nickyjameson.com — My take on Copywriting,Technology and Social Media.

9 Tips for Using Facebook Pages

by Nicky on August 1, 2010

In my July newsletter I listed 21 tips for using Facebook Pages (or Facebook Fan Pages as they were previously called).I thought I’d share 9 of those tips with you as my latest blog post.

I wrote about Facebook pages for a couple of reasons. The first is I am using one in my offline business with interesting results and some clear takeaways. The biggest being that engagement is the key to success and that setting up a page is the easiest part. The second is that for all the articles written about Facebook pages many entrepreneurs still don’t understand them and even less understand how they can be valuable to their business or how they differ from a Facebook profile. Facebook itself has lots of information about its pages… unfortunately much of it is buried (aka not very easy to find).

I’m far from knowing all there is to know about FB pages. But I thought I’d share a bit about what I do know from the perspective of a different kind of business. So here goes. The following is part of an article I shared in my Copywriting Ezine.

1. Setting up your Facebook page is the easy part. It’s just the beginning.

2. For your page to be successful, you must build your fan base (or your “like” base). Send an email to all your Facebook friends and ask them to “like” your page. You can also use the “suggest” to friends link in the top left-hand side of your page. Tell them what they can expect… tips, how-tos, discounts, offers, etc. Ask them to suggest your page to their friends too.

3. A page is not the same as a Facebook profile.

Pages are for business, profiles are personal and can only have one owner. You can have both a personal profile and a page, but you should use a page for business rather than a profile. Fans don’t have to be your friends to like your page.

4. When you post to your page, you appear as your business name. When you post to your personal profile, you appear as yourself. This is a benefit for those who wish to keep their business and personal profiles separate.

5. Get your vanity URL. You only need 25 fans to get one. It makes your page easy to find in Facebook Search. It also comes up in Google searches. The native Facebook default URL is quite ugly. Getting a vanity URL is a no-brainer.

6. If you currently have thousands of “friends” on Facebook and want to move these over to your page, be prepared for a struggle and the elbow grease. People are unlikely to simply move over; you may need to “incent” them to do so. And keep reminding them that you now have a page and what good things they will receive as a fan of your page. Research says that most people who “like” a fan page do so to receive discounts and special offers as well as to show support. [click to continue…]

Tagged as: facebook pages, social engagement, social media for business, Social Media Marketing, social networking

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9 Ways Offline Businesses can use Twitter to Grow

by Nicky on July 14, 2010

in Small Business Tips, Social Media Marketing

It may seem as if everyone knows about Twitter and Social Media, but this isn’t necessarily so. Many online and offline businesses of all sizes and types, B2B and B2C have never heard of Twitter. And there are also businesses who, while they may have heard of Twitter, have no clue what it is or are confused with all the social media jargon and are unsure how Twitter can benefit their business.

If you have an offline business or serve a business who is yet to use Twitter, here are 9 practical tips on using Twitter to grow your business. They require an investment of time, but cost little or nothing and can pay off in spades for your business.

1. Monitor your industry – type in your industry keywords into Twitter’s search find what people are saying about the industry, trends and more. You can also follow your competitors, see what their followers are saying and they can follow you.

2. Monitor your competitors – Once you open your Twitter account start following people including your competitors. You can follow their tweets and conversations. They can follow yours too, so look at this in the context of sharing rather than simply gathering competitive intelligence.

3. Track conversations about your company – Whether you are taking part in the conversation or not people are probably talking about you somewhere and probably with people they know. Twitter allows you to listen to what’s being said as well as join in. Tracking what’s being said can give you valuable insights.

4. Enhance customer service. Can you use Twitter to help your customers? Try answering the questions most commonly asked by your customers, or address common myths or misconceptions. in real time. This can help create loyal customers.

5. Grow sales. You can grow your sales pipeline simply by being seen as being the place where people find answers. If people are interested in you and trust you, they could become customers and sources of referrals. Be sure to do the same for then.

