Focus on quality of your posts, over quantity

 

You’ve seen my recommended posting schedule, so you know it’s important to post consistently. A major goal is to always stay top of mind!

 

Still, as a general rule of thumb of what and when to post, remember this:  Quality always beats quantity.

 

Customers buy from you when you provide value. Make your content interesting and don’t be afraid to have your own personality online!  Keep giving your followers something to come back for, this is what turns a follower into a customer. When you build your relationships, you build your business.

 

Some content ideas:

  1. Do some research and post statistics about your industry. NOTE: Be sure to keep track of the source of your statistics! Your followers will ask. Show them you’re on the ball and respond with the source.
  2. Share links to your blog posts. You’ve spent time and effort creating them, so share them over and over and over! Make sure you’ve got a sweet call to action at the end too!
  3. Post quotes. From you. Yes, you’re worthy of quoting! If you’ve done any speaking, pull some quotes. If you’ve written blog posts, pull some quotes. If you are known for a particular saying, quote it.
  4. Post quotes from others. Who do you relate to that may be inspirational to your followers? Is it business gurus like Zig Ziglar? Is it power quotes from Oprah? Maybe you’re a realtor, how about Barbara Corcoran? Curate quotes and share them.
  5. If you’ve been interviewed for a podcast, link to it. How about quoted in an article? You get the drill by now, right?
  6. Think about what’s happening in the world – locally, nationally, internationally. Find a way to tie these current events to your brand.
  7. What about seasonal posts? Is it summer? Do you have an amazing summer drink special? Is there a house you’ve got listed that has an amazing outdoor kitchen? Are you a coach that helps your clients stay booked in the slower months? Talk about that!
  8. Do you have a YouTube channel? Share the videos. See #2. Over and over and over.
  9. How about live streams? Save your Periscopes, Blabs, and Facebook Live broadcasts and share them with your followers. This is a rocket ship down the know, like and trust path.
  10. Last, but most certainly not least, build your email list. What’s your freebie? What can you give your followers to gain their trust enough to get their name and email address? Share posts to this regularly!

 

Want more ideas on what to post? Follow me on Twitter. You may see something on my feed that will inspire your own content! 

How often should you post on social media?

 

If you’ve attended any of my webinars, you may have seen this chart already.

Quick Guide to Post Frequency

 

No, I’m not trying to make you crazy with this stuff. I know you’re looking at Twitter and thinking to yourself “has she lost her mind?”

 

What I want is for you to use these social media platforms for PROFIT. I want you to use them in a way that will keep your name top of mind with your followers. To do that, you need to be consistent, you need to have a plan and work that plan.

 

This chart is the place to start.

 

I’m not saying you need to be in all of these places. What I’m saying that if you ARE going to post in a platform, use it wisely. Use it to get the most bang for your buck. Pick one or two and do it right.

 

Much of this can be pre-scheduled. For example, for every blog post I write, I throw three tweets for it into a queue of content that goes out to Twitter on a rotating basis. Hey, I took the time to write it, why not share it over and over ? The content is still valuable to my followers for many months or even years ahead.

 

Need help figuring out what to post on each of these platforms? Join my LinkedIn group where I and other interested entrepreneurs are always brainstorming new content ideas!

 

3 Easy Steps to Generate Competitive Social Media Post Ideas Every Time

 
I talk a lot about social media and frequency of posting, in fact that IS a mainstay of my own personal business model. I still maintain 22 or more tweets per day, a few posts per day on Facebook, and multiple blogs a week (well it’s my goal that’s for sure).

As someone who is hired to do this for corporations, big business and small, I understand the pace is difficult to match. But remember I have to do all these posts, tweets and prompts for myself too!

A lot of the day to day questions I get are regarding strategy: online business social media strategy to be exact and I often address the answers in varying topics on this blog. However where is strategy if you just don’t know what to post?

Strategy is nowhere, that’s where.

You can’t start with strategy you have to start with the conversation. So in an attempt to provoke some inspiration on what to talk about when you have no idea what to talk about I thought I’d compile a few of my best “strategies” on social media writers block.

A Few of My best “Strategies” to Tackle Social Media Writer’s Block

ONE: Always always always start with what is trending that day on your chosen social media platform.trends

The day I am writing this (usually only a couple weeks ahead of when it actually posts) Twitter was trending with a really great topic: The Best Books of 2015. You can see everything that is trending that day and for how long on the lower left hand side of your Twitter home page. Anyone know why The Best Books of 2015 is such a great trend? Because there are so many different and interesting things you can say about it!

You can talk about:

  • The books you have read or want to read
  • A specific book and do a book review
  • Your opinion that a certain book should be on the list
  • Your followers opinions and take a poll (Hint: use this for future research!)
  • Quotes from some of your favorites on the list – everyone loves a good quote

And the list goes on. You can even create your own Best Books of 2015 and post that! Because everyone loves lists and your future clients want to know what you think.

Sometimes we aren’t so lucky on all platforms. Take a look at what is trending on Facebook today:

Not much positivity there, nor is there much you can focus on as a business. But hey this is where imagination comes in – have fun with it!

