bother.

Don’t Forget Your Call to Action

Everything you do should have a CTA. Whether it is to share, follow, or click, ensure clarity about what you want your audience members to do. If they know what you want them to do, they’re more likely to do it.

Using social media correctly to market your business is an essential element today in the world of advertising and marketing. Social media marketing can be very effective and inexpensive if you are careful not to waste time and effort on messing around and doing things that have no purpose.

Participation in one or more social media platforms is now a given in both the professional and personal spheres. Nearly every Solopreneur has a presence on at least one platform, even if that participation is not active. Social media has the potential to provide benefits to business owners, the self-employed and the traditionally employed, but in order to reap those benefits, one must understand how this resource can best function within specific circumstances.

The first question to consider is, who’s listening? Do those you want to reach participate in social media for their organization’s needs or just for their own career? That answer will determine which platform to choose. The second question is, what is your business? Your third question is, will social media function for you as a sales tool, marketing tool, or PR?

Twitter is king when having conversations with current or potential customers about your business or industry is the goal. Tweet an announcement of the class you’ll teach, the conference you’ll attend and your thoughts on a presentation you’ve just heard. Store owners tweet the arrival of new merchandise; restaurant owners tweet the daily specials; musicians tweet the dates of upcoming performances or new music releases.

LinkedIn is the platform of choice for the traditionally employed and Solopreneurs who offer business-to-business services. I think of LinkedIn as my adjunct website, where I can announce professional victories; provide a link to an article that my connections might like to read; or announce an upcoming conference. LinkedIn Groups lets me interact with peers in my industry and exchange relevant information, success stories and challenges. Recruiters looking to fill jobs are known to peruse LinkedIn in search of qualified job candidates to interview.

Define how social media can function for you, based on the business you’re in and the way your customers use social media. If prospective customers like the look of the landscapes you design or the sound of your jazz combo and feel comfortable judging the value you provide online, then social media directly impacts the sales process and is for you a sales tool. Facebook’s Fan Page will likely be your platform of choice.

If potential customers use Twitter memes to discuss industry developments, then marketing is your social media strategy. Use the platform to establish your bona fides as an up-to-date, in-the-know thought leader. Promote your expertise and develop a following by sharing a steady stream of relevant information (content) that will benefit prospects. Tell, don’t sell.

Peer-to-peer PR is the function of LinkedIn. Stay abreast with what colleagues are doing professionally and announce your achievements as well. Make recommendations and endorsements for those with whom you’ve worked, in either a paid or volunteer position, and receive commendations in return. Those looking to hire employees or Solopreneur consultants might peruse LinkedIn for candidates and referrals for project work, so keep your profile current and complete.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Are you an entrepreneur building a business? If so then you need a Social Media presence. The catch is to control the Social Media frenzy, and keep your page at a business level. If you do have a site take a few minutes to see what’s being advertised on your pages.

People are promoting coaching and training about how to do almost everything and they get rich doing it. The question is; have they done it? Are they giving you the skills that you need?

If your heart is in your work, you can become successful. The adage “follow your heart” is just as true today as it was two thousand years ago, “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Luke 12:34

When I have followed my instincts (heart) then I have made the right decision. It’s when I have based my decisions on logic that I have made some big mistakes.

Networking is necessary for any business. However Network Marketing is not one size fits all.

We find a business and get excited and think we can make money quickly. A few days later after we have spent the money to join; we realize that we don’t have the money, time, or the skills. But is that realization is just an excuse?

The reality is that we don’t want to take the time, to learn the skills needed business grow to profit. People spend thousands of dollars on coaching programs and never apply any of the strategies. It takes action for success!

We fail to understand that strategies are not practical with the one size fits all system. People are unique and different. Here are a few Synonyms for strategies; blueprint, design, game plan, ground-plan, program, project, road map, scheme, and system.

The get rich quick coaching programs are for high achievers. If you aren’t willing to pay the price to become a top producer, the only person making money is the coach who is selling you the system.

Years ago, before I started working on-line I taught sales training courses. The theme of that training was “The Art of Not Closing the Sale.” It was so successful that my competition contacted me to train their agents.

I purchased a course “Cold Calling Doesn’t Work”. Since that time I have used this course as a structure for building my business.

