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How Smart Startups Conquer Social Media

December 29, 2016 by jennifer mcgahan Leave a Comment

How Smart Startups Conquer Social Media

startups conquer social media As a startup, you don’t have to be everywhere to make an impact through social media.

A few years ago, a very popular business mentor and social media coach shared that someone commented to her, “I see you everywhere!” I compared her success with mine at the time and decided that I, too, had to be everywhere to make an impact and grow my copywriting business.

Thus began my crazy-making bout of social media clamoring. What a wreck! I felt like I was doing everything — and nothing at all.

Over the years, I learned how to do this in a way that works without taking over my life, making me exhausted, and with barely enough time to do the work I love.

The day-to day keys for success are organization, online tools (many of which weren’t even around back then), and some outside help.

But by far the best strategy for social media success – as you are starting out — is to choose which planet you want to dominate.

If you want to make a difference, get your content to stick, and be noticed by your best audience; choose one social media site and start networking there.

“If you’re everywhere, you’re nowhere.”

Maybe seven or eight years ago, when social media sites were new and early adopters were just beginning to see the opportunities for marketing their businesses and growing professional relationships, it was a good idea to try to “be everywhere.”

As you start to build your business, you also might be tempted to open every social media site you’ve ever heard of and begin creating profiles, but you’ll do better is you discriminate a bit.

Why would I tell a startup to scale back on trying to be everywhere? Because you get more traction by focusing your efforts. And because new companies can’t afford to go big — everywhere. You can, however, “go big” if you choose one planet to dominate.

social media sites each a different planetOver the years, the more social media sites that spring up, the more people began choosing sites within which to interact, even sorting themselves very naturally into groups within each social media site, while neglecting others. The possible exception is Facebook, which has over 1.3 Billion users and is growing into new global markets every day. Facebook is responsible for bringing the Internet to people all over the world, so don’t count out Facebook, whether your business is B2B or B2C.

Today, instead of “being everywhere” and because social media sites continue to grow in numbers of users, the smart startups are making more efficient use of their resources.

In spite of all the social media experts telling you otherwise, and unless you have a large marketing budget or plenty of time to spend, choose a platform or two and commit to building some good relationships there.

How a startup of successfully commits to a social media platform:

  • Join groups.
  • Make sure your bio is complete.
  • Follow lists or hashtags within each platform.
  • Leave comments and/or connect with other users.
  • Research SaaS tools that make using that platform more efficient or sticky, and make it a habit to use these tools every day.
  • Schedule posts to automatically populate on your page or timeline, and check in once or twice daily to respond to any comments on your posts.
  • Send direct messages to other users when appropriate.

Think of each social media site as its own planet.

…especially if your business is new and you haven’t forayed into any social media sites yet. Do not move on until you have a solid footing on the sites where your target market is most likely to be talking. Leave no stone unturned as you search for your crowd on those sites. Only after you feel comfortable there should you move on to the next one. That’s how you conquer social media as a startup with precious time and resources…

You may find that you don’t even need to be anywhere else but Linked In and Twitter, for example, or Facebook and Yelp. (Yes, I consider Yelp a social site. People log on just to read reviews of people like them.) What a revelation! If your startup business is growing due to your socializing on just one or two social media websites, more power to you!

Ten years ago my web developer sent me an email asking me to join her network on Linked In. I’ll never forget her exact words: “Not sure if this will take off, but if it doesn’t we’ll just put a flag in it and call it ours.”

I just checked; she’s still there.

If you’re new and you want to conquer pertinent social media planets, that’s how you do it. Need a hand getting content on your planet of choice? Give us a call.

 

Filed Under: Content Marketing, Real Estate Marketing, Social Media Tagged With: conquer social media, social media for startups, social media strategy, startup content strategy

Content Triggers for Every Week in 2018

December 13, 2016 by jennifer mcgahan Leave a Comment

Content Triggers for Every Week in 2018

Content Trigger 2018 Usually, when I tell people what I do, it goes something like this…

“I write copy and content to help businesses reach their markets: blog posts, newsletters, emails, sales pages, that kind of thing…”

If the person I’m talking with owns a business, I usually get one of two responses:

  1. I could sure use your services.
  2. I need to do that… But YUCK! Then they go on to tell me why it’s “yucky.” They dislike writing. They don’t have time to do that. They are in a boring industry and they don’t know what to write about, etc.

