Are you still wondering what Pinterest is and whether it’s right for your business?

Chances are, if you’re interested in generating website traffic and awareness – then it probably is!

So let’s take a closer look at Pinterest…(the tool for collecting and organising the things you love).

When it comes to reading content online, most of us tend to glaze over and switch off when confronted with big chunks of text; however, the same doesn’t apply to images – nothing grabs are our attention more quickly than an image or picture.

And Pinterest is very simply all about sharing visual content.  When Pinterest started gaining momentum – (a good couple of years ago now), their focus was around ‘collecting and organising things you love’ – and of course, as with all mass communication networks, businesses and brands have appropriated the platform – so that they too can share their stories, views and service offerings in a visually appealing way.

How does Pinterest work?

Once you’ve set up an account, (more on that later on in the post), then you can start creating your own ‘pin boards’ – so that you can collect images, visuals, videos etc – and literally, ‘pin them’ – to your board.

There doesn’t appear to be any limit to the amount of ‘pin boards’ you can create – so at Carvill Creative, we have a board for our blogs, things you may hear us say, books we enjoy etc – your boards can literally be about anything you want to collect and organise.

So, moving on from ‘collecting and organisation the things you love ‘– how can Pinterest help you from a business perspective? 

• Encourages Traffic – One of the main and most important advantages of Pinterest is Traffic! If you have any blogs that you want to get more eyeballs to, then this is the great way to get the ball rolling.

You can showcase anything you want from new products to your latest blog, but in order to get the best reaction make sure you know what it is your audience are interested in!

Key tip is that whenever possible – include links back to your website and feature landing pages within your pins, in order to drive traffic back to your website.

• Advertise your business – by using the ‘follow’ or ‘pin it’ button – you are encouraging your customers and fans to use and ‘pin’ your products on their Pinterest boards.  Again, this opens up your products and services to new audiences.  If someone ‘pins’ your blog post – or latest news letter – then effectively they are supporting your ‘pin’ and the content that you’re sharing.

This is the perfect way for brands to showcase their products and services and therefore get the word out in a different way – where they are able to visually express (pin) things they enjoy and share them with others.

• Showcase your business’ personality

 Pinterest is a great opportunity to give people a sneak peek into your business/brand’s personality.

You can make the most out of your ‘pin board’ to showcase your employees and even life in the office – this gives your audience a great picture as to what you’re about. Letting people in behind the scenes also makes you appear more personable – it will encourage credibility and people will feel like they know and trust you that little bit more.

• Build a following

Pinterest is also a great way to build a targeted community – however, be aware that it may take more time than on other social media sites, even if you are very active.

As with anything online – ‘Content Is King’ – if you create compelling content and in this case, compelling images, you’ll find that people want to follow you. They’ll tell their friends and colleagues about you and in return, your following will grow.

• Customer competitions

Competitions are a great way to encourage engagement on any social media platform. With Pinterest – you can create picture competitions. Let your fans know what the prize is and ask them to take a picture and share it to win the competition.

Ask your fans to pin the pictures onto their pinboards, they can then send you the link to their picture, and then all you have to do is come up with a means of deciding the best picture. This tactic is a great way to encourage interaction to your ‘pinboard’ and interaction with your fans!

Setting up your Pinterest account and Boards

If you’re interested in setting up an account then you’ll want to get started as soon as possible! It wasn’t until recently that Pinterest introduced ‘Business Accounts’, there are 2 ways to set this up: 1) If you have already been using Pinterest on a personal account, you can easily convert your account to a business one or 2) You can create a completely new account.

Changing your Pinterest page from a personal account to a business account is simple:

• Visit pinterest.com/business/convert to start. You’ll need to be logged into your existing personal account.

• Fill out all the details and profile information for your business page – the beauty of converting to a business account is that business accounts display a verification badge, and enable you to add buttons and widgets to your website. Do note – Pinterest also advises you of their set of terms of service.

• Last but not least, you will have to agree to the Business Terms of Service agreement and privacy policy.

• Once you done the form filling, simply click ‘convert’ and Pinterest will do the rest for you!

To create a new business account from scratch: you can sign up for a new business account by clicking here http://business.pinterest.com/

Simply click the button ‘Join as a Business’ and you will go through a similar process except this time, you will get the chance to choose a new username!

Your next big task is setting up your ‘Pinboard’

A person’s Pinterest board can be as varied as the individual who populates them. The more you use Pinterest, the more things you’ll find to pin, and that often means creating new boards.

These ‘pinboards’ are the categories for which the content you share will be located. For a business, consider the key things your customers are looking for, whether it is product-based, useful websites, technology, and so on. Once you’ve figured that out you can then go on to creating your ‘pinboard.’ Here’s how:

• Sign in to your Pinterest account and click the ‘Create a Board’ option in the top right hand corner.

• When prompted, you will need to enter to basic info about your board such as name, category, and who can pin on this board – then click ‘Create Board.’

