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13May

4 Ways to Create a Genuine Relationship With Your Brand Fans

Posted by: Katie Leimkuehler Categories: Social Media
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  Want to make the most of your social media? You need to learn how to cultivate genuine relationships with your brand fans. How? Here are 4 ways to do just that.

1. Know what they love. Not just about your brand, but about life. Do some research on what they talk about, where they spend time online and most importantly what they value. The quickest way to connect with people is to discover their passions, their causes and what’s important to them and then show how your brand shares that value.

2. Showcase your mission. Why should your fans care about your company or brand? What value can you add to their life? How can you help them? What do you represent? Tom Shoes is an excellent example, with their motto “One for One.” It’s clear that they are on a mission to give a pair of shoes away every time someone buys a pair. How can you take your mission and make it the face of your company? When people know what you stand for, they are much more willing to stand next to you. (Click to Tweet!)

3. Ask open-ended questions that start a conversation. If you aren’t connecting with your fans and followers this could be because you don’t engage with them. Ask questions that will get them talking and it doesn’t have to be about your product! Circle back to what they care about and ask questions about their passions. Find a way to strike a bond with them. Just as if you were meeting them in real life. For example, if you and a coworker went to the same college you share that experience, how can you share experiences from a brand perspective that creates a connection?

4. Know the best medium to connect with your fans on. Knowing if your fans are more responsive to blog posts, videos or photos will increase your chance of building a true relationship with them. If you are an interior design firm you know your audience is extremely visual that will be a critical component to connecting with them.  Perhaps, you focus on Pinterest or other platforms that have are more visually engaging for two reasons: 1) chances your fans are already spending time on that platform and 2) they recognize that you know where they spend time and that gives you credibility.

So, if you want to make the most of your social media strategy, start implementing these action items today!

This post originally appeared on Social Media Today.

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8May

5 Unstoppable Ways to Become a Social Media Influencer

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

If you’re on social media, it’s for a reason. You want to connect with your customers, you want to build relationships with industry professionals and create brand awareness. But if you really want to stand out from the crowd and become a top influencer online there are a few key steps you can take to get there.

1. Measure and build your influence.

If you really want to know how you are doing on social media, sign up for Klout. It will rank you based on the amount you respond to others, the consistency of the content you share and it will show you the social networks you need to improve on. You must be extremely diligent in every respect. This means responding to all posts and comments, asking questions vs. stating sentences no one can respond to, and by all means, please limit your self-promotion.

2. Participate in Tweet Chats weekly.

If you want to be known among the people in your field that matter, you need to get in front of them and have conversations. Participating in Tweet Chats is a quick and fast way to build relationships. There are Tweet Chats for nearly every topic. You can find a list of them here. (If you want someone to host a Tweet Chat for you, contact me. )

3. To be an influencer, you must connect with influencers.

And the greatest question of all—how? Promote their work consistently. They will thank you and the doorway to a conversation has opened. You might not get a response from huge influencers like Tim Ferriss, but if you connect with the wave of up-and-coming influencers in your industry—chances are you’ll create a valuable relationship. Don’t miss the opportunity to connect with them while they are on the rise.

4. Add value consistently through the content you share.

If you want to be considered an influencer, you have to know your stuff. And this means acting as a content curator. You need to share the top blogs, articles and videos of people in your field every single day. The higher valued content you share, the higher value people will place on you and your expertise.

5. You need a voice and a place to share your knowledge.

You’ve guessed right. You need a blog. For a few reasons, you need your own content to share that gets people back to your site and you need to enhance your credibility.It’s one thing to share everyone else’s content, but when you create the content, you’ve just elevated to the next level. (Click to Tweet!)

Need help help becoming a social media influencer? Email me at katieleimkuehler@gmail.com.

This post originally appeared on LinkedIn.

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24Mar

Your Weekly Action Plan to Twitter

Posted by: Katie Leimkuehler Categories: Social Media
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Twitter is an excellent tool to connect, engage and reach out to your fans, audience and customers. But just like anything, there is a right and a wrong approach to Twitter. Before anything you need to develop a social media strategy and then you need to create a weekly plan to make the most of your Twitter presence. It’s not rocket science, in a few simple steps; you can grow your following and take deliberate actions to build real relationships with your fans.

