Tag Archives: tips

Google+ for business tips

There’s an increasing interest in using Google+ for business so here are ten tips taken from my 100 Google+ tips which I’ve just updated.

1) Google+ is great for your improving your website search ranking. Get involved!

2) A Hangout is a Google+ video conference/broadcast. Use Hangouts to communicate with clients and to collaborate with colleagues.

3) You can broadcast live video and record using Hangouts on Air. Great for training, product launches and announcements.

4) Share your posts and photos even if intended recipients are not on Google+. Add email addresses in Share field.

5) Put words in asterisks to make them *bold*.

6) If you make a mistake you can edit your post after sharing. Hover over top right of post title then select Edit.

7) You can automatically upload all your photos to Google+ as you take them from your Android phone.

8) As you might expect the Search on Google+ is top notch. Use it to find people, companies and content to follow and engage with.

9) Google+ supports hashtags so use them for events and to follow and join into conversations.

10) You can Embed any public post on your website or blog. Just select the down arrow then ‘Embed post’.

If you’re local to Cheltenham, you can learn more at my Google+ for Business workshop on 6 May 2014. 

Optimise your LinkedIn web links

At wearesocialclub last Wednesday in Cheltenham, I described how to label your web links on your profile and pointed out how you can add three links; not just one like many people do. There was quite a lot of interest in this so I thought I’d repeat the instructions.

You’ll benefit by having a relevant description or a call to action on each link plus displaying three links is better than just one. The approach will also help the websites whose links you display show up better in search engine results.

1. Go to Profile on the top menu
2. Select Edit Profile
3. Select Edit Contact Info
4. Select the pencil icon (edit) to the right of Websites
5. On the drop down list below Website select Other from the drop down
6. Enter the label you require into the Other column that will now be displayed
7. Repeat the process for the other two links.

Selecting Other allows you to choose your own text (rather than Company Website which is the default). I’d suggest including keywords which will help you show up in both the new LinkedIn search and web search engines. So if your company is called ABC Discount Shoes your link might be ‘ABC Discount Shoes’ or a call to action like ‘Buy Cheap Shoes from ABC’.

For further help with LinkedIn check out my regular LinkedIn workshops at Maxet House in Cheltenham which cost £87 for a half-day training session. You can also ask me a question using the flyout on the right of this page.

wearesocialclub takes places on the last Wednesday of the month in Montpellier Wine Bar. Each event features a short talk and Q and A on social media. April’s meeting will have a talk on Facebook and May’s will be about Foursquare. Admission is £6 and drinks and nibbles are provided.

5 tips to get more shares on Facebook

As explained in this post - 5 ways to encourage interaction on Facebook - it’s important to create posts that are liked, commented on and shared to maximise their impact. Of these, the most significant is sharing because a shared post is published directly onto a user’s Timeline. It’s visible both on the Timeline and in the News Feeds of friends so can receive plenty of views. Here are 5 tips to encourage sharing of your Facebook posts.

1) Use eye catching images - a quick look at your Facebook Insights will almost certainly show you that your most shared posts contain photos. So use eyecatching photos. For example, stunning professionally taken photos or images with quirky messages work well.

2) Ask for the share - don’t overdo it but ask your fans to share posts and photos and some of them will.

3) Run competitions - Set up a competition using Facebook apps then promote this on your Page by linking directly to the app. Here’s An example of a great Facebook competition.

4) Get with it - Be up to speed and tie your posts into current news and/or memes. Here’s an example from my Cheltenham Festival Preview Page.

5) Entertain - Make your audience, your fans, smile by amusing them. Here’s an example from the Sarah Townsend Editorial Page. Note that this is also an image (see Tip 1) and it’s perfectly aligned with the business - writing. editing and proofreading - that the Page represents.

If you have other examples or ideas for encouraging sharing on Facebook please post them in the Comments below.

5 great tips on using Twitter lists

Twitter lists maybe less sexy than their cousins; Twitter hashtags, but they are still very useful and can provide many benefits for businesses.

Whilst hashtags focus conversations around a topic or theme, Twitter lists group together people and their tweets. You can create your own lists or follow the lists of others. Selecting a list allows you to view all members of the list and their tweets. You should note that you can’t send a ‘group tweet’ to everyone on a list - you can only read tweets. Twitter lists can be public but you can also make them private which is useful for creating a list of clients or prospects that you don’t want to make visible to others.

