Posted by Monica Madsen on Fri, Feb 03, 2012
Pinterest is the latest hottest trending social network online, driving more traffic than some other popular social sites. If you haven’t heard of Pinterest by now, let me bring you up to date on this new hot social networking site. Pinterest takes you to a whole new world of ideas with sharing and organizing. “People use pin boards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes.” (pinterest.com/about) Check out this great article for a complete overview: Pinterest: Everything You Need To Know Is In This Massive Post
Many perks come with this new sharing site for both individuals and businesses. As a business, Pinterest can be used as a marketing site, sharing products, techniques, and ideas. Doing this will increase brand awareness and engagement, drawing people to the business’s site. A variety of resources are provided to help successfully use Pinterest for your business.
- Pinterest: An Introduction for Marketers
- Social Media Helpdesk: “How Do I Use Pinterest For Business?”
- Pinterest Becomes Top Traffic Driver for Retailers [INFOGRAPHIC]
- How to Create Pinterest in Your Healthcare Marketing
- The Ultimate Guide to Mastering Pinterest for Marketing
- How and Why to Use Pinterest for Business
- How To Use Pinterest For Local SEO
- More Tips and Tricks for Companies and Brands Using Pinterest
- 9 Tips: Boost Your Business With Pinterest
- Top 5 Tips for Brands on Pinterest
Besides using Pinterest for a business, the sharing pin board can be a huge help for individuals. Turn your boards in a huge bookmarking site to keep track of anything and everything you are interested in. Here are some reasons why and how to use Pinterest for your personal life.
- Pinterest Tips & Tricks
- Pinterest: What it is, how to use it and why you’ll be addicted
- How To Use Pinterest, And Why You Should
- Pinterest with Friends: How to Contribute & Curate Boards Together!
- Pinterest Tips For Photographers and Other Visual People
- Pinterest: How To Use It & How To Love It
- Pinterest: More Tips and Tricks and FAQ
- To Pin or Not to Pin: An in-depth look at Pinterest
- Pinterest: A Beginner’s Guide
- How an Alaskan Mom Brings Millions to Her Carpentry Blog
Do you have Pinterest? How do you use it for your personal interests or your business?
Posted by Monica Madsen on Fri, Jan 20, 2012
It happens to all of us. We open up a blank document and stare at the empty page for what seems to be an eternity. You have an idea for a blog but don’t know where to start. Or maybe you don’t even have the idea yet. Either way, that blog post is not creating itself. So, how do you overcome this obstacle and create exciting and engaging content? Follow these four simple steps and you’re on your way to developing an A+ blog.
1. Develop an idea
Develop a system to help you keep track of ideas. Whenever the light bulb goes on in your head, write down the idea so you don’t forget it. In doing this, you won’t forget it and you can come back at a later time to brainstorm more topics related to the idea. Once this process begins, you’re on your way to the writing step.
A great resource used on a daily basis here in the office is Evernote. Evernote can be used for a variety of reasons. It is great for taking notes, listing and organizing ideas, and even recording things you hear and see. Evernote can also be accessed anywhere, making it easy to use and utilized as an accessible electronic note pad.
Another tool that can be used to remember ideas is your own phone. Make use of voice recording to record ideas as they come up so they are not forgotten. For those of you with asmartphone, download a Notepad app that can be used for storing your ideas.
If you're stuck and can't come up with an idea, HubSpot can help. They provided 41 Fresh Blog Post Ideas For Your Company Blog to help get you started.
2. Organize your ideas, topics, or themes by category.
Different categories could be “How To’s,” “Opinions,” or “Fun Topics.” Once your topics are organized, you can choose from that category for which you are in the mood to write. Brainstorm the idea or topic further and develop and outline to help when writing the blog post.
It is also important to organize your keywords optimized for your website and use them in your blog posts to help increase your SEO. A simple way to organize your keywords and keyword phrases is to create an Excel document listing all your keywords. You can even go as far as organizing the keywords by topics. This way, when you are stuck on developing an idea, you can look at your list of keywords and build an idea or topic from those. It would also be a smart idea to track how many blog posts you do for each keyword. This will help create variety in the content and information you provide for your audience.
