Pinterest for resources and content

Have you tried out Pinterest  for your business or brand?

Do you struggle to find content?

First I would suggest setting up a blog for your business. A blog (try http://www.blogger.com/home) will help you drive content from your website to and from all your other social media sites. Blogging you will help drive traffic and it will help raise awareness of your business products or services.

My suggestion is to blog at least once a fortnight; but a lot of people choose to blog weekly or daily.

So now that you have set up a blog; you will need to find content which is aimed at raising knowledge and awareness of your business/brand's products and services.

So this is where Pinterest comes in handy. Search Pinterest for content ideas (by using keywords) If you don't know what keywords are applicable for your business; think of your products and services and then use keywords which will help individuals find your products and services. 

Here is some information about keywords if you have never used keywords before - http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2277087/How-to-Make-Your-Keywords-Fit-Your-Marketing-Messaging

Now most businesses should be creating their own unique content to drive their business. In other words; you want people to find YOUR business so here is a way to start creating your OWN content - http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/developing-a-strategy/

Social Media has become very visual so you can design your own content to share on your social media sites. 

Some great content tools or ideas are:

 - tips
 - infographics
 - images with quotes
 - information about your products or services
 - facts
 - tools
 - slideshares
 - images of your products or services

 and 88 other ideas for content - http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2195076/88-Content-Creation-Ideas-for-Better-Business-Blog-Posts-Images-or-Videos 

But the best social media practice is to SHARE tools, resources, tips, infographics from other trusted resources and that is why you need to make use of Pinterest for business purposes.

Set up your own board (so a board about your OWN business/brand) and then set up other boards and start pinning and sharing.

Pinterest is a great site to find content an to help you find ideas for your OWN content.

Here are some ideas of how to use Pinterest for small business - http://www.forbes.com/sites/thesba/2013/06/07/how-to-use-pinterest-for-small-business/

Make use of the search tool in Pinterest and look at the popular pins to see what content people like and why. 

Start using Pinterest for YOUR business and make sure that you pin your OWN content and SHARE content as well. The content ideas you use (or find or create) on Pinterest can be used on your Blog, Twitter, Facebook, Google + as well - just make sure that ALL the content you use (and share) links back to the original source.

Here is a Pinterest tutorial - http://www.theyummylife.com/Pinterest_tips and now start searching, sharing and Pinning!

source: http://www.theyummylife.com/Pinterest_tips

25 Ways To Increase Fans and Followers on Social Media

There are a number of options you can take to increase fans/followers.

A lot of people place emphasis on having a large amount of fans and followers on each account. While having a huge amount of followers and fans does indeed attract other fans and followers - there has been talk about how many people you actually reach and whether you are actually engaging with all your fans and followers.

Ask yourself; how are brands/businesses reaching their fans and followers? Are they good at their business? Are they making sales? Do their fans/followers like their products and services? What other marketing/advertising do they do? What are people saying about a business/brand online? Is it really just about numbers?

You have to consider reach, loyalty, ROI, customer service, sales, advertising and whether posts/links are read and how each brand/business is viewed publicly.

Facts about businesses are very hard to determine by judging the amount of fans and followers that an account has on the basis of numbers alone.

A lot of people will tell you to buy fans and followers and I would advise you not to. If you do buy fans and followers, it is highly unlikely that these bought fans/followers will share your content, comment on your content or really communicate with your brand.

Try these tips to increase your fan base on each account  organically:

1. Content is the most important tool to naturally increase your fans or followers. Consider your target market, know your brand or at least the personality of your brand. Share your own business content yet be social on social media! Read, comment on, share, respond to, like, link to and recommend other content from elsewhere (after you have carefully checked the sources) Having great, valuable content is the best way to gain fans and followers!

2.  http://www.masteringsocialbusiness.com/2012/05/07/how-to-get-more-followers-today/ - this podcast  discusses ways to naturally increase followers/fans on a number of social media platforms

3. List your business/brand in free business directories

4. List your Twitter account in Twitter directories

5. Join groups on LinkedIn

6. Participate in hangouts on Google+

7.  7 more steps/ways to gain more fans organically - http://socialmediatoday.com/lauren-parajon/473583/7-steps-gain-more-fans-and-followers-organically

8. Be more interactive on Twitter –  have conversations with others and pretend you are at a networking function. Talk about other subject matters, join in conversations, answer questions, share resources and if you like you can even host Twitter chats or pose questions to followers (if you do decide to ReTweet content or people – please check their bio/profile and the link before you share anything!)

