Social Media Tips

Are you making full use of Facebook Timeline?

Facebook’s Timeline has been available on Pages for a few months now but it’s surprising how few companies and brands are taking advantage of the new features. To see how it should be done check out Tyrells Crisps, Dove and Nametags4u (see screenshot below) - three examples of businesses who are making great use of Timeline and the new features.

The main feature is the ability to add Milestones to your Page which allow you to tell the story of your business or brand. For example, details around when and how the company was founded, moves to new offices, launch of new products and services etc. Each milestone is displayed across the Page and can be accompanied with a photo or a video, which I would strongly encourage.

Other features include:

• Cover photo - takes up more than a third of most screens so make sure you choose a high resolution image that has powerful impact. The size of the image is 851px x 351px. If you upload a larger image it will be resized.
• Highlighting - extends a post in the left or right hand column across the whole width of the Page.
• Pinning - you can ensure that important posts are always on the top of the left hand side column. Any new posts go underneath the pinned post.
• Message button - your fans can now message your privately. Great for competition entries. If the Message button is not visible at the top of your Page go to Edit Page/Manage Permissions/Messages to enable it.

Working with Jealous Design and Look Again Photo Intranet Future offer a number of Facebook Page Packages - see pdf for details - with professional design and build plus photography.

Pinterest tip - Ask questions

Regular readers and delegates at my workshops will know that I advocate asking questions on social networks to engage your audience. When presented with a question it’s only natural to want to answer whether it’s on the social web or face to face. A good open ended question is a great conversation starter.

On Pinterest you can ask people questions in the descriptions of your pins (photos, videos etc) which will encourage people to comment on them. You should also ask people to like your pins. This approach creates interaction which makes the content of your boards more visible across Pinterest. After people have commented you can reply and start to get to know them and build relationships.

As with all social media if you engaging your audience a percentage of them are likely to become customers or clients.

You can find out more about Pinterest at the 2 hour workshops I run in Cheltenham. The next two are 27 June and 15 August and cost £47 per person.

Connect through People You May Know

LinkedIn recently launched a great new page for helping you find connections that could be worth adding to your network. Called People You May Know it’s also makes it easy to connect with no pop ups or redirection to another page. You can easily send a connection request by selecting the Connect button then Send Invitation.

You can access People You May Know via the link on the top right of your Home page which displays 3 suggested connections. Just select the People You May Know headline or See more.

However, I’d suggest you personalise the invitation. The recipient is more likely to accept your invitation and send you a personalised reply if you make the effort to put your connection request in context. For example, reminding them of how you know them or stating why you wish to connect.

For more advice on LinkedIn check out my regular workshops in Cheltenham.

Save money across the UK with Foursquare

A social media and a money saving tip! Download the new Foursquare app and check-in to the a range of UK shops and restaurants to get cash back when paying with an American Express card.

What I like about this Special is it’s simplicity and convenience for both customer and merchant. No need for printing and cutting out coupons, checking with the waiter if the offer is valid then waiting around as they find out. All the mechanics are done behind the scenes so the restaurant or shop staff don’t have to do anything. In fact, they aren’t even aware that you’re getting money back. Clever.

It works like this: you check in on Foursquare, select the Special then ‘Load To Card’ then pay with your Amex card. You’ll then get a notification via the app that you’ve redeemed the Special. You need to spend £5 or £10 depending on the merchant - listing of merchants and amounts below the image below - then an equivalent amount will be credited back to your American Express account.

For example, spend £10 in Nando’s and receive £10 back. I’ve tried it at Tesco and Café Rouge and it only took two days to receive the cash back. You can only claim each Special once but there are some good savings available.

Here are the merchants participating in the Foursquare American Express Specials:

Bella Italia - £10
Café Rouge - £10
House of Fraser - £10
Nando’s - £10
PizzaExpress - £10
Primark - £10
Strada - £10
Tesco - £5
Eat - £5

Follow me, Jonathan Pollinger, on Twitter @intranetfuture for social media news and tips throughout each day. If you need help with Foursquare tweet me up.

Update 22 July 2012 - American Express will shortly be offering similar deals via Facebook and Twitter.

Facebook Insights and address for your own Page - #tweetthat [VIDEO]

In the latest #tweetthat video you can learn how to obtain some great metrics on your Facebook Page using Facebook Insights.

How to change your LinkedIn and Twitter passwords

Update at 3pm 7 June 2012 - LinkedIn is now automatically prompting users to change passwords via a reset link sent by email.
Update at 4pm 7 June 2012 - You can check to see if yours was one of the LinkedIn passwords stolen using this tool from LastPass.

Following the hacking of LinkedIn yesterday and the theft of members’ passwords it’s important to change your LinkedIn password to reduce the risk of your own account being hacked. Given the recent increase in Twitter spam I suggest you change your Twitter password as well as review any applications you’ve authorised. Most Twitter applications are very useful but they can hacked and can be malicious.

You should choose strong passwords.

