Guide to Twitter inspired by Dr. Seuss

Who doesn’t love Dr. Suess! Well if you don’t – ah well, there’s other posts you can read here!

Dr. Seuss, the writer and illustrator behind children’s classics The Cat in the HatHow the Grinch Stole Christmas! and The Lorax, would have turned 110 on March 2nd. If he were alive today, he would have been a social media master. So to honor his wit and wisdom, here’s an interpretation of the Seuss guide to Twitter from Hootsuite

Dr Suess

How to fail at social selling in five steps and how to SUCCEED in three #WESOE

How to fail at social selling in five steps

1 Produce content
2 Promote to social media platforms
3 Pray (Pay!) for comments and RT’s
4 Promote some more
5 Be disappointed. Give up.

What if there was a better way. A way that actually gets results.
A way that builds engagement
A way that generates SALES

There is:

Three steps to success using Social Media to sell.
Creating the Social Wrap with three ways to “serve”

1: (OB) SERVE
Before joining the conversation, listen
FIND: your audience, prospects, segment or whatever you call it
LISTEN: to their conversation, their questions and what they talk about.
DISCOVER: what they care about, focus on and want to get done first.

This should be a huge part of what you do first. Simply listen to the conversations that are happening around you. Sign up for LinkedIn groups, check leading blog posts, send out surveys. Do what ever it takes to develop a deep understanding of what motivates your prospects. What do they care about, struggle with and desire. Ask follow up questions to gain clarification and develop an intimate knowledge of what their world looks like.

2: (DE) SERVE
Now and only now, join in the conversation.
DEVELOP: intelligent perspectives, insights and resources
CONTRIBUTE: to the conversation by offering highly valuable insights, data and facts
ENGAGE: in meaningful dialogue with those who care and matter

When you have developed a deep understanding of your prospect you can then join in the conversation. But only then. Do not take to spam messages and ensure you tailor your messages. For example The biggest mistake you can do is use a template LinkedIn message. Personalise.

Produce quality content, that demonstrates value, meets the prospects needs, offers tangible practical actionable advice that meets the prospects needs. Deliver instant value of what it would be like to work with you.

3: (RE) SERVE
Focus on the few, not the many.
FOCUS: on your tribe of peers and followers, connectors and leaders.
FIND: those that deserve your time, follow up and start the journey forward.
FAVOUR: the few who are worth your time, effort and dedication

It is very easy to get hung on on the “how many RT’s did I get today” buzz. Focusing on this craze will help flatter your ego and of course make you feel like you have accomplished something.

But it does not produce results.

So be selective spend your time with those that engage with your content and are likely to be decision makers. Ask questions, promote their content, and above all thank them.

Create the “social wrap” equation:

Observe – Deserve – Reserve

LinkedIn Profile Blueprint – Your Digital Brand in the Social Landscape

How to start building the perfect LinkedIn Profile:

2013 LinkedIn Profile Character Limits

Knowing the space with which you can work in your LinkedIn profile is key to helping you build your perfect social brand! Here are your character limits:

  • Headline – 120 characters to fill with keywords, answer the question, “What do you do and the outcome you will provide?”
  • Summary – 2,000  characters to tell the story or YOU with keywords and  accomplishments. How have you helped others and their results they achieved from you.
  • Experience/Position Title – 100 characters to sum up your official experience in a title, or something more creative with keywords
  • Experience/Position Description – 2,000 characters to use keywords to sum up your role and your one to three key accomplishments. Make sure to format this area to make sure it is easy to read!
  • Skills & Expertise – 61 characters for the 50 skills you can list
  • Status updates – 700 characters for an unlimited times per day, however, I recommend only one or two per day. And you can include a hyperlink if you need more room!
  • Groups – 50 groups is your limit, so pick them wisely to show others with whom you are keeping company!
  • Education/Degree – 100 characters to explain your degree to include relevant keyword phrases
  • Education/Activities & Societies – 500 characters to give an overview that can tie into your career
  • Education Description – 1,000 characters to offer an overview of what you studied and how it is relevant to your career
  • Additional Info/Interests – 1,000 characters to further explain your background and show how interesting you really are!
  • Honors & Awards – 1,000 characters to shine the spotlight on YOU! Even if you won a sales award, it’s a great accomplishment to list!
  • Videos and Content – You are now able to add videos or other content such as pdf’s or powerpoints under several sections – Summary, Experience and Education. So get adding! As for your profile picture, if you want to manifest professionalism, you can utilize the help of photographers, like the Corporate Photographers in London.

