Are You Using Google+

Have you started using Google+ Yet?

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When Google+ first surfaced I signed up right away for an account, but, that is about all I did.  Are You Using Google+There wasn’t a lot of traffic on Google+ and since the interface was so new and frankly different it was a bit confusing.  This being the case I keep my account but went back to the other social networks and left my Google+ Profile to sit.

A couple months ago I started seeing more and more buzz about Google+ and the power of circles, communities, pages and hangouts.  I decided to spend a little bit of time playing around and becoming more familiar with the tool.  This time around it didn’t seem so confusing – and it seemed pretty powerful.

In looking at Circles I saw the power to be able to add people to circles based on what they talked about and the industry they are in.  The concept of Circles also became more powerful – on Facebook you typically connect with people that you know in some form or fashion, but on Google+ you can add people to circles that you want to get to know.  I set up several circles that include the following:

  • Colorado Peeps – for those connections here in Colorado
  • Social Media – for those that I consider influential in this topic
  • Small Business – for those that are great business resources
  • Women in Technology – for those that I consider expert women in the tech field
  • Women Who Rock Social Media – this is my list of women who really get Social Media and share some excellent stuff

If you are new to Google+ and are just getting started this short video from Google gives a very quick overview of Google+ Circles:

 

Over the next couple of weeks I will be posting more on Google+ and the features and uses.

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Content Curation Tips and Tools

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Content Curation is becoming a popular topic and one that you should look into as part of your content marketing plan. Content curation

The following is a story that I curated using Storify to pull all of the pieces together.

This story will feature some of the best tips and tools on content curation that I have come across recently online. It is my goal to create a story to help guide you through the information overload and find the nuggets to comment on and share with your audience.


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Social Media in 2013

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Now that 2013 is officially here I have been putting the finishing touches on my goals that I want to accomplish this year both Social Media personally and professionally as well as incorporating my Social Media Goals into the mix.

2012 brought with it a lot of changes in the Social Media landscape along with a lot of new users of Social Media both personally and professionally.  A lot of small businesses began to jump on board and realize that they needed to add Social Media to their business and marketing plan to connect with customers and also attract new prospects and customers.

As we began 2013 Social Media plays a very important role in marketing, customer service and even how employees connect and work.  If your business did embrace the adoption of Social Media in 2012 you really should do so in 2013 or you may just find yourself left behind.

Here are some of the most recent posts and articles on Social Media for 2013 that I feel are worth sharing.  These selections provide some good insights and predictions on what we may see in 2013.

5 Ways Social Media Will Change the Way You Work in 2013

How Social Media Usage Will Change in 2013

21 Social Media Predictions for 2013 From the Pros

2013 Social Media Predictions for Facebook, Google+, Pinterest and More

 

 

photo credit: Rosaura Ochoa via photopin cc

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Weekly Top Social Media and Tool Finds for October 27th

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Weekly Top Social Media Finds for October 27th

Great Social Media Finds

photo credit: code poet via photopin cc

Every week I get the opportunity to read some great information from others on Social Media and using it.  I also get to review and evaluate several great tools and how they can be used online to either improve your business, use in the classroom or to just connect with others. I will be sharing these great finds from time to time in a weekly recap post.

Please feel free to comment on and share any of these great finds.

Pinterest

Pinterest is a great tool.  I have often described it to people as an online vision or goal board, for that reason I loved seeing this post that describes it just as that!  Vision Boards and Pinterest: A Goal-Oriented Match Made in Heaven

Twitter

Have you attended a conference recently and as you registered were given a hash tag to use on Twitter for the conference?  This is becoming more and more popular to get attendees to tweet at conferences.  The good news is that this works and increases engagement.  Here is a great post that shows the results. Now Proven! Using Twitter At Conferences Increases Attendee Engagement

