Social Media Marketing :: The Unchained Entrepreneur

Archive for Social Media Marketing

Practical Tips for Making the Most of Your Social Networking Efforts

Posted by: Stacy Karacostas | Comments (2)

Monday, April 4th, 2011

These days, everyone is busier and business–entrepreneurs even more so than most people. Once you add social networking into the marketing mix it's easy to be downright overwhelmed.

So to help you get more done with less effort, and attract more followers on your social networks, I've got a terrific article for you by guest authors Tonilee Adamson and Bobbye Brooks, co-founders Media4Women.These tips are sure to help you grow your small business with less effort…

Social Networking 101: Top 5 ways to attract more followers on social networking outlets

By Tonilee Adamson and Bobbye Brooks co-founders Media4Women

Social networking can seem overwhelming to some of us, especially when we are looking at an empty Facebook page with no friends or a Twitter page with no followers. Building a following takes time, but if we take some basic steps, we will see our social networking expand faster than one might think. Here are our top 5 ways to attract more followers.

Put your social media buttons and links on your website, blogs and all other web-based pages. Make sure that your Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or whatever social networks you have are clearly placed on all of your web pages with links to your social networking pages.

Add your social media links at the end of your emails, electronic newsletters and all electronic media. Place a note on all of your electronic correspondence and invite people to "follow" you on Twitter or become a "fan" on Facebook.

Use your social media to grow your followers. For example, invite people to follow you on Twitter by posting a message on your Facebook page and vice versa. On LinkedIn, make sure you add all of your social networks and links to your profile page.

Place your social media networks on your print materials. Add your social media to your business cards, post cards, newsletters or any form of direct mail material. Every time someone sees your social network, it reinforces them to join you.

Write blogs and articles with valuable content that encourages people to respond or to share with others. Social media is all about engaging with others and sharing information. If you communicate consistently with your followers, they will share you with others and your social networks will grow.

Attracting followers takes some time and effort but if you apply these basic steps listed above, you will naturally develop a larger following. Most of these tips involve setting up some routines and practices to let people know how to connect with you. Once these steps are taken, the rest is fairly easy: just start posting.

About the Authors:

Tonilee Adamson and Bobbye Brooks are co-owners of Media 4 Women Enterprises, a marketing and media company that helps people achieve entrepreneurial success. From website design, video production, book publishing and social media marketing, Tonilee and Bobbye work with individuals and businesses of every type. Visit www.media4women.com to learn more about their services.

Got thoughts on this article, or more tips to add? Please do share by leaving a comment below…

GothGo

Share and Enjoy:

Categories : Online Marketing, Social Media Marketing

Comments (2)

Discover My Secrets for Finding, Hiring and Happily Outsourcing to Virtual Assistants

Posted by: Stacy Karacostas | Comments (1)

Wednesday, February 16th, 2011

Are you an exhausted, overwhelmed entrepreneur struggling to grow your business and get everything else done too?

Ever look at "successful" solo-entrepreneurs—you know the ones who always seem to have a new product or workshop coming out, and tons of online marketing going on—and wonder how they manage to do so much?

Well… The secret is that they aren't doing it all themselves. And neither should you!

If you truly want to grow a thriving, 6-figure business AND a personal life you absolutely have to take some tasks off your own plate—especially your marketing. The best way to do that is by delegating everything possible to pre-trained, highly skilled Virtual Assistants, even if you don't have the budget to hire an employee.

You can learn how when I’m interviewed by Scout Wilkins on a FREE call.

Go here now to get all the details and register…

http://TheUnchainedEntrepreneur.com/outsourcing

Here’s what you're going to learn on this call:

Why hiring you own Virtual Assistant team may be the key to moving past your revenue plateau and breaking the 6-figure barrier
How to know if outsourcing to a Virtual Assistant team is right for you and your business
How to find the right VA team for you (Trust me, all VAs are not created equal…And it's not just about their hourly rate!)
Starting off right: What you must know about working with VAs to avoid the hassles and horror stories
The single most important tip I ever received about hiring a VA — this will totally save your butt!

http://TheUnchainedEntrepreneur.com/outsourcing

Share and Enjoy:

Categories : Business Systems, Outsourcing & Delegating, Social Media Marketing

Comments (1)

Easing into Social Media Marketing

Posted by: Stacy Karacostas | Comments (0)

Wednesday, August 4th, 2010

Have you been thinking about trying social networking (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.) and other online media to marketing your business, but you weren’t sure how to really get started?

