Promote Your Book with Pinterest: 5 Best Ways

Promote Your Book with Pinterest: 5 Best Ways

Promote Your Book with Pinterest: 5 Best Ways

As promised, here is the second in the series of about promoting on social media for authors. If you missed the first one, here is Promote Your Book on Social Media: Extend Your Reach. Keep your eyes open for more in the series soon!

Pinterest Basics

If you’ve never been on Pinterest, or need a refresher, here you go:

Set Up a Business Account

Make sure that you have a Pinterest business account so that you can access the analytics. The analytics help you see which pins are getting the most traffic so you can duplicate your efforts later.

Master the Basics | Photo by Bengisu Kaya

Master the Basics | Photo by Bengisu Kaya

Get Your Website Verified

The little red checkmark next to your website (see image below) gives you more credibility. Here’s how to claim your website from the folks at Pinterest.

Link your Pinterest to Facebook and Twitter

Link your Pinterest to Facebook and Twitter

Link Your Pinterest to Your Twitter and Facebook

Pinterest defaults to your personal Facebook account, so you may want to put your business Facebook account in your profile somewhere (unless you’re using your personal Facebook account to promote).

Have a Book Board

Your book board could have lots of snippets from your book. Make sure you completely fill out each pin with a full description (this means key words). For instance, instead of “great chapter,” say something like “here are ways to sell your Avon products, in infographic format” (or whatever the chapter is about). You could create a simple and short hashtag, too, such as #DIY.

Create a Book Board with Favorite Authors

Create a Book Board with Favorite Authors

Make sure your book board is up at the top of your account. Most people are on mobile these days, so if your board is at the top of your account, others will see it first. Right next to your book board, put your most popular board. So if your board about tamale recipes is getting lots of repins, put that board next to your book board. Optimise your Pinterest board by telling people what the board is about.

Photo of Edward Gorey © 2004 Steve Marsel Studio Inc.

Photo of Edward Gorey © 2004 Steve Marsel Studio Inc.

Create Boards of Your Favorite Authors

Create a variety of boards to interest your readers. For instance:

  • pins of your favorite authors,
  • how to edit, and
  • how to write.

Reveal your personal interests on Pinterest to attract more potential readers.

Pinterest is about 80% women, so boards need to be beautiful and appeal to women. You could also include boards on humor, lifestyle, characters in your book, a place board in the location where your book takes place, etc. Be generous to other pinners by liking, commenting on and repinning their pins.

Has This Been Helpful?

Use some of these hints and let me know how you do with them!

 

Promote Your Book on Social Media: Extend Your Reach

Promote Your Book on Social Media: 6 Ways to Extend Your Reach

Promote Your Book on Social Media: 6 Ways to Extend Your Reach

Every author uses social media to extend their reach. If you get on Twitter, you’ll see all kinds of authors tweeting nonstop, begging you to buy their new book. On Facebook, you’ll see authors posting continuously about their fantasy novels. And on Pinterest there are boards and accounts stuffed to the gills with pins about books. So what’s an author to do? With some planning, you can go beyond the usual social media posts. In this series of blog posts, you’ll get ideas for how to use the social media platforms effectively. Look for more posts soon.

The Website is the Torso

Picture your website as the torso of your online efforts, with the arms and legs as different platforms. Your website should be the first thing you work on. If you don’t have a website, where will you drive traffic? Yes, it’s great that you’re on Amazon selling, but it’s best to have a website because you own the content. You can discuss all kinds of things in blog posts, and you can take snippets of it to tweet or post in different places. You can also go back into the archives and recycle some of that lovely content. There are no gray areas, as there are on social media sites, about who owns your content.

Search Engine Optimization

If those aren’t enough reasons, the biggest one is search engine optimization. When someone looks for you on Google, your name should appear. In this excellent article in Huffington Post, Annik Lafarge discusses many more reasons to have your own website.

Hire Help if You’re Not Technical

Do not let the lack of a website stop you. You can find a developer to help you with a simple website. Attend a WordCamp in your area (San Francisco Word Camp is the mother ship, by the way) to meet developers and others with WordPress sites. I recommend WordPress because there is such generosity in the community. You can watch video (recorded or live streaming) if you can’t make it in person. But getting there in person is well worth the effort.

