by KarenYankovich | Mar 19, 2015 | Uncategorized
A glass ceiling is a political term used to describe “the unseen, yet unbreachable barrier that keeps minorities and women from rising to the upper rungs of the corporate ladder, regardless of their qualifications or achievements.” Well that’s the definition according to Wikipedia.
My glass ceiling consists of a hell of a lot more than that.
After 30 years in the corporate world I have bumped into my fair share of glass ceilings, fought through some of them, and helped colleagues shatter their own. It’s challenging, it’s rewarding, and it’s exhausting.
It wasn’t until I started dreaming of my own entrepreneurial debut that I realized… it didn’t have to be that way at all.
I could just walk right around that barrier like it didn’t even exist.
It’s true! I could walk around it like I was strolling down the lane. Well ok… maybe not strolling exactly, but walk around it while building my new business, learning how to become a successful entrepreneur and finally stepping away from my corporate gig to focus on KarenYankovich.com full time.
More importantly, what I realized through this entire process: if working in someone else’s world is making you bump up against glass ceiling then create your own world!
[Tweet “If working in someone else’s world has you bumping up against glass ceiling, create your own world!”]
- Create your own world and your own experience.
- Completely ignore any glass ceiling that appears to pop up.
- Build your business to go around, over or above any “version” of what people believe your business should look like.
Most of all, position yourself like the rockstar you are using the tools I talk about every week on this blog and basically every day of my life!
5 Areas You Can Build To Rocket Yourself Past Any Ceiling
My dear entrepreneurs, here are 5 areas you can build upon using your passion to rocket yourself past any ceiling, glass or otherwise, in your way!
- Your own website: Showcase your passion here. Be authentic and build content through blogging, testimonials, videos, and online resources that are valuable and full of your business WHY. Tell us who you are and how you came to be, remind us that you are a real person passionate about this one great thing in life, and why you are the one we should trust. Bumping up against another barrier here? Nah, just save the money and hire someone to help. Money for someone whose passion IS website building is money well spent and you will zoom past any learning curve obstacle in record time.
- LinkedIn: Establish your expert status here. Here you prove why you have the chops to be in business. You’ve heard me say this again and again: make sure you have a polished and pretty profile that sets you apart from others in your field, skills and endorsements that tell of your talents, groups that connect you with prospects and mine for research, and connections that expand your reach. There is no limit to who you can find on LinkedIn, so if it truly is “who you know”, you are primed for success without a barrier when you use LinkedIn to its fullest potential.
- Facebook: Use Facebook to build your fan base from the loyal first crew, aka friends, family and colleagues, to a robust following made up of people who want what you’ve got. Advertising has never been cheaper nor easier to do. There is no need to have millions in revenue and an ad team standing by, you can make your own personal business ad in minutes and see results faster still. You are in control to create your own success – no longer do you have to wait for approval from a boss or teammate to create what you know will work. If it doesn’t, who cares! Just try again and test another. It’s all part of the process.
- Twitter: Ahhh Twitter. That honest, real time, news feed is so valuable for us! You can reach anyone you want, no matter how famous or how unreachable, they are bound to be there. This is my favorite platform by far to engage, follow, and connect with people I never would have had the opportunity to before, and this connection often comes with business rewards that include more visibility and more clients. The invention of Twitter helped me to be able to say, “Screw the glass ceiling!” and I love this platform even more because of it.
- Instagram, YouTube, Google+ (etc): Social media in general gives us a thousand more ways to adapt and overcome, to ignore any ceiling put in front of us, to build our business the way we want to build it and position ourselves as business owners who deserve to be here. Welcome to a level playing field folks, business just got interesting.
For the last few months I have been diving deep into a new side of my business called Portraits and Profits. Through P&P days at our beautiful New York venues, I’ve had the opportunity to work with strong women and each day I’ve been able to see these women really step into their power.
The more I see this happen the more I realize… we are rockstars of our own design. We DO have the ability to ignore the glass ceiling and create our own reality!
Who’s with me?
