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28Sep

Social Media Video Tip: Don’t Post Too Much or Too Often

Posted by: Katie Leimkuehler Categories: Inspiration Social Media
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social media video tip posting

Social Media Posting Etiquette

Your social media video tip for today is to plan your social media. If you want a consistent brand image be sure to not to stop posting. If you take a year off, even a few months, people will notice and you will lose credibility. Stay consistent. On the other end, don’t over post. Posting twice a day to Facebook is more than enough and a few times on Instagram and Twitter is fine. But remember you don’t want to spam your audience, you’re there to provide value. Check out the video for more insights.

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15Sep

5 Reasons Entrepreneurs Need to Use Social Media

Posted by: Katie Leimkuehler Categories: Social Media
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social media entrepreneur

Are you taking full advantage of the benefits social media has to offer?  Whether you are in the startup stage or ten years into your entrepreneurial journey, it’s critical that your business is active on social media. It’s not about throwing up a Facebook page and calling it a day.  The strategy and value of social media can change the very landscape of your business. So, why exactly do you need to be on social media and how can you take advantage of it? Here are five ways to take advantage of social media for your business.

1. Get the World Needs to Know You Exist

It’s fantastic that you’ve created an amazing product, service, or business, but if you want to keep that momentum going, you’ll need to go where your customers are: on social media. Don’t make the mistake of putting social media on the back burner and getting left behind. Social media helps you increase your brand awareness and your messaging. It’s the chance for you to showcase what you stand for in the public eye so people understand not only what your company does but also what it stands for.

Action Step: Research the top social channels your audience is on (find out what channels you should be on) and create social media accounts on those networks.

2. Get Quick Feedback on Your Products & Services

If you really want to move fast with your company, what better way than to ask the customers trying it? Do you need to test a new product? Find your beta testers on social media and get feedback at rapid pace. Not only will they give you feedback, but you’ll also cultivate a loyal following from the beginning by involving them and providing great customer service along the way.

Action Step: Post a comment on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram asking your online community for feedback on something you’re working on.

3. Monitor Leads & Potential Prospects

Wouldn’t it be great if you could find key influencers in your industry and create relationships with them? Well, you can through social media. You can findinfluencers and monitor tons of online conversations by searching for keywords and by observing negative or positive sentiments. For example, if someone is having bad experience with a competitor’s product, you can swoop in and offer a solution. Check out these social media tools that can help you monitor and manage your social media.

Action Step: Login to Twitter and type in a competitor’s name with the keyword complaints and see what people are saying.  Then see if you can join the conversation. Do the same for your company and see how you can help your customers.

4. Create Connections to Make a Huge Business Impact

Need referrals or business partners? Well, by building your social media network, you’ll have more access to these potential collaborators. Social media gives you the opportunity to expand your influence and to reach even just one potential investor, brand advocate, or future employee that could completely change the game for your business.

Action Step: Find and follow the top potential business partners, investors, and customers in your industry and start conversations with them on social media.

5. Find a Supportive Entrepreneurial Community

Let’s face it: Being an entrepreneur is no cakewalk. At some point, you’ll want to get advice and support from other entrepreneurs going down the same path.  Social media is the perfect place to create these connections. What’s better than finding mentors or startup support groups online and turning these into real life relationships? You can join Facebook groups, LinkedIn groups and even join Meetups. It’s easy to use social media to search for other entrepreneurs by city location, especially on Twitter.

Action Step: Login to Twitter, go to the search bar, click “Advance Search,” and type in your location and keywords to find startups in your area.

No matter where you are in your entrepreneurial journey, having a presence on social media is crucial. Social media holds a vast treasure chest of benefits for entrepreneurs, and taking advantage of these benefits can completely revitalize your business.

Want more social media tips? Check out The 10 Ultimate Productivity Hacks for Social Media Management.

This post originally appeared on Startup Grind.

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2Sep

4 Ways to Create an Outstanding Instagram Brand

Posted by: Katie Leimkuehler Categories: Social Media
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instagram


Instagram is quickly becoming one of the most popular social media platforms, the photo sharing application has taken off in just a few short years and all you need to turn your Instagram into a successful promotion tool for your business is to create an outstanding Instagram brand that people feel they absolutely have to follow. Here are 4 ways to help you achieve that goal:

1. Have a Bio That Hooks Followers  

Instagram bios are short and to the point so you need to include hashtags that matter to your brand and other keywords that will help you rank higher. If you can fit in your catchphrase or tagline, do it. Include something will that help people understand who you are and what you’re all about, and make it as interesting as possible. You only get one chance to hook any potential followers, so make sure you take advantage of it.


