The Best Social Media Practices for Your Business

social-media-iconsIt’s undeniable that social media platforms are here to stay.  But, it’s important to realize the difference between using these sites personally, or using them as your company. Let’s take a look at using social media from a business perspective.  Many businesses have opened a Facebook page or a Twitter account.  But, how many of these businesses are operating a successful social media campaign?

Just like updating content for your website is crucial for your company blog, social media also requires a certain level of upkeep.  Our guest blogger reminds us how important it is to engage with our potential customers and existing customers online for success in social media marketing.

Why Aren’t My Guest Blog Posts Being Published?

guest-blogging-reasons-whyHave you ever had an opportunity to submit a guest blog post only to never see it come to fruition?  It’s likely that you may have delivered an article that goes against the unwritten guest blogging rules.  These are rules you will pick up through experience.  But, we are here to help prepare you for your next guest blogging opportunity.  Our guest blogger, Michael Pesochinsky, has some helpful advice for the new blogger to follow when submitting guest posts.

Good and Bad Habits for Guest Bloggers

The most important thing you should keep in mind as a guest blogger while writing up your blog post is the audience that the blog is directed toward. Who are the blog’s readers? Your guest blog post has to cater to these readers in order for you to be successful. Once you have the content set for your guest blog entry, you want to format it accordingly to match the posts that are already on the host blog’s site so it’ll fit right in when it’s published.

On the other end of the spectrum, the most important thing you should avoid doing as a guest blogger is fill your guest blog post with promotional offers or sales pitches regarding your products and services. At the end of the day, the guest post is supposed to be centered around quality content that the blog you’re writing for can use to generate more site traffic and to facilitate more engagement from readers.

Michael Pesochinsky, VP & Co-founder, GovernmentBargains.com

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About the Author: Michael Pesochinsky, Esq. is the Vice President and Co-founder of GovernmentBargains.com, a free site that compiles and provides information about government auctions of seized and surplus merchandise from all over the country.

Stop Wasting Time with Social Media

guest-blogging-ideasFinding the right social media strategies that work for your company can mean the difference between a successful campaign and a complete waste of time.  Are you posting to your Facebook and Twitter accounts only because it’s the thing to do?

Don’t fret!  You’re on the right track and we all start somewhere! Learn how our guest blogger suggests you turn your time spent on social media sites into time spent well.

 

The Social Media Dance

My best advice on getting social is to recognize what type of business you’re in and how you can best meet your audience exactly where they are…content and location. I have found that because my career and personal life are somewhat intertwined, I have strategically separated Facebook and Twitter pages, but ensured they work in a cohesive manner, when necessary. I also have a business/lifestyle blog that brings my coaching tools and company together for greater impact. It’s imperative that you speak with a social media enthusiast about your platform, audience and goals to secure a social media plan that yields the ROI you’re seeking.

Candace D. Reese, Founder & CEO ~ Executive Coach ~ Inspirational Speaker, Envision Global Corporation ~ The CEO Pundit™

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About the Author: Candace Reese ~ The CEO Pundit™ speaks fluent INSPIRATION, enjoys philanthropic engagement, securing deals & gaining access for her clientele as Founder & CEO of Envision Global Corporation & Managing Partner of EnviBlu Lifestyle Concierge (#EnviBluLC)…Find her on Facebook (CandaceReeseTheCEOpundit)/Twitter (@CRchoosesJOY) & follow her company @EnvisionGlobal; read her blog updates at: www.TheCEOpundit.com.

How to Make Yourself Useful on Social Networks

benefits-guest-bloggingWhen interacting on social media sites to build your business, it is important that you first establish your objective.  Posting periodically throughout the day with random links and ramblings can sometimes do more harm than good.  Our guest blogger suggests you go a step beyond typical “sharing” and make yourself useful!

Make Yourself Useful on Social Networks

One of the key ways that I use social networking is to make myself (and my team) useful to prospective clients. It’s exceedingly rare that a client or a customer will hand you money the first time they encounter your business — it can easily take a dozen encounters to establish your product or service as an option that customers will remember when they need something similar to what you offer. Social networking provides a simple way to get some of those encounters out of the way, as well as build up some good will.

If you answer questions, make suggestions and generally interact in a helpful manner, you can build a relationship with the right people to grow your business. It is a time-intensive process, best suited to high-cost or high-volume selling, but it can definitely pay off.

