Favourite Five For May

29 Tuesday May 2012

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A little while ago (okay, a long while ago) Favourite Five For… was a semi-regular feature on this here blog. Starting from today, I’m bringing it out of retirement. In the last week of each month, you can expect to see a round up of my five favourite social media links/stories that I’ve come across during that month – a long with a little bit of commentary about them.

So, without further ado, here are my favourite five for May.

Facebook Addiction: New Scale Gauges Social Media Dependency 

We’ve long known that social media can be just as addictive as cigarettes. Recently, researchers at a Norwegian university have developed a scale to measure the extent of Facebook addiction in individuals. They believe that younger people and women are most at risk.

60 Proven Ways to Generate Unlimited Article Writing Ideas

If you’ve been running a blog for any length of time, you’ll know that it can sometimes be difficult to stay inspired. If you’re looking for a way to generate new and exciting ideas, you’ll probably find this article very helpful…

5 Ways Pepsi’s Use of Social Media is Right On

Pepsi is a huge and very interesting brand, and this case study is really in depth. It’s great to have some insight into how the brand have managed to gain and maintain a Facebook fan base of 8,181,075.

5 Things to Look for When Hiring Social Media Interns

Whether you’re thinking about hiring social media interns or permanent staff members – this article suggests five things to look for in applicants. This is very sensible advice that will hopefully help you avoid some common mistakes.

Blogger Outreach

Okay, so this one is cheating a bit. Click on this one link and you’ll actually find three articles… but they’re part of a series so I hope you’ll let me off. In these articles Nicola Balkind (a very clever friend of mine) offers advice and guidance on the subject of blogger outreach. A valuable read!

Facebook Page Admins; A Few FAQs

22 Tuesday May 2012

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If I had to choose the social media items I get asked about most… the Facebook page admin system would be very high on my list. Personally, I think the system Facebook uses for this is great, but it can take a little while to get your head round, especially if you’re not a big Facebook user yourself.

I thought that I’d address a few Facebook page admins FAQs here on the blog.

FAQ #1 – Can I log in directly to a Facebook page?

In short, no. Facebook pages do not have direct log in details. Instead, to access a Facebook page you have to log in to Facebook with a personal account, and that personal account needs to be an administrator of the page you want to access. Some people choose to use ‘fake’ personal accounts to administrate pages – but Facebook is not a fan of this approach. (And for what it’s worth – neither am I!)

FAQ #2 – If I administrate a page with my personal account, will people who ‘like’ the page be able to see my personal details?

Again, no! By default, Facebook makes the administrators of a page secret. You can administrate a page without there being any public record either to the people who ‘like’ the page, or to your personal Facebook friends. You can choose to feature yourself as an administrator on a Facebook page – but this is something you opt into. It’s also worth mentioning here that when you administrate a page, the other people who administrate the same page do not have any access to your personal account if you are not already Facebook friends with them.

FAQ #3 – What if the staff member who originally created the page leaves our organisation?

Often, organisations use ‘fake’ personal accounts rather than the genuine personal accounts of their staff to manage their Facebook pages as they are worried about an individual staff member who might leave ‘owning’ their page. This isn’t an issue. New administrators can be added to a page, and older administrators can be removed. Even the person who originally created the page can be removed as the administrator – which is really useful to know if they leave the organisation. In this way, Facebook pages can be passed from old staff members to new staff members.

FAQ #4 – Can you have more than one administrator on a page?

Yes, you can and should. For security reasons I recommend having at least two administrators on every Facebook page. I recommend this because if a personal Facebook account is deleted or suspended for any reason, sometimes when it gets reinstated it is no longer connected to the pages it administrates. I worked with a client once who had temporarily deleted her personal Facebook account. When she reactivated it, her account was no longer an administrator of her business page. Because there were no other administrators of the page… it had become administrator-less and no one had any access to update it. To avoid a situation like this, my advice is to always have a second administrator. This means that if anything does happen to the account of the main administrator – all access is not lost.

FAQ #5 – We’ve made a personal account on Facebook for our organisation on Facebook, and we’ve got loads of fans. Should we have a page instead?