2. Let Your Pictures Speak For Themselves

instagram

When it’s all said and done, Instagram is solely about pictures. Instagram is not the place to preach your product through words, and you don’t even get the opportunity to do so. Your photos should showcase not just what your brand does, but what it stands for. Who are the people behind it? What brings them together? Show a behind the scenes look of your company for ultimate transparency.  

 

3. Show Photos that Represent the Mission of Your Brand

nike instagram

Capture your fans! Show who uses your product or services across the world. Include lifestyle pictures, pictures of real people using or living with your product and brand. People like to see how your product can translate into their real lives. Many other brands, such as Starbucks, have used this tactic in their Instagram branding to great success. Starbucks has captivated their audience by illustrating how their coffee goes everywhere with people who go everywhere–the pool, the beach and the mountains. Nike’s Instagram also showcases a way of life. It’s not just apparel, it’s a mentality. Their Instagram encourages you to hit the gym, the running path or the courts, while highlighting that fitness is a positive lifestyle choice. Nike uses images that captivate what the apparel could do for you–make you stronger, more fit, or more flexible. They know that great marketing starts with the reason people believe they need your product.


4. Relate With Your Followers

At the end of the day people want a brand that they can relate to. They don’t want to feel like an outsider when using your product or service, they want to feel like they belong. You can establish this relationship solely through social media by understanding your fans and relating to them. Use hashtags that your followers are using and join in on the trending conversations. Harpoon Brewing does a great job of this by not just posting pictures of their product, but sharing pictures such as: dogs with their beer to join in with dog-lovers, incorporating the hashtag #Mondays while commiserating with how hard they can be, and sharing pictures of food that could pair well with their beer. They’re subtly still promoting their product, while also creating posts that people could easily confuse with something their friends would have posted.

Instagram can help you achieve great success in creating an online presence with an outstanding and impactful social media brand. As one of the fastest growing and most popular social media platforms recently, the time to jump on the Instagram bandwagon is now. Follow these suggestions and you too can build an outstanding Instagram brand, with lots of followers, giving you a powerful social media presence.  

Guest Post by Megan Walker

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27May

4 Reasons Why No One is Sharing Your Content & How to Fix It

Posted by: Katie Leimkuehler Categories: Social Media
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why no one shares your content

 

There are two main goals for writing blog posts and having a social media presence: 1) To add value to your customers and fans and 2) To build your credibility. But if no one is sharing your blog posts, Tweets, Pins, or Instagram pics what’s the point of having them at all? Don’t let this happen to you! If people aren’t sharing your content or posts there could be a few reasons why.

1. You don’t have a call to action.

You need to think about what you want your audience to do and then tell them to do it! It’s that simple. Sometimes it’s as easy as asking: Please share this! If you want to get a post more traction trying ending the post with a question: what do you think? How does this impact you? Agree or disagree and why? Remember you need to give people a reason to interact.

2. You haven’t created enough hype.

Do you have a new course launching, a new program coming up or a giveaway? Well, don’t expect people to flock to you just because you have something new—you have to create anticipation. Give the first 5 Facebook likes, RTs or Repins, a free session or giveaway. Give them an incentive to share it and be sure to post about the big product or service weeks or months in advance before the big unveil. If you’re launching a product be sure to check out Jeff Walker, he is a master of implementing successful launch campaigns.

3. You haven’t nailed the “clickable” strategy.

And what I mean by this is why would someone want to not only click on something, but share and comment on it? Is the headline bait so amazing you just have to see what else the post has to say? Is the photo hilarious or breathtaking? Is the post very biased to get a heated discussion going? Stop thinking like your audience for one second and think of your actions. What do you click on? What do you share with your family and friends? Take those ideas and transfer them to your content and social media strategy.

4. You haven’t built your audience enough.

It’s hard to get shares when you have just a few hundred followers, you need to build your online relationships just as you would in person. It takes time and dedication, but it can be done. If you want blog comments, comment on other blogs. If you want retweets, you need to retweet others—social media is all a give and take, so promote others and it will come back to you. (Click to Tweet!)

Want help getting your content shared? You can email me at katieleimkuehler@gmail.com for help.

This post originally was published on LinkedIn. 

