Archive for linkedin

I challenge you! Make Social Media Resolutions and stick with them.

By Lissa Duty

Tuesday, January 1st, 2013

Are you making the RIGHT Resolutions? Similar to making a New Years Resolution, I challenge you to make a Social Media Resolution. As small business owners, we need to make a committment to use social media effectively and follow through with it. I promise if you commit to updating your social media sites, i.e. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest regularly you will start seeing results with expanding your online brand, client base and bottom line.

* This post was published prior, but is still relevant, important and valid for increasing your online presence. So read it! Act on the suggested resolutions and let me hear about your successes online!

As many of you know Wednesday was Social Media Day as declared by Mashable, even though I was tied up in meetings most of the day, I felt torn, because I wanted to be online reading all the great Social Media Day content. I did get to catch up on a little reading the past few days and some if it made me do some thinking and evaluation.

As a social media marketing strategist, often times I am so busy working on my clients’ accounts and teaching others how to leverage Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter that I end up neglecting my own business.

I decided like to make a Social Media Day Resolution. We make New Years Day Resolutions, so why not Social Media Day Resolutions. My resolution is relating to one key piece of social media that is essential in growing your brand.

My resolution is to keep my website current. I will do this by adding important events that I am participating in and blogging, which as you know is essential for driving website traffic and SEO. I have a tendency to know I need to do things on my website, but keep putting them on the bottom of the priority list.

If you don’t have a top notch quality website and updated blog you are missing a key part of social media. The whole purpose of using social networking sites for marketing is to drive traffic to your website. The more your network will learn about you and your services the more they will hire and recommend you to others.

Here are a few suggested resolutions for you to consider:

Blog WEEKLY. If you know you need to blog and either don’t have the time or desire you hire a ghost blogger. A lot of VAs offer ghost blogging services. I even do ghost blogging for some clients, depending on their product and services. More on blogging…Have you read Why Blog and What to Blog about?
Be ACTIVE on social media. Don’t just do your obligatory Status Update, daily or weekly, whatever standard you have set for yourself. Realize that making one status update per week on social media is almost pointless for you. Your connections need to see you name in front of them repeatedly and it needs to be in front of them sharing great content and having conversation. Not pushing your product or services constantly.
Grow your NETWORK. I just love when I am chatting with someone about social media and they tell me “I Tweet or use Facebook for marketing my business”. Being a social media strategist, I’ll immediately go to Twitter and see when their last Tweet was and how many people are following them. Sorry to say this, but you can Tweet all day long, but if you only have 200 people following you and they are following 2000 the odds that your Tweets are getting seen is not likely. You need to make new connections daily to get the word about you and your brand on social media.
Let your CONNECTIONS know you on different levels. Take your online connections to other social media platforms, so they can learn about you in different ways, i.e. when you connect with someone on Twitter and you really find them interesting and you would like to be connected with them for another reason (potential client or referral source for you) invite them to be your friend on Facebook. They will get to know you on a more personal level and then you can even follow up with them via a phone conversation or Skype video chat perhaps.
FOLLOW up. How many times have you made an important contact in person or online and never found the time to seal the deal. Make sure you follow up with all commitments and request you have made online. Your online reputation is important and a key part of getting recommended or them contacting you for your services is to follow up. Make sure that you set aside time, at least every few days to complete these tasks you committed to doing.

Now that I have told you what my Social Media Resolution is and gave you some ideas for ones you should consider I ask you the following:

Let me know if you see something on my website that you feel I should add or do definitely.
Comment on this post with topics you would like to read a blog about. (I really like writing, but I don’t like my blog posts to be the same-o-same-o, like many other people in social media. Sometimes I feel like I am reading the same blog written in 10 different ways.
Tell me your Social Media Resolutions, so I can help hold you accountable, as I need you to hold me accountable.
Share your additional resolutions ideas you think should be on this list, so when others read the comments they’ll get your great suggestions also.

Here goes my shameless self promotion: If you need to learn more about how to leverage Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter to grow you network you can schedule a social media coaching session with me. If you don’t have the time and enthusiasm for maintaining your social networking sites, but realize it’s essential to growing your brand I can help you. I actually provide this service for my clients.

Thanks for visiting my blog! Look forward to next time!

Categories : Social Media

The New Facebook Timeline … Four Ways to Improve Your Facebook Page Right NOW

By Lissa Duty

Thursday, March 15th, 2012

Does your Facebook Page need a little zip? Chances are it could be a little peppier.