Why don’t you:

  • Use the trend of Yahoo’s CEO severance package post and ask your followers what they would do with $150million.
  • Ask if you should read the book or just watch the show in regards to the Game of Thrones post.
  • Mention how much you love Dancing with the Stars and who your favorite contestant was?

All of these are fun, inviting, add personality and also engage your audience while at the same time getting you more bang for the buck with each post. Every time you attach to a trending topic with a hash tag or subject you have a better chance of being found and read because more people are talking and reading about that very same thing! Make sense?

TWO: I take a look at what my competitors are doing.

What are your competitors talking and blogging about these days? What is on their mind and in their wheelhouse? Do you see a trend or a topic or two you haven’t covered yourself in awhile? Well then get to it and be inspired to write the best blog post or the most interesting Tweets this side of Tennessee!

Today while researching this post I found a random list of the top ten social media blogs of 2015 (of which I am not on…YET!) So I decided to take a look at what these top ten had to say.

What some of my competition is talking about:

  • Facebook ads, and a tutorial for them
  • Sponsored content – when, how and why to use it
  • Snapchat promotions
  • Video content creation

This encouraged me to keep talking about LinkedIn and all my strategies because it was not being talked about as much, so from there I can stand out in the crowd.

This research also showed me that maybe I could add a few new topics to my upcoming blogs such as how to create a great video to post to attracting sponsored content to using other platforms not included in the big 5 (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram).

THREE: Pay for a little help.

There are all sorts of tools out there that help you pick topics, popular posts, and viral trends to capitalize on when creating your own social media marketing and I won’t go into all of them here but sometimes all we need is a little leg up. There is so much content out there already one of the best ideas to get eyes on and likes on your page is to share posts that are the most popular already. Typically these are image driven posts, possibly with a quote or a video.

One such application is Post Planner. Membership starts at $5 or $7 a month and if you have multiple business pages on Facebook this is definitely a plus for you. They have a tool called the Viral Photo Finder that will allow you to search pages in your niche that have posted a photo that has gone viral (number of shares in relation to number of fans) you can then share that photo which may prompt the same response from your fans. Photo credit is always given automatically when you click the share button. You can even add it to your scheduler queue right from there!

Now I haven’t used Post Planner extensively nor am I an affiliate but I wanted to show you that there are options out there when you are stuck staring at a blank screen knowing you need to get something out on social media, but not sure what.

Want to test out a post or a Post Planner Pick? Join me in my LinkedIn group and lay it on us! Myself and 600 other members will be there to help you out!

Stuck on What to Post on Facebook? Top 5 Best Performing Ideas to Get More Bang for Your Buck

 

I talk a lot about LinkedIn and Twitter these days and have for awhile. One reason because they are two of my favorite platforms in regards to democracy, the easy ability to grow a following, and the reach they can provide you as a business owner.

I realize though that some businesses are firmly ensconced on Facebook because that is where they find their fans.

Or maybe because Facebook is familiar and comfortable to them, and that’s not a bad reason either.

So I wanted to pay attention to all my Facebook users out there today in this blog post.

Let me first ask you, “How many times a week are you posting on Facebook for your business?”

I bet this number is not enough. The school of thought for Facebook posting frequency is about 4-6 times a day. The more the better, because this helps to get around the Facebook algorithm that reduces page views to non-promoted posts.

So how do you come up with enough ideas to create that many posts?

[Tweet “How to come up with enough ideas to create enough posts on Facebook.”]

Good question. Today I’m going to help you!

1. One of my biggest pieces of advice that I give my clients and my friends when talking about what to post on social media is: always always always post about other local and online businesses. You can never post too much good stuff about the other businesses that you frequent or run across online.

Why? Well first off because this type of posting is easy to integrate into your daily routine. Jot down a few notes before you leave their biz, or directly post to social media from their website.

Some questions you can ask yourself to create an interesting post:
Do you like their business because of convenience?
Did a certain employee go out of their way for you?
Do they always have what you are looking for?
Is their brand appealing to you?
Does their business “why” stand out to you?
Second because typically these businesses will share the love back. Finding partnerships and making alliances in your business niche, and outside of it, are key to winning the “war” of visibility online.

Finally the big question for you to always include the answer to in your posts:

What would be the message you would want to relate to your clients or fans in regards to this business or experience?

2. Second, write a goal oriented post. You must have a goal for every post. Ask yourself, what is it that you want to achieve here? For Facebook this answer can matter even more because this platform is a bit more informal and you want to make sure you hit all spectrums of “types” of posts.

Sometimes you want to have fun, make people laugh and engage with you. Other times you want to educate about your product or service or ways you can increase the quality of life for your customers. And some posts are going to be about your business “why” with a call to action to buy.

3. Third, write a behind-the-scenes post. One of the best performing Facebook posts seems to be one that allows your followers a peak behind the scenes into your daily routine.