Business must have the exchange of money from the consumer to the business to become successful. The transactions needed to help the consumer who feels the value of that transaction. If not the sales representative or the business owner is always cold calling, leaving very little opportunity for referrals.

No one likes being sold anything, but everyone likes to buy. If you are using your private page for business; please build a Fan Page.

Do you need a Social Media Business Health Check?

Social media has impacted our society in many good ways. Our lives have been made easier. Pretty much anything we want to know is quickly found at the end of a mouse click. We save time and effort by ordering products and planning travel online. We easily catch up with friends on numerous social media sites. But, there is also a down side..

Media and Relationships

Research has found that these sites can have a negative impact on relationships and may even contribute to divorce. A spouse may spend so much time that they neglect family time and hurt relationships. The temptation is there to look up former girlfriends or boyfriends and connecting could trigger past feelings and/or start an affair. One recent study from the journal, Computers in Human Behavior, used information gathered from U.S. Facebook accounts and found a link between social media use and decreased marriage quality. The study showed:

Using social media is negatively correlated with marriage quality and happiness, and positively correlated with experiencing a troubled relationship and thinking about divorce.

A twenty percent annual increase in Facebook enrollment was associated with a 2.18% to 4.32 % increase in divorce rates.

Reasons cited for these effects refer to “virtual adultery” and “internet infidelity” as being one of the culprits. Electronic communication may make users feel more open and free in their communication with others. It can be done anonymously and is easy to use to conduct an affair.

Social Media Used as Evidence in Divorce and Custody Proceedings

What you say on may be used against you. A recent survey conducted by the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, showed that almost 99% of its member attorneys have seen an increase in evidence taken from smartphones (including text messages) and other wireless devices during the past three years. All were used for proving infidelity and other types of misconduct in family-law cases.

What Not to Post

While you’re married, even if divorce seems likely, avoid disparaging your partner on social media or using your Facebook page to vent about your relationship. If you need to vent, confide in a trusted personal friend in private or talk to a counselor or therapist. Airing marital laundry, even to your “friends list,” can make matters worse and might be used against you if you do file for divorce. Bottom line: If you’re considering divorce – even if you plan to file for divorce online and expect it to go amicably – take some precautions on social media.

100 Social Media Post Ideas That Are Crushing It

Are you in charge of posting something on your company’s social media platforms and you dread it most days. What on earth are you going to post… today!

But if this your job let’s reverse that yucky feeling in your stomach each day and tap into the most effective post ideas currently on the planet and turn your day in ooooh instead of aaaagh.

While Facebook maybe losing a few followers it’s still the ‘granddaddy’ to be on. Instagram is great for a younger market and LinkedIn is gaining momentum. Decide where your buyers and sellers would hang out on, and post there.

Let’s get stuck right in.

100 Real Estate Social Media Post Ideas

Promoting You

1. What do you do – sell real estate, property manager, leasing consultant.

   This is a great time to show followers you tapping in a for sale sign, attending an auction or even a listing (but keep listings to 20% of your posts).

2. Offer a free report or guide

   Produce a suburb price report and offer it free in exchange for an email address.

3. Introduce a new product or resource

   Many agents have affiliations with landlord insurance suppliers, property maintenance services or easy pay options to collect rent or pay marketing costs. Let you readers know each offerings benefits.

4. Build your newsletter subscriptions.

   Grow your email database at every opportunity you can.

5. Promote your team

   Spotlight a team member and promote them. Let the world know about their special skill and or unique personality.

6. The one day sale for your social media platform followers

   Let your Facebook followers know you are giving 50% off your marketing packages today.

7. Highlight your business strengths

   Point out what you are good at. Aim it to outshine your competitors. “Our agents live locally”.

8. Celebrate a milestone

   Have you been in business for 1, 5, 10 or 20 years+. Did your office or team member win an Award at your franchise’s Award night?

9. Promote you team winning an award

   Get a team shot and highlight your staff.

10. Rejig and re-use old content

    With reach percentages down, not everybody will see your content. Therefore you can re-post old content and it’ll mostly be fresh.

11. Let your customers do the talking

    Grab some of your best testimonials and post them. Third party sources like Rate My Agent are a good source for these.

12. Have a giveaway

    Giveaway a stamp duty or commission calculator in exchange for a readers email.address. What about a bundle of real estate investing books?