I know how it is, you are busy busy working away and don’t always have time to make some changes. Well here are some great tips to make some little tweaks that can give you big results.

Use Your Apps Wisely

With the new Timeline you have 12 apps available to showcase but only the first 4 show on the first line. One of those Apps has to be the Photos App. Take a look at what EasyLunchBoxes has done with their Apps! Fantastic!

Powerful stuff to make you stand out from the crowd. Also make sure you have your website address in the About section. The About section is now very prominent on your Timeline and can have a call to action in it (unlike the Cover photo which can’t have a call to action)

These custom images for Apps are easy to add (just click the down arrow to show all your Apps, click on the pencil in the upper right corner of the App, then click Edit Settings – you’ll see the place where you can add the image) Designing these App images doesn’t have to be hard either. Use a tool like Paint, or Photoshop if you are handy with those. Even take a look at how I created my Cover photo using PowerPoint in this tutorial: https://andreavahl.com/facebook/hot-tips-on-facebook-timeline-for-pages.php

Or, if you are working with a graphics designer, use their services to have a cohesive branded look across your website and other social media sites. But don’t let budget stop you from getting a new graphics. There are designers that do a decent job on www.fiverr.com for just $5! Such a deal.

Highlight Posts

Use your new Timeline to tell your Story. Now that Timelines are here, use this valuable real estate to showcase good things that have happened or products that you want to draw attention to. All you need to do is click on the little star in the upper right corner and the post will be bigger.

Talk to Other Pages

If you are having some trouble getting engagement on your Page, go out and talk to other Pages as your Page. Be social, people! All you need to do is Like their Page as your Page, then watch your Page News Feed and comment. See how social Professional Carpet Systems is? Very nice! And it only takes a few minutes a day to connect.

Post More

Are you just posting once a day? Once a week? Well I have some news for you, more is better. Studies have shown that posting 2-5 times a day is ideal. But it may depend on your audience. You need to vary your posts to appeal to different segments of your market. Some people like videos, some like photos, others want links to articles. Now it sounds like a lot of work, but it really doesn’t have to be bad. Remember those other Pages you Liked as your Page? Share some of their posts. Don’t be stingy. Spread the love.

Find articles on Twitter or post some of your best blog posts from time to time. It’s ok that some people have seen those posts. If it’s evergreen content it’s still relevant! Have an editorial calendar so that you know what you are posting when. Post a question or something fun and random. Mix it up. You will be surprised with your results. More engagement, more Likes, and more fun!

If you want to take your Facebook Page to the next level and use it to get leads for your business, you might be interested in my new product How to Use Facebook to Get Leads for Your Business.

Special thanks to Grandma Mary for this guest post contribution! (The 2nd guest blogger I have had on my blog – I’m flattered and honored to have made such great connections and Twitter friends. As I say and teach “Ask for what you want – all they can say is NO!” This thinking has paid off for me over and over again. This is absolutely one of those times. ~ Lissa

Grandma Mary is a slightly cranky Social Media Edutainer, helping small businesses leverage the power of social media. She provides entertaining how-to videos on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn and more. Her alter ego, Andrea Vahl, is the co-author of Facebook Marketing All-in-One for Dummies. You can find Grandma and Andrea at www.AndreaVahl.com.

Categories : Facebook

Tags : Andrea Vahl, facebook, Facebook Page, Grandma Mary, linkedin, Social Media, Social Media Strategist, twitter, Ways to Improve Facebook

Have you taken the Social Media LEAP?

By Lissa Duty

Wednesday, February 29th, 2012

Have you taken the Social Media LEAP? Taking a LEAP is sometimes what using social media is all about.

Are you LEAPING today? Have you taken the big LEAP? What’s LEAPING for you? What is the big LEAPING deal? I can sit around all day thinking of LEAPING puns (ahhh! There was another one!), but what would be the good in that? Waste of time perhaps …. Wrong… you need to be different … stand out from everyone else ONLINE!

Taking a LEAP, otherwise referred to as being creative, entrepreneurial, inventive, etc… with WHAT you say and HOW you say it, is exactly what you need to be remembered by your prospective clients and current clients ONLINE and OFF!

Using Social Media when you first start out is about taking a LEAP of faith. There is so much out there about ROI – Return on Investment. Let’s call it Return on Influence for the sake of this blog post!