Maybe a post:

  • of you on vacation reminding followers of what they can achieve if they follow your advice.
  • of you and your team working hard to bring a project to life.
  • about how you get motivated and stay motivated in your day to day business.
  • of your home office and time management tricks (or epic time management flops!)

Once people start to comment be sure you are ready to respond and engage. I still believe people on Facebook are looking to see that you read their comment and acknowledge it. Whether with a simple like, or with a short comment back, or with a comment and a tag mention, any way you decide to go is fine just try not to leave them hanging.

4. Fourth, use Facebook for research. This valuable method is one I definitely like to use Facebook for. Simply asking a question can lead to many interesting results and valuable information that you can use later in blog posts, web copy, or even in product creation.

5. Finally, when in doubt use a fun prompt to get the juices flowing! I use this particular resource here and highly recommend it! I love the prompts and the ideas throughout this hefty resource, you can get a prompt and post idea for every day of the year! Often if you just tweak the perspective, you can use the same prompt in a different way as well too. There is so much value in here so give this product a try, you can sign up to get one full week FREE too before you buy.

For additional help, advice, and to belong to a group of people ready to cheer you on (and like your post) join me in my LinkedIn group! Don’t wait, join today, we would love to see what you have to share.

5 Words to Avoid in Your Social Media Posts

 

 

In last week’s blog post I talked about words that sell, words to use and words to entice your followers and fans on social media.

This week I want to focus on words to avoid.

In this post I discuss 5 types of words that I want you to think twice before using in your blog posts, web copy, and especially in your social media.

Why so important in social media? Because you have a much shorter time to make an impression so you want to make a good and intriguing impression, fast.

[Tweet “With social, you have a much shorter time to make an impression so avoid using these.”]

5 Types of Words To Avoid When Posting on Social Media

 

1. Avoid words that focus on the negative.

Words like:

  • Can’t
  • Do not
  • Unfortunately
  • Impossible
  • Mistake
  • Problem

That doesn’t mean your prospect client doesn’t have a problem you want to (and can) solve. It means you need to word it differently.

Instead use words like:

  • Your benefit
  • It’s best to
  • Success
  • Value

Show you understand where your reader is coming from and how your service benefits them to keep reading, to sign up, to click, or to buy.

 

2. Avoid using the words THING or STUFF or IT.

I actually wrote this sentence in this post and had to go back and change one above because I realized I used it when I could have been more specific. Always, always, always be specific. Be clear, tell your followers what you want them to focus on so they have clear takeaways.

What was the sentence above I had to change?

Tell me what you think of the difference when I followed my own advice…

Before: Show your reader how it benefits them to keep reading, to sign up, to click, or to buy.

After: Show your reader how your service (or product) benefits them to keep reading, to sign up, to click, or to buy.

Small difference but a big one nonetheless. Don’t you think?

 

3. Avoid the word REALLY.

This word is a descriptive crutch. Just like a lot, and very. If you are describing something that you want to emphasize and you can’t think of a good adjective then grab your thesaurus or go to thesaurus.com (my personal fav) to get inspiration. Or just delete the word altogether and your sentence should be strong enough to stand on its own.

Example: You really need to buy my service if you are suffering from a lot of fear that posting on social media is difficult and are very nervous about spending money on ads.

Change to: Buy my service if you suffer from fear that posting on social media is difficult and you are nervous about spending money on ads.

Just removing those words made your statement much more clear and powerful!

 

4. Strike out “I believe” , “I think” and “I feel” , from your posts.

People assume the words they read are the author’s opinion, unless you are quoting a fact. Using these “I” statements sounds wishy washy, reduces the power of what you are saying, and leads to a decrease in your perceived expert status. So don’t do this, instead just take those words out of the equation and let your sentence stand on its own.

Example: I believe you should revamp, revitalize and renew your LinkedIn profile so you look professional and polished.

Now take out the “I believe” and notice how the focus stays on the reader and you sound much more persuasive!

What do you think?

 

5. Never use the word JUST.

I read a fascinating article recently. The author talked about some personal research she did on the word just. She found that a much higher proportion of women used this word in communication.

  • “I just wanted to check in on …”
  • “Just wondering if you’d decided between …”
  • “If you can just give me an answer, then …”
  • “I’m just following up on …”

The author (Ellen Leanse, Business Insider) makes a fantastic point about the word just and why women seem to use it more. This word is a way of asking permission, showing deference to who you are talking to (whether they deserve it or not), and most often dramatically reduces the power of the communicator who uses it.

Striking this one word from the sentence strengthened the sender’s message and clarified it too. Isn’t that something we always look for in communication? I know I do.

So I challenge you to take a look at your communications you send today and see how many justs find their way into your emails, and then delete them!

I bet you will feel a little more powerful and confident in your request, and just might (will!) get a faster, clearer response.

Want another word list to keep handy? Here is a great one: 297 words and phrases that rob your writing of power. Check it out!

Have you found a great resource of words to use or words to avoid? Share with us in my LinkedIn group! I bet you will learn another smart business tidbit or two to use in your social media marketing plan. Join us!