Branding Across Social Media Platforms

Make sure you have high-quality images of you and your book and that your branding is consistent. Your readers should not be confused about where they are–and they should know that you’re an author. Caterina Rando, my business coach, recommends having a picture of yourself holding a book right up against your face. Ensure that colors are consistent. For instance, Caterina uses rich reds, oranges and yellows in all her marketing materials. Your readers should know exactly what you do. For instance, Jack Canfield’s site is very clear. If you have a tagline, use the same one everywhere from your website through all your social media platforms.

Cross Promote

Once your website is dialed in (and I won’t go into details here, but there should be a few blog posts, at the least), you can use social media more effectively. Your tweets can send people back to your website. You can point to Twitter from Facebook, to Pinterest from Twitter, and from Google Plus to your website.

For instance, if you want people to come to a Tweetchat (a subject I’ll cover in an upcoming post), tell people on your Google Plus account, on Twitter, on Facebook, on LinkedIn, in your email marketing, etc. Promotion takes more work than you might think, so allow lots of time.

Add Badges to Your Website

Add Badges to Your Website

Can’t Wait to Get Started?

If you can’t wait to start on your social media, here are some posts to read and videos to watch:

Questions?

If you have questions that you’d like me to cover in upcoming posts, please leave me a comment and I’ll do my best to address it.

 

 

Secrets to Great Content You Forgot You Knew

 

Secrets to Great Content You Forgot You Knew

Secrets to Great Content You Forgot You Knew

Maybe you’ve been toying with the idea of starting a blog. You’re getting ready to get started thinking about it. That is, right after you finish that new business plan for next year. And waxing the car. And don’t you also need to balance your checkbook again?

The secret to great content is to begin creating it. Maybe your writing isn’t perfect. Whose is? If you never start writing, you’ll never know. And great, original content on your blog helps your SEO with Google. Here are a few ideas that helped me get started with blogging.

Don’t procrastinate.

“Procrastination, quite frankly, is an epidemic,” declares Jeffery Combs, the author of “The Procrastination Cure,” says in an article “How to Stop Time,” via the New York Times. Don’t add to that epidemic.

An unfinished blog post

An unfinished blog post

Glue the seat of your pants to the seat of the chair.

Sit and start writing the first thing that pops into your head, and do that for 15 minutes. Can you do that? Sure you can! Now, you’ll probably go back and delete 90% of it, but there will be the glimmer of a good idea in there.

Write every day

Write every day

Write every day.

Write whether you feel like writing or not. Often you will not. That monkey brain of yours will want to do other things. Pinning banana recipes on Pinterest comes to mind. You will procrastinate on this important job. So get it over with. Once you get past that first 15 minutes, the rest will get easier. Jeff Goins, in his article “Why You Need To Write Every Day,” says: “If you want to get this writing thing down, you need to start writing every day.”

Talk, then write.

Speak your ideas, then write them down. Or have them written down by someone else. Or use Dragon Naturally. Whatever. Just get the words down. You can change them later. Because everyone can talk.

Don’t expect perfection.

Perfection will never happen. Just make sure to get something in writing. You can come back and insert some long, impressive-sounding words later.

Let it simmer

Let it simmer

Let it simmer.

Here’s the fun part. Go away. Get in your car and drive around. Go for a walk. Come back and everything will look different. When you return from your sojourn you can wear a different hat and edit your words.

Create five topics in your blog.

Today’s topic was one that I began months ago. It languished in my blog, along with some other unfinished work. But one day, you may not know what to write about. You’ll go to your website, and that half-written piece will start to take shape. By the way, here’s a post with some tips for blogging for startups.

Don't wait to get going

Don’t wait to get going

Don’t wait to get going.

It’s going to be work, but once you ‘re done, you’ll feel a sense of accomplishment. Your competition is already done. Don’t get left in the dust. And when you’re done, make sure to promote that blog, too.

How to Promote Your Blog Like a Pro!

How to Promote Your Blog Like a Pro

How to Promote Your Blog Like a Pro

If you’ve just started blogging, or even if you’ve been blogging for a while, you might not realize how many ways there are to promote your own post. These ideas are divided into beginning and advanced ideas. If you’re more advanced in the ways of social media promotion, you can skip to the more “Pro” ideas.