1. Follow 50 new people a week in your expertise and start building relationships with them. If you want people to be aware of you, you need to get in front of them. (Click to Tweet!) Reach out. Connect with them and follow them. Bonus points for following people in your field who are not just the key social media influencers with 100K fans, but the up-and-comers, who are making a mark and will remember you when they are on top.

2. Ask questions and thank people for promoting you. Believe it or not kindness goes along way especially in the social media realm. Always thank people for connecting with you and sharing your content, RTing or favoriting you. It’s a huge compliment and if you don’t take the time to do that, you risk potentially losing that relationship and fan.

3. Return the favor and promote other people. Be known as a content curator or as someone who shares excellent content all the time by the best and most credible bloggers and influencers. If you have a reputation for sharing the best, you will be associated with the best and you will soon be skyrocketing on Twitter.

4. Research those hashtags. If you think just putting a # in front of a word will really make a difference, it won’t—unless you look up the key hashtags for your industry, topic or post. For example, if you’re in the travel industry and not using#TravelTuesday, #SeetheWorld or #TheWorldAwaits, you are missing out on a huge audience. Use hashtagify.me to find relevant hashtags and the top influencers using them.

So take your Twitter game to the next level by following these four steps and don’t forget to be genuine, authentic and build trust with your fans.

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6Feb

ECommerce Entrepreneurs You Should Follow on Social Media

Posted by: Katie Leimkuehler Categories: Social Media Start-Ups
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Social media has made the world much more transparent in the last decade. Beginning as a platform where you post pictures of yourself and share experiences with friends and family, social media now engulfs a major part of our everyday life – including how we learn and get inspired.

The opportunities for inspiration and knowledge are so vast and accessible that anyone can learn with a computer and internet connection. Not only will this help accelerate the learning process in young children and adults, but people will be able to feel inspired from mentors or “heroes” through social interactions on sites like Twitter and YouTube.

If you’re looking for inspiration and advice in the eCommerce and internet start-up space, the following social media accounts often provide an opportunity for you to meet and learn from the best minds in the business – and have a little fun in the process.

Top Five Social Media Accounts You Should Follow

Tony Hsieh – This CEO and start-up entrepreneur is known for his work as founder of Zappos.com, but Tony was successful even prior to the inception of the well-known shoe company. If you are interested in learning how to run your eCommerce business on an executive level, as well as understand how to please customers, Tony Hsieh is your man. This CEO is much more than a salesman – he is the inventor of proper customer service for internet commerce (along with Jeff Bezos) and the creator of logistics efficiency with eCommerce product distribution. If you want to know how to grow properly and manage your company, Tony is a great friend to have on Facebook or Twitter.

Jeff Bezos – You cannot talk about eCommerce entrepreneurship without mentioning Jeff Bezos, who is the current CEO and founder of Amazon.com. Driving across country with nothing but a pad of paper and pen, Jeff came up with a brilliant idea on how to serve customers. After Amazon.com was born, he perfected customer service and production efficiency with distribution centers across the country to fulfill product orders without long wait times or expensive shipping. In addition, he is also a funny guy and always has interesting Twitter posts every day on his account about innovative new products or business models. If you like entrepreneurship, you should keep this guy in mind.

Guy Kawasaki – Although Guy was never an online entrepreneur or eCommerce CEO (at least for a major brand in the industry), this entrepreneur and investor  is one of the most inspirational people in the business. Starting off at Apple, Guy made his mark as a product evangelist and serial entrepreneur. He is best known for his entrepreneurial books, especially The Art of the Start. This guy is witty and just good ole fashion fun. His Tweets have been known throughout the eCommerce community as some of the best in the business.

Jack Dorsey – Interested in understanding how making money from a business model that originally had no opportunity to make money? Well, you need to follow Jack Dorsey, the creator of Twitter. As awesome as Twitter is currently for the modern social indulging citizen, there was a time when Twitter was evaluated at over a billion dollars, but barely had a $100 in the bank. Aspiring entrepreneurs today have access to great start-up eCommerce entrepreneurs like Jack Dorsey (who also founded Square mobile payment processing system). As the founder of Twitter, Jack Dorsey has one of the best Twitter accounts to investigate and should be a destination for all entrepreneurs and like-minded people.