• Next you will need to Name your board – the trick is to get the balance between both clever and clear – so people understand what they can find on the board, whilst also encouraging engagement!

• Then you’ll need to choose your Pinterest Category – this is what people use to browse so be sure to choose a category that accurately describes your board – if you’re not happy with the name remember you can always come back and change this later.

How to Pin- It!

A pin starts with an image or video that you choose to add to Pinterest. You can add a pin from a website using the ‘Pin it’ bookmarklet or upload an image from your computer. Any pin on Pinterest can be repinned, and all pins link back to their source.

Here’s how to use and get the ‘Pin It’ button:

The ‘Pin it’ button should appear in the Pinterest toolbar and is used as an easy way to pin images directly to your Pinterest boards in just a few seconds. It lets you grab the image directly from a website and straight to your Pinterest board without having to sign in! Here’s how you go about getting ‘pinning’ enabled:

• In order to download the toolbar you need to firstly log into your Pinterest account as usual and find the “About” menu section in the upper right hand corner of the page.

• Select the ‘Pin it’ button on the second row – this will then take you to a new page.

• Scroll down and then simply click ‘Install Now’ to add it to your bookmarks bar above—then click the bookmarklet whenever you see an image or video you want to pin!

• The Pin It Button for Chrome lets you pin things from around the web.

• Once installed, you can use the ‘pin It’ button to pin almost any photo / blog you come across while surfing the Internet in just a matter of seconds. And away you go! You also have the option of uploading a picture from your computer where you can pin a JPG, PNG or GIF image files. You can also pin high resolution images and videos.

Pinning on the go

One of the most popular ways to ‘pin’ is through a mobile or handheld device, available for your Android smartphone and tablet. In order to get Pinterest on your mobile you need to firstly download the app. Once you’ve done that you can then get started with creating pins on your mobile. Here’s how:

• Pins can be created directly from your mobile or tablet. All you need do is click on ‘create pin’ from the main screen of the Pinterest App.

• Alternatively – If you want to create a pin directly from the web, then you must tap on your browsers share button and then select ‘create pin.’

• Next – select the photo you wish to pin and choose its details and its description – along with the board you want it to be in.

• When it comes to viewing boards and pins with the Pinterest app – all you need to do is simply tap on the pin to view its details – you are then given the option to re-pin it, like it or leave a comment.

Pinterest is great when you’re pinning in the right way! Keep in mind the following tips whilst actively pinning, in order to get the most of this clever new platform.

• Know your audience- This is most important as you need to know what best attracts your audience to your pin board and what they like to share – keeping up the engagement and continually driving traffic to your page.

• Be yourself – it’s good to pin things that express who you are and what your business is about, this is more important than the number of followers you have!

• Be current- social sharing is an extremely fast moving medium. Topics and fashions come into and go out of popularity very quickly. Therefore make sure that your images and videos posted reflect what your business’s potential customers are talking about.

Encouraging Pinterest users to get ‘pinning’ your content.

Now that you’ve done some pinning yourself and shared content belonging to other businesses, blogs and websites – you should start focusing  your energy on making sure that your own content is getting pinned – encouraging people to share your images, blogs and videos as much as possible.

Why?

Because the more people that pin and share your content, the more exposure, traffic and advertising your business gets.

If people don’t know that you have a presence on Pinterest, they are unlikely to share your content.

The most straightforward way to encourage people to pin your content to their own Pinterest boards is to:

• Ensure that all your content is ‘pinnable.’

Sounds simple enough!

The best way to do this is feature a ‘pin it’ button on your site – make sure it features next to blog posts and images that you want people to share. This blog post from Hubspot should give you some instructions on how to get Pinterest widgets and buttons directly onto your website.

Keep in mind – Pinterest is about the image being shared. The images that get pinned need to be good, as your brand is reflected by the quality of the images that you have put up. Make sure photos are clearly illustrated and on brand.

Shhh… Be aware that private pin boards are available on Pinterest. These differ from the original pin boards that we have been discussing throughout the blog post. Firstly you are only allowed up to THREE private pin boards at any one time, whereas as you may have an UNLIMITED amount of  original pinboards (as noted above). These private boards will not show up anywhere on Pinterest – they can be used for adding pins that you wish to be invisible within category sections.

*Note If you are lucky enough to get invited to someone else’s secret board then the rules are different – feel free to accept as many invites as you like because these do NOT count towards your three board limit.

Remember pinteresters (we may have made that word up) – ‘A picture can be worth 1000 words’.

Perhaps it’s time for your business to show some interest in Pinterest!

Happy Pinning!

Liked this blog? Join in the conversation on Twitter and stay updated with our tips and how to advice on our Facebook Page. You can follow us on LinkedIn too.

Not so long ago – my colleague, friend and co-author, @DavidTaylor kindly created a Guest Blog sharing insights related to effective media relations and brand protection. Media Relations and Brand Protection in a Social Media Age.

Being prepared for any kick back on social media is now critical. 

