5 Twitter Tips for Entrepreneurs

By Yvette Vignando, www.happychild.com.au

Leading up to the launch of a new site, I’m researching everything about the power of social media. Before I catapulted myself into the Twitterverse, I confess I cynically suspected it would be full of people updating me about their breakfast, their political views or be a series of automated marketing pitches.

Well, I was right, and it’s actually fantastic. The power of Twitter is that you can authentically and personably connect with people on the same wavelength. And I love that it’s a platform with fast, 140 character, very digestible pieces of information.

As I get to know people personally, including their breakfast menu, I get a sense of how I can help them and actually build a community of ‘real Tweeple’. Those tweeple might be interested in what I have to say, or have information that is helpful for my own personal and professional growth. Even though I’m not a fan of automated tweeting, I still appreciate the efficient sharing of information by the rich source of tweeple I have met during my 140 character visits to the Twitterverse. And I firmly believe that the quality of your Twitter followers is the key, not the quantity.

5 Twitter Lessons I’ve learnt:

Give to Get

Like most venues in life, on Twitter you need to give to receive value. This means:

• Tweet personable information about yourself that is relevant or has synergy for some of your followers. You can keep this non-identifying but still real. For example @SuziDafnis discloses with a picture that she has a penchant for terrifyingly high heels “Just said no to temptation… I can always change my mind. http://twitpic.com/178vfu”
• Tweet links to interesting blogs and news articles. They don’t need to be all your own.
• Re-tweet the tweets you find funny, useful or informative.
• Keep your self-serving links to a minimum but share the ones you are proud of such as your latest blogpost, or in my case recently: “A link to my 5min pres on why there needs to be more emotional intelligence in school http://bit.ly/b6aTzI #ignite”

Read the #FFs With Interest

On Twitter, #FF stands for Follow (on) Friday. Tweeters post Twitter identities of people they think are worth following. Usually this means they’ll be people of interest to you too. Click on their profiles, read their short description and latest tweets and if you’re interested, follow them.

The power of Twitter is that you can authentically and personably connect with people on the same wavelength.

Re-Edit Your Short Profile

The short profile, limited to 160 characters is what people read when thinking about following you. I’ve amended mine many times and I confess it’s still a work in progress. Be informative, personal and disclose your personal style. If you have feedback on mine, I would really appreciate it. Currently it’s “Publish Parenting Info- Raising Children with Emotional Intelligence. A happy child makes a world of difference. Mum of 3 boys. No, they’re not always happy.” What do you think?

The Best Camera is the One You Have With You

I have totally stolen this line from Andrew Harvey at Ignite - the least I can do is share a link to his presentation. Tweeters develop their online brand by taking a quick photo with their mobile phone. This ranges from a sunrise to a pet rabbit or in @SuziDafnis’ case, a dangerous set of heels! A service you can use for this is Twitpic.

Use a Browser to Avoid Twitter Overload

Twitter can suck you in. If you want to scan through the important stuff quickly, download a Twitter browser to manage your lists of Tweeters. I use Tweetdeck but there are many others. Here are a few to check out: UberTwitter, HootSuite and Seesmic.

Hope that’s useful to you – I’m loving the learning that comes with my entrepreneur’s journey – see you out there in the Twitterverse.

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Yvette Vignando - www.happychild.com.au Yvette is pursuing her passion - to take action that helps children develop great social and emotional skills as a foundation for a happy and successful life. Formerly a lawyer and then successful executive coach specialising in Emotional Intelligence, Yvette was encouraged by her experience of MentorNet to launch her business - a website for parents that publishes practical and engaging information about raising children with emotional intelligence. Yvette looks forward to sharing the challenges and successes of her experience as she navigates her way through the adventures of launching a website, and tackles online sales and marketing, an evolving business plan, and the growing universe of social media. Yvette hopes that by following her personal and professional development as an entrepreneur you will also be inspired to follow your passions. Phone: 02 9889 0999 Email: yvette@happychild.com.au Website: www.happychild.com.au Twitter: www.twitter.com/yvettevignando LinkedIn: View her Public Profile Member Profile: See Yvette’s Member Profile

Tips for successful blogging, from Problogger Darren Rowse

Day 1 at the South by South West festival and Aussie Darren Rowse (@problogger and problogger.net) took the Day Stage to talk about his book (which is about to be released in 2nd edition) and gave some great tips for successful blogging.

