Tag Archive for social networking

13 Feb 2012

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

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”.

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

Choose a category for your page

As you can see, there are 5 categories:

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.
Product or Brand – according to Google, this would include cars, financial services, clothing, electronics – food and drink brands would also come under this category.
Company, Institution or Organisation – also including charities and non-profit organisations
Arts, Entertainment or Sports – pretty self-explanatory (books, films, musicians, bands, athletes etc)
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)

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: business development, business growth, digital marketing, googl, google, google plus, search engine rankings, seo, small business, social media, social media marketing, social networking, youtube

26 Jan 2012

blogging • social media • social networking • twitter

Interview – Lilach Bullock, Social Networking Pioneer

Lilach – Mumpreneur Extraordinaire!

Lilach Bullock is a social networking pioneer, business consultant, mentor and personal brand expert. One of the most dynamic personalities in the world of UK social media, she is frequently credited with the accolade of being the first in the industry to actively leverage networking.

She launched and then sold her first business within three years of becoming a mother. Even now, she juggles a demanding home life with commercial commitments. Lilach’s contribution was recognised nationally, when she became a finalist at the Best MumPreneur of the Year Award, presented at Downing Street, where she was praised for her entrepreneurial efforts.

Lilach blogs over at http://www.socialable.co.uk

How did you get into the social media industry, did you have previous experience or work your way up?
I fell in love with social media in 2008 when I had my first business which I sold just over 2½ years ago. I immediately saw the potential of how social media can help businesses and offered social media marketing to my then clients. Whilst I didn’t have any prior experience I did (and still do) spend a lot of time researching how to use the various different social networking channels, and different tools available

What challenges have you found in the workplace?
That more and more people are jumping on the band wagon and are providing social media marketing services with very little experience/knowledge in the industry. A challenge which I’m finding increasing is people stealing my content and passing it off as their own.

How have you overcome those challenges?
I try and provide great content and always give value. I’m a great believer in practising what you preach and have a large network across all the social media channels. I think in any business it’s important to stand out and be different and work hard at building my brand and being as creative as I can be. I also spend a lot of time researching the latest trends and news and try and stay one step ahead of my competition.
Whilst I find it frustrating people copying me I’m learning to see it as flattery!

Who is your ideal customer?
I work with solo entrepreneurs, coaches, online businesses and some of my very best work has been with charities looking to boost their social media presence. Some of them are start up’s and therefore don’t have a social media presence whilst others have been in business a while and need to be leveraging social media.

How do you find them? What marketing tips do you have?
All my clients find me and are a mixture of referrals/recommendation as well as finding me online via many of my social networks together with my blog.
I spend a huge amount of time online and haven’t been to a network event since I sold my business. I find that I can get better results with my time online.
I also think that by having a good social media presence attracts people to me as they often ask me to create the same results for them!
In terms of marketing tips I recommend you don’t just do one method and test/measure which marketing methods give you the best results. You should never “put all your eggs in one basket” and that applies to your product/offerings, i.e. think about having multiple income streams and also your marketing methods. You never know what is going to happen and in business things change very quickly.
Remember that whilst social media is free it’s very time consuming to get effective results from and your time is essentially money.
If you’re new in business network like crazy but make sure it’s targeted, know your ideal client and how to reach them. Always do your competitive research and try and be different. Stand out, don’t be shy and don’t be afraid to be controversial.
My biggest tip of all is to give value and heaps of it. I get so much positive feedback from my blog for sharing loads of tips and that’s made a huge difference in terms of my content going viral, increasing traffic and ultimately getting sales.
Don’t be afraid to try new things and don’t be afraid to do “old school marketing” For example, writing letters (as oppose to sending emails) can often have better results.

What advice would you give to women starting out in business right now?
Set yourself goals of what you want to achieve within 6 months/a year. Find yourself a mentor who can help you, keep you focused, support and motivate you.Be prepared for things to go wrong, they inevitably do! Try and have a backup plan and set yourself realistic goals so that they’re achievable.Understand that a new business takes time, don’t believe and get lost in the hype of how easy it is to run a business. If it was that easy everyone would be doing it. Be prepared for lots of hard work.

Make sure you know your numbers and your business model works.

