Friday, 17 April 2015

Fact: THAT PERFECT PROFILE FOR YOUR ONLINE EFFORTS

Creating the perfect profile is one of the most important keys in any social media marketing effort, as it is the first thing people will be looking at when visiting your pages. However, creating the perfect profile for your needs is also going to be a challenge. To help you out, here are some useful tips and tricks in crafting your social media profile.

            Right keywords
            One thing you are likely to notice with social media sites is it a lot easier to search for specific profile now. Take advantage of this improved search function by including keywords in your profile. If you are doing a dedicated search social media marketing campaign, you can apply the very same keywords being used for the campaign into your social media profiles. Be sure to pick the most appropriate ones, so as not to make them seem out of place.
            However, experts caution you should not overdo it when it comes to putting in keywords. While more keywords will significantly increase search ability, it does not automatically guarantee people will follow your profile. As such make sure you balance keyword-rich content with those that provide your followers with the relevant information they are looking for. Creating the perfect profile is an art.
            Another important aspect of social media marketing is image formation, and what better way to do that than using the right pictures when you are creating the perfect profile. The profile pics, in particular, is going to be the most crucial, as it is the first thing visitors to your page will see. For professionals, personal photos are best since these provide people with something they can relate to.
            Kiss Metrics tells us to use the same profile pic across all our social media profiles. This way, followers will be able to recognize you instantly when they surf around. However, just uploading a good profile picture is not enough; you need to also make it more

Search able. A good way to do that is to name the image file with your own name. Using the “alt text” feature properly goes a long way to assisting searchers.

            Keeping it alive
            To really drive people to visit and follow your page, you have to keep it very active. This is more so with professional’s profile pages, as people want someone they can easily reach online for information. However, as many are often busy with actual work, this can be a difficult task to pull off. Here, scheduling posts in advance will help you lighten up the load considerably. Many social media sites now offer such post scheduling features that you want to make the most out of. Or, as we’ve suggested in the past, you can use a tool like HoostSuite to schedule your posts.
            Experts further point out that it is still important for you to personally respond to comments and questions made by your followers. In particular, you have to be able to respond within 24 hours in order to retain their interest. Allot at least a few minutes to do so by using social media on mobile which will help in replying to their questions on the go. This will ensure that you can keep your social media marketing effort continuing, even if you have a busy schedule.

            ARE YOU STRUGGLING WITH THE CHALLENGES OF MANAGING LARGE-SCALE SOCIAL MEDIA?
Maintaining a uniform social media presence in a complex organization is a tall order.
            Managing social media in a complex organization isn’t easy. There are multiple departments and divisions, multiple leaders, multiple policies – all of which can lead to confusion and frustration.
           

            When there’s no cohesive social media plan, you end up with mixed messages, duplicate accounts, redundant posts and a confused audience.
            The result? The company’s whole social media world crumbles down around you. Ok, that may be a little dramatic, but you get the point.
            In a complex organization with many departments (maybe even multiple brands and products), one person simply can’t manage each of those social media accounts. At the same time, those accounts need to have consistency across the board.
            Lead the way
            Just like you have a CEO leading your organization, you need to have one fearless leader to oversee the organisation’s social media as a whole. For the sake of explanation, let’s look at your company-wide social media efforts as a “region”, and as the leader you are the “regional social media manager”.
            You oversee the entire scope of your organization’s social media and should be in charge of managing the overall social media operations, organizing teams and setting social media policies.
            Each of your team members likely represents one of many different departments (or “districts”), each with its own goals and objectives. These team members are your “district social media managers”.
            Choosing your team of district managers is important because it’s the foundation for the rest of your social media efforts.
            Include people who are familiar with the requirements, goals and objectives for each district as a critical component of social media success within a complex organization.
            Take inventory
            Your team’s first item of business is to conduct an inventory of your organization’s social media presence to determine what channels and pages are set up.
            To find those accounts, ask each manager to provide you with a list of the social media pages they deem official within their area.
            But the fun doesn’t stop there. Other profiles and pages may exist that departments forgot about or didn’t even know about. Scour the web to determine whether there are any rogue (unofficial) sites out there that are presented as representing a department or the company as a whole.
            In your search you’ll probably find three things: too many social media pages, lots of pretenders and many unnecessary channels.
            When you do find extraneous pages, evaluate whether the company really needs to be on that particular platform. Just because an employee created a company or department presence somewhere doesn’t mean you need it.