A few minutes into his presentation the room was evacuated when a (false) alarm went off but we were back 20minutes later to hear his great tips again.

I managed to catch up with him quickly and invited him to give some of his strategies for successful blogging.

In summary:

1. Be as useful as you can.
2. Enhance the lives of others.
3. Produce content that others want to share.
4. Put yourself out there and promote your content.
   • Where are your readers gathering online?
5. Interact with your audience as much as you can.
   • Ask questions, start debates, engage with people, highlight your readers’ blogs.
6. Capture people’s details (not just RSS) then you can email them update, drive traffic and promote product to them later.
7. Look at the style you write in and experiment in different voices e.g. humorous, technical, use of video - readers will respond well to some but not others - and helps your style and voice evolve.

PLUS:

Useful resources from Ed Dale’s Internet Marketing Seminar

Last Friday to Sunday I attended an Internet Marketing seminar hosted by Ed Dale of 30 Day Challenge fame. You may know Ed from Internet Marketing this Week, an almost-weekly podcast that I highly recommend if you’re interested in what’s new in new media and technology.

The 200, or so, participants enjoyed both local and international speakers on the subjects of outsourcing, content development (including using video), search engine marketing, business best practise, using offline marketing to drive customers online and blogging. All good, practical, information.

The highlight for me was the ‘hot seats’ where brave participants nominated their website for review by an expert panel.

I was lucky enough to be chosen and as a result got great feedback that I’lll start to implement this week at the Australian Businesswomen’s Network website.

The Twitter tag of the weekend was #30dchome. I thought you may be interested in looking it up - as you’ll find that participants posted highlights from the program as well as some handy links.

The 30 Day Challenge

You may have heard me speak about The 30 Day Challenge before. It’s a free, annual program, that is designed to get you online and doing business. Last year over 30,000 people participated. I’m sure it’s coming again in 2010.

I’ll post something when dates are released but in the meantime you can keep in touch with news by:

• Subscribing to Internet Marketing this Week on itunes
• Following Ed Dale’s page on Facebook
• Following Ed Dale on Twitter

Additional Resources

• Guest speaker Lynn Terry (Affiliate Marketing)
• Guest speaker Leslie Rodhe (SEO)
• The fabulous Market Samurai tool

Cheers,

Suzi

Business lessons we can learn from elephants

Last Friday ANZ held a Women in Business event at Taronga Zoo. The breakfast networking event was held at the Wild Asia Exhibit, the home of Luk Chai, the first Asian elephant calf to be born at Taronga Zoo.

The networking event (attended by local businesswomen and guests) was part of ANZ’s Be Money Confident initiative for women.

Be Money Confident ambassador, Antonia Kidman, gave a speech about business lessons we can learn from elephants.

The lessons, while light-hearted, held many truths and resonated with me.

These same lessons (and the recommendations that Antonia provided) are also very aligned with the work that we do at the Australian Businesswomen’s Network to support women.

