I have a very important question to ask you. It’s a question I ask all of my clients, and it’s usually the first question I ask when I take them on.
I ask: Within your social media, exactly who are you talking to?
You might think I’m referring to: clients, customers, business partners etc.
But I’m not.
I’m referring to the personification of your ideal client.
Often I ask my clients: “So show me the profile of your ideal client.” And they might stammer a little, or pause for a long time, and then launch into some basic ideas about age and gender and buying habits.
And while that is a start, that’s not really what I mean.
Worse, they might say “Well I hate to narrow myself down, I can really help so many kinds of people”
When you talk to everyone, you talk to no one.
In order to have a solid, profitable social media campaign you need to first do some homework.
[Tweet “In order to have a solid, profitable social media campaign you need to first do some homework.”]
So…who are you talking to?
Five questions to answer in order to build a solid profile of your ideal client.
1. How would you talk to your ideal client in a conversation? Would you:
keep it short and sweet? (think Twitter)
be fun and chatty? (think Facebook)
stay professional and helpful? (think LinkedIn)
This helps because now you know a) where to find them and where to focus your energies and b) how to communicate, even who to hire to help you communicate if your personal communication style is vastly different.
2. What does your ideal client take time to read online and off? Do they spend their time on:
Healthcare blogs or inspirational blogs or follow news blogs every day?
Creating Pinterest boards of ideas for recipes, travel plans, or exercise ideas?
Reading what people post in group discussion boards or the latest trending youtube videos and their comments?
This is important to you because now you know a) where to guest post to reach this audience, b) what to create (videos, memes etc) next in your social media campaign and c) what to follow and comment on.
3. What does your ideal client think about everyday?
Do they:
agonize over decisions about health and wellness?
wish they had help with finances and budgets?
hope and dream about becoming their own boss someday?
This is helpful to know because now you can pinpoint your ideal clients anxieties and stressors and address these specifically in valuable web content, blog posts, newsletters and the like.
4. How does your ideal client define success?
Do they define it by:
money and profit margins?
happiness and freedom?
ability to be at the top of their game?
This is helpful because you can now tell your prospect client exactly what they will achieve that speaks directly to their definition of success. You are speaking their language in your web copy, social media advertising, email marketing and defining your products and services in terms they understand and more importantly defining your offerings in specific ways that show them it fulfills what they need.
5. You found your ideal client’s journal, what does it say?
Yes this is a tricky one, but well worth the effort if you take the time to dive deep here. You can use this information to craft tweets, posts, LinkedIn updates or even the best connection letter you could ever create that hits home each and every time.
Does the journal detail entries about:
their family and friends?
deep dark fears and anxieties?
past traumas and events they overcame?
fantasy solution to a problem they are deal with?
This is helpful to you because now you can address their exact pain points and fears. You can craft products and services that solve these problems and really start to be a valuable expert in helping people create better lives.
And that’s ultimately why we are all in business isn’t it?
When you have crafted this profile of your ideal client, along with the basics of age, gender, hangouts and salary your social media campaign can really expand, dive deep and get results.
Which is ultimately what we want in business isn’t it?
Do you have questions about how to craft your social media campaign or create your ideal client profile? Join me in my LinkedIn group where you can get answers to these questions and more!
But last year that all changed and LinkedIn really stepped up their game! There are many ways we can visually improve our profiles, one such way is spending a little bit of time on your header image.
[Tweet “A fantastic LinkedIn profile will speak to your clients and tell a story about your brand.”]
Steps to Create a Fantastic LinkedIn Header Image
A fantastic header image will speak to your clients and tell a story about your brand.
First step: Get the layout and size right. Your header image must be 1400 x 425 pixels and a file no larger than 4mb or LinkedIn will not let you upload it. Make sure it is a high resolution image because if not it will upload blurry. Be aware of the “blocked section”. The top of your profile page will cover almost half of the image you upload. This creates a nice headboard effect, but can also be a little tricky in figuring out what and how to create your image.
A few ideas to get around this:
Use one recognizable background image that speaks to your brand or business clientele. One client of mine used a panoramic of New York, she was a journalist and this spoke to her base of operations and showcased very well known ‘of the moment’ city.
Place specific text that will show up in the top 1/3- 1/2 of your photo. Maybe it’s a product that is evergreen or one that is your most popular. It could also simply be your web page address or contact info. You could even do a call to action that points viewers to an opt-in for email capture.
Use a second profile picture that was taken in a powerful way to add more trust and connection with your viewers. The photo displayed might just show your eyes, or another pose of you off to the side that tells a story about a different part of your personality.
Here is a shot of my header. I chose to use a mixture of the ideas above.
Second step:Update your header image every so often. You may want to keep the same image for awhile once you have your heart set on one but here are a few ideas why you might want to create a few header images at once and rotate them as your move through your business year.