And yet, organisations often go about sending communications to their audiences without considering the question – ‘Is this communication likely to get any
‘kick back’ in the social media space and if so what ‘lines do we take’.  Seems simple enough – but let’s just break this down:

1. The social media communication channels require a watchful eye and speed to response. Therefore, you’d need to ‘man up’ the resources for watching, listening and responding during.  If you know you are expecting some recourse – then you’d be watching and listening to what’s happening and responding as quickly as possible.
2.  How to respond? What are the official ‘lines to take’?  Have you got some key personnel on hand to act as the ‘Press Officer’ into the social media community team so that they can a direct link to be able to query any specific issues?  Or have you pre-prepared official statements from the CEO (or other relevant responses) – so that you have questions to answers, or responses to kick back from an official source.

Recently, I was witness to a campaign where social wasn’t considered – and without naming names or going into too much detail – here’s what happened.

Case Study:

Company A needed to communicate a change in their policy to their audience (about 60,000 people). The changes to the policy were quite complex and could easily have been misconstrued.

A rather lengthy (as it had to be due to sector regulations) was communicated via mail to their audience. With the call to action to call if there were any questions.  The call support team were briefed in to deal with any questions.

The mailer hit.

The social media community management team didn’t know anything about it!

Kickback on Twitter and Facebook (usual places people use for complaints, comments etc) started happening. Lots of anger was vented at the changes.

The social media community management team very quickly realised that these were not one offs and quickly realised,  due to the scale of kick back, there was clearly some mass communication that had hit.

The team dealt with it in a professional way – and very quickly got to grips with the bigger picture.

Created a direct line of comms into the senior leadership team so they too were briefed in on ‘lines to take’ – bringing clarity to some of the elements that had clearly been misconstrued and pacifying an angry audience.

BE PREPARED

The social media team – front line voice of the business, were not made aware of the communication.

We see this happening all the time – lack of ‘joined up’ communications leads to confusion, frustration and  in a social and transparent space – can make an organisation look plain stupid.

Had they been informed – they would have been prepared with lines to take, knowledge about the likely questions to respond to.

• KEY LESSONS
• Communications have to be joined up.  It’s as bad as sending out a marketing promotion and not telling the front line telesales team about it. When someone calls talking about the promotion – the telesales person is left thinking ‘I don’t know anything about this’.  Poor.
• If you are sharing key news – be sure that everyone who needs to know about it, knows about it.
• Ask the question – do we expect any ‘kick back’ on this – and if so – prepare ‘lines to take’.
• Ensure that front line team have a direct link into senior comms/management so that they can quickly access any  specific information they may require.

@Michelle Carvill is owner and Marketing Director at Carvill Creative – the online visibility experts. A digital marketing and design agency based in Maidenhead, Berkshire.  The agency covers all aspects of marketing strategy and online visibility – covering social media marketing and social media training, user focused website planning and conversion focused website design.

Want to talk to the team at Carvill Creative about your social media activity or training needs? We’re happy to chat, so simply ‘get in touch’.

Finally, why not download our useful Social Media Marketing Planner and Marketing Plan. They’re totally free to download and use.

You’ve taken the time to establish your social media platforms, made some friends and re-tweeted quite a few times.  Now what?  As time ticks on your social media channels may become just another routine for you and just another quick scan for visitors.  Below are 7 quick and easy tips that you can use today to spruce up your social media life

Change your Gravitar and profile pictures.

Nothing says a “new you” like a new look.  By switching up your online pictures you are refreshing your image online and increasing the chance of getting people to click to see what else is new

Add a video or infographic to your site.

The visual aspects of social media are not going anywhere.  Change up your normal text-based interactions with something more aesthetically pleasing.  With easily accessible do-it-yourself sites, adding a visual aid to your repertoire may be simpler than you think.

Start asking questions.

People love talking about themselves.  This is why we tweet and post in the first place isn’t it, to promote ourselves, business and brand?  Turn this fact on its side by asking your followers what’s new with them.  What’s trending in their current world?  What are they struggling with?  All it takes is a question to get the conversations (and traffic) flowing

Update your bio and portfolio links.

It’s a wonderful thing if you’ve been too busy to update your portfolio with all of the new work you’ve been doing.  But a portfolio that showcases your latest project from 2007 screams stale.  Take some time semiannually to show the world how current your workflow actually is, highlighting new skills, clients and growth.

Show off a different side of your personality.

Being business focused is great, but it is so important to humanize your social media accounts so that others can connect with you on a personal level.  Try sharing your weekend plans or cracking an (appropriate) joke once in a while to breathe some new life into your pages

Branch out.

Chances are that as time has progressed, so have your interests.  What once was your niche audience might now be trickling into different directions.  Devote some of your social media time to making those new connections you’ve been thinking about.  Add value by adding your input into discussions and forums, leaving not only an impression but a link back to you.

Limit yourself.

The key words for this article were quick and easy, and if you’ve read this far then chances are you really are looking for some simple social media practices.  Stay true to your aspirations by allotting a certain amount of time to social media each day (say 60 minutes max) and stick to it.  When the alarm rings, commit to logging off and get back to work because as important as promoting your brand is, building it will always rank higher.

