Social Networking for Business Growth

Don’t forget about old networking methods

As you enter into the realm of the social media, you can’t forget about the old ways. Tweeting, posting and sharing are all great ways to get your brand to a lot of people. However, meeting people in person, networking, making phone calls – those methods all still work.

Today I went to a luncheon for business women and they were quite a hoot. As I generally spend my days hunched over my computer tapping away at the keys, getting out and seeing other humanoids was enriching, if nothing else! Just like giving a polar bear at the zoo a giant ice ball with a fish in the center of it, meeting some people in person was my enrichment for the day.

The women I met were from various fields, only one other spends her entire day alone with a computer. While immersed in cyberspace, we tend to forget about how important it is to do networking in person with other business people to help grow our businesses.

Check your community and find a networking organization. Most allow visitors to attend at least one or two meetings without joining the organization. Get a feel for the group and see if it is a good fit for you. You don’t have to meet everyone at once. I felt a little intimidated at the first one I attended. If you just make a few connections, the next time you go, you will know at least one or two people. Then, it becomes much easier.

Always take a big stack of cards, even if you think you will only give out a few. It’s always best to be prepared. If you don’t have cards – shame on you! Get some. There are reasonably priced places online like vistaprint.com where cards are very inexpensive (some are free, you just pay shipping). Vista Print offers designs already made up for a variety of businesses or generic cards. If you need help, get in touch with me. I can design something for you at a reasonable price.

Take advantage of all the ways to connect with others and grow your business. Don’t limit yourself by relying completely on the internet.

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5 Reasons Why You Should Be Using Pinterest for Business

If you have been on the fence about using Pinterest for your business, it's understandable. I know what you're thinking, "Oh man! Not another site I have to keep up with!"

But if you were getting results out of using the network, wouldn't you want to give it a try? Here are my reasons why you should be using Pinterest for your business.

1. More Website Traffic

Websites and blogs are reporting an increase in traffic to their sites once they started using Pinterest. As soon as I began using Pinterest for Idea Sprouts I began to get new traffic AND leads from the site.
Since increased website traffic can also increase leads and sales, Pinterest is worth considering as another social media network for your business.

2. Links to Your Website

If you have "pin-worthy" images and videos on your website, people will start pinning them to their Pinterest boards. That means you get a link back to your website with every pin.
If you want to see if you have any pins back to your website, use this website address:
http://pinterest.com/source/YOURWEBSITE/
So for my website, I'd use: http://pinterest.com/source/ideasproutsmarketing.com/
You will then see a list of pins that anyone has pinned from your website. Pretty neat!

3. Get Found by New People

Every time someone pins or repins one of your images, you have the potential to get found by even more people. That's because your images will show up on their boards and their followers will see it.
In addition, when you pin or repin an image, you have the option to share it on Facebook and/or Twitter, which means even more eyes will see your content.

4. Showcase Products

While I don't advocate using Pinterest to blast people with images of all of your products or ebooks (in fact, being overly promotional is against Pinterest rules), you can certainly use it to highlight items.
If you have physical products with gorgeous photos, you have a real opportunity to shine on Pinterest. Especially if your products are popular with women (right now, the majority of Pinterest users).

5.  Get Personal

One of the great things about Pinterest is its simplicity. You can share so many different types of photos and images very easily, and get more personal. Add photos of your employees, your events, or testimonials from happy customers. People may begin following you because of one pin they liked, but they will take a few minutes to learn more about you by looking at your boards.
I'm going to be sharing more Pinterest ideas with you in the upcoming weeks, but for now, why not set up an account? Once you do, I'd love to connect with you.
I'm looking forward to seeing your pins!

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Social media news: Facebook, Google, Twitter and YouTube

Tuesday was a busy day in the social media world. Here is a quick overview of what happened on Facebook, Google,Twitter and YouTube.

Facebook

Facebook released Facebook for WordPress. The new plugin allows bloggers to take their sites to the next social level with a wide range of features:

• Cross-posting to Facebook Timelines and Pages
• Customizable Like, Send and Subscribe buttons
• A Recommendations bar
• An Activity Feed Box
• A Comments Box with SEO support
• Open Graph Protocol integration

Users can also choose to mention Facebook friends or Pages in their posts. Further, the plugin also works on mobile devices and supports internationalization.

For more information on Facebook for WordPress, visit https://developers.facebook.com/wordpress/. To install the plugin, click here. 

Google

Google introduced its improved Hot Searches list in Google Trends.