Pinterest

Pinning your blog post (you did create a board for your own blog posts, right?) is something everyone can do, and is a fairly simple way to get more traffic to a post. You could have your own blog board, where you pin all your posts. If you need a beginner’s guide, you might read my Top Ten Tasks for Pinterest.

Invite Others to Your Group Blog Board on Pinterest

Invite Others to Your Group Blog Board on Pinterest

Pro

  • Repin that post, especially if the first time you pinned it, it didn’t get any repins. Delete the old post and pin it again.
  • Create a group board for your blog posts, like the example below, and invite lots of people to pin. You can invite anyone who follows your board. You could invite other bloggers who aren’t on Pinterest, too, and they might be motivated to be on Pinterest more often.
  • Repin the blog post using a different picture and onto a different board. For instance, my post about Introverts and Social Media could be repinned on a Social Media board, my blog board, my Pinterest board, etc. But I’d space them out, time wise.

Facebook

Post your wonderful writing on Facebook, with a good call to action and a big picture or two.

Schedule Your Facebook Post When Your Fans Are Online

Schedule Your Facebook Post When Your Fans Are Online

To find your Facebook analytics, go to your business page==>Insights (at the top of the page). Examine when your fans are online and use the native Facebook scheduler. For instance, my analytics show that most of my fans are online at 8:30 am pst. Another good time would be around 2:00 pm.

Screen Shot 2015-03-25 at 11.11.23 PM

Note: my top three posts above were all boosted.

Pro

  • Promote your post for as little as $5 per post. You can choose who sees it and get more eyes on your post that way. Most people can afford $20/month for promotion.
  • Tag people who might be interested in seeing your words of wisdom (but do this carefully–nobody likes to be tagged too many times).
  • To see what your post will look like, schedule it 10 minutes or more in the future, so you can edit it if you need to.
  • Check your business page’s analytics to see when the best time is to post.
Can You Schedule Like a Pro?

Can You Schedule Like a Pro?

Twitter

Of course you’ll want to tweet about your newest creation. And you can schedule it one or more times. Guy Kawasaki retweets his posts about four times a day, but you may want to wait days between posts! Of course, use a scheduler like HootSuite to get the word out.

Pro

  • Pin your tweet to the top of your Twitter feed. Upload a picture (tweets with images are much more likely to be retweeted), as in the image below.
  • Repeat your tweet, but use a different picture and headline.
  • Ask for a retweet (again, don’t ask very often unless you’ve been giving to others as well). Tag others who might be interested.
  • If you mention others in your blog post, call them out in your tweet.
Pin Your Tweet to the Top of Your Twitter Feed

Pin Your Tweet to the Top of Your Twitter Feed

LinkedIn

Post your wonderful writing after you’ve created it on your blog. You can upload a picture, too.

Pro

Get Syndicated!

If you’re a regular blogger, you might consider getting syndicated. My blog posts are syndicated at Business 2 Community. There are lots of reasons to be syndicated; here are a few.

Are You a Blogger?

Try a few of these ideas and let me know how they work for you!

 

 

Six Facts About Introverts and Social Media That Will Impress Your Friends

Six Facts About Introverts and Social Media That Will Impress Your Friends

On #DigiBlogChat this week, my Twitter chat (along with @LazBlazter) about new technology and blogging, some of the participants started a side conversation about introverts and how well they do with writing, and that led to a discussion of social media. As a result of that chat, I decided to write this post. Many of these facts have been taken from Susan Cain’s wonderful book, “Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking.” Susan Cain’s TED talk is wonderful, if you haven’t heard it yet. And by the way, one of these facts is not a fact. See if you can spot it!

Six Facts About Introverts and Social Media That Will Impress Your Friends

Six Facts About Introverts and Social Media That Will Impress Your Friends

Introverts Need Alone Time

Now, not all introverts are writers, but having and enjoying more alone time means that introverts can spend the extra time focused on their writing, or go out into nature for inspiration. Part of being a good social media or content provider means that you must write. So just by having that extra time, introverts can easily use it to recharge through their writing. And enjoy the time alone.