Okay, so this one isn’t specifically about administrators… but it is a question I’ve been asked a lot. The answer is that yes, you should. Facebook pages are designed to be used by organisations, whereas profiles aren’t. Because of this, there are a number of key reasons why pages are better for organisations. Firstly – because you don’t have to accept a friend request for someone to connect with you. This means that a Facebook user who is interested in your organisation can connect and instantly start receiving your updates, without having to wait for you to do anything. Secondly – and this is a big one – when you have a personal account instead of a page for your business; you’re asking a lot of people when they choose to connect with you. If you are using a personal account, you are expecting Facebook users to become your friend and make all their personal details available to you. If you’re using a page, they can connect without you as an organisation having access to their personal data. If you have made this mistake, all is not lost. In the last year Facebook have introduced the option to convert a personal account into a page. You’ll find more information on doing this here.

Have you come across any other FAQs on the Facebook administrator process? If you’ve got any more questions and answers, or even just questions, feel free to add them in the comments.

The Difference Between General Advice and Specific Advice

02 Wednesday May 2012

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When you blog for business, you are doing a number of things.

  • You are enthusing your readers about you, your business and your products/services.
  • You are inspiring them to do more within your particular area of expertise (be it fashion, social media, business or interior design).
  • You are also giving your readers something for free. In most cases, that ‘something’ is free advice.

I’ve often come across the mindset that to give away free advice is to sell yourself short, especially if you make your living from an advice-based service such as business consultancy. I always argue that this isn’t true. In my opinion, those that make this argument haven’t fully understood the distinction between (and the different value of) general advice and specific advice.

Let me make this distinction now. General advice is the kind of advice I share regularly on this blog. Want an example? How about this post on whether your business should be using Pinterest, or this post on staying organised on Twitter? In posts like these, I’ve shared advice that is of general use to everyone – but isn’t specifically targeted at an individual, organisation or industry.

Specific advice is the advice I offer the clients I work with. I cover similar issues, subjects and topics when I work with a client one-to-one, but I’m able to offer them specific advice that deals directly with their individual situation. By definition, this kind of advice will always have more intrinsic value to clients than general advice.

I believe that offering general advice for free is a brilliant way to connect with those clients who are prepared to pay for specific advice. It reassures potential clients that your specific advice will have value to them, and it may also make them realise how much they need your assistance!

What do you think about the difference between general and specific advice?

Social Media When the Customer Isn’t Ready to Buy

10 Tuesday Apr 2012

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Photo by Rachael Connerton Photography, via the Floraldeco blog.

Sometimes when you first come in contact with a customer, they’re not ready to buy yet. It doesn’t matter how great your service is, or how much they like you. If the timing isn’t right for them, you’re not going to make a sale. I’ve spoken a lot about this before, and how much a social media presence can help to make sure that when the customer is ready to buy – they do so from you.

Recently, I was the customer who wasn’t ready to buy. I wanted to share my example with you – and show just how valuable social media is in situations like this.

I’m getting married in the autumn and have spent the last four months making plans, researching options and meeting suppliers. Before Christmas, right at the beginning of my planning, I was on the hunt for a reception venue. I requested brochures from a number of potential venues, and enclosed with one of them was a business card for wedding and event florist Floraldeco. The images on the card were gorgeous, and I visited Floraldeco’s website. I loved what I saw… but I didn’t even have a venue at that point and definitely wasn’t ready to choose my florist.

Without social media, Floraldeco’s marketing wouldn’t have worked here. I wasn’t ready to buy, and so I would have closed their website, misplaced the card and moved on.

Luckily, when I was on Floraldeco’s website all those months ago, I noticed that they have a blog. I clicked through to view it and found that it was filled with great content. I wasted no time in adding it to my RSS reader.

Over the coming months, whenever Floraldeco posted a new blog post, I read it. With each post I was building up a relationship with the company… and when it came time to book a florist, I was so invested in their work that I didn’t consider anyone else.

This particular purchase was obviously a very emotional and very visual one. However, whether you’re selling wedding flowers, conservatories, shoes, furniture or consultancy services – you need to be aware that your customers might not be ready to buy when they first meet you. A great social media presence – whether it’s a blog, a Facebook page, or a Twitter stream – can help you to build a relationship with them so that when they are ready to buy, they buy from you.

PS – If you happen to be looking for a wedding or event florist in Nottinghamshire, you might like Floraldeco’s blog as much as I did. 