6. Gain exposure. Does your company have the solution to a pressing problem? Write a useful article and tweet about it on Twitter. Give your followers something educational and entertaining to read and they may re-tweet it to their friends. Don’t forget to also post it on your website that could mean more traffic from Twitter.

7. Tweet your blog posts. These days if you don’t have a business blog you’re nearly invisible. Blogging is an inexpensive way to get found, find new business and get your name out there in a non-intrusive way. You can “tweet” each new blog post from your business blog.

8. Do market research. Want feedback from customers? Add a poll on your website. Use Twitter to invite people to take the poll. Then share the responses via Twitter. Post them on your business blog and don’t forget to tweet that you’ve posted them. Market research doesn’t come much cheaper than this.

9. Launching or re-launching a product or service? Tweet about it to your community. Get them involved in the build-up and they are much more likely to tell their own followers and friends about it.

Whether you are a B2B or B2C offline these are just a few of the ways you can quickly use Twitter as part of your marketing. Take advantage of them.

Have you a tip for using Twitter that’s worked really well for you? Share it here.

Tagged as: Marketing, small business, Social Media Marketing, socialmedia, Twitter

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The Blog or Website or Both – Revisited

by Nicky on June 15, 2010

in Blogging Tips, Online Marketing, Social Media Marketing

Some time back I write an article asking this very question. At the time I had a website and was just starting a blog. Knowing that my website wouldn’t be changing that often and that I enjoyed writing about things besides copywriting my view was that, as a business you should have a website and a blog… so both.

Here’s the post: Should You Have a Website or Blog or Both

My view at that time was that it’s probably best to have both a website and blog. I recently set up another venture and found myself reconsidering the question. Although I set up both a blog and a website – again – I’ve found that, with a little creativity I can make my website less static than it is. Overall most of the content doesn’t change. But I have been able to add articles to my site and this keep my content updated. Meanwhile what to do with the blog?

For now I’ll be adding content and articles… to it though I find myself updating my site more often. This calls for some repurposing.

I got some interesting comments on my original post and thought they were worth re-posting here. For a long time I wavered between having a website and blog combined. I know how powerful blogs can be, and I also know that having a blog is no guarantee of getting tons of traffic. Here’s what Nikki says:

“I started with a website and blog combined. (www.surprisingaustralia.com) and I have decided to separate them. I will move my blog to its own site.

The reasons are;

* They serve different functions and are of interest to different readers.
* The web site needs it’s own focus.
* Unless they are both excellent, or visitors are interested in updates they don’t add anything to each other

For those just starting out, I recommend one or the other. A blog will suit people who want to write at least three times a week and a web site is better for those who don’t. It’s hard enough starting out without too much to update each day.

A bonus from doing this is that you can put links between the sites. This will all help increase your presence on the Internet and your standing with the search engines.

Thanks again for the information.

Thanks to you Nikki. Because this is really spot on, and what I’ve been finding with my new website and blog. The website has its own focus. And as any business owner knows, constantly updating content on a blog can be challenging. I certainly don’t have time to blog three times a week or more now. Yet if you don’t update your blog with some frequency it can become dated pretty quickly.

My website isn’t corporate (and not every business website is simply because it’s a website rather than a blog) however it does serve a purpose. As much as I love blogging I don’t think a blog would have done quite the same thing.

(It’s not Copywriting Studio by the way).

Another thing to remember is that the decision to have a website and/or blog can depend on your business. Not every service necessarily lends itself to chatting around the water-cooler. But if your audience does want to talk and is interested in what you have to say on a blog it’s a plus and worth engaging.

I am certainly finding Nikki’s insights are resonating with me at the moment.

You still have to have a strategy and plan for your blog. You also have to put in the time to build it, and link it to the various social networks. But if you have a way of adding content regularly to your site you can almost do the same thing… then just use the blog as another way to help your search engine efforts.

Thanks to everyone who commented on the original post. Feel free to share your comments here too.

Tagged as: blogging, seo, Social Media Marketing, website content

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