Here’s how to change your LinkedIn password:

• Login to www.linkedin.com
• Go to your name on the top right hand side
• Select Settings (you may be prompted to enter password)
• On the left hand side under your profile picture and email select Change to the right of Password

• You’ll then be prompted to enter Old password then New password, then Confirm new password
• Select Change password and you’re done

Here’s how to change your password and review your applications on Twitter:

• Login to www.twitter.com
• Select Edit Settings on your profile page or the Head and Shoulders icon on the top right menu

• Select Settings
• From the left hand menu select Password
• Enter Current password on the right, followed by New password and Verify password
• Seelct Save changes and you’re done.
• Whilst your in Settings you can review Apps
• Select Apps from left hand menu
• Your authorised apps are listed on the right
• For those you no longer require select Revoke access and you’re done.

It’s good practice to change your passwords on a regular basis to reduce the risk of your social media accounts being used by others and your information being stolen.

Why you need to check out SlideShare

Earlier this month the ‘professionals network’ LinkedIn acquired SlideShare. If you’re not familiar with SlideShare it’s mainly a platform for hosting PowerPoint presentations but you can also view and upload Word documents, pdfs and Pro users can upload videos - eg my #tweetthat videos.

There’s a whole host of knowledge available on SlideShare and if you’re a knowledge worker it’s a great way to share your expertise. It’s debatable whether SlideShare is a social network but it does have some key social networking features such as a newsfeed and ability to follow users - you can follow me on SlideShare here.

Even before acquisition by LinkedIn there’s been integration between the two services. For example, you can display your SlideShare presentations (and videos if you’re a Pro user) on your LinkedIn profile. I’ll explain how to do this in a future post. In the meantime, if you have any queries on SlideShare please let me know.

Follow me, Jonathan Pollinger, on Twitter @intranetfuture for social media news and tips throughout each day.

Pinterest explained plus two tips - #tweetthat [VIDEO]

Last week @jjpower27 and I filmed the latest batch of #tweetthat videos. Below you can watch a video describing Pinterest plus view a couple of useful tips.

5 steps to obtaining leads and sales through LinkedIn

When making an approach to a potential new client on LinkedIn it can be difficult not to come across as pushy or spammy. If you follow the process below you’ll avoid being pushy and will improve your chances of obtaining quality business via LinkedIn.

Here are five steps to obtaining sales through LinkedIn:

1) Save searches - set up saved searches to arrange a weekly email of potential contacts. For example, if you provide medical supplies to doctor’s surgeries you can receive a weekly email of local doctors. I’ve set up a saved search of local PR and marketing professionals. For instructions on how to set up a LinkedIn saved search view this #tweetthat video.

2) Focus on 2nd tier connections - by searching for 2nd tier connections you automatically have something in common with your prospect; a mutual connection. You can also use this connection to make an introduction to your prospect if you don’t have InMail - see point 5.

2) State commonalities and be brief - mentioning a shared hobby or a mutual connection sets the tone in an initial message and should create some interest to your approach. For example, if you’ve done some work for a mutual connection - see point 2 - make sure to mention it and refer to the project if relevant.  We are all very busy and an over long message might not get read at all. Make sure your initial message is no more than 150 words.

4) Talk about working together - Rather than blatant self promotion talk about ‘working together’ and make sure to state the benefits of doing so.

5) Consider InMail - one of the benefits of LinkedIn’s Business account is the facility to be able to send an email to any member of LinkedIn; and there are a 150 million of them. Your message will also be displayed on their homepage. By using LinkedIn this way you’re 30 times more likely to get a response using InMail than by a regular email.

You can find out more about using LinkedIn at my regular training sessions in Cheltenham - book now.

How to get retweeted to 245,000 people

Started in October 2010 by @TheoPaphitis, from BBC Dragons’ Den, the Small Business Sunday hashtag or #sbs on Twitter is going from strength to strength. It helps small business owners gain increased exposure and potential new clients by awarding 6 retweets on Sunday nights. Theo has more than 245,000 Twitter followers plus ‘winners’ profiles get displayed on the #sbs website. So the exposure to potential new clients is huge and with more followers, increased traffic to your website and lots of publicity the chances of making more sales are high.

20 mins left for this weeks #SBS tweet me your small business and I will retweet my fav 6 and a place on theopaphitissbs.com Good Luck !

— Theo Paphitis (@TheoPaphitis) May 13, 2012

The #sbs idea is developing. Past winners are encouraged to add their profiles to the #sbs website and concept has moved to the face to face world with an event held at Edgbaston Cricket Stadium on 30 March 2012. This provided an opportunity to network with past #sbs winners.

Around 2000 tweets are received each Sunday evening so on pure chance there’s approximately a 1 in 300 chance of being selected. Not bad considering the potential benefits and the minual effort required to enter. As well as business benefits previous winners have spoken about being given a boost from congratulatory messages and support from others on Twitter.

If you run a small business I’d encourage you to enter. The rules are detailed on the #sbs website website.