Pin Plus Interests equals Pinterest purchased from iStockPhoto.com

So, everybody seems to have a post about Pinterest. My post is a Pinterest poll, to find out when you are using this “newish” and fast-growing social media site, and if you are not yet using it, plus a short description for folks who are new to the site, and a few how to tips for all.

Why am I interested? I’ve been asking if people are using Pinterest at various meetings and events (not geeky events, but like at my pottery class) and LOTS of people are saying yes I use it and I love it. More so than other new or hot sites in the past. So I’m curious.

Here’s the Poll Link:  When do you use Pinterest? http://poll.fm/3jug4

What is Pinterest?

Skip this if you are on it already, or read it and comment below if you would describe it differently.

Pinterest is a cross between a social media site and a bookmarking tool (like delicious.com) for webpages and images on the web – but VISUAL and easy to use. When you find an image or webpage you want to remember and/or share with others, you use their little tool, a “pin it” button, to select the image you want to pin, then it opens your Pinterest page, and you virtually “Pin” the image and a link to the site you pinned it from to a virtual cork board – under whatever category or title you think fits.  This is all easier to do than it might seem from this description. Here is the Help page with lots of simple info about how the site http://pinterest.com/about/help/

When you login to pinterest, you see the most recent images/website links pinned by those people that you have selected to follow on pinterest. And those who follow you, see what you pinned. If you like something – click it and check out the original blog post or product behind the pin. You can also just “like” the Pin, or re-pin it to one of your own boards.

Why would you use Pinterest?

That is a subject for another post, but I use it to book mark interesting sites so I can find them later, to collect images that appeal to me or interest me; I’m a photographer by hobby. I am also using it to let people know who I am as a person, not just as a PR/Social media consultant; as a break from my work day; and I am learning to use it so I can help clients use it for their businesses. To find me there go to Pinterest.com/cathylarkin

Look for a future post with links to some of the best posts out there on Pinterest – the pros and cons. Some artists and bloggers love it – it drives traffic and new customers or readers to their sites, other artists ans bloggers hate it and see it as a way that others can steal their images or work. It’s complicated, but the huge surge in popularity has put it in the forefront of social media sites. Here is a link to my @Pinterest board of articles on Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/cathylarkin/pinterest-how-to-info/

Pinterest Tips:

Be sure to bookmark the actual product page or blog post on the site, not the homepage. On some sites there are several items or images or blog posts on that home page. If you just hit pin this, and select an image, although it looks like you posted a specific image and link, you’ve posted the image, and a link to the home page. If I am that blogger and I write three more posts, then your pin get’s disconnected from that post. so always click the headline of a post, then pin the image from that page.

If you go on a pinning binge, try and vary the subject a bit - otherwise you might fill the welcome screen of your followers with all of those ice cream recipes and make them so hungry that they unfollow you. Pin a few ice cream recipes, then a few cute cats 9or whatever else you like), then back to ice cream etc.

At first you will follow people, and all their boards, to get started, but begin to be selective, follow selected individual boards of a person - the things that you also like or think are interesting. And if you have kids who use your computer (or are using this for business), be aware that one person’s taste in art may include tasteful (or less so) nudes, and one person’s funny or humor board, may shock you or make you raise your eyebrows. So my advice is to be selective. Everything is public on Pinterest, tehre are no private boards,and others can see the boards you choose to follow.

If you are a blogger or sell products on the internet be sure to get the “Pin it” button for your site: here’s the link: http://pinterest.com/about/goodies/ – although several social share plugins for wordpress sites have already added the Pin it button to their services.

Pinterest is still in Beta, and invite only, but it is faster to get an invite by asking someone who is on the site to send you one. If you want an invite , just leave a ask for one in the comments below and I’ll send one to your email address.

Share your pinterest tips, times you use the site, if you love it, hate it or don;t get it.

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Take a Step Back – Look at the Big Picture Once in a While:

Small biz owners can get so caught up in the day to day biz operations we need to occasionally take a step back from our work, and from the lure of social media and blogging (or avoidance of same) and think a few things through. Take some time to really identify your ideal customers and clients, and your secondary groups. Think through their needs, interests, and WIFFM (What’s In It For Me). For more on this see my post: Social Media and blogging can turn cold calls into warm leads.
Do Your Customer Homework with Pew, Nielsen or Hubspot Demographics
Try not to make assumptions – don’t assume they aren’t on Facebook or Twitter. look up key terms to see who’s talking about them. Check the online demographics research from sites like Pew Online Research Center (example: 65% of online adults use social networking sites) or Nielsenwire (example: What Americans Do Online – Social Media, Blogs and game dominate). and Hubspot.com Example: 12 Mind-Blowing Statistics Every Marketer Should Know.

DIY Customer Research:
You might even create a free online survey of your own (you can use Survey Monkey or Zoomerang or do a Facebook or LinkedIn Poll), send it to your email list – you do have one don’t you? Or create an in-person/on paper survey if you have a bricks and mortar operation, or if you attend trade shows (or for the #handmade crowd, if you attend craft shows, or wholesale marketplaces).