You are launching a new product or service, why not point to it and bring attention to it by adding some new text to your header or possibly a small image that describes it.
You decide to have a sale or host an event and your LinkedIn header would be a great place to promote that is a soft easy way to get some eyes on it.
Add more value by writing a few quick “tips”, one for each header image, you can rotate through that will speak to your customer base and help them out. For example I could write a tip about how many times to post on Twitter to be most effective, or I could write a short tip on creating a great header image from this blog post.
Third step: Send people to your LinkedIn profile! This may seem obvious but many people work hard to set up their profile page and never direct people to it. One quick tip – put your LInkedIn URL on your business card and show it everywhere you can. Not sure how to do that? Join me in my LinkedIn challenge it’s going on now! 30 days to clean up your profile and get it ready to shine. We even have a Facebook group to help with all the little extra questions along the way.
Finally, if the layout, pixels, adding text and images to your header all seems too much you must check out Cheryl at www.cherylfinbow.com or Jackie at Custom Fan Page Designs. Tell them Karen sent ya!
Though the rules seem to be ever-changing on Facebook, this social media platform still is a great way to showcase your business with images as well as text, engage with clients and customers as well as educate them, point people toward your website, gain interest in your events and products over and over again.
A question I often hear in my social media work is: “I decided to create a Facebook Business page but NOW what do I do?”
Well here are 8 steps to get you started, and get you going on putting your best foot forward in the social media Facebook game.
[Tweet “8 steps to put your best foot forward in the social media Facebook game.”]
Step One: Create and post 5 posts before you invite anyone to follow your page.
Be thoughtful, make these posts image rich and engaging, and use this time to teach some of your most important facts and figures as well as teaching future followers about who you are and why you do what you do. My suggestion – make these posts evergreen posts – and every other week or so “pin” one of these posts to the top of your page to make it stand out and garner more attention. Cycle through these posts by pinning a different one each time over a couple of months while you create more evergreen posts in your queue.
Step Two: Don’t just click “invite” and invite all your Facebook friends to like or follow.
Be thoughtful here as well. Though it may seem simple and no big deal, sending out a mass invite is just as bad as sending spam. It shows you are not taking the time to think about who might benefit from your products or services, or who might be interested in what you have to offer over time. Make a commitment to send an invite to only 5 Facebook friends a day, grow slowly so you have the right people who will be more interested in your products in the long run.
From there head on over to LinkedIn and start mentioning your page in groups and linking to it in LinkedIn updates and long form posts. Make it a point to add engaging information so people know you have good things to say. Then head to Twitter and start tweeting “are we connected on Facebook?” with a link to your page.
Step Three: Promote your page wherever you can.
Just like I encourage people to add their LinkedIn Vanity URL to their email signature, do the same with your Facebook Page URL. Add it to your business cards and make darnn sure the link (via an icon or a plugin) is on your website as well. Put it in your email signature! In my social media experience with clients I have found that some people are just more comfortable with certain platforms as opposed to others and thus they would rather connect with you in their “comfort zone.” Facebook has been around awhile, has a low key and easy to navigate social media structure so many of your prospect clients may have less resistance and more interest connecting with you there, so make sure they know they can!
Step Four: Post a few times a day if you can, and always post as your page not as “you” your profile.
According to research this tip is a great way to increase your page visibility and virility of posts, even with the algorithm changes Facebook has made that has decreased these numbers overall. Research also shows that evening time (after work) and weekends or off-peak days of the week are best times to focus your posting energies. Also, keep checking your post statistic information found under the Insights Tab. You can find out which types of posts are a favorite of your crowd, and even drill down into demographics to really start to get a good picture of your ideal client – the one who is already listening and engaging with you and your business. This is fantastic information to know and one more huge step in learning how best to speak to your audience to move them from the “fan” group to the “customer” group more quickly, which is exactly where you want them to be.
Step Five: Watch your competition.
Facebook makes this really easy with their “pages to watch” tab. Add competitor Facebook pages here, or possibly even pages that inspire you and you wish to emulate. See an overview of their best posts, how far these posts reached, and take away some more ideas of what to say and how to say it to your fans.
Step Six: Try out a Facebook ad.
Facebook ads are cheap and great for research. You can try different levels of campaigns but always always always write headlines/ad verbiage that is almost the same on each while changing only one or two significant words. From there you can dial in on what captures your audiences attention the best and stick with that in the future.
Make your opt-in visible and easily clickable via an application that pulls in your opt-in information and automatically adds anyone who signs up to your email CRM such as Aweber or Mailchimp
Step Eight: Hire a VA to help.