The Colours of the Internet

28 Wednesday Mar 2012

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Earlier this week I came across an infographic that really got me thinking. It was this one from colourlovers.com which focuses on the most powerful colours on the internet.

When you look at the infographic below, you’ll see that it features the logos of the top 100 web brands on a colour spectrum. You don’t need to look at it very carefully to see that there are two very dominant colours in the web space; red and blue.

What got me really thinking about this infographic is the question of whether the psychology of colour changes online. If you were to measure the 100 biggest brands in an offline capacity and place their logos on the same colour spectrum… would the same two colours emerge?

What do you think? Is there a particular reason why red and blue are so dominant in the online world, or are they just as dominant offline?

On Spelling and Grammar on the Internet

22 Thursday Mar 2012

Posted by in Communication

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There is something that brands do online that turns me off like nothing else. It’s not un-updated websites, it’s not blatant sales messages, and it’s not repeatedly scheduled tweets (though if you are doing any of those things, you should take a serious look at your social media strategy). The thing that will make me leave a brand’s website never to return is this; bad spelling and grammar.

Now, everyone can make a typo. Especially in the fast moving world of blogging and social media, not everything is proof-read (and yes, I’m sure there are a fair few mistakes here on my blog). We can all look past the odd typo/mistake in a tweet or blog post. But what can really be a problem is mistakes in permanent website copy, or even in Twitter/Facebook bios.

Written English is not everyone’s strong point. If it isn’t yours, be aware of this and take steps to counteract it. Use a web browser that checks your spelling as you go (Google Chrome is great for this). Make sure you re-read things before you post them. Ask a friend to proof-read any copy that is going to be displayed in your website. Not sure whether you need an apostrophe? Google it first.

I’m not the only person with this bugbear. In fact, last year a study suggested that website sales can be cut by up to 50% by bad spelling alone. Spelling/grammar mistakes can undermine the professionalism or authenticity of a site – and many customers will opt to buy elsewhere instead.

What do you think about bad spelling and grammar from brands online?

Cover Images for Facebook Pages – What You Need to Know

08 Thursday Mar 2012

Posted by in Facebook

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If you have a business page on Facebook and you’ve been on it in the last week, you may already have decided to preview the new ‘Timeline for Pages’. It’s optional at the moment, but at the end of the month (30th March) all pages will automatically switch over to the new design.

One of the most pressing matters when it comes to switching over to the Timeline is the cover image. A great cover image can make a big difference to how good your page looks – and it’s really easy to upload a great one. I’ve been experimenting with the process, and I’ve put together a few things you need to know before you decide on your cover image.

One – It’s a good thing! Change may be scary, but with a few simple steps a cover image will give you an extra branding opportunity and look more professional.

Two - There are some rules. Facebook has made it clear that they do not want the cover image to be used for sales or as a ‘call to action’. Basically, you can’t use your cover image for direct advertising – but do take a look at what Facebook have to say on the subject.

Three - Size matters. When you look at the guidelines from Facebook (linked above) they do helpfully tell you that your chosen image needs to be at least 399 pixels wide. However, they don’t tell you the minimum height. Though you can ‘drag and drop’ the image to choose which section is on view, you may want to play about with a few different image heights. I don’t know the exact height but I’d advise choosing an image that’s at least 150 pixels high. If not, the image will be zoomed in and you won’t see the full width of it.

Four - You don’t have to be a whiz with photoshop. Using a great photo for your cover image can look just as good as fancy graphic design. Choose a photo that sums your brand up well and shows you in the best possible light. Experiment with photos of your products, or your team, or your premises.

Have you already switched to the new timeline and uploaded a cover image? I’d love to see it! Leave your Facebook URL in the comments.

Want to know about how the rest of the timeline is going to affect you and your content strategy? I’d advise taking a look at this post.

Should Your Business Be Using Pinterest?

24 Friday Feb 2012

Posted by in Niche Social Media Networks, Social Media and Creativity

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You can barely look anywhere on the internet at the moment without seeing a mention of one of my favourite websites – Pinterest. If you haven’t heard about it yet, Pinterest is a social media site that works like a virtual pin board. You can ‘pin’ images from anywhere on the internet (including your own website!) onto themed boards. You can follow the boards of others and they can follow yours.

For a more general introduction to Pinterest, how it works and its demographic, take a look at this post from Smarta. In this post, I’m more concerned with whether your business should be using Pinterest, or whether it shouldn’t.