Lessons we can learn from elephants

The elephant’s gestational period is 22 months, the longest of any land animal.	Lesson: It can take time for good ideas to gestate. Slow and steady is not necessarily a bad thing. It’s important to take the time to properly plan, since many new start-ups can fail simply because they haven’t done their homework first.
Elephants are born with fewer survival instincts than many other animals. Instead, they must rely on their elders to teach them the things they need to know.	Lesson: Finding a good mentor with experience is critical. Being willing to accept their help, particularly in the formative stages can enhance your business’s success. It also provides a way to learn business skills as your business expands. Seek out advice from an accountant, financial specialist or take advantage of mentoring programmes.
Elephants are a symbol of wisdom in Asian cultures and are famed for their memory and intelligence.	Lesson: Respect can take time to earn. Women tend to be less adept at self-promotion. In other words, we are not quick to tell other people about our achievements and successes and this has wider knock-on effects. Successful businesswomen should be celebrated and more widely promoted, not only to inspire other women, but also to encourage the business community to consider the huge potential that exists in female-run businesses.
An elephant’s skin is extremely tough and measures about an inch thick. But although tough, it is very sensitive.	Lesson: Develop your own thick skin. For many of us, criticism can be hard to bear. Whether it’s peer response, a tough economic environment or one too many rejections, every business faces situations which make it easy to think about giving in. But by learning to view these situations objectively and figuring out what you need to learn from the experience you stand a better chance of weathering the storm. And at the same time, relish your ability to show sensitivity and empathy, which can be used to your advantage.
Healthy adult elephants have no natural predators, although lions may take calves or weak individuals.	Lesson: A healthy business is the best defense. This starts with proper business planning, including a focus on cash flow. Many businesses – particularly those in the service-based sectors suffer sever paeaks and troughs in revenue. Make sure you really understand the financial demands and costs of your business.
Elephants have the ability to use their trunks like snorkels for breathing and are known to swim like that for up to 6 hours and 50km.	Lesson: Use what you’ve got! Our skills at multi-tasking and organisation can make us great entrepreneurs. Have self-belief and be prepared to recognize your success.
The elephant’s trunk may have over forty thousand individual muscles in it, making it sensitive enough to pick up a single blade of grass, yet strong enough to rip the branches off a tree.	Lesson: Know how and when to use your strength. A factor that links many successful businesswomen is their determination to succeed. Often this manifests itself in competing just a little bit harder, and being prepared to make tough decisions when the situation requires it. While having clear goals and aspirations is important, real success requires self-confidence and courage.
Elephants display a wide variety of behaviours including those associated with music, art, altruism, play, use of tools, compassion and self awareness.	Lesson: A work/life balance is important. While it can be tempting to devote ourselves to our business, this can at times come at the expense of our families or ourselves. Women are very good at feeling terribly guilty when we take time out. However, this is so important! There is no doubt taking time out of your business can be hard to do if you don’t have the support system in place with good employees, friends or family. But when we do, the benefits are rewarding. Not only do you feel more refreshed, making you a better wife, partner, mother or friend, but it helps to centre you around what is important, providing the ability to look at your business with fresh eyes.
Elephants can communicate over long distances by producing and receiving a sub-sonic rumbling, which can travel in the air and through the ground much further than higher frequencies.	Lesson: Take advantage of the communication tools at your disposal. Modern communication like the internet can help keep networking connections strong, through use of email, blogs, and social networking tools. It can provide links to like-minded, experienced business owners through mentoring programs. There are great resources available online to assist in bringing a business idea to life, or helping to broaden and grow your business skills and best of all most are free.
Elephants live in a structured social order. Females spend their entire lives in tightly knit groups made up of mothers, daughters, sisters, and aunts. These groups are led by the eldest female, or matriarch.	Lesson: As women we need to stand together and learn from each other’s skills, strength and experience Make an effort to find people who share common interests and a sense of community. Local business associations and local council networking groups offer the chance to meet other women – and gives you the chance to support and learn from each other’s experience and skills
And finally: When a group gets too big, a few of the elder daughters will break off and form their own small group.	Lesson: Women can be the driving force to create new enterprises, and explore new opportunities. Research from the UK suggests that women are more likely to be more innovative than men in their approach to business development and new ideas, which can only benefit the business community. If you have a good idea, a plan for success and the resources to strike out, then have the confidence to be entrepreneurial.

You can learn more about ANZ’s Be Money Confident initiative here. You’ll find interesting articles and resources as well as budget calculators.

Your 30 Day Social Media Plan - #30DSM - Day 30: 30 Days of Social Media

It’s Day 30 of 30 Days of Social Media. We’ve covered a lot of ground over the last month and yet it feels like it would be easy to go for another 30 days of tips and strategies on how to put social media to work for your business.

Today, however, let’s take a look at how we can start to implement some strategy into your social media activity.

Your 30 Day Social Media Plan

Execution and implementation is the key to being successful with any new body of knowledge. No point knowing new stuff and then not doing anything with it. (As a serial student of business I am guilty of learning, learning and more learning. The magic seems to happen when I actually use and share what I have learned.)

I believe that if we focus on ONE area for a whole month, we’ll do better than splitting our energies across the myriad of areas. (Ok, you can sneak two or three areas of focus into your plan, but I suggest you consider putting together a 30 day plan for one area to start.)

