Advanced techniques: 5 ways to use Pinterest for Business

In my last post about Pinterest, we discussed building a profile, creating boards and other basics of Pinterest. But what we we didn’t cover is how to use Pinterest to drive traffic to your website and ultimately, drive sales. Read on to find out how Pinterest greatly increases the likelihood of your products gaining viral popularity and how to take advantage.
1. Market via email

As I mentioned already, Pinterest can be a really powerful tool to drive online traffic. If you market your business via email, feature Pinterest in your emails, much like Allrecipes does. Encouraging your fans to pin your products or services helps build a wide-reaching community on the platform.

2. Talk mostly about others (and a little about yourself)

This is the same rule you should use on other social media platforms. Talk mostly about other businesses, ideas and news, and a little bit about yourself. The Social Media 80/20 rule is popular - but I like to talk less about myself and even more about others in my content (my mix is probably 85/15 or 90/10). That way, you make real connections with your followers and other social media users before you even plug your products at all.

3. Make use of Keywords

Pinterest’s search engine is a powerful tool - and it’s the main way that Pinterest users will find your content. Make sure you use search-optimized keywords in both the board description and any applicable pins. Learn how to determine which keywords to use in your Pinterest boards.

4. Mix your media

Though Pinterest used to be a place where only photos were posted, now business owners can post many kinds of media to their boards. To keep it interesting and gain a loyal following, mix it up! A combination of photos, videos, slides, quotes or text, and infographics will keep your audience paying attention to what you have to say.

5. Embed pins in your content

Embedding pins in your content is a surefire way to get more eyeballs on your products. Pinterest’s embedding capabilities allow pinners to embed products anywhere on their websites. While this is a strategy that’s good for every business to know - it’s especially important for businesses who don’t sell on their websites.

Placing pins within your blog (and encouraging others to do the same) will raise awareness for your items. And those visiting your site will be able to repin products directly from your website to their Pinterest boards. Learn how to embed pins in your website in this blog.

Are you using Pinterest to build your brand? I’d love to hear from you. If you’d like to share ideas or are interested in discussing more about Pinterest, social media or marketing in general, please feel free to check out my website or drop me a line at jackie@jackiesteinmetz.com.

Google + for Business :Advanced Techniques

In my last post about Google+, I talked a little bit about Google+, why businesses want to use it and how to sign up. But Google+ for business is a very powerful platform that should be taken seriously - especially if you sell business to business. Read on to find out how Google+ made itself extremely competitive - and how to use it to your advantage.

Why Google+ matters

The explain is really simple: because it’s a Google product. Google+ has shown to be tied to search ranking, online authorship profiles, recognition of businesses in search, and other Google-related perks. Even if you don’t use the platform to its full extent, it’s important to at least be aware of these perks and how to participate in them.

Google+ and SEO

The major benefit of Google+ is that it’s tied directly to the most popular search engine in the United States. Google heavily weighs social recommendation in its search algorithm, which is a benefit for all popular social media platforms. Google+ gives its users the opportunity to +1 content - which is similar to a “like” on Facebook - and helps the content in search. In fact, according to a Searchmetrics study, social recommendation accounts for 7 of 8 of the top search rankings.

In addition, Google+ influences search results if you have a presence. When you search for a business with a completed Google+ profile, you’ll see tidbits about the company, their logo and more in the right hand column of the search results.

Google+ Local is also a key component for businesses with a local presence. Much like Yelp, Google+ local allows Google+ users to score businesses on a 5-star system and recommends local businesses to users of the social platform based on certain factors. If you’re looking to build a strong local presence, this is a great place to start.

Google+ and Google Authorship
When you search on Google and an article comes up with the author’s name and headshot - that’s Google Authorship. Articles with photos are more trustworthy and clickable than those without, making Google Authorship that much more important.

Here’s how to get it:

1. Upload a professional headshot as your profile picture. This will show up next to all of the content that you author and link to your Google+ page.

2. Include a byline with your name. Keep it simple - by Jackie Steinmetz does the trick. Make sure the name you use is the same name that’s on your Google+ profile.

