Learning their likes and interests without directly engaging them. In a previous post, I discussed the importance and benefit of starting a dialogue with your customers in order to find out the types of content and topics that they want from you. In this post, I’m going to go over a few other ways that you can gain insights into the types of content in which they might be interested, to supplement when you cannot directly engage with your customers. I tend to recommend these two posts in tandem rather than stand alone advice, as they work well together and give you a well rounded understanding of what is interesting, relevant and meaningful in terms of how to build your content. Following Industry Trends The big names in your industry put a lot of time, effort and money into developing or determining what the next industry trend will…
And trying to do everything entrepreneurial by yourself. It takes a lot to run a business, from actually marketing and selling your products services, to the accounting, the marketing, etc. Often I see entrepreneurs trying to accomplish every aspect of their business on their own. This is a slippery slope that bottoms out in burn out. Why do we think we must do it all? There are people who have come before us, having done it all, and managed to somehow do it all successfully. This proof that one can possibly do it all by themselves, has led to a false expectation that in order to be an entrepreneur, we must do everything our business requires by ourselves. This isn’t true and for many, it isn’t healthy. For other business owners, this might stem from the notion that the journey of an entrepreneur is a solitary…
It’s Not You – It’s the Algorithms If you’re sharing relevant, and interesting or meaningful content, you should be getting the engagement that you want right? Not necessarily. Let’s take a look at why you might be missing out on some of the followers and engagements you need to move your business forward. Facebook, Instagram, and other social media websites have left their message board roots and grown smarter, forcing us social media managers to learn and become smarter too. If you have been having trouble acquiring new followers or engaging the ones that already follow your platforms, it could be the algorithms. Behind the Jargon. If you’ve been working on building your social media presence you have probably heard people talking about algorithms before. But what are they and why are they hard to understand? Great questions. Algorithms are…
While You Might Be on the Journey to Work for Yourself, You Don’t Have to Go It Alone. About five years ago, I started out on this crazy journey to become an entrepreneur. I didn’t know what I was going to do, but I knew that I couldn’t keep working for terrible bosses and giving of myself in situations that were not replenishing me. I tried becoming an influencer and did pretty well, garnering over $5,000 in books and another $5,000 in yoga clothing and gear, in exchange for positive reviews. But I wasn’t able to monetize it and I didn’t see a sustainable career in it because it wasn’t me. I’m not saying that you can’t make a living through becoming a social media influencer, it just wasn’t the…
The Difference Between Personal and Professional Pages Running a business, whether you are an entrepreneur or a CEO takes a lot of time and energy. It requires you to wear a lot of hats, learn quite a bit about many different facets of your business and industry – and then there’s marketing on top of all that. At McKeating Solutions, we understand that the nuances of Facebook and other social media platforms might be the last thing on your mind, but they are important. That’s why we focus on learning all of the ins and outs of these platforms, so that you have professional partner that can take this off of your already overflowing plate. The Downsides to Using Personal Pages All to often we see businesses using a personal facebook to represent their business. After all, if you’ve never worked in social media…
As a Business, Should You Invest Your Time on Facebook My answer – yes and no. I’ll explain further here in just one second. Facebook is the one social media platform that we all know, and yet, can’t figure out. It’s not our fault. Facebook continues to change and evolve, trying to keep pace with the demands that we users place on them, and that the market necessitates. Let’s face it, social media is an ever moving target. There are new platforms that come out all of the time, and as everyone rushes to be an early adopter and attempt to gain Gary Vaynerchuk like success, the other platforms are struggling as ways to keep those users active on their own platform. Back to my answer. Yes, you should have and maintain a presence on Facebook. While it’s not the…
If You Are Going to Bill Yourself as a Social Media Marketer, Take the Time to Build Your Own Channels If you are going to bill yourself as an expert in social media marketing, which you are doing if you are asking a company or individual to pay you for these services, take the time to build your own channels and you will be able to put your money where your mouth is. Understandably I only have just over 3,000 followers on Twitter and only about 600 followers on Instagram, so it might seem silly for me to make this point…but I’m investing the time and effort into my own channels so that when I need to proposition a new client, I can point to my own channels as proof of my ability. If you have a number of clients with statistics that you can…
McKeating Advice on Growth Hacking Everything in Moderation In a past post I mentioned my grandfather, Dr. Phil McKeating, the man who built our family on strong principles and life lessons. He’s the inspiration for my business and many of the ways in which I live my life today. We learned a lot of lessons from him, and through his children after he had passed. It was the way he had raised them, that many of my cousins, myself included, got to know him as he passed when we were still pretty young. One of the lessons that stuck with me, was how he believed in moderation. I apply his thoughts on moderation to a great many things in life – Growth Hacking being one of them. “Everything in Moderation” Allow me to tell a quick story to drive home this important lesson. Phil McKeating was…
What’s the One Social Media Growth Hack Not to Do? Yes, there is one that you should avoid like the plague. If you want to grow your social media success but value your audience, and their time, there is one social media growth hack that you should not do. It might sound over dramatic but you really should avoid linking your social media accounts like that plague. Growth hacking is on the rise. And why not? Who doesn’t want to save time, streamline processes and do less work? With the focus on this efficiency with a quotient for growth, there are more and more ways to save time while doing more. Social media has become a hot topic within this new area of study. Not all are evil Some tactics are great, especially when used in moderation. For example, scheduling your social media posts. Drafting and…
How can you Cash in on trending hashtags? Hashtags are here to stay, learning to embrace them can have a positive impact on your social media strategy. You know that hashtags are here to stay when they are being written into almost every comedic show and movie being made – even kids shows have characters dropping hashtags in conversations. Whether you love them, or loath them, using them in your social media posts can be a great way to help you reach your target audience and increase your brand awareness. But how do you know which hasthags to use? How many of them should you use in a post? These, along with many others are great questions to ask when considering using hashtags as part of your social media strategy. While there might not be a wrong way to use hashtags, not using them well can make you look silly…