Over the last 30 days we’ve looked at:

• Wikis
• Twitter strategies
• Facebook Pages
• Online Networking
• RSS (Real Simple Syndication)
• Promoting events through social media
• Generating Leads
• Podcasting
• Using Video and YouTube
• Managing Your Online brand
• and a whole lot more…

So, what ONE area would you like to focus further on for the next month?

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YOUR 30 DAY SOCIAL MEDIA PLAN FOR [INSERT YOUR FOCUS AREA HERE]

Here are three steps to take to create a one-page plan for this area:

Step 1:

Choose an area of Social Media to focus on for the next month.

Step 2:

Set your goals and objectives for this area. (Hint: Stay big picture and set some measurable goals that we can look back at in 30 days and celebrate the achievement of.)

Step 3:

Determine what three actions can you take

• tomorrow
• next week
• over 30 days

to get closer to the achievement of your goals for this area of social media.

EXAMPLE

AREA: Facebook Page for My Business

GOALS:

1. Set up a Facebook page by (date)
2. Get a vanity URL
3. Add photos and a video
4. Post at least once a week to the page

2. Have 100 fans for the page by the end of the month

3. Integrate my Facebook Page strategy into my business strategy

ACTIONS

Week 1:

• Post twice to the Notes section:
  • post link to one relevant article
  • post link to one relevant event
• Advertise/promote the page on my email, on  my website, in a newsletter, through Twitter and other social networks

etc.

Take action. Do it now. Set you goals and schedule the activities that you’ll complete to get to these goals.

Thanks for taking part in 30 Days of Social Media.

Write and tell me what you plan to focus on. I’d love to hear from you and be a part of your journey.

Until then,

Suzi

(I owe thanks to many people for their support with this free program. I’ll write more on that tomorrow!)

How to promote your event through social media – a DIY Guide in three easy steps! #30DSM - Day 29: 30 Days of Social Media

Organising an event at the best of times can be a chore. However with the growing appeal of social networking sites this often arduous task can be made a little easier. Brooke Simmons of Pursuit Communications illustrates the steps to promote your event through social networking sites in today’s 30 Days of Social Media lesson.

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How to promote your event through social media – a DIY Guide in three easy steps!

by Brooke Simmons

Firstly, you will have to decide if it’s relevant to promote your event through social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin etc. If it’s a “soft” product launch - there’s no point in telling the world about it – wait until all the “wrinkles” have been ironed out and then invite the masses. The same can be said for a VIP event: the last thing any organiser needs is a mass of people turning up at an event, which is intended for a select group of people.

Equally there’s no point in organising an event where members of the general public are invited to attend and there are very few people aware of the event in the first place!  If you don’t promote it properly, how will anyone be expected to know?

Cue the social networking site.

These sites offer a range of solutions to track, interact and ultimately control any event you wish to promote.

If you believe there’s an opportunity to promote your event via a social networking site you will firstly need to understand “your audience”.

1. DECIDE which mix of social media outlets will be suitable for your launch. To do this, think about the networks you keep in all of your social media outlets. LinkedIn is often associated with past-colleagues and current client contacts. Facebook is, for many people, a combination of friends and Twitter can often be a combination of these two. So use your best judgement on which outlet or outlets you’ll use and stick to them. (I recommend using no more than two outlets for promoting any activity – I’ll come to this in a moment.)

Once you have decided on which outlet(s) you’ll use for your event, make sure you use the social networking site sensibly.

2. REMEMBER it’s a social networking site not a place where you can bombard everyone with invitations, reminders and messages about the event. Just with fashion, less is more. What you believe to be a “friendly second, third or fourth reminder” can be interpreted by others as spam.

Once you offer the initial invitation allow people a chance to respond by the specified RSVP date, answer any questions that may be asked in the meantime and only follow up after the RSVP deadline, ensuring you leave enough time between the RSVP date and the event itself to allow for extra details to be added. These could include additional background material, late confirmation of special celebrity guests – that kind of thing. I suggest allowing an additional day for following up RSVPs from a social networking site; some people aren’t as vigilant checking their social networking accounts as they are with their e-mails.