Here are 5 great tips on using Twitter lists:

1) Follow competitors in secret - add one or more competitors to a private list. You can then follow their tweets without actually ‘following’ them. If there’s anyone you don’t wish to follow but wish to view their tweets you can adopt the same approach.

2) Follow other peoples’ lists - there’s often no need to create a list as others might have already compiled one. For example, if want a list of businesses on Twitter in your town, it might already exist. Rather than create a new one from scratch you can simply follow it.

3) Discover lists - Want to discover public lists that others have created? You can search for and find Twitter lists of interest at Listorious and TwitterCounter.

4) Find out which lists you’ve been added to - you can find out which Twitter lists you’ve been added to by going your profile, selecting Lists on the top left hand side then ‘Member of’ - see below. Recent additions are displayed on your Interactions tab.

5) View lists on apps - you can view tweets from lists outside of twitter.com on apps like TweetDeck and Flipboard (IoS only). The former lets you create view your list in a column alongside your timeline, mentions and key words. The latter presents the contents of your list in a glossy magazine style format.

How do you use Twitter lists? Let me know in the Comments below.

How to add media to your LinkedIn profile

LinkedIn have been busy making improvements to the design of personal profiles - more on that here - but they’ve also added some great new functionality. For example, the ability to add media like photos, videos and presentations of your profile. As long as the content you wish to add is on the web you can display it in the Summary section of your profile.

Watch the short video below to see how easy it is to add media to your LinkedIn profile.

To watch more social media tips on video check out this playlist on YouTube.

Update 4 January 2013: A few LinkedIn members have been in touch stating this feature is not yet available to them. It seems that LinkedIn are still in the process of rolling it out for everyone as it’s not just a premium feature.

5 secret ways to increase Twitter followers

In a previous article I provided 10 tips for getting more Twitter followers and here are another 5 secret ways to increase your Twitter followers you might not have heard about. They will make other tweeters aware you’re on Twitter and help get you noticed.

It’s important to build your audience on Twitter so that you have a large group of people you can talk with about your business and your interests. Of course, your tweets are public and can be found via Twitter Search and Bing but your followers are the most likely to see your tweets as they’ll appear on their Homepage. So here they are along with instructions on how to achieve.

1) Add your Twitter id as a hyperlink eg http://twitter.com/intranetfuture to your personal profile on Facebook. Select About on your Timeline then Edit to the right of the About You section. Great way of raising awareness to friends, followers (yes, Facebook has followers now too) and visitors to your profile.

2) Add your Twitter id to your YouTube channel. Go to your YouTube channel then select Edit to the right of the About <channel name>. You can then add a title eg Twitter and your Twitter URL in the customised URL field. Select Add and your done. Informs your YouTube viewers that you’re on Twitter and makes it easy for them to connect.

3) Follow your competitors followers. A bit cheeky but why not? Chances are they are going to be interested in what you tweet about and you might provide more value than your competitor. You can find your competitors using Twitter’s Advanced Search - (view video on how to use) or you can find and follow them using ManageFlitter (subscription for this feature is required).

4) Give! Provide free tips, services and if possible products. This will get your tweets shared and help you get noticed.

5) Send @messages to people who aren’t following you. Even a simple approach of just saying ‘hi’ - see @earlsandco - flags up your presence on Twitter.

If you have any good suggestions for obtaining followers please add them to the Comments below. Thank you.

6 practical ideas for archived tweets

Twitter recently launched the ability for users to archive all their past tweets; a feature that is currently being rolled out for all accounts. You can check if it’s been enabled on your account by going to selecting the cog symbol on the top right of twitter.com and selecting Settings.

Here are 6 ideas for using archived tweets:

1. See how you’ve improved - look at your early tweets. I bet your tweets are quite different now. Learn from how you’ve developed.
2. Look for frequency of words - analyse the frequency of tweeted words to gain a better understanding of the topics you tweet about. Are you covering all the topics you should be?
3. Look for frequency of accounts - gain a better understanding of who you’re engaging with and how often but analysing the frequency of account names.
4. Look for hashtags - improve understanding of your use of hashtags. Which hashtags are gaining most engagement? Are you using the right hashtags and with appropriate frequency?
5. Learn when you tweet - does your level of Twitter activity match key times for your business. For example, if your trade and customer queries increase at Christmas time are your tweets keeping up?
6. Repost successful tweets - identify those tweets that received plenty of engagement and if they’re still valid repost them.