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18May

4 Action Steps to Take Your Blog to the Next Level

Posted by: Katie Leimkuehler Categories: Social Media
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blog tips

You’ve built a website, have a blog and now you’re wondering the question everyone asks: how do you get people to read it and share it? Having a blog is step one, writing irresistible content that gets shared is step two–so just how do you do that? Here are four tips that will help you take your blog to the next level.

1. Write headlines that people can’t resist. This is the dealer breaker most people over look. If you have a great post, but no one clicks on it, what’s the point? Work on writing clickable headlines. Think in terms of templates such as lists posts like “5 Reasons Traveling Changes Your Life,” or how-to posts such as, “How to Find out What Social Media Channel You Should Be On“ or round-up posts that interviews several experts in your field such as “Expert Social Media Tips to Consider as You Build Your Startup Brand.” Need ideas for inspiration? Check out Buzzfeed they are masters of writing a headline that gets read and shared.

2. Only write content that solves problems or answers questions. Why? Because this guarantees you are adding value. And when you add value, you become valuable and so do your posts. (Click to Tweet!) That doesn’t mean they should be boring. The ideal post combines solving problems while being entertaining. Think of your blog posts as a forum to share all your wisdom and knowledge you would with a mentee. Give them the good stuff, the high value advice and tips that have changed the game for your business or career. Bonus points if you can cover a topic from a new angle that has not been written about yet.

3. Be genuine, transparent and honest. People can spot a fake a mile away, so just be yourself. Own your voice, your style, your mission and company’s values. You will stand out from the crowd when you can craft a message and people can tell it’s from you or your company. Do you have personal or business mistakes or lessons you’ve learned that you can share that will help others? Those insightful blog posts have huge value especially if you can guide people from making the same mistakes.

4. Tell stories. People remember stories much easier than straight up facts. So if you can incorporate a storytelling component into your posts whether personally or professionally, you will have created a post that resonates with people and that they can connect with while adding value.

Remember to be an authority by providing content on new trends in your industry and offering insights and perspectives outside of the norm. If you need help building your content strategy, don’t hesitate to reach out to me at katieleimkuehler@gmail.com or sign up for a Social Media Strategy Session.

This blog was originally posted on LinkedIn.

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13May

3 Eye-Opening Social Media Secrets You Need to Know

Posted by: Katie Leimkuehler Categories: Social Media
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social media secrets

Shhh..I’m going to share with you the brutal and honest truth about social media, you may not like it, but its better you know what you are getting into before you hop on every social media channel and then wonder why you haven’t sold a million products yet.

Social media often seems like a math problem to a lot of people. They have the basics, but they don’t know how to implement effectively and they often have a very misinterpreted idea of what it takes to be successful on social media. I’m going to share with you the social media secrets no one is telling you and how to make them work for you.

1. It will take time and possibly, a long time, for your social media to build.

The truth is that it depends how much effort and time you want to put into it. You will not be an overnight success. You need to devote time to it and you need to be patient.Social media is based on a few simple principles:

  • Excellent content – Shared by you and re-shared by you that others post.
  • Creating relationships – Between your fans, followers and key influencers.
  • Consistency – It’s like working out, you might not always want to do it, but you are always glad you did. Post often, reply more often and keep that network flowing.

My advice: If you don’t have the time to do social media well or hire someone who can–skip it all together until you have the resources. Since social media is constant, your business on social media needs to be as well, it looks worse to have an inactive page with 3 likes than to not have one at all.

2. You will be on a never-ending search for great content.

High-valued content is what will set you apart from everyone else and finding it or creating it is no easy feat! It takes time digging and discovering the really awesome websites, writers, bloggers and companies in your field who consistently deliver and even more time to staying on top of the new ones that pop up. And yes, you can share content multiple times, but that doesn’t mean the search stops. As a social media manager, you need to be a content ninja with a journalism-style research technique who knows how to connect with huge influencers and make your marketing impactful.

3. The biggest secret of all: social media isn’t about you—it’s about everyone else. (Click to Tweet!)

You must be a conversationalist. Seriously. You can post all day links to your blog or website, but why would anyone read them if you haven’t formed a connection past a surface level? They won’t. Ask questions! Get to know people. What are they passionate about? What do they care about? How can you help them? People join social networks for the same reason they join sports teams and volunteer groups—because they want a true connection and to belong to something. If you can facilitate that feeling with your fans and followers, you will be unstoppable. That’s why we post photos on Facebook and Instagram so we can share our experiences with our family and friends. It’s all about the connection.

Need help building your social media or want an analysis on your current social media approach? Email me at katieleimkuehler@gmail.com.

This post originally appeared on LinkedIn. 

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