13. Promote an event

    Got an auction coming up, let the world know about it. What about an investment seminar?

14. Get an insight into your most popular posts

    Go to Audience Insights or download the Facebook Pages app and discover which posts have been your most popular and repeat!

Promote Others

1. Who’s your favourite fan

   Give them a shout out. Promote their business.

2. Interview a local business

   Grab a video camera and shoot a quick video or Facebook Live with your local barista. Do you think he/she might become a big advocate of yours.

3. Interview an industry expert

   Chat to a marketing expert on why it’s important to promote a property when it’s listed for sale.Who do you know is a tax depreciation expert? Get them to discuss property investment breaks. It’s good for your expert and your followers.

4. Do you support a charity?

   Let the world know. Give them a plug. Redirect readers to the charity’s donation tab.

5. Express your gratitude

   Talk about how blessed you feel by being part of your community.

6. Spotlight an industry influencer

   Grab a media heavyweight like Mark Bouris and ask him for an interview.

7. Say thanks

   It’s a word not used often enough. Tell people you are thankful for their support.

8. Mention a competitor (if you are game)

   This will test your mettle but it might have a big upswing for you. Followers with see that you are confident about mentioning other competitive companies and the opposition will most likely give you the thumbs up.

Inspirational

1. Post an inspirational post

   These are among the most viewed posts on the planet. While not many will admit to it, almost all of us love to be inspired.

2. Tell your story

   Think your story is boring or you’ve got nothing to say. Think again. We are all unique and what may appear to be dull to us might be very uplifting to others.

3. Talk about another inspiring person

   It might be somebody who is close to you eg Mother, brother or boss or somebody who has influenced you eg Nelson Mandella, Tony Robbins.

4. Post a motivational quote

   Go to your favourite motivator and post one of their quotes BUT acknowledge them in the quote.

5. Beating the odds

   Have you overcome a challenge? Beaten a huge obstacle. Post your story. What about an improvement in your career? It’s all inspiring.

6. Your daily routine

   Routines are usually boring but when listed they can be very inspiring to others. Let people know your wake at 5, walk until 6 and read an uplifting book until 7 am five days a week.

7. Have you mastered the ‘work-life’ balance thing

   Not many have but if you’ve got a few secrets, share them. Some people have four day weekends every two months. Others bush walk two weekends a month. What’s your secret sauce keeping you from burnout.

8. Who’s a joy to be around?

   Share their story. We need more joy in our world

Timely Posts

1. National holidays

   Post something about Christmas, Easter, Father’s Day or Labor Day. Why not add a competition to this like a colouring in competition.

2. Industry news

   Interest rate cut announcements from the Reserve Bank are always well read. Everybody wants to know how their hip pocket will be affected.

3. Weather influences

   What if your area or neighbouring area is being affected by fire, water or wind. Post Emergency Service details advising people where they can get help.

4. Sporting event

   Is it a sporting holiday in your city? Let followers know. Connect this post with others to send it viral. eg AFL Grand Final.

5. Special events

   International Women’s Day, National Left Handed Day, Queensland Day. Google a calendar of special days for more ideas.

