Creating A Plan... What's Your Quest?

As I covered in a prior article, the most important part of beginning your journey into the world of marketing yourself online is creating a social media specific marketing plan. Creating a plan is the easy part though, especially if you have a social media consultant or a virtual assistant to assist you, but figuring out just what your focus is may actually be the harder part.

This week someone I work with sent me a video from the TED conference that I think makes the perfect point on what your marketing focus should be as a spiritual entrepreneur so I've decided it only makes logical sense to share it with you. The man in this video (Simon Sinek - pictured to the right) tells you in 18 minutes just what it is that makes a person or company an inspiring leader to the world. This is a great video to watch before you create your social media marketing plan or if you want to tweak the one you've already got.

Here's a link to the video and below that link is a short explanation of what he covers in the video.

HOW GREAT LEADERS INSPIRE ACTION



The video covers (not listed in order of importance):

What:
Your Products/Services

How:
What about you/your product sets you apart from everyone else out there?

Why:
What is the deepest thing that drives your soul to do what you do - What is your purpose - What drives you to share your product with the world - What is the deepest, soul-feeding reason that the entire world needs to have access to whatever it is you have to offer?

Be Inspired - Simon Sinek's website where his book is available if you're interested in knowing more after you see his video.

6 Great Ideas For Sharing Value Without Selling

You've heard and read again and again all about how social media is about being SOCIAL, creating trust & nurturing relationships with soft leads that with proper care will one day become solid leads for your business. The question is just how do you do that?

I've scanned the internet looking for ideas and clues of how other, already successful, companies and individuals are managing to do just that. Here are 6 great examples and/or ideas:

1 - Help your customers and followers find things they need

Zappos is one of the most successful online companies out there in the land of social media. This company provides a long list of products for their customers ranging from shoes (one of their most popular items) to eye-wear and accessories. Zappos doesn't spend all of their time using their sales force to push products. In fact, they spend significant amounts of time actually looking for products they don't even stock - despite the fact that they make no money from it. They have an approach to customer service that actually helps them build customer appreciation and trust in their brand, and they realize that the power of social media allows for disgruntled customers to reach millions on a global scale and effect their buying patterns in turn effecting the Zappos bottom line. They have a long term strategy of transparency and sharing with their customer that successfully nurtures the relationship and significantly increases the potential for a future sale as opposed to focusing on the immediate.

2 - Help your customers expand the use of their products

Pottery Barn has a YouTube channel where they focus on great ideas for how their customers can use their products (& sometimes the products of others). On their channel, they focus on how-to's for party planning, they feature designer profiles & products, they give advice and actually create/build/share a story beyond the products. These strategies of sharing beyond just what products they have available are serving to build a great relationship with their customers.

3 - Help your customers with tech support

Boingo uses their social media presence for the purpose of tech support, customer engagement and community building. They use a plethora of mediums from Facebook & Twitter to LinkedIn & Flickr to engage with their customers. They are transparent in their communications with customers, and their reps are right up front on the profile with their names and faces to add a personal touch. They spend time on Twitter scanning for customers who make comments about their brand and they immediately address and assist whatever is said in real time. They use their FaceBook page to troubleshoot with customers and though they do share company and product posts, the majority of their posts are relevant links, videos, discussions and questions that are of interest to their customers without an attempt to sell. They are there to help not to sell & that assistance creates the potential for both future sales and long term customer retention.

4 - Post materials relevant to your client's niche

Obviously, your niche is whoever your client or potential client happens to be, but what is your client's niche? Generally, if you take some time considering your client's niche you can post things relevant to them without any issue. For example, if you are a Pilates instructor, your clients are likely interested in fitness, they are likely women that fall into a specific age range etc. That niche would be interested in anything that would assist them in balancing their hectic schedules while still nurturing their ability to enhance their physical abilities. Highlighting vitamins & nutrients or recipes for healthy meals are a great way to add value to their lives and nurture your relationship with them. This is just one example but there's a plethora of ideas that will apply to your clients.

5 - Consider connecting your ideal client with contacts in your network that might benefit their business.

In your industry you have come across multiple contacts of value. Why not connect those valuable contacts with your customers and potential customers? Most people have a plethora of clients, potential clients and contacts who are not in direct competition with their business. With the economy the way it is, it would be a blessing to any one of them to get more business, not to mention the value you would add to the lives of your followers by connecting them with people of integrity who can serve their needs. Highlight some of your best clients and contacts in your newsletter or on your social media forums now and then. Everyone will be grateful for your willingness to share.