Well, if you’re one of those folks, now you don’t have to get creative. Just follow these writing prompts. I use these content ideas myself when I get stuck.

Scroll through these 54 content triggers and get your content calendar filled up for 2018.

My Team Connects Lucky Deck of Content Ideas from Jen McGahan
By the way, this task is easy peasy when  you use CoSchedule to organize and share your content. Check out this app that has saved me tons of time and brought lots of new traffic to my website this year. Click this Coschedule link to learn more.*
2018 is coming, ready or not. There are new opportunities and unseen twists and turns ahead.

Time to get ready for a great new year!

Now,  if you’re still wary of doing this writing, I’d can help. Give me a call, or simply fill out the form below and let’s set up a time to chat.
*Co Schedule has a referral program. If you sign up I may get a free month or some other small compensation. Just know that I would never refer something I did not absolutely LOVE and use myself!
And if you want more free stuff about content marketing and how to get your book, course or product out there, you can access the free content library here.

Filed Under: Blogging, Content Marketing, Copywriting, Email, Real Estate Marketing Tagged With: blog post content, blog post ideas, content ideas, content triggers, email ideas

Need A Creative Freelancer Who’ll Crush The Job? Here’s How To Find Her.

December 7, 2016 by jennifer mcgahan Leave a Comment

Need A Creative Freelancer Who’ll Crush The Job? Here’s How To Find Her.

Need to hire a creative freelancer?Are you ready to hire a freelancer to help you out with your business?

As a small business owner, solo-preneur, and even a freelancer yourself, you will periodically need help for key tasks. To start, you might need a logo, some well-designed, branded memes for Instagram, product photos, a website, copywriting for your blog or Facebook ads, email newsletters, etc.

You may already have a running list or things you’d like to get done, but something’s holding you back. Maybe, like a lot of new business owners, you’re not sure where to start, and you don’t have much time to learn the ins and outs of digital and print content.

From working with a lot of small businesses, I know that many folks believe they don’t have enough work to hire someone yet. They assume they can throw something together themselves, or hire the neighbor’s son or a local student to get a website up, etc.

This can be a workable solution just to get started. Still, it’s easy to fall behind on basic jobs, particularly in the area of marketing.

The web moves fast, and you just don’t have a lot of time to pull a cohesive creative plan together. And when you’re realistic about it, your priority is sales! At this point, you just need to get on with what you’re good at.

If that scenario sounds familiar, consider hiring a freelancer.

For entrepreneurs and business owners stuck with some portion of a project, I recommend working with a creative professional. Freelance marketers can even help you conceptualize your brand and plan a strategy, even before hiring a creative freelancer, like a writer or graphic designer.

Rest assured that the right person is out there.

Consider all your options for finding a freelancer who fits your needs as well as your budget. It’s not like you’ll have to turn over too many stones. There’s a ton of talent out there. Here are a few places to look.

Bidding Sites

Probably the quickest, immediate (and sometimes the cheapest) satisfaction can be found on job bidding websites.

As described in an earlier post, a few websites I used to frequent were Upwork.com (formerly Elance and Odesk), Fiverr.com and Guru.com. In fact, I got some of my earliest gigs on Elance, and even work with some of those early clients today! When I have slow patches, I still pick up gigs there.

Note to new freelancers, Upwork is a great place to hang your shingle if you’re new to freelancing. You’ll pick up other freelance providers’ tips and tricks there, too.

On these hiring websites, you’ll find plenty of reliable and talented people who can help it take wing.

Thousands of providers on Elance alone claim writing as their specialty; and writing is just one of the hundreds of categories of expertise to choose from. With those numbers, it’s practically impossible NOT to find someone you’re comfortable with after the first or second job. If you enjoy the process and you are satisfied with the completed work, you may even ask about hiring that person again. Then, when a similar job comes up again in her field, you have a go-to expert to contact. Creative people LOVE repeat business!

Bidding work sites have been lifesavers for me, both as a hirer, and a provider . If you’re stuck in a problem at work, discover how easy it is to access affordable resources right from your desktop. The experts are there to serve you, no matter how minor the job.

“Matchmaking” Job Sites

In addition to the bidding websites, you might also look to the agency-style website where you describe your job, and the agency matches you with the right freelancer in their roster. The benefit to these sites is that you have a higher-level marketing team watching out for you and assigning a good fit based on the freelancer’s experience, the price you’re willing to pay, and other criteria you specify.

