Tips For Setting Up an Online Business/Presence/Blog

As per the request of one of the BMGChat members, this week’s discussion was on “Tips for Setting Up an Online Business/Presence/Blog.” This topic is….huge. It’s hugely important, but it also encompasses such a broad spectrum of information. So here’s what we discussed. Keep in mind it’s just a small portion of what there is to be explored in the territory of establishing a successful web presence!

1. Be Human:

Setting up an online web presence (successfully) for a new business or professional endeavor can be daunting. Here’s a few basic tips on how to get a good start:
Be Human: You are setting up an online presence because….you’re a PERSON who has a something to offer. People do no want to interact with purely robotic websites that have zero personality or human flair. So keep it real!

2. Add Value:

Connect people you think could benefit from one another. Share cool links or relevant industry news. Take a stand on current issues, offer your opinion. You will attract a strong core group of followers this way.

3. It’s Not About You:

Acting like the coolest kid on the block will get you nowhere. Share others successes. Help promote your connection’s endeavors. “Use social media networks to engage your customers in ways that make them feel like the most important people on the planet.” If you show that you’ve got everyone else’s backs, it will create a very loyal following, and people will do the same bragging for you!

4. Engage and Interact:

Stay in touch! The point of an online presence is to introduce and foster real-life business relationships. Strike up conversations. Repost comments. Get to know those your new online connections.

5. Participate Consistently:

We’ve said it a million times, but consistency really is key when it comes to social media. The more consistent you are (in frequency and content), the easier it will be for people to become familiar with and in turn trust your brand. “Participating consistently builds a stronger online reputation for your company and boosts your presence within social media circles.”

6. Don’t Sweat the Numbers:

The most important thing to do is to focus on the content you are producing. If establishing an online presence could happen over night with little effort, every business would have an amazing website, blog, and social media platforms. But the truth is that it takes time, consistency, and great content. If you work hard and keep this in mind, the numbers will come.

7. It’s a Small World:

Let’s suffice it to say…you must be professional, always. “Not to mention the fact that Google’s spiders will idex that ONE moment of rudeness and, with your luck, it will probably be on the first page of results from a Google search of your name.” I don’t care how offended, annoyed, or angered you are by someone’s comment or posting. Be nice. Be professional. Period.

8. Experiment:

Mix it up! Alternate times of the day that you post blogs, comments, or Twitter updates. Then, study your work: Which times of the day do you get the most traffic? What topics are hot? Take the results and formulate your content strategy around them for the best results!

This week’s chat was based on an article written by David Mullen. If you want to learn more about Public Relations, Integrated Communications and Social Media, head on over to his blog and check it out–he’s got some great content! http://www.davidwmullen.com/

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How To: Use Your Social Media Platforms More Professionally

As you transition in life, and as social media platforms become more and more necessary for networking in your professional life, it might be time for an extreme social media platform makeover. LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr are all platforms that you can use to connect with other professionals. If you are not interested in networking, be aware of the fact that your boss (or potential employer!) can and has most likely done some research. So, with that in mind, here are a few ways to make your social media outlets a bit more professional!

Clean it up:

Old college party pictures? Vulgar jokes and comments? Profanity? Super-personal and/or family events recorded in detail? Get rid of it. One of my favorite mantras is “Be a ruthless editor!” Take it to heart; only include pictures and status postings you would be willing to show your boss. If you’re a professional, project the type of image YOU would like to work with! Use your best judgement as to how much personal info you want exposed to potential clients or employers.

Simplify and streamline:

Who do you want to be? Where do you want to end up? What’s your goal in using Social Media professionally? Get a clear direction in mind and simply/streamline your effort toward that! Update all of your profile information, attach a killer resume or portfolio, and really take the time to lay a good foundation for your social media platform. You can also use your long term goal as a road-map for what info to include now and in the future as well.

Network Wisely:

Aligning yourself with the right people can make all the difference. Connect with people you know, and ask them to introduce you to others in your field that they might know. You don’t need a formal face to face introduction to friend someone on LinkedIn! Be brave–if there’s someone you’d really like to get to know, or a company that you’re dying to work for, take initiative! Say hello, introduce yourself, and be professional.

Be Consistent:

It’s a common mistake people invest a ton of time and energy in the beginning, and then taper off to little to no social media attention: updates, interaction, sharing links, etc. Whatever level of interaction works for you, establish it from the very beginning and then stick with it! If you slowly begin to decrease your time and attention to your social media platforms, people will think you’re not serious about what you’re trying to promote or that you don’t want it bad enough. Be diligent and stick with it!

Creativity, Ingenuity, and Style are key!

What makes you different from the next company or person? Your ideas! Your view of business and your ability to influence it in a way no else can! Let that shine in through–be creative, interesting and engaging.

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BMGChat: How Social Media Affects Content Relevance in Search Results

Our BMGChat group discussed the new ways social media is affecting content relevance and search engine results. The truth of the matter is that search engines are changing. For all of us who love SEO (we’re geeks, we know), it’s exciting that social media is a huge part of that change.

Search engines are incorporating social data into their results. How does social media affecting all this? Social signals such as tweets, Facebook Likes, and Google +1s are now being included in the gleaning of search results. For example, Bing started incorporating Facebook like data into its search results. Results for pages that a searcher’s own friends had liked show up more prominently. It’s better better when search results are not just based in math and algorithms, but also infused with the opinions of real people.