Hashtag Crazy

Real Estate Hashtags

1. #realty
2. #brokerage
3. #realestate
4. #listing
5. #greatvalue
6. #Realtors
7. #NAR
8. #luxuryrealestate
9. #mansion
10. #HUDhome
11. #foreclosure
12. #househunting
13. #makememove
14. #luxuryliving
15. #homegoals
16. #housegoals
17. #investmentproperty
18. #emptynest
19. #broker
20. #realestateagent
21. #locationlocationlocation
22. #FSBO
23. #ICNY
24. Listing hashtags
25. #openhouse
26. #offmarketlisting
27. #pocketlisting
28. #newlisting
29. #homeforsale
30. #renovated
31. #marblecounters
32. #eatinkitchen
33. #motherinlawsuite
34. #petfriendly
35. #dogsokay
36. #catsokay
37. #condo
38. #coop
39. #twofamily
40. #midcenturymodern
41. #colonial
42. #Victorian
43. #bungalow
44. #shotgunshack
45. #starterhome
46. #cashcow
47. #caprate
48. #dreamhome
49. #fixandflip
50. #turnkeyinvestment
51. #curbappeal
52. #justsold
53. #selling
54. #townhouse
55. #brownstone
56. #frontporch
57. #parking
58. #pool
59. #whattheheck
60. #openhouse
61. #offmarketlisting
62. #pocketlisting
63. #newlisting
64. #homeforsale
65. #renovated
66. #marblecounters
67. #eatinkitchen
68. #motherinlawsuite
69. #petfriendly
70. #dogsokay
71. #catsokay
72. #condo
73. #coop
74. #twofamily
75. #midcenturymodern
76. #colonial
77. #Victorian
78. #bungalow
79. #shotgunshack
80. #starterhome
81. #cashcow
82. #caprate
83. #dreamhome
84. #fixandflip
85. #turnkeyinvestment
86. #curbappeal
87. #justsold
88. #selling
89. #townhouse
90. #brownstone
91. #frontporch
92. #parking
93. #pool
94. Branding hashtags
95. #yourbrokerage
96. #realestateexperts
97. #referrals
98. #yourpersonalbrand
99. #reducedfee
100. #discountbroker
101. #your farm area + expert
102. #your farm area + brokerage
103. #your farm area + personal branding
104. #yourfarmleader
105. #yourbrokerage
106. #realestateexperts
107. #referrals
108. #yourpersonalbrand
109. #reducedfee
110. #discountbroker
111. #your farm area + expert
112. #your farm area + brokerage
113. #your farm area + personal branding

Your Personal Favourites

Let people into your private world and share a few favourite things.

1. What’s your favourite book?

   It doesn’t have to be about real estate. Are you a C T Mitchell fan? Is romance your favourite genre.

2. Favourite podcast

   What industry podcasts do you listen to? Is there a great podcast on food that you wouldn’t miss. Share it with your followers.

3. Favourite YouTube channel

   Do you watch Gary Vaynerchuk for your daily dose of inspiration. Does Mel Robbins lift your day?

4. Favourite resource

   What’s one thing you can’t do with out? For me it’s my automated email provider GetResponse. Do you rely on the fitness app My Fitness Pal. Share yours.

5. Favourite indulgence

   Are you a secret chocolate eater? Do you love an iced cold chardonnay at 5 pm? Can you not do without hot chips and gravy?

6. Favourite influencer

   I’m a big Seth Godin fan. I need my daily fix. Who is yours. Let the world know.

7. Favourite online university

   Udemy gets my vote. 30,000 course on just about everything you want to know about and do.

You The Expert

1. Write an article

   Blogging is still big and is great for your website’s SEO. Promote the article link via Facebook or LinkedIn and gain more readers.But you’re not sure how to write an article.

2. FAQ Friday’s

   In real estate we get a lot of questions asked over and over again. Instead of being reactive to the questions, why not be proactive by posting say every Friday at a regular time like 2pm your answers to frequently asked questions.Video is a great way to do these as it also introduces you and your team to your audience. The videos don’t need to be long; 2 minutes is ample.

3. What’s working now?

   I’m not referring to posting your marketing secrets so your competitors can copy but rather letting your buying and selling audience know what’s working well.Evidence removes doubt and the more times your post results of your marketing campaigns or auction programs producing outstanding results the more often incoming buyers or sellers will adopt your recommendations.

4. Spotlight an Award winner

   Do you employ a top selling agent who has just picked up a coveted award? Is the Property Manager of the Year working with you? Is it you? Tell the world.

5. Short How-to-videos

   Let people know how they can bid at an auction by posting a short informative video. Are you good at giving makeover tips? What about quick renovation ideas that can be completed in under 15 minutes.

6. Infographics are cool

   Infographics condense information into an easy to read document. Because they are viually enticing, infographics have become very popular.

7. One-on-one coaching live

   Do you coach people in real estate. Are you seeking more clients? Live video coaching calls demonstrate your style and assist in getting you more business.

8. Money making tips

   Everybody likes to save money. Post ideas about gardening tips that don’t cost a fortune. Show ideas about recycling.Vintage wares are making a comeback and can be very trendy.

9. Solve a problem

   What are the top 10 problems your landlords face regularly. Create posts around these and promote to your Facebook page as well as including in your email blasts.