9 . Join Twitter chats

10. On Pinterest, you can like, comment on and repin (after checking the source!) other people’s content

11. On Instagram you can like and comment on other people's images (this applies to other photo sharing sites as well)

 12. On Facebook you can share other business page content on your page; if it is appropriate and in line with your brand

13. Some advice for Twitter - http://iccmarketing.com/blog/how-to-get-more-twitter-followers-the-right-way/#.UCCtU6OpaVo

14. Decide if you want to have a competition or giveaway to organically attract more Facebook fans – you have to use a third party app for this - https://www.facebook.com/notes/social-media-nz/no-likes-allowed-facebooks-competition-rules-that-no-one-seems-to-know-about/200378816641665

15. Email marketing – perhaps consider a monthly or quarterly email; make use of social share buttons and inform readers of each account they can find you on and connect with you on.

16. If you have a business blog; you can connect with other Bloggers in your industry by commenting on and even linking to other peoples' blog post/s. Set up a link list of blogs and build a community of like minded or like industry Bloggers.

17. Bloggers have blogging communities, events, meetups, blog meetings and even seminars/conferences throughout the year. Consider connecting with other bloggers and attending events.

18. Consider Facebook adverts https://www.facebook.com/advertising to either advertise a product or your business

19. Consider Google adverts https://accounts.google.com/

20. Consider print advertising as well

21. Participate in industry events. Consider speaking at industry events. Consider holding an event of your own. If you are able to; you might even consider hosting/sponsoring an event - this will certainly drive traffic to your website and awareness of your brand

22. Attend networking events and meet people! Hand out your business card and chat about your business/brand. As you are well aware; at industry networking events you will meet with at least 1-5 other people, swap cards and talk about other things! Events are a great way to meet people - after all social media is really about PEOPLE.

23. In order to gain fans and followers; it really is about using your accounts every day, finding, sharing and providing great content, updating daily, blogging regularly and reading about/ researching your industry.

24. It takes time to build up fans and followers. Try spending at least 5-10 minutes a day on each social media platform you use, reading, liking, sharing, commenting on other people's content. This will probably increase your knowledge of happenings in your industry and will inspire your own content.

25.  Remember also to monitor all your accounts (daily!) and read everything you can to stay on top of trends, changes and happenings in your own industry. 

I believe that social media is really about 3 things:

1) content (your own as well as other content) 

2) connecting and engaging with people
3) people

source: http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/23621/4-Ways-to-Use-Email-to-Increase-Followers-and-Expand-Social-Media-Reach.aspx

15 Ways to Use Pinterest for Business

As a social media trainer; I am using Pinterest to find and share valuable tips, tools and resources so I’ll probably be a bit more formal than most people.

I think the whole point of Pinterest is visual, whether it’s ideas, products, images, resources or blog posts. I use Pinterest for ideas for my own blog posts and updates so I use Pinterest to share content (repin, comment on and like) 

Pinterest can work really well for small businesses, bloggers, designers, retail outlets, cafes, shops as well as for people who want resources, images, decor ideas, food tips, health tips, inspirational quotes/content and as a platform to share anything you love whether it is for business purposes or for your own personal inspiration.

So Here are 15 Ways to Use Pinterest for Business:

1) Set up a few boards - click on the add button then Create a Board

2) Give each board a name which relates to each board and easy to find in search; so if it’s Social Media Humour or Social Media Tips or Places I Love or whatever. Then describe each board and place a relevant link in the description (remember it cannot hyperlink and you cannot view this content on mobiles but it helps to have a clear description especially if it is a board promoting your business/brand)

3) Choose a board (or however many make sense for your business/brand) where you can pop content to link back to your site, articles, portfolio, blog, Facebook,Twitter etc – using images and direct links to the content itself. This is how you can drive traffic to and from each platform. Use each pin to describe whatever the content is.
On the board itself use different pictures and keep uploading content – e.g. you can also add a Facebook image to direct people to your page by using a direct link with image like this one http://pinterest.com/pin/76631631129967721/

4)  Use other boards which are not business/brand related because Pinterest is essentially about sharing pins/repinning other users content/inspiring interest.
If it’s only/all about you it doesn’t make sense from a social media marketing point of view ( this also applies to Tweets on Twitter, Facebook updates, Instagram photos but your blog can be essentially only about you/your brand)

5)  Pin whatever you like in the boards, either by clicking on other pins and repining or finding your own pins to pin. (Use the add feature to add a pin (a link) or to upload a picture)  Ensure that each board makes sense to other people and can be easily found in the search bar. I think that’s why so many of the boards have got such basic names.

6) Check the images and links - that the content in question does in fact link to the relevant source as described; before you repin. This will help when others repin your content; by clicking on the image, users find a direct link to the picture and the original source (there are plenty of spammers online setting up fake/malware links)
Avoid repining anything until you have checked the content.

7) If I like the image and the link is wrong (or does not go to an external page with a direct image/link); I repin the image, then I find the original source, edit the link (add the correct link) to help drive users to the correct source. This means you are directing other users to the right links.

8) If you upload a picture (by clicking add), pin it and then click edit to insert the link; don’t leave the image without an external link directly to the image and content itself. People are learning to only pin/repin after checking and finding the proper links and sources. It also means that if you use links for blog posts, updates or Tweets  - it will be easier to cite the original source.

