Do you remember the saying “If you build it, they will come” from the movie Field of Dreams?  Well that might have worked for a “baseball field in Iowa”, but it doesn’t work for the internet. In fact, you can have the most amazing, beautiful, informative website and yet get no traffic at all. It’s like printing business cards and then never passing them out.  

Social media is the fast, easy and inexpensive way to get customers.  Savvy business owners have to know and use a variety of social media networks in order to “shake hands with the public” and to stay informed about the latest interests and needs of consumers.

Here are the 7 most important social networks to bring traffic to your website:

1.  Facebook

Facebook is definitely the largest and most popular networking site on the web right now with over a billion users. A Facebook business page is used to advertise products and services, inform your “friend” or “like” base of special deals, new products, events at your business, etc.  You can also upload photos and videos to entertain or educate your customers.   

2.  LinkedIn

Anyone who needs to make professional connections should be on LinkedIn. Known as the social network for your career, you can promote yourselves and your businesses, outline your education and work experience and make connections with other professionals. Meeting customers, get in touch with vendors, recruit new employees, write articles, and keep up with the latest in industry news.

3.  Twitter

Like Facebook, Twitter has become a top source for real-time news sharing. It is the simplest of all social media platforms, with messages limited to 140 characters, and the added ability to share photos and links.  Use Twitter to give a “shout out” to your friends and customers about a current special – “30% off to the next 5 people who come to my store”, “Just got a new shipment of Beanie Babies!”, “Tonight is Taco Tuesday!”

4.  Google+

Google+ is the second largest social networking site, which has personal profiles for posting status updates, photos and videos, as well as “Circles” and “Communities” for sharing

information with different groups of people. Google combined the best of Facebook and Twitter into one site.  You can add new content, highlight topics with hashtags, and even separate contacts into circles.

5.  YouTube

Where does everyone go to watch or share video content online? It’s obviously YouTube. YouTube is now owned by Google and is tied right into your Google+ account. Create your own “Channel” and post videos about your business and the products or services you offer.

6.  Pinterest

Pinterest is a giant, inspirational, virtual bulletin board. To use this for your business, collect inspirational photos that relate to your products or services.   Are you a public speaker?  Post inspirational saying on posters. Own a coin store, a bakery, a massage business?  Post photos that inspire people to seek your business out and connect with you.

7.  Instagram

Instagram is like a visual Twitter.  It’s the ultimate social network for sharing real-time photos and short videos while on the go.  If you have new products, a party at your store, a busy night at your restaurant?  Snap a photo or shoot a video and post it on Instagram. Let your potential customers know that your place is the place to be.

The post Social Media…Who Needs it? appeared first on Websites by Robyn.

The reality is that you don’t have to spend hours perfecting your writing skills. You just need to write less, and style your content to be read easily so it attracts and holds people’s attention.

People are impatient. They want information quick, organized and easy to read.

If your subject is complex, break it up into a series of subtopic posts. Structure your paragraphs in the inverted pyramid style. This means stating your conclusion first, then supporting it with the sentences that follow. This helps readers to move from point to point, and decide where they’d like to dive in deeper.

Once you’ve done that, use the following easy design techniques to make your content reader-friendly.

1. Line breaks  

Feature a point per paragraph and keep them to one to three sentences.  

2.  Subheads  

You can write out your headline and subheads first in order to outline the content you want to cover. A strong headline is vital to getting readers to come check you out in the first place. And solid subheads keep the reader engaged, acting as “mini headlines” to keep them moving through the rest of your content.

3. Bulleted and numbered lists

• They are easy to scan through for content.
• It’s a great way to present multiple points.
• They look different from the rest of your text, so they provide a visual break for your reader.
  1. Numbers are an incredibly effective way to both capture attention and to keep the reader oriented.
  2. Number your main points.

4. Relevant links

Internal links back to your own content will keep people on your site and reading your best material.

External links demonstrate that you’ve researched the topic and want to highlight other experts.

5. Formatting

Making important concepts bold brings emphasis to particular points you want to make.  You readers will be able to scan through and pick out the most important information at a glance.

The post 5 Easy Ways to Get More People to Read Your Blog appeared first on Websites by Robyn.

The Steps:

    Step 1: Go to www.LinkedIn.com and start filling in the blanks for a new profile.
Use your common email address as a secondary and use your business email for your primary (you don’t want business contacts to find you at your college email address at ILOVESPRINGBREAK89 @ hotmail.com), but you need to have an email on file that you will always be able to access.
    Step 2: Upload your picture. Many people will not accept connection invitations if they do not see a picture. They may not recognize the name among the hundreds they met at a recent convention without a picture. The picture should be appropriate for business. LinkedIn pictures don’t have to be overly formal, but they do need to be something better than your best at-the-gym picture.