Now that you have established a great foundation and your fans are engaging with you, you might want to step it up a notch. But extra time is hard to come by, I know. So it’s time to get some help that will allow you to post a little more often, like and comment back to any fan comments, and monitor your ad’s so you can focus on building your biz. A part-time VA is a great way to make this happen. Plus it’s a solid way to “test” out an assistant that, if they prove themselves trustworthy, competent and smart, could grow with you and your business and take on more tasks to get more off your busy business owner’s plate.
Do you have a favorite Facebook page tip that you’d like to share? Or do you have a question on how to get started? Join me in my LinkedIn Group where we answer any and all of your social media questions!
Let’s say you have clients or people that are influential to you that have Facebook business pages. As you know, Facebook is changing its rules and the organic reach of business pages is getting really low and it’s very likely you’re not going to see what they’re posting, but you want to see it, right? Because you want to have an opportunity to engage with these people if they’re your clients or, better yet, potential clients. You want to be engaging with their stuff. You want to make sure that they know who you are. One of the great ways to do that is by engaging with their content on social media.
What you want to do is go to their page. I’m actually going to go to the DailyWorth page. I’m blogging for them and I want to be of service to them as well. I want it to be more than just have them post my stuff. I want to be able to share the stuff that they share with their audience as well. I’ve already liked the page, but I’m going to go here and I’m going to click this little down arrow and I’m going to check off “get notifications”. Now when DailyWorth posts, it’s going to notify me. This makes it really easy for me to go in and share their content.
That’s what I want you to do. I want you to think about what pages you’d like to engage with on a regular basis because you want them to remember that you exist. You want them to know that you’re being of service to them by sharing and commenting on their stuff. Go in, get notifications on their page, make it easy on yourself, and be of service to your clients.
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Every business owner needs tools to make their busy days “easier”. It’s efficient, productive, and saves you time which ultimately saves you money.
Do you look around at other online businesses and think, “How do they make it all look so easy?” and “How do they have time for social media?”
Social media is one of those daily moving parts that I dare say require some tools and tricks of the trade in order to save you time and allow you to focus on the most important aspect of social selling (that most people forget): authentically engaging with prospect customers.
If you find yourself stressed and overwhelmed about your social media plan day after day, then read on…
[Tweet “Top 4 social media tools that make life easier and why.”]
My top 4 social media tools that make my life easier and why.
I refer other business owners to it all the time, and use it myself in my daily business. One of its best features is the scheduler. You can upload a list of posts/tweets/images into distinct queues, schedule a posting time, and Socialoomph will do the rest. This feature sends out your posts from varying queues at the specific interval you request and then places them in the back of the queue to go out again! So you always have a rotating list of evergreen content that is hitting the online ether and keeping you top of mind with your followers.
One thing to note: make sure your content is evergreen. What do I mean by that?
Evergreen content can be:
Blog posts that talk about fundamental aspects of your business and niche
Quotes and inspirational sayings that you like
Images that tell your business story
Opt-ins and resources that your prospect clients would be glad to have
Educational material
Promotional material (set for certain times of day/year)
Set this up one time and add to it as you create more blogs and valuable content for your followers. Then set it and forget it, well not really forget it but you get the idea. This now frees you up to have time to engage your followers and potential customers authentically and in real time. Which is the real point of social media anyway!
I recommend using this tool if you are on Twitter in the “Massively Growing my List” phase.
As you build your Twitter following it can get very confusing and time consuming trying to figure out:
Who to follow?
Who have I followed lately?
Who didn’t follow me back?
Who is influential?
When should I Tweet?
ManageFlitter answers all of these questions and more in an easy to understand format with analytics. Save yourself some time and grow your list fast with ManageFlitter.
Hootsuite is a powerful scheduling and organizational tool that I like a lot because you can see all of your social media platforms and feeds at a glance. This is especially helpful if you manage a few different platforms for clients or have a multilayered social media plan for yourself. For busy entrepreneurs I really like that I can create teams with certain projects/platforms assigned to them. This allows my VA to access what she needs without having 100% access to my entire account and all logins for all of my clients’ social media. This gives me some peace of mind that information is secure, as well as allows me to quickly look and see if everything is running smooth and what areas I need to focus on if not.
If your business is product or travel based, or really for any business that has a visually appealing design, Instagram is the place to be. And finally there is a scheduler for that platform!
With Schedugram you can:
Upload multiple posts
Schedule posts easily
Create a sales campaign for multiple Instagram accounts
All of this can happen from one application. Unfortunately there is no free membership level, only a short free trial period, but if your business is on Instagram it is well worth paying a nominal fee to have this convenience.
Let me be clear here: I am not an affiliate for any of these sites. Each link takes you directly to their main home page, not an affiliate version where I get a cut if you sign up. I recommend these platforms because I have used them with success or use them still today, they continue to save me valuable time and money.