Tim Ferriss – You need to check his guy out if you have not already done so – he is awesome and crazy at the same time, but also kind of a human encyclopedia. Tim Ferriss is well-known for his 4-Hour books where he discusses streamlining online businesses, improving body composition, and learning how to cook in different environments. Categorized as the “Superman of Silicon Valley,” Tim Ferris is definitely someone you know to follow as an owner of eCommerce businesses.

 

About the author:

Matthew Hall is himself aspiring to build up a site in the hopes of becoming a massive success, and uses advice from the pros to help him get started. In order to make sure people feel safe doing business with him, he makes use of the online payment platform provided by FastSpring. You can learn more about Matthew on Google+.

 

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8Jan

4 Reasons You Should Be Hosting a Twitter Chat for Your Brand

Posted by: Katie Leimkuehler Categories: Social Media Travel
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tweet chat

 

If you’re looking to actively grow your social media presence and build up your Twitter than you should absolutely be hosting your own Twitter Chat! What is a Twitter Chat or Tweet Chat? Well, it’s basically an online chat room on Twitter where people who share a common interest such as travel, marketing or writing come together for an hour and talk about tips and best practices they’ve learned. This is typically done with a hashtag like #BrandChat #BlogChat.  Each Twitter Chat has a host, who directs the questions and navigates the conversation, and that host could be you! So, why is a Twitter Chat so hugely beneficial?

Here are 4 reasons why you should be hosting your own Twitter Chat.

1. Building and highlighting your expertise.

When you’re hosting a chat, people trust you and they quickly learn that you know what you are talking about in your field. You also build influence among your community.

2. Grow your brand exposure and customer base. 

Twitter Chats create massive exposure for your brand and in a fast pace way. It’s a quick way to interact with your customers, hear their thoughts and concerns, and address them in a positive manner. It also exposes you to new fans who may never have heard of you before and is an excellent way to market your company or brand.

3. Learn about new trends in your industry and what people want.

Be the first to know about a new site, product or app that might help you do your business better. During the chat most users will share valuable content and info that you can go back to later and review. You’ll be on top of the newest happenings from your own audience! Not to mention you might stumble across an idea for a new product based on feedback from your customers or learn how tweak one that already exists.

4. Creating ultimate transparency and a true connection with your fan base.

By hosting a Twitter Chat you’re telling your audience you’re an expert in this topic by helping answering their questions and facilitating a discussion. You are also connecting them with like-minded individuals and creating a lasting bond that will have them coming back to each chat. Not mention, it’s an excellent way to do a product launch after you’ve hosted several chats.

Not sure you want to host your own? Well, first participate in one! Find a Twitter Chat and learn how to join a Twitter Chat. If you need help or want me to host a your chat just email me at katieleimkuehler@gmail.com.

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2Sep

4 Keys to Developing a Killer Social Media Brand

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

 

If you want to truly create a social media brand and business that stands out you need to know not just how to reach your audience, but what they want to talk about, what content they are interested and develop a plan that you can roll out to connect with them. Here are a few key steps to follow when developing your social media brand.

1. Know your audience and where they spend time online. There is no point to doing social media unless you’ve done your research. Where are your customers spending time? What are they talking about? How can you connect and engage with them? Until you know the conversations they are having you won’t be able to join them–so study up!

2. Find only the best content to share. If you continually self promote or only share the same type of information over and over people will lose interest. It’s your job to hunt for the best photos, articles, blog and videos that will do two things 1) have an impact on your fan base and 2) get them talking about it. Share less, but it make it more valuable and engaging.

3. Create a detailed social media strategy. It’s easy to think you can hand the reigns of your social media accounts to a college student and expect it to go viral overnight, but that almost certainly won’t happen. You need to think about your goals, your audience, your voice, your message and what you hope to accomplish. What do you hope to achieve through social media? More sales, interaction and engagement, or brand awareness? Hope will you accomplish this? Get crystal clear on what you want and it will be easier to reach.

4. Steal and camouflage. Want to excel at social media? Well, look to the brands that are killing it. They don’t even need to be in your field. Study what they are doing that’s successful, what makes them stand out? Read case studies on different brands that seemed to launch overnight, but really was a carefully planned out strategy. What content do they share? What channels are they on? Do they have their own hashtags? What Tweet chats are they participating in? The more you see how other people have achieved social media success the quicker you will too.

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