• Ask your customers what they like about your product
• What makes yours unique, memorable, useful, fun etc.
• Ask what they would like to see more of, less of, new features, new styles or colors etc.
• Ask them if they use Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, blogs and how often.
• Do they read newspapers, magazines, books, ebooks, on kindle or iPad?
• Ask if they research items to buy online.
• Ask what their hobbies are. You might find you have a lot of golfers who love your hand creme, so you could develop packaging that takes advantage of that, as an example.

Tie Your Research Back Into Your Blog and Twitter:
Like digging in the rich compost next spring, turn what you have learned into fuel for your blog and social media sites. What three to five topics interest your customers, one of them may be ways to use your products, or how your items are made, or gardening or in my case,my customers want to hear about PR, Twitter/Facebook/LinkedIn, blogging & small business.

My Ratio of Social Media Activity – 60:20:10:10 -
My rough ratio of social media activity is:

• Make 60% of your tweets, updates & convo about them – your customer’s or client’s interests, needs, WIFFM;
• 20% who you are – tell your story, your hobbies, make your brand human;
• 10% sales messages – Twitter connections often come to you after a while – w/o your pitching them…if they like what they see. But don’t be afraid to remind them that you are in the business occasionally. be clever about it too.
• & at least 10% fun or randomness. At one point I followed 1 random person a day, some of them turned into customer, friends and sources of good info.

With social media, as in any networking event, you never know if that one random person you strike up a conversation with, turns into your next big referral. It’s kind of like a highball drink over ice – 60 % is the ice cubes, 20 % is the tasty beverage, 10% is the lemon or lime twist, and 10 percent is when you put it altogether and share it with someone else. Yeah…kinda like that. And if you notice the image above – each drink is made a bit differently, my ideal ratio might not be your (or your customer’s)…cup of tea!

This is just a guide and it is roughly what I try to follow, or suggest for others to try if you are not sure what direction to go on Twitter.

Tomorrow I’ll post a link to the transcript of #HandmadeChat, a conversation with a bunch of folks on Twitter (I was the guest/expert) where we talked in detail about this topic. Lots of good info there too.

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1. Social Media And Blogging For Business Can Turn Cold Calls Into Warm Leads
2. Tips for Connecting the Social Media Dots
3. How To Create a Social Media PR Plan

How Twitter Lists work

To use your lists, once set up – just select the list you want to see from the lists tab. Instead of showing you the most recent tweets from all of your followers, it shows you only the recent tweets from those people who are on that list.  Hit Home to go back to your main view of the recent tweets from all of those you follow. Lists allow you to focus in on those whose tweets you most don’t want to miss, and to group people who provide certain types of info you think is useful, for easy reference. (see post links at the end for more on using lists).

A similar feature has been available on some of the third-party tools such as Tweetdeck and Seesmic for a while, but Twitter now has it’s own version. To date, it seems like you can have a maximum of 20 lists (I kinda “geeked out” and created the max already). This feature is more useful the more people you follow on Twitter. BTW – you do not have to follow someone to put them on a list.

How to create a Twitter list (as of current writing – features do change over time):

1. Decide on the name of your list
   1. This name can be changed later.
   2. There is a limit on list name length – balancing short with telling us what it’s about is best. You can tweet and share your public lists with others.
   3. I’ve seen many people with “must follows, ” friends,” “social media,” PR, “small business” etc
   4. Think about how you will use your lists, see below for ideas.
   5. I have a friends lists so I don’t miss the tweets of those: I’ve interacted with on Twitter, those I’ve met in person, and those who I’ve talked with on the phone etc, (I’ve made this a private list – so someone isn’t miffed that they aren’t on it). It also have a clients list and a prospect list – also private. Since I’ve followed so many people back, and don’t always catch their tweets, and this list makes it much easier. I also have a PR peeps list, and social media follows list, moms on Twitter, small business etc.
2. Decide if each twitter list will be public or private
   1. You can make your list private, so that only you know who is on your list (but be aware – nothing is really private on the internet, things can get hacked, or a problem with the site can make it unprivate; I’m just saying.)
   2. You can make each list public. This means that it will show on your profile page the name of the various lists you have, and who is on each list – other people can see who is on this list, and even “follow the list” which adds your list to their page of lists.
3. Find people to add to your list – see below
4. If you click on a person’s Twitter username (in your Twitter stream/timeline or from the who you follow/your followers pages) – and when you see their profile – you click the down arrow in the little gray box (it kinda looks like a bulleted list). Then you create a list – as above. That person you selected is now on that list. Once you have a few lists created, you then check or uncheck the box next to a person’s name to add or remove them from a list.

For more ideas on how to use Twitter lists to be more effective on Twitter – please see my two guest posts on the topic:

• Cathy Larkin Shares How to Effectively Use Twitter Lists http://twitterandyourwebsite.com/cathy-larkin-shares/
• More Advice From Cathy Larkin on Using Twitter Lists http://twitterandyourwebsite.com/twitter-lists-second-post/

both by Phyllis Zimbler Miller.

