by winstonbromley | Jun 10, 2014 | Social Media
As a person who loves and enjoys social media for it’s innate ability to connect us to people and events, which we could never have done so even just a few years ago, I wanted today to talk to you about a topic dear to my heart. It’s a strange but very real phenomenon that has occurred within the past few years with the rise of Smartphones being tied to our hips and wrists and almost everything we do. When our phones bing with texts and we answer it the second it happens, or we check out tweet or Facebook timelines every 10 minutes, this begs the question. With all of technologies advances in the past few years, does technology bring us closer to each other or further apart?
My answer to that is that both are correct. We live in a world where the gift of “social media” is that we can discuss, rate, help, contemplate, learn and talk in mere seconds/minutes/hours on new things happening throughout the world. However, we also live in a world where living in the “present” is being “assisted” by technology.
There is concept that is called Fear of Missing Out, or FOMO for short. This is the idea that most of us using our smartphones and technology are glued to what others are saying on the social media platforms, and have this need to check in as often as humanly possible, just in case we miss something good. As humans, and curious people, we hate to think we missed something good. Naturally, we do this as a way to feel connected to our “friends” online that we follow and Like, and Pin. It makes us feel good. Some people have mentioned that they see their real friends more often online via Facebook, Twitter, etc than they do in just getting together in person.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I am part of this group and have willingly jumped in, as have you, to be part of my own experiences online as well as finding out about my connections, brands I follow and friends and their latest exploits detailed online. However, I do believe you need a BALANCE in life and go and meet, in my case, business leads and contacts you meet online. I use social media to start the process, and finish in person.
What I wanted to share in this post, from a Social Media insider, is that sometimes, we just need 2 things in our lives to achieve a good balance online:
1. UNPLUG and be ok with it. Don’t be afraid of missing out on something you missed online. Like a detox in real life, I have Unplugged myself when I find I need to re-charge my “batteries”. No cellphone, no social media, no texts sometimes for 1 day or longer just so I can be present with my family and my life.
2. Take the conversation OFFLINE and TALK to that person via the phone or in person. It’s amazing the amount of friendships and connections I have built up over the years with this tip.
Don’t buy into FOMO. Buy into real connections and being present.
My 2 cents…
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by winstonbromley | Mar 26, 2013 | Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Social Media, Social Media Management, Social Media Tools
Social media is a great tool to use in order to communicate with people that already follow you and to help find prospective consumers of your product or service. With the help of Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin and more, there are many ways you can grow your business and reach a new unexplored consumer base. Social media gives you multiple platforms that expose you directly to the consumer and enables them to give you valuable information regarding your product or service. In order to be successful in today’s business environment, you must have a presence on social media. That’s a given. However, in order to assure consistency throughout all social media platforms, it is very important (even crucial) to have all your social media accounts leading back to one place. I called it the “Hub”.
Think of an airport. All the flights fly into one place however they all originally started from another location. This “hub” could be your Blog, your Company website, or whatever you fancy, but it should be where all your traffic merges. You may be bringing people back to your site to read a new article or discuss a new service or product or it may be showing people pictures of your services/products. Whatever it is, the end game is to always bring people back to this main “Hub”. By doing this consistently, people will start remembering your brand better as they get repeated exposure to it, what you do, and why they should be using you over everyone else. By keeping it simple, all of the main material on one site, you won’t split the attention of your prospects.
As an example, if you posted a new article that discusses a topic in your Business, it is best to have it on your Company blog. That way, you can use Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin and the other social platforms independently to drive those followers/friends back to one location to funnel the traffic to where you want them to be… on your site. It is also a great way to build up links back to your site and demonstrate social proof to the search engines (yes that is becoming a major factor in ranking) that your site pages should be ranked better. (Just a side note, when people land on your site, it should ideally be with some call-to-action such as Subscribe to my newsletter, Buy Now, Follow me, as you will get the most traction and more subscribers in your list by doing so).
Having one hub for your business will make it easier for you to find and develop relationships with prospective clients that are interested in your product or service as you will always be adding to your site and those that have visited before, could also return for each posting. Another side effect is that it will also help with search engine optimization using the newer part of their ranking algorithim for social proof.
If used properly, social media platforms can add so much to your business by having one central Hub. Your one Hub will help brand your Company more effectively online and allow people to automatically identify your brand to a certain product, service or post.
Are you already using your website as the “hub” of your Social Media marketing?
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by winstonbromley | Oct 18, 2012 | Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Social Media, Social Media Management, Social Media Tools
Social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn have taken over the world by storm, connecting people in ways that no one ever thought possible. There are many different types of people that use LinkedIn and access its benefits in the best ways possible, and this has quickly become a great tool for those seeking to expand their personal professional networks to others who they may only know from afar.
What is great about the success of these social media outlets, is that anyone can sign up for a profile and start meeting people, even companies. With the new LinkedIn Company Pages, companies now have the ability to make connections to others via the social network that wasn’t available a while back.
Getting a company page is akin to making a page on Facebook; both are meant to outsource a person, brand, or products availability in a way that is convenient and conducive to finding out more information. LinkedIn has created a way to share a company’s information on its site, versus the personal profile layout of the majority of its visitors.
The LinkedIn Company Pages allow companies to express their brand through pictures that they might not have the ability to share otherwise. This is invaluable since the internet is really about instant gratification and pictures can many times speak for themselves (I am looking at you Pinterest!). It also allows companies to showcase what they have to offer, such as being able to quickly give a customer the ability to scan what it is that you offer in a hands-off, non-intrusive way. This quickly builds a customer rapport on a level that regular advertising does not. These pages allow a company to highlight what’s important and keeps their followers up to date.This allows for a connection to the individual in a way that companies in the past could never even dream of!