Like all niche social media websites – Pinterest isn’t for all business types. It’s likely to work wonderfully for some businesses, but for others it just isn’t suitable. Take a look below to see which category your business fits into.

When your business SHOULD be using Pinterest

  • You work in a very visual industry – such as fashion, events or design.
  • You are promoting a lifestyle as much as a service or product.
  • Your brand has a strong basis in style and customers look to you for advice.
  • You have a collection of quality and pin-friendly images on your website/blog of your products/services.
  • Your target market is predominantly female (currently, 80% of Pinterest’s users are female).
  • You are targeting consumers.
  • Your business is willing and happy to pin images that are not just your own. Pinterest isn’t about self promotion. It’s about promoting a lifestyle. (For businesses, a lifestyle that will appeal to and engage your target audience).

When your business SHOULDN’T be using Pinterest

  • You work in a non-visual industry that can’t easily be represented in images.
  • You are targeting business customers.
  • Your target market is predominantly male (see demographic stat above. This, of course, is likely to change over time. But for the time being…)
  • Your customers don’t look to your brand to make lifestyle or style choices.
  • Your business is not willing to pin images other than their own. (Again, see above).

Some great examples

There are a large number of ‘early adopter’ businesses that are already using Pinterest and are reaping the benefits. I’ve shared a few of my favourites below.

Peony and Thistle (a Glasgow based company selling vintage, retro and handmade home wares) are a great example of balancing the benefits of pinning your own products as well as pinning a wider range of other people’s images to promote a lifestyle.

Larson Juhl (a manufacturer of picture frames) share great framing and interior design inspiration.

Mashable (one of the biggest social media blogs) use Pinterest as a resource of their favourite things on the web.

The Wall Street Journal (which needs no introduction) use Pinterest as a ‘visual read’ of their paper.

B’s Bakery (a bakery!) have a board that promotes a perfect cook’s lifestyle.

Of course, this advice isn’t prescriptive

There are always exceptions – and some businesses that seem perfect for Pinterest may not just get off the ground using… and vice versa.

Is your business using Pinterest? Why not comment with your username? I’d love to take a look at your boards!

 

Blogging and Staying Inspired

16 Thursday Feb 2012

Posted by in Blogging

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Over the years, I’ve found that the hardest thing about blogging isn’t understanding the platforms or publicising posts; it’s staying inspired. A blog is nothing without regular content, and I’ve found that many of the clients I’ve spoken to about blogging have been put off by the idea that they had “nothing to blog about.”

Personally, I think there’s always something to blog about. Yes, if you run a creative business who are constantly, well, creating, it might be easier to find inspiration – but that doesn’t mean that it’s impossible if you’re not.

Below, I’ve shared some ideas on finding the inspiration to keep your company (or personal) blog full of new content.

Look at your business It may sound obvious, but so many companies forget to blog about what’s new in their business. Whether you’re attending a conference, exhibiting at a trade show/fair, introducing a new service/product, putting on an event, moving premises, being nominated for an award, doing work for charity, being featured in the press… make sure you blog about it!

Read the news Whatever your industry, there’s always going to be news that affects it. Whether it’s talk about new legislation, trends or events; news and current affairs will provide you with content for your blog. Remember to share your thoughts on each news item, as well as some information about how it will affect you and/or your customers.

Think about what you know What specialist knowledge do you have that others don’t? Could you offer some advice or guidance in your areas of expertise? And remember – what seems like common sense to you probably isn’t to other people.

Keep an eye out for studies We all like to read statistics. Look out for new studies that affect your industry and that will be of interest to your customers and readers. Once again, when you blog about statistics, make sure you add some insight of your own.

Talk to people Don’t be afraid to talk about your blog in face-to-face situations. Your customers and colleagues may have great ideas for content. Ask your customers for “success stories” derived from your products/services. Especially if you work B2B – your customers are likely to be happy to be featured as a case study on your blog. After all, it’s extra publicity for them.

Think seasonal/topical Whether it’s the Olympics, the Diamond Jubilee, Valentine’s Day or Christmas… think about how your business relates to these and what it could have to say about them.

Open the floor to guest posts It may be your blog; but that doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to write all the content yourself. Perhaps your colleagues would like to have a go at writing a guest post? Ditto your customers, associates or suppliers. Incorporating guest posts into your blog can inject fresh energy, provide added interest for your readers and offer publicity for your guest posters.

