Tag Archives | social media

How To Use Social Media to Drum Up PR for Your Small Business

By on March 28, 2013 in Branding & Marketing, Q & A Interview, SmallBizChat, Social Media

SMALL BIZ CHAT LOGO 20121 300x123 How To Use Social Media to Drum Up PR for Your Small BusinessEvery week as SmallBizLady, I conduct interviews with experts on my Twitter talk show #SmallBizChat. The show takes place every Wednesday on Twitter from 8-9 pm ET. This is excerpted from my recent interview with Cathy Larkin, founder of WebSavvyPR.com, is a seasoned PR pro who writes, speaks, coaches and consults on how social media, blogging and PR helps small businesses connect with customers. She makes technology easy for authors, small business owners and entrepreneurs to use effectively. Connect with her on Twitter @CathyWebSavvyPR.

SmallBizLady: Can Social Media Really Help A Small Business Get PR?

Cathy Larkin: Social media is a great way to get the word out about what you do in your business. You can use it to connect with reporters and bloggers who might write about your product, service or business. A large, active and engaged social media following is sometimes used by reporters as a sign of legitimacy, but don’t fake it, they’ll see through it.

SmallBizLady: What are the basics of using #SocialMedia to drum up PR for my Small Business?

Cathy Larkin: The basics: know your customers, know what topics interest them, focus your content & social media profiles around those topics. Also create a professional website & active blog that talk about those topics. Build a platform, be a resource for your customers and it just might attract reporters and bloggers too. With those things in place, you have a good foundation to connect with reporters and bloggers to consider writing about your product or service.

SmallBizLady: How will an active blog help get PR for a business?

Cathy Larkin: Websites with active blogs not only get 55% more page views, but blogs help tell your business or product’s story. Reporters like a business with a story. If you want to get quoted in publications, a blog helps showcase your expertise and knowledge. A blog that’s useful to your customers, also builds name recognition and credibility, both are important to PR.

SmallBizLady: Does a small business or product need to have a story in order to get publicity?

Cathy Larkin: Having a story helps. Who is your business helping, what is unique about it, why did you start your business or make your product? A business or product story helps get the blogger or reporter to say “yes I’ll write about you.”

SmallBizLady: How do I find people who could write about my business, product or service?

Cathy Larkin: Read blogs and publications in your area of expertise, get to know the reporters & bloggers. Connect with reporters and review-bloggers on social media sites. Many reporters and bloggers have social links on their websites; use them. Retweet & share selected stories from bloggers and reporters, comment on their blog posts, but don’t be spammy. When you have the right story for that publication, send a targeted pitch. To learn what not to do, check out the bad pitch blog (they sometimes highlight successful pitches as well).

SmallBizLady: Are there any free tools to help small business owners connect with reporters & bloggers?

Cathy Larkin: The best site for reporters & social accounts and info is muckrack.com, or check this page: http://muckrack.com/media-outlets. You can also try @FollowerWonk, use the “search Twitter bios” tab, search for “reporters,” or “product review blogs.” You can sign up for free tools like Blogger Link Up or HARO www.helpareporter.com to hear about reporters & bloggers wanting interviews or products to review.

SmallBizLady: Are there other tools business owners can use to research reporters and bloggers?

Cathy Larkin: Most of the great tools are expensive. Cision, Vocus, My Media Info & Group High are great, but cost $1000-$5000 per year. The lowest priced good tool is Blog Dash at around $45 per month, base price. It shows you blogs on various topics and gives you lots of details. @BlogDash shows social media stats follower/friend numbers, page rank, if they use guest posts or sponsored posts, and if they do reviews or contests.

SmallBizLady:  How do I get my product or service reviewed by a blogger or an online publication?

Cathy Larkin: Research! Google “[your product] + reviews (or review blogs),” i.e. “small appliance review blogs” or “mom product review blogs” if your product is targeted to moms or kids. Make a blogger list with PageRank 3 or better, blogs that have frequent posts & active comments. Contests can be great too! For a client who made fans and heaters, we targeted home product review bloggers, especially mom bloggers. We sent out 20 pitches, got 10 yeses, sent out 10 free products to bloggers; three included the product in a contest giveaway. Results: 10 product reviews & three contests with over 200 comments from each & 350 + visits to the client’s site.

SmallBizLady:  Can #socialmedia help me get my product on TV?