3. Determine the audience and buyer persona.
Now that you have your topic developed and outline, you're almost ready to start writing. Before you can start punching those keys on the keyboard, you have to figure out to whom you are directing the content. Determining your audience and buyer persona will help when creating the content because you then know which voice to use and how informative to be
If you’re not sure who your audience is or how to create content with them in mind, read through these three great articles to help establish your buyer persona and write for them. Knowing your buyer persona will help you personalize your blog posts and target a specific audience.
4. Write!
Finally, once you’ve gone through steps 1-3, you are ready to put some words on that blank document. It is important to have your writing cap on when creating the blog post. If you’re not in a blogging mindset, it will be challenging to start the writing process, which results in writers block.
One major way to avoid writer’s block from reoccurring is to get into the habit of writing on a regular basis. Here’s where another Excel document will come in handy. Create a schedule of posts for the month, or two weeks to start out. Within the chart, determine the dates when you want a post published. Next, decide the keyword for the post. Then develop ideas and topics relating to the keyword and provide references for research and further development. Finally, when the time comes to write a post, you can look at the chart and queue up the post for the week. Your idea will already be laid out for you. Having this chart will help regulate your blog posts and ideas. Soon the ideas will be forming and the content will be flowing.
When developing the content, it’s important to be creative. Find ways to engage with your audience, whether it’s through questions, infographics, or videos. The point of your blog is to inform and attract new leads. Researching will help with the creative process and finding your audiences’ interests.
What are some ways you overcome writer's block? How do you engage your audience?
Posted by Monica Madsen on Fri, Jan 06, 2012
It’s a new year so change is expected and we all knew this change was coming. It’s been a hot topic ever since the rumor erupted. I’m referring to the Facebook Timeline.
With Facebook Timeline, your whole life is right in front of you and is also visible to those able to view your profile. You have no secrets once you have the timeline. The timeline is a way to “tell your life story with a new kind of profile.” (According to the timeline homepage.)
With the introduction of the new feature come some negative and positive factors.
Negatives
- Privacy concerns. Everything you have ever shared on Facebook can be viewed. However, it can be deleted from the timeline.
- Images display. When you upload an image, the dimensions are irregular. Also, when choosing a new profile picture, you no longer have the option to crop the picture like you could with the old profile layout.
- No Timeline for pages. Businesses with a page don’t have the to opportunity to customize their brand page like a profile. But this doesn’t mean that it won’t change.
Positives
- Customizable. Before making your timeline public for the Facebook world to see, you can adjust settings and make the timeline your own. However, if you don’t click the “publish” button within seven days, your timeline will go live automatically. Even after your timeline is published, you can go to the “Activity Log” (which only you can see) and pick and choose what you want shared.
- Add dated posts. With the new timeline, you can fill in the gaps and add pictures from years ago and select the year from which it came.
- It’s like a new game. Make your profile fit your personality using the Timeline Covers app. With the app you have the choice if creating your own cover image or choosing from the variety of images the app offers.
I’m still getting used to the big change Facebook made but I like it thus far. Have you updated your profile to have the new timeline? What do you think of the change?
Posted by Monica Madsen on Fri, Dec 09, 2011
For a final project, I gave a presentation in one of my communication classes. Sounds easy right, especially since it’s a communication class? Wrong.
My topic was “How Social Media Affects Listening in a Business.” I figured I’d go with social media since it is something I use every day, hoping that a familiar topic would make the presenting go smoother. I then decided that I wanted to use Prezi instead of PowerPoint, to spice things up a bit. I knew that many of my classmates weren’t familiar with the interactive presentation software. With this in mind, I was hoping that using Prezi would be a way to keep my audience engaged.
The topic alone would not work because most students feel they know everything there is to know about social media. (Which I proved in my presentation.) I started off by asking a few questions, determining who uses social media and why, what is social media, and if they follow businesses on the various platforms and why, to get them engaged and focused on the topic.
During the presentation, I watched as the audience took notes and seemed intrigued by the presentation itself. At the end of the presentation, there was a brief Q&A discussion.
Was I nervous while giving the presentation? Yes. My first concern was about making sure Prezi would work, since it was my first time. But it worked wonderfully! As the presentation went on, everything just flowed out because I knew my topic and had laid out what I wanted to say and discuss.
So, what’s my point in this story?
In order to give an effective presentation, there are a few key steps to take. This goes for a student giving a class presentation or a professional giving a business presentation. Keeping these elements in mind, a successful presentation will be given.
