Guest blogger P. Lorraine Wigglesworth, CSP, is an international
entrepreneurship and marketing consultant and Managing Director of
Experiential Hands-on Learning. She is also the author of The 50-60-Something Start-up Entrepreneur: How to Quickly Start and Run a Successful Small Business. In this second installment of her three-article series, she discusses why entrepreneurs age 50+ have a high success rate.
When you see the title of this
article, some of you may be saying, 'what do you mean, how do I get started
with social media, like it's some big secret?' To some, it might sound like a
silly question as most people just dive into a platform and begin making posts.
Now imagine if you will, that
you're a 50 or 60-something new entrepreneur. Most of your posts have been on
Facebook or and you might have contributed to the company LinkedIn page, but
you never had to bother with setting these social media accounts for your
business.
With dozens of multi-million
networks and big companies pouring millions of dollars into it, social media
may seem daunting for any small business entrepreneur, even more so for
fifty-somethings who haven't grown up with the Internet. But the amount of
exposure social media can bring your business, and the opportunity it offers
you to connect with your target audience and spread the word about your
products or services cannot be ignored.
Your competitors are already on
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and other social networks. In a world
full of mobile devices and apps, having only a website and blog is no longer
enough.
Here are some tips to get you
started for the #FiftySomethingEntrepreneur.
The Right Approach to Social
Media
Before getting started, you
have to remember that social media is first and foremost social. While brands
do use it to market themselves, sometimes using paid ads, the main benefit of
being social is interacting with your audience. What's more, Google takes into
account the buzz you generate on social networks when determining your search
engine ranking, or how high you show up in the Google search results.
Start Small
There are many social networks,
including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Instagram, Pinterest, WhatsApp,
YouTube, and Tumblr. As a startup or small business, you may not have the time
or the resources to be active on all of them, nor should you.
An effective strategy is to
start small. Most businesses start with #Facebook, #Twitter, #LinkedIn, and
optionally, #YouTube. Depending on your target customers, some of networks will
offer you better returns on your time spent on them than others.
Create a SM Marketing Strategy
It's important to have a social
media marketing strategy in place. Without one, social media can become a
time-sink. Considering your audience, their needs, and what you can offer them.
Decide what content would work best for them, whether it's articles, images,
videos, short updates, how-to guides, and so on. Social media is very flexible,
so you mix it up to keep things interesting.
Creating an Engaging Social
Business Page
After creating your accounts,
you have to personalize them. Keep personal and professional accounts separate.
For your business, make sure to create a business page, rather than a standard
profile. This will enable you to customize your page with a logo, business
address and other details, as well as access a wealth of data about your fans
and followers. Add a custom header and background to your business page, and
try to keep all pages consistent in terms of design.
Content: Creation, Curation,
and Timing
You also have to determine how
often you will post fresh content on social media - at least two or three times
a week is a must, and ideally you want to post something new every day.
Fortunately, you don't have to create all the content yourself. You can always
curate or share content from experts in your industry, news sites, and other
relevant sources, so long as you give credit to the creator and don't infringe
any usage rights.
The Key to Success - Being
Active and Involved
The hard work begins after
you've set up your accounts. Posting is not enough. You have to interact with
your audience by answering their questions, starting discussions, organizing
contests, and rewarding loyal followers with mentions, and possibly for
ecommerce businesses with coupons, or freebies. You have to follow others,
share their content, and join groups and discussions. On social media, if you
are not active, you are invisible.
Social media can also open up
the door to new professional connections. Actively connect with your existing
connections and also seek influencers, experts, and other notable people in
your industry. Share their content and you may catch their eye.
Be Social
Last but not least, it's
important to keep in mind that being on social media is no longer optional for
a small business. If you are not "social," people won't be able to
find your business as easily, and many will go to your competitors instead.
That's why if you don't have the time to manage your social media marketing
efforts yourself, it's better to delegate someone within your company to do it
for you, or hire someone to help you with this.
The key is to get started and
not to shy away from engaging in social media. Trust me when I say it gets
easier the more time you spend in doing some type of post. Now go and have some
fun.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/P_Lorraine_Wigglesworth/969794
