Tag Archive for business growth

01 Apr 2012
business growth • linkedin • relationship marketing • small business • social media • social networking • twitter

Networking – are you well connected?

Don’t be shy!

In my business it’s important to be an active networker, both on and offline.  I meet a lot of people at networking events, collect business cards, and browse scores of websites and social media profiles. I’m often surprised at how “disconnected” many business people seem to be.

Connections

 

Look, if someone had told me a couple of years ago that in 2012 I’d be a member of several networking groups, on the management team of one, and quite happy to chat with strangers about business matters on a regular basis, I’d have said they were barking!  But this is what has happened – I started networking seriously last summer and haven’t looked back –  I really enjoy it and have made many valuable contacts.

If you want to be easily found online and offline (and why wouldn’t you, if you’re in business?)  -  then you need to integrate your communication channels.  Here are a few tips to help with your networking.

Offline Connections

  • When you meet people at networking events, make a point of connecting with them on LinkedIn – always send a short personal message when you do this.
  • Connect on Twitter if the contact is active there (it’s very easy to recommend/refer on Twitter and is always appreciated).
  • Consider setting up a spreadsheet to keep track of your offline connections, and update it regularly.
  • Add your social network link URLs to adverts, business cards, brochures, posters, newsletters and any other literature you use to promote your business.

Online Connections

  • If you have social media accounts (please tell me you do?), make sure they’re updated regularly.  Having an account and never updating is worse than not having the account at all.
  • Although it’s good to cross-reference occasionally, please don’t duplicate the same content across all your networks.  Tweets sent to Facebook and LinkedIn are particularly disliked.
  • Automation tools have their place, but you still need to interact daily, in person, on all your networks. Your followers will soon realise if you’re never actually there.
  • Establish a routine & find your best times to update (monitor engagement at different times of day).
  • Make sure your profiles/bios are fully completed on all networks – give as much information as possible about your business, but do add a few personal touches too.
  • Brand your accounts – be consistent with your logo, colours, background images etc. as well as your “voice”.
  • Always include your social network links in email and forum signatures.

The takeaway message here is that you need to make yourself highly visible both off- and online.  Are you ready to step into the spotlight?

Need help getting found online? Take the first step! Contact me on 01777 249075
or by email at info@naomijohnsonsocialmedia.co.uk

Naomi | No comments | Tags: , , , , , , ,
16 Mar 2012
business growth • pinterest • SEO • small business • social media • social networking

Why you should use Pinterest for business

Pinterest

 

Naomi's Pinterest

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last 3 months, you will be aware that Pinterest has been making headline news, and not just in the blogosphere (although I have to say I have never seen such a slew of blog posts on any topic in such a short space of time!).  The BBC, as well as several national newspapers, have run articles on Pinterest recently. A high percentage of Pinterest users are women, and you know how good we are at spreading the word about anything!  Pinterest recently became the fastest ever site to reach 10 million unique (US) monthly visitors

 

What is Pinterest?

Simply put, it’s an online pinboard (actually, a group of pinboards).  You set up a number of boards based around particular niches or concepts, and then “pin” images (or videos) of your products/services.  These are then “repinned” by other members. All images/videos link back to their site of origin. It’s especially good for creative businesses (web/graphic designers, photographers, interior designers, crafters, catering/restaurants etc).  Images of clothes, shoes, food, hairstyles, exotic locations, beautiful interiors, handcrafted items abound.  However, virtually any business can build a presence on Pinterest – if you use images in your blog posts (as you should) then these can be pinned and of course they link back to your site…….get the idea?

The compelling fact about using Pinterest for business is that it drives massive amounts of traffic – latest statistics place it above Twitter in the “traffic league table”.  So, as a business, you really do need to take advantage of this and get pinning! I’ve only been on Pinterest since January and already (via Google Analytics) I’m seeing traffic referred from there.

“But”, I hear you cry, “I just don’t have the time to manage yet another social media account”…….  Well, the good news is you don’t have to! Read on to find out how I can help you set up and manage your Pinterest account – all you’ll have to do is watch as traffic starts flowing to your website!  Oh and please follow me on Pinterest too –  link is on the right hand side of this page :)

The Pinterest Management Package – £60

 

  • Setup of Pinterest for your business
  • Creation of 10 boards related to your niche
  • Pinning your content/products/services on a regular basis
  • Repinning by me of the above
  • Promotion of your boards via other social media channels

As stated, the initial cost is £60 – I suggest we give it 6 weeks, by which time you should see some effect on your website traffic.  If not, and you don’t want to continue, that’s absolutely fine – you still have the account to carry on yourself if you wish.  If you do see an increase in traffic, and would like me to carry on managing your account,  the monthly fee will be £75 or just £50 if I’m already managing other accounts for you..

