Archive for the ‘Small Business’ Category

28 Dec 2015
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11 Social Media Tips to Jump Start Your New Year

Jump Start New Year with Social Media

Ready for a jump start? The New Year always reminds us of new and fresh starts. It’s also a perfect time to evaluate the past year and decide what worked, what’s still working and what needs to go away. This is true not only with life, but also with our businesses. Since I focus on social media for entrepreneurs, employee-preneurs and small business owners, let’s talk about what you can do to jump start your New Year.

1 – Goals: Create and solidify your social media goals for the New Year. Do you want more followers, engagement, prospects, brand awareness, website traffic, etc.? Each goal has different tactics, so choose just a few to focus on.

2 – Profiles: Take a fresh look at all of your social media profiles. Is it time for a fresh profile or cover image? How about your bio and about sections? Canva.com and picmonkey.com are great resources to help you create new cover images. Plan to change your cover images at least quarterly.

3 – Analytics: Take a look at your insights for your Facebook Business Page. Also, if you use a tool like Hootsuite, plan to review other social platform analytics. Resolve for the New Year to take a quick look, even just once a week, and learn at least one thing from your content’s performance.

4 – Planning Tools: Planning social media across multiple platforms can be complicated. Start with a content (editorial) calendar and updating strategy. Schedule a weekly planning and scheduling session just like you would any other important appointment. Choose a tool like Hootsuite, Buffer or Social Sprout for pre-scheduling your posts.

5 – Evaluate Platforms: Are the current platforms working for you? Is your ideal client still using them? Are there new platforms that you should be considering? Spend some time researching changes to social media that may impact your business.

6 – Training: Do you need to brush-up on any social media skills with some training? Maybe it’s time to hire a coach to help you take it to the next level. Don’t go it alone — social media changes quickly and the tactics you used this past year may not be what you should be focus on for the New Year.

7 – Facebook Ads: If you are use Facebook for business, ads are critical for expanding your reach. Facebook is the largest marketing company in the world. You can target your ideal client for a relatively small budget (as little as $5 to $10 per day). Review your social media goals and determine your ad budget for the next few months.

8 – Save This Link on Facebook: When Facebook introduced the “save” function, many content marketers were excited (I know I love this feature).  However, remember to review the file at least weekly. You saved content for a reason, so a quick review can help you unearth a few hidden gems of content to share.

9 – Use Hashtags:  Hashtags are important because they help increase social media engagement with new users on most of the top social media platforms. Find relevant hashtags to your business/niche so you can reach your target audience.

10 – Plan On Being More Human: Authenticity and candor are what people are looking for. You can build “Know-Like-Trust” much quicker when people feel they can identify with you. Consider doing at least one weekly behind-the-scenes image or video post.

11- Don’t Ignore Video: Many of us hate to be in front of a camera or to be on film, but video is a strong way for people to get to know you. Add at least one video update per week.

So there you have it – a New Year and many new ways to engage with your friends, clients and prospects. Also a roadmap to jump start your social media. If this seems overwhelming, reach out to me and we can discuss a coaching or training program to help you take the New Year by storm.

24 Mar 2015
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Stop Cluttering My Email In-Box

One of my biggest pet peeves is being added without permission to an email list. Just the other day it happened again. I was at a networking event, someone asked for my card and then next thing you know, I am receiving their newsletter. Why do people think it is ok to add me to their list without my permission?!?! Have businesses become so desperate that they add everyone they know to their list? In my book, this is spamming. Who’s with me?

This tactic has got to stop. It’s like buying likes for a Facebook Page or followers for Twitter; how effective is it if the person isn’t the ideal audience? Yes, it gives you “numbers”, but numbers don’t mean anything if the audience isn’t right. You aren’t likely to sell very much to someone that hasn’t identified that your product/service is right for them. Rather than annoying and interrupting perspective customers with unsolicited and pushy messages, ask for permission first. I think this is the most important rule of proper marketing etiquette.  Besides, why would someone who is looking to build a successful business want a bunch of people on a list that may not be interested?

I have to admit, it lowers my opinion of the business/person a bit when I am automatically added to a list. It seems lazy to me. If your hope is that the person you add to your list is going to be so enamored by what you have to say in your email marketing, that they are going to purchase from you or turn into your ambassador, what would it hurt for you to ask permission? This way you know that they are interested. Otherwise, now you could need to earn back trust which is harder to do.

My email address is currency and must be earned. I will give you my email address (currency) and in turn, I expect to receive something of value (it can be a great blog full of information, a discount, white paper, download, etc.), but I am not going to fill my in-box with a bunch of noise about things I am not interested in.

