Before You Start: You have social media accounts and you want to grow your community.
Learning level: 4 | Creating Solutions
Article Last Updated: Sunday, January 25, 2015

Grow Your Online Community

I talk a lot about the value of having a passionate and engaged community rather than a large community of people who don’t care about your business.

But let’s be honest. Even better than having a small, passionate community is having a large, passionate community.

So how can you take your current success with your online community and ramp it up to get bigger numbers?

Here are my best tips and secrets for growing your online community. I’ve focused on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest, but most of these tips apply to other social media sites.

Are you ready? Let’s go!

15 Tips for Getting More Followers and Likes

1. Fill out your profile completely. Do a check on each site and make sure that you are using all of the available profile features. Don’t leave anything empty, especially your profile photo.
2. Update your profile. If you already filled out your profile completely, make some changes. Add some personality. Swap in a fresh headshot. Mix it up so your profile is laser focused on the benefits of using your products and services. And show a little leg (have a little fun).
3. Check your tongue. Look back through your 2 dozen most recent posts. Sure, you like them, but do they really add value for the people reading them? When was the last time you gave away a tip or insiders secret? Don’t write for yourself. Write for your audience. Tell them what they want (and need) to hear from you. Answer their questions. Help them solve problems.
4. Post consistently. If you are not posting on a regular schedule, your account might look like a ghost town. Make sure you show up every business day.
5. Post consistently but not too often. This is a balancing act. You want to post often enough that people know you are there, but not so often that they ignore you (or turn you off). For Facebook, don’t exceed 3-4 posts per day. With Twitter, space out your messages to once an hour during your business day (except for conversations). With Pinterest, leave some breathing room between pins of about 15 minutes, and don’t flood the pin stream with many similar images in a group.
6. Reply to every comment. Even the small ones. Take what they say to continue the conversation. Make it about them and their comment, not about you. Remember that people love to talk about themselves and that’s the fastest way to get them to open up.
7. Connect with your existing customers. This is easy to say and harder to do, but is really important. Look up your best customers to see where they are online and add them to your community. This is easier for B2B than B2C. My secret weapon is Rapportive (for Gmail), an email tool that shows me the social media accounts for people who send me an email.
8. Share your business social media passport. Add links to your social media accounts to your website, blog, your email signature, and your email newsletter footer. Put up signs in your business that say “Like us on Facebook” or “Follow us on Twitter” or “Follow us on Pinterest.” Add the social media icons to your menus, invoices, order forms, receipts and anything else you hand to customers.
9. Comment on other people’s posts, tweets and pins. If you are waiting for people to find and like you, it’s a little like sitting by the phone and waiting for it to ring. Reach out to people by commenting on their blog posts, replying to their Facebook posts, retweeting and replying to their tweets, and repinning their pins. Jump into conversations that someone else started.
10. Use hashtags to connect with other people looking for your conversation topics. Include hashtags in your posts, tweets and pins to help people find you. It’s a powerful and practical way to reach out beyond your current community to other people who care about your topics.
11. Use your hashtags to find other conversations. Use your post hashtags to find other people talking about the same things and join in those conversations. Like and follow those people. Build relationships with them.
12. Actively grow your community every week. Invest a little time every week to find, follow, and like other people in your industry, related industries, and your neighborhood. Some of them will notice you and follow or like you back.
13. Run a Facebook page promotion. It’s not free, but it’s an effective way to reach out to people who might like what you offer. Start with a small budget and experiment with your ad each time you run it. I recommend a monthly ad while you are building your audience.
14. Add social media widgets to your website and blog. Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest have tools that allow people to see your account without leaving your website or blog. These widgets also let people follow you right fromyour website. Don’t miss this important opportunity to capture their attention. These tools work!
15. Send an email asking people to like and follow you. Email is still the most effective and efficient way to reach out to the people who care about your business. Send out a message with links to your social media accounts and ask people to join your online community.

Bonus Tip
Measure and track your results. Your community needs to grow both in size and in interaction with you. Learn and use the tools for each site, including Facebook Insights, Twitter ads timeline activity, and Pinterest analytics for business accounts (all free services). There are also 3rd-party tools to help you track things.

• Before You Start: You have a business.
• Learning level: 1 | Social Media Basics
• Article Last Updated: Saturday, September 6, 2014

I’m Too Busy For Social Media

Last week, I met with a small business owner who said she just didn’t have time for social media with all of the activites she needs to run her business.

Maybe you feel the same way.

It’s easy to think of social media as a nice-to-have addition to your business. But in truth, your business needs social media to stay healthy and grow. Here’s what I explained to her.