One-Third of the World’s Population is Introverted

In an article in Time Magazine featuring Susan Cain, the author discusses the introvert revolution (the website, ironically, starts playing a loud video), and how it tapped a nerve. With one-third of the population being introverted, is it any wonder that the popularity of social media is growing? All of us introverts (myself included) need a place to express ourselves with as loud a “voice” as those extroverts. Social media allows us that forum.

Al Gore and Warren Buffet Are Introverts

Along with Charles Darwin, J. K. Rowling, Mahatma Gandhi, Google’s Larry Page, and at least a third of the world, who prefer listening to speaking, who think before acting, and who speak softly and maybe don’t want to carry a big stick. So would it surprise you to know that introverts can be such naturals on social media since they like to think long and hard on things? While parties and small talk may be like torture for introverts, writing a social media headline or creating a blog piece are not nearly as difficult.

In a Gentle Way, You Can Shake the World. ~ Mahatma Gandhi

In a Gentle Way, You Can Shake the World. ~ Mahatma Gandhi

Introverts Are Not More Intelligent Than Extroverts

Unfortunately, introverts would like to say this is true. However, being introverted does not automagically make you a better or deeper thinker. However, introverts are more cautious as a general rule, and they like to listen more. If you haven’t read my post on the five hidden benefits of listening, by the way, you might want to. This caution can lead to slower decisions during social media disasters, which seem to happen quite often.

Introverts Love the Internet and Cats More Than Extroverts

Secretly, or not so secretly, introverts love cats. Introverts also love the Internet. And since the internet was invented by cats (not Al Gore, although he is an introvert), introverts of course have the edge with social media.

Introverts Don’t Care So Much If You Like Them

Introverts don’t care so much what you think about that post on Twitter or Facebook. This attitude may translate into a more interesting and honest post, headline, or article. An introvert will have their opinion and doesn’t need to be validated as often as an extrovert. And that is impressive!

 

Five Things You’re Doing Wrong on Pinterest and How to Fix Them

Five Things You're Doing Wrong on Pinterest and How to Fix Them

Five Things You’re Doing Wrong on Pinterest and How to Fix Them

 

If you’re a business on Pinterest, then you probably would like to get more business. Am I right about that? And if you’re not getting any engagement on Pinterest, chances are you’re making one or more of these mistakes.

Not Clicking Through

What that means is keep clicking until you get to the other side of that pin. Where does it lead? Personally, I hate a dead end. And Pinterest now makes it easier than ever to see where a pin leads. You can hover over a pin and see the source. But occasionally, you’ll still wind up on a porn site or one that’s been blocked. You don’t want that happening on your own account, however.

Fix: Check every pin. Here’s a basic primer on how to pin.

Not Answering Comments?

Not Answering Comments?

Not Answering Comments

When people talk to you, answer them. If someone says hello to you in real life, you say hello back, right? Do the same thing on Pinterest! Especially if you’re just starting out. That doesn’t mean you need a 300-word reply to every single person, but a “thanks for stopping by!” or “glad you enjoyed the pin” go a long way toward having a truly social account.

Fix: Answer the people who bother to comment on your pins if at all possible. And if you’d like to know how to get comments, Tailwind has written a good article. (I like their advice to comment on others’ pins and you’ll get comments back.)

Not Filling Out Your Profile

It really doesn’t take that long to fill out your profile. Write down a few things about you or your brand, put in your website and your interests, and upload a picture. Having the red pushpin as your profile picture is a lot like having the egg pic on Twitter (you know who you are!).

Fix: Spend the ten minutes to fill out your profile before you get started.

Not Following 10,000 Accounts

Not Following 10,000 Accounts

Not Following 10,000 Accounts

Yes, everyone desperately wants followers. But pinning good content will really be better in the long run. Have a little patience. Look for good stuff that people want to see.

Fix: Pin more good content and follow just a few people at a time.

Would You Follow You?

Would You Follow You?

Would You Follow You?

I was thinking about this the other day, while fixated on a new DIY front door that I could make out of pallets and Mason jars (that’s a Pinterest joke). Would you follow you? That is, are you pinning high-quality articles, images, and videos that interest you? Are you putting in the time to craft great headlines that tell people what that article is about? If not, you might want to brush up on writing headlines.

Fix: Check out your competition. Could you do something that they do, if their Pinterest is getting more followers?