Take action! So many people attend webinars/buy products/events on how to run a business etc. but ultimately no amount of courses will make you money. You have to do this yourself, there is no magic wand. I see many people buy product after product, attend courses and before they know it, 6 months down the line they’ve spent a lot of money and haven’t achieved anything and all they have left is a case of information overload. So if you go on a course/buy a product take the time to follow up and apply it in your business before buying another one!

Do you have any hobbies?
Social Media?! Spending time with my family, I have a beautiful 7 year old daughter Emily. I love zumba when I have the time. Eating out is always a favourite, going to the Theatre and pre-Emily I used to love going to comedy clubs and have seen pretty much every UK comedian before they “made it”!

Many thanks to Lilach for this interview – I’m sure you’ll agree that she’s shared lots of invaluable advice – I shall certainly be referring back to it frequently! Don’t forget to head over to Lilach’s blog where you will find plenty more great tips and tricks

Naomi | No comments | Tags: blogging, social media, social media management, social media marketing, social networking, twitter

22 Jan 2012

facebook • linkedin • marketing • small business • social media • twitter

The Future of Social Media?

Back to the Past!

I recently read a thought-provoking blog post by Jeff Bullas, headlined “Why Social Media Will Disappear”. (great example of a headline that hooks you!) Basically the gist of it was that “social media” as we call it at the moment, will very shortly encompass all forms of media. Let’s explore this further.

Many of you reading this won’t remember the days of black and white television – those cathode ray tube TVs that measured about two feet from front to back, with a screen inches thick but only a foot across. You had to sit quite close to the screen to be able to see anything, but I can clearly remember “Watch with Mother” favourites such as “Bill and Ben the Flowerpot Men”, “Andy Pandy” and my real favourite “Muffin the Mule”. The arrival of colour TV in our house in the late 1960s was very exciting. But the most exciting TV experience of my childhood and teenage years was undoubtedly the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969 - we were on holiday in Cornwall and I watched it all on a tiny black and white TV!

First footprints on the moon

A few more of you might remember the famous BBC colour test card – apparently it lasted from 1967-1984.

Original BBC colour test card, 1967 - via Wikipedia

Back in those days, the only other things you could do while watching TV were sewing, knitting, eating or drinking (any others I’ve forgotten??) But just think what many of us do now – we have our laptops, tablets, or mobile phones with us, and we’re constantly interacting with friends to comment on what we’re seeing on screen. I’m not a fan of X Factor and during the last series I got quite annoyed on Saturday nights as my Facebook and Twitter feeds were taken over by the armchair critics! On the other hand, I’m sure I annoy a lot of people when I comment on tennis and rugby matches

Traditional vs “new” Media

Getting back to business as it were – in the 1960s, there was a limited range of media available for advertising / promotional purposes. Basically there were newspapers, magazines, radio, TV, cinema, and billboards. Apart from perhaps local papers, most of these would have been prohibitively expensive for a small business. Word of mouth would have been the best form of advertising – as it still is, to a large extent.

But, in addition to the above, let’s consider the range of media available in 2012:

CD
DVD
Internet radio
Podcasts
Blogs
Mobile websites
Apps
iTunes
Satellite TV & radio
Online video
Online magazines
Tablets
Smartphones
File sharing

When you think about it, in 2012, you really only need one device to access all these new forms of media – a smartphone or tablet. The number of people accessing traditional media will shrink dramatically – just look at the exponential increases in sales of devices such as the iPad! “I want it all and I want it now”, as the late great Freddie Mercury sang, has never been more true. We do want – and expect – instant access to news, weather, sport, films, music, books – and this is now possible.

Looking Forward…

Coming back to the title of this post – the future of social media is that social media will simply become “media”. In the blog post mentioned above, Jeff Bullas refers to “channels of convergence” and says that all media will need to be created with the “three screens” of TV, computer, and mobile in mind. Social media will become all-encompassing. Already, we’re able to share a huge amount of online information to a wide range of social networks. If you have no social sharing buttons on your website or blog nowadays, don’t expect many visitors! When I read a blog post I expect to be able to share it on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google Plus at the very least.

