How to Get Backlinks to Your Site (Quickly and Easily)

26 Ways to Use Social Media for Lead Generation by Debbie Hemley

Is your business looking for leads?

As enticing as the saying is, “If you build it, they will come,” we all know that just because we build a social media presence, people don’t magically start knocking down our door.

Instead, we need to encourage people to come to our social pages and once they’re there, we have to create enough value for them to hang around. And through these repeated exchanges, casual users can become regular visitors as well as valuable leads.

In previous posts, I’ve written A-Z guides to help create the absolute best presence onTwitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and blogs. Now let’s turn our attention to harnessing the power of those efforts for lead generation.

#1: Assets

As part of your social media marketing plan, Michelle deHaaff suggests that companies examine social media and online assets to see what they can leverage for full social media engagement. She identifies seven key assets: location, people, stories, images, video, audio and words to help us think about engaging more fully.

#2: Brand Message

Ethan Lyon suggests that users want to identify with a brand. He offers Nike’s identity as an example, “Customers buy Nike because the brand gives them the confidence to succeed—much like an effective coach.” What is your brand message? What should users know about you? Can they tell that from what you’re posting?

#3: Compelling Messages

Use compelling messages throughout your communications. Craft messages that users can relate to and won’t be able to resist. These are generally the messages that speak like real people and not marketing spin. Below is an example from Pogue’s Post.

David Pogue uses a conversational tone and a bit of humor to drive home a point from Pogue's Post.

#4: Differentiations

Because there’s a tremendous amount of competition vying for consumers’ attention in the social media arena, businesses that can differentiate themselves will stand out and get noticed. Zappos Service Twitter page shows how to make it friendly and feel like you’re hanging out with a good friend. Create remarkable content.

http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=8364&message=1

Zappos employees tell you when they're signing off and when they're leaving for the night.

#5: Etiquette

Michelle Golden recommends in her book Social Media Strategies for Professionals and Their Firms to practice good etiquette. “Definitely don’t write about and link only to your stuff. Instead, go out of your way to promote others liberally.”

#6: Feedback

Users who write comments and ask questions appreciate receiving feedback. Make it a regular practice to take time to respond.

A fan poses a question on Social Media Examiner's Facebook page and Cindy King responds with a timely answer and directs the fan to a link.

#7: Google

Remember that the social media updates you post via your blog, Facebook page, tweets and YouTube channel appear in search results, too. The person searching is an active user looking for information, and bringing the user to your pages is an excellent way to get in front of potential customers.

A person looking for sources for how to choose a paint color would find blog posts and videos. This person is looking for help and the companies have provided advice and solutions. The companies have found ways to get in front of potential customers.

#8: Help a Reporter Out

Companies are often looking for ways to share experiences that might be referenced in blog posts and articles. You don’t have to be a big company to get picked up for a story.

Sign up for Help a Reporter Out and when you have a story to share on a topic, offer the information to the reporter. HARO is one good way to spread information and gethigh-quality, free publicity for your business. Keep your eyes open for other ways to distribute information about your business with social media press releases.

HARO serves as a vital social networking resource for sources, reporters and advertisers.

#9: Icons

Social media icons help users share your content and offer ways for people to like your content. Likes are valuable votes of confidence and go a long way with users who may have come to your site for the first time. Make your content easy to share.

#10: Joy

In Guy Kawasaki’s new book Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds and Actions, he tells us that achieving trustworthiness will go a long way for a business. People want to do business with companies and people they can trust. And sometimes it means that we may end up giving our time or some kind of service that we’re not compensated for. Guy suggests that we give with joy.

#11: Knowledge-sharing

Share your knowledge freely in blog posts and white papers. Some businesses are afraid they’ll give away all of their secrets. Your knowledge is a valuable asset; don’t be afraid to share what you know.

HubSpot's inbound Internet marketing blog regularly shares the blogger's personal experiences in marketing and is very generous about sharing tips.

#12: Leverage Content Products

Jeff Bullas recommends using 7 content products for marketing: social media, e-newsletters, blogs, white papers, article marketing, case studies and online videos.

Use a good mix of content, because not all users will read a case study or watch an online video. You’ll increase your odds of being seen by more people by using a mix of content products.

#13: Monitor Conversations

Monitor conversations about your brand and competitors. There are many social media listening tools that will help you keep a pulse on what’s being talked about. The more you know, the more responsive you can be.

#14: Nobodies Are the New Somebodies

One of the most serious mistakes we can make is to pass up a potential lead because we don’t perceive the company or person to be a valuable lead. As Guy Kawasaki says, “Nobodies are the new somebodies in the world of wide-open communications.”Treat everyone with the same attention and respect.

