Social Mention is a social media search engine that searches user-generated content such as blogs, comments, bookmarks, events, news, videos, and microblogging services. http://socialmention.com/
Recently several small business owners have asked me about how to set up a lead magnet to encourage more subscriptions to their newsletter . Here are instructions for you DIYers. First, prepare your lead magnet - the thing that you're giving away. It should be something of value to your target market. Next, you'll prepare two pages on your website: a landing page where people can sign up for your newsletter (this may or may not be on your website menu) a redirect page ("Thanks for signing up" page) where people will receive your lead magnet (this should not be on your menu and you'll want to discourage search engines from finding this page) Let's do your redirect page first. Create the page and name it something like 'thanks' or 'download' or... it doesn't really matter what you call it. If you're using WordPress, you can set it to discourage search engines. On this page, you'll place the item you're giving away. It might be...
photo credit @onceadaley on Instagram If you attended Social Media Day Halifax 2018 on Friday, I sure hope you enjoyed yourself and learned lots. I know I did! And not all my learning was from the presenters and sessions. Here are a few examples from the event organizing side of things. 1. It doesn't matter how many lists you make or how prepared you are, tech will give you a tummy ache at some point. Anything last minute that needs tech, also needs a backup plan. (Big thanks to my sister for helping me print conference nametags at 11pm the night before!) Note: If you buy labels or cardstock items at a Staples store, don't expect that their Copy & Print shop will print them for you. 2. Test things that can be tested. And not just tech things. When a vendor's website says one item goes with another, that doesn't mean it's so. For example, 4"x3" nametags do not fit into 4"x3" nametag holders. 3. Automate as much as humanly poss...
For a long time, I've been meaning to research and find an easy free screen recording application. It just never made it up very high on my to-do list. A few days ago I had an urgent need to explain something to somebody and words weren't cutting it. I needed to record my screen while I did something but I sure didn't want to spend a bunch of time researching and installing and learning. Saying I am really impressed with Screencast-O-Matic (aff) is an understatement. In only 5 minutes I had recorded a 30 second video, signed up for a free account, and sent a link to the video off by email. Seriously, 5 minutes... my first time using it! As an example, here's another short screencast I made just prior to publishing this post, which was easy to share to my YouTube channel. It's about how to check your iContact statistics. Click to Tweet this Article
Years ago I read a magazine article that was an interview with a well-known Canadian male (although I can't remember who). What I do remember was the message, which went something like this... The subject of the interview was being referred to as extremely lucky. He adamantly claimed that he wasn't lucky - he was prepared. He was prepared to take advantage of opportunities that arose. Not only that, he was also constantly vigilant, so he wouldn't miss those opportunities. I'm pretty sure that was the same year I started my business. The message has stuck with me. For me, being prepared is about getting all my ‘ducks in a row’ when it comes to capacity and commitments. Being vigilant means networking and being social. Those things set me up for success. When those golden opportunities come along, I want to be found alert and prepared to take them on. In other words, I'm ready to get lucky... in business, that is. photo by Roadsidepictures / Flickr ...
photo by laverrue Assuming that I could sell. And then assuming that I would sell. Two completely different things! The real meaning of niche. I had an inner resistance to reducing the size of my target market. Until I started to go down that road, I really didn’t ‘get it’. Logic doesn't sell; emotion does. This is a hard lesson for someone like me who values logic and reason. A great network is EVERYTHING. Building staunch relationships with inspiring, talented people that I know, like and trust has strengthened EVERY part of my business. I don’t have to work with anyone I don’t want to. I was a customer service manager for years and the thought of turning away a potential customer was completely foreign. Now I've done it, glad I did it, and will likely do it again. Too many choices can lead to inaction. I prefer to know what ALL my options are, then decide for myself. I expected that everyone else felt that way too. Not so! People buy the benefit, not the...
Whether it's an article title, a blog post title, a subject line or a call to action, there is no doubt that crafting a good one takes a little art and a little science. "The job of the headline is to get the first line of your copy read." ~ CopyBlogger For every article, I could write 4 titles: the simple straightforward one that says what it's all about - it's useful and truthful the catchy or clever one - the content adds context to the title once you start reading the teaser that hints at the content, but is meant to garner opens rather than be useful the version for SEO using keywords and phrases that people might search for I tend to start with #1 because it's often the idea that I jotted down to write about. After I finish writing, I might come up with a couple of choices that are more like #2. I tend to avoid #3 except in certain circumstances. Then a friend started talking about #4. I resisted because it kind of felt like selli...
Every time I do online research, I find broken things. I'm curious; I like to see how things work. And it's quite amazing how many times I find things that don't work, or don't work well. I'm not just talking about small business websites - even big brands fail sometimes. The thing is, big brands usually have a reputation which leads people to forgive or ignore more easily. I've written before about how important it is to audit your website at least quarterly. (I pay someone to do it for me and it's well worth it.) If you haven't done a website audit recently, now is a great time. Here are a handful of specific things to check. Is your website doing these things well? Be really clear about the benefits to potential customers and put that front and centre. More money and more time are great - but how much? Read and test everything yourself. Don't rely on what others tell you. I've seen a lot of non-functional website forms and suc...
I read this recent article quickly at first. Then I blinked and reread it. Sure enough, there it was... advice to add cute animal pictures to your newsletter. If you’re a vet or an animal groomer, this is definitely your strategy. The rest of us should stay far away from them, at least in our business-to-business newsletters. (And blogs, unless you're illustrating a point and have an excuse. I wonder how they got him in that mailbox anyway!) That article was all about how important it is to make your newsletter fun . Here are the other 3 tips: Surprises Jokes Puzzles and games Surprises are good, if they’re genuine. Made up surprises are just plain hokey and un-credible. Jokes? Unless you are a comedian, jokes can be a little tricky (especially dry humour) and socially risky. Anyway, do you really want to be remembered for your jokes? There may be legitimate uses for puzzles and games, depending on your business. Use them only if they really add value, never t...
You know when you've been online for a while - scrolling, reading, tapping - and then realize the time? We may feel good (because we learned something), bad (because something pushed a hot button), or indifferent (what level on HayDay?). Regardless, we still think of these times as getting lost down a rabbit hole. According to Wikipedia, "Down the rabbit hole" is a metaphor for an entry into the unknown, the disorienting or the mentally deranging, from Alice in Wonderland . Those words may be a bit extreme for our online adventures but the sentiment holds. In class this week, we were reviewing the homework assignment which was to research and sign up for relevant newsletters. One participant said she kept ending up down rabbit holes. Then she looked up and said, "I guess we really want to BE the rabbit hole, right?" Thank you, Cecelia, for that insight! Content marketing is something I've been preaching about since before it was called that. I...
"Yes, it's an old marketing trick to "accidentally" make a mistake in an email campaign so you can resend an email shortly thereafter to increase the number of times people see your message." This was the lead message in an email I received recently which included a correction to information which I had indeed received a couple of hours before. Making a deliberate mistake is a darn poor excuse to get into people's inboxes. Making ANY mistake doesn't reflect well on you, deliberate or not. Do your marketing well and you won't need to resort to tricks. And you won't need to fix mistakes. If a *real* mistake happens, here is my advice about how to deal with it . Let's avoid those made-up mistakes completely. Click to Tweet this Article
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