 

11 Ways Being Outdoors Can Improve Your Productivity

Most lists only go to ten, but this one goes to eleven! There’s just that little bit more, you see, right at the end. It’s just that much more productive.

Get Better Sleep

When you’re more relaxed, you sleep better, and when you sleep better, you’re more productive.

11 Ways Being Outdoors Can Improve Your Productivity

11 Ways Being Outdoors Can Improve Your Productivity

Have A Better Attention Span

Being outdoors helps you clear your mind, focus on the present moment, and not stress over something an hour or two in the future. And being outdoors during the workday gives you an edge, according to Active.com’s article about how exercise boosts your brainpower.

Be Reminded of Childhood Memories

Certain sights, sounds and scents outdoors can remind you of childhood memories. For instance, redwood trees remind my boyfriend of where he grew up in the far north of California; the trees have a relaxing effect and make him feel at ease. Certain vistas, even particular configurations of fallen trees also bring back memories. And of course scents are closely linked to memory. That “walk down memory lane” can bring you a more productive day–that is, if your childhood memories are happy ones.

Be More Relaxed

Can anything new be said about being outdoors and being relaxed? One study suggest that even looking at greenery can make people more productive. A study by Frances Kuo, at the University of Illinois, focused on women in Chicago. Kuo and her colleagues compared women randomly assigned to various apartments. Some had a view of nothing but concrete sprawl, the blacktop of parking lots and basketball courts. Others looked out on grassy courtyards filled with trees and flowerbeds. Kuo then measured the two groups on a variety of tasks, from basic tests of attention to surveys that looked at how the women were handling major life challenges. She found that living in an apartment with a view of greenery led to significant improvements in every category.

Enter Another Realm

When you’re outdoors, you can think about something entirely different than work and getting that next item on your “to-do” list checked off. You can clear your mind to focus entirely on where you are, or that next step on the beach. Even a walk in a city park, where there is greenery, is superior to walking on city streets. Here’s a good article from Lifehacker about surrounding yourself with nature to be more productive.

Dream of Ewoks

Ewoks are sentient, diminutive, furry bipeds native to the forest moon of Endor, as described in the Star Wars’ Wookieepedia. When you’re out and about traveling in the woods, you can feel their presence. They’re especially prevalent in the woods, near where I live.

People who exercised during their workday were 23 % more productive on those days!

People who exercised during their workday were 23 % more productive on those days!

Get Aerobic Exercise

Hiking up and down steep hills and cutting across rocky outcroppings will make your heart pump hard. When you’re indoors all day long, you may not realize how shallow your breathing becomes; being outdoors in nature helps to cure that restricted breathing.

Reduce Stress

Although a certain amount of stress can be helpful (for instance if you’re being chased by a bear), stress usually makes people less productive. Being outdoors is widely known to reduce stress.

Do You Have a Nature Deficit?

Do You Have a Nature Deficit?

Practice Listening

The sounds in the forest or at the beach are much different and more subtle. Practice a different kind of listening when you’re outdoors (not that you can’t use Twitter as a listening tool). And if you didn’t read my article from last week about listening, you might want to.

Recovery Leads to Better Productivity

No one can be productive at the same rate every day, and everyone needs some recovery time. So taking an hour or two to be outdoors brings you back to your work, as outlined in Daniel McGinn’s article about Being More Productive from Harvard Business Review.

Being in Nature Makes You Smarter

According to this article Is a Nature Deficit Hurting Your Productivity? ,” being in nature exposes you to soothing stimuli that engages your involuntary attention, giving your directed-attention a rest and a chance to become rejuvenated.” And if you’ve read this far, then maybe I’ve convinced you to go to the park. It’s a start.

 

 

 

 

 

Five Hidden Benefits of Listening

Five Hidden Benefits of Listening

Five Hidden Benefits of Listening

Coming up with content 24×7 gets old really fast. But what if there were some other way than blasting out your own content all day long? Something easier, some way you could get your stream filled with content without being in complete broadcast mode all the time. What if you could stop being like a one-way valve and have a two-way valve instead as part of your social media strategy? Crazy, right?

Intensify Conversations

What if you went to a party and talked about yourself the entire time? That would be pretty boring! And yet, some people still talk non-stop at parties. But if you listened twice as much as you talked, you might learn some things about your new and old friends. The same concept applies online. As  David Tovey says, hearing is not listening.

