That Selling on Social Media Thing, You’re Doing It All Wrong

I have avoided writing this follow-up blog post like the plague. Maybe its just me being greedy and expecting the world from small business. I really wish I didn’t have to write this, but small improvements can be made that will help to blow up certain businesses selling on social media. Expanding their audience, and growing their trust levels.

Avoid These Mistakes When Selling On Social Media

In my consulting business, I talk to many realtors and automotive sales consultants that have not been properly educated on the most effective ways for selling on social media. The top 3 most common mistakes I frequently see are the following:

Spammy sounding sales messages through the corporate account, or sales persons personal account.
Making generic sounding requests to connect.
Having outdated social profiles.
BONUS: Constantly selling your products or services.

And while these three social selling blunders are quite common in the industry, they really don’t take that much effort to correct.

How Can We Improve Selling On Social Media?

Before post anything, its important to think about your audience, and building a relationship with them. Why? Because that relationship, if handled properly, leads to trust. And trust.. to the end goal… sales. But more importantly, building a strong friendly relationship.

There are a few basic principles to apply when selling on social media:

Pay attention to your social media profiles. Keep them updated and on point.
Post great tips and ideas that will make your audience think and react.
Have conversations on social.

Selling Has Always Been Social

Since the beginning of time, selling has always been a social endeavour. Spending time to get to know people, having conversation and sharing ideas. We just have some new mediums that help us get that part of the “job” done. Build relationships online the way you do in the physical world. Maybe even better. Your audience and reach has the potential to grow much faster and broader than possible in the physical world.

How Can You Build Strong Relationships Online?

An integral step in the process to generate more sales through social media. Sign up to my email newsletter to get tactics and strategies you can implement immediately.

A Few Email Marketing Strategies To Help Make You Money

Its really no secret that email is the most effective marketing channel in our lives today. Beating out social media of PPC. And the best thing, unlike PPC, its all permission based. People want to hear your messages! I’m here to make sure that your email marketing strategies work, with a few strategies and tips.

If you want to really speak to your audience and improve the effectiveness of your email marketing, there are a few key areas that can be improved on for most:

1- Creating One Call to Action

When crafting copy for email newsletters we tend to get carried away. Throwing in way to much content than what people care to read. Often times as marketers we forget that they opted in to receive our messages, ignoring their valuable time and the relationship we are building with them. Its critical to not inundate the receiver with too many calls to action. And by too many, anything over 1 is bad. Highlight your call to action, keep it clean, and cut down on the number of choices that the recipient has to make… because they just might not make a decision at all if there are too many.

2- Create Urgency

If you are proposing a special offer for your audience, attach a deadline to it. Not a made up one, an actual real one. Your audience can sniff through a fake one. Add urgency to it, and explain your offer and the need to act quickly. Build trust. Don’t take it away.

3- Subject Line Length Matters

More devices only allow for 33-38 character long subject lines. Add more than this and your audience will not get the gist of what you’re trying to communicate. Your subject line is more important than the actual copy in the email. Without a good subject, your email wont even get opened. And if you think that you’re audience is only reading their emails on desktop computers? Think again, 50% of all emails read are open on mobile devices.

4- The Power of P.S.

Lets not underestimate the power of the P.S. at the end of an email. Its something that your audience will always remember. Reinforcing your offer and driving more action.

5- Writing To A Friend

Your audience has accepted you into their lives. They are pretty much a friend of yours now, right? So why not write to them like a friend? Forget about the corporate marketing speak, and draft letters like you were writing to a friend! Keep it casual and friendly.

BONUS: Lose the Corporate Jargon

Staying with the “writing to a friend theme”, you more than likely dont drop jargon speak with close friends, and if you do, watch their face. While every industry has their own acronyms, write like an actual human talking to another human. This is going to help builder a closer relationship with your audience.

What do you think, are you ready to improve your email marketing by 10% today by using a few of the above tips?

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How much is a social media follower worth?

What is the real value of a social media connection? How much is a social media follower worth?

Are fake follower counts better for business?