6 - Connect your followers to useful content across the web.

Science has proven that the sharing of good news and transformational stories actually inspires people to be better. It seems inspiring people to be better and in turn improving the world is one of the primary focuses of any spiritually tuned-in individual. That said, it only makes sense to share stories of inspiration and good news with your email list and social media forums. Share stories that inspire & then ask questions that prompt your followers to make changes in both their lives and the world. Share your own stories of inspiration. Write a blog or article about something that inspires you. By inspiring your followers, you improve their lives. There are sites such as DailyGood out there that focus purely on good news where you can find all sorts of great things to share. Ode Magazine is another great source for positive information. I say while we're all holding positive space for the transforming of the world we may as well create some positivity while we're standing there!! Bring Sunshine, Joy, Happiness & Love to your community.

Your Secret To Social Media Success

No matter what you are posting or where you are posting it, 80% of your online posts should be adding value to the life of the reader without selling to them. Think about it... We've all got someone in our FaceBook or Twitter feed who speaks of nothing but whatever it is they are selling. Social media is about relationships of value. That is something that every Spiritual Entrepreneur should understand isn't it? Who better to understand the value in relationships with others but someone who is deeply in tune to spiritual concepts? I can't think of any spiritual practice that doesn't talk about loving others in some way shape or form. Who feels love from someone always talking AT them rather than TO them?

When I first began spending time in the land of social media I spoke about what I cared about & paid attention to the same, but no matter what, I always took time to connect with people in some way. I always made sure to know who I was speaking to and how our interests were similar. By doing this, I began to form relationships and I began to connect with people about things that were relevant to them. By simply making connections relevant to what I was doing and what I cared about, I raised my ranking in social media to the top 4% worldwide never once attempting to sell a thing! Now I have formed a multitude of wonderful and sincere relationships with people who have come to know me in a way that allows them to trust what I say in particular areas. What do people value more than trust? There are, of course, a few things but not many.

Social media is about providing value to people who you are speaking to or interacting with. The wide availability of internet connections combined with the sincere and real connections people make with friends from all countries and generations has created an unlimited resource for your potential customer. Most everyone on the internet now has a connection to someone (if not multiple people) who can give them a testimonial or opinion on whatever it is you're selling, and most of them are going to put the most weight with the person they trust the most. Not many people trust someone who is merely there to sell them something when their other option is someone with whom they've spent time forming a trusting relationship with. That is what social media is all about... CONNECTIONS, RELATIONSHIPS & TRUST.

YOU are the first thing of value that your potential customer needs to have access to, and the best way to provide that access, is to let them know you care by giving them something of value that will improve their life in some way.

I believe you are the perfect person to share what you value with the world, don't you? As you know, people in the spiritual community seem more aware than most, of the concept of providing something to others that is truly of value in that it gives people access to something that empowers them or brings them closer to the Divine. We in the spiritual community know all about bringing value to the collective. And we frequently tend to focus on whatever level of understanding we may have of the balance between paying our bills, and enabling humanity to achieve a level of awakening that will bring them closer to the higher power as we see it. We've all heard &/or participated in conversations about how to achieve this balance & where the line in the sand should be drawn with regard to what should and shouldn't be charged for with when it comes to spiritual awakening. It is for that reason that I believe the spiritual community has the most significant potential to use social media successfully. Share with others what it is you care about and before you know it you'll be ranked higher than you can imagine in your niche on whatever social media forums in which you spend your time. We all know that those things which are the most truly and deeply valuable things on earth cost us our time not our dime.

So get out there and start sharing that which is most valuable to the world and give the gift that is nothing short of divinely created.... YOU!

You've Started A Blog, Now What?

You've heard over and over again how blogging can bring traffic to your website, increase your brand image, establish you as an expert in your field, create relationships with current and potential clients/customers & bring you money so you decided to start a blog. You've taken the first step toward increasing your business and online image by creating a blog.... But Now What Do You Do?

Now it's time to decide what to blog about and how to do your blogging. The answer to this question should be as simple as consulting your social media specific marketing plan, but if you haven't got one of those yet, then you're going to have to spend a bit of time brainstorming. The first thing you want to do is consider just who it is you are trying to reach with your blog. Who is your customer or potential customer and what are their interests? Focus on your target audience and put yourself in their shoes. What is it that they want or need and how can you provide that for them? Your posts should be things that are totally and completely relevant to your customer without making your customer feel like you're trying to sell them something.