I tell all prospective clients your ROI is going to be new friends, followers, connections initially when using social media. There are not any promises or golden ticket to success as some social media professionals promise. Social media is about branding yourself ONLINE. (I am not going to go into this topic more at this time – been there, done that! Read it here. )

Before I go forward on LEAPING Social Media, I must mention the importance it is to have your ONLINE and OFFLINE presence in sync from your logo, your business card to your website design and layout. The image you present to your customers needs to say Who You Are and Give them a Message that will help them to remember you! See my friend Robin’s blog post – 7 Marketing Tips for Leaping into your Customers Hearts and Minds for more on this important part of branding yourself and your business.

The questions I get most often from someone using or considering use social media are:

Where should I be? i.e. Should I be on all the social networking websites
What do I post?
Why would someone want to Follow, Subscribe, Friend, Like or Connect with me?
How can I do it easiest?
When should I post?

I am going to give you the quick self promoting answer first! Yep! I am getting straight to it – Hire me – I do social media coaching and I will answer all these questions and more in a private training hands-on!

Now for the long answer, that I will try and make not to confusing!

1. Where should I be? — What social networking sites do your customers use most often? That is where I would start out. I can’t answer this for you as I don’t know your product/service.

2. What do I post? Content that would interest your ideal client (usually that means it interests you also). Use Alltop.com as a resource to find content that would interest your audience.

3. Why would someone want to Follow, Subscribe, Friend, Like or Connect with me? Because people are hesitant to say right off they are interested in your services/products. They are concerned you’ll try and sell to them. They want to get to know you, your products and services before they put themselves out there with the “I am in interested in knowing more commitment.”

4. How can I do it easiest? First, I must say here “You only get out of social media what you put in to it, the less you put, the less you get”. With that being said, using a social media tool such as Hootsuite or Tweetdeck to update your Facebook Profile, Facebook Page, LinkedIn and Twitter is the easiest method. (This blog post links you to social media tool reviews for doing this easier.)

I actually recommend in my social media coaching sessions, that you do a little of both. You definitely want to use a social media tool to monitor Twitter all the time, but because Facebook groups updates from other 3^rd party tools together during high volume times, I recommend you post directly on Facebook when you can from your computer or Smartphone with the Facebook App. LinkedIn doesn’t do this grouping yet, but I just think it looks better for people to see you care enough about LinkedIn to actually log in and post a physical update now and again. Using Hootsuite to post in your LinkedIn groups is just awesome and easy! Ask my dear friend, Ana, if you don’t believe me. She loves it.

5. When should I post? That is always a difficult question to answer quickly. It depends on who your audience is and when are online. With Facebook I post at random times and see which posts gets more comments/likes and interactions. With Twitter the best time is usually between 10 am EST and 12 pm EST from my experience. There are 3^rd party tools you can purchase to optimize this for you. I recommend checking out the free ones first – Tweriod is a Twitter tool and Buffer is another tool you can use to do this analyzing for Twitter, Facebook and more.

Now that I have given you the Where, What, Why, How and When to get you moving forward successfully I am going to close with some advice I gave in a blog post – Is your Social Media in the RED or the BLACK? I published almost two years ago!

Learn the best way!
Increase your followers/friends/connections!
Stop with the obligatory updates!
Share tips, content and resources!
Ask for help!

It has stuck with me, but perhaps that is because it spells my name L – I – S – S – A! LOL!

It’s your turn … Let me know what you are going to do on this LEAPING day, tomorrow and every other day to keep you LEAPING forward for social media success!

Categories : Social Media

Tags : facebook, Hootsuite, linkedin, Marketing Tips, Social Media, social media coaching, Social Media LEAP, Social Media Questions, Social Media Success, social networking, Social Networking Sites, Tweetdeck, twitter

Do You Love Yourself Enough?

By Lissa Duty

Tuesday, February 14th, 2012

How do you love yourself? Do you give yourself permission to seek training, education and resources to expand your knowledge base and online presence?

As a social media coach that has trained privately and in groups’ adults since 2009 on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, I’ve been told over and over how the style of my social media coaching, the patience and focus I extend to the participant during the training pays off in dividends. Unfortunately, many have spent countless hours in time, and often financial investment before they ask for help! Are you one of these individuals / small business owners?

So many adults in today’s world know they need to be online, but don’t give themselves a chance to learn before diving in full force. You wouldn’t jump in a lake without swimming lessons would you? What about skiing? Lessons for that too … right!

Often times, you dive in unprepared and become overwhelmed, discouraged and intimidated. You spend day after day using social networking sites, getting limited or no results and all they are getting is nowhere fast!