This list, which gives Internet users access to the fastest rising search terms in the United States, now boasts a more visual and interactive experience with rich images and links to news articles. It also provides greater information about queries, and lumps related search terms together.

"Unlike the previous version of Hot Searches, which always provided 20 daily results, the new page introduces a filtering system that helps us make sure that the list includes only the truly hottest news stories of the day," says Nimrod Tamir, from the Google Trends Team, on the Google Blog. "[...] [T]he new list also provides an indication of how many searches have been conducted for each topic in the 24 hour period when it was trending."

Twitter

Twitter announced the launch of Tailored Trends. With this new feature, users can now access the most relevant conversations based on where they are and who they follow.

"These Trends lists are tailored for you by default on twitter.com and mobile apps like Twitter for iPhone and Twitter for Android," says Sara Mauskopf, Product Manager, on the Twitter Blog. "If you don’t wish to see tailored Trends, but instead want to see a more general list of Trends, just change your location on twitter.com. Of course, anytime you want a glimpse into the conversations that are happening on Twitter around the world, you can always select individual countries and cities to see Trends in those locations."

YouTube

Voting is now open for the Your Film Festival, a contest launched in January 2012 by YouTube, Ridley Scott and Scott Free London to find the best storytellers in the world.

The Scott Free team selected the 50 semi-finalists from more than 15,000 short film submissions, and it is now up to YouTube users to vote for their 10 favourite filmmakers.

The finalists will travel to Italy in September, where their work will be screened during the opening days of the 69th Annual Venice Film Festival, and then judged by a jury of industry professionals, including Ridley Scott and actor Michael Fassbender.

The contest winner will be announced at a Your Film Festival ceremony, streamed live from the festival. He or she will receive a $US500,000 production grant to work with Scott Riley’s team to create a new story.

Users have until July 13 to vote. For more information, visit the Your Film Festival channel.

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A Key Strategy To Social Media Success For Your Small Business

Are you a social media junkie?

Do you spend more time on the likes of Facebook, Twitter and Google+ than you’d like to admit?

Do you dream of one day driving tens of thousands of visitors to your blog or business via your social media accounts?

You’re not alone. Most of us recognize that social media can be a powerful tool, for multiple reasons – referrals, relationship building, brand building, and so on.

Unfortunately, most of us also struggle to build a presence of any note on any social media network. We pour hours of time into our social media efforts for little return.

So that’s the problem. Now here’s the solution.

Being a Jack of All Trades (and Master of None)

How many social media accounts do you have? If you’re a blogger and/or online business owner, I’m guessing more than one. Perhaps two, three, four, or even more.

These days, the main contenders for our attention are Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, and Pinterest. In an effort to expand your online brand’s exposure, you will be promoting via some (or maybe even all) of these networks. After all, social media is all the rage – the more places you are active, the better, right?

Wrong. At least, wrong for us sole traders. The simple fact is this – if you try to build several large social media accounts, you will build none.

In Search of Well Rewarded Efforts

Social media accounts only become a powerful force for your online business when they achieve critical mass, and getting there takes a great deal of time and application. You will be far better served by focusing on the one network that is most likely to bear fruit for your particular niche, than spreading your efforts across multiple networks.

Guess where I spend most of my time? Twitter, of course. In fact, I dedicate very little time to my Google+ and Facebook accounts, because it became apparent to me some time ago that I would be far better rewarded by focusing the majority of my efforts on Twitter.

Furthermore, Twitter drives far more traffic to any site than other social networks, and you can make far more connections on a daily basis by tweeting. So Why would you focus your time anywhere else?

Which One is for You?

Twitter is my social media network of choice, but it may not be the social media account of choice for you. The different networks attract different crowds, and the manner in which you can effectively exploit them will vary.

There are of course the basics – Facebook is the biggest, Twitter is full of technology geeks, Pinterest is a haven for middle-aged women, LinkedIn is the social media business hub, and so on. But you should take your research further.

First, gain a better understanding of who you are dealing with. Then, assess the current worth of each network to you. Which refers the most traffic to your blog?

Where do you establish the most beneficial relationships? Try to draw an objective conclusion as to which social media network serves you the best. Then dedicate the vast majority of your time to that particular network, and reap the benefits in the long run.

Don’t Forget the Rest

I am not saying that you should completely ignore other social media networks. You should ideally have accounts at most of them (certainly the “big three” – Facebook, Twitter and Google+). But you should be maintaining the lesser accounts, and building your primary account. There is a distinct difference. I still publish new posts to Facebook and Google+ and post an occasional status update, but I am far more active on Twitter.

With the above in mind, tell us – which is your social media network of choice, and why?

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