3.  The most important tip I’ll offer is to use THE TOOLS that are available for each social networking site.  Some suggestions are:

• Link a post about the event to your Linkedin page from your blog – a majority of times you’ll be able to do this through a widget. A cross pollination such as this can often encourage people who may not have regularly visited your blog to do so and vice versa.  A blog entry also allows you to enter more details about your event and give potential attendees a chance to comment on the event.
• Create an event on Facebook: if you choose, this will allow your attendees to post their images, comments and topics about the event all on one tidy page.
• Create a “hashtag”  on Twitter for your event so those attending who are Twitter users can comment about the event, track back previous tweets and see what others are tweeting all by searching for a simple “hashtag”. For example for a client event that I have coming up I’ll be using the “hashtag” #ToniaTodmanRoses and #Bluminlaunch. If you’re still confused this site offers a great explanation.
• Consider looking at Eventbrite for use on social networking sites: it’s easy to use and the site walks you through the whole process.
• For those people who may not be able to attend due to geographic location, why not consider creating a webcast of the event or inviting people to attend via Skype.

Ultimately use common sense when it comes to organising an event and promoting through social networking site. Don’t create more work for yourself than is needed and use the power of social networking sites to your advantage.

Good luck!

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Brooke Simmons - Pursuit Communications

Brooke Simmons has over four years experience within the public relations arena and over ten years experience in the media, most recently she has worked on the following clients - Events by Olivia, Gosford City Council, Talk’N Tours, I Hate Cinderella, Wet Ones, Sassi Sam,  SBNG – Small Business Networking Group Central Coast NSW, Sam’s Beer, Blumin’ & Tonia Todman Roses, Brands on Sale Campbelltown, United Airlines, Lenovo Australian Olympic Torch Relay, Radisson Resort Fiji, Lufthansa Airlines, REED Constructions Australia, Carlson Hotels Asia Pacific, Kaspersky Anti-Virus, Autodesk - Australia, Glass Onion Website Design and OZtion Online Auction Site.

In addition to her public relations capabilities Brooke has held the title of Managing Editor for Manchester Unity’s member magazine U Magazine from December 2006 –April 2008.

Prior to her foray in the public relations arena, Brooke has held other roles within the media industry. Previously working at; Silverspan Marketing, Nova 969 FM and Regional Radio Bureau - now known as Regional Radio Works.  As a result Brooke is well versed on the many facets of the media and also holds a great number of media contacts.

She is contactable at the following email address and phone number;
E: brooke@pursuitcommunications.com.au, P: +61 (0) 407 780 710

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TODAY’S TASK

Got an event coming up? Post it on one of your social networks today.

Until tomorrow,

Suzi

Do you make these Top 11 mistakes with your social media? #30DSM - Day 28: 30 Days of Social Media

Social media can be seriously profitable for your business. “It’s the secret low cost marketing weapon used by the leading entrepreneurs. But, it can go horribly wrong if you make these mistakes…” explains today’s 30 Days of Social Media contributor, Meredith Collins. She identifies 11 mistakes that you don’t want to make.

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Mistake #1. Trying to sell something. Although it might seem counter intuitive, if you try to pitch something too soon you are bound for disaster. Social Media is like a big party. You wouldn’t walk into a party and start selling everyone your products. You would spend time to make friends and get to know people. You would share some things about yourself and have conversations with people who were on your wavelength.  Social Media is relationship and referral marketing amplified – so use this as a PR machine, not a straight sales tool.

Mistake #2. Lack of consistency. If you decide to use Social Media then commit consistent time to the process of using it.  Dependent upon your strategy, you may need to ”tweet” daily or ”blog”/”post” every few days or weekly.  Whatever the strategy, consistency is key and you must devise a plan and stick to it.  Your target market needs consistency and reliability – your commitment and visibility speaks volumes about your business.

Mistake #3. Wrong place wrong market. Choose your social media sites well.  Be strategic about which sites you use and where your target market is looking.  A local business may not be using the same social media as a specialised, niche or global business.  This is not about throwing balls in the air and hoping they will land correctly – it is a powerful relationship marketing tool.

Mistake #4. Joining too many Social Sites. I always say to clients ”don’t do four sites badly – you are better off doing one really well”.  Be strategic about which sites you use, add value and manage them well.  The big sites are LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Plaxo and Wordpress, and depending upon your business, article marketing might be very effective.