    Step 3: Add a tag, or a description to your name if you have a very common name. I have a very common name, so I add “Leadership Expert” after my name. It sounds a bit pretentious (I was uncomfortable doing that until a friend of mine told me that there were thousands of Mary Kellys out there (thanks Mom and Dad) and he couldn’t find me), so I added the tag to my last name and voila!  My connections increased because my friends and contacts found me.
    Step 4: Use your resume and background to build great content. Fill in the blanks of your education and work experience. Be interesting. Bullets for your summary are a great way to provide concise, eye-catching information.
    Side note: I don’t recommend starting a profile (or a website) with a video. Two reasons: 1) it takes time to load, and most people won’t wait; 2) unless you are very interesting (like Henry Kissinger) or very funny (like The O’Shea Report ), no one wants to spend that time watching you introduce yourself.
    Step 5: Get some high-quality recommendations. Go to the recommendations tab at the top and ask some of your trusted colleagues for recommendations specific to you as a professional. For example, comments such as “Mary is great!” or “Mary was wonderful!” sound nice, but they do not describe what I do, or the value I provide to a business client.
    “Mary provided timely economic expertise and leadership advice that allowed us to increase productivity immediately. Mary’s advice saved us $567,000 for the year” is a much stronger recommendation.
Ask your recommenders to focus on the results you provide.
    If you are a roofer, ask customers to describe your GREAT service as a roofer. “Ken’s prompt response and accurate estimate was indicative of the fast, quality work that his company provided. He and his team were on time, polite, and trustworthy. They got the job done on time and under budget.”
    If you are a lawyer, request that your clients describe the characteristics that make you a GREAT lawyer. “Cris is smart, responsive, personable, and knows she the law. She drafted a will and trust package that covered all of our family’s many issues, AND she was affordable! She earned our trust and confidence.”
    Step 6: Join groups of your peers. In the upper right corner is a search box. To the left of that are options with an arrow. Click on the groups and then search for your business interests, your alumni organizations, and your business peers. Join groups to allow you to connect with the other members of those groups. Increase your interaction in LinkedIn groups and get to know what others are doing in your field.
    Step 7: Join the groups that your clients join. This allows you to understand the concerns of your customer base, and then you can provide solutions in the group discussion areas, which increases both your presence and your credibility.
    Step 8: Use the applications. My favorites are the book list and the slideshare functions. The book list lets you type in the name of a book, select the book’s cover, and make comments about the book. I also like this function to feature some of my favorite authors and friends. The slideshare function is an easy upload for large presentation. This lets people share presentations and notes that otherwise might be too large to email. There is also a travel application that lets your network know where you are going, leading to simple coordination and more opportunities for meetings.
    Step 9: Be the expert. Use the answers function in the upper right box. Click on answers, and type in your topic of expertise. When the questions appear, provide an answer and include your website. You become a known subject matter expert and others get the benefit of your wisdom.
    Step 10: Enjoy your online connections! Thanks to social media, we can connect with people all over the world. LinkedIn is a terrific way to find lost friends and to stay in touch with new ones. (Next month: How to increase connections) I hope you have fun with social media!

The post How to Build a Great LinkedIn Profile appeared first on Websites by Robyn.

Social media is an important part of marketing as well as a great way to listen to your customers. Social media gives you and your products attention, drives fans to your website and generates leads.

People shop and search for information at all hours of the day. Social media allows you to market while you sleep. You have a website, but it is not enough. 85% of customers expect businesses to be active in social media and 36% of people trust companies more when they have a social presence.

This means if your competitors are active in social media and you are not, you are going to lose a significant share of your market.

Many marketers feel they are playing catch up in the social media game if they jumped in late or resisted the trend, leaving many business leaders to wonder, “What does a company really need to do and how do you “do” social media effectively?” Answer: You need a plan.

Your social media checklist, with annotations:

Facebook – a fan page or a group. You need this for your business, brand or key product to have a presence. You can run promotions, ask questions and solicit feedback from your customers. Oreo, the cookie, has a Facebook page with 27,000,000 Likes. People visit this page and make comments on how they feel. (Yes, I know. It is a just a cookie, for Pete’s sake.)

Twitter – for your company or brand. You can test products, promote products, discuss industry trends, and connect with potential buyers. Search engines are recognizing Twitter and real time data so Twitter cannot be ignored.

Pinterest– This is the fastest growing site, so jump on it. Yes, it looks like a bunch of bored teenagers got together and put up pictures. It is also a viral magnet. Pinterest is growing fast, only behind Facebook and Twitter. According to Ken Barber of the Denver Business Journal (Aug 12, 2012) a PriceGrabber.com study showed that 21 percent of Pinterest users purchased directly from Pinterest.com, and their average order value was more than double that of Facebook-driven sales.

YouTube – people love video, so create what you think is worth sharing. Funny videos work really well, because people want to be entertained. What’s funny about your business, product, customers or industry? What can you poke fun at or parody?

If you’re not funny (or if humor is not right for your business), don’t despair. How-to and instructional videos are also wildly popular. People want to be informed as well as entertained. How can you demonstrate your expertise? What problems can you show your prospects how to solve?

Also consider video interviews, videos of your products in action, time-lapse videos of your services being performed, video tours of your facility and any other way you can use this versatile medium.

LinkedIn– if you are in business and you are serious, you need a LinkedIn profile. LinkedIn has a tutorial that walks you through how to create one. LinkedIn is where business people screen other business people by seeing their resumes, people in common, and recommendations. You can also link your blog, add videos and even post products for sale right on your profile.

Hint: Get recommendations on the characteristics that people want when they think about hiring you. For example, a doctor should be knowledgeable, a good listener, and exhibit genuine concern. An electrician is going to be thorough, careful, and meticulous. You get the idea.

Google+ – was started by Google for their employees and they really don’t seem to care much about making it commercial. Google + is particularly helpful for business groups who share information in teams or for families who don’t want every detail of their lives all over Facebook.

Klout – measures how “influential” you are in social media. Your influence is measured via an algorithm (which no one knows) that factors in the size of your following, your social media activity and the actions others take in response to your postings. You can increase your klout score by commenting on other people’s online conversations and by posting interesting tidbits that others find worth liking and sharing.

Blogs– are handy to keep fresh information on your Facebook page and on your website. The search engine spiders like fresh information, so having content as a blog is helpful. Many shoppers and businesses look for the latest trends and blogging shows that you pay attention in your industry. Not blogging is like being a hair stylist and displaying hair style from the 1980s on your website. Okay, an exaggeration but you get the idea. Bottom line: Businesses that blog get 55% more web visitors and 67% more leads than businesses that don’t.

Source: Mary Kelly, PhD improves profit growth.  More articles and information are at  www.ProductiveLeaders.com

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