What other ways can you refresh your social media?  Share your thoughts here!

About the Author: Kelly Gregorio writes about relevant topics that affect small businesses while working at Merchant Resources International, a merchant advance cash provider for over 10,000 small businesses. You can read her daily blog at http://www.cashprior.com/blog.

Whether you are publishing a blog, promoting an event or other marketing activity – be sure that you
make your communications count.  Check these 8 publishing basics before hitting the ‘send’ button.

1.  Spell Check. The quickest way to lose credibility is to share content peppered with typos. Check your spelling and grammar. There are apps such as Grammarly which can help if you struggle.
2.  Web Friendly Content. People read differently online to how they read offline text. It’s difficult to read bulky paragraphs of text online so be sure to keep your sentences short and include bullet points and links where possible to highlight key points and steer the reader to where you want them to go / what you want them to do.
3.  Call to Action. Have you told your audience what you want them to do? Make your intentions clear from the start. If you are inviting people to an event, or need them to do something – get the ‘action’ in right at the beginning of your content. This way they don’t have to read the whole page to understand what’s being offered and what you want them to do.
4.  Does your Headline / Subject Line explain the proposition?  Check that your Headline/Subject clearly explains what’s on offer. Often audiences don’t read beyond the headline – so be sure you capture attention and sell the proposition from the start.
5.  Is your content Keyword Optimised? Make sure you are leveraging keywords in your Headline/ Subject Line and where relevant throughout your content. (Work on a 4% content to keyword ratio).
6.  Are the Links / Processes Working?  If you have included links to other pages – then be sure to check that links are working and active. If you’re including a process, for example, if you are sending readers to a landing page to download a guide – then check that the download, data capture mechanisms work seamlessly. Remember that in Twitter and LinkedIn you are limited to the amount of characters that can be published – so be sure that any links aren’t going to get ‘cut off’ at the end.
7.  Are you sending communications to a relevant audience?  The most successful marketing activities are those which are targeted effectively. Be sure that you understand your audience and target your communications accordingly.
8.  Have you included contact details? Whilst the call to action for your audience may be clear – some may have questions. Be sure you provide a ‘contact us’ option – whether it’s an email address or telephone number – somewhere where those with questions can very simply get in touch.

Being a regular blogger, blogging for around 5 years now – I’m always surprised to find that a huge proportion of businesses and websites I come across don’t have any blogging presence.

In an age where 76% of consumers search for products and services online via search engines and social media platforms, (just think about your own consumer behaviour and what you do when looking for a new product or service), then being ‘visible’ online is now business critical.

Having a website presence is one thing. However, in order for you to ensure your website doesn’t become a ‘billboard in the desert’ (as 40% of all UK websites are and received zero, yes, zero, traffic!), then you have to work at driving online visibility.

There are a number of ways to assist your online visibility – here are some of the key ones:

SEO (search engine optimisation) –  I’m not going to get into detail about SEO – however, enough to say that there are two key elements to SEO,  1) ‘on page’ – which relates to the content on your website, meta, site structure, navigation etc and ensuring all that is optimised.  And then, 2) ‘off page’ – which is the far more labour intensive means of growing credible and relevant ‘back links’ to your website.

The overall objective is to ensure that when someone types in those all important keywords when searching for a product or service eg:  ‘forensic accountant London’ – then you are visible on Page 1 of the search results (ideally in the top 3 organic search results – [after all, do you look beyond those or switch to Page 2 of search results?]).

Online advertising – When someone types in those all important keywords eg: ‘social media consultant London’ – you are paying to top the bill. You are bidding on keywords so that you become visible in the sponsored links. Again, ideally you want to dominate the sponsored listings – so that you have more chance of being ‘clicked’ on.  Results show that the top 3 positions receive the most traffic from sponsored activity.

Social Media Networks – Rather than putting all your eggs into one ‘online’ basket and simply having your website presence being the main means for audiences to find out about your business and services – now you can leverage a plethora of social networks to create a broader online presence.

Not only do social networks provide you with more opportunity to grow a presence online – but they also enable you to target specific people, influencers etc – and talk and converse and provide insight into what you and your business are really about.  This fundamentally enables you to showcase what you do for others via case studies, testimonials, track conversations, grow thought leadership by sharing opinion and expertise, grow fans and advocates who spread the word for you (to name but a few of the many uses of social).

Of course – the challenge with ‘Social’ is that you have to put something ‘out’ (share it) in order to attract people ‘in’.

Unlike advertising or optimising – social is the place whereby you ‘earn’ attention by the nature of what you share.

Therefore, you need to have something ‘sharable’ – and a method to consistently and simply share those all important insights into you, your business and your products and services.

This is where ‘blogging’ comes into play.

A blog, in my humble opinion, is a MUST for every website – and yes, I believe EVERY website, even those focusing solely on ‘ecommerce’.