Mistake #5 Failing to ’add value’ for your market. Value for your target market is the rule in Social Media – and ”surprising value” is the way to go.  Social media is all about relationships and positioning yourself as an expert – so put more value in your posts, articles, audio (podcast) files, videos and recommendations and offer surprising value – enough value that your target market remembers you and wants to engage with you.

Mistake #6 Focusing on promotion over content. This ties in with Mistake #5 – if you don’t push out good content, there is no perceived value.  Promotion can come later and even disguised as content when you have a market who wants what you have got.  ”Do” Social Media well and the money will come.

Mistake #7 Making contentious or argumentative statements. Contentious statements may attract attention, but they may also lose your audience. Condescending or argumentative topics are unlikely to work in the long term.  Just think of that argumentative person in the office…. don’t go there.

Mistake #8 Taking instead of giving. Remember Social Media is about relationships first.  Give value, give suggestions, give value, give advice, give ideas, give news give possibilities, give gratitude and do not take relentlessly.  One of my biggest joint ventures came after some “giving”. GIVE = Give Influence Very Easily – give first and you will never be second.

Mistake #9 Not joining groups. The premise of Web2.0 and Social Media is community – sharing and expertise.  Be seen within groups that are of interest, add value to you and to which you can add value for others.  Position yourself and share your expertise.  No one ever made it to the top being a Lone Ranger and contribution and mixing is important if you want to make it in Social Media.

Mistake #10 Don’t shun face to face events. Face to face networking is still a significant way to connect and the connection can continue online.  Others are far more likely to recommend you, continue to network online and follow you in the Social Media spaces, once they have met you.  You will learn from others, expand your own circle and be able to offer significant value to those with whom you come in contact. This is where we add some value for you.

Mistake #11 Having incomplete Social Media profiles. You cannot maximise your work opportunities with an incomplete Resume.  Neither can you maximise your connections, potential client interest or business opportunities with incomplete profiles.  Ensure that your profiles are complete and get to the point and offer information your market wants.  Enlist the help of experts to get you set up correctly in the first instance.  Create the best impression you can.

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Meredith Collins is the founder of Video Social Marketing, an organisation which specialises in teaching business owners and entrepreneurs how to leverage the awesome power of video and social media for your business. For more great articles, resources, tips and training programs on Social Media for Business go to www.videosocialmarketing.net

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TODAY’S TASK

Are you making any of these mistakes? Which one(s)? How will you change your strategy as a result of identifying these mistakes?

Until tomorrow,

Suzi

The 4 Ps of Online Networking #30DSM - Day 27: 30 Days of Social Media

Maximise your online connections, build relationships with purpose and make the most of online networking with The 4 Ps of Online Networking from today’s 30 Days of Social Media guest contributor - Iggy Pintado, author of Connection Generation.

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The 4 Ps of Online Networking

by Iggy Pintado

A question I get asked quiet often is that with my variety of presences on online networks like Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter and the large number of followers I have on these platforms, how do I find the time and energy to put into it. My answer invariably goes back to the basics of online networking, which I call the 4 P’s. These are: PURPOSE, PROFILE, PARTICIPATION and PERSISTENCE.

First, there’s PURPOSE. Before I even think about logging on each day I reflect on why I’m doing all this. For me, it’s about expanding my network by reconnecting with family, friends and former and current colleagues, introducing myself to people with interesting profiles around Australia and in other countries and identifying groups with shared interests. Once I’d establish my connections base, it was about sharing information, ideas and concepts.To achieve this, I decided early on to be an Open Networker. This meant accepting invitations from other people who I didn’t directly know but whose profiles were consistent with my shared interests. It’s been said that the internet is either a time saver or a time waster. Clearly understanding what you want to get out of it determines your focus and how much time you spend on online networking.

Then there’s PROFILE. Once you sign up to an online network, you’re well on the way to creating your own personal brand on the web. This is a unique opportunity to present yourself online by the one person who knows you best – you. By building and posting a compelling profile, you provide others with the ability to find you and attract other users who want to know you, potentially utilise your skills, sell you something you might value, just establish a connection or even offer you a job. So take the time to develop a profile that best represents you, including a photo, your key achievements and your competencies.