So choose one time saving, no more hair-tearing-out, convenient social media tool today and get organized so you can start doing what you really need to do as a business owner: selling yourself.
Have a question about a new social media tool or not sure if the tool is useful? Join my LinkedIn group and ask away! I’m there everyday answering questions, providing insights and tips on how to be the most productive you can be on social media as a busy business person today.
If you have been a follower of mine you already know the absolute 3 must-haves your LinkedIn profile must…well… have! And because you are smart, like all my readers are, you have those filled out, primed and ready to go.
Do you know what those 3 must-haves are?
Your Headline: maxed out using all characters available that describes who you are and what you do. But describes it in a way that says more than you are just a Partner, CEO, or Business Owner.
Your summary section: yep maxed out here too, use every character that you can here, along with skills/expertise while you tell a story to your ideal client or boss.
Your experience section: all headlines filled out fully in a similar manner to your main headline. But here yes you can be a bit more generic using the labels ‘partner’, ‘business owner,’ ‘CEO’.
And most of all your summary and experience sections are fully fleshed out with specifics, links, media uploaded, resume and more.
Why are those 3 things the most important? Because they are all searchable, each word. And also because they showcase the main components of your business why, which is very important to your ideal client or boss or future partner.
But after dialing in this trifecta there is so much more you can do to create a full and well rounded profile that will bring you more online rewards.
[Tweet “Great tips on creating a full and well rounded LinkedIn profile.”]
Here’s more you can do to create a full and well-rounded profile
First – If you are pressed for time or unsure where to start LinkedIn gives you suggestions. Suggestions about which of these additional features to add. Just click Edit Profile on the home page and voila LinkedIn tells me I should add a language to my profile. Take a moment each day or each week and tackle one section at a time. Skip the ones that have little or no significance, but try as hard as you can to think of items to add before you decide to skip it.
As for adding a language to my profile, I’ve always wanted to learn! But sadly never had the time (starting a new business and all) so for authenticity sake I must leave that blank until I am taking classes or until I book that Italy immersion trip I’ve always wanted to try! But if you have even a minor proficiency – add it – you never know what type of connection you could make.
Second – Pick the section where you feel you might have more bang for your buck. For example if you are in the education realm, honors and awards, courses and certifications, and publications sections are probably key for your niche. If you are in the non-profit sector, projects and volunteer sections lend a great depth to a career devoted to doing good. If you are in a science field, projects and patents and interests just might be the best way to connect. And finally one more idea if you are in a marketing or advertising niche, personal details, interests and advice for contacting are quite possibly key to getting noticed in a field dominated by personalities.
Third – If you only fill out more sections develop these three:
Publications: Even if you don’t have a “I can hold it in my hand or see it in an online article” type of publication use your own blog posts here! That in itself is a publication online that will serve to add value to your profile and bring visitors to your website if they like what they read.
Projects: As a business owner and entrepreneur I know you have a few (or few dozen) side projects up your sleeve. Talk about them here! Stop worrying about people stealing your idea and start looking for partnerships that will help you achieve these side dreams of yours. If you don’t talk about them you will never accomplish them and you never know who will be connected to your profile that may be able to help.
Education: The network of Alumni is not to be understated. In the business world we all hear over and over again, “It’s who you know”, and yes that is still true to this day. Sometimes the only thing you know about them is the fact they attended your school, or if someone is looking to hire you that you attended This instantly gives credibility, trustworthiness (whether warranted or not) and a wealth of things to talk about which ultimately leads to connections and jobs. So please do not leave this space blank if you can help it. Also be sure to fill it out enough listing any clubs you belonged to and activities you engaged in. You never know what fellow sorority member is now CEO of the company you would absolutely love to work for.
You may be thinking, “Well if these sections aren’t fully searchable then why bother?”
Great question and here’s the answer:
It very well may be someday. LinkedIn sections and search functions are getting more robust every day. I see LinkedIn adding functionality and features all the time. I believe it won’t be long before we Google one “interest” and gain an entire list of possible connections.
Inside of LinkedIn the search function is more powerful. LinkedIn is always trying to connect people and often it uses the other layers to do so via the sections you have filled out. One assistant of mine had 34 profile views, 1/4 of which were from the typical title, summary, skills keyword searches. However more than half came from “people similar” and “unknown key words” which means anything from interests, to projects, to publications to honors/awards and more. It’s hard to say exactly, but clearly having more depth to your profile is definitely key to getting more views. And more views = more clients at the end of the day.
So I challenge you today, sit down and fill out one “extra” section on your LinkedIn profile, then in a few days fill out one more. After a week take a look at your “Who’s viewed your profile” section and see the gains you have made.
Not sure which additional section to choose? Join me in my LinkedIn group where I can answer that question and more everyday!
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