9) Comment and like on other pins as well as repin pins (after checking sources) onto your boards - this is the way to build trust and build a community of followers who will repin your pins.

10) Describe content and links you upload or pin in the description section. Keep the information short and concise (about a sentence or two)

11) I use my business logo when sharing content without relevant images; to promote my Twitter account and when I want to promote some blog posts without images – perhaps you can choose some images to do the same

12) Check how everything looks on a mobile (it helps because I think Australians are avid mobile users)

13) If a board gets too full; start other boards (and make them sub - boards as I have done with Social Media Love) and then divided boards up into sub-boards such as Facebook, Twitter etc. I didn't want to have a single board with great content/info so chose to divide up my boards to assist other users with repinning relevant content.

14) And pin whenever you like! Make it fun, interesting, inspiring, unusual, personal, educational, funny … it’s really addictive.

15) Have a look at http://pinterest.com/fatmumslim/ or George Takei http://pinterest.com/georgetakei/ to see how Pinterest can be used to create a community.

I use Pinterest for training purposes and to drive links to my Facebook, blog and Twitter accounts.

If you want to use Pinterest for business; download this free eBook from Hubspot called How to Use Pinterest for Business - http://www.hubspot.com/how-to-use-pinterest-for-business/

If you are curious about Pinterest; here are some links that will help you with using this platform for pleasure or business:

1) 8 Rules of Pinterest Etiquette - http://www.flowtown.com/blog/8-rules-of-pinterest-etiquette

2) The Copyright Question: How to Protect Yourself on Pinterest - http://mashable.com/2012/03/21/pinterest-copyright-legal-issues/

3) How to Use Pinterest for Marketing - Infographic http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/33272/A-Simple-Cheat-Sheet-for-Using-Pinterest-for-Marketing-Infographic.aspx 

4) And a Pinterest 101 Tutorial from GFC LernFree.org - http://www.gcflearnfree.org/pinterest101

If you have any questions about Pinterest and how to use Pinterest for marketing purposes; please contact me ebbyeryan@gmail.com

source: http://www.j6design.com.au/ClientArea/MakePinterestworkforyourbusiness.aspx

Social Media Tips

Lisa Galarneau who is a social media anthropologist and did research for Microsoft; explains what she has discovered about social media, this may be helpful for you - http://www.jeffbullas.com/2012/06/05/10-social-media-secrets-from-the-social-scientist/

She is fascinating - have a look at her site - you never know what you may learn from her! http://lgalarneau.webs.com/

Although she discusses sharing and engaging; she uses her Twitter accounts to ReTweet information while I still emphasise that you try build a community on every platform you use.

I understand that most of you use social media to promote your own business, have a look at your content, mix up content a bit more and start engaging with other people ( Use the search feature on each site to find relevant content, valuable information and even people/businesses to follow)

Twitter can be the most useful tool/platform for sharing and exchanging information; I highly encourage you to mix up your content (quotes, resources, your own info, other info, info which relates to your brand/content, images, videos, interesting posts, responding to other people, answering people etc)

I recommend Tweeting at least 1-5 times a day (although you can Tweet up to 250 times a day!) and when there is an event, festival or function which is related to your business/brand - you might find you are Tweeting more on some days and less on others.

Mix up your Facebook content (resources, news, images, videos, your own content, your own services/products, images, quotes and even ask your fans questions/respond to them) - communicate with your fans.

I recommend a Facebook update once a day in the mornings between 9am - 11:30am EST

Try to mix up content on a ratio of 10:1 (for both Twitter and Facebook)

 - 10 interesting, informative, fun, entertaining, educational, inspiring, motivational, links, images, videos, tips, tools, guides, how tos, other resources updates

to 1 brand/business, product, blog post, service, launch,  announcement, event or any other information about your business/brand update

If you need help with Pinterest - let me know. Certainly have a board or a few business boards with your content/products/blog posts but set up a few other boards as well. Connect with others (in other words find, like and comment on other people's content/pins)

Instagram is fast becoming a great photo sharing opportunity for brands to reach their audience. If you are interested in Instagram - set up a business Instagram account with your own images but branch out a little and connect/like/comment on other people's content too. (You can find other content or hashtags via the search feature)

Your business blog is essentially for your business. However think about your audience too and ask if they will be interested in the post. Is it valuable, is there a link to purchase something, to attend something, have they all the information they need?

Is the information timely and relevant? How are people finding you, what tags and keywords are you using? What do they want and what are they searching for? Is the post title relevant? Are the images attractive and does the entire post grab their attention?

I recommend a blog post at least once a week on a Wednesday or Thursday morning between 9-12pm EST - and then pop the link with an introduction (An interesting, valuable introduction to give people a reason why they should be clicking to read) onto Facebook and Twitter.