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Social media and blogging are not usually an immediate short-term fix, but together they can form a robust strategy that has worked over time for myself, and many others, to gain clients and/or customers. I have personally gotten business, and good paying business, from connections made through social media and blogging, as well as from the various activity I engage in online. Of course any social media activity should be integrated into your other marketing efforts – oops, you don’t have a marketing plan? Well that’s fodder for another post, but trust me – social media needs to be one piece of what you do to connect your business with customers and clients, but it should not be the only thing, nor should it be isolated and separate from your business activities. See the section below on integrating social media into your biz or more of those details.

How can social media bring in warm leads for you business?

My readers may be tired of hearing me say this but it starts with knowing your customer. And by knowing your customer, yes their demographics can be a good foundation, but I’m really talking about learning what they want and need to know about – that your company, your business services, (knowledge, products and information) can help them solve their problems and reach their goals. Think of how you can become a resource that they can look to for help in those areas.

Identify 3-5 topics they need to know about that are within your company’s area of expertise. Design your content (Website copy / blog posts and titles; social media profiles, messages, and activity; comments you make on other’s blogs; brochures; services etc) around those categories of information. What are your clients or customer’s pain points, and be a resource for easing their pain. And be consistent, focus your online content around these topics, mixing in some of your interests and personality – so you become a real person – not just a faceless brand they can’t identify with

To make a long story shorter, if you write blog posts about one of those topics of most interest to your customers and prospective clients, and send those posts out into the world with good SEO, and supportive social media activity ( for example answering a related question on LinkedIn, tweeting additional tips on the topic, retweeting or posting to your Facebook Fan page an article from someone else that highlights a different aspect of the topic etc). Existing clients will begin to think of you more often in relation to those subjects and will be predisposed to hiring you when it comes time to buy. Prospective customers will also become interested in hearing more from you on a topic, and will begin “warming up” by connecting with you via their favorite social networking site, or signing up for your e-newsletter or the RSS feed of your blog. Your unique perspective on these selected, focused topics is a part of why they may (or may not) choose you. I have found that in addition to turning cold calls into warm ones….that often this type of activity actually spurs clients and prospects to call you…That’s what I call a hot prospect!

How to Integrating Social Media Into My Small Business? You ask…

Social media should be integrated into a business both online and offline. It should be

• on your business cards (maybe only mention the main site where you are most active, or better yet where most of your clients are active)
• on your website/blog (which should also be on your card. There are great plugins and widgets to provide links to your active social sites),
• mentioned (when appropriate) at the networking events you attend
• on your press releases
• in your brochures and other printed materials
• in your ebooks and other informational products
• in your bio that you use in printed materials, for speaking engagements, and online bios/profiles
• and in your “about” or “contact us” page of your site
• it should also be in your enewsletters
• in your on-site, in store displays

People want to connect where they feel comfortable – so why not make it easy for them. But, if you have a Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn (or other) account – but aren’t using it at least weekly – you might want to remove it – most importantly from your online links. No on wants to “like” a Facebook page, with one irrelevant post on it.

These step don’t have to be done all at once, but the more steps you implement, the more often you connect the dots – via social media & blogging – between you and your audience and potential customers, the warmer your next client / customer / sales calls will be. As I said – they may even call you…

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Related posts:

1. Tips for Connecting the Social Media Dots
2. How To Create a Social Media PR Plan

Link to #BtrBlogNov intro post: http://bit.ly/jmSOM

Link to #BtrBlogNov Week 1 Exercises: http://bit.ly/dffN5

Link to Twitter list of people who re giving it a try: http://bit.ly/4iLz2Z

Reminder of main monthly BetterBlog November goals:

To over one month, create a better blog – Focusing on ways to:

1. Create better quality blog posts

2. Increase the quantity of blog posts

3. Either increase the Range or the

1. Diversity of blog posts or

2. The focus of our blog posts, depending on which our site needs most

Today’s exercises are the second step in putting the basic structure behind your blog, that will help improve your blog posts . I promise – after this one, the rest are all about blogging directly. If working behind the scenes isn’t your cup of tea, please give it on more shot – it’ll probably only take a half  hour.

Closely aligned with reviewing your blogging goals, is the questions of audience/readers/community:  who are you writing for? This question is really two parts – the first is who are you hoping or trying to write for – who do you want to read your blog. The second is who is actually reading your blog. So the next task is to review our audience, readers, the community we are perhaps trying to build. Who is reading our blog, and are they who we had hoped to attract, or who we hope to attract in light of our refined blogging goals from week one.

We may need to adjust our blog posts to both meet those goals and reach the audience we want. Just like with our goals, you may find that you have several audience/community segments. Again, just like the goals, you may feel the need to prioritize them.

For some of us, our audience may be small, in this case a shift is fairly easy. For others, who have either been blogging for quite a while, or who hit a popular topic and promoted it quickly, that can be more complicated. Some folks may have begun blogging about one aspect of a subject, and either became very specialized and focused, or became very diverse – writing about all aspects of a subject, or even strayed far and wide from your core topic. Neither one of these realities is necessarily bad, if your audience loves it, and it is meeting your goals – keep doing what you’re doing. Others may find that their new goals may not match their existing audience, some may never have thought about who they want to read their blog, others may find the fit between goals and audience/community works just fine.

So the exercise Part one:

• Take a few minutes, review your blogging goals and in light if that, jot down a few bullet points about your intended readers, audience and/or community.
• You may find that they are perfectly aligned with your goals. You may find the goals and audience are way off. If this the case, and the audience is strong – perhaps you need to reevaluate the goals – you may have found niche audience that you didn’t mean to attract – but if they are there – I would take them into account.
  

I can hear some readers asking how do we figure out about our audience. One measure is comments and social media mentions.So the exercise Part 2:

• Are you getting comments on your blog, and do they reflect who you thought would be commenting.
  • If you are not getting comments, it may not be because your blog writing isn’t strong or focused, it may be that your promotion of your blog has not been effective, or your topic has a lot of competition. DO NOT DESPAIR: These are issues we will tackle later on in this series.
  • If you have comments, are they consistent? Do all of your posts get them, or only a few? Are there any patterns – does one type of post resonate more with your readers than others. Ar e there some post that get many comments
  • Looking at discussions on social networking platforms that you participate in is another form of audience. Do your posts get retweeted on Twitter – take a look at who retweets them; or do you get comments on Facebook? Do client prospects read your blog posts on LinkedIn and then contact you for business  (which has happened to me)?
• Do you ave an analytics package on your blog – either google analytics, WP stats etc. If so, take a look. See if you can find out how people are finding you. What kewords are they using to find your posts. Are they coming from another person’s blog, or from Twitter or face book. Looking at your statistics can help tell you somethings about your audience. Are your blog posts being picked up by Google? Do people find your posts through organic searches.
• Have you set up your RSS feed and allowed people to sign up or subscribe to receive your blog posts via RSS, and via email. If so, have you looked at Google’s Feedburner (or other program) stats? Again, if you don’t have many, don’t despair. It’s not about numbers, it’s about starting somewhere and building on what you have today. For those who don’t ‘get’ RSS readers – it is a free service that allows people to sign up and receive your blog posts as they come out using a free piece of software called a feed reader – kind o like a magazine rack our on the internet (or via email if you set it up that way too).

Extra Credit Exercise number one: Review your Blog Assets. In light of defining/refining your blogging goals and your audience, take a step back and look at your blog as a whole. Does the blog itself support these goals and work to attract your intended audience.

• Does your blog header and tagline reflect your goals and will it attract the audience you want?
• Do your blog post categories also reflect your goals and will it attract the audience you want?
• Do the static pages on your site, if you have them, reinforce those goals and work to attract your audiences or build that community?

Better Blog November Resources and Extra Credit number two: If you are hankering to get on with the blogging part of things, which will come on Wednesday, take a look at Chris Brogan’s list of 100 blog posts I hope you’ll write. As you read his list, use your new blog ideas  file and/or notebook (from week one) and jot down ideas that occur to you that will fit your revised blogging A goals and your renewed audience appreciation.

Note: In my first Better Blog November post I mentioned a character who often gets in the way of our blog post writing, her name is Resistance. Between a busy week and fighting an oncoming cold, I let Miss Resistance step in the way of my second post last week. But, as I also mentioned in my intro post, if you fall off the Better Blog November wagon, just hop back on board. So I am taking my own advice and ignoring her, even if I’m a little late. Thanks for hanging in there!

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2. Better Blog Month – November Intro 1

Link 2 #BtrBlogNov intro post: http://bit.ly/jmSOM

Link to Twitter list of people who re giving it a try:  http://bit.ly/4iLz2Z

Reminder of main monthly goals:
To over one month, create a better blog – Focusing on ways to:

1. Create better quality blog posts
2. Increase the quantity of blog posts
3. Either increase the
   1. Diversity of blog posts or
   2. The focus of our blog posts depending on which our site needs most

Here is Monday’s Nov. 2, Better Blog Project (TM)- A little bit of strategy can inform and strengthen your blog writing. By the way, I am doing the exercises too:

• Identify our blogging goals
• Create basic structure to capture our ideas when/where we find them – that works for you
• Resources for finding blog ideas

• Blogging Goals - Write down why you are writing your blog, try for 3 to 5 reasons.
  • Try and jot your own ideas down first. Then look at the list below afterwards. Then of your 3-5 goals – rank them in order – think about which of these goals will help you create a Better Blog - then keep that in mind when writing your posts. Maybe put it on a sticky note on your computer screen:
    • Some goals: To reinforce your brand, increase your/your company’s name recognition online; to get more readers; to share information about a certain field, niche, or trend; to sell products, get clients, customers, or find business partners; to promote a cause; to monetize your blog and make money directly; to explore a topic; to find connections with others; to get speaking gigs; to learn bout the process of blogging; to get asked to blog for other larger sites; to get freelance writing gigs; or to get a fulltime job etc.
    • Most probably it will be a mix of several of these goals, but as above – ranks the top three and find a mix or balance that will help you create a better blog.
  • Explore your old blog posts, at least the titles to see where you have been, where there are holes you can fill, duplicates to trim, ruts you got in, gaps you left (in the topic, or in time). See what patterns (both good and bad) you can find.
  • Extra Credit: If you are very motivated, and have a blog statistics package set up for your blog (WordPress blog stats or Google Analytics), check them out – find out which posts have been more popular – see what keywords people used to find your site or a post. Don’t get overwhelmed; we might come back to this one later with more detail.

• Exercise: Create two documents to support your play/work with your blog, in whatever way works for you
  • A document for blog ideas – A computer file in which you jot down blog ideas, possible titles, a few sentences, and where you can copy & paste links into the file for reference. Create a shortcut and save it to your computer desktop, so you can open it quickly when you have an idea. I can tell you how, if you don’t know how to do that, or what that is. (also carry a paper notebook around with you to catch those ideas too). Why on the computer for most of us, for me, if I write the whole post on paper, then try and rewrite it on the computer, I can get lazy, it seems boring, I find excuses to avoid it. Your choice. I’ll have another trick in Monday’s version of this email.
  • A Document for the strategy part of crafting a better blog. This can either be on paper, or on the computer, but you want a place for your musings, brainstorming, where you can see the arc of you blogging as it unfolds during our explorations. Suggestion: One file & one notebook, not 3 notebooks – then it’s hard to find what you are looking for. (Tip, if you jot an idea down on a scrap of paper, instead of rewriting it (which I sometimes avoid doing, or end up losing it) instead: just tape or staple it into your main notebook). This is a clarification – thanks to @ NJDreaming – one of our BBP bloggers.
  • Start using these files/notepad today -when you get the seed of an idea, train yourself to jot it down, now (as long as it is safe, like you’re not driving or operating a train or something. ;~)

Resources & Tools:

• • Tools that may help you remember blog post ideas – Evernote: http://www.evernote.com/, http://www.rememberthemilk.com/, http://www.delicious.com/. Or your cell phone – use the reminders function, or send yourself a text, or an email: indicate “blog idea” in the subject line (create a folder/label to store these).
  • I’m creating a Delicious.com account to save interesting articles on blogging as inspiration to all of us. You don’t have to sign up for Delicious in order to read my Better Blog Project Delicious files. I have saved the above noted links to my new Delicious account: www.Delicious.com/BetterBlogProject.
  • Extra Credit: I suggest you also start your own free Delicious account, as a way to bookmark cool articles to reference/link to in posts, comment on, or just learn from. Be sure to keep your tags/keywords simple to help you find items later. If it is by a popular blogger I make their name (or twitter name) one keyword, and month/yr as another.
    • Note: Delicious is now working with yahoo, if you don’t already have a yahoo account, you will have to set one up to create a Delicious account. Sorry, it’s new. Tips, create it, when it confirms your account details, at bottom hit: Edit Marketing Preferences- a uncheck all of them (your choice); also check the notifications and decide if you want to hide your profile (i.e. – only use it for Delicious.com, or create another social networking out post) and what notifications you want sent to your new yahoo email account. To keep active you have to login and do something once every 4 months or they can delete the account. Also go to my profile and check hide my age (which it automatically displays). That sounds complicated, but will save you from getting a bunch of junk.
    • Then continue and create your Delicious page, which is much easier. Say yes to the toolbar, then when you find a post you want to save, just hit Tag, login (I rarely log out) and it saves it for you, you add keywords so you can find it later. Cool!

Happy Blogging – No pressure just take what you find useful and move it forward!

I have to add two more inspirations behind this project – @problogger Darren Rowse‘s 31 Days to a better Blog in 2007 (link is on Delicious page and will be in Wednesday’s info, he also has an updated ebook version for $19.95 Click here to view more details ) and http://www.nanowrimo.org/ National Novel Writing Month (also in November) – I thought if people can write a novel in a month, we can improve our blogs in a month!

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1. Better Blog Month – November Intro 1

Twenty one hardy souls signed up to participate in this free project, which I’m eager to do myself. There are many other ingredients that go into making a better blog, but this month we are concentrating on content, on the actual blog posts (along with some strategy around and behind the posts).

Basic Goals:
To over one month, create a better blog – Focusing on ways to:

1. Create better quality blog posts
2. Increase the quantity of blog posts
3. Depending on which our site needs most, either increase the
   1. Diversity of blog posts or
   2. The focus of our blog posts

Basic Structure:
Those who signed up will receive and email Monday, Wednesday and Friday during the month of November 2009. Each email will have:

• The topic of the day, and Some points to think about
• An exercise
• And some resources/links to help people brainstorm, or to provide more information (most of these are not planned as must reads, as I know our time is limited, but they are there to provide more information for those who want/need it).
• For those who haven’t signed up, I’ll post a brief version of the day’s tasks, and to help get the community involved, I’ll ad some comments based on my experience doing the exercises, and ask for tips from all of us bloggers out there.

The Weeks are loosely themed:
Week 1: Getting Started on a Better Blog – Behind the Scenes Strategy
Week 2: Honing our Message
Week 3: Building our Inventory
Week 4: What comes Next
(Thanks to John Reddish @GetResults for helping me brainstorm the weekly titles)

Each day’s info are simply ideas, jumping off points as it were, gathered from several years of blog reading, time spent reading and absorbing information about blogging from other great bloggers, many years of writing in my work, a year of blogging, and are also informed by my 20 years of Public Relations experience. If I suggest one way/idea, feel free to make it work for you, but if you meet resistance, be sure to ask it to step aside and let you get on with playing and working; don’t let resistance move in front of you and block you from our goals.

I hope this inspires others to create better blogs this month too!

Cathy Larkin, www.WebSavvyPR.com , 484-802-7576, Find me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/CathyWebSavvyPR (@CathyWebSavvyPR), Find me on LinkedIn:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/cathylarkin

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Connect the Social Media Dots

Many small businesses owners are jumping onto the social media band wagon. If you are one of them, hopefully you have done your research and determined which social media sites make the most sense for your business (primarily based on where your customers or clients are spending their time). If you are already active, see below for a tip that can help you connect with clients and get business.

Use Social Networking to help Clients Connect the Dots for your Small Business

I have a tip, especially for solopreneurs who provide services such as business and life coaches, authors, independent PR and marketing pros, virtual assistants, mompreneurs, bloggers who are in business, and others. Don’t think of each social media site you participate in as a stand-alone site. Connect your various profiles to help your audience, and potential clients/customers, connect the social media dots and form a strong image of who you, as a business owner are.

What I mean is, if you are active on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and also have a blog, you should consider connecting these services to one another to make it easy for your existing and potential clients to find out more about who you are and what you do. Each site offers your audience a different perspective on you and your business. For example, if I answer a question on LinkedIn, and someone finds value in my answer, they may connect with me via LinkedIn. Once they do, they can read my most recent blog posts right there on LinkedIn (I use an app to pull the full post onto my profile). If they again like what they read, they may click through to the blog directly, and read what I have to say in other posts. From my blog they can see links to my Twitter and Facebook pages, if those are sites they use, I’ve made it easy to connect with me.

Blogs and Websites

A good website enhances and expands on the information about your business and skills that may be on LinkedIn. A well-written blog provides even more opportunities to showcase your expertise. A static LinkedIn page shows where you have been, and some of what you have accomplished. A blog gives you a forum for sharing your knowledge in a way that helps your customers learn something, do something better, and understand something new, especially if you business provides a service. If you provide a product, then you can use a blog to tell them about ways it can help them, about trends in the industry, about what features they might want to see, and it can be interactive. Once you get a blog going, and if you are active in social media, you will begin to get comments. Be sure to read them and comment back. A dialogue with someone on your blog can really make you stand out among your competitors. Your image in their minds becomes stronger, you helped them connect the dots in a very strong way. People involved in blogging and social media love to share a good story, blog post or positive customer service interaction. They might just help to spread the word about you.

On my blog, I have profile “badges” or small clickable buttons leading to my LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook profiles, and on each site, I link over to the others.  These are the next “dots” that folks can use to connect who you are, and what you have to offer. For a blog or website, you can set up what’s called a profile badge for each site, copy the code, and then add it to your blog or website. Or you can use a service like retaggr or the WordPress plugin Follow-Me.  Ideally, you are active on all of the pages you link to, and are providing different, but related, content on each site that helps this hypothetical client prospect connect the dots and fill in an image of your business, to get a further feel for who you are and what your expertise is.

LinkedIn

A LinkedIn profile at it’s basics provides an online work history or resume, so someone can get a feel for your background. It can be much more (but that is fodder for another post). So fill it out completely, and be sure to add links to all of the sites where you are active. Also, be sure to update your status at least a few times a week. As a colleague Irene Koehler noted in a recent Twitter #SmallBizChat that I hosted, don’t forget that Google ranks LinkedIn profiles fairly high in their index for your name. So why not put on your best face and show that you are actively engaged by updating your status. Better yet, ask or answer a few questions on the site. It gives you another way to showcase your expertise or knowledge on a subject.

Facebook

Facebook and Twitter allow you to interact with people in a public way (there are private options to communicate on each site too). Both sites allow you to share links to interesting online articles and resources; to provide value to your clients and prospects, and your friends. People tend to begin using Facebook to connect with family and friends, but solopreners and small business owners often begin to see it’s value for connecting  their business and their clients who use Facebook. When you reach this point, try setting up a Facebook Fan Page or a Facebook Group, once you have defined how one or the other fits into your larger strategy for providing value to your clients.

Twitter

Twitter can be another dot in creating the image of your business. Twitter is great for connecting with anyone who shares an interest in things you are interested in. It is often a mix of business and personal information, if you only post links to your site, your connections there won’t grow quickly. For my POV on Using Twitter, click here. It can take getting used to, but has been very successful for many small businesses, as it is opt-in. If individuals like your info, they “follow you,” or click a button and then see your messages on their page. Since all you give out in a Twitter profile is an image, short bio, and a website or blog link (no phone numbers, no email addresses), it is easier than other sites to connect with people you have never met, nor worked with before.

For me, Twitter is a way to source links to great content (blog posts, news articles, software and tools, breaking news and industry info) that is of interest to me and my audience. It also allows me to easily interact with people asking and answering questions. Following someone’s Twitter stream or tweets  (as the flow of short 140 character messages arecalled) gives you insights into an individual. How they use twitter (once they get the hang of things – I don’t judge anyone by their first few weeks of activity) can tell you a bit about how they are in business. Do they just send out notices about their own stuff? Do they interact with others in a positive manner, do the provide value, do they show a sense of humor, do they help others, do they answer questions asked of them. It is kind of difficult to lie about who you are in 140 character bits over time. Your personality shows, and that can be a good thing for helping clients connect the dots about you and your business.

How Do You Connect the Social Media Dots?

Let me, and my readers, know how you connect the social media dots for your clients, customers, or audiences. Feel free to ask questions about ways you can connect with your clients, or let me know how I can help you connect the PR and Social Media Dots for your business or organization.

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2. What is a social media expert?
3. New Client Excitement – How to be a Good Social Media Guide

#NewToTwitter? 1: Welcome, fill in bio, add website link if you have one, add a photo, & hometown.

2: to follow someone, hover over @name, click link, read bio & recent tweets. If they seem cool, hit follow

3: Remember to check your @username tab to the right 2 see messages/tweets folks R sending 2 you

4: Under your username & photo click followers to see who followed you & decide to follow back or not.

5a how to Retweet – if you like what someone says, and want 2 show yr followers that message – 3 steps… It’s also a nice way to find new people to follow.

5b how to Retweet – copy the tweet (not username), then hit grey arrow 2 reply, add ‘RT’ b4 @username

5c how 2 Retweet. put one space after @username & paste original tweet. If it is to long, U can edit, but only 4 space

retweet example:

RT @CathyWebSavvyPR #NewToTwitter ? 1: Welcome, fill in bio, add website link if you have one, add a photo, & hometown

5d Here’s a good guide 4 how to Retweet: http://bit.ly/h9je thanks to @duzins

5e if you think a link or point you are making is worh rtweeting, try stopping at with 20 characters left  – that leave room for the other persons username & the symbol RT.

6 If see a tweet or cool link, hover over it & hit star – that puts it in your Favorites tab for later

7a advanced: go to bottom of page, click search. Put in phrase #NewToTwitter & see all tweets using that # or tag

7b advanced: Tw search put in any phrase or @username 2 see all tweets using that @username # or ‘hashtag’

8 don’t forget to hit your browser refresh button, it will bring new tweets 2 yr screen, but be sure to follow/favorite 1st

9 Direct messages – if two people follow each other, you can send a message that only they see. click direct messages tab to the right, select a name from drop down box

10 some help? in order for Oprah to “see your message” you need to use the @ sign b4 her name try @Oprah

11 What to tweet about: answering “what am I doing now” is a part of Twitter, but only a part. Tweet about your interests; what you are reading online (include a link);, what fascinates you. Tweet something to help folks that have similar interests find you.

12 Check out my earlier Blog post on why Twitter is useful “How to Use Twitter – One POV. Each of us uses it differently, there is no one way, but here is my Point of View. http://websavvypr.com/how-do-you-tweet-how-to-use-twitter-one-pov/pr/admin/2009/01/

#NewtoTwitter #13 Check out @twitter‘s help, just above your photo on right or click link http://help.twitter.com/portal

Tip # 15 – remember to have fun, explore, follow folks just because, tweet things you and others might find funny, useful, or interesting. Also if someone’s tweets get to busy, follow a few more people, and their tweets will get spread out by those of others.

Here are a couple of other articles on getting started from other folks:

http://www.10000words.net/2009/03/top-7-mistakes-new-twitter-users-make.html

to find me on twitter: http://twitter.com/CathyWebSavvyPR

http://www.briansolis.com/2009/02/finding-tweet-spot-top-tips-for.html

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1. How do you tweet? How To Use Twitter – One POV

After participating in an on-line event, I was asked for a dream list of what a PR pro would like to find on a Mommy Blogger’s site to coordinate PR/blogger promotions (giveaways, contests, goody bags, expert guest blog posts, quotes for blogs and even virtual blog books tours) – in a paragraph. Not an easy task, so I sent a shorter intro to the ladies from MomItForward (and #GNO or Girls Night Out Tuesdays 7-10 pm MST on www.twitter.com), and have expanded it here on my blog. These techniques can be applied to any specialty type of blog to create win-win situations for your readers and our clients.

What PR Pros Want to Know – The Basics

PR people are hoping to find a match between between our client/company/expert’s product or info and your reader’s interests and needs. With 18 plus years of PR experience, including handling PR for Winterthur Museum’s Licensed Products Division (products inspired by the museum’s collection), I can say I wish blogging was as hot then as it is now, I would have loved to have had you all to reach out to. Marketing & PR tools have changed, but reaching out an connecting one-on-one hasn’t – relationship building is what PR is all about.

The Type of Info a PR Pro Hopes to Find on Your site, Includes:

A good About Us page, telling briefly what you and your site are all about (intro to the site and how it works, who your readers are, what niche do you reach, and who the sites author(s) are). A good PR Info page also tells us more reader demographics along with some site statistics/numbers – see tools below. Also useful are sections on how you like to work: what you will do to publicize the promotion, what you need from us, and note any success stories you’ve had (some of this can also be indicated is on a document that we can request – if your readers don’t need to know the details).

At it’s best PR/blogger promotions - can be win-win situations. Bloggers get cool items to review/use/giveaway (or info/advice/guest post from an expert ), which helps your readers, and builds your brand. PR consultants get exposure for our client/brand and our product/info, and hopefully generate some action from your audience: web traffic, conversation about the product/expert/brand, or product purchases. At it’s worst this process can leave both the PR staffer and/or the blogger frustrated. Communication, beginning with a good About Us and PR/media pages (and/or a promo sheet that can be emailed on request), can go a long way toward creating successful promotions. If mommy bloggers are getting bombarded by off-target PR pitches, you can send them a link to this page, to tell them what type of promos you look for, who your blog reaches, and how to you prefer to work. Ideally, the PR person/company should have similar promotional info on their site, or at least identify a contact name for the person who handles promotions (and info about their needs to send on request).

The Details for Both Sides:

The Ugly PR “Pro” and the “Bad” Blogger

Now we all know of those stereotypes, that sometimes PR types and bloggers get off on wrong foot. A Public Relations staffer will grab a list of mommy bloggers and sent out a pitch to all of them, without ever reading the site to see what their niche is. An we have heard stories of bloggers, grabbing a list of PR folks and doing the same, without finding out what products or experts they cover. This is Social Media after all- on both sides of the isle – let’s be social. Our internal SPAM filter has been hardened again the mass e-mailed request. Take the time to reach out and connect with each other, maybe even before you need to work together. Find out each other’s interests, niche, needs, clients, audiences; then target your requests. ‘Nuf said. Twitter and it’s short message format can be a great tool for this – it’s how I met Carissa and Jyl of #GNO/MomItForward.

The Ideal Information a PR Pro Hopes to Find on your Site Tells us:

• A short but good About Us page including: an Elevator pitch (A couple of good sentences that sum up what your site it all about), Bio/history of you and the site (when did it start, why/how, quirky stories, do you support any charities – keep it brief), how your site works, & who your readers are, (not just moms, but single work-at-home moms, or grandparents caring for their daughters children, moms of infants or teens. This info helps us fit our products/exp[ert to your audience). And contact info, so we can get a hold of you and connect.
• Who your readers are Demographics - specific niche/interests (single moms, grandparents, moms with infants, moms with school-aged children etc; age ranges of the moms. Nice extras would be: marital status, #/ages of kids, income levels, region of the country, do they travel, amount spend online ea. month) Survey & polling tools noted below can help; or ask some info when people sign up for your newsletter.
• Some site statistics/numbers that help. If your numbers are good, you look good; although it is not all about the numbers, I have to admit, they do help. (some of this would be cool for your readers to know - Other info is less useful to them, and might be included on a PR Promo sheet that's available on request).
  • monthly average unique visitors and page views (weekly/daily if relevant or available)
  • amount of repeat or new traffic vs. new traffic
  • are there traffic spikes during times when you do a promotion/ giveaway/expert guest blog post, if so what's the traffic increase.
  • The average number of people who participate in your giveaways /promos
  • the average number of comments that posts generate
  • the number of members if your site is member-based
  • your Google Page Rank
  • any indications of large sites that routinely send you traffic (BlogHer network, Twitter, Digg) or mommy networks you participate in
  • any major or seasonal events you celebrate on your site
  • also any media coverage you have received online, radio/TV or in print.

This Type of Info can be Obtained by Setting up Free Online Tools Like

• survey monkey
• polldaddy
• Google Analytics
• Twitter Counter
• Feedburner RSS reader stats
• Quantcast
• Clicky
• Hubspot Site Grader

Please, don't be intimidated by the list - this is the "Dream List" remember. You may not need everything on this list, (each tool has it's own pros and cons), but by using them, you can help a PR specialist choose to work with your site over someoneelse's. Besides, you'll probably learn quite a bit about your readers and your own site too. If sorting through the tools and info is not your favorite thing, there are plenty of people out there who can help, from sending questions out on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to finding a how to blog, or even working with one of us PR or Tech types ;-)

What Bloggers Can Tell Us & Make it Easier for you:

• how you like to work
• what product types or experts you are looking to feature
• be sure to note any seasonal/holiday or major events you celebrate
• what you will do to publicize the promotion (Facebook, Twitter, social media release?)
• what info/items we need to provide you (links to the product’s page for more info or so readers can purchase it, a product image & requirements, a short blurb about it, or a link to an expert guest-blogger’s bio
• what you can provide us with, if we agree to promote it too (your logo or head shot, a site badge (showing participation in the project), dates/times the promo and any events will run, links to the promo page)

My final note to ask that we work together to find creative ways to track our success; which will be good for both of us. Agree to both monitor our site traffic, monitor product/promo mentions via Google Alerts and other tools, work out special discounts or promo codes to track traffic and other results: product sales, brand awareness or increase in members/comments/site participation.

Thanks to Jyl & Carissa at MomItForward for the opportunity, and to you for reading. There are plenty of folks like me who can help you sort through and find the tools and ideas that meet your needs and those of your readers. Every promotion is different, but the goal is the same – a Win-Win for both Great Bloggers & Classy PR Pros.

Cathy Larkin & Web Savvy PR – Your Public Relations & Social Media Guide – Bringing new media tools to the traditional PR toolkit to expand your brand and build your business. I talk “techtalk,” but translate fluently into “plain English.”

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Related posts:

1. How To Create a Social Media PR Plan
2. New Client Excitement – How to be a Good Social Media Guide
3. How to Make Social Networking Messages Work For Your Readers