Want to get started with Pinterest? Take the first step! Contact me on 01777 249075
or by email at info@naomijohnsonsocialmedia.co.uk

Naomi | No comments | Tags: , , , , , ,
13 Feb 2012
business growth • digital marketing • google plus • marketing • SEO • social media

How To Set Up Your Google Plus Business Page

Get Started with G+

In my last post, I discussed some of the reasons why businesses need to establish a presence on G+ as soon as possible.  This time we’re going to go through the process of setting up your profile and Google Plus business page.   If you don’t already have a personal G+ profile, you will need to set one up.  If you already have a Google account (gmail, YouTube etc) then it’s easy – otherwise just go to http://plus.google.com

google plus setup

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you would like more detailed instructions, below is one of the best G+ profile setup videos I’ve come across – the process is explained slowly and clearly. It will be easy to go ahead and setup your own profile while watching/pausing the video.

Did you get your profile set up OK?  Now for the next step!

Set Up Your G+ Business Page

In your personal profile,  look on the right hand side of the page and you will find a button to “create a google+ page”.

google+ page setup

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After clicking this, you are taken to the next screen where you need to choose the appropriate category for your page:

Create a Google+ Page

Choose a category for your page

 

As you can see, there are 5 categories:

  1.  Local Business or Place – includes any local business, e.g. restaurant, dentist, accountant, solicitor, hair salon etc.  If your business already has a Google Places listing, the details from that will be used, otherwise you’ll need to enter the business phone number and address.
  2.  Product or Brand – according to Google, this would include cars, financial services, clothing, electronics – food and drink brands would also come under this category.
  3.  Company, Institution or Organisation – also including charities and non-profit organisations
  4.  Arts, Entertainment or Sports –  pretty self-explanatory (books, films, musicians, bands, athletes etc)
  5.  Other – to be used when your business doesn’t fit into any of the above categories.

For all categories,  users will need to choose age ranges for which their page content will be appropriate, and there is a specific choice of “alcohol related” too.  Finally, you’ll need to tick the box agreeing to the G+ Page terms, before clicking the “Create” button Make sure you read these terms before creating your page – there are similar guidelines regarding competitions and promotions as there are with Facebook, so don’t fall foul of these!

Personalise Your Page

Congratulations, you have set up your Google Plus business page!  Now it’s time to personalise and customise the settings for your  page.  Firstly, you can give yourself a tagline (“10 words that describe your page best”, according to Google), and upload a profile photo. This would ideally be your business logo, but you can of course use any photo that represents your business.  Once you’ve created your tagline and uploaded a photo, click “Continue”.

You are then asked if you want to share this Google Plus business page with your G+ circles –  you probably won’t want to do this yet, as there’s no information on your page, so click “Finish”  (you can go back later and share your page)

Edit Your Profile

Click the profile icon (top of page to the left of the google search box)

g+ profile button

On the next screen, click the blue “Edit Profile” button and fill in as much information as you can –  remember to use the “Recommended Links” section to put in details of your social media profiles, and other websites/blogs you own or are associated with.  Don’t forget to use keywords throughout your profile!

Customise your Photostrip

You will see on the profile editing screen, below your page title, the words “add some photos here”.   You can add up to 5 photos and they do not change  on each page load as with Facebook.  You could even get creative and split one photo into 5……   Just to get you thinking, here are a few examples.

Start Posting!

Woohoo – your Google Plus business page is ready to share with the world!  Once you’ve posted a few updates,  use “Spread the Word” (in the right sidebar of your page) to share your page with your contacts.

Just as with your personal G+ profile, you are able to add contacts to “Circles” – the default Circles for a Google Plus business page are Following, VIPs, Customers and Team Members, but you can of course create new circles at any time. On G+ (unlike Facebook), you are able to follow your fans back, and add them to your page’s Circles.  It’s a powerful way of connecting with current and potential customers!  Your followers can +1 your posts and you can  do the same for their comments –  all of this adds to your visibility in Google search.