With this in mind, when we create media, we need to do so with the knowledge that it must be shareable across all possible social networks. More than ever, it’s vital for businesses to establish a presence on the major social networks and to maintain that presence by frequent interaction and engagement with their communities. And, more than ever, a business must create and maintain a central hub, i.e. its website and blog, to be the point from which all content is derived and shared.

Do you still find traditional media of value? Do you intend creating more shareable content in 2012? Let me know in the comments…..

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

Naomi | 2 comments | Tags: blogging, digital marketing, facebook, google plus, linkedin, social media, social media marketing, social networking, social sharing, twitter, word of mouth

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- 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: business development, business growth, social media, social media marketing, social networking

16 Sep 2011

facebook pages • facebook subscriptions • google • social media • social networking

Facebook Subscriptions

Facebook Subscriptions and Further Changes to Pages

Facebook has made 2 updates to its interface this week, as part of an ongoing campaign to improve the experience for all users.

Firstly, Facebook Subscriptions. There is now an option to subscribe to personal profiles – without becoming a friend of that individual. This will benefit public figures, journalists, politicians, celebrities etc, who might want their updates seen by a wider audience. Remember there is a limit of 5000 “friends” per personal profile, but there is no limit on Facebook Subscriptions.

Subscriptions are NOT intended to replace Pages – the functionality is different. But there’s no reason why individuals should not use both subscriptions and pages. Here’s a summary of the differences between Facebook Subscriptions and Pages:(click picture to enlarge)

According to Facebook,

“A profile with subscribers is ideal if you want to personally connect with people who are interested in you.
It’s fun to receive updates from friends and others that you want to subscribe to. And it’s easy to publish to your subscribers on the go. Anyone who subscribes to your profile can receive your public posts in their News Feed”.

and on the differences between Subscriptions and Pages, they say:

“Pages have advanced marketing features for managing your brand or business on Facebook.
Pages can be maintained by multiple people on your team. They offer insights to understand who your fans are, and let you target posts by language and location. (For example: Tell only fans in New York about your show there next week.)You can also promote Pages with Facebook Ads and Sponsored Stories.”

Worried about your subscribers seeing all your updates (some of which may not be suitable for “public” consumption”)? No need to be! Subscribers will only see the updates you share publicly; you still have the option to set who sees your updates at the time of posting. Subscribers can also choose exactly what type and how many of your public updates they actually receive.

I’ve already set my profile to accept subscriptions and am looking forward to getting updates from people I’d never expect to be friends with. Will you be trying this out?

A Facebook Page

The second major update this week affects Facebook Pages. Last night it was announced that you no longer need 25 “likes” to obtain a short (“vanity”) URL for your Page. This is great news. It means that a business can get a Page up and running quickly, choose a URL and then use it on business cards, website, email / forum signatures, advertising etc. No more having to beg for people to like the Page! However, it would appear that you do still need 30 Likes to get access to Page Insights (analytics). At least you don’t have to worry too much about getting these in a rush!

And yet another update I noticed today….. If you click on the above screenshot of my Facebook Page, you’ll see, as well as the usual updates on the wall, “view 1 share”. This allows the page owner to see instantly who has shared their content. Seems a good idea to me!

The general consensus amongst the social media illuminati is that Facebook has introduced these updates to ensure that the platform is closer in functionality to a potentially massive competitor – Google Plus. With the improvements offered by these tweaks, Facebook afficionados now have no real reason to desert!

What do you think? Do you like the latest Facebook updates? I’d love to hear your comments.

PS _ I wrote this post on September 15th and published today, September 16th. And already we’re seeing yet more updates to the Facebook interface. This article from Simply Zesty gives an excellent summary.

Need help promoting your business via social media? Get started by contacting me on 01777 249075
or by email at info@naomijohnsonsocialmedia.co.uk

Naomi | 2 comments | Tags: facebook, facebook pages, facebook subscriptions, facebook updates, google, google plus, social media, social media management, social media marketing, social media strategy, social networking, social profiles

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

26 Aug 2011

facebook • marketing • SEO • social media

12 Simple Ways To Freshen Up Your Facebook Page

Is Your Page Looking Stale?

My recent post proved very popular, so here’s a follow-up on the subject of Facebook Pages…..