Before you start writing, you will want to keep a few things in mind. We've already addressed the concept of making your blog posts relevant, but there's much more to it than that. Whether it is blogging, articles, your newsletter or your posts and updates in social media at least 80% of what you post should be of value to your readers without selling them in any way. You should keep in mind that the focus of the blog is to increase your image as an expert in your field NOT to sell your products and services. If you are successful in creating a positive image for yourself the sales will come, however, if all you do is sell you'll only create an image for yourself as a spammer and a narcissist incapable of focusing on much more than yourself or things that benefit you rather than your readers. The best way to create value for your readers is to put yourself in their shoes, think like your customer and write about something they care about. As a spiritual entrepreneur this should be easy because your customers and potential customers care about the same things you do. There is a plethora of things you can do which will add value to the lives of your readers whether you are reviewing a book, turning them onto a person, business or product that will assist them in their own endeavors, or even discussing controversial topics such as religion and politics. Your insight is just what is needed to change the world and the lives of your readers.

When your piece has been posted on your blog keep in mind that the process isn't over. You will need to promote it by making sure to post it on your social media pages and scheduling automatic updates for future posts so you won't have to spend your every day posting updates on your pages. As long as the blog post is relevant you can promote it and it will circulate around the internet being read by potential customers & clients. Don't make the mistake of thinking it is only relevant for a short time or that you can't promote it, because as long as there is a link that will take the reader to it you can promote it all you wish. Additionally, you will need to periodically check your blog site for comments and moderate them appropriately. Over time as your blog becomes more and more popular, people will make comments and have discussions on your posts. Make sure you moderate those comments in order to prevent spammers from clogging your feed, and make sure you spend some time responding to those who post comments on your blog. Remember the point of online social media marketing is to establish relationships with your customers and potential customers, and no relationship can be properly nurtured without two-way communication. You will notice me saying this over and over again - SOCIAL is the first word in the phrase "SOCIAL media marketing" for a reason so don't forget it!!

This should help you with a tad bit of insight to get started posting. Good luck and please be sure to let me know if you have any questions by visiting http://www.JennieHowell.com .

Please note: if you've decided to make your blog a podcast blog or a video blog the information above applies equally to those posts it's simply a matter of changing the focus from writing to recording.

The 4 W's of Blogging (The Who is YOU!)

WHAT is a blog?

A blog is a type of website that is usually maintained by an individual who generally posts articles, commentaries, events descriptions, graphics, podcasts, videos and much more at regular intervals. Blogs are usually geared to be interactive in a way that allows readers to make comments and in some cases even message one another via widgets and plugins. The main trait which distinguishes a blog from other static websites is the interactivity. A typical blog will combine commentary, text, links to other blogs and sites, images &/or podcasts or videos and will require consistent and regular updates in order to be a success on any level.

WHEN should you blog?

If you exist in a physical earthly body you should blog. Every person who has a desire to promote themselves as an individual, entrepreneur or business needs to have a blog and post regularly. The more frequently you blog the more visitors you will have, the more visitors there are to your blog the higher your potential to establish yourself as an expert in your field, and the higher the likelihood your blog will be linked elsewhere. How frequently you make your blog posts is completely up to you, but I would suggest a minimum of one time per week to start. Your posts don't necessarily have to be long or even written, but you should have posts on your blog at least once per week if you intend to establish any sort of reputation for yourself at all.

WHERE should you blog?

There are a plethora of choices where a person can blog on any level. I would recommend that you go with WordPress as it has one of the simplest template systems. With WordPress you will need to brainstorm a URL for your blog, register it with someone like GoDaddy and host it through a hosting service such as BlueHost. There is also the possibility of configuring a tab on your main website that uses a WordPress template. WordPress allows for a multitude of plugins that will allow you to monitor spam, have social interaction on your site, collect email addresses for your newsletter, backups so that you don't lose your work and much more. WordPress is also set up for SEO which will assist you in the process of pushing people to your website and getting your blog ranked more highly in the search rankings, which in turn brings you more customers, clients, readers, potential customers, followers etc.

You can also get a blog free through Blogger (Where this blog is posted) which has simple to use templates. Blogger is a simple tool that is easy to use and a great way to get into blogging if you are a beginner. If you are new to blogging all together this is a good way to get started and work toward becoming a more serious blogger. Blogger is not optimized nearly as well as WordPress for SEO and other processes that will assist you in bringing potential customers in so if that is your focus you will work a bit harder. Blogger is something I recommend for new bloggers just trying to get the hang of blogging before moving up to WordPress. (Though you can go directly to WordPress and simply save yourself a step).