LinkedIn

One of my favorite undiscovered tools on LinkedIn is LinkedIn Answers.  This is a great tool to find out what people in your target market or industry are looking for – it is also a great way to increase your creditability.  This post I came across this week does a wonderful job on showing how to use this tool. The Ultimate Guide to Linkedin Answers

Blogging

This is a great post from KISS Metrics that I came across that does a wonderful job of providing a list of resources for those that are interested in increasing your blogger outreach program as well as resources for guest blogging. The Ultimate Resource Guide to Blogger Outreach and Guest Blogging

Tools

Have you ever wanted to create an animated video?  Here is a tool that does exactly that for you. http://goanimate.com

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How to be active on Facebook without spending too much time

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Be Active on Facebook with minimal time

Anyone that has ever heard me talk about social media management knows that I am a huge advocate of setting up your social media so that it is easy to manage and doesn’t consume too much of your time.

There are several ways to be active on Facebook with minimal time.  A handful of ways I use to do this are:

  • Set specific times of the day that you get on Facebook and respond to friend requests and comment on other people’s post
  • Have both a personal profile and a business page
  • If you accept friend requests from most people consider changing your preferences to allow people to subscribe to your public updates
  • Create a content plan that maps out the different types o information you will share
  • Utilize tools such as hootsuite to help manage your postings

 

Here is another great post from American Express Open Forum on How to be active without spending too much time

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Tools – Have you ever wanted to be in the news?

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Create Your Own News Paper Clipping Create your own news paper clipping

 

Have you ever wanted to create your own newspaper clipping for either fun purposes or even for marketing purposes? Now you can!

Recently I came across a fun tool online that allow you to do just this – create a newspaper clipping.  You can check out this tool @ http://www.fodey.com/generators/newspaper/snippet.asp

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3 Social Media Mistakes You Don't Know You're Making | Social …

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Social Media

 

Social Media can be very confusing when you are first getting started.  Often I see people thinking that they need to have profiles on all of the networks out there.  Setting up profiles on all of the networks out there typically not get you the results you are after.  
 
Some common mistakes that are made when you are first getting started are; 
 
Not asking the right questions 
Where is my target audience at? ( Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn)
 
Lack of Focus
Often you need to step back and become focused on your goals and objectives and what works
 
Not setting clear expectations
When you get started you must set the expectations you have and make sure they are realistic.  Social Media is being social and connecting and often will not result in new sales over night.
 
 
 
Here is a great article with some additional information on the mistakes you may be making:
 

3 Social Media Mistakes You Don't Know You're Making | Social …

"Social media isn't easy.There's always a new platform you should sign up for, or a new feature you need to learn about.socialmediatoday.com/…/3-social-media-mistakes-you-dont-k…"
http://socialmediatoday.com/fixcourse/564760/3-social-media-mistakes-you-dont-know-youre-making

 

If Social Media is overwhelming to you and you find yourself making mistakes without gaining traction there are resources available to help you.  One great resource is a FREE Online Facebook group Social Club that is for business owners to connect and share information as well as successes and challenges they face with Social Media.

 
 

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LinkedIn Can be a Great Tool for Growing Your Business

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LinkedIn Can be a Great Tool for Growing Your Business LinkedIn for Business

 

LinkedIn is one Social Network that I truly feel most of us under utilize.  It is truly a powerful tool, but it often doesn’t get the time and attention it deserves or that we spend on other Social Networks. One reason we may ignore it is that it just isn’t as fun as Facebook or Twitter or Youtube – but it is very powerful.

I came across a blog post today from Social Media Examiner titled 10 LinkedIn Tips for Building Your Business that had a lot of great tips for using LinkedIn. Here are just a few of the points that I thought were really good:

Mirror Your Online and Offline Business Networks within LinkedIn

One thing that I do and really suggest everyone do is reach out and connect with those you meet at networking events on LinkedIn.  Typically after a networking event you may have a handful of business cards that you hope to follow-up with, take that extra step and send a LinkedIn Connection so that you can ensure they are also added to your online professional network.