Take the Strain Off Yourself

Although listening might sound more difficult than talking, all it requires is that you be fully present. That is, ready to listen and free of distracting thoughts. That may seem a little “zen” to you–like a meditation. And listening can also involve watching the other person’s posture, mannerisms, and all the different tones in their voice. So instead of hearing your own inner thoughts, for a few minutes you can focus completely on someone else. Think of it as a mini-vacation, a way to balance your online life.

Listen Without Expectation

When I searched online for “listening,” there was an image of a shower head on the site–someone out there has been listening to my online searches. They wanted to sell me something. However, that’s different than not having any expectation than to hear. And it’s tricky to not be waiting with something to say, but to listen with no advice, no retort, and no pushing your own agenda!

Be Unique

Everyone (on social media or not), is spewing information. We are up to our ears in information. And if you believe, as Julian Treasure outlines in his excellent TED Talk 5 Ways to Listen Better, that we are “losing our listening,” then it’s extremely important to work on this vanishing skill. Rather than reducing your friends’ thoughts and words to sound bites, listening fully lets them express the subtlety of their experiences–and lets you shine by being unique.

Start participating by listening

Start participating by listening

Save Time

What if you knew what your clients were thinking about? Or what your friends were focused on? You can! Just ask them. It’s that simple. Be creative in how you reach out. Try asking in a simple, yet direct way. “What’s the haps? Or “what’s new, Daddy-O?” are sure to elicit a smile. Rather than worrying about what they might be thinking, ask and then listen.

Be a Great Conversationalist

Here is my call to action for this post. For one day, try listening. Repost, retweet, and talk to people online. Could you do that? I’d be willing to bet that most people will say that you’re a great conversationalist! Like Ted Rubin says “Jump in & do it.”

Let me know how that goes. Although some of you are probably already there, listening.

 

 

 

The 9-1/2 Best Places to Find Inspiration

The 9-1/2 Best Places to Find Inspiration

The 9-1/2 Best Places to Find Inspiration

You’ve been wracking your brain trying to figure out what to write about on your next article or blogpost, but have come up with nothing. Zero. Zilch. When you’re at your wit’s end, here are a few places to go for inspiration.

Go Into Nature for Inspiration

Go Into Nature for Inspiration

Go Into Nature

There’s something about the sight of trees, the sound of rain, the smell of the ocean, and the feel of sand and rocks that help you to refocus and rediscover what’s important. Here’s an interesting article about sounds: Why Buffalos and Crickets Help Us Relax. A field trip to a nearby park can really get the inspirational juices going.

Take a Shower if you want inspiration

Take a Shower if you want inspiration

Take a Shower

A warm shower is one of the most relaxing places there is. You don’t have to take one with your dog to get the benefits, but that could help as well. Look at how happy that dog looks!

Get Enough Sleep for Better Inspiration

Get Enough Sleep for Better Inspiration

Get Enough Sleep

Getting enough sleep has been touted lately as important to alertness and health. And if you don’t believe me, take a look at these articles:

Go for a Drive

A drive forces your mind to focus on something other than your work (unless you’re a taxi driver). Hopefully, there’s a place to drive nearby with trees and that doesn’t involve sitting in traffic. Rolling the windows down and feeling the wind can help clear the cobwebs out of your mind and help inspire you.

Get inspired: Go Drive

Get inspired: Go Drive

Explore Other Blogs–Or Your Own

Other blogs may give you ideas that you hadn’t thought about. You could even search Google for “Inspiration,” and see where that takes you. Another idea is to go back through your own blog and see if you could take off or expand upon an idea that you had.

 

Explore Blogs

Explore Blogs

Spend Time with Pets to Be Inspired

Spend Time with Pets to Be Inspired

Spend Time with Pets

Your pet cat, your pet iguana, and your dogs would all like you to inspire you. And it turns out that you can get a lot of great ideas from man’s (and woman’s) best friends. Being more curious is but one of the things you can learn from your pets.

Go Somewhere with No Internet

Go Somewhere with No Internet

Go Somewhere with No Internet

Better still, go there without any way to record those new ideas. Then you’ll be forced to remember that idea. Many of us who are online all day find being offline a welcome relief.

