How can you use Social Media when Networking?

Posted on September 14, 2015December 11, 2016 by Katie Nutt

Social media and networking are the two subjects thrown around in business. Should you or shouldn’t you do it? Personally SMF says YES! Why wouldn’t you? You are opening your business up to more and more people and allowing your business to grow. But how can you use the two together?

How to grow your Social Media through Business Networking?

There are five steps that I follow when networking to ensure that I use social media to increase my reach, and once in the habit of doing so it is rather simple.

Five Steps to Increase your Social Media Reach:

Look at where you are going networking? Find the name of the group, then find them on Twitter or Facebook.
The next is a little obvious. Tweet, make a nice comment and mention the event/group name. E.g. ‘Looking forward to networking in the morning with some great businesses at BNI Telford! @BNITelford’. I generally do this the day before if the meeting is in the morning, or in the morning if the event is later on in the day.
While at the event make note of the businesses there. Do you know anyone already? From here you can find them on Twitter, Facebook and Linked In once back in the office. Follow, Like and Connect.
For the people who you knew at the event, tweet, tag or private message them to say how nice it was to see them at the event you attended.
Create a general message to say that you have been to such event. **TOP TIP ALERT** Take a photo of a speaker or of the meeting in full swing. Add this to your tweet or post and don’t forget to mention where you went. E.g. @BNITlford.

By doing this you are not only talking to the people in the room but to your followers on your social media too. If you do this for each event you will create credibility and a strong position in the networking world, as well as upping your social media profile.

Make Networking Work for your Small Business!

EXTRA TIP! Ensure to connect with all that you meet whilst networking. This will enable the growth of followers, encourage conversation both online and in person, slowly ‘up’ your profile whilst networking and increase the engagement on Twitter, Facebook and Linked In.

Much Love,

Social Media Fanatic XO

What are your Expectations from Social Media for your Business?

Posted on August 14, 2015December 11, 2016 by Katie Nutt

There are many ways that social media can benefit your business and in this day and age it is essential that you embrace it to it’s full potential – you’d be a fool not too. But what should you expect from it?

What do you Expect from your Social Media for your Small Business?

This is the burning question and if I had a £1.00 for every time someone offered to pay commission then I wouldn’t be sat here writing this. I’d be on a beach in an exotic climate, enjoying a Pina Colada.

Social Media can Benefit your Business in Many Ways!

I say this to many people, the less you expect the better the outcome will be and I still stick to this. However you may want sales (we all do) but you need to ensure you a have your marketing circle in full swing to see the full potential of social media for your business.

Expect Less, Gain More with your Social Media for Small Businesses!

What do I mean by this? Well you can have social media (Facebook & Twitter etc) but if you don’t go networking, do your email marketing campaigns and use ever PR opportunity to get out there, it makes your social media presence pretty much irrelevant. No one knows about your business and this makes it 10 times hard to gain social media success.

What can you Expect from a Social Media Profile?

But what can you expect from a social media profile? This is hard to pinpoint but the one thing you should always remember is it is NOT a sales platform! Don’t expect direct sales. You can get leads, yes. Sales, no!

The best way to implement a Twitter profile or Facebook Page is to use it as an extended PR platform. Share what your business is doing, where are you going to be, news, relevant information relating to your business, facts and figures and links to your website. In other words ‘show off’ that you are the expert in your field and the go to person.

If people can recognise your business due to your social media profile then you’re doing a pretty good job. If you can up your website hits, again a job well done. If you are doing this, your social media IS working for your business. It may not look like sales, but it in the long run the benefits will come and be amazing.

I hope that helps you lovely people understand the insider’s thoughts to social media for business….

MUCH LOVE,

SOCIAL MEDIA FANATIC XO.

Your Business, Your Personality and Your Social Media!

Posted on June 5, 2015December 11, 2016 by Katie Nutt

For you people who have personal social media accounts and social media accounts for your business, that is great. We all need to keep things seperate from our personal life when it comes to work, else we would never switch off. But what people miss is adding a little personality into their social media accounts for their business.

How to Make your Small Business Social Media have Personality:

Many people will say I like to keep things seperate, but to what extent should you do this?

Adding a Little Personality into Your Social Media!

When explaining this to people when in the midst of training, I put it in simple terms: ‘People buy into your business because of you and what your business believes in, so for your social media presence you should think to emphasise these points through your personality’.

Quite often the penny will drop after saying this…. So I suppose that question you have is: ‘How do you do this in a professional manner’?

There a few ways without being overpowering!