In order to keep up with the way the web is evolving (namely the HUGE increase in the use of social media) search engines have had to adapt to survive. Google rose to dominate the industry by tracking better indicators of content quality better than anyone else. It developed a complex algorithm that measured which websites were “voting” for others by linking to them.”
Social media networks produce an immense amount of data about what real people like enough to share with their friends and the rest of the world. “In an industry where knowing what humans like is crucial to success, search engines have figured out–taken to heart–a delightfully simple mantra: If people share you content, it’s probably pretty good.”

Here’s how it works: “The links that you build through social media, the references, the authority — all can have an impact in various ways on how you are ranked and listed even in ‘regular’ search results,” says Danny Sullivan. “Social media allows for people to provide more trusted signals.”

When we go to a search engine, we want to find what we’re looking for, immediately and hassle-free. It’s clear that social media is helping search engines deliver more immediacy and more relevant results. In the long run, this will help SEO-directed businesses focus on what they should be doing: creating content people love.

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7 Things To Consider Before Redesigning Your Website

Throughout its lifetime, every website needs a little tweaking and updating here and there. If you own a business with a web presence, at some point, that site will need to be redesigned. It could be due to the business changing, or it could be just for aesthetic purposes. Whatever the reasoning behind your change, here’s a few things to consider when thinking about a redesign.

1. Why are you Redesigning? Sounds obvious, but seriously–think about what you hope to accomplish with the site redesign. Improve site functions? More aesthetically pleasing? Better sales conversions? New, more focused content? Know exactly what you want, and let that goal guide you through your redesign.
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7 Things to Reconsider When Redesigning Your Website

Throughout its lifetime, every website needs a little tweaking and updating here and there. If you own a business with a web presence, at some point, that site will need to be redesigned. It could be due to the business changing, or it could be just for aesthetic purposes. Whatever the reasoning behind your change, here’s a few things to consider when thinking about a redesign.

1. Why are you Redesigning?

Sounds obvious, but seriously–think about what you hope to accomplish with the site redesign. Improve site functions? More aesthetically pleasing? Better sales conversions? New, more focused content? Know exactly what you want, and let that goal guide you through your redesign.

2. What Type of Redesign Do You Need?

Now that you know why you want to redesign your site, you need to figure out how far down the rabbit hole you need to go. It could be a slight change in visuals and some updated content, or you might need to completely change your underlying code base. Depending on your budget, a huge revamping may be out of the picture. From the get-go, you should figure out what your priorities are from the beginning, and budget those first.

3. What Does and Doesn’t Work Currently?

No matter what type of redesign you need, there will be some elements of your site that work very well, and others that don’t work at all. Now is the time to go through your site and identify these elements. Break your site down into its key components and then compare those with the goals you decided on in step one and the overall vision of your website. Don’t keep any “dead weight” just because it’s familiar. If something doesn’t jive with the new direction and plan you’ve set, it’s out.

4. How is Your Site Being Used?

Your site is about reaching publics, right!? So study your traffic statistics and site analytics for information on things such as entry and exit pages, sales conversions, and search engine keywords. This will help you to understand how visitors find your site and what they do once they get there. With the results of this information, make strategic changes in your new site redesign.

5. Has Your Brand or Company Image Changed?

Make sure you keep your logos updated and think about a color-overhaul if the corporate image or philosophy has shifted. Your website is often the first impression people get of your business, so it should grow and mature right along with the rest of your brand identity.

6. When and How Should You Launch Your Redesign?

You’ve probably heard that timing is everything. Well when/how you launch your redesign can have a big impact on your traffic and in generating buzz about your new site. Maybe you want to make improvements and roll them out slowly, unannounced. Or maybe, a big relaunch around a holiday or the start of a big promotion is what you need because will generate more traffic. Think about what is best for your business and take that approach.

7. How Do I Make the Transition Smoothly?

Some people are a little intimidated by change. If you have a site that has a lot of loyal traffic, a drastic change might be off-putting to some. Furthermore, you don’t want this shift to damage search engine rankings and suddenly destroy any and all backlinks you’ve gathered over the years.

All in all, when redesigning your website, make sure you have a clear goal in mind from beginning to end. It will help the project go much more smoothly, and help the transition from the old site to the new one seem completely organic. If you’re timid about the website updates, just remember, “Without change you will have no evolution. Without evolution, your company could become extinct.” Be bold and make sure you website follows your company’s growth!

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5 Tough Clients & How To Deal, Part II

For last week’s BMGChat, we discussed a few client types and/or styles who are less than easy to handle. However, the reality of “doing business” is that we can’t always be super-selective when it comes to clients. So, here’s the rest of our “Tough Client” list!

Client Client #6: The Paranoid Client: The paranoid client will often not want to even discuss their project without getting you to sign a Non-disclosure Agreement (NDA) and be prepared for drafted agreement to be heavily pitched in their favor. These types of clients are usually large companies or corporations. The up-side? Both parties will be protected, and both parties will be held to their word. If you don’t get a lawyer to look at the agreement and you sign away, it could be very expensive. They can be nit-pickers and make the job nearly impossible to complete. How to deal? If they have funds to draw up a personalized legal agreement, they should also be willing to pay you equally well for your work. The bottom line, get a lawyer to look it over. If it’s worth it, go for it!
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