Search Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook ,sites and blogs for inspiration for your own blog posts (or newsletters, marketing ideas, launches, announcements etc) Find relevant images and content and don't forget to cite the original source and link back to the original content!

Social Media is about building a community and being social and offering engagement/ a different relationship with your customers and clients. Have fun using social media as a PR and communications tool while having fun answering your fans/followers and engaging with people.

If you have any questions about content and how to use different platforms please ask! You can connect with me on Twitter | Facebook | email me on ebbyeryan@gmail.com or even just call 0408 478 224.

source: http://www.toprankblog.com/2012/05/5-business-blogging-tips/

Let's Talk about *Rules on Social Media

* Rules or Guidelines really

As you are probably aware; social media has taken over! 

In the past 10 years; most businesses have a Facebook page, a blog, a Twitter account as well as presences on Instgram, Pinterest, photo sharing sites, have listed their companies on LinkedIn, have designed tabs, have mobile Apps, are in social networks and have inserted  social share buttons on all their marketing collateral.

While I don't really like using the word Rules; I have noticed that some corporations have just jumped into social media without preparing a policy, or a content strategy or have not trained their employees on how to respond to people on social media or how to handle customer service enquiries (or fails).

I also believe that we all have to tick the box to agree to each site's terms and conditions; but some of the terms and conditions are often ignored and leave a company/business without access to their account or having to deal with issues on various social networks.

So here's a list of Guidelines I use to train my clients on how to use social media wisely:

1. Set up a social media policy - here are many examples - http://socialmediatoday.com/davefleet/151761/57-social-media-policy-examples-and-resources - use these to adjust a policy for your specific workplace

2. Discuss and set up social media guidelines for your employees - http://www.bluewiremedia.com.au/free-social-media-guidelines-template

3. Use a social media crisis plan and train your staff on how to handle a mishap - http://socialmediatoday.com/chrissyme/298509/five-social-media-must-haves-crisis

4. Decide why you are using social media in the first place - this will help with your strategy and your content - then set up a marketing/content strategy which suits your employees and workplace

5. Read each site's terms and conditions and adhere to their rules.

6. Choose your accounts - use the ones that your clients/customers/ industries are using such as Twitter, Facebook, a blog platform, Pinterest, Google+, YouTube but also look at using other sites such as photo sharing sites such as Pinterest, Flickr, Instgram  (Google for information about thousands of other sites you can use for your business)

7. Remember to start small! Each account has to be active and attended to (on a daily basis)

8. Who is going to be attending to each account? What is his/her responsibility?

9. The community manager (or person responsible) HAS to check each account at least twice a day (early mornings and evenings) to ensure that questions are answered, customer service enquiries have been attended to, inappropriate content (such as people posting pictures or spam comments) is removed AND ensure that you are engaging - i.e. thanking people for shares/ReTweets, liking a comment (on Facebook), sharing your pins, commenting or liking on Instagram or simply showing that you are present and listening to people.

10. Who makes executive decisions? If a manager/supervisor needs to confirm an action - a discussion has to take place around what to do if they are unavailable. You CANNOT leave something inappropriate on your social media account/s which could harm your brand.

11. Monitoring the account/s also has to take place over the weekends - who is responsible for weekend and after hours monitoring?

Now let's talk content:

1. Use your company site/blog to promote, share and spread user generated content directly from your brand.

2. Are you going to hire a copywriter or is there someone in-house who is prepared to write blog posts, updates, Tweets and source images, videos etc.?

3. Are you finding content from elsewhere and using it as inspiration? If yes, you HAVE to source links back to the original content.

4. Are you using images with your content (which is highly recommended)? Ensure that you link back to the original source or name the source (e.g source:CarrotCreative)

5. Prior to sharing any information online, check the link (on a laptop preferably to ensure that all the other content on the site itself is trustworthy)

6. Only share, link to and use links which are from trusted sources. Ensure that there is no inappropriate subject matter or adverts on the links you are sharing - generally when people click to open a link, they may view other content on the site - so check, check, check!

7. When ReTweeting information on Twitter - check the bio/profile, the Tweets, the name of the person whose links, quotes or information you're sharing with your followers BEFORE driving content. I cannot stress how vital it is to check, check, check! (The same goes for Pinterest AND Instagram)

8. Check that the sites/videos/images are secure and safe - I use Wot - http://www.mywot.com/ to check user ratings as well as Norton 360 and McAfee secure search for this purpose. 

9. Build trust with your followers/fans/peers when using, finding, promoting, sharing or driving content - the content you use is affiliated with your brand (So I repeat check, check, check!) The only way to build trust is by being active on social media accounts and building relationships with people.

10. Seek advice. Ask for help.
Enquire about training - this will benefit yourself, your brand and your employees. (We are all learning here, even me!)

And finally social media etiquette:

1. Google before you Tweet, post, blog or share. Check your resources and try to find the original source of any content you use - this will help you build trust with your peers.