Answer the Questions Your Clients Ask You

Answer the Questions Your Clients Ask You

Answer the Questions Your Clients Ask You

Clients will often ask you the best questions, questions that you didn’t know that anyone had! Last week, someone asked me how to have a conversation on Twitter, and seemed surprised that a conversation was even possible. That could turn into a blog post, or a series of tweets.

Talk to Your Friends

Talk to Your Friends

Talk to Your Friends

I’ve talked about having a blogging buddy before. That is someone who supports your crazy, crazy ideas, and inspires you to have more of them. Bridget Willard is mine. You could also have coffee or lunch with someone, especially if, like many entrepreneurs you often eat lunch alone.

Let Tweetchats Inspire You

Let Tweetchats Inspire You

Let Tweetchats Inspire You

Sometimes I’ll get inspiration from others on the #DigiBlogChat Tweetchat (Tuesdays at 1 pm pst if you’d like to join!). Recently, someone asked about Twitter best practices, so that became a blogpost and it also turned into chat questions, too. Yes, the tweetchat idea was the 1/2, but really it’s more like one and one-half. That chat always invigorates me!

 

 

 

Social Media: 7 Ways Your Business Can Connect with Locals

Want to Find Locals with Social Media?

Want to Find Locals with Social Media?

What is the first thing that someone looking for you would see if they looked for you online? Would they see a sadly abandoned account, and hear crickets? Would they get an ad telling them to sign up for a free newsletter? Would they hear an anthem from the 80s? Or would they see a finely tuned profile that appeals to their local audience? If your business depends on locals, here are a few ideas to use on the big social media platforms to magnetize your presence.

Have Apps on Your Phone

Because everyone is online these days, going from online to offline should be seamless. That means having apps on your phone so that when you meet someone, you can immediately connect and continue the conversation online–on their favorite platform. And when you “e-meet” someone, you can hopefully continue to talk offline.

Reach out to Your Audience: Post Local Events

Maybe you have a meetup, like my friend Ruby Rusine does, and you’d like to get more people to attend. You could post on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram and then tag people who might like to attend. Or **gasp** pick up the phone and call a few people in the area.

Create an Event Board on Pinterest

On Pinterest, have your own event board and take photos which you upload. You can then add a url to the pin to send people to your website for more info. Don’t forget to change the dates when you have a new event!

Post About Local Events

Post About Local Events

Twitter Local Search

You can use Twitter’s search on your city. For instance, let’s say your business is in San Francisco, California. By searching on either San Francisco, #SanFrancisco, or #SF, you can get local news, traffic reports, etc. There might be a big event that you’d like to attend, or maybe there’s a news story you want to share. Advanced search has even more options. For instance, you can search on zip code.

Tweets Near You Integrates with HootSuite and Google Maps

Tweets Near You Integrates with HootSuite and Google Maps

Tweets Near You

A great Chrome plugin is “Tweets Near You,” which shows you other people tweeting near you, and integrates with HootSuite and Google Maps. In the screenshot above, you can see tweets within 5 km of AT&T Park (a fabulous place that you must visit, by the way!) to see the incredible San Francisco Giants and their wonderful social media cafe. But I digress.

Communicate Directly Through Instagram or Twitter

Another way to reach out to your local audience is by communicating directly through Twitter. Restaurants can search on terms like “I’m hungry,” “hamburger,” “I need sushi,” etc. Use hashtags (i.e. #specialdeals, #dailydeal, etc.) to maintain follow through with your client base; they can directly message you regarding your business in real time. A clever business could also use Instagram to search on a hashtag (one sushi restaurant did this with me recently) to find people who already love whatever they sell.

Facebook

Although Facebook has recently throttled its traffic, almost everyone and their mom, sister, cousin, and grandma is there. Social Media Examiner has a terrific article with tips about filling in your profile and appealing to locals.

Get Traction through Local Visibility

Get Traction through Local Visibility

Be Found

Just as you can find others, you want to ensure that you are found, too. So make sure to optimize your profiles everywhere, and keep the content fresh. And if you need someone to help you, you could read my Social Media Managers: Top Ten Questions to Ask When You’re Looking for One.

Have You Been Found? Or Has Someone Found You?

I’d love to hear your story about being found online if you have one. Really!

 

 

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