Tag Archive for social media marketing

16 Nov 2011

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- 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 Jane Johnson | No comments | Tags: business development, business growth, social media, social media marketing, social networking

01 Nov 2011

business growth • facebook • marketing • relationship marketing • social media

What Is Relationship Marketing?

Relationship Marketing

This is a blatant and unashamed piece of publicity for a widely respected lady who knows what she’s talking about when it comes to social media and relationship marketing……

The New Relationship Marketing

I’d like to share with you a brand new book that is a must-read. It’s “The New Relationship Marketing”, by my colleague, Mari Smith. If you don’t know Mari, she’s one of the foremost leaders in the social media arena – with particular expertise in Facebook marketing.

Mari wrote this book specifically for those business owners and entrepreneurs who have so far just dabbled with social media marketing, or have reached a plateau with their online marketing efforts, and wish to propel their business to the next level and beyond.

What is relationship marketing? It’s a term for all the actions you take online and offline to nurture the connections you have with your prospects, customers, alliances and partners… and yes, even with your so called competitors.You’ve heard of B2B and B2C (business to business, and business to consumer). Mari talks about how it all comes down to P2P; People to People.

Many businesses have not fully embraced the power of today’s social technologies for a number of reasons, including fear of exposure, fear of negative comments and fear of wasting time and resources. In her new book, Mari skilfully walks you through her proven nine-step program for building a large, loyal and profitable network using the social web.

You can pick up a copy now at this link:

Mari’s Book

And, as if that’s not enough, Mari is including a special FREE 4-part webinar series to dive deep into the principles she teaches in her book. When you get a copy of “The New Relationship Marketing”, you then simply sign up here to reserve your place:

Sign up for Mari’s Webinars

Now that’s value!

I’ve already signed up as I know from previous experience just how much value Mari puts into her webinars

P.S. In true Mari-style, you get to register for the free four-part webinar series on the “honour system!” That is, you do not need to scan/fax/email/snail mail any proof of purchase before you get access to the online classes. Once you order your book, just register here

Register for the webinars

and that’s it!

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 Jane Johnson | No comments | Tags: business development, business growth, facebook, social media, social media marketing

19 Oct 2011

facebook • facebook pages • google • linkedin • marketing • social media • twitter • youtube

How To Do Social Media in 10 Easy Steps

http://www.flickr.com/photos/liako/

How To Do Social Media??

I go to quite a few local networking meetings, where I naturally get involved in conversations about social media. I can’t recall a meeting where someone hasn’t said to me “I’ve set up a Facebook and Twitter account, but I don’t really know what to do now”……..
Yesterday I attended a “Blogging for Business” seminar. The speaker recommended blogging about questions that people have asked, and the topic of this post – How To Do Social Media – immediately came to me

So, how to “do” social media??

Sit down with a coffee and decide what you want to achieve with social media. More website visitors? More sales? Building a community? Being seen as the local expert in your field? The answer will probably be a combination of all these things.
Also think about how you will track the results from your social media campaigns. Google analytics is free and very powerful. There are also various tools for tracking particular social media channels. Facebook has its own Page Insights and this has just been upgraded to give even more information.
Consider your branding. It’s important to be consistent across all the social networks so that your business is instantly recognisable. Your social media pages should have the same branding as your website and blog. Ideally your username should be consistent across all platforms, too.
Set up your accounts. It might be wise to start with just one or two so that you can get a feel for how they work. If you dive into multiple networks straight away, you’re more likely to give up. We’re back to the original complaint of “I don’t know what do do”….
I’d recommend starting with Twitter. Many people find it difficult to believe that it can be useful for business. But if you persevere and take time to understand this platform you will soon appreciate its power. The key is consistency. You can’t afford to miss tweeting for more than a day or two. This can seem impossible at first!
If you follow my advice and start with Twitter, ”listen” first. Begin by following a few people in your niche (find them via a google search), watch what they’re tweeting about. Look at who they’re following and who their followers are. You might also want to follow some of these. Then start to engage – comment on what’s been posted, mention that you found it useful etc.
Look for people in your local area and follow them. Many will be local businesses who might need your services in the future. Perhaps you’ve already met them at networking meetings? It’s always good to meet “tweeps” in the flesh after a few weeks of virtual chat!
Remember, be consistent! And don’t be tempted to use software that automatically adds followers – this is a waste of time as followers added this way are unlikely to be interested in what you have to offer. You need quality, not quantity. It’s far better to grow your followers organically, and after a while this will start to happen without any action from you. That’s not to say that you shouldn’t continue looking for followers.
When you feel that you’re familiar with Twitter and are starting to see results, get set up on one of the other networks – LinkedIn is a good choice as it is very powerful for B2B connections and there are many possibilities for “networking” within the platform. LinkedIn is known as the professionals’ social network.
Rinse and repeat the above with Facebook and YouTube if you wish! A Facebook page is a must-have for most B2C businesses and can also be very useful for B2B. YouTube is great if you have a lot of visual content, but basically any business can produce powerful marketing videos without too much effort. Hmmm…….about time I started with video

Has this helped to answer your question “How to do social media”?
If you’re still struggling and need advice on setting up and using social media accounts, start by contacting me on 01777 249075
or by email at info@naomijohnsonsocialmedia.co.uk

Naomi Jane Johnson | 6 comments | Tags: facebook, facebook pages, linkedin, social media, social media marketing, tweets, twitter, video, youtube

03 Sep 2011

business growth • marketing • SEO • social media • social networking • twitter

9 Useful Twitter Tips

Twitter Tips

I’ve recently started tweeting a series of Twitter Tips and have been pleasantly surprised to find that they seem to be appreciated, judging by the number of retweets and mentions that they’ve generated. Having recently read Dan Zarella’s article on “The Science of Retweets”, I’ve also been paying closer attention to the timing of my tweets.