Although you’re probably posting regular updates on your Page, it can be difficult to maintain your community’s interest and get them interacting and participating in conversations. While it’s good to keep content on your page mainly relevant to your industry or niche, there’s no harm in going off-topic and posting something light-hearted now and then. Here’s a few suggestions.

Make sure you use every category of status update – text, links, photos and videos. (obviously not all at once!)
Always remember to reply when someone comments; engage in conversation whenever possible.
“Like” other pages (related to your business) as your page; mention and thank them if they return the favour.
Always post “breaking news” updates relevant to your industry or niche; fans will return more often if they know your page is a good place to get up to date information.
DON’T automate posting of your blog articles or tweets to Facebook. This can result in your updates being aggregated with others from the same automation tool so that they aren’t always visible in news feeds.
Post updates that mention Facebook, especially if relevant to your business. After all, Facebook is the most shareable topic on Facebook!
Use albums to post photos, rather than posting individually – and remember that Facebook only displays up to 3 photos in a status update.
Use the photo caption space to ask a question, e.g. “Where do you think this photo was taken?”
Start a regular feature. e.g. a useful tip posted every Monday.
Celebrate “this day in history” and post what happened on a specific day. A google search will help out!
Ask a question using Facebook’s Questions app. This can be a simple yes/no, or why not ask your community “what’s your favourite TV show” – lots of options here!
Include links in text status update and not the links box. The update will display the link as clickable in addition to the normal title, photo, and meta description of the link. At a minimum this allows an additional opportunity for a fan to click the link. These links stand out as different and can get clicked on more.
Run a contest or publish a coupon (beware – Facebook has strict guidelines on doing this.
Use your Page Insights to target specific demographic groups for relevant status updates (e.g. female fans only)
Ask for Likes – tell fans to “click like” if they agree with a statement.

Need help with setting up a Facebook Page for your business? You can contact me on 01777 249075
or by email at info@naomijohnsonsocialmedia.co.uk

Naomi | 2 comments | Tags: facebook, facebook pages, seo, social media, social media management, social media strategy, social networking, video

12 Aug 2011

blogging • facebook • google plus • linkedin • marketing • SEO • social media • social networking • twitter

6 Ways To Get Your Blog Noticed

Does your business have a blog? If not, is there a particular reason? A well-maintained blog is a most effective way of generating traffic to your website, whatever your line of business. If you haven’t made the effort yet, you’re likely to be missing out.

If on the other hand, you’re one of the smart people that’s aware of the major advantages offered by a blog, here’s a few tips to ensure yours stays in the spotlight!

Update your Blog regularly: Visitors won’t come back to a neglected blog. Keep them interested and add fresh content as frequently as is comfortable for you. Once a week is as good as anything. Don’t forget that search engines love blogs because they’re usually updated frequently – fresh content is SEO gold!
Use keywords in your Blog posts: More SEO ammunition – aim for a keyword density of around 2% in each post, also use keywords in your image alt and title tags, headings etc.
Topicality and Relevance: If you can write about a topical news item, and relate it to your industry, you’re laughing! A recent example would be the UK riots – it was quite easy for me to write a post about this and relate it to social media — many of my colleagues did the same.
Brand your Blog: Ideally, integrate your blog into your website so that users just have to click a link in the navigation menu. If you use WordPress as I do, this is simplicity itself. If this isn’t possible and your blog is on an external site, at least match the colours, fonts, logos etc. so visitors don’t feel confused.
Use Social Sharing: Offer visitors the opportunity to share your posts on a variety of social networks – the main ones being Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, but now Google Plus is more or less essential too, and also consider Digg, StumbleUpon, Delicious and Reddit. Various WordPress plugins are available to make this very simple, or many of the social sites themselves offer widgets to integrate into your blog.
Invite Guest Bloggers: A blog benefits from fresh input from time to time – why not ask other bloggers in your industry to share their work? It benefits both of you by generating links (another vital component of SEO)

Do you have any great tips for keeping a blog fresh and visible? Let me know in the comments!

Need help with setting up a blog? You can contact me on 01777 249075
or by email at info@naomijohnsonsocialmedia.co.uk

Naomi | One comment | Tags: blogging, facebook, google, google plus, linkedin, search engine rankings, seo, social media, social networking, social sharing, twitter, UK riots

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