Tag: content

Best Times to Post on Social Media: Rules vs Principles vs Reality

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

There is no “best time to post” on any social media.

Any study that claims to reveal the perfect time to post on any social media platform is, instead, revealing the mathematical results of an algorithm they used to calculate certain (possibly beneficial) outcomes at one particular moment in time, for some general group of posters.

No one can possibly tell you when the bulk of your followers and potential followers will be ready to receive your message. There is no calculation to allow one post to be carefully planned to accomplish more than some other post.

Here’s what works: consistent persistent personal relevant content.

Always has. Always will. No trickery or algorithms needed.

Update

An article by the social media management tool company Buffer makes the same point with more specifics.

Your Business Needs a Blog

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

In The Commonsense Virtual Assistant we wrote about the four fundamental customer needs:

  1. Get it right
  2. Get it out there
  3. Give ’em advice
  4. Give ’em a voice

A blog fills the last two needs, with proactive advice, and room for feedback, not just from your existing clientele, but from two groups we call prospects (people who are considering doing business with you) and suspects (people who should be doing business with you but don’t know it yet.) Never underestimate the power of fortuitous discovery. When someone stumbles upon your blog, they may discover you’re exactly what they need—but didn’t realize it.

It’s astonishing how many small businesses don’t blog regularly. (We all realize that as nonfiction authors, we’re in the book business, don’t we?)

… more … “Your Business Needs a Blog”

Build Your Audience With Your Blog

Posted on by Sue L Canfield

Build your audience with your blogTo effectively build a strong audience for your blog, you need to clearly define the purpose of your blog. Who are you trying to reach? What message are you trying to convey? Your content needs to be of value to your audience. You may find it helpful to read other blogs with similar content to get ideas for yours.

Your audience will abandon you if you don’t blog regularly. Be consistent. I can tell you from personal experience that when I’ve slacked off and use the hit-or-miss method of blogging, my readership dwindles. When I post regularly, my audience grows. If possible, post at least weekly. It’s very helpful to create a reserve of blogs and schedule them ahead of time for times when you don’t have time to write. Some choose to spend a block of time monthly to create all their posts at once and then schedule them out over the month.

Your posts will catch your audience’s eye if they have good titles. For more information on how to create attention-grabbing titles, read this guest post by my friend Deb Lamb. Another way to grab attention is to include a photo or image.

Invite your audience to comment on your blog. Yes, this does mean you’ll need to moderate comments. Use a tool like Askismet to catch most spam comments and you won’t spend too much time moderating junk comments. Allowing comments allows a way for your audience to interact with you and each other.

Please share your thoughts below.

Planning Your Email Marketing

Posted on by Sue L Canfield

Planning your email marketingEmail marketing can be used in a variety of ways to communicate with clients and prospects:

  • Provide clients with information about the industry
  • Promote your products and services
  • Invite people to an event
  • Send out a monthly newsletter

When planning your email marketing strategies, you need to answer these basic questions:

  • What is the purpose of your communication and who do you send it to?
  • How often should I send out a communication?

The purpose of you communication could include:

  • Driving traffic to your website
  • Get clients to purchase a product
  • Get new “likes” for your Facebook fan page

Once you’ve defined your goal, you’ll know who you want to send your communication to.

The most challenging part of creating a newsletter is creating valuable content. You want your message to be education-focused. This will help build trust, loyalty and retention. Don’t just sell – provide value. The content should be interesting and relevant to your readers. Ask yourself, “How will this information benefit my readers?” 

Communicating more often is not necessarily better. It is more beneficial to send quality content in a quarterly newsletter than a monthly newsletter with so-so content.

If you’d really like to know what you readers want from you and how often they’d like to hear from you, ask them. Ask, “What topics would you like to see addressed in the newsletter? How often would you like to receive it? Weekly, monthly, quarterly?”

Take time to plan your email marketing so it’s most effective. Remember – it’s not how many people you send it to that measures your success. It’s how many people who actually read it and take an action such as:

  • Click through to your website
  • Call you for an appointment
  • Buy a product or service
  • Share your content via social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn

Please share your most successful email planning tips. And get more great tips in our book and Action Guide.

 

4 Website Marketing Makeover Tips

Posted on by Sue L Canfield

Your website is one of your greatest marketing tools. Has it been around for a while? Are prospects intrigued by your website or does it drive them away? It may be time for a makeover. Here are 4 website marketing makeover tips:

1. Professional design. Ask a couple of trusted colleagues to review your site and give you their honest opinion as to its attractiveness and professionalism. You don’t have to spend thousands of dollars to have an attractive, professional looking website. However, you do want a website that shows you are a professional. An obviously ‘home-made’ website turns prospects away.

2. Targeted, clear marketing messages. Ask these same trusted colleagues for their feedback on the marketing messages on your website. If it’s unclear what your services are or they seem unfocused, prospects will look somewhere else for what they need. Your website messages need to clearly show prospects what it is you can do for them.

3. Concise content. Short, punchy sentences and bullet points work much better than long rambling paragraphs. Your content should let visitors know why they should do business with you. You may want to get some assistance in writing compelling copy for your website.

4. Call to action. Is it clear and obvious what you want your visitors to do? How can they contact you? A clear call to action is vital to convert prospects to clients.

Additional tips for your website can be found at an earlier blog post.