A colleague recently recommended a Twitter tool, Buffer, that not only tells you the best times for you to tweet (based on performance of past tweets), but allows you to pre-schedule any number of tweets in a “buffer” so that they then get posted automatically at the scheduled times. It even suggests tweets for you if you find yourself lacking inspiration! Since using this I’ve found my followers increasing more quickly than before, and I’m also getting more engagement. I highly recommend Buffer!

I’m going to post my Twitter tips here and I hope that they will help some of you. Why not build up a series of tips related to your own business and see if they help to build your Twitter presence?

looking for a job? the majority of companies (>80%) now use social media as part of their recruitment.

don’t sit back & let everyone else tweet, jump in on a conversation, offer help, build your community & earn trust.

remember you can now add photos to your tweets in the update field – just click the camera icon. Photos get people interested!

more followers -> more reach for your tweets. Use search function, find people in your niche, follow & start conversations

Bear in mind a tweet has a very short lifetime. Approx. 90% of engagement happens within the 1st hour of tweeting.

link to your profile everywhere – Facebook, LinkedIn, your website/blog, email signature, biz card. Be easily found!

fill out your bio using the max. 160 chars. Who are you & what do you do? Include website link and a good head shot.

don’t tweet in textspeak – be creative and make best use of 140 characters, leaving a few for ReTweet

the ideal time to get retweeted is around 4pm EST (9pm GMT) on a Friday

Did you find these helpful? Please let me know in the comments, and feel free to add some of your own tips. Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter to get more tips!

You can contact me on 01777 249075
or by email at info@naomijohnsonsocialmedia.co.uk

Naomi Jane Johnson | 6 comments | Tags: business development, business growth, google, seo, social media, social media marketing, social media strategy, social networking, tweets, twitter

21 Jul 2011

blogging • business growth • facebook • google • linkedin • marketing • SEO • social media • social networking • twitter

Promote Your Business With Social Media – 5 Smart Tips

Chances are, if you’re in business, you’re aware of the “digital shift” that has taken place over the last 20 years or so. First it was the internet and email, then the world wide web – and now we have the social media revolution. Did your business set up a website 15 years ago along with thousands of others? It’s virtually unheard of nowadays for a business not to have its own website.

The last two years or so have seen a truly seismic shift, with an almost universal adoption of social media. But it’s no longer used just for “social” reasons – the various platforms represent a huge opportunity for businesses to promote and market themselves. Here are a few tips if you’re feeling left behind in the social stampede.

Find your voice – remember that social media is 21st century word of mouth, so be yourself – write as you’d speak to current or potential customers. Don’t put on an act.
Set up your Twitter account – begin to build a following. Follow key influencers in your niche and try to establish relationships. Always be subtle; don’t sell overtly. Tweet at least 6-8 times per day- keep people interested. No-one will follow an account that’s inactive.
Create a Facebook page for your business – add as much information as possible, using keywords appropriately. Include good photos of your products. Post at least 4 updates per week, and again keep things subtle; engage with your fans and ask them for feedback. Use the Questions app to create polls about topics relevant to your businesss.
Join LinkedIn – the premier B2B social network, but completely relevant for any business. It’s vital to complete your profile as fully as possible, including your previous work experience, education, and recommendations from clients. LinkedIn profiles rank very highly on Google – you do want to be found by potential clients, don’t you? Join relevant LinkedIn groups, take part in discussions, answer questions – begin to position yourself as an expert in your niche.
Create a blog – perhaps the most important of all. Your blog is your “home base” – where you should send people looking to find out what you do and what you can offer them. Link all your social media profiles to your blog and vice versa. (As you will notice I’ve done). Update your blog at least once a week, and always on a regular basis. This is vital for good SEO – fresh content always ranks highly. Remember to use keywords in your blog posts, titles, and tags.
Stop Press – get yourself an invite to Google Plus. The new social network launched at the end of June 2011 and already has well over 10 million users – the growth has been phenomenal and there are lots of very exciting features. As yet it’s not set up for business use, but this will be an imminent addition. If you would like an invite, let me know.

I hope the above points have given you a few ideas to get started on your social media adventure. If you’re still feeling confused and overwhelmed, I may be able to help!

And please feel free to let me know your top tips! Feedback is always very welcome.

You can contact me on 01777 249075
or by email at info@naomijohnsonsocialmedia.co.uk