3. Use an email address from the same domain as your website. For example, my address, jackie@jackiesteinmetz.com works well. If you’re using a gmail or other similar email address, use a second method to register for Google Authorship.

That’s it! Once these steps are taken care of, your name and photo will show up in Google search results next to any content that you’ve authored

By following the simple steps outlined above, you can leverage some less obvious benefits of Google+. Remember, posting great content on the social platform is the best way to take advantage of the SEO benefits. If you’d like to share ideas or are interested in discussing more, please feel free to check out my website or email me at jackie@jackiesteinmetz.com.

Twitter for Business - Advanced Techniques

In my last post about Twitter, we discussed the very basics: getting signed up, learning the lingo and the like. However, Twitter has capabilities far beyond basic communication. From increasing your brand reach to building a real, captive audience, Twitter can be used for powerful marketing at a very low cost (free!). Here’s how:

1. Cultivate a following that matters. This is a topic we discussed before - but let’s get into it a little further. There are some easy ways to increase your following and some that take a little more effort. For example:

Easy: Follow industry friends, family, industry experts, competitors, local businesses and really anyone on Twitter that posts interesting content or may be interested in yours.

More time consuming (but worth it): Reach out to some of the prominent voices in your industry. Favorite and retweet their content. If they mention you, or better yet, tweet some of your original content, you’ll certainly get followers. And, bonus: those followers think of you as an expert in your industry and will watch what you post closely.

2. Post content that matters.  Set up a feedly account and fill your RSS feed with content that’s related to your industry. Read through each article and comment on them when you tweet them. If you’re using a service that automatically generates tweets, don’t - and I repeat, do not - tweet them as-is. Nothing screams lack of effort like not even customizing your tweets.

If you’re posting content that matters to your audience, you’ll know. You should see your followers start to favorite, retweet and respond to your tweets if they’re fun, engaging and interesting.

3. Automate where you can.  Automation has its perks; it saves you a lot of time and you don’t constantly have to be staring at Twitter. However, if you automate once per week and don’t spend any time on Twitter afterward, your followers will know. Here is my advice:

Sign up for Buffer. This is the easiest service I’ve found to manage multiple social accounts. It’s free to a point so you can try it without any commitment up front. You can sign up here.

Check out unfollowers.me. It can be difficult to keep track of who follows you and unfollows you. You’ll want to follow all of the Twitter users that follow you, and unfollow those who follow then unfollow you immediately just to grow their audience numbers. Unfollowers.me is a simple tool that will provide all the information you need to keep track of your following. You can sign up here.

Log in at least once a day. Favorite, retweet and respond where appropriate. You should try to respond to your followers shortly after they mention you, but one day is within the acceptable range.

Managing your Twitter business presence successfully takes time. However, with the right tools, you can cut down the time it takes to become great on Twitter to just a few hours a week. If you’d like to share ideas or are interested in discussing more, please feel free to check out my website or email me at jackie@jackiesteinmetz.com.

Getting Started with YouTube for Business

Videos are widely regarded as one of the best ways to market your business. Whether your target is a business or the end consumer, videos that are done well engage any potential buyer and are an easy way to educate your audience. YouTube helps businesses market with videos quickly and easily.

What is YouTube?

Founded in February 2005, YouTube allows billions of people to discover, watch and share originally-created videos. YouTube provides a forum for people to connect, inform and inspire others across the globe and acts as a distribution platform for original content creators and advertisers large and small.

Why would businesses use YouTube?

Much like traditional content marketing, video marketing gives people more information to consume. And most love to learn by watching videos or listening to an audio script - in fact, two of the top three types of learning (listening and watching) are covered in videos. Consider these figures:

• Over 3 million videos are viewed on YouTube each day
• More than 50% of videos have been rated or commented on
• 100 million people take social action (liking, sharing, etc.) on YouTube each week
• Most YouTube users have connected their accounts to at least one form of social media such as Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn

How can I get started?