Here’s how to get started. Check out my free video series: The first three things you need to do on LinkedIn. AND, of course, comment below and tell me YOUR glass ceiling stories. I’m here to support you!
by KarenYankovich | Mar 12, 2015 | Uncategorized
A 140 character message. It’s not a lot… and yet it is.
B ios are short – make it count! Add a link to your opt-in freebie and collect sign-ups on every platform you can, including Twitter.
C onnect with others in real time using a Twitter chat. Set a regular time and date where your prospects, your followers, and anyone else for that matter can connect with you and see/read your brilliance.
D irect messages are a way to personally connect with a follower who also happens to be a prospect client.
E xpert status can be maintained and expanded via Twitter by adding value to your followers’ feeds, linking to your content rich blog posts, answering questions in a Twitter chat…and so much more.
F ollow people who are in your business niche, prospect clients, and high profile Twitterers who have valuable things to say! (Think re-tweetables)
G ive generously of the re-tweet. This is a way to share others’ content online, and stay current as well as top of mind in the busy Twitter stream.
H andle is your username, pick something that is business related or as close to your own name as possible.
I nvestigate influential people to add to Twitter lists. It’s a great way to keep your name in front of them!
J ust follow the trends. Unsure what to Tweet about today? Follow those topics (aka hashtags) that are trending on Twitter, meaning lots of people are tweeting about them, so you stay in the flow.
K eep it short and simple. If you are wordy Twitter will be a challenge. Hire your niece instead.
L ists are handy tools to compile. Create lists of important people for your followers to know about, private lists for you to track influencers and prospects, and lists to share your expertise – e.g. “take a look at my twitter list for all the best news bloggers out there!”
M ention others in your tweet with an @ sign and their handle so they know you tweeted about their stuff.
N otifications can help you stay on top of @mentions, RTs and Favorites that occur to your Tweets, so make sure to check the notifications tab where Twitter keeps all of this organized just for you.
P rofile photos are still important here! This photo will appear next to each Tweet you post. So make sure it is professional, polished, and what you want to show.
Q uestions are great for interaction and engagement. Make space (aka keep it short) to allow others to re-tweet and add their answer.
R e-tweet is a re-share, giving credit to someone else’s tweet that you liked, a tweet that has value for your followers, or one that is just plain fun.
S ocial Oomph is my favorite way to streamline, simplify and schedule tweets.
T witter is the #1 way to reach unreachable people (think Oprah).
U se hashtags (#) sparingly but wisely! They make your tweet searchable for those looking to find what you have to offer.
V erified accounts are usually for famous peeps, which you might someday be!
W ho should you follow? Twitter makes recommendations of interesting accounts based on your profile, but in the end refer back to Letter F above.
X amine (Do you see the list of X words??) Examine your analytics. Do you send out a newsletter? Check to see how many people share it on Twitter. Do you use Google Analytics for your website? Check to see how many people are finding you from Twitter. Where do you need to step up your game?
Y ou should have a Tweet button on your website so people can easily tweet your stuff!
Z ero in on someone you would like to emulate on Twitter. Use their Twitter habits as a guide for your own.
[Tweet “Great Twitter tips from A to Z!”]
by KarenYankovich | Nov 28, 2014 | Uncategorized
So you’ve amassed a small army of followers on Twitter. Congratulations! I know this can sometimes be hard work, but with consistent effort you now see how it can pay off.
And now you’re following a bunch of people. Your Twitter feed is starting to look like the mall at holiday time, packed with information going in all kinds of directions and you aren’t even sure when to be looking for.
Twitter lists can change all that.
Today I want to teach you how to use Twitter to your advantage in creating and maintaining relationships, becoming visible to influencers, and for finding research that is like gold.
All by creating lists!
THE SOONER YOU DO THIS THE EASIER IT IS. Sorry for shouting, but you’ll thank me!
Creating Twitter Lists
Create a list by logging into your Twitter account, head to your profile page and click lists. Then click create list. From there you will name your list, write a short description so you know exactly what this list is about, and be careful to mark it appropriately private or public. Be sure to click save when you are done!
Why private or public? Well think if you start to see followers or Twitter influences who you would love to target as clients. They tweet in your circles, maybe on the fringes, but you know it would be a great match. One of the lists I advocate everyone to have is a Potential Clients list. But let’s be honest do you really want someone to see you’ve added them to the list “Potential Clients”? Probably not.