10. Quick Hacks

    Know a little tips passed down through your family and gets a great result quickly. It doesn’t have to be about real estate. What about your Grannies tip of adding lemonade to your scone mix to make them rise more and be fluffy to eat.

Ask A Question

1. Create a poll

   Do you think interest rates will rise this month – yes or no? Would you sell your house using the auction method – yes or no?

2. What’s your favourite

   Bedroom colour. Your spring flower choice. Again you could combine this with a prize. eg Tell us your favourite flower and we’ll give one lucky follower entry to the Sydney Flower Show.

3. Fill in the blank

   The best coffee shop in Richmond is __________

4. Get some feedback

   How are we doing? Can we get your feedback? What do you think of our new website? We’ve just updated the signs on our shop – what do you think?

Let’s Get Personal

1. A Fun Fact

   Bet you didn’t know this about us/our company/our property manager

2. You on holidays

   Post a pic of you on your latest holiday. Perhaps end it with a question. What’s you favourite holiday destination? Are you a beach or snow loving person?

3. What are you reading now

   Show the latest book you are reading. Are you a subscriber to a rel estate publication – show it. Are you just chilling out with the latest copy of Mindful. Let your followers into your world.

4. Relaxation time

   How do you relax? An afternoon by the pool? Coffee with friends? A massage?

5. What’s on your bucket list

   Post a pic of the Orient Express if that’s on your bucket list. Perhaps you are a little more daring and you want to parachute out of a plane.

Stand Out Pictures

1. Before and after photos

   Has one of your clients recently done a home renovation? Show the before and after pics. Landscaping and no landscaping. The before dilapidated fence to the now white picket stand out fence.

2. Behind the scenes

   Show some pics of your team hard at work. “Getting your home ready for sale takes a lot of dedicated effort. We want to get it right for you”.

3. Before and after selfie

   Are you on a diet? Show your before and after pics. What about weekend and work day pics.

4. Show a demo

   Do you use a software program that benefits your landlords. Post it to highlight what it does which in turn shows your point of difference

5. Sneak peek

   What’s coming. Everybody loves to be first in. Are you changing brands? Post a pic of your old shopfront signs coming down and a glimpse of the new brand.

Conclusion

Using the social media post ideas for real estate will save you time in coming up with ideas. If you take these ideas and put them into a scheduler you’ll cut down your time even further.

The post ideas will help build your engagement on your platform. Pick the platform where your customers hang out and you’ll get the best reaction for your channel.

Get started today, be consistent and start growing your brand.

Want to have all of the above organised for you? Want to cut down your thinking time even further? Grab thi s social media calendar today where all the work has been done for you.

This fall a documentary called “The Social Dilemma” began airing on Netflix. In it former employees of large technology companies are interviewed and tell about how their work initially appeared to be helpful for society but later, because of its impact, led them to resign from their positions.

Actors who are portraying a family in this show, have different ways of interacting with social media. A teenage son, who is constantly online is challenged to not touch his phone for a week and, if successful, would receive a new screen to replace the one that is broken. Unfortunately, the notifications and ways that the social media had manipulated him to form an important part of the teen’s life, prevent him from lasting more than a couple of days.

The Social Dilemma points out the fact that the word “user” is one that describes not only a person on social media but also a person who is involved with substance abuse.

This week, Prince Harry’s wife, Megan Markle has been criticized for stating the same thing. Perhaps she watched the documentary!

Mental Health diagnosis is done using criteria in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-5) published by the American Psychiatric Association. Social media addictions are not given status and Internet Gaming Disorder is only listed as a tentative disorder in the appendix of this manual.

There are nine criteria listed for Internet Gaming Disorder in the DSM-5 appendix including preoccupation, tolerance, escape, persistence, withdrawal, conflict, problems, deception and displacement.

I didn’t grow up with computers and because of significant changes in technology over time, I have been slow to transition into the options that are commonly used by those who are younger or more technically inclined. In fact, I have frequently had to go to the office to get my phone which I use as an alarm clock. Forgetting it there gives you an indication of how little I think about it and how little need I have for its features.

Computers, phones and other technology are not a problem for everyone. It’s what you do with them that can lead to problems though If you find that you or those who you care about are so absorbed by social media that the criteria listed are realized, perhaps it is time to seek outside help.

