11 Tips for Generating Leads through Social Media

Social media is where the people are… Is your business there? It should be and here are a few reasons why.

66% of all adult Americans are on line, in one or more social media platforms. Of them Facebook has 845 million active users, Twitter has 127 million active users, Linkedin has 150 million registered users, Google + has 90 million unique visitors and Pinterest, our newest social media player, has 21 million unique visitors.

So you ask, how do I harness this information for my business? How do I generate business leads that turn into sales? The key to social media marketing is no different per say than any other form of marketing and advertising. The most important component is devising a clear strategic plan and setting short and long term goals. The difference’s that are seen in marketing and advertising today is that content is king… be it a blog article, a Facebook post, or a Twitter tweet, so how do you generate leads via social media????

1.      Consistency:  It is important that if you start a social media Campaign that you stick with it. Social Media is no different than any other networking group, event, or organization. Perspective client’s want to know that you are going to show up and follow through.

2.      Segment your message by audience demographics. Most of today’s social sites have a tool that enables you to target your message to specific demographic groups by age, sex, geographical location, schools, colleges and income

3.      Keyword Placement: Just as it is important to utilize keyword placement on your website it is also advantageous to utilize your keyword phrases in social media. Think what word or combination of words would describe your business if they couldn’t remember the name and use the in your social media copy.

4.      Strategic Partnerships: Most businesses share a client with another company or several other companies. Creating a social media partnership with these businesses, where you share each other’s content, will help to establish you as an expert within your industry.

5.      Content: Create a message that people can relate too. Speak like a real person. Share a story or use humor both of which helps to create authenticity as well as relationships. People want to feel that they know the people they are doing business with.

6.      Feedback: Always reply to the comments that are posted on your social sites, people appreciate it. They want to know that their comments have been seen and valued.

7.      iCon’s:  Social Media icon’s make it easier for others find you and to share your information. Place them on all of your various social media sites, website, and printed material.

8.       Contribute: Many Non-profit companies are now using social media to educate the public about their charitable organizations. Sharing their information establishes you and your company as a team player and solidifies your community standing

9.      Share Your Knowledge:  Share tips on how to do it yourself. Others will appreciate it and it will help to establish your expertise in your industry.

10.   Contest: Contests are a great way to get people involved in your business, just make sure you understand the policies on the different social sites regarding contests.

11.   Call to Action, A good “call to action” statement will help you close those sales. The most important thing to remember though is like you, no one like the hard sale, so use something that’s fun and creative.

Now that we have discussed a few of the many ways you can generate business using social media it is important to note that like all marketing and advertising platforms it takes time, consistency, and a strategic plan to be successful.

Manifesting your Dreams

How do you get the universe to work with you when creating your heart’s desire?

I think back to Excel Drywall, how did I go from making 800,000.00 a year in revenue to making almost 5,000,000.00 a year in Revenue.

I remember one day deciding to “Go Big or Stay at Home” and then I began to focus on how to create it. First I had to think about what it would take to get there. Once I decided what I would need to do, what that would look like, I began to start focusing on that… What was that? I realized that in order for me to achieve my goals I need to start doing housing subdivisions. I didn’t what to do just one house in a neighborhood I wanted to do all the houses in the neighborhood and once I knew the direction I need to head I than began to visualize myself doing it. I seen myself working with different housing contractors, I seen myself signing the contracts, doing the work, pay my people and I seen the check rolling in and money pooling all around me.

This may sound funny, but I use to sing to myself “ I have money lots and lots of money, I have money to spare. Meaning I had money for all my expense’s and yet still had money in the bank, lots of money in the bank…. I use to sing this to myself over and over again until it became a reality. I think of it kinda like the athlete who sees the ball going through the basket even before he throws it…..

Now the truth is this didn’t happen because I just sat around visualizing it, I still had to go out and make it happen but by knowing what it was that I was actually working toward, a solid goal, that I was able to see, feel and touch it gave me the confidence to go out and get it and whenever I started doubting myself, or thinking it was never going to happen, or feeling like crap….I would sing my song and it always made me smile… LOL and I could go in one more office and ask, How do I get on your bidders list and are you looking for a new Drywall contractor….

The Challenges of Time Management

As I am sure for everyone, time management is one of my greatest challenges. I have a variety of methods that I utilize, time blocking being one of the most critical.  At the first of each month I create a basic schedule of those standard monthly meetings that I attend, the monthly activities that need to be accomplished and an overall view of the month’s requirements. 

As the month progresses I will fill in the empty time blocks with new or unexpected meetings and or appointments. I am also known as a great list maker and as I create my list I try to privatize my items from most important to least important. At the end of each day I create my list for the following day, noting the things I was unable to accomplish today and the things that are scheduled to accomplish tomorrow.

Sounds simple right, well I can guaranty you that there are days when it is anything but. Each day seems to have a life of its own and though I will try to implement time in my schedule for those off moments, minutes and hours it can truly become a challenge. It is at those times that I have to remind myself that I am only human, quit crying about it and get to work….

Technorati Tags: Time Mangement,Time Blocking,Basic Scheduling

The Second Commandment of Networking

Welcome back. We are now onto the Second Commandment of Networking. Lee Knapps of Knapps Consultants said “Determine your objective prior to every networking opportunity. Ask yourself, why am I here and what do I hope to accomplish?”

