The mistake we are focusing on today is not making it easy for your followers.

On this series of posts I am identifying social media mistakes business owners make and I am offering a recommended fix. I am not going to link to each of the previous posts here at the top because I know there will be at least 15 posts (maybe more) and that will get very messy very quickly. Scroll to the bottom to check other posts.

Mistake - You forget I am lazy.
Perhaps lazy is a too strong of a word for some of us. Pressed for time may be more accurate. Whichever word you prefer to use, the novelty of social media has long since worn off and for many of us it is not so fun. We are bombarded by information from the many, many people we follow.

When you send me a request to do a task, you need to make it easy for me. I have a sample tweet I saw last year. Here is the text: It’s time to VOTE. Help us recapture the title. As they used to say in Chicago “Vote early and often”. Thanks for your support.

That was all. No related tweets before or after this one. One random tweet that did not address the two points needed to take action. What am I voting for and how do I do it? Your followers are generally too busy to bother to ask; they simply move on.

When you post, include the link your follower needs to complete the action you want them to take. If you are asking them to sign up for your mailing list link to your signup form, not your website home page that includes a right-rail signup box. I have Online ADD and when I see your home page I have already forgotten why I clicked your link; I watch your cool video and never sign up for your list.

This can be particularly hard for direct sales representatives. I recently helped a client with a social media campaign that was to include a product of the week. We called the corporate office to get unique tracking links so she could post photos with links to purchase the individual products in the pictures that would get her credit for the sale since the buy now buttons (with tracking links) on her website all forward to general order pages on the corporate site.

You may be thinking, “So what? I will just send the follower to my “shopping site” home page and they can find the perfume/makeup/vitamins once they get there and I will get credit.” Did you forget I am lazy (excuse me, “busy”)? I click the link and am presented with a myriad of choices in a completely non-user friendly manner. Unless I really want (and I do not) that perfume/makeup/vitamins I will just choose to leave the page and next time I will probably not even click your link.

The reason I said it can be particularly hard for direct sales representatives is that when we called the corporate office we were told they did not have their system set up to accept unique tracking links for individual products and I have heard this may be true for other companies as well. (I only know for sure with this one company.) If you are considering signing up with a multi-level marketing company and plan to use social media marketing, be sure to ask about this before you sign up.

Please remember to make it easy for your followers when you give them a call to action. We like you and want to help you if we can, but you are not the only one asking.

Come back again next time. I will have another mistake; and another solution.

Until next time...

Have a great day,
Susanne


Quit doing what you "should"; do what works for you. Learn how you can effectively integrate a social media campaign into your marketing plan. Sign up for Stop the Social Media Madness online training today.

Biggest Social Media Mistakes Business Owners Make - Part 1
Biggest Social Media Mistakes Business Owners Make - Part 2
Biggest Social Media Mistakes Business Owners Make - Part 3
Biggest Social Media Mistakes Business Owners Make - Part 4
Biggest Social Media Mistakes Business Owners Make - Part 5
Biggest Social Media Mistakes Business Owners Make - Part 6
Biggest Social Media Mistakes Business Owners Make - Part 7

Wow. We are at number seven already. I think we really will still be talking about social media at Christmas. The mistake we are focusing on today is not really considering the costs of social media.

On this series of posts I am identifying social media mistakes business owners make and I am offering a recommended fix. I am not going to link to each of the previous posts here at the top because I know there will be at least 15 posts (maybe more) and that will get very messy very quickly. Scroll to the bottom to check other posts.

Mistake - You think social media is free.
“But, Susanne. It IS free. That is why I spend so much time on it.”

You just hit the nail on the head. At the very least, you are spending time. You may even be spending your money for someone else’s time. Your time costs money.

“I am only on social media 10 minutes a day.” Really? How come every couple of days when I log in to Facebook and read my feed, you have liked or commented on most of the posts from our mutual friends and your time stamps are telling a different story? We may plan to get in and out of our social media accounts quickly. Unfortunately the real world steps in and that 10 minutes turns into two hours.

“I am just spending extra time on social media when I am slow.” If you are slow, you need to generate revenue. Money can be made directly from social media. Unless you are SPENDING money on ads revenue is not likely to materialize exactly when you need it.

How do you stay active on social media and still maintain focus for your business? Make a schedule and stick to it. Set a timer if necessary. I do not even read my personal timeline when I log in to Facebook. I check my business and personal messages and notifications, and I check my groups. Every morning I read the tweets on my very small “read” list from the day before and I do not worry about what is posted today. I have money to make.

When you have that slow hour, day, week; get on the phone and call people. Make cold calls. Call those leads from that pile of business cards you have stashed. Call clients and let them know about your new products or sales.