The blog is the ‘mouthpiece’ for the business and brand. This is the place where you can share more than you can say on Twitter or Facebook – and of course,  provides you with unique, purposeful and relevant content to share on those social networks too.

Fundamentally, social isn’t about direct sales, it’s about getting people to ‘know you, like you, trust you, talk about you – and ultimately do business with you’.

In order to grow this relationship and get people to know, like and trust you – you’ve got to provide content that is useful, purposeful, authentic and from the heart of your business – so that you ‘earn’ attention.

Your Blog is your Broadcast Station

Your blog is indeed your broadcast station. Everything the business wants to share, believes in, has done for others, people get excited about etc – can be shared via your blog.  And of course – where does that blog sit? – on your website.

• When people visit your website they see your blog (particularly if you’re smart and have it visible on the home page). They see that you’re alive and that you have opinions, advice, testimonials, case studies, view points, expertise, authority, a personality etc.
• When people read your blog, they get pulled back to your website. Where they can explore more blogs or products or services or hit the call to action you included in your blog to encourage them to get more involved with your business by subscribing to your blog or downloading your latest Social Media or Marketing guide etc.

It’s the perfect ‘engagement’ and ‘broadcast’ tool.  It works beautifully for social media – as it gives you something to share – and it’s an authentic view on you and your business.

If a business isn’t blogging – then they don’t have much to say.  And in a world where being ‘vocal’ matters – then blogging assists with your online visibility.

Ok, so if we dedicate time and resource to blogging regularly – what’s the ROI?

At Carvill Creative we keep a track of all enquiries – whether they come via our online ‘Get in touch’ form or via phone or email.

Out of submissions from the last three months – 50% were via Google Search and 50% said:

I can confirm that from those that contacted us via seeing our blog – 60% have so far translated into new business compared to just 18% of those that made queries via Google Search.

Also – a client, Westbury Accountants – grew traffic to their site 386% when they picked up their blogging activity.  You can read their Blogging for Success Case Study here.

My questions to you are:

• If you’re not blogging – why not?  If it’s a resource thing – then work with a company like Carvill Creative where we either train you and your team to blog internally (as we did with Westbury) or indeed we learn about your organisation and personality and regularly create content for your blogs.
• If you have a blog – how regularly are you blogging and are you measuring its effectiveness? Do you track where leads come from, do you monitor Analytics on your website to review traffic via your blog?

Blogging isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon. Focus on the end in mind. You’ll find lots of tips and tactics for getting started with blogging here in our Blogging Masterclass in A Blog Post article – and of course, if you want to start a blog and don’t know where to start – get in touch. We’d be delighted to get you blogging.

@Michelle Carvill is owner and Marketing Director at Carvill Creative – the online visibility experts. A digital marketing and design agency based in Maidenhead, Berkshire.  The agency covers all aspects of marketing strategy and online visibility – covering social media marketing and social media training, user focused website planning and conversion focused website design.

Want to talk to the team at Carvill Creative about your social media activity or training needs? We’re happy to chat, so simply ‘get in touch’.

Finally, why not download our useful Social Media Marketing Planner and Marketing Plan. They’re totally free to download and use.

Ok – 2013 is here – and we’re now 5 years on from the major doom and gloom of the credit crunch.

And let me tell you – whilst the economic climate is by no means ‘booming’ – the sentiment of business people I have met over the past months is definitely far more positive.

I was privileged to be at the StartUp Business Awards in December – and what a refreshing ‘pick me up’ – that was. (Not that I personally need any pick me ups as I’m eternally optimistic).

I spoke to a number of business people, from all walks of life – and generally the sentiment was the same.

Business is good and people are excited and passionate about what the year ahead will bring.

I’ve written about this before, back in 2008 and 2010 – but I’m reiterating it again.  Because I believe it’s fundamentally important.

Optimism, passion and energy are really key fundamental success factors we need to personally harness as, when you think about it – it’s energy and enthusiasm that keeps us all going – the sense of purpose that motors us on.

So regardless as to whether you’re a business owner, budding entrepreneur or CEO – it’s important to remain passionate and positive  about business – and it’s hugely important to make time for yourself to restore those all important energy levels.

Focusing on the negative is a self fulfilling prophecy – therefore, my advice to self and others is to focus on spreading optimism.  After all – optimism is infectious.

Here’s my tried and test guide for helping you to combat the blues and stay positive, focused and energised throughout 2013.

