Yellow Dog Consulting

Sales & Marketing Consulting for solo-preneurs.

Consistency with your Social Media

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imagesI recently started work with a new client. I noticed that the company has a Foursquare location claimed, which is great. When I mentioned that setting up a special there would be a good idea, the response was “I haven’t looked at that in ages!”

DO IT. Social media is great, but you have to be consistent. Make sure you’re checking your social media platforms regularly. Here’s my suggestions:

Facebook: check daily. You may not post to it daily, but you need to login every day to see if people are commenting/tagging/etc and make sure to respond as needed.

Twitter: Check Daily. Make sure to answer any DM’s (that aren’t spam) and reply to tweets. I recommend tweeting at least daily and using different content from FB.

LinkedIn: Weekly. This one you need to make sure you’re keeping up on invite requests, and a lot of folks still use LinkedIn to communicate with people. So keep an eye on it so you  remember who those people are you’re connecting with. A LinkedIn Company page should be updated when you add new services.

Google+ Business Page: Make sure you have one of these. you can’t auto-post to them from most places (like blog posts or newsletters) but you can go in and manually post. Google wants you to ENGAGE with people in real time, not schedule it.

Foursquare: Monthly at LEAST. You only need a Foursquare account if you have a physical location. Make sure you’re keeping an eye on people writing tips & if it makes sense to offer a special then make sure to check in often and update or refresh the special!

YouTube/Pinterest/Yelp/everything else: Yeah, I have no idea. That’s not really true, but the above are the big 5 I think are worth keeping an eye on!

Social Media: Are You Trying to Hard?

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imagesToo often I talk to people who are trying to make social media work for them. They have the secret app that will help follow & unfollow and find the right “peeps” that may buy their product or service. But in an effort to gain followers and create interactions with influencers, too often we forget to be REAL on social media. Obviously my experience is with Twitter, but I know it’s similar with all social media platforms.

Don’t forget to be a person. Be real. I don’t want to hire a logo or a brand, I want to work with a real live person. Someone who posts pictures of their kids or pet or team dressed up for Halloween. Someone who answers my question WITHOUT a sales pitch attached.

If you are active on social media and have a hard time converting, take a step back and look at what you’re doing. Are you desperate to get that ONE big influencer to retweet you? Or are you having a conversation with your target market? Asking questions, answering questions, being a resource. If someone asks a question on Twitter and I know the answer or have a suggestion, I’ll send it to them. Be helpful, no strings attached.

As I seem to say too often in regards to Social Media, your desperation is more obvious to us than you think it is. Calm down, step back and have fun.

And if it’s not fun? Stop doing it. Make sure you’re active on social media where your target market is. If your focus is B2B and you hate Facebook, it’s OK to not have a Facebook business page (note how it has NOT hurt my business at all). If Twitter stresses you out, it’s OK not to be on Twitter. You need to do what works for you. We can tell when you aren’t having fun.

No I won’t click your Facebook link

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imgresAs a loud and proud non-Facebook user, I am TIRED of people always posting their Facebook posts automatically to Twitter. Guess what? If I wanted to follow you on Facebook, I WOULD.
I know it’s easy to  have everything post everywhere from one spot, but you’re losing fans and followers because of it. If you want to build your network on Facebook, GREAT, I fully support that (except I won’t actually support it because I’m not there…). AND if you want to grow your network on Twitter, grow your network on Twitter. Be active, be talking, engage with people. Don’t auto-post, don’t make me go to your FB page, because I won’t. And I’ll unfollow you.

Social Media is a big responsibility and endeavor to take on in your business. When I talk with clients about what they CAN do and what they WILL do and what they SHOULD do, I’m amazed how many of them think they have to do it all. Blog, Tweet, Facebook, You Tube, etc. But here’s the deal: if you aren’t doing it, you won’t do it. Figure out what will actually work for you, and do that. If Twitter stresses you out, don’t tweet! If you don’t like people, then don’t sign up for Facebook. If you hate writing, then a Blog is a TERRIBLE idea. Be authentic and do what works for you. Don’t try to do everything, because you’re half-assing it and we all notice.