The more followers you have on social media the better, right? Wrong! Completely wrong! Nothing could be more wrong. But that’s ok. Let’s not blame the offenders, they have not got the slightest idea on what social media is all about. Obviously. And how much is a social media follower worth?

Lately I have been bombarded with new followers on Twitter. But not your average follower. The dreaded “$10 for 10,000” followers game that spammers have been playing for the years since social media entered the mainstream. Followers that are offering riches in the form of “real” followers. Of course they are real. As real as the Easter bunny and Tom Thumb.

Buying social media followers does nothing for your business

Have you ever bought followers to increase your social media count and believe this is better for your business? What’s the use in buying followers? What does it do for you? But hey, $10 for 10,000 new friends, why not? It makes you look better than the competition. It might, on the outside, appear that you are indeed “the shizzle”, but once people dive in and see what you’re all about, game over. Your social standing is ruined. Not to mention your analytics and reporting. After all, how can Mary Smith, Toronto Real Estate agent, have over 20,000 followers with 50 tweets about nothing?

Elevate your social media following to unbelievable levels only hurts your brand

Take the example above. Mary, a local real estate agent has 20,000 followers! She must be the best agent in the city! Arnold’s Plumbing has 18,000 friends on Facebook – he has to be the ultimate plumber in the area! Everyone loves Mary and Arnold it seems. But let’s investigate. Mary has only tweeted 50 times! Wow! Those 50 tweets must have been so good that all those people had to click to follow. But what did she tweet about? …. Hello world!, Open house at 123 Main, Eating popcorn with the dog! Something about Mary doesn’t seem right. Let’s look at Arnold. 5 links to YouTube videos on deck staining, and 3 about why he’s the best plumber? Arnold, Mary, what’s going on? And Arnold and Mary wonder why social media doesn’t work. They don’t have the right earned audience or the right messages.

Tarnish your brand, loose valuable business… How much is a social media follower worth?

All of this hocus pocus is what ruins brands. Trying to trick people into thinking you are what you aren’t. Who ends up hurt in the end? The person with the crumby brand.

People can see right through the fakes

People aren’t dumb. They know when your putting them on. Is it worth it? Spend the right energy on the right things that will build your business, and social following, in the proper way.

It’s not about the quantity, it’s about the quality of social media followers and posts

It’s not Mary and Arnold’s fault. They just got bad advice. Let’s help educate them. Sign up below for my email newsletter to better understand how digital marketing and social media can help your business grow by engaging and building relationships with your audience.

Increasing landing page conversions in 8 simple steps

I bet you’ve spent a lot of time and energy on your website. Now it’s time to design, develop and launch a landing page for a new campaign you’re running with the goal of trying to get as much traffic and attention as possible… you’ve checked in to your analytics to see how things are going, and…..nothing. Your landing page conversions are zilch.

The purpose of your landing page is to capture leads and warm them up before sending them into your sales funnel. Chances are, your business can benefit from higher converting landing pages. Higher conversion rates equal more customers, and more customers means more potential profits.

“Think of your landing page as the next Picasso”

Every detail of your landing page should have a higher purpose other than a need to fill up space. From the size and color of your call-to-action button to the length of your copy. Every element you choose to put on your landing page should have a strategic reason behind it.

The 8 stage process for creating higher converting landing pages

Write a killer headline

Your headline should grab people’s attention. Literally. That drab headline with no personality is not going to pull them in, especially when only 8 out of 10 people will actually read your headline, and out of those, only 2 will read the rest. Its sad, but those are real world statistics. Build the headline to summarize exactly what your landing page is about. People scan copy – so the easier you can make it for them to understand what you’re talking about the better chance you have to engage them. Your subhead should quickly expand on your headlines message to pull them in.

Include images and video

Images help draw readers in. Compelling images will tempt them to scroll through your content. Images should connect directly to what your landing page is all about (selling). Tie your image to your headline and you’ll have a winning combination. If it’s a product landing page, use a picture of the product of people interacting with the product. If it’s a service, depict it the best way you can with an image.

