This Doesn't Have to Be Hard

It's not unusual for small business friends of mine to say, "Yeah, but you're a marketer - you're supposed to have a blog and a dozen social media channels.  I don't have the time to do any of that."

Does that sound like you?

And boom, there goes another Tweet!

Well, let me let you in on a little secret.  I'm a small business too, and like you, I don't have tons of time either.  I have my business, family and hobbies to balance (not to mention sleep).

I am writing this post on November 19, 2013.  I'm having to stay close to the house because both of my kids are home from school sick.  I had to cancel several meetings and appointments for today.

Note the post date on this post... see that?  December 10, 2013?  What am I, some sort of crazy time traveler?

Nope.  I'm making productive use of this unexpected unbooked time, by writing blog content and I'm scheduling social media through the first and second week of December. 

I use Blogger, and I can write any time (sometimes I have three to five posts in progress) and I can schedule my post far out into the future.  I can also schedule the associated social media mentions of my blog the same day, once the post is scheduled.  You can do the same with Wordpress and many other blogging applications out there.

I aim to post twice a week (Tuesday and Thursday mornings), but you can post less frequently than I do in many cases.  So I can write and set up posts now that I can post a month or more in the future.

This is especially great when you start developing content calendars and themes - you can easily pull together themed posts on your blog and in your social media all at once while the topic is top of mind.

A tool I swear by is Hootsuite.  I've talked about it before, and yes, I know there are more powerful tools out there, but I believe its simplicity for newbies is hard to beat.  Plus, it's free for less than five accounts.  Great for the most commonly used networks of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+.

I've been advising lots of businesses lately to try Pinterest in their social media mix, but you can't use Hootsuite to schedule pins.  There are tools out there, and here's a discussion you might want to read if you use Pinterest: How To Schedule Pins on Pinterest.

If you must do this stuff yourself, using the right tools, it isn't hard at all!

On a weekly basis, block out time for you to sit down and do this stuff (mine in Monday morning).

When you find you get a gift of extra time - like I did today - use it productively and get ahead of the game, if you can.

Need tips?  Maybe some help with a content calendar?  I can help - let me know!

DOTC: Imagery Is Everything

Images in your social media and on your blog will be far more engaging than those without.  Don't believe me?

Let's ask the experts.  Hey, Hubspot?  What do you think about using images in social media?

http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/33800/Photos-on-Facebook-Generate-53-More-Likes-Than-the-Average-Post-NEW-DATA.aspx

As a result, our study revealed that photos on Facebook Pages received 53% more Likes than the average post. We also compared each businesses' average comments-per-photo to their overall average comments-per-post and found that photo posts attracted 104% more comments than the average post, too.

 How about you, smart guy Jeff Bullas?

http://www.jeffbullas.com/2012/05/28/6-powerful-reasons-why-you-should-include-images-in-your-marketing-infographic/

Engagement rate on Facebook for photos averages 0.37% where text only is 0.27% (this translates to a 37% higher level of engagement for photos over text).

Be sure to click the links and read both articles - good stuff.

Okay, so where do you get the stock photos?  You can't just Google a few keywords and take images from the internet willy-nilly.  If you are doing that, stop now! You have to have rights to those images - and they can cost a lot of dough, especially when the rights are restricted to one medium or another.

Ah, but this is a DOTC post, so I'm going to give you three sources of FREE images. 

Free Stock Photos are AWESOME!
Yes, Hubspot, yes, they are.

First, and my favorite, is Morguefile.  All sorts of great and interesting images to use, and usually, it doesn't even require attribution for use.

Second, Hubspot has offered some really nice images for your use, here and here.  They also put out a bunch of nice holiday themed ones here.  Go download these immediately, I use them all the time. 

Third, I use www.freerangestock.com.  Most of these images require you to notify the creator you used the image and you have to attribute the image (but not all).

Yes, there are others, but these are the ones I use most often.  Most are fine to use in all applications except to place on items to sell (so, you can use it on your blog, but not sell them on a t-shirt).

So now you have no excuse not to make your marketing a lot more interesting!  Let me know if you have any favorite free image sources you like!

P.S. A word on meme images:  they are technically illegal and use of them will risk you getting in trouble - I do not advise that you use them.  That being said, Meme Generator is an easy place to make your own.

FoM: Slay the Social Media Monster

There's dozens of examples out there about the ways brands (and individuals and celebrities) have had major screwups in social media.  Feel free to search for them if you're so inclined.

Bring it, Twitter.

Such tales might have put the Fear of Marketing in you - in this case, you're avoiding the Social Media Monsters.

You may be aware that there are "best practice"  (i.e. rules) for every channel.  And generally, this is true, developed over time and experience as these channels have been used, even though there's some debate on these.

Don't let these rules intimidate you or stop you from getting out there.

To paraphrase what I said in my FOM introductory post (right here) - making a social media post or a tweet or whatever is not like getting a tattoo.  It's here, and it's gone, just like that (and you can delete what you dislike if you really want to in the future).  It's so very temporary, it really is hard to screw it up permanently.

However, to avoid potential problems, this is the what you need to do:

• Negativity or sarcasm can easily go wrong, so I advise newbies to avoid it.
• Make sure you read it several times (watch for typos and grammatical errors).
• Get out there and try.  Just broadcasting things like sales or blog posts is fine to start.  You will get more confidence as you practice.
• If you post something you don't like, delete it!  It'll be gone, just like that!

You don't have to be a channel expert in, say, Twitter, to start tweeting for your business.  Just get moving.

Got a Marketing Monster you want to slay?  I can help!  Drop me a note in the comments or email me at AbanicoMktg@gmail.com