You spend no time deciding whether a possible freelancer has the chops to do the work, because the agency has already vetted them. Instead, you get to concentrate on your project and the deliverables you require. Be prepared to pay slightly higher fees for this service.

Referrals

Finally, if you’re looking for someone you can work with directly on a long-term basis, don’t neglect turning to your personal network. Ask friends and colleagues who’ve had similar work requests done to their satisfaction.

Referrals are a good freelancer’s bread and butter, and most people are happy to refer good talent. (It makes them look good, too!) If your business friends will share the name of the freelancers they use for past projects, then by all means, start there.

LinkedIn, Blogs, and other Web Searches

Let’s not forget the power of content. Many freelancers are full of helpful advice and opinions about implementing their craft. Providing information and free content is how they attract clients like you!

They show off their web development expertise on blogs and social media; they share personally written articles on sites like LinkedIn and Medium; and they exhibit their artistic talent in shops like Creative Market. When an article, font or design catches your eye, note the author or artist and track her down.

When you’re browsing for the right expert to help you, here are a few things to keep in mind:

  1. Divide a large project into smaller chunks and let a few different providers prove their abilities. Test the mettle of your top few picks to see which one you like the best. Then bring the winner on board for the bulk or remainder of the project.
  2. Read the feedback on the outsourcing website. You will learn about the professional’s work ethic, timeliness, communication, etc — qualities and details you may not have considered before, but which might mean a lot to you once they are on your radar.
  3. Read the personalized messages from individual bidders. See if there’s enthusiasm behind the pitch. Is he excited about your project? Why? Does he have experience with your field on a professional or personal level? For example, let’s say you need an article written about child athletes’ nutrition needs. Maybe a novice writer whose child just happens to play competitive soccer is better qualified for your sports piece than an experience sports writer who covers cycling and racing. Test the waters, and use your intuition. Sometimes the “hungrier” bidder will do a better job than the one with an impressive portfolio and hundreds of finished jobs under his belt.  Sometimes it pays to look closely at the eager new freelancers with a smaller, promising portfolio as well as the ones who have valuable experience.
  4. Google the people you are considering. After circling a freelancer on a bidding website like Upwork, for example, I like to check around the web for more insight into the freelancer’s work, if it’s available. A search may unearth negative reviews on another site. If that’s the case, you’d want to know before you hired her. Chances are, the opposite is true. Your prospective freelancer’s work around the web could be just what you need to see to assure you to take a chance on her.
  5. Take the time and effort to write a clear, detailed job description because people can’t read your mind. If you can’t be bothered to put in the effort to describe your project, then you won’t get the results you really want.

Remember that as you’re building your business, you need to be focusing on the important work that makes you big money, not struggling to learn how to do a task someone can easily and happily do for you. You intuitively know what jobs are $1000 jobs, and which ones are $50 jobs. Do the high level stuff and hire others to do the rest.

If you’re just starting out, you don’t get to that point instantly. Growth takes time. But a professional creative will make you look good and keep things humming while you build your business.

Let your trusted creative freelancer run

Now that you’ve found the right creative person for your project, what next?

Start small until you’re comfortable.

Start with a small job if you’re unsure how to navigate hiring and working with freelancers. As you grow more confident outsourcing projects and recurring tasks, you’ll learn to rely on others for help in your business.

You may even come to rely on freelancers and contractors exclusively. The benefit to hiring freelancers is that they are as flexible as your needs.

Will you decide to build a team of remote freelancers who regularly work together, or occasionally ease your workload by hiring one freelancer at a time? Will you stay local or reach out to creatives in other countries? It’s up to you.

Other Tips for Hiring Freelancers

Bookmark pages or graphic designs, fonts and colors you like, to show your new freelance hire the vibe you want to convey.

Will there be ongoing work if the right freelancer nails this project? Say so, and you may attract better freelancers from the get-go.  Just remember that all freelancers have seen ridiculous promises from hiring sources, and certain tactics for getting cheap labor probably won’t work in your favor.

Of course you need a creative freelancer who will fit your budget (the range is great), but please never say that you expect the work done for free because it’s such a wonderful opportunity for the freelancer to build their portfolio or to gain the chance to work for you again in the future. I’ve never understood why anyone would dangle that obviously poison carrot. Why would anyone worth their salt want to work for a cheapskate who wants free work done now, let alone in the future? You get what you pay for.