So what are you waiting for? I hope this has inspired you to get your business   established on Google Plus –  please share in the comments how you’re getting on, or if you’ve encountered any issues.

Need help setting up your G+ page? Take the first step! Contact me on 01777 249075
or by email at info@naomijohnsonsocialmedia.co.uk

Naomi | One comment | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
05 Feb 2012
business growth • google • google plus • SEO • social media

Google Plus For Business

What is Google Plus?


I know there are some of you out there that haven’t heard of Google Plus (I will refer to it as G+ for the rest of this article) – mentioning it often produces blank looks while chatting at networking events! So if you’re not aware, G+ is a new social network, launched by search giant Google on June 28th 2011.  Despite having initially been “invitation only”, the new network has grown at an unprecedented rate.

It is becoming increasingly important to use Google Plus for business, as I’ll explain below. According to this post by Paul Allen (“unofficial” G+ statistician), within 2 weeks it had 10 million users, rising to 38 million by October 1st 2011, and 62 million by December 27th 2011.  On January 19th 2012, Google CEO Larry Page announced that G+ now had 90 million users globally – more than 60 percent of whom use the site daily, and more than 80 percent of whom use G+ weekly.

Growth of G+

Equally interesting is the comparison with Facebook –  whose first 25 million users were added over 3 years, compared to G+’s 1 month.  On paper this looks astonishing, but when you consider how fast technology has developed in the 8 years since Facebook launched, it’s not so surprising.  A large percentage of the world’s population is now completely at home with social media, so the addition of a new network from a company as massive as Google, was always going to get a lot of attention.

G+ went “public” in September 2011, meaning that an invitation was no longer necessary to set up a personal profile on the  network.  On November 7th, business pages were launched, with this quote:

For business and brands, Google+ pages help you connect with the customers and fans who love you. Not only can they recommend you with a +1, or add you to a circle to listen long-term. They can actually spend time with your team, face-to-face-to-face. All you need to do is start sharing, and you’ll soon find the super fans and loyal customers that want to say hello.

Further Developments

Another major development followed on January 10th 2012, when Google announced “Search Plus Your World”, a significant change to its search algorithm.   What this means in a nutshell is that when you search for something now, priority will be given to your friends’ and contacts’ online experiences rather than links and domain authority.  Moreover, this makes your G+ network very important.  According to Marketing Land,  SPYW is a massive heads up from Google to businesses to get themselves set up on G+.

The week after SPYW was announced, another new feature was introduced whereby you can share and join in a conversation directly from search results.

Yet another telling sign is that now,  in order to sign up for YouTube, Gmail, or any other Google product, you first have to create a G+ account.

Google is certainly going all out to integrate search and social, and these recent updates will have a massive impact.  Businesses will  need to get up to speed with the changes and have strategies in place to take full advantage.  Clearly, the most important action to take immediately is to set up a G+ business page if you haven’t already done so.   I will write about how to do this in my next post  - stay tuned :)

Meanwhile if you’re already using Google Plus for business, why not add me to your circles?  (see link in the sidebar to the right)

Need help creating shareable content and establishing your presence on social networks, or need help setting up your G+ page? Take the first step! Contact me on 01777 249075
or by email at info@naomijohnsonsocialmedia.co.uk

Naomi | One comment | Tags: , , , , , , ,
30 Dec 2011
blogging • business growth • digital marketing • facebook • facebook pages • small business • social media • twitter

Ready for 2012?

New Year Initiatives For Your Business

 

New Year 2012 I have spent the last few days going over my successes and failures of the last year, and deciding what direction I will take with my business in 2012.

My achievements so far are modest, but I’m confident that I am heading in the right direction. I’m not foolish enough to expect instant results – to establish a well respected and trusted business takes years.