WHY Should you blog?

Blogging is one of the top ways to bring new customers and clients to your business (along with article writing, press releases). Blogs are keyword rich for searches that your potential clients will be searching for via their online searches, they serve to increase your image and establish you as an expert in your field, they are usually optimized for SEO so that your site goes up in rankings as you blog more frequently. Blogs do not only serve to increase your brand image and establish you as an expert, they also are one of, if not THE prime method in which to prompt people toward visiting your main website and in turn purchasing your products and services. Without blogging both your image and your website clicks will suffer in comparison to others in your field.

In the end it all comes down to the fact that without a blog you will be left behind by your peers. Blogging (along with article writing and press releases) is the main way to promote your brand image and push people to your products and services & with everyone else doing it, the simple fact is, you cannot afford not to.

Top 10 Mistakes In Social Media Marketing

On your journey toward increasing your social media activities and effectiveness, it is important to remember a few significant things.

THE MOST IMPORTANT thing a person needs to do with regard to using social media, is to create a marketing plan for their business that is specific to social media marketing. Without a plan you may do fine for a while, but eventually you will plateau and wonder why it's not working in the way that you've seen or heard it work for others. If you aren't familiar with exactly how to create a Social Media Marketing plan or what it entails then you're best bet is to contact a consultant to get started. Those who fail to plan, plan to fail.

EQUALLY IMPORTANT, is establishing your online presence. Create your accounts in the top 4 social media forums, set up an appropriate bio and profile for those mediums, make sure all of your current followers, customers, clients and friends know where they can find you & then begin engaging and nurturing your community. Whatever you do, don't just create accounts and then start blurting out announcements.

The top 10 mistakes made by people in social media marketing:

1 - Creating profiles & bios that don't match the purpose of that particular social media platform.
(Each site has a focus - some are B2B, some are more socially engaging etc. Know the purpose of the social media platform you've joined and know the second layer - which is your purpose in being on that platform.)

2 - Creating accounts without complete profile and bio.
(No one who is a valid or firm contact will follow people they know nothing about. You could get millions of followers, but how many of them will be viable is dependent on how viable you appear to be yourself)

3 - Creating accounts, profiles, bio etc. and then failing to properly & sincerely engage the community.
(There's nothing worse than someone who is on a social media platform who seems to have forgotten that the first word is SOCIAL for a reason. Make sure you communicate with all of your community not just your favorite people or the ones you know best)

4 - Blocking access for comments, wall posts, responses etc.
(There's a reason the word SOCIAL is at the beginning of the phrase "social media marketing." By blocking your community from posting on your wall or making comments you are failing to accomplish what you set out to do. The lazy way of social media where you are the only one talking, no one is able to write on your wall, people are restricted from commenting etc. will only serve to make you look as if you are either too lazy to monitor your page directly or too narcissistic for your own good.)

5 - Covering topics in the feed that are all about you.
(No one likes a narcissist. 80% of what you cover should be something of value to the community without selling your own services or products. People want to follow experts, movers and shakers, like minded & positive individuals - not sales puppets & spammers. Social media is about building relationships & if you're not willing to do that then perhaps something like billboard advertising & paid internet ads are more your speed.)

6 - Infrequent posts and comments.
(Social media is about communication & staying in the minds of your community. You can't do that if you're only posting once a week, especially considering that there is an impression being made in online social media once very 12 seconds. With millions of people to follow and something new every 12 seconds, no one will bat an eye at your weekly posts.)

7 - Creating a presence and engaging a community without a logical plan.
(You're building community and making connections and people are beginning to recognize how great a person you are thanks to your immense sincerity. Now, after all this nurturing, they are ready to ask you/for you to tell them what it is they need from you. Where will you be sending them? Why? Do you have a specific social media campaign going on or have you just been willy-nilly posting your events and information? If you have a focused purpose and a detailed schedule to govern each move you make - then there will never be that limbo where people are lost due to your inability to lead them where they need to go next.)

8 - Paid or Forced Crisis Brand Management
(When Taco Bell has suspect materials in their foods or BP pours their oil across American shorelines killing millions of living creatures, their smartest move was not to pay for social media advertising in attempt to propagandize their image back to a positive state. The social media community is very unforgiving to those who create things so fubar as these guys have, and they don't react well to force-fed social media campaigns. The place for crisis brand management in social media is the one on one, direct and sincere interaction & if that is not possible then the next choice is television, radio & billboards.)

