Social Media Archives - Page 3 of 21

Guest Post: 3 Ways to Use Canva for Your Business

01.10.2018 by Elizabeth // 2 Comments

One of the best things I did in 2017 was take a 5 day Canva Crash Course from my pal Emily Roach at Biz BFF. I knew Canva was a great tool but, it was overwhelming and, artistic and creative aren’t words used to describe me. I was thrilled to learn Emily is repeating her Canva Crash Course – starting January 22nd! You don’t want to miss this!

If anyone tells you that graphic design doesn’t really matter, they are straight up lying to you.

Sure, we may not consciously choose a business because we think, “Wow, their last instagram post was so well-designed,” or “I just love their font choice.” But if you’ve ever left a website because it looks like it was designed in 1992, or scrolled on past a Facebook post because you couldn’t make out the image, or quit reading a sales page because it was just paragraph after paragraph of monotonous text–then you know design matters.

But what’s a busy business owner supposed to do? We already have to be our own CEOs, CFOs, marketing agents, copywriters, and customer service reps… now we have to be graphic designers, too?!

If you’re already breaking into a cold sweat at the thought of designing your own social media images, don’t panic. There’s a super awesome design program that’s easy to use and totally free: Canva.

Canva is a web-based program (that also has an iphone, ipad, and android app available) that will turn even the most art-phobic entrepreneur into a designer in minutes. Canva includes hundreds of professionally-designed templates that you can customize with your content, colors, and photos in a snap. You can also start from scratch and build your own designs effortlessly. The possibilities are endless!

Here are 3 ways to use Canva to create eye-catching designs for your business:

Design click-worthy social media images

Announce sales, share inspirational quotes, and create your own memes. Canva includes templates for every popular social media platform, so you never have to remember which platform requires which dimensions. Just pick the appropriate template, customize with your photos, colors, and texts, and download! Canva even includes an extensive library of stock photos that you can use!

Make your own business cards

Don’t show up empty-handed to your next networking event! Design expressive business cards that show off your style. Download as a PDF to print at home, upload to your favorite online print service, or even order prints right within Canva!

Create engaging PDFs Need to create an irresistible free offer to grow your email list? You can design PDFs like e-books, checklists, and worksheets, right within Canva! You can even make clickable hyperlinks to direct people back to your website.

These are just a few of the awesome things you can create with Canva. Want to learn more about how to use Canva to design incredible images for your business? Check out my free, step-by-step ecourse! I’ll teach you the 5 essential skills you need to start designing professional images in less than 10 minutes a day.

Sign Up Here!

5 Things I Want to See on Your LinkedIn Page

09.07.2017 by Elizabeth // 2 Comments

I talk a lot about LinkedIn when I talk about follow up. Why? Because it’s another great place to connect with your network and keep them informed of your awesomeness on an ongoing basis. But if that profile isn’t fully filled out, it’s time to fix that. You spend hours keeping your Facebook page up to date with the latest and greatest, so why aren’t you doing that for your business? Take 10 minutes in the next week and review what’s working with your LinkedIn and what you may need to update. Here’s 5 things to check out.

Images – I want a professional and up to date headshot of you. No cropped out friends, no hats and sunglasses, I want to see a picture of you. Why? Because if I’m meeting you for coffee and we haven’t met before I need to check to see what you look like. Also – make sure you use that background image!
Summary – The summary portion of your profile is meant to be more personable and conversational. This is your summary about how awesome YOU are. Include your niche and specialties here too.
Contact Information – Make sure your contact information is up to date. If you’ve changed jobs make sure your email is up to date so I can reach out if I need to refer a potential client to you or check in.
Experience – For your current position make sure you have this fully filled out. It can be the about piece from your website if you’re a soloprenuer. Or a piece of your bio. This is where you also where you can list out services you offer in your business.
Recommendations – If you’re really as awesome as you keep telling me (which is annoying FYI, don’t tell people, show people you’re awesome) then you should have some recommendations to back that up. Get a system in place to ask for recommendations. If a client sends you a note about the work you did, ask if they’d be willing to post it online for you. You can request recommendations too. Take a minute to think of 2-3 people you can request recommendations from this week.

LinkedIn is a fantastic business tool that you can use for follow up and networking and growing your business. But if your profile isn’t filled out and you’re hard to find, I’m going to question what else you aren’t taking the time to complete in your business.

3 Ways to Automate Your Follow Up

08.09.2017 by Elizabeth // Leave a Comment

I had a call today and we ended up talking a bit about how you automate your follow up. It may sound weird that you would automate something so personal. Sure if someone downloads something from your website you should automate that process and then add them to your newsletter (right?) But what about someone you met networking? How do you “automate” that process? Here’s 3 ways you may not have thought of…

Social Media – If you’ve followed your Kickass Follow up Templates then you’ve already connected with them on social media right? Right. Don’t nag them or harass them. Instead be ACTIVE on your social media. Stay on brand and make sure that if they are also active on that social media platform that they have the opportunity to see you’re alive and kicking and available to connect and be hired.
Your Newsletter – I think of my newsletter as a long term drip campaign. It’s a way to get my name in your inbox and to educate you about my awesomeness. This is what it would look like to work with me. This is how my mind works. This is what you’re missing out on. If I have met with someone and sent them recommendations or a proposal for work, I consider that implied consent to add them to my newsletter list. You may decide to be more (or less) explicit about it, and that’s up to you. But don’t underestimate the power of the newsletter. It’s brought me more business than I could have expected.
Networking – Yes, networking. That thing you did where you met that prospective client you don’t know how to follow up with for the 7th time. People need to see you. They need a reminder you’re alive and kicking and a REAL person. Leave your office, put pants on and go to a networking event. It may take months or even years for someone to finally realize they’re ready to hire you. If you keep showing up, it’s a visual reminder that you are alive and kicking and ready to work with them. When the time is right.

How else can you “automate” such a personal process? In your business can a more formal email automation work or does it need to be more personalized?