How will you use archived tweets? Please post your ideas in the Comments below. 

LinkedIn launch raft of new features

Having made just a few changes to functions and features over the past couple of years LinkedIn are now making updates week in and week out.

For example, profiles received a makeover in September - read about this here - and this month they’ve been revamped again - view LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman’s Profile to see what the new profile looks like. The ‘new new look’ has yet to be rolled out to all members, although some people have received an invitation to ‘connect to the new profile’.

In addition, LinkedIn have recently rolled out the following; the new Endorsements feature - read how to use Endorsements here, the new concept of following thought leaders, a new ‘blog section’ from thought leaders - you can access this by selecting Original Content under the News menu and last week they introduced the ability to create video ads as well as launching a new Blackberry app. Phew!

What do you think of these new features and have you Endorsed anyone yet? Let me know if the comments below or via LinkedIn. You can find my LinkedIn profile and connect with me here.

How to add Twitter Follow button to LinkedIn

You can make it easy for your LinkedIn connections to follow you on Twitter by adding a  Follow button to your LinkedIn profile. Rather than having to go to your Twitter profile visitors to your LinkedIn profile can follow you there and then; a handy way for building your audience on Twitter.

Note: Before you follow the instructions below make sure you are logged into your Twitter account.

1) Go to Profile link on the top menu then Edit Profile
2) Select Edit Contact Info
3) Select + Add a Twitter account

4) A new window will pop-up asking you to Authorise LinkedIn to use your Twitter account - select Authorize app
5) Click Save settings. (This screen is a hangover from when tweets could be posted to LinkedIn)
6) That’s it. To check your done go to Profile/View profile and check your Twitter account is displayed. (Note that the Follow button will only appear to other visitors).

Have more than one Twitter account? You can repeat the process above to add more Follow buttons for other Twitter accounts. (When you add additional accounts step 5 doesn’t apply).

If you would like 9 other tips on obtaining Twitter followers read my 10 tips for getting more Twitter followers article.

5 ways to obtain leads with LinkedIn

The great thing about LinkedIn if you are looking to network, recruit staff or obtain leads is that the network’s sole focus is on business. You won’t find any holiday snaps, jokes or posts offering relationship advice on LinkedIn, sometimes called ‘the professionals network’.

Members of LinkedIn are there to do business so here are 5 ways you can obtain leads:

1) Use LinkedIn’s powerful search to find appropriate 2nd tier connections then contact them via an Introduction or InMail if you’re on the business version. With 2nd tier connections you have at least one thing in common - a mutual connection - so this is a good starting point for a conversation when making an approach. More about this in 5 steps to obtaining sales through LinkedIn.

2) Take advantage of the new LinkedIn endorsements by improving your credibility with potential leads. Everytime you receive an endorsement it’s displayed on your connections newsfeed. This make yourself more interesting and visible to potential leads and can encourage visits to your profile. To obtain endorsements simply ask for them. Make sure you give lots of endorsements too - you’ll find that contacts will return the favour.

3) Next time someone is seeking a particular product or service refer a suitable person from your network. You’ll find that people will return the favour and recommend you to potential leads.

4) Use LinkedIn to find suppliers and advisors. There’s an abundance of talent on LinkedIn and you can use LinkedIn Search and its filters to find skilled people that you can retain. You’ll establish working relationships and a stronger network which will result in more leads and sales.

5) Join appropriate LinkedIn Groups and network with members. If you wish to keep up with best practice then you’ll want to join Groups specialising in your industry. But for leads you need to join related Groups. For example, I recently advised sales staff at an engineering company to join Construction and Transport Groups which is where they’d find potential clients. Many businesses can also find leads in Groups for entrepreneurs, small businesses and business leaders.

I can help you get real value from LinkedIn with a 1 hour review and optimisation of your profile which can be done face to face or online. It costs £85. If you’d like to book or find our more please let me know.