Social media is a great tool that can generate income. However, if you are spending hours a day on social media because you think it is cheap advertising and your business is not making money, you need to cut back your social media and focus on tasks that will make the cash register ring.

Come back again next time. I will have another mistake; and another solution.

Until next time...

Have a great day,
Susanne

Quit doing what you "should"; do what works for you. Learn how you can effectively integrate a social media campaign into your marketing plan. Sign up for Stop the Social Media Madness online training today.

Biggest Social Media Mistakes Business Owners Make - Part 1
Biggest Social Media Mistakes Business Owners Make - Part 2
Biggest Social Media Mistakes Business Owners Make - Part 3
Biggest Social Media Mistakes Business Owners Make - Part 4
Biggest Social Media Mistakes Business Owners Make - Part 5
Biggest Social Media Mistakes Business Owners Make - Part 6

The mistake we are focusing in on today is thinking you have to be on social media.

On this series of posts I am identifying social media mistakes business owners make and I am offering a recommended fix. I am not going to link to each of the previous posts here at the top because I know there will be at least 10 posts (definitely more) and that will get very messy very quickly. Scroll to the bottom to check other posts.

Mistake - You think social media is a requirement.
I know you are thinking, “Wait a minute, Susanne. You are a social media evangelist. What do you mean it is not a requirement?”

Social media is not the be all end all of marketing and it is not right for every business. I have created marketing strategy plans for clients that do not include any social media suggestions. If you are bidding for government contracts, having 1,000 Twitter followers will not likely help your chances. Being a woman- or minority-owned business will.

I want you to know that I do not consider YouTube and your blog as social media. I consider those to be content platforms, similar to your website. You share YouTube and your blog to Facebook and Twitter; not the other way around.

If you are having success with the marketing strategy you are currently using and you do not have any social media accounts, do not start just because people keep talking about Pinterest or Google+. Your business does not need to keep up with the Joneses. The Joneses are thousands of dollars in debt and so stressed out they are on their way to early heart attacks.

If you have not yet defined your target audience, review part 1 of this series for tips on how to do so. If your market is not very active on social media, celebrate. You do not need to try integrating social media into your current schedule. Woo hoo!

Come back again next time. I will have another mistake; and another solution.

Until next time...

Have a great day,
Susanne

Social media is confusing; I simplify it. Learn how you can effectively integrate a social media campaign into your marketing plan. Sign up for Stop the Social Media Madness online training today.

Biggest Social Media Mistakes Business Owners Make - Part 1
Biggest Social Media Mistakes Business Owners Make - Part 2
Biggest Social Media Mistakes Business Owners Make - Part 3
Biggest Social Media Mistakes Business Owners Make - Part 4
Biggest Social Media Mistakes Business Owners Make - Part 5

The mistake we are focusing in on today is forgetting that you need to make money.

On this series of posts I am identifying social media mistakes business owners make and I am offering a recommended fix. I am not going to link to each of the previous posts here at the top because I know there will be at least 10 posts (probably more) and that will get very messy very quickly. Scroll to the bottom to check other posts.

Mistake - You never ask for the sale.
Every business has different goals for social media: customer service, education, recruitment, sales and etcetera. Even if cultivating prospective customers is not your primary goal think about the old adage, “A business that does not make money is not a business.”

Take a look at what you are posting. Do you share a lot of other people’s inspirational images? Try creating your own. Make a template with your website on it. Now when you post those quotes, followers will see your website also.

When you launch a new product or have a sale make sure to let your followers know. Post about a featured product of the week with information on the benefits of that product.

You can choose to be very direct in asking for the sale such as in a Twitter post which is limited to 280 characters, “Get out of social media overwhelm now --> http://mybusinesstweets.weebly.com/social-media-101.html” or more indirect such as this series of blog posts. At the bottom of each post I include the link to purchase my social media strategy training course.

Although I am happy to share part of my knowledge for free, I am still a business owner. If my business is not making money, I am unemployed. So I share tips I believe will help you rethink or create your social media strategy and if you like the way I express myself and want some help to create that strategy you will very likely purchase my product.

Do not worry about turning people off by asking for the sale. If the occasional “Buy my stuff.” causes people to quit following you, SO BE IT. Those people were not going to buy from you anyway.

Take some time to determine where you can ask for the sale and ask me to buy your stuff. Come back again next time. I will have another mistake; and another solution.

​Until next time...

Have a great day,
Susanne

Social media is confusing; I simplify it. Learn how you can effectively integrate a social media campaign into your marketing plan. Sign up for Stop the Social Media Madness online training today. 

Biggest Social Media Mistakes Business Owners Make - Part 1
Biggest Social Media Mistakes Business Owners Make - Part 2
Biggest Social Media Mistakes Business Owners Make - Part 3
Biggest Social Media Mistakes Business Owners Make - Part 4