Most experienced freelancers describe where they add value in a proposal. For example, you may find that pro copywriter demands higher fees than another writer. The reasons may range from their experience in the subject matter; to a keen understanding of the genre. As an example, press releases, newsletters, white papers, blog posts, and PPC ads are examples of four very different types of writing skills; if you’re looking for a specialist in one genre, it’s worth your while to hire a pro with that experience.

Another example of added value that really pays off: Your copywriter may provide the added service of researching keywords and markets; and generally spending time learning the audience before jumping into the activity of writing. These “hidden” extra tasks and levels of expertise often translate into a higher cost to the hiring party. They also ensure that the copy is exactly on the mark, which offsets the high cost of cheap copy that doesn’t convert.

Be prepared to pay a fair market price for excellent work. Expect a good freelancer to require a deposit to start work, and incremental payments as specific milestones are met.

Feel free to ask questions about her past work, how she works, when she’s available to touch bases, and when she typically is in “creative” mode. That way, if  she’s not answering your texts in the morning hours because that’s her productive writing time (or walk-the-dog time, or hit-the gym time, etc.), you’ll know why. Every great freelancer will provide times when she’s be available for meetings and calls, but the hours may not be your usual nine-to-five. If weekday, workday accessibility is important to you, make sure it’s spelled at the beginning. This means you must also take into account the difference in time zones.

If you have a brand kit, allow your freelancer to access to it for correct use of fonts, style and colors. The more you let your freelancer into your world, the better she can deliver exactly what you imagined, and more. You want to be wowed — you deserve it — so give your freelancer the boundaries you require, then let her run free.

By the way, if you get exactly what you expected, then you’ve probably kept the leash too short. Creative people and freelancers who have been at their craft for awhile love to deliver work that is a little surprising sometimes. They work hard to raise the bar, so keep an open mind. Make her part of your team and the right creative will give you way more value than you bargained for.

As freelancing becomes a common way to work around the world, more companies and creatives will hop onboard. The benefits are pretty cool for both the provider and the hirer, as long as expectations are clear. It’s worth it to invest in finding the perfect freelancer and continue to build a relationship with that person. Over time, as projects pop up, you’ll feel you have an extension of your core team at your disposal.

Do you have any questions or ideas about hiring freelancers? Are you interested in getting some of your marketing tasks — social media posts, blog writing, email strings — take off your plate? Give us a call or fill out the form below. We’d love to hear about your next project.

Filed Under: Content Marketing, Freelancing, Home Business, Real Estate Marketing Tagged With: freelance, freelance workers, hiring, need a creative freelancer, referrals, tips for hiring a creative freelancer, upwork

How To Correct The Two Most Confusing Problems With Your Website

October 28, 2016 by jennifer mcgahan Leave a Comment

How To Correct The Two Most Confusing Problems With Your Website

Problems with your website? Do you have a blog that could use some housecleaning?

I recently realized my I had let things get out of hand here. Some old blog posts were not up to my current standards (including some broken links, images not loading, etc.) while some others didn’t fit my idea of relevant content. Since starting this blog in 2011 I had never gone through the “archives” and spiffed it up.

Hopefully, you’re inspired to stick with or restart your blog — even if it’s a mess. Maybe you’re even thinking about switching directions regarding your subject matter. You may need to target a smaller audience and tidy up your content, is all.

When you revamp your blog, you’ll do a lot of slashing, depending on your blog’s age and beginnings. As you correct the problems, keep in mind this overarching rule:

Your goal is to target a specific audience with only your highest-quality content, and help visitors find that content.

The worst thing you can do is confuse your reader. Providing clarity for your audience is one of the best reasons for cleaning and restarting your blog!

Clarity, specificity, and ease of use should be your top priorities.

Carve a clear, deep path for your niche market, including content that suits your reader at all levels of interest and experience, and give them access to links and visuals so they know they are following a leader with a cohesive theme.

fix the two most confusing problems with your website

You want more quality traffic that spends more time on your website, so eliminate any and all confusion.

I’ve noticed two of the most common sources of confusion on blogs — my own and others I’ve visited. These confusing elements will drive your audience away, either because your visitor hits a dead end, or because your content isn’t current, relevant, or interesting to her.

A systematic approach toward fixing each of these problems will improve your user’s experience.