I would love to know if you have a tip or trick with the way you use LinkedIn! If you do, please comment. You can also follow me on Twitter @Social_Ben

Credit for content: MarketingThink.Com

The ultimate Pinterest infographic; top tips, what, why and how

We all know interaction is key to success. That’s where Pinterest is different. You don’t have to be insanely active on an interaction level if you don’t want to in order to become successful on this new social service. All you need to focus on is finding pictures and videos that you can share. If people enjoy what you share, they will follow you, and from that you will expand your network.

Source : Designer Javier Muñiz (created for Seetio)

Have you started your Pinterest board? Do you use it for business? Share your story below.

Adding video to LinkedIn is now so easy!

LinkedIn’s new look is clean and image-centric. The development team have added a new Rich Media tool that allows you to easily add video, presentations, your blog and other media to your Summary, Experience and Education sections.

We all know how important video is to marketing, and with this new media link, LinkedIn acknowledges its importance. So make sure you add video to your profile. (But remember, this is a business tool. No dancing cat videos, please.)

I will now show you how to add a video to a section.

1) Select “Edit Profile under” the “Profile” tab

Scroll down to Experience. You will now see this:

2) Click on the add symbol (circled above)

3) Insert the URL from where the video is hosted. For example YouTube.

Hey Presto!

I added two

I think this is fantastic, what do you think? What videos will you be adding? Come and say hello below.

We hate automatic DM’s! Don’t we?

I know I am not the only one whom dreads the direct message received after clicking the follow button. I don’t like being told what to do, unless it is my wife or my boss doing the telling (just in case they read this), which is what these DM’s typically do for example: –  “Go like my Facebook  page” or the “Sign up to my site”. I will decide when and if I will do either of these activities, let me continue to read your posts and we will go from there.

So with my disdain for DM’s it was a bit hypocritical for me to consider setting up this function. However I did want to address my tardiness in welcoming and thanking new followers.

So I took the plunge and did some research to find the tool I was going to be happy with, in this case it was Socialoomph. This tool won me over because of the ability to rotate the DM’s sent and not be repetitive.

So yesterday I set it all up, clicked save and waited for the onslaught.

The first response I received was not negative however, I was elated, here is why.

I didn’t aim my message at plugging me, instead I aimed my message at “helping” this new follower find other tweeters I thought they would enjoy and or derive value from.

As a result my DM was retweeted, thank you Thomas

Yes I felt pretty good, Yes I felt helpful.

What do you think of Direct Messgages? What are the worst ones you have seen? What are the best ones? Have you, like me, even unfollowed someone as a result of a DM?

How Professors Are Using Social Media

Wondering if professors are as connected as their students? The ‘connected gap’ between the two has shrunk over the past couple years and it’s now easy to see that more professors are plugged in and harnessing the power of technology to boost their classrooms.

As you can see in the below infographic, the vast majority of professors use social media (84%) and even more (88%) use on-line video in classrooms. The statistics go on and on but these are two noteworthy ones I thought you’d find interesting.

Ever wonder what social media sites professors use the most? Or perhaps why they use a particular site? It’s all laid out in this new infographic. Enjoy

 

Source: http://www.bestcollegesonline.com

What has been your experience of social media whilst at college or university?