1. Sign up. Visit youtube.com, and either connect your Google account or sign up for a new one.

2. Customize your channel. As we’ve discussed many times before, make sure your channel is consistent with your brand. Take the time to upload your logo, change your background image, write an about statement and round out your page. Remember that YouTube will center your background image when you’re designing it. Read more about how to customize your channel in this Mashable article.

3. Keep your videos simple and engaging. A good rule to follow is to keep your sales videos under a minute. Videos that simple talk about your business and your services should be short and sweet. However, if you’re sharing how to or interactive videos, they can be a bit longer.

4. Test videos before you post. Not sure if your video content is engaging enough to keep a consumer’s attention? Test it out. Send it to a few of your friends and ask them for very honest feedback. Request that they write down when they lose interesting within the video so you can either alter the video or understand how you can improve them in the future.

5. Optimize your video content. There are some best practices that should be followed when uploading videos to YouTube. For example, you should always make sure your keywords are the first few words of your video description. Read more about optimizing your video in this article by Social Media Today.

6. Socialize. Making friends on YouTube ensures that there are always eyeballs on your content. Find other voices in your industry and like, share and comment on their content often. Odds are, they’ll do the same for you.

Do you have any questions about marketing on YouTube? Please feel free to browse my website at jackiesteinmetz.com or email me at jackie@jackiesteinmetz.com.

http://www.liketosharepages.com

10 reasons why should you put your page in a Fan page Directory

10 reasons why should you put your page in a Fan page Directory

1.       Brings targeted traffic to your Fan Page, increase your page rank

2.       providing a back link to your website and/or fan  page

3.       reach more of your potential customers, increase your sale, and profit

4.       Be in Multiple categories

5.       Be found in online search results

6.       Have your own url to your listing

7.       Provide a picture, links and content about your fan page

8.       Increase your likes on your fan page

9.       Brand recognition- the more consumers see your fan page….

10.   Save money – cheaper than other advertising

          Why should you pay for a listing in addition to using free directory listings?

     There are more than a handful of free directories that you can list your  website for free such as; Google Places , Bing , Yahoo! , Yelp , Merchant Circle , Yellow Pages.com , Supermedia , Yellow Book , Citysearch , MapQuest and  Local.com, and you should put your website into as many directories as you can. The more links back to your webpage the better.  There are many directories that also require a payment and most of those directories are handled by people and not automated. The paid Directories allow you to be more personalized, maybe provide a wider amount of categories that you can advertise in and allow you to update your listings and content.

     Like to Share Pages is a directory for your Fan Page, website and any other social media platform you may be on, with the emphasis on your fan page. Why would you want to put your fan page in a directory?  Well, since fan pages have come along, some people don’t even have websites, they just have a Fan page. They use the fan page as their website. They can communicate, advertise and have an online presence with just the use of a fan page. Another reason is backlinks to your Fan page are just as beneficial as backlinks to your website. They provide the same advantages listed above.

    In your listing at Like to Share Pages, you can provide a picture, a link to your fan page and other social media platform you are on, a description of your services or business, and other contact information. Your listing will be put in the categories of: type of business or service, general location, specific location, and specific business if applicable. Not only will you be able to be located by where you are but also by what you do in a google search and by browsing through our website and providing backlinks to your sites is always a good thing and will increase your PageRank as well. Whenever your business changes you can contact us and we will update your profile.

    A listing only runs $35.00 for a lifetime listing but you can be listed for free for the first 60 days to see how you like it. If after 60 days you choose not to be listed, you won’t be charged and your listing will be removed. If you would like additional exposure of your Fan page, you can be listed as a Feature fan page Directory Listing, which will put your page at the top of the directory of any page in your category. This is only $20.00 for a 30 day listing. We also provide Feature Page packages that gain you more fans on your fan page and a spot on our website that shows up in every directory listing on the right side of our site. Those vary in length and prices. In addition to our directory services, we also provide product and service reviews, website building, blogging services, guest blogging, and slide show production. Don’t forget to check out our free resources as well, like our collections of social media tools, books, and experts.

     Should you have any questions about Directory listings or the other services we provide, please contact us at http://www.Liketosharepages.com.