List the benefits

Readers love bulleted lists. It’s one way they can easily scan through your content and see if your product or service is of interest. And listing the reasons why your product or service benefits them is a must if you want to build that much desired relationship with them. Visitors have to know why you’re the one to turn to.

Get the most important information to the top

Get your main points to above the fold. An old school newspaper term, whereby above the fold means the information that is presented on the screen immediately without scrolling down by the user. Make sure to get your more important information at the top of your landing page. Your visitors will spend 80% of their time there, so make sure they get what you have to say immediately without having to scroll down, which they will not do.

Call to Action

Does your call to action stand out? Landing page conversions are highly dependant on the visitor to actually click through, and your call to action is going to be a huge factor. Are you making it as clear as possible to show what the next steps are that you want your visitor to take? You don’t want your visitors to be pondering over what to do next…. Because chances are they will just close the browser window.

Providing Social Proof

Do you look at social reviews before investing in a product? 70% of people do, so adding a few lines of copy about what made them make the decision to buy your product is going to help raise the profile of your initiative and help you to be seen as more trusted. Another way to make sure your landing page conversions are the highest they can be, are by compiling and adding testimonials to your landing page. This could also include adding client logos, showcasing the types of businesses you help.

Get rid of the distractions

Delete the clutter! You’re not going to see landing page conversions if your page is a giant heap of copy and images. Minimizing distractions is only going to help your customers understand what you are offering and move through their journey. Take out additional website navigation, and lay out the clear path you want them to take.

Address the pain points

Your business solves a problem. Touch on the problem, or pain points your audience has and how to fix them, and you’re golden. Build a relationship with your viewers and help them realize your the one to help them with their problems.

Want more landing page conversions related information, tips, tricks and tactics?

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Best practices for creating a live broadcast with Facebook

I wasn’t the most skilled when it came to Live video, Facebook Live video to be more specific. Why? Because I had never spent the time to look into the best practices that surround a live broadcast in order to effectively engage an audience.

Sure some of the best practices may seem like common sense to seasoned digital marketers and regular live video users that have learned through trial and error. But if you’ve never built a strategy and tactics surrounding Facebook Live or a live broadcast, these tips are going to prove to be highly beneficial in your next Facebook Live video session.

Tell people you’re going live ahead of your live broadcast

Sending a message out to your followers before your live broadcast, letting them know when you’ll be live and what you’ll be discussing helps build anticipation for the event. It’s also going to get them ready and on the lookout for your live broadcast notification. If it’s a bigger live broadcast event you might want to send the message out a day in advance to prep people to block calendars.

Check your connection

There’s nothing worse than trying to hit the live broadcast video button only to be shut out because the signal isn’t strong enough. Make sure the wifi signal you’re on, or the carrier signal, is strong enough to support your broadcast.

Get a compelling title and description ready before going live

A great title will capture your audience’s attention, and help them to decide whether your broadcast is worthy enough to tune in to. The description will be used after the fact to add more context and add to your live broadcast post when all is said and done.

Interact with your audience

When people tune in and comment, their names will be visible. People like nothing more than the sound of their own names. Make it personal. Say hi to individuals. Ask them questions. Thank them.

Reach more people by broadcasting longer

We recommend that you go live for at least 10 minutes. This gives your audience enough time to discover your video, invite friends and actually watch the broadcast live! The longer you live broadcast, the more people will tune in to your live broadcast.

The sign off

Make it clear that you’re ending the live broadcast. Come up with a standard line that makes it evident you’re shutting down the stream, but people can still connect and collaborate with you through other means.

Facebook Live is one of the best ways to interact with your viewers in real time, allowing you to connect instantly to your audience. Answering their questions and hearing what’s on their mind while giving them a behind the scenes look into your business or personal brand.

Stuck on what to live broadcast?

If the live broadcast is new to you, even if you’re a veteran, coming up with ideas on what to broadcast can prove to be challenging. These six items can be that jumping point needed to build up your live broadcast schedule.

