by winstonbromley | Aug 27, 2012 | Facebook, Instagram, Social Media, Social Media Tools
Instagram in your Business
Instagram is a free photo-sharing program and social network that was launched in October 2010 and by now, you probably have seen a vintage styled image from this platform. Instagram is like an online photo journal that enables you to share your life’s experiences with friends and family in a fun and imaginative way using your mobile phone. The mobile app is free to download and use and you can share many outlets including Twitter and Facebook. Snap, filter, post!
Now if you haven’t used Instagram yet, not to worry. The Instagram interface is very user friendly to use using your iPhone or Android Smart phone.
Instagram can be used for a lot more than just personal use.. Much like Pinterest these days, Instagram can help build and expand your business exposure and needs.
With Instagram, you can develop a strong online presence, and get your name out there using images. This is a great way to leverage online and social media marketing into your strategies with a potential audience reach of over 37 million users as well as the ability to get instant feedback with this personalized outreach marketing by posting images of products or services you are currently selling or ones you are testing.
When using Instagram, make sure that you are using the appropriate tag words for your business, products or services so that people have a chance of finding you in their search results. Also make sure that include a good description to help people along.
Much like on other Social platforms, you will begin to see a major shift once you start interacting with consumers on an individual basis by commenting and liking their images (if you feel it is an image worth “liking” or commenting on. This will start to build social proof and in turn, make you Front-of-Mind and a great choice to work with as they will like and trust you easier.
Here are some tips to use Intagram in your business model:
– Double tap when you want to like an image including your own (sounds odd but it works)
– Add in Hash Tags or keywords to help people know about your business and be able to find you in searches
– Add in a good description of the image
– GeoTag your location so that the images can be found via GeoMapping or via an online GPS Map system
– Comment and Like other users images that fit with your Demographic, i.e. If your market is brides-to-be, if you find images from those users, like and comment on them and they will notice you Account and most likely return the favour.
I am still tinkering around in Instagram but I will post more tidbits as I get them
Got any tips you want to share? Post them below.
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by winstonbromley | Aug 16, 2012 | Facebook, QR codes, Social Media, Social Media Tools, Twitter
Any real estate agent or real estate investor worth their weight would take advantage of the biggest marketplace known to man, The Internet.
No matter how much you try or how clever the ads, the fact remains that TV or newspaper spots only reach a limited number of potential clients. Taking your advertising services and marketing approaches to social networking can introduce you to thousands of potential customers, you just have to know the best social networking tips.
Taking Your Business Online
You’d have to look far and wide to find somebody who isn’t on Twitter or Facebook, or at least doesn’t use their spouses account to browse through the newsfeed. Social Networking truly is the future of communication and people use the different sites for a variety of reasons from communicating with friends to playing games against strangers. Taking your real estate business online is a great idea and in truth it might be an inevitability. Facebook and Twitter make it easy to create professional accounts and you should start following developing your profile at once.
What To Do Once You’re Online
Once you’ve got a Facebook or Twitter profile developed, the first tip is to start slow and give people space. You should join groups and build up a network of friends and associates but lay off the selling at first. You don’t want to over hype your services or else people will simply ignore you. Instead, post interesting and engaging content but don’t flood people’s timelines. Especially when dealing with Real Estate, a majority of your online friends can be classified as potential clients instead of immediate sales candidates. As you build up rapport and trust, people will start coming to you asking for your professional services and they’ll often have friends of friends that will be looking to move into the area.
Using Social Networking For Advertising
One of the key advantages to starting off building your social networking profile at a patient pace is that you’ll have more time to develop a complete web site. Once you’ve got a professional looking site packed with information, you can start using your Facebook or Twitter address in commercials or ads. People will hear or see your ads that say “Follow us on Facebook” and you can build a better base of potential clients because these people have some sort of interest. It’s like a car dealership developing a mailing list by having people put down their names and numbers for a ‘free air freshener giveaway.’
Social Networking is a great way for real estate professionals to get their name online without spending hundreds of dollars in overhead. A few hours of time each week could lead to a windfall of business down the line.
If you are looking for a program or tool to show you Exactly how to use Social Media in your Real Estate business, drop us a line as we have a Social Media for Real Estate Investors Online course that you may be interested in coming in September 2012.
Until next time….
Winston B.
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by winstonbromley | Aug 8, 2012 | Facebook, Google+, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Social Media, Social Media Management, Social Media Tools
In the twenty-first century, the World Wide Web has become a great way for anyone to reach an audience. From blogs to online businesses, social media takes on many different shapes and sizes.
To help illustrate what can go wrong in Social Media, I pieced together 5 Social Media “What Not To Do” Tips so that Businesses can avoid these costly mistakes. These are based on working with my Clients, being active in Social Media and some questions that I have got from our Online seminars.
The 5 Worst Things you can do in Social Media as a Business owner:
- Selling all the time: Social media involves many aspects, the first being you should be social and connecting with people, however that does not mean that you have to constantly be trying to sell something every time. If you have a blog, and all you do is sell things to your readers, you will soon see all your readers disappear because they get tired of it. Imagine meeting someone at a party, then they call you up every few days asking you to buy from them. I am sure you would soon block their number (I know I would)
- Ignoring your Users: Using the blog example once again, you have people who are going to your blog regularly (hopefully). It is highly important that you keep in touch with the people that frequent your website. This can be in the form of a regular posting every Thursday or having them sign up for a Newsletter so you can stay in touch weekly with them with even more tips. The idea is to stay Front of Mind.
- Targeting the wrong niche market: It is very important that you target the right people to your Social Platforms so it’s a match between your product/service and customer. For example, if you are a Mechanic on Facebook, discuss the types of cars you work on such as Chevy or Ford. Stay focused on that Market and , as the Mechanic, don’t start blogging about your new favourite Restaurant, unless it deals with cars some how. Stay on one Path.
- Using the right social media platform: Are you using the right platform for your business? There are a lot of choices out there to choose from when it comes to social media such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest and many others? Take the time to figure out what system covers your Audience Market the best or you will be spending too much time on Platforms that will not bring you more business. As an Example, if you are a knitter, you will most likely find that most of your audience is on Facebook and Pinterest. There would be no need to join Twitter or LinkedIn for that Business type. Focus your Energy where you Audience resides. It will pay off.
- Not using social media at all: This is an interesting one. I have met businesses that still feel that Social Media will not end up with a Return on Investment for their Time (ROI). Here is my comment on that: The World Wide Web reaches millions of people, and any business that does not take advantage of it, is truly missing a golden opportunity. Just imagine all the customer contact you are missing out on from the sharing, commenting, and searching that goes on in these Platforms. Did you know that Facebook and Twitter are in the top 5 of all the Search engines for people looking up things? Google is number one of course. Social Media is here to stay. It’s time to figure out where you want to set up Camp.
Social media can be a great Marketing tool for your Business or it can be a double edged sword that can do more harm than good. Use social media effectively and you will reap the rewards. Use it poorly, and people will go elsewhere.
If you are stuck or don’t know where to go next, and want to learn how to use Social Media properly, consider hiring our services to get you on track and up to speed, or using our 1-on-1 Coaching that will get your Platforms and Businesses to the next level in Social Media, attracting new clients and being profitable. For more information and a no obligation quote, contact us at sales@thesocialmediabreakthrough.com or call us at 1-888-634-1465. We are here to help.