1. Avoid the ‘energy vampires’.  You know who they are – the people that ‘suck’ the life out of you.   Avoid these ‘vampires’ as much as possible.  If you have to be around them be sure to counteract their negativity with positivity.  You’ll be amazed at how much better you feel.
2. Hang out with Energy  Boosters.  Counterbalance the ‘energy vampires’ by being around ‘energy boosters’. These are people that really excite and inspire you and get you enthused and positive about what you do.  They ooze energy and when ‘boosters’ get together – energy is shared – and it generates more energy so everyone comes away feeling ready for anything.  You know who these people are – so spend more time in their presence. And be sure to make time to find more ‘boosters’.  Attend the odd face to face networking event, go to seminars that interest you, book signings, lectures, webinars etc – go where the people who influence or inspire you are – and get immersed.
3. Get fit – physically (and mentally).   Just how much better do you feel when you are fit and well. I have to say that for a number of reasons, I had to stop exercising regularly for a short period – and boy did it take its toll.   My advice is to build exercise into your life – full stop. It’s not an optional extra – it’s a necessity.  Do whatever it takes to stay active and well. Zumba classes, yoga, pilates, get outside for a run/jog/walk – go for a swim or get down to the gym.  Even if it’s just simply getting outside for a walk. Get out, get some fresh air and do something. Ideally every day.  When my daughter wants to go for a bike ride – I get my trainers on – and she’s a great pacer.  Even if it’s only 20 minutes. You’ll feel a whole lot better.  Physically and mentally.
4. Me time - get into the habit of making some ‘me time’.  There’s nothing clever about working and worrying 24 hours a day.  You’ll burn out, lose momentum, become low and energy and enthusiasm will slip far from your grasp.  Don’t let yourself get to that stage.  Take ‘me time’ – and by this I mean doing whatever it takes to ‘recharge your batteries’.  Whether it’s a long walk, training for a marathon, yoga, meditation, hanging out with the children, feeding the ducks, dog walks, listening to music, dancing, going down the gym, reading a book etc - whatever it takes – be sure you do some of it regularly.   I recommend at least 1 hour of ‘me time’ a day.  Sounds like it should be simple to fit in just 1 hour a day – but you’ll find that it isn’t.  So start with setting 1 hour as your benchmark – and see how you go.
5. Learn to say NO when you need to.  Being passionate and enthusiastic has its downfalls too. You can be so keen to get involved in ‘everything’ that before you know it  you’ve tied yourself in a number of impossible knots. We’ve all been there – double diary bookings, working weekends, missing out on those all important ‘me time’ sessions because you’re up to your eyeballs.  Saying NO when you need to is also about remaining focused on what’s important.   Be sure you are in charge of your time management. If you don’t want to say ‘No’ then perhaps suggest a later date you can get involved. It’s tricky – but definitely worth mastering.

So that’s it – simple eh – keep optimistic, energised, enthused and focused on what you want to achieve in 2013.  At the end of the day it’s you that matters – with your mental and physical energy levels in tip top condition, that’s what’s really going to help you stand out in a crowd and cope with challenges that come your way!

For more social media, marketing news, views, tips and advice – why not subscribe to my blog and don’t forget to follow my tweetings on Twitter

Here’s to an energetic, happy and successful 2013!  It’s going to be a great year for sure.

@Michelle Carvill is owner and Marketing Director at Carvill Creative – the online visibility experts. A digital marketing and design agency based in Maidenhead, Berkshire.  The agency covers all aspects of online visibility – covering social media marketing, social media consultancy, social media training, user focused website planning and conversion focused website design.

For marketing and social media advice – view the Carvill Creative Blog

Whilst it is reported that there are over 1bn Facebook users- there are still many local businesses without a Facebook business page.

A recent Facebook update; ‘Facebook Nearby’ – gives businesses even more of a reason to sign onto the Facebook network and create their very own Facebook Business Page to keep them on the map and aid visibility.

Facebooks’ nearby tab was originally used in personal profiles showing people where their friends’ had ‘checked in.’

Facebook has now built on this app turning it into a business local search engine where you can discover places and local businesses nearby. Searches can be done using either a business name or category – such as coffee shop, restaurants, bars etc.

At the moment this is only available on Facebook mobile phone apps due to Facebook wanting to engage on a deeper level with their fans via mobile as they believe it will offer a ‘word of mouth at scale.’

The update was designed to make the Facebook mobile app a go-to source for finding out local information in each of the selected categories.

This is a new marketing opportunity that you don’t want to miss out on. It enables you to:

1. Put your businesses face onto the map- offering search and discovery of any other local businesses in the area.

2. Lets you know where friends and fans are and the local businesses they have checked into.

3. Offers a places category- where you are able to search for places in different categories such as nearby, restaurants, nightlife, outdoors, shopping etc.

4. Useful marketing resource to motivate other Facebook users- through engagement you can discover what others think of local businesses.

5. Measure and rate a business through a 5 star ranking system where the businesses that have been ranked the highest and have the higher levels of engagement are more likely to appear first in Facebook’s search filters.

6. Users also have the option to like, call and get directions for the business they want to connect with- Straight from their mobile.

Facebook’s ‘Nearby’ search engine will deliver results from local Business Page – so remember, if you don’t have a page- You won’t show up!

Get your business noticed and create your Facebook business page now! See our useful guide to help get your Facebook Business Page started.

There’s no doubt about it – the channels now available online to target audiences have broadened significantly.