#15: Offline Skills

Online skills don’t have to be inherently different than the way we act offline. Erica Swallow suggests that we use our offline skills and go out there and “Meet people, communicate and build relationships… Be genuine, track conversations and respond to inquiries promptly and thoroughly.”

#16: Produce Content

Not only do we have to produce content, we also have to produce enough of it.HubSpot provides some interesting recommendations: “Businesses must produce enough content for their blog to kick off growth in leads, which starts with about 24 to 51 posts.” HubSpot found that more indexed pages on Google also translate to more leads. They suggest that every 50 to 100 incremental indexed pages can mean double-digit lead growth.

#17: Questions

Lisa Barone recommends that social media marketers should “answer questionsbecause they’re a good way to establish your authority, but also for people to ‘test’ you out.”

#18: Relationships

Lisa Barone also suggests that “social media is an emerging lead generation tool because it lowers the barrier to the sale by building relationships, displaying expertise and through networking you’re able to bring in more people than cold calling ever could.”

#19: Showcase Your Experience

According to Erica Swallow, “The first step to engaging a community of potential customers is sharing content that showcases your expertise. A simple social media update usually isn’t enough to convey a full analysis on a topic. Include links with your updates that expand on key ideas. Keep in mind that your goal is to create value for your followers. Learn what your fans respond to and what they don’t, and then adjust your updates based on that information.”

#20: Target Personas

Buyer personas have been around long before social media hit our radar screens, but marketers have found that having a good picture in mind of the target customer is beneficial in terms of how we write our content.

A blog, for example, can have multiple categories of topics and so you may find that certain categories speak more to certain personas than others. And certain Facebook and Twitter updates may appeal to certain users.

Regardless of how you segment these groups, it’s incredibly beneficial to share target persona information with whoever is developing content for your social media channels.

Before writing, review your persona list to remind yourself whom you're conversing with.

#21: Useful Content

Kristina Halvorson, author of Content Strategy for the Web, says that if our content isn’t supporting the successful fulfillment of our business objectives or our users’ top goals, then it’s a waste of pixels. She suggests adding two columns to a content inventory: value to user and value to business.

#22: Value

Guy Kawasaki says there are three types of value: 1) pointers to useful, inspiring or entertaining content, 2) personal insights, observations or content, 3) advice and assistance. Guy’s recommendation is to pass along these gems to friends and followers to help them derive more value from online resources.

#23: Word of Mouth

The Marqui Web Marketing Blog’s post 6 Ways Social Media Marketing Helps B2B Lead Generation says, “Word of mouth has been, and continues to be, one of the best ways to generate more leads for your business. Buyers tend to trust peer referrals more than any other source of information and since social media allows people to share their experiences (both good and bad) with a wide range of people, this can help increase trust in your company’s products and services.”

#24: Excellence

The Network Singularity blog says “there are 5 C’s to social media excellence:coordination of social media activities, commitment means engaging with your environment and deliberately pursuing social interactions, confidence in your social media activities, comprehension of social media, and cultivation of worthwhile and friendly relationships.”

#25: Yes

Being likable on social media enhances our potential for lead generation. Guy Kawasaki says one way to become likable is to “adopt a yes attitude. This means your default response to people’s requests is yes… By contrast, a no response stops everything… To make a default yes work, you must assume people are reasonable, honest and grateful.”

#26: Zeal

Enthusiasm is contagious. By showing the fervor you have for your business, products and services, and through the content you share on your social media channels, users will be inclined to want to stick around, engage and build a relationship. Reach out and show your enthusiasm.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR, Debbie Hemley

Debbie Hemley is a freelance writer and social media coach. She helps businesses develop and maintain social media content strategies. Follow her on Twitter @dhemley & Facebook. Other posts by Debbie Hemley »

Three Steps For Creating A Happy New Year

Three Steps For Creating A Happy New Year

In this first post of the year, I’d like to share three simple but powerful steps you can use to make 2014 a truly happy and prosperous new year.

Step 1: Don’t Carry Old Thoughts Into The New Year One of biggest problems that holds people back from achieving their most important goals in life is the burden of negative thought. As we move through life each of us is faced with disappointments, negative experiences and failures. However, it’s important to realise that you have the choice to either carry these negative experiences with you, or learn from them and move on. Imagine for a moment that you are pulling a sled and each time you experience a negative situation, you load it onto your sled and carry it with you in the form of negative thought. Over time, the weight of these negative thoughts will increase and eventually it will prevent you from moving forward with your life.