- Know your topic inside and out. By the time you get up in front of your audience, you must be comfortable talking about the topic and be able to answer any questions that may come your way. It is not a bad thing to have note cards or an outline in front of you while presenting.
- Know to whom you are presenting. Learn what intrigues the audience and use that to your advantage.
- Know your limits. Just because you think you are humorous doesn’t mean the audience thinks you’re humorous. Present in a way that you are most comfortable with, while still keeping it professional.
- Know the purpose of the presentation. What exactly is it that you are trying to do? Sell? Educate? Entertain? Keep this in mind while preparing.
- Use proper visuals. Handouts are an effective visual. Audience members can take notes and follow along. PowerPoints and videos also work effectively. People tend to remember visuals better than text. When using PowerPoint, Prezi, or other slideshow programs, keep it professional looking yet intriguing. Use your own design elements and themes. Be creative.
- PRACTICE! You may feel comfortable after just reading through your presentation, but that does not necessarily mean you are comfortable speaking it to an audience. So, practice the presentation out loud in front of mirror multiple times.
- Allow time for Q&A at the end of your presentation. This is the time when your audience can ask for clarification or provide their input on certain elements within the topic.
Want to learn more about Prezi? Check out how businesses, such as Coca-Cola, are using Prezi. A variety of prezi’s are shared on the site to learn from and explore.
Posted by Monica Madsen on Wed, Nov 23, 2011
Black Friday seems to be the trending topic this time of year. It seems people are preparing for more the shopping extravaganzas than for Thanksgiving! And just like your Thanksgiving dinner, Black Friday either turns out perfectly where you get exactly what you wanted or you leave unsatisfied.
This year, social media has a big role in the hopeful success of businesses. Twitter and Facebook is swarming with deals and gift card contests for stores. Foursquare is even proving effective by having “specials” for every check-in at certain places. Apps for Androids and iPhones have been created to promote and help your the Black Friday shopping experience.
Check out what some stores are sharing on Twitter, encouraging customers to spend some money on their special items.
Are you going shopping on Black Friday? Share your experience with us and any great deals you found!
Posted by Monica Madsen on Fri, Nov 18, 2011
Build a great website that creates brand awareness and generates leads. This is any businesses’ goal when going through the process or creating a website, or even social networking profile. What steps should a business take to build a website that links their needs to the needs of their customers? Check out this week’s website checklist to see if your website meets all the requirements.
“Turn your website into an inbound marketing machine,” says Jessica Meher of Hubspot. Build a website that integrates the latest technology and key elements that engage with your audience. In this article:
- Use search and sharing tools
- Provide quality information
- Use call-to-actions and landing pages
Any website or profile a business creates should be appealing to both search engines and the audience. Follow these ten components to optimize your website to attract more visitors and get a better ranking in search engines. In this article:
- Use headlines to separate sections
- Provide internal links
- Provide a quality meta description
To build brand awareness, it is important to be creative in how you present your business team. If an audience is intrigued by the team’s background, there are better odds of getting business from them. Kevin B. Levi, of Marketing Profs, gives a “Winning Formula” to create an effective ‘About Us’ page. In this article:
- Create an elevator pitch about the business
- Share what sets your business apart from others
- Create content for your targeted audience
Posted by Monica Madsen on Fri, Nov 11, 2011
With any SEO strategy, valuable information that engages an audience needs to be offered. Publishing and sharing useful content will draw more customers to you. When creating great content, various rules must be followed so that the content doesn’t fail. In this weeks Inbound Marketing Recap, learn how to create beneficial content that reaches your audience.
It is not that easy to create intriguing content. Content that you may think is great may really not be, and it ends up failing. Pamela Vaughan, of Hubspot, shares reasons why content fails and provides ways to avoid some mistakes. In this article:
- Have a creative title or headline
- Target the topic appropriately
- Learn from mistakes
Being able to create content for all kinds of brands is important in a content market strategy. The content is created to help the customers better understand the business. Businesses create the content to communicate and develop leads with their customers. Marty Weintraub, of Search Engine Land, shares advice on how to create useful content for all brands. In this article:
- Be creative
- Research
- Provide Value
Content should not just be targeted around the business. The information a business shares should include topics that the customers really care about, content that will have an effect and possibly cause an action on the customers part. Marketing Profs shares information about how to expand on your content. In this article:
- Stop talking exclusively about the products
- Expand on the benefits of using a product
- View the message from the reader’s perspective
Posted by Monica Madsen on Sat, Oct 29, 2011
Non-profits use stories to share their message in hopes of getting their audience to take action. Ironically enough, social media is used by businesses to share stories and communicate with their audience. So, why not use social media for non-profits? That is exactly what top non-profit organizations are doing. Using social media can benefit your cause and further spread its awareness. Learn how other non-profits are incorporating social media into their strategy.