Improve your Following and Reach on Social Media for your Small Business:

Firstly, encourage conversation with other users. This will not only improve your following and reach, but you then give off an approachable feel to other users on Twitter, Facebook or Linked In. It doesn’t have to take up a lot of time or eat into your day either. Simply set 10-20 minutes each morning or evening to do just this – it will make the world of difference to your social media presence.

Secondly, what does your profile say about you? This applies more to Twitter than any other site. People tend to read your Bio before following. If it is standard, boring and lifeless it won’t attract users. However, if you simply add a sentence in at the end giving you a little personality it will become more attractive. For Example:

As you can see from mine the last sentence gives my profile a small identity….

What is your Brand on Social Media?

Lastly, just make a note to yourself: how do you want your profile to appear to your users? Do you want it to be motivational, educational, humorous or straight to point. It could be a mixture. Once you have decided what you want it to be, then you need to be persistent with this and get your followers to expect and want to read what you put out there!

Oh and there is never any harm in making people smile with some lovely pictures!

How can you Grow your Audience on Facebook?

Posted on May 11, 2015December 11, 2016 by Katie Nutt

I wanted to talk to you about Facebook. Recently many people have mentioned to me how their Facebook Page has came to a stand still. They aren’t receiving any new likes and their content is not getting the reach it should. Why is this and how can we overcome this issue?

How to Grow your Facebook Audience…

A question that I have asked myself on many occasions. Facebook is great, it really is and when used in the right manner along with great content and management, a business can honestly thrive through a Facebook community.

Paying for Facebook Advertising!

They are a business themselves and as any business they look at many ways to make revenue. A way of gaining some is through other businesses and getting them to pay for advertising. Many will see this as a scary thought, admittedly I did at first, but your Page can thrive from a small budget, along with excellent content and ad management!

To entice users to pay for this service they have cut down on the allowance of people they show posts from business Pages. On average they show around 6-8% of the Page following, so if you have a Page with 200 Likes then you’ll have around 12 to 16 organic post reach on every post, which isn’t great.

Finding your Target Audience on Facebook…

Facebook has been extremely clever in doing this, some may call it sneaky. However, I feel we should look at it as a favour to which they have done for us! Using their targeted demographics allows you to hit the people who have the most relevance to your post or page, equalling in more of the right people finding your business. This may cost you a few pound, but it is well spent when hitting your direct target audience.

In answer to the question, there is no other way than paying. However, please don’t be put off by this. It can be cheap and very effective for any business and isn’t something to shy away from.

Much Love, Kate XO.

How can Social Media add the Little Extras’ to your Business?

Posted on April 24, 2015December 11, 2016 by Katie Nutt

Many people will say that they see social media as a waste of time for their business. That could be that they don’t have the time to do anything on their accounts, or they don’t want to pay for someone to manage it on their behalf. What they don’t realise is you can add extra value to your business through your social media, but HOW?

Use Social Media to Add the Little Extras to your Business!

Well to be honest it is fairly obvious and when a business can learn and see the value that social media can add, they will snap that opportunity up!

Depending on the industry you are in will determine the social sites that work well for you, the time that is needed to be spent on them, the benefits it has and of course the little extras it can add to your customers.

Benefits from using Social Media for your Business…

One of the most of important ‘extras’ it can add and potential benefit is your business is contactable 24/7. Now some may see that as a negative, but from the customers point of view you are easy to contact to ask questions that need answering. People like this, and as the world is turning ‘social’, if you aren’t on social media in one way or another you will lose out on business.

Example 1: You may have a business that works on subscriptions or memberships. Facebook is great for this as you can create private groups. What does this mean? As an extra of being a member you get access to a ‘Private Facebook Group’. Here you can post tips, links and create a little community of members where ideas can be shared. This may take a little of time in beginning, but the benefits would be great for members and your business.

Example 2: If you are a café, B&B, restaurant, hotel, spa etc. you will find that many people will find out about you on social media, and also use it to see what others have said. Again people like this as it is easy and convenient for them to look your business up on Facebook or Twitter. Having a good presence on social media will make your account easier to find and for people to see what a great business you have!

It is essential that your accounts are set up correctly, with all your relevant information filled in. Why? Well it may be a place where potential customers and existing ones go to check something. For example: they may want to see your opening times, or a sample of your menu, or they may need a phone number. If it is all on your social media you have made their life a little easier, giving them a little extra!

There are many more reason why it is so important to have a presence on social media and how it can add extra value to your business. These are just a few, but if you go away with one thing from this blog post: ensure all your accounts are set up correctly for customers and potential ones to use to their advantage, giving them a little ‘extra’!

MUCH LOVE,

SOCIAL MEDIA FANATIC XO