You can target audiences via Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest, Google+ (and others)- and savvy marketing teams are increasingly including these channels as a regular route to market.
Being ‘active’ on social networks has many facets – it’s not just about direct lead generation – however, as with all campaigns and activities, they ideally should focus on some specific measurable outcomes. One of the most asked questions I hear is – ‘For all this social media activity, how will we measure tangible return on investment’?

It’s a fair question – after all, social media is ‘always on’ and therefore, providing ‘continuous conversations’ is a resource hungry venture – people, time, training and content creation.
My ethos and the culture at Carvill Creative is always to ensure that before any activity is undertaken, the questions of ‘Why are we doing this and what are we looking to achieve’ (kind of the same thing) – are well and truly answered, so that all involved have a very clear rationale, direction and purpose.

Social Media isn’t about doing social media activity for the sake of it – just keeping you on the radar (although if that’s your objective, it could be) – as ideally, it should be working to meet your specific objectives.

This clarity in thinking why you’re doing something – then leads to clarity in the processes required to ensure you are able to measure outcomes.

“If we want to achieve X – then what processes do we need to put in place to deliver on X?”

Focus on tangible metrics and create a marketing campaign that delivers

Let’s say you are targeting a specific audience with a Facebook Ad campaign. Getting creative with the campaign / ad is one thing – but the critical element, which surprisingly is often overlooked, is the focus of where you are going to send people to and what you are going to measure.

Many Facebook Ads simply drive people back to the Facebook Timeline rather than to a specific ‘landing page’. If you send people to a place where there are not any clear signposts of what you exactly want them to do – then guess what…(it’s not rocket science)… they’re unlikely to do what you want them to do.

Whereas, if you send them to a clear and perfectly signposted landing page whereby they can clearly view the proposition and are clear on what they need to do to participate, for example, provide you with their name and email address (data capture) – in order to download an ebook, guide, join the competition, prize draw (you get the drift) – then you have created a ‘lead capture’ process which provides you not only with metrics for traffic hitting that specific landing page, but also who then converted and did what you wanted them to do – and of course, provides you with tangible data to use in follow ups or other marketing activity. A ‘joined up’ approach is far more effective and delivers you with tangible outcomes.

This same focus and approach is relevant for any activity you do.  As the briliant Stephen Covey outlines in his still relevant ‘7 Habits of Highly Successful People’ – habit number 2 is, “start with the end in mind”.   I couldn’t agree more – it’s fundamental to have absolute clarity on what you are looking to achieve – and this will help you design a joined up campaign that delivers.

Start with the end in mind basic planning framework:

This framework doesn’t go into the campaign delivery detail – but it does get you thinking about top line activity – and fundamentally, what the activity needs to deliver on.

I’ll finish where I started with the wise words … ‘Start with the end in mind’.

Happy socialising…
Michelle

@Michelle Carvill is owner and Marketing Director at Carvill Creative – the online visibility experts. A digital marketing and design agency based in Maidenhead, Berkshire.  The agency covers all aspects of online visibility – covering social media marketing and social media training, user focused website planning and conversion focused website design.

For marketing and social media advice – view the Carvill Creative Blog

When I meet people during my life consulting or via the  social media training I do, when we talk Social Media – LinkedIn is the one network business people seem most comfortable with.

Ask the question – ‘Are you on LinkedIn?’ – and 95% of the audience will say, ‘Yes’.  However, when I then ask the question – ‘And how many of those of you on LinkedIn have a Profile which is 100% complete?’ – then conversely, around 5% of the audience answers positively.

This recent webinar I ran with www.businesstrainingmadesimple.com - is a 40 minute gem which focuses on

1. Getting your LinkedIn Personal Profile to 100% complete and why it matters.
2. The New LinkedIn Company Profiles – and how to showcase your business, products and services to drive more online visibility and leverage your employees and their connections.
3. Groups, LinkedIn Answers and more…

The more mainstream social media channels become as key communication channels for business and brand engagement – then the more people I meet who say ‘So come on then tell me about this ‘social media’ thingy then’.  Usually with arms folded and rolling eyes in tow.

Resistance is still there – and the terms ‘social media’ seem more passé than the words ‘Fifty Shades’.

However, what social media stands for is anything but ‘passe’.

So instead of talking ‘soshall meeja’ – I talk about the things that CEOs, business owners and board members get.  You may want to consider talking about social media in this way too:

1)      Shift in Consumerism

There’s no way of denying that there has been a significant shift in how we consume products and services.

Ask people the question, ‘What do you do when you are looking for a product or service’.

Do we now wait to see a TV or press ad or receive a phone call from a telesales person – or do we get onto our mobile, tablet, desktop or laptop devices and seek it out via Google and other trustworthy sources?

I have trained over 1600 people in the past year – and each time I ask the question ‘Who here now searches for products and services or what they are looking for via search engines as a first port of call?’ – unequivocally, every single hand rises.

Therefore, being visible online is now very important. And Social Media is one important part of creating effective online visibility.