Cathy Larkin: A focused pitch to a TV producer or the assignment desk is more likely to work than a social media pitch, but…it never hurts to connect with reporters via social media, they are often scouting for story ideas. For TV, think visual. Also, if you are the story, having a video where you are interesting and articulate on your site can help convince a TV producer or assignment desk editor that you are worth booking.

SmallBizLady:  How Can a Creative Social Media Campaign Help a Small Business Get Publicity?

Cathy Larkin: After a creative & successful social media campaign, pitch the results & what you did to the media. Social media itself is still news on its own, especially a unique & successful campaign.

SmallBizLady:  What is the biggest “no no” that will turn off reporters and bloggers?

Cathy Larkin: Do Your Research. Do NOT grab a list of reporters/bloggers & send them all the same story idea. Make sure you target your pitch to the reporter and publication’s readers. I hear too many stories from mom bloggers like – I have teenagers & I get pitches for baby toys over and over.

SmallBizLady:  What is the biggest social media “no no” that will turn off reporters and bloggers.

Cathy Larkin: Don’t buy fake Twitter followers or Facebook friends. 400 tweets & 128,000 followers = something fishy. I had a potential client contact me, I knew there was something off; sure enough – she was getting 273 followers every 2 days. Fake ones. I saw another person with over 300,000 followers and I couldn’t see why, her Tweets were not very useful, and she wasn’t a celebrity – she had 75% fake followers and was losing 10,000 followers every day. I guess she’d stopped paying for followers! Tools like @TwitterCounter & @StatusPeople make it easy for a reporter to check you out. Fake = no PR, or bad PR.

If you found this interview helpful, join us on Wednesdays 8-9 pm ET; follow @SmallBizChat on Twitter. Here’s how to participate in #SmallBizChat: http://bit.ly/S797e

For more tips on how start or grow your small business subscribe to Melinda Emerson’s blog http://www.succeedasyourownboss.com.

Melinda F. Emerson, known to many as SmallBizLady is America’s #1 small business expert. As CEO of Quintessence Multimedia, Melinda educates entrepreneurs and Fortune 500 companies on subjects including small business start-up, business development and social media marketing to fulfill her mission to end small business failure. She writes a weekly column on social media for The New York Times. Forbes Magazine named her #1 woman for entrepreneurs to follow on Twitter. She hosts #SmallBizChat Wednesdays on Twitter 8-9pm ET for emerging entrepreneurs. She also publishes a resource blog http://www.succeedasyourownboss.com Melinda is also the bestselling author of Become Your Own Boss in 12 months; A Month-by-Month Guide to a Business That Works and the ebook: How To Become A Social Media Ninja; 101 Ways to Dominate Your Competition Online.

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7 Best Google+ Tips to Promote Your Small Business

By on November 19, 2012 in Branding & Marketing, Social Media

googleplus 7 Best Google+ Tips to Promote Your Small BusinessGoogle+ is quickly becoming a critical asset to anyone’s social media marketing strategy. Why? Well, because Google, the world’s #1 search engine, owns it and they are prioritizing content shared on the platform in search results. With over 250 million users and the fact that all Gmail users must now have a Google+ profile too, it’s time to start paying attention to Google+.  So how to do you best take advantage of Google+ to promote your small business marketing? Here are my 7 best tips for using Google+:

Optimize your Google + profile: Add links in the text of your profile. Connect your profile to your blog and business page, and key videos that explain your brand.  Also, make sure to include keywords.

Create a vanity Google+ URL Use the website gplus.to to customize your Google+ URL. This will get rid of that long weird-looking number and allow you to brand your Google + profile like all of your other social media accounts.

Create a Google+ page for your small business Google+ allows companies to customize their page and connect with other businesses. Customize your page with your logo and a description of your business. When creating a Google+ business page, use a generic email address to set up your account.  This will ensure that the page is accessible by multiple users in your business to maintain your page.

Create your circles carefully in Google+ Create a separate circle for leads, customers, peers, and even competitors. Share different content to your circles and in the case of your competitors, pay attention to what they are sharing.

Start tracking key influencers in your industry Use http://www.circlecount.com/ to find influencers in your industry to follow.

Start tagging your content In Google+, you tag people in your circles by using the “+” symbol. It works just like the @symbol in Facebook.

Use Google+ Hangouts to create video content Hangouts have revolutionized live video chat online. Now with the Google+ hangout air feature, there’s no limit to the number of people who can see your video content live. You can stream it directly to YouTube or use the code to show it live on your own website. You can create videos for product demos, a company profile, or training sessions. I recently did a Google Hangout QA interview with Sean Moffett on my book Become Your Own Boss in 12 Months. Check it out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfNk2TXXbJ4&feature=youtu.be

Have you had success with Google+? Tell me your story.