2. Be nice - and if you can't than go for a walk, grab a cup of coffee, drink a glass of water - rather than responding inappropriately.

3. If you do not agree with something and you really want to Tweet, post or blog your viewpoint - think very carefully - is it necessary? Will it change anything? If you believe it will than disagree respectfully without launching a personal attack.

4. Be diplomatic. You don't have to agree with everything, like everything, choose to share everything - but build diplomatic relationships with others anyway.

5. Try not to constantly ask others to follow you, like you, ReTweet you, share your content - build a relationship and trust with your peers/fans/followers to build an organic sharing relationship instead (which takes time and effort)

6. Shout out, compliment, acknowledge good practices you see online and share people's pages, accounts and boards with others (if they provide value to you; they will provide value to your fans and followers as well!) - I am a huge fan of social good and this type of behaviour will make your day so much nicer!

7. Try not to constantly talk about your brand/business on your Facebook business page or Twitter account - use those sites to engage with others and exchange information. People love resources, tools, tips, case studies, guides etc. - share yours with them!

8. Use your business blog to inform, educate and talk about your business. Try to respond to comments and find other blogs in your industry to build relationship with other Bloggers. And attend a Blogging event (or any type of networking event) - they're fun and you will learn a lot!

9. Be kind. Answer queries, respond to comments, find answers and share information. When you see an opportunity to help someone else - take the chance!

10. Read everything you can; blog posts, news, updates, Tweets, case studies, surveys, white papers, eBooks, newsletters, manuals - the more you read - the more inspiration you will have to generate your own content.Here are some tips to finding content for your business - http://socialnetworkingandmarketing.blogspot.com.au/2013/07/content-content-content.html
11. Make use of visual content. Pinterest boards are a great way to access infographics, blog posts, tools and tips you can share across your social media profiles (just remember to check the links) and Instagram is also a great way to build a more personal connection with your clients (customers) - check EVERYTHING very carefully on Instagram.
12. Before you select a hashtag - check the hashtag carefully (by clicking on it and see where it leads) - make use of www.tagboard.com for hashtag search.

And lastly - Make your Own Path!

Because social media is global and embraces each unique individual; you can decide how you are going to use social media to represent yourself/your brand. You can be formal, chatty, a curator of information, a helpful sharer, a promoter of social media good, a brilliant sales person, a quiet observer, an industrious entrepreneur - there is no better set of tools to finding your own path as long as you are learning and having a bit of fun along the way.

 “Be authentic and organic. It can’t be forced or it won’t work. And most importantly, have fun.” - Richard Branson on social media

It is called social media - because it is encouraging people to embrace integrating business practices socially.

Where else really can you chat with your fans/followers, share ideas, information and resources while 'meeting' hundreds of people? (If someone knows the answer to this - feel free to tell me!)

However I am going to go back to the Rules and Guidelines - by adhering to each site/platform's rules and conditions you will build an online presence but more importantly you will build trust among your peers.

Each site should have a list of guidelines, terms and conditions or policies on a page - have a read through all of them!

source: http://thetechnologycoach.blogspot.com.au/2011/05/do-you-have-social-media-policy.html

Social Media Optimisation

SMO is using links, fantastic content and sharing on different accounts to drive visitors to your blog/website.

Now don't get confused between SMO and engagement. SMO is making sure that your content is seen, by using tags, labels and keywords, writing excellent headlines, sharing on other accounts, linking to other accounts and communicating online.

Engagement is sharing with your fans and followers and building an online community. The more interaction you have with a community (whether it's comments on the blogs, likes and shares on Facebook, ReTweets and chats on Twitter) the more likely that your SMO will naturally increase.

One of the keys to understanding how SMO works for you is listening to your audience. You can ascertain when people are liking/commenting/sharing/asking questions. Once you have viewed Google Analytics, Blogger stats, statcounter.com and other social media listening tools online - here are a few which will explain how and when to listen - http://janetfouts.com/listen/ - you will know your audience, which posts they are clicking on and what kind of content they are responding to.

 - Here are the Rules of SMO: http://increaserss.com/the-rules-of-social-media-optimization/

 - The Strategies of SMO: http://increaserss.com/best-social-media-optimization-strategies/

 - And the Techniques of SMO: http://increaserss.com/social-media-optimization-techniques/

 - Engagement vs SMO: http://mashable.com/2011/11/13/smo-vs-engagement/

Now SEO - Search Engine Optimisation is sightly different from SMO. SEO works on backlinks, incoming links and ensuring that your website is found on searches. One way to do this is to find and work with relevant links, list your website in online directories and get other websites to link back to you. The more links you have the higher you will rank in searches. And if the links are trusted links (leading to sites which people trust, recommend and refer) the better this is for your website. Don't worry - the SEO superhero SEOman explains this is a really basic way - http://www.redevolution.com/seo-explained/

According to Active Warrior in an online discussion - here are the differences you should be concentrating on:

Link Building:

SEO – Inbound links are a large determining factor in rankings.
SMO – Links are a result of success, which means that SEO benefits from good SMO.

