SEO Hosting Blog

By now, there’s a pretty good chance your company has built an active social media presence. Whether your company is now Tweeting, interacting on Facebook, blogging, or doing anything else social, it’s a good idea to have a policy in place to create standards for how social media will be used within your company.

Why is it so important to create a corporate social media policy? Here are 4 good reasons.

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Before we get started, let me just say one thing. I’m not here to tell you how to use Twitter. There are countless ways you can use Twitter for business purposes, and there is no such thing as a single “right way” to Tweet.

However, if you’re using Twitter for any sort of brand building purposes, there is a simple rule I think is very helpful to follow. I call it the “Who cares?” test.

Before you send out a Tweet, look at its content and ask yourself “Who cares?” Will your followers actually be interested in the Tweet? Is it something that’s useful, entertaining, or valuable to them in some form or fashion?

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As more and more businesses are hopping on the social networking bandwagon, it seems like a day doesn’t go by without me seeing a print ad, banner ad, email message, or some other promotional piece from a company urging me to “Like” them on Facebook. And of the hundreds of companies that have asked me to “Like” them on Facebook, guess how many I’ve actually “Liked.”

Zero.

And I know I’m not alone. How many businesses do you “Like” on Facebook? I’m guessing very few.

Why is that?

The problem boils down to a simple lesson we’re all taught in Marketing 101. If the user doesn’t get a benefit from taking the action, they won’t do what you want them to do. Simply saying “Like us on Facebook” doesn’t offer any incentive for your customers to take that action. What do they have to gain by logging onto Facebook and “Liking” your business?

If you’re serious about getting fans for your business’ Facebook page, you have to give people a reason to “Like” you.

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A lot of businesses are still trying to feel out just how to use Twitter to build their brand. And while I’m not one of those people who believes there’s only one right way to use Twitter, I think we can all agree that there are mistakes businesses can make that can severely hamper their social media marketing efforts.

Here are 5 dumb things businesses do on Twitter.

1. Argue with customers—Not everyone is going to like you. Especially if you’re a bigger brand with decent name recognition. There will be people who say negative things about your company or who use Twitter as a forum to complain about an experience they’ve had with you. Never get into arguments with customers on Twitter. It’s unprofessional. If you do respond to something negative someone says, do so in a polite, helpful manner with an apology or an offer to correct the situation.
2. Follow anyone and everyone—If you follow a ton of people, you’ll end up with a clogged up Twitter stream that you just can’t keep up with. More importantly, someone who follows 20,000 people and only has 100 followers looks like a spammer. Choose who you follow carefully. Make sure it’s people you’re truly interested in and who are right for your brand.
3. Only Tweet links to their own blog/website—Yes, Twitter can be a good tool for driving traffic back to your website, but that doesn’t mean that you should only Tweet links to your own stuff. I like to share things I think my followers will find interesting, no matter where it comes from. This helps to position you as a true resource, and it shows your followers that you’re not just a shameless self-promoter.
4. Have no personality—Too many companies are stuffy and corporate with their Twitter presence. In other words, they’re boring. And when it comes to Twitter, being boring is the worst thing you can be. Don’t be afraid to have a personality. It adds a personal touch to your Twitter account, helping people truly connect with you.
5. Not track company mentions—If you’re on Twitter, you should be tracking all mentions of your company. You can set alerts so that any time someone Tweets something about your company, you know about it. This helps you stay on top of the conversation so you can react quickly to manage the conversation.

What are some mistakes your business has made on Twitter?

When you’re first getting started with building a blog or website there are many challenges that you will need to overcome in order to find success. In most cases learning new skills are required in order to overcome these challenges. As with most things, it takes time to master new talents. But extra time is something that many people don’t have. I’m sure that you’re not excluded from this. So what can you do to overcome these challenges when you don’t have extra time to learn new skills?

One answer that comes to mind is hiring someone to help you. That’s an obvious solution. But if you’re like many of the people who share your interests with blogging or website development, then investing money into your project isn’t an option. Many people turn to the Internet for alternative solutions towards generating income. In most cases there simply isn’t a budget for hired help.

So what can you do when you don’t have extra time to learn new skills or extra money to hire help? An idea that you might find helpful would be to exchange services with other people. This is something that I do frequently. First, you must identify the skills that you have and then identify the things that you need help with. Often I ask people to help me with writing. In exchange for someone’s writing services I usually offer to help with programming, graphic design or web building. You might wonder why I would ask for help with writing since I am capable of doing that myself. I’m an author here on this blog, so why would I need help with writing?

In my case the reason is because of time. It takes me a long time to formulate my thoughts into words. In fact, it takes much longer than it would compared to creating a graphic or website template. The people I help don’t know how to create graphics or website templates. They are, however, excellent writers. And fast ones too! So the exchange works perfectly. I help them by doing something I am really good at and they help me doing something they are really good at. The result ends successfully for both myself and the person I am helping.

After reading this, think about some things that you can do to help others. The things that you’re good at doing, other people might not know how to do. The things that they are good at, you might not know how to do. Start things off by sending an email to your friends and let them know about a few things you need help with. Mention that you want to coordinate with them and help them in exchange for helping you. Tell them about the skills you have, and ask them to list out a few things that they would like your help with in return. You will be amazed with the responses and with how much you can get done when you involve other people in your project. The great part about this is while you’re working to achieve success, you’re also helping your friends do the same.