Thirdly, there’s PARTICIPATION. Online networking is social and is like attending a party or business function. You could choose to sit in a corner all night and then complain how bad it was. Once you’ve got your profile up, be a participant - not a wallflower. The same social principles as a party apply - introduce yourself to others, start a conversation, share your thoughts, join a group discussion, ask questions or play a silly game. Do something that shows that you’re actively involved in the network and that you want to be there.

Finally, there’s PERSISTENCE. If you want to achieve your purpose, you have to stick with it. The obvious analogy is getting fit. We all know that we need to exercise regularly to get fit. Same with online networking. Get into the discipline of setting time aside – some, not at so much that it consumes you but regularly enough to participate in network activities – and keep at it. There may be times when you don’t get a timely response to an invitation, posting or some other message. My advice is to persist.

To get the most out of online networking, you need to work on it. Make the time to clearly articulate your purpose and goals, get into the discipline of refining and  enhancing your profile, actively participate in network initiatives that support your goals and most of all – keep at it.

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Iggy Pintado is the CEO and Chief Networking Officer at ConnectGen, a business networking consulting firm. His first book, Connection Generation is a fascinating study of how connectedness affects our place in society and business and the challenges and opportunities this compelling development presents. Book site is www.connectiongeneration.com.

Listen to Iggy speak about the 4 P’s of Online Networking to BNET’s Phil Dobbie.

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TODAY’S TASK
How have you participated today in social networking?
Have you posted a Tweet? Tweeted a post? Updated your online profiles?
Take one action to keep your online activities current.

3 ways to generate leads through social media #30DSM - Day 26: 30 Days of Social Media

How can you use social media to attract prospects to your business?  Assuming you’re offering a sound product, a compelling offer, and are talking to the right customer, social media tools make generating leads inexpensive and time-efficient.

In today’s 30 Days of Social Media lesson Clare Lancaster gives you three ways to generate leads through social media.

Take a look.

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3 ways to generate leads through social media

by Clare Lancaster

Social media is an effective way to generate leads for your service-based business. You can build your reputation within your industry, connect with potential customers and strategic partners and use it to drive traffic to your website.

Here are three ways to use social media to generate leads.

Build your reputation

Participating in social media – through online networking, blogging and rich media – can help you build your reputation within your industry.

Building your reputation online has three great benefits – your credibility goes up, people perceive your business to be successful and a level of trust is established.

How do you start? Demonstrate your knowledge and expertise by providing useful content, helping people with questions and recommendations and commenting on blogs within your industry.

Build relationships

Social networking online allows you to build solid relationships that can result in lead generation for your business.

Start talking to people in complimentary industries, help them out by referring client enquiries and you could just find yourself in a strategic partnership.

Social networks like Twitter. have broken down traditional barriers to thought leaders – find out who they are, add them to your network and start a conversation. Building solid relationships with influencers and other authorities can result in a boost to your business.

Twitter also allows you to connect directly with media professionals – building relationships with individuals and proving them with information they need could return media opportunities to promote your business.

Always remember when building relationships – it’s all about giving, not taking.

Attract website visitors

There’s a variety of ways to use social networking to attract visitors to your website. Here are two techniques.

1. Use social networks to distribute your content by posting a link to your Twitter or Facebook profiles and adding content distribution buttons to your web page (e.g. Tweetmeme). The first step here is to create content worth distributing – if it’s not good, no one will want to pass it on to their network.
2. Create a landing page for your social media profiles. People will click on your website link in your profile to find out more information about you. Make the most of their interest with a dedicated landing page that explains what you do - how you can help that person and provide a call to action detailing what they should do next.

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Clare Lancaster - Dot Marketing

Clare Lancaster is the founder of Dot Marketing an online strategy and marketing consultancy and has been working on the Internet since 2001. She writes a business and online marketing blog for small business owners and has recently launched www.twitterguide.com.au.

Visit www.clarelancaster.com.au to find out more or follow her on Twitter.

TODAY’S TASK
Generating a new lead can be as simple as picking up some new followers on Twitter. The key (with leads of any type) is that they be relevant and possible clients. If there is a higher than 0% chance that they may be interested in your products or services, then they are a valuable lead.