I have a little secret…I don’t use my business email for anything other than correspondence for business. I know immediately if someone just added me to their list. Sneaky, huh?!? You may be me curious as to why I don’t use this email for newsletters and ads? The first or foremost reason is that it helps me to concentrate on what is important. In my mind, having lots of other info coming into my main inbox is like clutter. It can be very distracting. In fact, too much email can be stressful, unproductive, overwhelming and can cause you to miss important things because there is too much to wade through.

Secondly, it does help me to be aware of what lists I have been added to without my permission. This also helps to remove unwanted clutter. How many of you have opened your email and wondered how you got onto so many lists? Even the lists I thought I wanted to be on at one time can become overwhelming. Then I know it is necessary to clean house there too.

My friend, Robyn of Robyn Stevens Feng Shui would agree. Here is what she has to share with you:

“Clutter, all forms of clutter, is so debilitating. Depending on what and where; it can clog the flow of abundance; keep ‘Ms/Mr Right’ from coming into your life, hold you back career-wise, etc., etc., etc.!  Clutter is not just limited to physical stuff; your computer content is absolutely part of the equation.  In most cases, our computer/emails are directly related to our careers.  When that area of our life is full of clutter life itself can feel like an uphill battle.  You probably feel like you are in a rut and aren’t happy with what you are doing.  Step 1?  Clear that email clutter and keep it cleared.  Clarity of computer will give you clarity of mind and will help lead you in the right direction career-wise!”

My advice, don’t add me to any email lists without my permission! Ha! And, the CANnon Do for today’s message is: set-up a separate email address for all of your purchasing and newsletters, but only keep the things that are important to you. It will help to clear your mind and make your life more productive and abundant.

Ok, I am stepping off my soapbox for now. Until next time, remember to Spread Kindness.

Vicki S. Cannon explains why you should blog for your business
28 Oct 2014
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Top 5 Excuses Why I Don’t Blog

To semi-quote William Shakespeare, “To blog or not to blog? That is the question.” I know that many business owners (even a social media expert like myself) talk about wanting to blog, but there is always something that gets in the way. Read more

23 Jan 2013
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Your Voicemail is an Extension of You & Your Business

How do you feel about voicemail greetings?  Lately these have become a pet peeve of mine.  You know what I’m talking about – the message you receive when you call someone and their voicemail kicks in.  If you are running a business – don’t you want to have everything that you do (the touches you make with your clients & prospects) come across as professional as possible?  Recently, I was sent to a voicemail that said this:  “at my earliest convenience I will call you back.”  How do you feel about that? It makes me feel like:  “when/if I deem it important enough to call you back, I will.”  I am assuming that what this person was really saying was: “as soon as I can, I’ll call you back”, but that wasn’t how it came across.

Ok, how about the one that sounds like the person is distracted or recording the message from a tunnel or while driving? It sounds something like (background noise) and “um, you have um, reached, um, ….” With lots of pauses and noise in between.  This also conveys a message about your professionalism and the message isn’t favorable.

Here is my voicemail greeting:  “You have reached, Vicki S. Cannon of Cannon Social Media Solutions.   I am unable to take your call at this time, so please leave your name, phone number & a brief message after the tone and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.  You may also email me at: (insert email address) or contact me via my website: www.cannonsocialmedia.com.  Thank you for calling.”

It only takes a few minutes to write something out and to record and re-record until the right message is given. This is still an extension of you and your business.  What kind of impression are you leaving? Does the impression match your business?

Physician offices are usually pretty good at leaving a detailed greeting that includes when you should expect a call back and the type of information you should leave on the message (for instance, date of birth).  I appreciate these greetings because I am not left in the dark about what they need and when I should hear back.

Have you recently started a business? Don’t forget this important extension of your brand.  Many people are quick to start a Facebook Page and/or Twitter Account, but forget what may be an important piece of communication.  Starting with: “Hi, this is Vicki. Leave me a message.” may not be professional enough.  Also, please smile when you record and have a little bit of energy. There is nothing worse than listening to Eeyore give you a greeting (even if you are a Winnie the Pooh fan).

One last thing, take the time to record your own message.  The pre-recorded: “you have reached the Mobile Carrier Mailbox for 555-555-5555…” is not good either.  It looks like you aren’t keeping up with the little details.

You may be asking: “what does this have to do with social media”?  Well, I believe that everything you do in-person or online is an extension of your personal and professional identity.  You never know if this is the first real contact someone is making with you.  Do you want to put any doubt in the mind of a potential or even current client about your professionalism?   Take a moment and listen to your voicemail greeting. Is it the right message? How would you feel after hearing the greeting? If you aren’t sure, ask someone else to listen to it. What is their impression?  The same is true with your Social Media sites. What kind of impression are you leaving every time you post? People are watching and listening all the time.

Ok, I’m off of my soapbox now.  Do you have any pet peeves on professionalism?