I would also suggest you reach out and connect with those that you are connected with online but may not have ever connected with in person.  If you are local schedule a time to meet and connect.

Link to Your Websites with Keyword Anchor Text

One thing you should always be thinking about is getting more exposure for your website or blog.  You can do this on LinkedIn when you add your websites to your profile, so take advantage of this!  Don’t use the standard labels of website, blog, company website.  If you are in Social Media use something like Social Media Tips and News, if you are a Real Estate Agent in Denver maybe you should use something like Denver Real Estate for Sale.  Keep your keywords in mind and use this in your profile when linking to your websites.

Personally Welcome and Acknowledge Your New Connections

This is a great tip.  When you do connect with someone send them a message to truly connect instead of just accepting the request.  Doing this will help you build a better relationship and hopefully create a mutual benefit.

Tag and Filter Connections to Organize and Build Relationships

I thought this was a great tip.  It takes time to truly build connections and relationships in person and online.  You can’t automatically ask a LinkedIn connection for a job lead, but if you are able to share and connect with them over time and provide value to them you can build that relationship.  If they are connected with the same group you are then filter on this.

Periodically Update Your CRM with Data from LinkedIn

A contact in your database may change jobs or add or change phone and email addresses from time to time and not send this out to everyone.  Typically however if they are active on LinkedIn they will update this information.  Watch for changes and update your records as needed.

There are some other great tips in the post that you can read online from Social Media Examiner here

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Twitter Can be a Life Changer

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TwitterTwitter Can be a Life Changer

 

Twitter is one of those tools that when I first mention it to people that aren’t using it yet they often respond with something like this, ” Twitter, I just don’t get it.”  I usually respond with yes, that is what most people first say, but it truly can be a very powerful tool.

Twitter can be a powerful tool though and can really help you connect and build relationships with people.  Twitter can also help you build your business.  It is however first about building the relationships and connections.

Melinda Emerson did a great job of stating how Twitter and Social Media in general is about relationships and community first in her blog post on the NY Times, How Tiwtter Changed My Life :

Some people think that the minute they start using social media it should start raining money. This is not true on Twitter or in any business. People do business with people they like, know and trust. Which means you must put in the time. If you are a resource to your target customer first, you will build a community online that you can eventually monetize.

The rest of the article does a great job of sharing and describing how Melinda used Twitter to connect and create a following that ultimately resulted in a regular Tweet Chat which still takes place and how Twitter helped her sell her first book.

This didn’t happen overnight though, it took time to build the following and connect.  Melinda spent time sharing information, answering questions and connecting with others.

Read the complete article on  How Twitter Changed My Life 

 

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Day One in Social Media

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Day One in Social Media Social Media Day One

When you first decide that you are going to jump into Social Media and start using it for growing your business it can be a bit scarey.  You may wonder why am I doing this and what am I trying to accomplish?  These are actually very important questions and ones that you need to take the time to evaluate and answer.

Why am I doing this?

In most cases the why has to do with growing your online presence and helping build your business or brand and maybe even generating more sales.  The why could also be to establish myself as an expert.  They why may event be to support a cause.

What am I trying to accomplish?

In my opinion this question should be tied to some measurements.  Are you trying to accomplish more readers to your blog, more Facebook fans, more Twitter followers or Retweets, maybe more subscribers to your list, etc.  These items can be measured though so that you can determine if you are accomplishing what you are trying to do.

Once you look at these two items there are a lot of other items you should look at.  Some of these other things include deciding who to follow, what platforms you want to be on, what information to share, what branding you want to establish, etc.  I came across a great article today that touched on many of these items and felt that it would be a great article to share with you.  It is called 23 Things for Day One of Social Media and it does a really great job of discussing 23 Things you should look at for Day One of your Social Media adventure.

Once you read the article I would love to hear your thoughts.

 

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