This is where loving yourself comes into play! You need to give yourself permission to not be perfect in everything. You worry about what other professionals think if you don’t have all the answers, so they don’t seek out the training, education, information and ask questions to help you succeed online.

You can’t be all things at all times – at least not without some training to get you started. Perhaps the investment isn’t monetary. It’s an investment of your time.

Reading blog posts is a great way to learn more about the power of social media. I recommend Social Media Examiner, Social Media Today, Windmill Networking and of course my own blog, LissaDuty.com, to get you started. There are countless other ones out there that I love and read.
Google – use Google and search out your questions! Seriously, I use Google all the time and ask it questions like “HTML Code to change Link Color”. Google will come back with tons of references that I can review on how to complete this action.
Follow Other Social Media Influencers and see what they are doing online. I have to add here, realistically, you are not going to be one of these influencers anytime soon, just follow them and learn. You will get ideas to incorporate into your social media strategy.
Seek out a Social Media Coach. This is where I come into play. I teach individuals and small business owners step by step hands-on how to use and understand these social networking sites. The 1^st part of each one of my trainings focuses on understanding what each aspect, link, word, etc. means to the individual / small business owner. To effectively use a social networking site, you need to understand what everything means and does – no assumptions! The 2^nd piece of that is teaching them how to use the site for their purpose.

So do you LOVE YOURSELF enough to INVEST in yourself?

If you need some social media coaching and have decided to invest in yourself I can help you.

Your turn …. What steps are you taking / have taken in your business and online to expand your knowledge. What kind of training have you taken?

PS. Those that follow my blog know that stuff that happens in my day to day life is my inspiration … a friend (a guy – not a date, but kinda, maybe a date – if that’s possible) cancelled on me for tonight – Valentine’s Day of all days! He had a last minute business trip – duty calls – I guess! I must thank him since he inspired this blog post – he’ll remain anonymous at this point. I knew I wanted to write a Valentine’s Day post, but wasn’t quite sure how to spin it. When he cancelled – I loved myself enough to tell him “Ok. Be safe” and move on. I didn’t spout off any tacky comments to guilt him. (Notice, I didn’t say I didn’t think any tacky comments! I came up with a few! LOL!) Hence, the title of this post, “Do You Love Yourself Enough”!

Categories : Business

Tags : do you love yourself enough, facebook, linkedin, love yourself, Social Media, social media coach, social media coaching, social media training, twitter

Honoring the Women in My Life …. International Women’s Day

By Lissa Duty

Tuesday, March 8th, 2011

Today is International Women’s Day … I thought I would honor some women that made a difference in my life. I am going to name a few that have affected me from my younger years and then move into the current.

Mary Gregory, mom. My mother taught me at the age of 2 years old that you can have a business, be a successful women and a mom. She raised 5 children by herself, while building and running a successful marketing business after my father left her and 5 children alone with no child support. Believe it or not, she could be yelling at us one minute and having a professional phone conversation the next. (It’s always been a family joke – we all learned how to cry in one breath and answer the phone professionally the next. In other words, turn on our emotions and turn them right back off.)

Jimi Bratt, (@jimibratt) sister. She taught me that if I asked just right I could get whatever I wanted from mom. (She did after all have her own Dillard’s credit card, when we were growing up.) Later this translated into learning to ask for what I want and working until I got it.

Dr. Helen Harkness (@careerdesign), first real job (besides mom and the pizza phone girl). . She took me under her wing and taught me how to communicate with successful professionals in career turmoil, write resumes and score career assessments among a few things. She challenged me to learn new things in technology (because she sure wasn’t going to do it). My job was everything at the age of 18 from answering the phone, doing the dishes to taking out the trash. I learned no job is too small or insignificant. The most important thing I learned from her is to never stop, don’t cut yourself short and be passionate in whatever you do. I still work with Dr. Harkness virtually. She is a woman of passion and purpose. You all should know her.

Stephanie Cross (@stephaniec2c), 1st social media job. Special thanks to Stephanie for responding so quickly to my email that day in April of 2009. I emailed her and said “I am a quick learner and love social media. If you ever need some part time help let me know.” I got an email back the same day that said “yes” and pretty much you’re hired. We had a conference call about her client’s projects, emailed everything I needed to know about the clients and I set up three social media campaigns and started managing them for her. She took a chance on me and I appreciate her confidence in my skills. Without her I wouldn’t have started my own business, LissaDuty.com in September of 2009.