Page Elements:
SEO – Title tags, headers, image title, bold text and use of keywords are all influential on search engine rankings.
SMO – Coding and tags are not so important, while visual attention grabbers make a bigger impact.

Titles:
SEO – The title tag of a page tells the search engines what a page is about and carries a lot of weight in the rankings.
SMO – Titles and headlines are extremely important for grabbing attention and getting users to click-through.

Speak to an SEO consultant - he/she will know the best way to implement SEO.

  

Here are 15 steps you can take to increase your SMO:

1) Use share buttons

2) Enable YouTube videos - to be embedded or mobile so people can share them

3) Enable your blogs to be mobile; so they are easy to read and share when you're out and about

4) Tweet this, Pin This, Facebook like, Google1 - these buttons are gold, place them prominently on your site and blog

5) Use links, share links with others, put a link list on your blog

6) List your blog and website in free online directories

7) Answer questions on LinkedIn or Quora

8) Join online discussions

9) Comment on blogs - with a link back to your blog or website 

10) Take part in community activities online (MeetUps, chats, discussions, blogging events etc)

11) Communicate; update, post , Tweet everyday if you can and concentrate on fresh, unique blog posts

12) Mix and Match your content - use videos, quotes, eBooks, resources, guides, images, tips, tools, questions etc - enlighten and entertain your audience and focus on your brand

13) Share sites, resources, ideas, posts, Tweets, updates, videos,  etc.

14) Listen to your fans and followers; answer questions, provide social service and monitor all your accounts

15) Be genuine, don't focus on SMO as a rule; concentrate on engaging with others, building a community, enjoying social media and the clicks should come!

source: http://www.webmarketingagency.com.au/what-is-social-media-optimisation/

Pinterest.com - a rapidly growing visual content site!

If you haven't joined Pinterest.com - here is a breakdown on everything you need to know about this rapidly growing site - http://www.blueglass.com/blog/everything-you-need-to-know-about-pinterest/. 

It's a great site for visual content and for all your work/interests/ to be seen, build brand advocacy, create interesting boards and share to other social media sites. 

It's also a great site to find inspiration, tips and ideas. There are quotes, clothes, home decor, locations, tutorials, infographics as well as delicious cupcakes and cakes for you to drool over. It's extremely visual and you can search for anything and everything.  

Often when you click on a pin, it leads you to a site you have never seen before - this is a huge advantage for marketing your business or blog.

It's also easy to use, people can like,comment on, repin or share your pins, so it's a great site for start ups, bloggers, people who work from home and small businesses.

For creative companies like designers, architects, bloggers, cooks, chefs, moms, illustrators, artists, musicians - this is a great site to share your work.

And if you're curious top designers and musicians are starting to use the site as well - so there is a branding advantage for businesses and individuals.

Michael Kors is an early user and his boards are divided up between his work and his interests - http://pinterest.com/michaelkors/ - it will be very interesting to see how people make use of this site!

Here's a Pinterest Guide for beginners from Mashable - http://mashable.com/2011/12/26/pinterest-beginners-guide/

And for people like me who love quotes, reading books and infographics - http://pinterest.com/ebbye/ - I am using it to pin info about social media and business - I spend a great deal of time online researching and searching for content to train my clients and this site is a source of inspiration for me!

Are you on Pinterest.com yet? I'd love to know what you think of this site?

One of my pins today http://pinterest.com/pin/76631631129250424/

The Top Twenty Social Media Blogs Finalists

2012 is the 3rd year for Social Media Examiner to pick up 10 social media blogs among all nominations. The top 10 blogs will be announced in its newsletter and also on their blog. 

Here are the 20 finalists with a brief introduction (in alphabetical order) - written by Kate - thanks to http://evanhugh.com/2012/01/22/the-top-10-social-media-blogs-in-2012/