What I’ve achieved in 2011:

  1.  I made the decision in April to set up a business as a social media consultant.
  2.  I launched this website having had little experience of WordPress, and have learnt so much more about the software during the year.
  3.  I took advantage of free resources – Business Link, ebusiness club, Angle, and HMRC workshops, thus educating myself on many aspects of business and marketing
  4.  I attended a number of paid seminars and workshops
  5.  I have realised that social media is just one marketing technique and it must combined with a range of tools for an integrated approach - hence I have educated myself on various other marketing techniques.
  6.  I set up a Twitter account and a Facebook Page and worked very hard to build up an engaged community of followers.  This has begun to generate interest and enquiries.
  7.  I have added training/coaching to my range of social media services
  8. I have joined a business mentoring group which I feel sure will add value to my future development.
  9. I’ve taken on the role of Operations Assistant at my local 4Networking group. This will consolidate my networking activities and help me to become better known in the area.
  10.  I’ve established closer relations with a few business colleagues and have scheduled collaborative projects for next year.

My Plans for 2012:

  1.  Consolidate my networking activities and concentrate on building trust with a range of local businesses.
  2.  Continue and develop an initiative (in collaboration with others) to help business mums with young children who want to network but are hindered by lack of childcare / inconvenient timing of meetings.
  3.  Deliver social/digital media training workshops at venues in the local area.
  4.  Gain experience in public speaking (hopefully no. 3 will help with this)
  5.  Target specific business niches to market my social/digital media services.
  6.  Establish a client base for social media management programmes.
  7.  Get involved with live-tweeting/blogging events
  8.  Further develop my WordPress skills so that I can offer website/blog setup as an additional service.
  9.  Establish additional collaborative partners in order to broaden my range of services.
  10.  Last but not least – I will not allow those who have set themselves up as my enemies (in my personal life) to get in the way of my business aspirations!
I’d love to hear your plans for 2012 and what you’ve learned from this year – please share in the comments :) And a VERY Happy New Year to my readers!

Need digital media marketing advice? Take action now – contact me on 01777 249075
or by email at info@naomijohnsonsocialmedia.co.uk

Naomi | No comments | Tags: , , , , , , ,
20 Nov 2011
business growth • facebook • linkedin • small business • social media • twitter

Social Media for Small Business

Social Media For Small Business – Some Statistics

I came across this infographic the other day via Socialnomics. I found it quite eye-opening,  yet very consistent with my own experience.  I go to a lot of networking events and naturally, am asked what my business is. This usually leads into a discussion around social media and its uses for business – 9 times out of 10 the other person says that they’ve set up social media accounts but don’t have any idea what to do next……

Small Business Social Media Infographic

Social media for small business – takeaways from the infographic:

A massive 88% of owners believe that social media does, or will, impact on their small business – so it’s clear that they see the potential.

A somewhat lower proportion (63%) have established social media accounts, the majority spread across Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Another survey found that 31% of small businesses were not using social media at all,  and the reason given for this was that they “don’t know where to start”………  this is sounding very familiar!

Apart from “don’t know where to start”, other reasons for not using social media were “don’t have the staff”, “costs too much”, “information overload”, “too many sites to manage”  and astonishingly, “doesn’t help me or my business”.

Confusion over who should manage social media for a business is also widespread, responses varying from “business owner” (18%) down to 1% for HR, customer service, corporate, administrator etc.   All a bit vague, isn’t it?

Social media seems to have become a huge mystery, a black art,  something only to be attempted by those of strong constitution. This is borne out by the fact that 67% of small businesses do not plan to increase their investment in social media for 2012.

In light of this, it’s rather strange that virtually none of the small business owners surveyed had plans to hire anyone to help them with social media.

How about you?  Do you find yourself mystified by social media?  Would you consider hiring someone to help with social media for your small business?   I’d love to hear your comments.

Need help with social media? Start by contacting me on 01777 249075
or by email at info@naomijohnsonsocialmedia.co.uk

you can also TEXT

INF SOCIALMEDIA or INF SOCIALMEDIA + your email address to 60777

to receive your free copy of my booklet “10 Reasons Why You Need to Get Up To Speed With Social Media”.

Naomi | No comments | Tags: , , , , , , ,
16 Nov 2011
business growth • social media • social networking

Book Review – “The Real Truth about Social Media”

Social Media Book Review

A quick post today just to mention a great book that I’ve recently finished reading.

The Real Truth about Social Media

“The Real Truth about Social Media- Confessions of a Social Media CEO” by Eric Harr is an easy-to-read work that defuses many myths surrounding social media and gets right down to the nitty-gritty.   As social media books go, I’d strongly recommend this one to anyone in business who has been “dabbling” in social media because they know they should be using it, but hasn’t really understood why or what they are doing.  Or if you haven’t even dabbled yet,  this book is also for you.