1. Consolidate Redundant Content

Redundancy in content is a common “problem” for people who have been blogging for a long time. You may have certain themes or subjects that come up a lot. As I look back though all the posts on this blog, I’m finding multiple articles on writing in a natural voice; using powerful, but not “fancy” words; and talking in plain English to one person. It’s a common theme, “Finding Your Voice”.

As I come across article after article, I realize there are a couple things I could do to fix this.

  • I could consolidate all of it into an e-book, or even a short course. I could offer it as a freebie (a free opt-in offer), offer it for sale, or include it in a gated, members-only content area on my website. Or…
  • I could group this content under a single category or include it under a clearly identified menu item so users didn’t just randomly stumble across it.

Either option allows MyTeamConnects to continue catering to the the folks who are searching for copywriting tips; and helping small business marketers who are searching for tips on do-able, effective, visual and textual content.

2. Delete Irrelevant Content 

Trendy or temporary topics, and articles written about current events — these all need to go. Deleting blog posts hurts because of the work you put into them, I know!

For example, as I clean my blog, I’m finding articles on Google authorship, which is no longer a thing, and the “new” story about gmail’s inbox categories.

I’m also running across random articles, like the one about losing our trees here in the Hill Country to developers; a post relating the TV show The Voice (when it was new) to content marketing; and one on Whitney Houston’s passing.

While the posts I’m deleting or re-categorizing to another section of the blog might be interesting reads on some level, they do not serve my identified reader now. Too bad.

I’m cutting the chaff, and I recommend you do it, too, as you de-clutter your blog. Edit to the bone. Kill your darlings.

Even though getting rid of old articles seems like a waste, think of it this way: Writing all those articles helped you become a better writer.

If you must delete videos, similarly, you could say you were developing your presence on camera, or learning how to become more natural in video. Note how all that work advanced your blogging abilities, and find comfort in that.

Appreciate old work for the experience it brought you at the time, and then get rid of them!

What do you do with those deleted pages? Good question!

Redirects and 404 Pages

Say a visitor finds his way to your blog via a link leading to a deleted page. What then?

First, remember that you’ve identified your niche audience, so there’s a small chance that the deleted content wouldn’t serve this new visitor anyway. If that’s the case, the annoyance is small, but nothing’s lost in the big picture. In fact, you may even look at this problem as an opportunity.

You still want to provide a smooth transition to your new, improved content, so you should direct your visitor to a more helpful, targeted flow of information. In this case, you can do one of the following:

Identify the core theme or spark within the original idea, and send your visitor who landed on the deleted page, to your new, more relevant section of your website. You can do this in one of two ways.

301 Redirects

You can use a 301 redirect to offer the reader a new article in place of the old one. Read more about the different types of redirects here.

cleaning website problemsA recent, excellent episode of Smart Passive Income features Todd Tresidder, who describes his experience auditing his own website. He actually deleted a third of his content and increased his traffic threefold! It’s worth a listen if you need further inspiration to do a clean sweep. Toward the final third of the interview, he discusses his strategy for redirects on his spiffed-up website.

I’m not an SEO expert, so I’m looking to get further advice and help with this, but this podcast episode planted some ideas for making my revamped site even better than I envisioned. To my mind, I believe a redirect is more helpful toward guiding your visitor to your content than a 404, which is the other option…

404 Pages

When a visitor lands on a page and a 404 error pops up, it’s usually a mistake on the client side, not the visitor’s. Regular website maintenance should include scanning for possible 404 error pages.

Even if you’re not doing a complete overhaul of your website for your new niche, you’ll probably want to check for 404 errors regularly. Whether the 404 page is due to a misspelling or a broken link, they’re just going to happen. Since they’re a fact of blogging life, you can at least make your 404 page entertaining.

The Real Winner Is Your Website Visitor

The idea for cleaning up your website may originate from your own frustration with its effectiveness, but think of the improvements from the user’s experience. As you tighten up your blog and gear it toward a more specific audience or niche, everyone wins, especially the person searching for the content you offer on your webite.

You’ve heard it before. I’m just telling the same story a different way… The riches are in the niches.

The moral of this story is to go deep and narrow, highlighting the clearest path for your visitor and/or potential customer.

Don’t abandon all the content on your blog; just update it. Once you have a clear goal and better grasp of your audience, you’ll start loving your website as much as your visitors.

Want more content marketing info like this?

Get Free content marketing resources for small business and freelancers by clicking the button below.access the library

Filed Under: Real Estate Marketing, Website

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