            Educate the team
            Sending out a memo to your social media departmental managers won’t be enough to get everyone headed in the same direction. You’ll need to meet face to face.
            Face to face? What is this crazy guy talking about? A face-to-face meeting doesn’t always mean getting together in a single room –meetings can be just as effective in a virtual format. Consider Google hangouts or GoToMeeting as possible solutions.
            If you don’t have a social media style guide in place, work to develop one and share it with all of your district managers.
            Have a content management system in place where team members can go to pull content management system in place where team material that may be helpful to them.
            And, of course, establish a standard for measuring results. Determine key performance indicators, provide access to analytics programs and assign a schedule for reporting.

            Encourage company support
            Tell the rest of the organization about your team’s social media efforts and help generate excitement about the new initiative. Let them know about goals and objectives and encourage them to participate by sharing and commenting on updates.   

Resolving to adopt a lifestyle of integrity is a decision that will affect all aspects of your daily pursuits – your activities on a personal level as well as on behalf of your family and business. It all starts with the desire to take a self- inventory to discover needs you`re not currently fulfilling in your life and then deciding to take actions to change this.
            First and foremost, this process involves declaring an intention that you follow through on with appropriate commitments and actions. Here are some suggested steps to set you on your way:

Make promise and keep them
A promise is the first part of a decision, a responsibility that you have chosen to take on. When you do not follow through on your promises, you have lost focus and may fail at fulfilling your responsibilities. Be sensible in maintaining and fulfilling your obligations in a timely manner.
            Also, remember that there is enough time for you devote moments for yourself and no and to spend occasions with family and loved ones. Enjoy life before over committing to task that take you away from how you would like to enjoy your life.

Be honest in all your communications
Exercising integrity in your communications means saying what you are going to do and then doing so. People that life is filled with challenges. When you provide honest communications to other about your obligations and why something can (or can`t) happen in the time frame promised, they will most likely understand. Try to not commit to please others. This will lead to a loss of integrity and failed relationships.

Keep yourself and your environment clean and organized
This begins with the recognition that you are the core of your business. It`s difficult to exercise influence in the other areas of your life if you don`t make the time every day to be self-aware of your environment.
Do the little things that you have been meaning o do for yourself. When is the last time that you made time to read a book? What happened to that project you started three years ago and never finished? What`s the fate of the one thing you`re passionate about but have been too busy to do while making a living? Organize the clutter and clear your slate by getting rid of the things around you that detract from your focus. Look at the papers around your desk, mail on the table and tidy up (and discard) the extra things scattered in your home that you have always thought to rid yourself of.

Stay focused
 Have you ever noticed when your personal care vanishes that everything around you starts to slip as well? Finding the balance in your life to maintain yourself, your household and your business is difficult. I have found that making lists and setting alarms on my phone or online calendar keep me on track even when the clock tries to get the best of me. Notifying people important to you (friends, family and colleagues) of your commitments will help keep you accountable.

Allow for the proper influences
To increase your integrity, surround yourself with people of influence, read books or listen to motivational seminars to help raise your awareness in the right direction. What you feed your mind affects what you project outward. Your integrity in life is affected by your inputs.
The intention here is for you to build self-awareness but not for undue self-scrutiny or judgment. You don`t need to be perfect and it is Ok to make mistakes. Commit to set things right or just start over again. Decide to make these commitments in these small ways and you will find yourself improvi9ng you integrity and strengthening relationship.

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