The New Year is a great opportunity to make the decision to unstrap yourself from your burden, let go of your negative thoughts and leave them where they belong – in the past.

Step 2: Set Your Imagination Free Once you have made the decision to let go of the negative thoughts of the past, the next step to creating a truly happy New Year is to give yourself permission to set your imagination free and visualise your ideal future. “The indispensable first step to getting the things you want out of life is this: decide what you want.” – Ben Stein A great way to do this is to close your eyes and project yourself five years into the future and imagine what your life would look like if it was perfect in every way. Think about your… Health: imagine your body being fit, strong and healthy. Relationships: imagine being surrounded by love, laughter and happiness. Financial Situation: imagine being financially secure and doing work you love. Personal Fulfillment: imagine enjoying the hobbies and pastimes you’ve always wanted to pursue. Contribution: imagine giving back, and making a positive contribution to the world around you. A lot of people are reluctant to actually visualize their perfect future because deep down they believe that things never work out perfectly, and they don’t want to imagine their ideal life only to be disappointed by reality. However, olympic athletes, and high achievers in every arena are those who “Dare To Dream” and give themselves permission to imagine and explore their ideal future. The fact is that even if things don’t work out exactly as you imagine, you will still be moving towards your ideal outcome, and will make MUCH more progress than those who never allow themselves to set their imaginations free. As you think about, see and experience your ideal future in your mind’s eye, you will gradually develop a sense of clarity and belief that will compel you to take action. Which brings us to the third step to creating a Happy New Year… Step 3: Schedule Daily Action Having freed yourself from the burden of negative thought, and clarified your vision of the future you want to create, the third step to creating a prosperous New Year is to schedule daily action on your most important goals. All of us already have a daily timetable or schedule made up of the things we need to complete each day. The funny thing is that very few people schedule in daily time to work on their most important goals in life. This is one of the main reasons why so many people fail to achieve their New Year’s Resolutions. When you decide on a specific goal to achieve and lock in a specific time each day to take action on your goal, you’ll greatly increase your chances of success. So today I’d like to encourage you to use these three simple steps to make 2014 your most productive year ever. Resolve to let go of the negative thoughts of the past, clarify your vision of the ideal future you want to create, and schedule time each day to work on your most important life goals.

Cheers,  Brian Kaplan

Start the year by getting customers not traffic,target your customers

Stephanie Staidle

There is a big ol' myth about business that as long as you have a slew of customers coming in, then you'll be rollin' in the dough.

Well, yes, traffic helps, but if it isn't targeted to match your business product, you are wasting money, time, and loads of energy.

Would you rather have a million people coming into your store and only one person buy from you, or 10,000 people entering your store and 1,000 leaving as buying customers?

Honestly, it is better to have LESS traffic that is concentrated to be a good match for your business, than massive 'low-quality' traffic (aka, customers who don't want what you got!). To know how to target customers for your business, you need to get inside the mind of your customer.

Here are 5 questions you must have the answers for, to help you understand your target customers and position your marketing and business brand accordingly:

1. What bothers your customers about their life right now? As a business, you provide a solution to your customers' problems. It is crucial to understand what their problems are! An understanding of what your customers are struggling with will also help you create future products and services to match their needs.

2. What excites your customers more than anything in the world- what is their dream life? Customers will buy from you because your product provides a new possibility for their life. You want your product to assist them in reaching their goals and align with their dreams.

3. What scares them? What keeps them awake at night? Ok, we aren't talking about werewolves. Every potential customer has real, valid fears. If you can understand their fears and create a product with a marketing campaign to address them, your business will have a powerful advantage.

4. What interests them? Where do they hang out? Now that you know more about how you can meet your customers' needs, you need to know where to find them. By understanding their interests, the websites they are on, the books they read, you can target your marketing campaign to areas that are brimming with buyers.

5. What is the #1 problem in their life right now that, if you could solve, they would pay any amount of money? Ah, here is the clincher. As you tune in to your customers' needs, wishes, and fears you can really hit home with an understanding of the kind of solution you can provide that will have them pulling out their credit cards. This isn't meant to be manipulative- as a business you are solving problems and making a difference; however you obviously want to make a profit doing so (otherwise, you wouldn't be a business owner). By gaining an understanding of your target customers' top priorities and the things they are willing to pay money for, you can fine tune your products and marketing campaigns.

In essence, as a business, you need to understand your customer and their story; you should be able to describe them in detail as though they are standing in front of you. In knowing your customer, you can serve them better.

Stephanie Staidle is a personal and professional development coach, an online entrepreneur, and founder of Cloud Renaissance-a website that empowers people to stop settling, live the life of their choosing and be their own boss.