9 - Not knowing where to draw the line with personal vs. business.
(Using a personal page to post mainly business information is a mistake. Keep your personal page personal and direct your customer base & followers to your fan pages and business pages for business specific information. This is not necessarily something you need to do 100% of the time, but it should be 80-90% at least. Using your personal page for business any significant amount of the time indicates either a lack of information or a tad bit of fear & desperation that you won't be able to reach your audience without holding them captive on your personal page.)

10 - Not quickly & immediately responding to negative comments via your social media pages.
(Everyone knows that social media is the perfect platform for us to air our grievances with a business or product. The world has become a place where we all like testimonials before we officially decide to purchase a product or service. We all want to know what experiences our peers have had with the same products or businesses & true or not a negative comment can be devastating to a small business. There should never be a time where a negative comment sits on your page unanswered or is simply deleted without response. It is your job to make sure that those who feel negatively about your business are addressed quickly, responsibly & with grace. In social media, a negative commenter will become a loyal follower when you address them respectfully without fear or hiding & you guide them to communicate more directly with you via email or phone. Always make sure the comment thread can be followed by other readers in a way that shows you are respectful and willing to give immediate & quality resolutions.)

Good luck on your quest toward a smoothly running social media system for your business & be sure to let me know if you have any questions.

Do You Have Presence?

Establishing an online social media presence involves much more than simply being a warm body or a signpost where your ideas are presented to the world. Granted being physically present is, of course, the first step, but what comes after that?

Working directly with successful spiritual entrepreneurs on their social media campaigns for some time, has enabled me to come to an understanding that being present is much more than just simply existing. Being present is existing in a way that allows our most divine self to literally be a precious gift to others. Spiritual Entrepreneurs don't simply exist - we exist to change the world - and there's no getting around the fact that living on the surface of being present isn't going to serve to create the change we all desire.

Though we all as Spiritual Entrepreneurs know that we existed long before we became beings of flesh, we are also aware that there is a divine purpose to us being present on a physical level. It is much the same with social media. You and your ideas have always existed in their divine purpose, but now it's time for you to become physically present in the online social communities where you can really make a difference and live your purpose more fully. There are four main forums where you should establish your initial presence with social media.

FaceBook - Your focus here is mostly on direct engagement

Twitter - Your focus here is engagement & informational

LinkedIn - Your focus here is professional & Business 2 Business

YouTube - Your focus here is video marketing & promotions

In addition to these four forums, you will also want to establish a presence for yourself via a website as well as a blog if you haven't already done so.

Now that you know where you need to be - go out and establish yourself on the forums listed above. Create your accounts (They're all free). Spend some time setting up your profiles, biography & privacy settings making sure to keep in mind what the main focus of each site is. Let everyone know where they can find you. Always remember, social media is the same as life, in that you cannot help others if you are not completely aware of how to take care of yourself - so make sure you have a plan & then get started living more physically into your divine purpose!

Those Who Fail To Plan, Plan To Fail

The most Important part of getting started as a business in social media is your social media marketing plan. All too frequently, that is also the least paid attention to item on the list of things to do for a business getting started in the virtual world.

A social media marketing plan accomplishes a plethora of tasks ranging from understanding your own business skills and purpose in more depth, to discovering what is and isn't realistic about your goals, and most importantly, to understanding your target audience and customers. Without a thorough social media marketing plan and a person to put each step into action on time, you won't be successful at much more than simply establishing a presence.

At some point without a proper social media marketing plan your marketing efforts in the online social world will plateau and you will be left to wonder if your skills in manifestation are what you thought they were.

A social media marketing plan is a bit different than a standard marketing plan in that it is, in many cases, much more detailed and it is perpetually adjusting to the changing scenery in the virtual world. Additionally, whereas the focus with a traditional marketing plan is on the hard sell/lead, the social media marketing plan focuses much more heavily on the soft sell/lead and long term customer retention and relationships.

If you are considering beginning a social media campaign for your next promotion, sale or event make sure you know what a social media marketing plan consists of and what is entailed in following through on it. If you're not sure exactly what is to be included in your marketing plan, whether it is how many tweets per day, how many blog posts per week, article posts per month, press releases per month etc. then you will most benefit from contacting a social media consultant to help get you started.

I hope this post has helped you to gather at least an idea of the importance of getting a proper social media marketing plan before starting your quest into the virtual world. If you feel confident that all is in balance with your plan and you are ready to take action, then by all means get going, but if you're still a bit unsure please feel free to contact me to set up a consultation.