Eric Harr is the founder and CEO of Resonate Social Media  , an exclusive agency in San Francisco.  He is also a CBS TV host and Founding Editor of VIV magazine.   He writes in an honest and straightforward style and unlike other social media books, this provides genuine case studies of social media “done right”, with web links so you can go and see for yourself.

Each chapter starts with a “Monumental Myth” and a “Timeless Truth” about social media or business in general, and ends with “Actionable Insights” for both personal and business use.  The consistent thread running through the book is that “good business is good for business” – who could deny that?

Incidentally, the author is also a triathlete, and an international ambassador for the humanitarian organisation CARE (to which funds from the sale of the book will be given)

Read the introduction to “The Real Truth about Social Media”, and the book is now available to purchase from Amazon.

Have you read this book?  What did you think?  Please feel free to comment below :)

Need help with social media? Start by contacting me on 01777 249075
or by email at info@naomijohnsonsocialmedia.co.uk

you can also TEXT

INF SOCIALMEDIA or INF SOCIALMEDIA + your email address to 60777

to receive your free copy of my booklet “10 Reasons Why You Need to Get Up To Speed With Social Media”.

Naomi | No comments | Tags: , , , ,
05 Nov 2011
business growth • marketing • mobile marketing • SEO • SMS marketing • social media • Text message advertising

Mobile Marketing – 7 Things You Should Do Right Now

More on Mobile Marketing

QR code

A QR Code

 

Yesterday I attended one of the free Action Planning Workshops for East Midlands  organised by Transformational ICT and E-business Club.  Once again I learned a huge amount and left feeling inspired –  I couldn’t get to sleep with all the ideas buzzing around in my head!

The Workshop was entitled “Developing a Mobile Marketing Strategy“.  This is something that every business needs to look at and take very seriously.  In fact,  I’d recommend you take action within the next 6 months if you want to stay ahead of the game in mobile marketing.  It’s expanding at the speed of light right now.

Here are just 7 points you can and should take action on before the end of 2011:

1. Make sure your website is optimised for mobile devices. One-third of UK adults now use a smartphone (Ofcom, August 2011), and 45% of UK internet users connect via a smartphone (Office for National Statistics, August 2011). Many leading UK businesses have not yet optimised for mobile…..

2. Once you have a mobile-friendly version of your site, make sure it is optimised for search – Google displays different results for mobile sites than for their static equivalent. People search for different things while out and about using a mobile device.

3. Consider having an App developed for your business. This can be even more powerful than a mobile-optimised website, as it sits on the “home” screen of the device. The user does not have to open a browser to view it, ensuring easy access and keeping your business in your client’s view.

4. Make use of QR codes in your mobile marketing. These are 2-dimensional barcodes that can contain virtually any information. A link to your website, details of your special offers, directions to your shop/bar/restaurant – what else can you think of? QR codes are free and simple to create. Scan the one above and see what happens!

5. When you create your App, integrate and use Push Messaging to keep in contact with those who download it. It’s a modern and permission based version of email marketing, but far better targeted because you’re only contacting people who have already expressed interest by downloading your App.

6. Use geo-location. Again, this can be built into your Apps. Ideal for “find your nearest” type of searches. Twitter and Google already use this.

7. SMS mobile marketing has been around for a while – have  you tried it? S ee my
previous post on this. You could also consider MMS advertising – fairly unique at the moment. Pictures always carry more impact than plain text!

I hope this has given you a few ideas. As with any new project, take some time to sit and plan your strategy. Start with research (maybe run a customer survey?) – what information or services do your potential clients want at the moment? What services or information could you provide via mobile devices in future? How often will people access the information and on what specific devices? What tools are relevant to users in your field of business? Check your Google Analytics to find out what percentage of website visitors are already accessing via a mobile device. And finally – don’t forget that social media and mobile marketing can and should be totally integrated. Both are necessary and vital components of your marketing strategy.

Need help with social media or mobile marketing? Start by contacting me on 01777 249075
or by email at info@naomijohnsonsocialmedia.co.uk

you can also TEXT

INF SOCIALMEDIA or INF SOCIALMEDIA + your email address to 60777

to receive your free copy of my booklet “10 Reasons Why You Need to Get Up To Speed With Social Media”.

Naomi | 8 comments | Tags: , , , , , , , ,
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