Do you blog for your company? How do you stay inspired to create new content?

On Freelancing, Two Years In

10 Friday Feb 2012

Posted by in Business

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Two years ago tomorrow (11th February) I officially became self-employed. I attended a panel meeting in Glasgow for PSYBT Funding and after a nerve-wracking thirty minutes or so I was awarded the money. Thus began my life as a freelancer.

In the twenty four months since then, I have worked from London to Inverness with big clients, small clients, third sector clients and professional clients. I’ve worked on social media and copywriting projects along with more feature-based writing projects. I’ve met a lot of different people, spoke at a fair number of events and have tweeted an awful lot.

To celebrate my ‘freelancing birthday’, I wanted to share a few freelancing-wisdoms I have learnt along the way.

Like in life, most things in freelancing are about confidence

Two years ago, starting off in my freelance career, I was 21 and only seven months out of University. I knew that I knew what I was doing… but my main challenge was to convince other people that I did. Going to business meetings, providing consultancy services and speaking at events all required a lot of confidence.

When you are freelancing, you need to believe completely that you are the right person to be offering the services/products that you are offering. Being confident about this convinces other people to believe in you too.

Flexibility is great, but so is routine

The ability to be flexible with work is one that has had a great impact on my life. It enables me to work when I’m feeling my most productive, work from wherever I happen to be, and to take time off when I need it. In the past couple of months the flexibility of freelancing has even enabled me to take time to study for an MA.

For me, the beauty of this flexibility is in creating a routine that suits me. I find that working to my own flexible routine helps me to stay motivated and productive. It also stops me from working till nine o’clock at night and for more than a couple of hours over the weekend.

Communication leads to opportunity

Freelancing involves working hard to make opportunities for yourself. And you’ll find that most of those opportunities come from talking to people. Don’t underestimate anyone; you never know what they know or who they know. Networking events are great for expanding your contacts and seeking out opportunities (even when you have to get up really early!) but talking to people socially or on social media can be just as valuable.

Collaborations, new clients, inspiration and exciting projects all start in the same place – putting yourself out there and talking to people.

Share your knowledge

One of the reasons I love social media is that it encourages us to share more. Sharing your knowledge, online or at face-to-face events, is such a valuable exercise. For one thing, it shows people that you are knowledgable in your industry. It also opens up new conversations and puts you in touch with new people. It helps you to put yourself in front of new people. It keeps you in the mind of the people you already know.

I share my advice and thoughts on social media here on the blog, on Twitter and on Facebook every day. I’ve never found that sharing this knowledge means that clients don’t need to work with me. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. Sharing general knowledge (or, advice for everyone) shows off your expertise and helps people to see why they would want to pay you for the benefit of your specific knowledge (or, personalised advice).

Think carefully about the projects you take on

I’m going to let you in on a little secret; sometimes I can be picky. As soon as I reached the stage that I could afford to pick and choose the projects I took on, I did. I’ve learnt from experience that a bad client is just not worth the stress they cause (no matter how much they’re paying you). I rely heavily on my instincts and don’t agree to work with clients that I think will cause problems later on. I have occasionally ignored these instincts. I’ve always come to regret it.

Successful freelancing is all about communication and good business relationships; work with the clients you are confident you can have this with.

Cultivate your personal brand

I know, I know, that sounds a bit corporate. Coca Cola have a ‘brand’, Virgin has a ‘brand’, Topshop has a ‘brand’. But so do freelancers.  When you go to face-to-face networking or business events – the clothes you wear, the business cards you hand out and the way you act are all part of your personal branding. Online, your website, your Twitter avatar and your Facebook page bio… again, all part of your brand.

A big part of my brand is my typewriter; both the one in my logo and the real one you’ll see in my profile pictures. I also consciously choose to use the same palette of colours across my online and offline business items to create a sense of consistency. We all have a personal brand, but being aware of it and cultivating it can really help to show who you are as a freelancer.

*  *  *

After two years of freelancing, I can say honestly that it’s what I want to be doing with myself for the considerable future. Freelancing is hard, and it’s certainly not for everyone. But it is for me. And if it is for you? Then I hope you find my two-year-wisdom of some use.

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