1. Bundle Post: It is founded by Robert M. Caruso with passion in tech and social media. It takes the first step to automate and schedule the social media contents in one place.
2. Digital Brand Marketing Education: It holds continuing learning philosophy to educate empowered professionals in using digital to brand and market their businesses.
3. Heidi Cohen: She brings you into the world of digital and direct marketing through her established experiences so that readers can easily apply to their current social situation.
4. Hubze: Social media marketers and lovers share how to start the social media engine to engage with customers and manage social media accounts like an elite.
5. inBlurbs: It shows you how to get found on the Internet and convert the traffic into physical customers to bring up your own brand and prospects.
6. Inbound Marketing Spot: It belongs to Trust eMedia and provides inbound marketing strategies to build a loyal social media community to support brands and businesses.
7. Jeff Korhan: He is an inspiring speaker who can help and present the closer connection between social media and small businesses to grow through Internet and social media.
8. Jeff Bullas: The blog, which is being ranked #87 in AdAge Power 150, offers public some useful hints and advices on how to make advantage of social media tools.
9. Likeable Media: It purposes on leveraging social media to build up marketing castle that supports brand, value and services.
10. Marketing Tech blog: There are media marketing experts to analysis the current development and provide technology and marketing tips for social marketers.
11. Media First: A blog from a public relations agency to help clients to win new market share and grow revenues and profits with unique marketing tactics.
12. Media Tapper: The purpose is to discuss day-to-day developments in the social and online media world and share the piece of information globally.
13. My Social Agency: Provide a series of expert advices and solutions in social media management to keep in touch with the current racing world pace.
14. Pushing Social: It tells you to do what to publicize and market around through Stanford Smith’s words. He is an online marketing strategist who loves amplifying social tools.
15. Sales Lion: Read “Why Subscribe” in its site and realize that it is an experience sharing and writing to help people who are involved in sales hardcore and marketing mistakes.
16. Social Mouths: “I help people be successful online” brings readers to meet Francisco Rosales who determines to help every potential reader creating their brand and expertise.
17. Social Strand Media: Provide marketing solutions, from social media to marketing campaigns, at free consultation to accelerate your brand beyond the borders.
18. Spiderworking: Teaching small to medium business how to promote brand and drag online traffic using social media, Amamda Webb shares her knowledge after her first business, Feelgood Organic Hampers.
19. Splash Media: Contains opinion and analysis from a group of social media, marketing and video professionals. Specifically tailor solution and monitor progress for their clients.
20. ViralBlog: Ranked #71 in the AdAge Power 150 as well as collects the daily viral and social media cases over the global, in order to inspire people and create the best social strategies.

All these blogs provide businesses up to date  information regarding social media, case studies, success stories and great marketing tips.

I love reading  weekly mashups from We are Social  - http://wearesocial.net/blog/2012/01/we-are-socials-monday-mashup-103/ and Jeffrey Thomas's weekly EdTech Resources Treasure Chest - http://jeffthomastech.com/blog/?p=11829

Alltop covers news from everywhere about social media - http://social-media.alltop.com/ - so this is another great resource to use, share and provide you with inspiration to write your own blog posts, Tweets and updates.

Social Media keeps growing, so it means we have to keep learning! So there has to be a lot reading, reviewing, researching and staying up to date.

Using videos for marketing

I've just started using Go Animate to make videos, discussing social media, training and etiquette, a fun way of trying out video and deciding how to use videos professionally.

What I enjoy the most making about making videos on this platform, is that you can export them to YouTube, share on social media and embed on websites or blogs, so  the developers and designers are welll aware that people search for video content and 1 in 4 people in the US are watching/accessing videos daily.

Videos are the fastest growing out of all social media tools, they're often easy to make and YouTube has just made it incredibly easy to edit videos making it easy for you to search for and view anything you like.

Have a look at the Online Video Rankings and consider video marketing. 

You can do guerilla ads, montages, how tos, training sessions, guides, words, launches, festivals, glimpses, sneak peaks, vlogging ... you name it.

As you can tell from the rankings above Google Sites, driven primarily by video viewing at YouTube.com, ranked as the top online video content property in May with 147.2 million unique viewers.

So if you choose to use animations or stick figures like me (to start) or a hire/use a professional team with access to excellent music, voice and sound - which ever way you to go, export to YouTube or use YouTube, make use of tags and labels and set up your channel.

Here's my latest animated videos  - http://www.youtube.com/user/ebbyeryan

Make use of videos for social media, people like to view content and share/send to friends.

Ban social media?!

There are hundreds of articles this morning about banning social media - or monitoring certain accounts and shutting them down as a result of the riots throughout London this week.


The London riots have been a news item all week. On social media, people (or *looters) are posting photos of the goods they have stolen and being arrested for it.


And on Twitter by following the #Londonriots hashtag, it has been streaming up to date information while police men and journalists have been confirming or denying rumours and keeping locals informed. Twitter is a site where all information is shared publicly and the information can be used both positively and negatively.


While people were Tweeting about the riots and asking questions, others were embracing #Londoncleanup #OperationCupofTea and #riotcleanup to assist with the clean up and to show the world that people use social media for good  and that Twitter and Facebook were a way of reaching locals and encouraging them to clean up the streets and aid and assist people who had been affected by the riots.

Let's Talk About Twitter

I love Social Rabbit, whose very helpful post will provide you (and beginners) with 5 essential Twitter tips, to help you get to know and use Twitter effectively.

Have a look around the Social Rabbit site, Lara Solomon is an excellent business women, who provides very valuable tips and information about social media (and training) she is very interactive on social media, follow her example and you will learn how to use social media wisely!

Twitter is an excellent business tool, it will help you find people in your industry, find you like minded people and help you market and promote your products and services.