Most non-profit organizations have the same goal in mind: share their story to spread awareness of their cause and see results. Jason Miller, from Social Media Examiner, gives tips to take advantage of to benefit your organization. In this article:
- Be interactive – using polls, feedback, and Twitter
- Use videos to illustrate your story
- Know your audience – donors, volunteers, partners, etc.
Non-profits need to understand how to use social media before they can just dive right in and expect immediate results. Kyle Lace, from ragan.com, gives the top stats and ideas of how non-profits are using social media in their campaigns. In this article:
- Give more than one option to share content – use all social media channels
- Size of your non-profit following does not depend on budget size
- Income does not increase visibility – interactions expands the organization
Using social media is more than a strategy; it is a tactic. Eileen O’Brien, from Philadelphia Young Nonprofit Leaders, shares her slideshow on how to properly use social media for your organization. In this slideshow:
- Use the channels your audience is using
- Recruit people within your organization who have a passion for social media
- Share valuable content
Posted by Monica Madsen on Fri, Oct 21, 2011
Congratulations on your engagement! Now what? This is a question businesses face after they have worked so hard to attract customers and engage with them via social media platforms and websites. Businesses need to keep that engagement strong and growing.
You can’t just stop after you’ve engaged with your target audience. Now you need to focus on retaining those customers and even turn them into leads. Here are this weeks articles that guide you into taking the engagement to the next level.
If you want to have a successful business, you have to determine the needs of your customers/audience. The way to do this is through interacting and engaging - basically communication. Wendy Brache, a guest writer for Social Media Today, gives reasons as to why you should connect with your audience. In this article:
- Learn about engagement through Snoop Dogg
- Discover what your audience cares about
- Engaging takes effort
Social media engagement should not be forced. Employees should be incorpated into the development and growth of the engagement plan. Just like you as a business want to learn about your customers, your customers want to learn about you. Christopher Krywulak, from Marketing Profs, looks at the online shopping experience and relates it too the way customers interact with a business. In this article:
- Know your product or service inside and out
- Grab the attention and keep that attention of your customers
- Be interactive
Telling stories is a great way to connect and engage your customers. Part of being engaged is about building a relationship with your audience. Think of it as a business relationship and just like any relationship, communication is key. C.C. Chapman was interviewed by Mechael Stelzner of Social Media Examiner. Chapman explains how to use content to engage and build relationships. In this video:
- Importance of telling stories with your content
- Good content impacts the business
- Create a strategy
How do you engage with your audience? How have you kept your business relationship strong with your customers?
Posted by Monica Madsen on Wed, Oct 19, 2011
Twitter is just one of the many social media channels businesses and individuals use to connect and create leads. As a business, Twitter is used to share the latest news and product with customers, as well as sharing content of other businesses to generate leads. For an individual looking to make it in the world, using Twitter helps to connect with leaders in their industry of interest and learn from them. Using Twitter properly and effectively is another story and does not happen over night. Here are some articles that teach the proper way to use Twitter to benefit you and your business.
Create an impression and make your business stand out with a customized #hashtag. Alison Savery, of HubSpot Blog, explains how to use hashtags for events and to help measure success. In this article:
- Why use a hashtag
- Strategy behind a hashtag
- Have effective hashtags
Even though communication is online and not in person, customer service still needs to be present and proper. Tammy Kahn Fennell, of Social Media Today, shares an experience of an upset customer on Twitter and how she handled the situation. In this article:
- Get more out of 140 characters
- Don’t take it too personally
- Twitter doesn’t sleep
This is for all those individuals out there that want to make something of themselves and connect with highly regarded leaders in their industry. Carol Tice, of Entrepreneur, teaches how to find those leaders and catch their attention. In this article:
- Join the right communities
- Share their content – retweet
- Make yourself visible to them
How do you use Twitter to promote your business and generate leads? Has Twitter helped you or your business?