Thursday Bram, Consultant, Hyper Modern Consulting

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About the Author: Thursday Bram writes about the business of writing, along with small business and freelance topics. You can find Thursday on Twitter.

Can Your Readers be Guest Bloggers?

We have found through experience that filling a website with fresh content on a daily basis can become an overwhelming task.  Simple tho it sounds, posting a new article to your website every day can become redundant, at best.  Guest blogging has provided site owners with an opportunity to invite others to supply their expertise, giving them a break from writing and providing a fresh perspective to their website.

Where do you get guest blog posts?  Virtual assistant, Janet Barclay, suggests using the relationships you develop through blogging to reach out to your readers!

Building Trust Through Your Guest Blog Post

guest-blogging-reasons-whyWe often discuss the importance of knowing your reason why when formulating your content marketing strategy. Every guest blog post should point to the end result you have in mind.  Often times guest blogging will help us create credibility in our field of expertise.  The more we engage others in our field, the more our content – and name – becomes respected and trusted.

Learn how one of our regular guest bloggers, Michael Pesochinsky, uses his strategy to build relationships with readers and bloggers alike.

Become the Authority

What bloggers want at the end of the day is for their name and content to be seen and read. One of the key ways for bloggers to receive some of the limelight is to guest blog for fellow bloggers. The more a blogger appears across multiple websites, the more likely readers will identify and trust the blogger’s name.

As the guest bloggers get their name out into the open, the owner of the host blog essentially gets free content. And as bloggers build up their reputation, the blogging community also places its trust upon them. Readers and fellow bloggers alike will know where they can get reliable content.

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About the Author: Michael Pesochinsky, Esq., is the VP and Co-founder of GovernmentBargains.com, a completely free site that compiles and provides information about government auctions of seized and surplus merchandise from all over the country.

How Does Guest Blogging Hold Us Accountable?

Writing Inspiration for BloggersWe have all heard the pep talks about being the company we keep, or we are what we read, or on the negative side – garbage in, garbage out.  So, when guest blogging gives us the opportunity to focus on what’s important it’s a win / win, helping others along with ourselves.

If you are continually engaging others in your business, you too will be engaged!  Learn how our guest blogger has benefited from this in his guest blogging campaign.

Helping Others Helps Me Too!

Since my guest posts cover motivating and inspiring others in many different aspects of life, I find myself participating in a passion of mine that I enjoy doing and at the same time helps me a great deal too!

Many times, we, as human beings, need to be reminded of certain things in order to keep them fresh in our minds, and if my guest blog posts can serve to assist even one person in any way possible so that they are getting the most out of their talents, skills and abilities, and making those around them better, well-rounded individuals, then I consider my work to be priceless. We all deserve to be happy in whatever it is we choose to do, and I sincerely feel that by keeping our bodies strong and minds sharp, we will maintain a better quality of life for ourselves and those we come into contact with on a daily basis.

It all starts with how we see ourselves in the mirror, and whether we feel good inside. Therefore, my guest blogs posts always focus on self-esteem and how we can channel our energy to help others. By constantly maintaining this positive theme in my posts, I always try to instill confidence in the reader that they can achieve anything they set out to do in life, and that inevitably ends up rubbing off on myself as well!

Gary Goldstein, Writer/Author/Motivational & Inspirational Speaker, “Jew in Jail”

Should My Company Website Have a Blog?

We asked our guest bloggers to share with us what they know about the Guest Blogging basics! Emily Gladders, from Planwise, shared the benefits of attaching a blog to your business website and gave us some insight to her blogging strategy.

Targeting Your Audience Through Guest Blogging

benefits-guest-bloggingWe have been discussing the many ways we can reach our target audience through guest blogging.  Along with being sincere in our tone and providing useful and accurate information, it is also important to establish your brand.  Your guest blogging campaign should be geared toward one aspect.  You are the go-to-guy (or gal)…  for what?

Learn what our guest blogger uses to tie her guest blogging campaign together.

Be Genuine in Your Guest Blog Posts

Developing quality content for a guest blog post takes opening yourself up to others.  Blogging is about developing relationships with your readers. Our guest blogger suggests how to relate to others by being sincere.  Learn how being genuine will help you in your guest blogging campaign.