Ana Lucia Novak (@AnaLuciaNovak), online connection, social media strategic partner and friend. I connected with Ana online when she was managing a social media campaign of a former client I was contracted work with while at another social media company. I sent Ana some content to use for the client and got a message back “Please call me.” We became fast friends and started sharing social media strategy. Ana has a wealth of knowledge, information and resources. She shares it abundantly with all that will listen. Ana and I have become strategic partners on many adventures and I can’t wait to travel to San Francisco to meet her in person.

Natalie MacNeil (@nataliemacneil), connection to someone with online clout. One day while surfing the web for blog posts about Twitter, I came across a blog post “30 Women Entrepreneurs to Follow on Twitter” on Forbes.com, written by Natalie. I immediately followed everyone on the blog post and Natalie. If I hadn’t found that blog post I wouldn’t have meet Shelly Kramer, Vicki Flaugher(@SmartWoman) or Coree Silvera (@MarketLikeAChik) to name a few. I learned from Natalie, who I consider a close friend, that I can reach out to those, even out of my circle of immediate influence and become their friend online by being myself. Natalie is a kind, generous person and I am definitely better for knowing her. Do check out her blog, She Takes on The World. I read it daily and recommend you do too.

Patty Farmer (@pattyfarmer), an online connection that I took offline. When I decided to start my virtual assistant and social media marketing business I started growing my connections on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. I connected with Patty Farmer on Facebook, then Twitter. We immediately started chatting back and forth. I registered to attend a Twitter meetup Group and Patty sent me a message that she was going to be there also. If she hadn’t sent me that message I might not have joined BizLink Networking (Hot Pink Mamas & Red Hot Papas) and wouldn’t have meet the next person in this blog post. Patty has coached me on marketing through numerous conversations via phone and in person how to brand myself offline, which definitely plays into my online marketing also.

Michelle Ketterman (@expertinventory). I don’t even know where to start with this woman. She is a jack of all trades kinda of gal. She encouraged me, built up my ego and gave me the confidence to continue moving forward with my social media business when business was slow, draining on my marriage and then going through a divorce. Michelle’s has a true passion for helping people succeed in whatever they do. Thanks Michelle for helping me to remember my value, when I didn’t.

Robin Moss, (@robinatribit) professional and personal friend. I met Robin at the DFW Social Media Marketing Meetup and we immediately started talking about Twitter. At that time Robin’s online presence was there, but not as established as it could be. We connected and she actually hired me to do some Twitter training with her. She knew what to do, but just needed someone to stay on her about doing it. She took my advice and her marketing experience and has grown her online Twitter presence from 400 following her to over 2400. Robin also taught me not to barter my services. She said “someone always gets the short end of the stick”. That is still my motto today. Thanks, Robin! (Also, a special thanks to Robin for listening to me talk about my failing marriage on and on for hours.)

Victoria Warner (@victoriawarner), attorney. I connected with Victoria actually during a social media presentation I was giving on the “Not So Secrets ‘Secrets’ to Social Media Marketing”at Dr. Harkness’s office. Victoria is a great attorney and has helped me through all aspects of my divorce. I am so thankful when I sent her that Facebook message at 6:00 am on a Monday morning that said “Call me ASAP. I need a divorce” the phone rang a few minutes later. I still remember the look on my ex’s face when he said “You already have an attorney?”, when I hung up the phone from Victoria. It was priceless and gives me a great laugh today.

Shelly Kramer (@shellykramer), online friend. Shelly is another friend with clout. She doesn’t act that way though. Her ego is small and her generosity big. She is honest and sincere in everything online, rather it’s to her benefit or not. She states her opinion and is never afraid to do so. Shelly, thank you for reminding me to be authentic and genuine online on a daily basis.

Erika Napoletano (@redheadwriting), online friend. This woman has a passion for honesty and tells it exactly like it is every time, no holds barred. She writes exactly as she thinks it, profanity and all. You will actually get a B**** slap or two from her on a weekly basis. She writes with passion and reminds all of us that we need to be authentic and if not, she will call you on it via a blog post. Erika’s writing on her blog, Red Head Writing is Rated R usually, but still quite worth the read.

Friends, as you can see these are just a few women and the stories how they have inspired me and continue to on a daily basis. I could go on and on with names of women and the stories, but I only allow myself so many words for each blog post and I have already went way over.

Please share below a story of a woman and how they inspired you! Don’t forget their social media links and yours!

Categories : Branding

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