If you need to perfect your social media skills using Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Pinterest, and LinkedIn grab a copy of my latest ebook: How To Become a Social Media Ninja; 101 Ways to Dominate Your Competition Online today. www.succeedasyourownboss.com/ebook

For more tips on how start or grow your small business subscribe to Melinda Emerson’s blog http://www.succeedasyourownboss.com.

Melinda F. Emerson, known to many as SmallBizLady is America’s #1 small business expert. As CEO of Quintessence Multimedia, Melinda educates entrepreneurs and Fortune 500 companies on subjects including small business start-up, business development and social media marketing to fulfill her mission to end small business failure. She writes a weekly column on social media for The New York Times. Forbes Magazine named her #1 woman for entrepreneurs to follow on Twitter. She hosts #SmallBizChat Wednesdays on Twitter 8-9pm ET for emerging entrepreneurs. She also publishes a resource blog http://www.succeedasyourownboss.com Melinda is also the bestselling author of Become Your Own Boss in 12 months; A Month-by-Month Guide to a Business That Works. Her latest ebook, How To Become a Social Media Ninja; 101 Ways to Dominate Your Competition Online was released in 2012.

 

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Why Your Twitter Account is Not Bringing You Business

By on October 9, 2012 in Branding & Marketing, Social Media

twitter icon1 Why Your Twitter Account is Not Bringing You Business

So, how are things for you on Twitter?

No, I don’t mean how many followers you have or if you’re having a lot of fun sharing your latest vacation photos.

I mean, is your Twitter account bringing you business? Is it giving you sales, leads or new customers?

If not, chances are you’re doing one of the following things:

Using an Un-Optimized Profile  First, take a look at your profile. Have you optimized it enough with the right keywords and an engaging but brief bio that gives new followers reasons to follow you and check out your website?
Do you update your profile regularly to reflect new launches or ventures?Does your profile have links to your opt-in form so that you can capture leads?  Did you know you can have TWO links in your bio? Are you using them wisely?

Does your Twitter background reflect your brand’s offerings?

These are simple but effective ways to generate leads and interest as well as reach a target audience on Twitter.

Using an Ambiguous Photo  I don’t know about you, but I sure like to ‘see’ who I’m tweeting with. A blurry, out-of-focus photo or worse, no photo at all is a surefire way of losing out on followers.

People like to know the person behind the Twitter account. So, make sure you have a clear logo or photo that helps new followers to relate with you instantly.

Tweeting Out Inconsistently or Randomly  When was the last time you tweeted? Does your Twitter account show a flurry of activity before a launch and then, go quiet for months at a stretch?

As a business owner wanting to boost sales and business, you need a strong social media strategy in place. And that means tweeting on a regular and consistent basis with a focus on your online marketing goals.

You don’t have to tweet about business everyday, but you need to be out there talking to people, sharing your expertise, participating in discussions and creating the visibility your brand needs.

Your followers need to see you in their feeds and have you in mind when they’re looking for the product or service you offer.

Not Engaging with Followers  Do you acknowledge tweets and mentions? Do you thank people for retweeting you? Do you answer customer questions promptly? What about feedback and unhappy customers? Do you address their concerns immediately?

Simple courtesies like these go a long way in boosting your overall business presence. Customers like a responsive, engaged business and not one who just wants a social media presence for the sake of it.

Not Using the Twitter Search Function  The Twitter search function is actually quite a cool tool to use to find people talking about your business or looking for a product like yours.

Let’s say, you have a freelance writing business. Access the Twitter search box in the top right hand corner and type in “writers needed”, “blogger needed”, “looking for contributors” or similar terms and you’ll have a slew of tweets that could lead to job opportunities.

So, now that you know why your Twitter account is not bringing you business, what are you going to do about it?

Prerna 240x300 Why Your Twitter Account is Not Bringing You BusinessAbout the Author:  Owner of Social Media Direct, Prerna Malik helps businesses leverage social media into sales. Grab her FREE Social Media Starter Toolkit to kickstart your smallbiz social media presence today!

 

 

SociaMediaNinja 231x300.tilted 250x300 Why Your Twitter Account is Not Bringing You BusinessDon’t forget to Pre-order my new ebook How to Become a Social Media Ninja which will be released Oct. 15th. I’m providing 101 Tips to dominate your competition online. Go to http://succeedasyourownboss.com/ebook to place your order.

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