One advantage with Twitter is the ability to know your competitors and you will find that a lot of companies are followed by or do follow companies who have similar products and services. I feel that places your business or organisations amongst peers who have different ways of getting their messages across. It helps to see what similar organisations are saying and you can ReTweet their links and get inspired to write Facebook updates and blog posts from regular updated information which you can source on Twitter.

Following competitors at the beginning of your Twitter journeys means you can get a feel of the content, links and blog posts you can add. It also gives competitors a feel of your company and as far as I know, this method of sharing, ReTweeting, being inspired by content to write your own will not be harmful to your business.

I recommend that you find and follow people who have your interests in common and such as charities/authors or anything really where you get your inspiration and motivation from. Being human on Twitter, communicating with others, responding, answering questions, going off topic ( just a little bit) will help. This means that you will be truly connecting, think of it as being at a professional networking function, sure you talk mainly about work and work issues but you end up talking about other things - on Twitter many people have benefited by the authenticity of their accounts and by being connected and receptive.

Please note a link at the bottom of Lara's Post refers to Google + please have a look, this is Google's social media platform , which will be open to the public soon. Google+ is going to be another form of social media, another way to get your message across, a site  to find and to reach your clients and certainly will be another tool which will be useful for marketing your products and services.

Let's get real with social media - how to find content - so you can update often!

We don't always have the time to find information and spend hours writing and editing our own content.

Social Media needs at least an hour a day of work.

Whether it's checking/ monitoring accounts, checking feeds, responding to comments or queries, social media is becoming a part of the other work you need to do daily.

So here is a link which helps you find ways ways to stay updated, to find and use content, to share relevant links via Twitter, the blog and the Facebook page and a way for you to find any info, to update, to link, to respond to, to share, and keep your accounts active.

While writing unique content is important on social media, so is sharing, linking to and acknowledging other relevant content as well as building a like minded community.

You can write/ schedule a unique blog post every few weeks or so ( I will be blogging about why you should blog often, some people blog daily some blog once a week- it depends on content and business practices), but find resources and have information at hand, so you can share/ update ( on Facebook or Twitter) every few days to keep your accounts active and build a community and engagement online.

Don't forget to read updates on your timeline on Twitter and Facebook and comment and respond to people as wel l- this will make you sound like an interested person and depending on what you say or answer, you may find yourself building a very interesting community of followers.

Take 15 minutes a day to find and put aside content, links, blog posts, pictures, that you can use when you have a bit of downtime- save all of it in a folder on your desktops or on a dropbox free app (download on computer, link to your smartphone) and use that saved content to share, comment upon, and use ( for an inspirational blog post perhaps or a marketing idea)

http://www.momeomagazine.com/business-101-feeding-the-content-monster-10-ways-to-stay-active-in-social-media-without-rewriting-the-yellow-pages/ - thanks to Iggy Pintado on Twitter - who shared this, this morning:

Feeding the Content Monster - 10 Ways to Stay Active in Social Media by @AndreaVahl - http://ow.ly/5Pcft RT @CarlaYoung

Social Media is an active part of marketing, it will only work and benefit by your doing, by your engagement and incentive to drive the accounts.
Set aside time each day and if you need help with planning and using techniques wisely, please just contact me.

Benefits of Social Media

With social media you can find information from anywhere about anything you are interested in.

I love finding information and reading other blog posts and sharing information with people who are using social media or are just learning how beneficial social media is as a business tool, for people who work at home and for anyone who wants to learn and explore.

I regularly update the Social Status Facebook Page to share with you the benefits of social media. People are writing blog posts, opening social media accounts and sharing information 24 hours a day.

If you want to find out something, whether it's an idea to promote and market your business, or how to use a certain tool or program, you can find your answers by searching on YouTube for how to videos, and by following realtime search on Google, find the realtime tab on the left hand side of the Google home page by clicking the more button. This will keep you up to date on whatever is happening in the world.

Use Facebook and Twitter search to find and follow great business pages, read blog posts, watch videos ... information is constant and changes in the blink of an eye, so a great way to make sure you don't miss something of interest to you; is to add links, pages and blogs to your favorites or if you want the information to come to you as soon as it's put on the Internet then subscribe to RSS feeds.

We are certainly learning to search and find information. And then we are sharing across Facebook, Twitter, blogs and other software programs to reach other people.

I love Read It Later, you can save any link from Twitter or the Internet and then read it later when you have some down time. I use Read It Later to track information and find references and get ideas for blog posts. I find it is also great to track information to send to clients to assist them with their marketing and promoting and to help them with their social media.

The greatest benefit is that social media is so accessible to use as a learning tool.
Social Media gives you a chance to learn, to connect with people all over the world, to find tips and info and to share, therefore helping other people with a how to, or a tip or a blog post on their journeys.

And remember learning never exhausts the mind - Leonardo Da Vinci.