Goodness knows it can seem overwhelming—especially when you’re a busy entreprneur. And you don’t want it to turn into a useless time-suck. So my best suggestion is to start with just one site where your prospects are already playing. Then set aside 15 minutes 2-3 times a week to participate for a minimum of three months.

Once you’ve put up a profile, start checking out other people’s profiles and making connections. Comment on other people’s status. Ask or answer questions in forums. And generally get the lay of the land. Once you’re comfortable and it seems worthwhile consider adding another site to your list and participating there.

The key is to remember you aren’t there to sell, sell, sell. You’re there to build relationships and become known as an expert. Do a good job with this and clients and sales will come naturally.

Do have any other tips for easing into marketing your business using Social Media? If so I’d love it if you’d share by leaving a comment here…

Share and Enjoy:

Categories : Build Your Business, Social Media Marketing

Comments (0)

Is Online Marketing and Social Networking All You Need to Grow Your Business?

Posted by: Stacy Karacostas | Comments (8)

Thursday, July 15th, 2010

Lately, it seems like every client I talk to wants to put all their marketing eggs in the online basket. While it’s true the Internet offers entrepreneurs a ton of low-cost ways to reach thousands of prospects—and pretty much any business can benefit from using it right—it’s not the be all end all when it comes to growing your business.

In fact, there are plenty of low-cost, highly-effective marketing options out there that aren’t Internet based. While some might consider them old-school, don’t be fooled into thinking they’re passé.

I’ve found the best way to market any business is by using a combination of online and offline tactics. So today I’m going to share a few of my favorite old-school offline tactics as well as how you can combine them with new-school online techniques to catapult results through the roof.

1) The lowly, oft-maligned phone call.
Old-school: Hop on the phone and follow up with past clients or customers. Not only will they appreciate and remember the follow-up, but they may even decide to hire you—or buy from you—again on the spot.

New school: Call people who purchase your product online to follow-up and make sure they don’t have any questions. Or, use an email marketing campaign to promote a new event, then set up telephone Strategy Sessions to see if they’re a good fit. You can even take credit cards right then and there and process them online using PayPal or another provider.

2) Good old direct mail.
Old school: Send out a postcard or sales letter campaign promoting a product, service or event and ask them to call for more info or to buy or register.

New school: Send out a postcard or sales letter promoting a product, service or event that asks them to visit a Webpage for more info or to take action. Or, even better, send out a mailing promoting a freebie they can download from your Website, then follow up with them using an email autoresponder campaign.

3) The venerable print newsletter.
Old school: A printed newsletter—whether it’s an oversized postcard, a single sheet, or a multi-pager—is still a highly effective way to keep your name in front of prospects and clients while reinforcing how helpful you are. The beauty of it is that it doesn’t end up in anyone’s spam folder or already overfull Inbox. So it tends to get noticed and read. Plus, you don’t need people to give you permission to mail it like you do with email newsletters and ezines.

New school: Use articles you write for your ezine or blog as content for your print newsletter so you don’t have to recreate that wheel. And include a URL to send people to your Website or blog from your newsletter so they can access even more terrific articles from you—and ideally sign up for ezine.

4) Your basic business card.
Old school: Create business cards with your business name, logo, and your contact info. Then hand them out to everyone you meet. To get more marketing oomph out of your business card, be sure to use the back. You can list your services, include a helpful tip, or anything else that fits and promotes your business.

New school: In addition to the usual info, include your social networking info so prospects can find and connect with you on Twitter, Facebook etc. And take it one step further on the back of your card by promoting a free download and the Web address where they can get it. Then collect their name and email online in exchange, and keep following up via email.

5) Traditional networking.
Old school: Live, in-person networking is still a great way to grow a business, test new promotions, product and services and hone your pitch. Just remember that it all about building relationships and helping others first, and selling your stuff second (just like social networking online, really).

New School: Use this as an opportunity to grow your email list by offering your helpful freebie. Just have interested prospects give you their business card with a star drawn on it, then you can add them to your list when you get back to the office.

Got thoughts on this? Or other ideas on how to combine old school and new school marketing results for better results? I’d love to hear ‘em! Please do leave a comment…

Share and Enjoy: