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.
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 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 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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Matt Scherer 07.13.09 at 11:09 am
Cathy,
I really enjoyed your last blog. So many people don’t understand the connection between everything, but your last article clears it up.
Matt Scherer
@Matt_scherer
CathyLarkin 07.13.09 at 11:18 am
Matt, thanks for your comment. While it can be tough to find out all of the tricks and tips, realizing that via google and the search features of various social networking sites, that people will find your info whether you want them to or not! you why not pay attention to how people are using the various networks, and make it easy for them!
For those that are really plugged in, http://friendfeed.com can also be used to aggregate or pull in much of your content from various networks and allow those who use that service to connect with you in multiple ways as well.
BTW you can find me on Twitter at @CathyWebSavvyPR
Michele Price 07.13.09 at 11:32 am
Very well written, easy to digest, gotta send my tweeps to come read this one. I love it when folks put things together in a way you can see the entire picture.
@prosperitygal. Talk with @deauxmain I believe there is plugin you can add twitter id to comments.
CathyLarkin 07.13.09 at 11:37 am
I will check it out,thanks for the comment! I will check out that plugin to add twitter id to comments box, I have seen it. I did add a plugin that turns people’s twitter ID in a post into an automatic link. In the meantime, I need to add a paragraph at bottom of each post that invites others to add their twitter ids to posts, as it makes it easier to connect. Some folks consider it spam, to me, it’s just another way to connect the dots.
CASUDI 07.13.09 at 12:07 pm
Sometimes it takes time & effort to create a consistent image or brand across several Social Networks, and still more time to have everything linked together seamlessly. However I have found that one SN site gives credibility to the others and some interesting cross pollination occurs with dialogs taking place in several, so your tips really pay off.
I focus mostly on Twitter, Twine , Blogging and very minimally on Linkedin. I have had productive discussions with accessible people like yourself, and some of the other blogs I routinely comment on, but on the other hand there are many blogs with dozens of comments where there is no visible dialog or exchange. I also have found an absence of dialog on some of the Linkedin discussion groups! Some social networkers get the message and some don’t and it’s not always dependent on the “fame” of the networker :-)
For people starting out I would like to add that they shouldn’t be disappointed if their blog audience is not into commenting on a post. My client base for whom I basically post are disinclined to comment in a public place. However I receive several emails and phone calls which validate (for me) the choice of my subject matter. Not to mention some of the ensuing comments and discussions with my readers.
These tips are excellent and I am lucky to have encountered you when I first started social networking seriously. Thank you.
Caroline Di Diego (@CASUDI)
Danny Brown 07.13.09 at 12:17 pm
Great advice Cathy, that anyone can use.
Another tip is to use your various RSS feeds and feed them into each of your accounts. So, LinkedIn would have your latest blog posts, Facebook as well, your Twitter stream can be fed to your blog and LinkedIn, etc.
And I agree – Retaggr is awesome! :)
CathyLarkin 07.13.09 at 4:37 pm
Danny, thanks for your comments. Folks, if you are curious about Retaggr, check out @DannyBrown
s recent review of it. It does much more than I noted in my post above:
@DannyBrown: Tagging Your Online Identity with Retaggr http://dannybrown.me/I3yo
Caroline, thanks as well, and good point about not everyone commenting. that doesn’t mean people aren’t reading and liking the info. I use Google analytics on my blog to help track which posts get read, and what activity or which sites generated click throughs to my posts. Also on Twitter, I use http://bit.ly to shorten my links, it also helps to track the number of clicks on a specific link. You also might try checking out http://gravatar.com, another way to showcase who you are across various networks. It places the avatar photo of you along with your comments on Gravatar-enabled sites.
Adam Sherk 07.13.09 at 4:56 pm
Good primer Cathy. With so many opportunities out there it’s important for people to blend the various things they’re doing into a cohesive strategy
Michael Benidt 07.13.09 at 6:30 pm
With 19 out of 20 Twitter followers either being salesmen, pornos or worse, my interest is fading. Today, I got in my email a Facebook request from someone I haven’t friended, so now I’m wary about that. LinkedIn Discussions – we’ve written about how many people are polluting those sometimes wonderfully informative and entertaining questions. My desire to link all these together is fading as I continue to see the spammers and hucksters take over the social media neighborhood. I haven’t given up yet, but I’m sure getting closer.
Juli Barcelona 07.14.09 at 8:34 pm
Really enjoyed this blog post Cathy. I use all of these networks, including FriendFeed and I am always expanding the ways that these networks can be connected and different ways to post to all of them so that I have a way to reach all of my different connections. I fall behind on LinkedIn sometimes, but have been expanding the ways I use it to make new connections and posting answers to questions, etc.
CathyLarkin 07.18.09 at 2:38 pm
Michael, I can understand your frustration with the growing amount of SPAM messages on these sites. I am finding that I am being more selective about who I connect with on Twitter. If someone wants to read my tweets, they are free to follow me, but I am more often following back those who interact with me,those who reply to a tweet, who participate in a Twitter chat, who retweet my tweets, or those whose tweets I find that are valuable to me – often via other twitter peeps.
With a large umber of followers comes a loss of keeping up on those I care about. I would love to follow everyone (who is not a spammer back), but I find it makes me less effective at building connections. Bu it does cut down on my spam frustrations – I just don’t notice them so much.
Also, I have seen no evidence that Spammers are sophisticated enough to follow you from one place to another. I just ignore the junk and connect with those who genuinely connect with me. BTW, hope you are having fun at #NSA09 (Nt’l Speakers Assoc confr.)
CathyLarkin 07.23.09 at 9:32 am
Danny brown just pointed me toward a great short post that adds something to this conversation – “@DannyBrown Short, simple and brilliant from @drewmaniac on why it’s not networking – it’s friendship building” check out Drew’s post http://bit.ly/13b79V
Barry 07.29.09 at 12:41 pm
Cathy,
I really enjoyed this post. I have been struggling a bit with the balancing act of social networking. Especially since I am a bit new (April). I also just went thought my list of following a deleted a bunch I have no interest in following. Of course I took a hit on my followers, but I am ok with that. Funny thing, I have discovered great new content in tweets that I had been missing due to the posts about going for ice cream with their dog. lol Twitter , if you are not careful, can consume so much time, which takes away from what needs to be done , like quality content.
My biggest question, is how many times to tweet a post on your own blog? Just once or couple of times to hit different peoples schedules? Or do I have this wrong. Just put out a tweet when finished, and then share other things to create your own personality and brand?
I am slowly understanding that twitter is not like radio advertising which relies on frequency of a message, but rather more of a whisper down the alley and being authentic.
Would really enjoy hearing your feedback on this.
Thanks!
Cathy Larkin 09.29.09 at 6:57 pm
Sorry Barry, I somehow missed your comment here. There are various answers to the how often to tweet your own links question. Many follow the 80/20 rule of thumb, tweet 80% about things of value/interest to your audience, and 20% about yourself and your offerings. I think it was @ChrisBrogan who suggested the 1 in 12 Tweet ratio – tweet 12 things that are of value to your readers and NOT about you and your blog/products, for ever one tweet about yourself. I might cut that to 1 in 6 or 8. The closer your ow info aligns with your audience’s needs, and interests, the less the ratio might need to be, but it’s all about balance.
I think that tweeting out a blog post 3-4 times the first day it is out makes sense and is not too much, as long as that it not the only thing you are tweeting about. According to @danzarrella’s research, and if my memory is correct, (http://mashable.com/2009/02/17/twitter-retweets/), 8:45 – 9:30 am ET is best time for Retweets, as people check in on Twitter before getting down to work. Next time is Lunch time ET (also early AMon West coast of US) and just before end of work day (my thought, not Dan’s, as people check before leave work), and if you know you have some evening tweeters in your audience, then an evening tweet about the post. I did this with a client’s Twitter stream and it definitely got a different set of Retweets each time; am was always strongest though.
One caveat, if you have lots of folks who are new to Twitter following you, be wary about multiple posts of the same thing, It will fill their screens, until they follow more people. And conversely, if most of your Twitter followers have huge followings, if you only tweet it once, they may miss it. Also Twitter’s new terms of service warns about excessive tweeting of same links, but I think that is aimed at spammers who really over do the repeat links game.
Another tip: If you have a blog post that answers a question that you frequently get from your customers, clients, twitter or other social media followers, keep the link handy. When they ask that question, send them a nicely worded message with a link to your blog post as answer.
If a blog post is popular, you can probably get away with tweeting it out a couple of days later, saying – got some great comments here – or great discussion on my new XYZ blog post. Or bring up a point someone made. invite people into the conversation.
@Guykawasaki had a post recently where he showed that multiple retweets of a link did not loose him followers, and gained lots more views of the post; however, what works for bigwigs, may not work for us smaller peeps. Here is the link to his post, h has some good points, but I still think this should be filtered through your own lens, so to speak: http://www.openforum.com/idea-hub/topics/the-world/article/how-to-drive-traffic-with-repeat-tweets-guy-kawasaki
So I suggest tweeting in moderation, but not to be stingy on yourself. The more your blog post meets the interest of your readers, the more you can get away with sending it their way more often.
Last tip, I have also seen people retweet older blog posts from a blog. so if an older topic is hot again, retweet an older post, as long as it is still valid.
By the way, I really like your analogy: “I am slowly understanding that twitter is not like radio advertising which relies on frequency of a message, but rather more of a whisper down the alley and being authentic.” My main word about social media and blogging is balance. The more trust and engagement, the more people welcome your info.
Thanks for the great question…Oh, and don’ forget to have fun with it all!
Cathy Larkin´s last blog ..Tips for Connecting the Social Media Dots
Ching Ya 03.05.10 at 7:21 am
Very thorough post and as a social media enthusiast myself, I agree that connecting the dots make both networking and publicity easier. Always go easy with self-promoting, you wouldn't want to scare off new friends/ followers before they get to know you better. Apply proper strategy to each social media site based on types of audience and needs; integration is good but not all updates are suitable for all networking sites. Thank you for bringing up this subject, worth to ponder over.
@wchingya
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