Identifying and observing healthy boundaries will help you to balance your time offline and your online use. Limit the time you use your phone or computer. (Set an alarm as internet searching can be mesmerizing!) Don’t have your phone with you during mealtimes or when you are with other people. Don’t trust people that you don’t know who want to be your “friend”. Use your common sense when if comes to offers that seem too good to be true. (They probably are).

Also, remember to do things offline that can be neglected with too much internet use. Go for a walk. Read a book. Phone a friend. Enjoy a technology-free day.

Treat the internet like a tool rather than an intimate partner and you will soon find improved mental health and balance in your life!

Nowadays there is huge competition prevailing in the online marketplaces. Thus, it has become very important to improve your online sales process and provide a better user-friendly experience. However, you will need effective tips to connect with your potential customers on your social media channels. By using the right plan, you can improve the experience of your visitors and create more sales.

In this post, you will explore seven tips for improving online sales using social media:

1. Use messaging services to offer excellent sales support

You must focus on providing sales support by using native chatting within every social network. By using conversational e-commerce you can use the messaging services that will help you to personalize, automate and customize your communication. These messaging apps have become great go-to-choices for many customers. It helps them to directly interact with companies as these apps have increased engagement and retention rates.

So, if you aren’t using messaging apps to automate confirmations and for selling, you’re losing a big social e-commerce opportunity. However, make sure to be careful while using automated chat apps such as Facebook Messenger Bots.

2. Analyse conversations about your brand and services

When it comes to participating in conversations with your customer’s social media is the most effective tool. However, the continuous attack by customers make it difficult to determine the useful information. Thus, keeping an eye on your users online activities will help you to understand the confusing situations. You will be able to generate more leads and create effective marketing strategies.

Brand listening is the skills of developing important insights by analysing your clients’ conversations about your services, brand, and competitors. However, you will need to need to focus on more than simply monitoring your official social media accounts.

3. Encourage your users to share their personal experience

There is no doubt that the success of every social media is not based how much they talk about themselves. Instead, it depends on how much their customers talk about their services and brand. Thus, you must provide your customers an option to share their experience before, during and after making a purchase.

A recent evidence has shown that 1 out of 3 Facebook user has first shared, liked and commented the product prior to purchasing it.

4. Provide easy and quick buying options on your social channels

These days we can see a great expansion in retail sales that are driven by social channels. In these channels buying buttons play a major role in generating more sales. With the help of the buy buttons your clients can make smooth and secure purchases from within the social networks. This reduces the need to follow a multi-step process and limit it to a single click sale process.

5. Feature User-generated content (UGC)

The content that is created and shared by your customers, followers and fans on social channels also generate content – User-generated content (UGC). They either create it instinctively or through other options like giveaways or contests. Curating UGC’s work effectively for e-commerce businesses. Usually, people who see UGC are 97% more likely to buy your services, according to Business Insider.

The content generated in the form of images by the customers also work effectively. In fact, 77% of online shoppers choose Instagram pictures when they were to make a choice between UGC (like images posted on Instagram’s) and professional images (given on the pages of product description). When you use authentic pictures it works as a social proof, enhance your ad performance, attract high-intent visitors from Instagram to product pages and improve on-site conversion rates.

6. Develop seasonal and business-related content

Almost all eCommerce businesses create effective business-related according to the seasonal calendar. They perform very well in generating sales, creating special offers, incentives and emails. They also outdo at stocking their social channels with announcements about all related seasonal e-commerce activities.

But when you create seasonal content that isn’t highly promotional most stores fall short. Therefore, it is best to stay organized with an effective content creation platform on your social media channel.

7. Create social-friendly visuals

Nearly all businesses using social streams are hard pressed to create social-friendly content. As users are more knowledgeable and they avoid generic stock images. According to a Chute Digi day Study over 70% of users find it at least two times more effective to use pictures than only written content alone.

However, the problem arises when a web owner is not able to hire a professional designer. In that case, you can consider using Buffer’s Pablo, which offers more than 600,000 royalty-free photos to choose from. On the other hand, if you need pictures for graphics and infographics, using Venn gage will be a great option. It offers hundreds of design templates to generate detailed images quickly. These templates are usually are categorized into Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced. So, you can choose pictures according to your level of expertise.