People all over the world connect to each other every day through social media. Now, with the revised LinkedIn Company Pages, even companies can connect to their customers at the base level like never before through status updates, pictures, highlights, and comments. Companies are now able to interact directly with the people who are buying their product, supporting their brand, and who have questions. Although similar only in idea as a Facebook company page, companies can now interact so closely with their consumers like they can through LinkedIn Company Pages as LinkedIn is more about doing business and connecting, whereas Facebook is about sharing information.
Well done, LinkedIn.
by winstonbromley | Sep 6, 2012 | Facebook, Klout, Pinterest, QR codes, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Social Media, Social Media Management, Social Media Tools, Twitter
Here is a secret that I want to give to you that I give to my clients that I train about Social Media Marketing techniques. As with a lot of other Companies out there, my clients are working on developing, implementing or adding in social media strategies to leverage social media in order to get results. We put a plan into place and I walk them through step-by-step how to attract more clients and increase profits using Social Media.
The number one thing that I see with a lot of Companies these days is to only rely on Social Media platforms to be their main “website” platform of information. This is a mistake. It really is, for a number of reasons.
I have always cherished the statement “You get what you pay for” and it is relevant in many avenues.
I am a huge believer in Social Media Marketing and what it can do for businesses. Social Media works and it works well. Having been part of the web business for over 17 years now with building sites, I have seen it all.
Here is what I want to tell you:
Facebook (or any other Social Media setup – Pinterest, Twitter, Linkedin, Google+ etc) should NEVER be your main website platform.
Here is why….
1. You are ALWAYS playing in some one else’s sandbox: If Facebook wants to change your layout of your site when they want, they do and you end up with Timelines (I am a fan by the way). LinkedIn is now updating their Company pages and this will again upset people who have spent time and effort crafting the perfect look and feel to their site. With your own main website, you are in Control. No “social media handcuffs”.
2. The Social Media Platform owns the content that you upload: When you upload content to ANY of these sites, make sure you read their Terms. On Facebook, they own all the content so you really are just “leasing” a space from them and then can remove it at any time. That isn’t the best business model, right?
3. Everything goes in phases: Remember MySpace? It was Facebook 5 years ago and now it’s almost embarassing to be on there. Social platforms go in and out and granted, Facebook is very strong, but just like the Roman Empire, it will not last forever.
4. Google and other Search engines will not benefit your Social Platforms as they will your Website: Granted, search engines will still index your information IF the social platform allows it, however you will generally only have 1 page that is indexed versus many from the website you run.
5. A Place to call Home Base: By having your own website (a full website hosted on a paid service – not a free service), you can control all of your content and all of your information. Make this the place to lead ALL of your social platforms to. This is where you want clients and customers to come to. Facebook is great for interactions as is Pinterest and Twitter, but in the end, if you want true ongoing sales, you have to bring them back to your website. Always.
I want to ensure that your online business continues to do well with Social Media. If you already have your Facebook page, and all other items but do not have a site yet, please consider setting it up as the main place for people to land.
One last note: This doesn’t mean in any way that you stop using Social Media. I recommend to use it all the time, profitably however when you use Social Media combined with a solid website strategy, you will yield the best results.
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by winstonbromley | Jul 24, 2012 | Google+, Social Media, Social Media Management, Social Media Tools
{EAV:325b878b30a844a4}Social media is all about coming together and having a way to talk, find friends, and share everything. There are many ways to connect with the world around us through this still relatively new media, but one that has made heads turn is Google+. It is an interesting and attractive social media website that makes everything easy to understand and find out. Just like many other websites, it is in a constant state of change, upgrading and adding more each time. The brand new events feature from Google+ is an excellent example of their change for the better.
Social Media EVENT using Google+: Winston Bromley Social Media Marketer
Many may know of Facebook events, but this is a step up from there. You have additions like the live broadcast, which allows a person in a particular event to see the updates of everyone else in it. This makes for better managing and control of it all, as well as the ability to keep up on all incoming information. Events need to be watched and planned, and, with the ability to see everything as it happens, that is more than possible with the new Google plus events.
When you set up events, you want to get the word out as quickly and easily as possible. Using online websites like Google plus has become the best way to do so. People are capable of sending the invitations out to everyone at once and the invited will be able to say whether they are going. This provides the event creators with a solid head count, making the event that much more manageable. You can also list all of the facts and information to go with the events, as well as edit and change them as you go.
What sets Google plus apart from the Facebook events is that it has more features. One that really stands out is the live broadcast, which allows event goers to see what others in the event are saying and doing. Sharing information between every person is the best way to monitor everyone and ensure it goes off with as few problems as possible. Being able to view what one person says, regardless of whether they are added to your friend lists, will let everyone know what to expect. This does help the event creator immensely because they are more capable of knowing what everyone is planning and up to, giving them the opportunity to better manage the event itself, add in updates and images, but it is also greatly beneficial for those just going. There is a lot to know with large events, making the sharing of information and communication necessary. Live broadcast makes that an easy task, one Facebook events cannot match.
Proper planning and communication make every event a successful one. Just letting everything happen as it happens opens you up for mistakes, possibly even a ruined day or night. With the new events feature from Google plus, you can be sure that whatever you are planning happens as it is supposed to happen. With a stream that allows you to view everything other event goers are saying and doing, you know what to expect. You are more in touch with the people and what is happening, allowing everything to fall into place and work as it should.
What do you think? Of course to make this happen, you need to be signed into your Google+ account. But why wouldn’t you be? 😉
Winston Bromley
www.WinstonBromley.com