Q&A – Answer questions from fans.
Breaking news – comment on the day’s events.
Interview – Bring a friend or expert into the conversation.
Behind the scenes – turn your camera to the scenery around you and let events unfold.Watch-with – watch your
favorite show, movie or event with your audience. Fun, right?
Demo – teach people how to do something like cook, play music or learn more about a current event.

Anatomy Of The Perfect Real Estate Blog Post

Recently, a real estate agent friend asked if I had a blog posting template that I used for clients and for personal blog use. She knows the importance that being seen as a local market leader will have on her career. Clients tend to cozy up to real estate agents that are embedded into the community, and show it. After all, you want the real estate agent you choose to know the ins and out of a community when buying or selling, not just one who steps in and tries to sell you. Enter the real estate blog post template.

The Real Estate Blog Post Template

I was happy to share with her the blog post template I us. While I don’t follow it to a “T” I refer to it during the writing process to make sure I cover off the key points that are going to be the make or breaks for the information I share.

While the blog post template that I use focuses on digital and social marketing, this one should be thought of in with the new way of real estate selling in mind. Which is not selling at all. Its education. Educating the market on your niche geographic area and housing type. Focusing on your local market, and being that local market expert. I tailored this blog post template to best suit my friends real estate business. I hope you find it useful as well.

There are six components to my real estate blog post template:

1 – Compelling Title

Sadly, the average blog viewer will only ever read the title of a blog post. If your title does not lure them, they will never get the chance to read the rest of what you have to say. Your first blog posts might have topics that include: “The top 3 cafe’s for working remotely in Caledon”, “Where can you volunteer your time in Caledon?”, “Its all grown in your backyard, Caledon’s best local markets”.

2- Lead Paragraph

Second in line to the title, the leading paragraph is a key component that is going to pull them into the rest of the article. If you take too long to get to the point and get across what it is you are sharing with your audience, you will loose them. Make the lead paragraph relevant to your readers, and they will continue.

3- Relevant Image

Think about why magazines use images. To pull readers into the content. Having an image that tells a story and intrigues readers is only going to increase the chances that your blog post will be read. Forget the generic shot of the exterior of a house, this image will tell your story and build on your compelling title.

4- Personal Experience

Sharing a personal experience in a blog post is going to bring your down to earth and help your audience relate to you on another level. The more honest and transparent you can be, the better. You sat down and worked remotely at that cafe right? Talk about your experience. What you saw, how that cookie tasted, the conversations you had, the atmosphere.

5- Main Body

This is the core of your blog post. Everything before this can really be considered as an introduction. One trick I have learned throughout the years is that the more scannable you can make your content with bullet points, numbered lists and small paragraphs, the more it is accessible to readers. Those that like to read, and those that like to scan and pick up the gist of what you’re saying before moving on.

6- Discussion Question, Call to Action

Ending a post with a question or call to perform an action helps to start a conversation with your audience instead of leaving them hanging. It could be asking about their experience relating to the topic of your blog post, or their ideas on the topic. It could also be a great way to measure the effectiveness of your blog post.

Extra rules when writing real estate blog posts:

Make your posts short

By short I don’t mean 100 words. You should aim to create a 500 word minimum real estate blog post.

Use short paragraphs

A great tactic to use since we are inundated with messages daily and really don’t make the time to read 1200 word blog posts. Even when they are exceptional. Try keeping to 2-3 sentences per paragraph, and make your blog post scannable.

Use internal links

You real estate blog post should be relating to one particular topic or niche. And I know you’ve got some great posts expanding on things you are talking about in your latest post. Link to them! Its a great way to get a new visitor circulating around your blog and boosting your older contents views, and previous visitors a refresher on your past content.

Wrapping your real estate blog post up

Putting some or all of the above into your blog posting template will help you polish your blog post skills, and write a little faster to get that great content out of your head and in front of your audience who is craving your knowledge and experience. Become the local market expert, not just the real estate agent that sells the most houses and thats in the “Top 1%.”

How can you get started building digital relationships within your niche community?

Are you one of those real estate agents that believe in the power digital and social marketing, and knows that it can work wonders for building relationships, but just don’t know where to start? Lets talk!