And it’s not just about visibility but also about reputation and referral.  Online the consumer has a wide range of choice – the consumer is king. If a website doesn’t look engaging or trustworthy – we are unlikely to hang around for very long. It’s not as if we have to drive to the next village to find an alternative – we simply hit the back button and et voila, masses of choice is at our fingertips to explore. Effortless.

We are now in the Recommendation Generation – we’ve stopped believing the ‘hype’ of push marketing – billboards, advertisements etc (only 14% of us believe that the advertisers are saying) – and instead, we trust and believe peers and often complete strangers (70% of purchases are made following an online recommendation).

Reviews matter, testimonials matter, positive sentiment matters.  People can share and talk online effortlessly.  My question to businesses who are ‘eyerolling’ about social media is ‘Do you know what the often ‘always on’ consumer is saying or reading about you?’  ‘Are you listening?’ ‘Are you responding?’.

The second powerful way to combat Social Media Eyeball Rolling is to talk about the fundamental ways to grow a business.

This is a very simple lesson I learned back in my days of The Results Accountants’ Systems ‘Boot Camp’.

2)      There are just 4 Ways to Grow a Business

And they are:

• Increase the number of customers
• Increase frequency of purchase
• Increase value of purchase
• Systematise your processes to make the business more efficient

Social Media activity compliments every one of the key drivers above.

Increase the number of customers

Social media activity has the opportunity to amplify your communications into far reaching audiences. Way beyond your database or typical reach. Providing opportunity for new customers.

It’s simple for people to share and pass on your messages, offers etc – it’s simply a touch of a button. So if they advocate what you’re saying, you’re broadening your team of marketers – as by retweeting on Twitter or sharing something on a Facebook Page – the average Jo is helping you to market your business.

And if you tune into key influencers and create relevant relationships – then they can be amplifying your message into a targeted new audience.

Increase frequency of purchase

There are a number of ways to increase purchase frequency, which effectively focuses on getting people to buy more often from you. Through nurture communication programs, keeping customers in touch with what you do – staying on the radar.  Discounted offers, time limited – and sometimes triggered by an activity. Eg: Thank you for purchasing – we’re giving you 15% off any of our products throughout December.  And products that have ‘add ons’ – refills, complimentary products or services.

I’m sure there are other tactics too. However, if we just take the ‘staying on the radar’ element. Social Media is a perfect resource to keep you in front of key influencers, customers and potential new customers.

Social Media enables ‘continuous conversations’ – sharing updates, listening in and responding, asking and answering questions. Effectively, you can advise people on a one to one basis – but on a one to many platform – building awareness and thought leadership.

Effectively, you are building ‘share of mind’ – when they are looking for your products or services – or indeed any of their friends are, then being on the radar enables you to potentially become their first point of reference.

Increase value of purchase

This activity is typically linked with increasing fees (ie: people are willing to pay more for your services as you provide more added value or simply, getting people to buy more things from you at purchase point).

Going back to our recommendation generation – and how clever ecommerce sites work already (think Amazon, people who bought this also bought – or point of sale, McDonalds ‘would you like fries with that’).

From a social media perspective, as consumers we’re increasingly influenced by reviews and comments we see online. Comments and feedback from real time tweets can be streamed into your website or ecommerce page, or you can include plug ins to see others on Facebook that like this product or bought the bundle – can provide what is called ‘social validation’.  This validation has been show to encourage others to do the same.

And of course there are opportunities to share into your social audiences special Twitter or Facebook promotions. Encouraging them to buy more through unique ‘social’ offers.

Systematise Processes to Make Your Business More Efficient

And finally, making processes more efficient, which increases overall business effectiveness.

Many businesses I speak with turn to social as they see it as a more cost effective way to reach their audiences and beyond.  Streamlining often fragmented, costly and decentralised marketing activity – and creating a clear focus via social media channels.

Personally, I’m an advocate of social media activity complimenting traditional activity in the quest to make campaigns more effective, efficient and long living.

Either way – social media channels present ways to leverage opportunities which traditionally may have been off the radar due to budget restrictions or global reach. Any business can have their own TV channel via YouTube, their own Community to showcase the heritage of the business and the brand personality via Facebook – target and network with key influencers around the world – and listen in to key conversations via Twitter – and again, target key influencers and network via LinkedIn. (Just to mention 4 of the thousands of social networks around).

So, if or when you are met with ‘eye-rolling’ sceptism, perhaps stop talking ‘social media’ and instead, focus on terms that matter for all businesses.

If you have more examples of Social Media and the 4 Ways – then do share. Would like to keep that part of the post growing.

Til my next rant…;)

Michelle

@Michelle Carvill is owner and Marketing Director at Carvill Creative – the online visibility experts. A digital marketing and design agency based in Maidenhead, Berkshire.  The agency covers all aspects of marketing strategy and online visibility – covering social media marketing and social media training, user focused website planning and conversion focused website design.

Want to talk to the team at Carvill Creative about your social media activity or training needs? We’re happy to chat, so simply ‘get in touch’.

Finally, why not download our useful Social Media Marketing Planner and Marketing Plan. They’re totally free to download and use.