What is your area of thought leadership? Post a Tweet today providing valuable content (a link to a newsletter, an article on your website, some information that tells people what you do) and offer people an opportunity to find out more about you.

Suzi’s Note: Leads are people too
Generating leads is only one part of the sales equation. Having umpteen followers and a database of thousands is only valuable if you can continue to build value into the relationships in order to, at some point, have some financial exchange with that lead (either directly or indirectly). Remember leads are people, not just names.

Ready for Your own radio show? Podcasting makes it easy. #30DSM - Day 25: 30 Days of Social Media

You may have heard that podcasting is one of the best ways to demonstrate expertise in a niche and reach broader audiences with your knowledge, with the goal of increasing customers and revenue. Since early 2009 the Australian Businesswomen’s Network has featured audio interviews with inspiring women as part of its monthly Women in Business eNewsletter. It’s another way for us to bring to you practical tips and strategies.

But what is podcasting, what are the benefits and how exactly how do you podcast?

Today’s guest blogger is Bianca Wirth of Wirth Consulting. In today’s 30 Days of Social Media lesson she explains how to get started in podcasting.

If you have “golden tonsils” and want to look closer at podcasting, we’ve included a link to a more detailed article that Bianca wrote for a recent Australian Businesswomen’s Network newsletter.

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Podcasting. Getting Started.

by Bianca Wirth

Let’s start with what podcasting is.

The concept of podcasting is that of an on-demand audio program that individuals or businesses record and post to their website and podcasting tools such as iTunes. You could essentially think of a podcast as a radio program you can listen to anytime.

For a business the benefits of podcasting includes:

• Gaining credibility as an expert in your field
• Low cost advertising of your products and services
• Building a broader customer and partner network
• Reaching audiences with different preferences for consuming knowledge

The last point is quite important - if you already have an eBook or you have articles on your website for your customers then why add another delivery method? Liken it to ice-cream: not everyone likes chocolate or strawberry or double-choc cappuccino. Likewise not everyone has the time or inclination to read an eBook or an article. By recording this material as a podcast you make it easier for your (potential) customers to hear what you have to say.

How exactly would you go about podcasting?

There are three key steps:

1. Define your goals - like every new undertaking in your business you need to define what you want to achieve from it. Do you want to charge customers for a regular series of podcasts to increase your revenue? Do you want to build a larger base of customers? Do you want to increase your perception as an expert? Or do you simply want to provide value-add to your existing customers? The answers to these questions will help you define which technologies, tools and delivery model you use.
2. Define how often you will podcast - for example determine whether you want to simply create a couple of podcasts of existing written material or whether you want to develop a series of podcasts focussing on a new topic each month.
3. Develop a list of podcast topics and set dates - once you have defined how often you will podcast develop a list of topics. Then assign them to your calendar, add the schedule to your website and send your customers an email letting them know what and when you will be podcasting.

Once you have defined your goals, topics and schedule it’s time to obtain the technology to record, edit and publish your podcasts.
Continues…

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So, now you know how to plan for podcasting. Now what?

For Bianca’s steps to

1. recording
2. editing
3. transcribing and
4. publishing

podcasts read the rest of her article on the Australian Businesswomen’s Network website.

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Bianca Wirth is a Business Technology Coach with over 12 years experience working for global technology companies.  Bianca has developed the “Triple A” methodology - Animate, Accelerate and Automate - to teach small businesses how to use technology to increase sales. Sign up for her free weekly “Short N Sweet Tech Tips”.

Phone: 0458 121 824
Email: info@wirthconsulting.com.au
Website: www.wirthconsulting.com.au

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TODAY’S TASK

• Like anything, Podcasting can be done badly, and it can be done well. If you feel that an audio medium is a good way for you to go and you’re willing to do the work, podcasting is a great way to syndicate your message far and wide (e.g. with submissions to itunes you reach a totally new audience). Step One though may be to read the rest of Bianca’s article - Podcasting: The What, Why and How.
• Do you have a podcast? Let us know the details so that we can check it out.

Resources:

Secrets of Podcasting - Audio blogging for the masses by Bart G. Farkas

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