So pick private or public setting carefully and thoughtfully. Mine are all private.
Public lists can be:
- handy information and resources for your followers to have
- showcases for the clients that already work with you as a portfolio of sorts
- a nice way to shout out to local businesses that you support – online and off
Here is a handy list 🙂 of some possible lists for you:
- media outlets
- current clients
- potential clients
- your town/local area businesses
- influencers
- friends and family
- your networking group
Now that you have some list ideas let’s add some people!
First follow the steps above to create each list. Next start adding people. To do that click the gear icon on their profile, select add or remove from lists. The great thing about lists you don’t need to be following a user to add them to your list! A pop-up will appear displaying your lists you created in step one. Put a check mark next to the list (or lists) you would like to add this person to (or uncheck to remove them).
So do you know if YOU are on anyone else’s list? To check just head to your lists page (under the gear icon) and click member of and find out!
[Tweet “7 Twitter lists to create and how to use them to your advantage.”]
Using Twitter Lists To Your Advantage
The final step is using these lists to your advantage. Once you have a nice list started it’s time to use the insights you can gain.
For your list of Media Outlets: Is there a trending piece of media that one or more of these outlets is posting about? Time to hop on that bandwagon! Share their story, use their hashtag, favorite it and comment. Be timely and present and watch as other people start watching YOU.
For your list of Current Clients: Talk about who you have done business with! Share their stories and their tweets as well. Showcase your portfolio by tweeting about your list to the right influential (read prospective client) person. Keep your clients loyal and even happier as you share their news. Can you tweet about a before and after? Use this list as a testimonial tree and harvest from it when you can.
For your list of Potential Clients: We discussed why this should be private so keep a low profile here. But slowly watch and learn about what these prospects need the most, listen to what their pain points are, figure out how you can help them the best and when you finally DO reach out to them, it will be a slam dunk of success because they will realize you have their best interests at heart and best solutions ready.
For your list of Your Town/Local Area: Is there a possible partnership amongst this group? Could you team up with a local biz you love to frequent to offer a workshop at their venue? Start by talking about them in your own feed, re-tweeting and sharing their news, and voila! Might just be the ticket to free frozen yogurt for the rest of your life! (And who wouldn’t want that?)
For your list of Influencers: Ok these are your “big ticket” folks. The ones you want to get in front of so you can get in front of Their people, that massive list of Their people. These influencers are the ones who just by association will make your name stand out and your expert status cemented in place. This list is important so dream big! What do you do with this pot of gold of a list? You engage them. You re-tweet, you favorite, you mention, you comment, you share. Just get in front of them over and over again in a way that shows your respect and authentic interest in what they do and who they are, and then sit back and wait for the magic to happen!
For your list of Friends and Family: Don’t forget these people whatever you do! These are the people who had your back when you first started with followers numbering in the single digits. This is the list that will ALWAYS respond to your tweets with a favorite, re-tweet and a share. This is the list to just stay present and enjoy the people you care about and who care about YOU.
Finally for your list of Your Networking Group: This list is direct access to people who understand what you are doing, why you are doing it, and want to help. They deserve it in return so keep track of those you can share and favorite as well as times you can ask for help. With this group you share a common vision, value, and sometimes common situation in business so you are sure to get good feedback, helpful shares, and most of all honest answers to your questions when you need!
Now what? Now, when you log into Twitter, you can head straight to your lists. When you do that, you’ll see only the posts shared by the people in that list. It makes it really easy to share and engage with their content, which is why you’re using Twitter in the first place, right?
So you have some work to do! Not sure where to start or which list to build first? Connect with me here in my LinkedIn group where we talk about just this very thing!
Looking forward to “seeing” you online!
by KarenYankovich | May 13, 2014 | Uncategorized
What’s your social media strategy?
Do you have one?
Even if it’s a few simple rules you have set up for yourself, do you follow it?
Using social media without a strategy is simply noise, social media WITH a strategy is where the money is.
Stop making noise, start making money.
Today. This week. This month. I’ll show you how.