The Real Truth About Social Media Posting Schedules

Every time you post on social media, you are flirting with your audience. Sure flirting can be seen as a fine art of frequency, but how often is too often? What do the worlds most perfect social media posting schedules look like? And should you adopt the same one?

Social Media Posting Schedules, the Good

Good content can be found in a variety of places. You’ve got some great content about your line of business, and its more than likely bubbling to the top and ready to share! But how often should you be sharing it? Striking that balance between informative and annoying can seem tricky. We want to provide our audience with value, but we don’t want to jump in to the deep end with too much. Or do we?

Social Media Posting Schedules, the Bad

We have these so called social media experts laying out the perfect times to post, how many times we should be posting on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, but in the vast seas of social media overload, are our posts merely getting lost in the clutter? Sure, reports might show that brands who post more than X times a day see drop off in the engagement rates, but guess what, if you are providing that value to your audience, what does it matter? When making buying decisions, customers rewind those feeds and do their research. Thats one of the perks of social media.

Social Media Posting Schedules, the Ugly

Here’s what I do: I take the research done by many “social media experts” along with personal insights and experience, and build out a plan and schedule for what makes sense for the business. Can a small business gather and post on Twitter 14 times per day? 2 times per day on Facebook, 1 time on LinkedIn? Do they have the bandwidth? Most likely not. If they want to get ahead of the competition, they are going to put fuel on that fire to make sure they stand out and produce more than the recommended average level of content.

In Summary, Provide Value

Forget about the recommendations experts talk about. Sure, keep them in the back of your head to at least stay in the game, but focus on providing value for your audience. If that value comes in the form of 5 Facebook posts, and 25 Twitter post per day… do it! Its only going to get your brand ahead of the pack. The haters and people that weren’t going to ever buy from you in the first place will unfollow and tune you out if they see the messaging as clutter… and thats a good thing.

Discover more about how you can build your business using social media:

3 Reasons Your Business Should Be Blogging For Leads

The successful ones are doing it…

Discover the 3 unique ways business blogging will help generate more leads, prove ROI, increase budgets and attract top talent.

Its 2016 and business blogging is killing it in the SEO world. Small businesses to multinational organizations that care about building leads and turning them into sales care about blogging and focus their energy on blogging. Online leads are important for your business, and there is one single way we guarantee you get these leads – and its called “creating engaging content.”

What are your company’s top marketing challenges?

In a recent Hubspot survey, 88% of B2B organizations are all for content marketing. However, 60% have admitted that their biggest challenge is the creation of engaging content on their websites. People are on the right track, but not sure what they should be doing when it comes to business blogging and producing content.

Showing off your wares

Your website is a place to show off what you’ve got. To talk about who you are and why people should care about you. Ok, so its easy enough to show off your products and services, and talk about you, the problem lies in why people should care about you. Providing this is crucial in the lead generation funnel. Thats where blogging comes in. Creating well written blog posts will check a number of boxes for your business:

Driving more website traffic
Increasing your Google rankings
Position yourself as a leader

Drive more website traffic: By showing people you are on top of industry news and connecting to them on a human level active blogging from companies not only generates 50% more website visits because of this activity, they also receive more than 97% more links to their website! People love it when they can see personality, a look behind the scenes, and a step away from behind the curtains.

Increase your Google ranking: Perhaps one of the greatest marketing side effects of running a blog is that you can generate leads even while you’re not actively working to! Your blog post traffic increases over time. Major search engines that have indexed your content have helped push 67% more leads for blogging companies. Releasing regular content that include your companies top keywords will get you on the map and to the top of the search engine results pages.

Position yourself as an industry leader: Giving your customers useful advice by providing relevant, interesting and of course entertaining content without selling, shows that you genuinely care about them. Increasing your street cred. Demonstrate you’re a pro and the more people will want to spread your word and connect.

In Summary

“Storytelling when done right, takes a product that should have sold $100 million worth of stuff and sells $1 billion worth of stuff.”

Gary Vaynerchuk,