When I go to a Networking event one of my main objectives is to create name recognition for my company. When people think about internet technology, such as blogging, video e-mail, social networking sites, I want them to think about Get Smart Women and soon to be Get Smart Men. One way in which to do this is to have a creative one minute commercial. I know that’s a tough one. Sometimes what you think is funny no one else does. I have had a few flops of my own and when I was done and looked around the room and everyone had that polite little smile on their face I realized they had no idea what I do. Lee subjects that you keep it simple but memorable. You can do that by focusing on one aspect of your business. Focus on how your product or service is a benefit to your customer. Remember it’s not about you it’s about your customer. I am also very interested in what people do for a living and how my company can help them achieve their goals. I believe that if I can’t help them perhaps I have meet someone at one of the networking events who can. If you pay attention to what people do for a living you would be amazed how easy it is to connect people and by doing so you have created a relationship with that person. They may not need your product or service but you can bet that they know someone who does and they will remember you.

Networking can be a joy or it can be a huge chore, It all up to you. If you go into it with the thought of creating relationships instead of trying to sell something you will find the experience much more beneficial. People don’t want to be sold, do you? They want to know that the people they are dealing with understand their needs and are there to help create solutions. So go out there and have a good time and happy networking…

First Commandment of Networking

I was at a Networking event recently. Who am I kidding I am at networking events all the time and the truth of the matter is I am going to be writing about my experience’s; The good, bad and the ugly. Networking is the one of the life lines of a company. It is free advertisement, okay not free but dollar for dollar one of the least expensive. We go out meet, greet, and shake hands. We talk about ourselves and what we do for a living and hopefully at the end of it all we have a client.

At this particular networking event the speaker Lee Knapp of Knapp Consultants talked about the 10 commandments of Networking. As she spoke I started thinking about the principals of networking. As I stated earlier we go to these event and we meet people and shake a few hands and then what? I started wondering if people actually had a plan? Do they have goals? Are there a certain number of people that they have told themselves they will meet? After the meeting I asked Lee if she would mind if I used her 10 commandments of networking. I wanted to look at each one of them and write about them. She was wonderful enough to give me her heart felt encouragement. So I thought I would start with the first one, not a big leap there, and expand upon it. So here we go….

Commandment number one: Your business networking tools reflect you, your business, and your professionalism. What are your tools saying about you? So what are your tools? As Lee say’s the most important tool you have is yourself and what does that mean. I know for myself that when I go to a networking event I always put my best foot forward. I present myself in the best possible light. I dress appropriately for the occasion, I am in a good mood, and if I am in a bad mood I don’t go. Not only is it a waste of time but I may end up presenting myself in a way that could be harmful to my business. I don’t know about you but when I am in a bad mood I can be somewhat shot tempered. I make sure that I have a large supply of business cards on hand. I do that before I walk out of my office door. There is nothing like talking with someone and exchanging business card only to realize you don’t have any, been there done that. Know your industry. Not just what your company dose, produces, sells but also how your industry is doing as a whole. Be informative. Bring along added information, a brochure or maybe an article that is informative about your industry, not a book please just a few short paragraphs. Better yet write it yourself. It will impress people. But most importantly have a good time. If you are so will the people around you. Happy Hunting.

Shout Out to LinkedIn

Hey, gotta give a shout out to LinkedIn.com. Their the talk of BloggingStock today. Seems they are the wonder boys to watch. For those of you who don’t know what linkedIn is. It is a social networking site designed for the business and professional world. They have more than 23 million registered users. According to BloggingStocks LinkedIn has just received a $53 million venture capital investment led by Sequoia Partners. The $53 million represents a 5% stake in the company. With fresh growth capital, LinkedIn will expand its marketing efforts globally and grow its user list. Well just goes to show you that as we say at GetSmartWomen.com if you’re not doing business on the internet your missing a large portion of your potential clients. So here is a big round of applause for LinkedIn

Death, dying, death. Ok I am sounding a little morbid. It’s just that I have two of my closest friends dealing with this right now. One of my friends mother pass away last night and another one of my friend’s mother is getting ready to pass. It just struck me how we talk about death. Passing on, getting ready to go. We have such a need to believe there is something else out there. That death is not an ending to life but a beginning to something else. My friend Barbara is taking care of her dying mother. She said it felt oddly similar to when she was a midwife and was helping with the birth of a child. Only now she was helping with the birth of a spirit.

Death is such an incredible difficult passage for humans to go through. I heard stories that back in the day women would wash and prepared the body for viewing, well truth be told there are probably places in the world where that still happens, and they would be laid out in the house while people came by to say their goodbyes. I remember at my Grandfathers funeral the Knights of Columbus stood watch over his casket until he was placed in the ground. I was told they were there to keep the evil spirits away. Today everything seems to be wrapped up in some kind of pretty little package. Did you know you could be cremated and made into a jewel? I don’t know how I feel about that…

It may be that I am a little freaked out about it. I’m 49 years old and that death and dying thing is going to happen. There is just no way to get around it. The thing is wouldn’t it be nice if there was some kind of passage; where it didn’t have to be such a painful and confusing parting. I know that most people believe in something, be it God, the Universe, the Source and I think that helps get through the hard times.

I am often asked what I should say. What can I do? The truth is that listening is the best gift a person can give. Letting a person grieve and express that grief is also an amazing gift. Understanding that it takes time to grieve, not a week, a month, or a year and that everyone grieves differently, that’s huge.