[Tweet “Stop making noise, start making money.”]
Focused on Twitter?
Read about my Twitter strategies here and here, that you can implement right now.
Ready for LinkedIn?
Find out the one major, yet super simple, strategy you can use on this platform today. Click here.
Interested in Instagram?
I got you covered. Click here for a quick Instagram specific hashtag strategy sesh I posted on my blog this month.
HONESTLY, I often find that the most successful social media strategies are a series of simple and easy tweaks that often go unnoticed.
One of my favorite easy tweaks is scheduling.
Regular readers of my blog will know I am a HUGE fan of scheduling, namely with Social Oomph. Yet even the act of scheduling can be tweaked a little bit here and there, and often with big results.
For example: Let’s say you are a restaurant owner. You may feel happily content that you are being wise by posting ALL of your dinner specials for the week ahead, each Monday, every Monday. And you are wise, batching your time like that is a great time management skill.
However, what if every Monday, when you sat down and scheduled your dinner specials posts, you changed it slightly to post to your platforms every day at 4PM? A simple easy tweak that could bring regular customers to your restaurant on a much more consistent basis! Yet this shift didn’t take up any more of your time nor did it require a change in your fantastic habit of “scheduling posts every Monday”. You’re making your customers hungry for your amazing specials and they know they can drive right over and indulge themselves.
Same restaurant owner. Thinks there’s no time for social media. Implements a strategy that every patron that “checks in” on Facebook gets a free drink. TONS of free advertising (WARM leads, they know their friend is a patron), no real ongoing effort by the staff, lots more customers. MUCH cheaper and more effective than those newspaper ads he keeps taking out.
Again, same restaurant owner. Implements a strategy that all employees must Instagram one food or drink pic per shift, using strategic hashtags and geo-tagging. Makes it part of their job description. Again, no real ongoing need to manage, regular content being posted, tons of buzz generated about the restaurant
I can go on forever.
What simple, easy tweak are YOU missing?
Need help figuring that out? Sign up for my list (in the box at the bottom of this post) so you don’t miss a weekly blog post, you just might find YOUR tweak in there.
In the NYC, Boston, or South Florida area? Email friends@socialmediaandpr.com for details, I’m hosting “invite only” live “Profitable Social Media Strategy Intensives” in your area!
by KarenYankovich | Apr 28, 2014 | Uncategorized
What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of “Social Media”?
Do you think…
- “It’s only for twenty-somethings ‘selfies’.”
- “Facebook is the only way I keep up with my grandkids!”
- “Instagram…Insta-what?”
- “Tweet, twits, it’s just too much at once!”
Actually internet users over the age of 55 are driving the growth of social networking. (Nielsen Social Media Report)
“The fastest growing segment of social media users is now adults aged 45-55,” says (social media today)
And that means there is a huge opportunity out there for women my age and older who are transitioning from kids to empty nest, creating a 2nd (or 3rd) chapter in their lives and careers, to jump into the social media stream feet first! Heels and panty-hose thankfully optional.
Social networking, including blogs, account for over 25% of Americans time spent online and as you savvily create this new career, or revive an old one that you loved, this is a gold mine of time and attention ready for YOU to use to your advantage.
“77% of buyers are more likely to buy from a company if it’s CEO/leadership uses social media.” (war of words)
People research, discover, read and engage via social media order to make decisions about what to buy, where to eat, and whom to trust. No matter your business or service I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the best way to establish expert status in your field is by generating a solid presence online.
I have talked about how to do this on LinkedIn and on Twitter. Really, any platform you choose to focus on will benefit you and your business.
LinkedIn is more heavily trafficked by the 45 and over crowd, even outpacing Facebook. It is where business goes to do business, with the highest percentage of users having college degrees than any other platform.
- It is where you can stake your claim on what you know and why people should listen.
- It is where you can research freely amongst peers to form smart marketing decisions.
- It is where you can find future partnerships for your ventures.
- It is where you can gain the confidence to finally pursue your passion.
Being in transition is a fantastic, albeit scary, place to be. Plant your feet firmly in Social Media and gain strong business footing as you step across the threshold into a new life.
Your business success awaits!