Essential Business Components

Most people start a business because they have a passion for something and they are good at it. That’s a great reason to start a business.

But if you want your business to survive and grow, you also need to master all three of these essential business components.

• Deliver excellence. Your business must consistently deliver excellent products and services to your customers. Without a commitment to excellence, your business won’t last long.
• Run the business. You must make sure that you have the support you need to deliver excellence to your customers. This includes things like paying the bills, invoicing customers, doing the bookkeeping, ordering supplies, keeping the utilities turned on, and hiring staff.
• Get new work. In the midst of delivering excellence and running the business, you have to make sure you have new work lined up. This includes things like marketing, social media, talking with potential customers, and maintaining your relationships with existing customers.

This diagram shows how these three components work together to create a successful business.

Why Businesses Fail

If you don’t think each one of these is important, here’s what happens when you fail at any one:

• If you fail to deliver excellence, no matter how good you are at the other components, your customers will say bad things about you and your business will shrivel up. Delivering excellence is your number one job.
• If you can’t run your business effectively, you will jump from one crisis to another and have a chaotic workplace. Work becomes a series of disasters and headaches. After a short time, you may decide its easier to go work for someone else.
• If you can’t keep new work coming in the door at a steady pace, your business will go through periods where you have no work and no income. You will not be able to pay your bills or your employees, and you will go out of business.

Where Social Media Fits In

Social media fits into the third component: getting new work.

• Your business needs new customers. Not only can you find new customers on social media, they can find you there, too.
• Social media also allows you to have conversations with your existing customers. This keeps your relationship fresh and keeps your business in their mind so you can get more repeat business.
• You can use social media to stay in touch with other people who can refer new customers to your business. People get to know your company through social media, and you never know who they might refer to your business.
• You can share information about your products and services on social media, along with telling the story of your business.
• People do business with people they know, they like, and they trust. Social media helps you accomplish all three of these.

Social media is part of your solution for creating a successful business. Make sure that your business plans and daily operations give enough time for this essential business component.

• Before You Start: You have a business. You may already have an online business presence, or you may be ready to start building your online business presence.
• Learning level: 1 | Social Media Basics
• Article Last Updated: Sunday, March 23, 2014

Google Is The New Yellow Pages

Until a few years ago, anyone who was looking for a business product or service used the phone book to find it. The phone book was the go-to place for reliable business information.

Google has become the new yellow pages.

Today, when people are looking for information about a business, they use the internet to search for it. Whether they choose Google, Bing, or another search engine, the truth is that they are looking for your business online.

If you haven’t been keeping up with business technology, you may be surprised to discover this.

People Are Searching For Your Business

The question you need to ask yourself is: Can potential customers find my business online?

But the problem is bigger than new customers. Your current customers are also searching for you online.

• Mayve they can’t find your business card.
• Maybe they have forgotten your exact address.
• Maybe they want to call to see if you sell something specific they need.

Can your customers find you online?

And if they can’t find you, are they going to find one of your competitors?

Getting Found Online

There are several ways your business can be found online.

• Build a business website. The best way to get your business online is to invest in a business website. A website lets you tell the story of your business to your target audience. You can explain your products and services in a way that attracts new business.
• Add your business to an online map. If you have a physical location, you can add your business to the online map services. This way, people can not only find your business online, they can get driving directions and a brief business overview.
• Create a company page on LinkedIn. LinkedIn is a powerful tool for connecting people and making recommendations. Create your personal profile, and then add a company page so people can locate your business from any employee’s profile.
• Get recommended on local review sites. Many business people run in fear from local review sites like Yelp and Citysearch. However, they are a great way for people to learn more about your business, especially when you maintain your business profile.

You may discover that some of these services already have basic information about your business. Don’t stop with that! Each site allows the business owner to claim the business listing. This lets you decide what to say about your business, and lets you fill in the details so people have a clear and accurate picture of your business.

It’s up to you to do everything you can to get your business found online.

• Before You Start: You have a Facebook page for your business.
• Learning level: 3 | Building Skills
• Article Last Updated: Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Facebook Page Admin Panel Hidden Treasures

Being a Facebook page administrator is a challenging job. It’s more than just posting things and replying to comments.

• There are lots of features and options to learn.
• New research always suggests different tactics to try.
• Facebook is constantly changing. So just when you think you have things under control, it’s a new world.

Every month, I teach a class for beginner and intermediate Facebook page administrators called 10 Vital Skills for Facebook Page Administrators. In it, I cover the ten skills every page admin needs to know to be efficient and effective.

But there is so much more!

I’ve pulled together this list of 6 Facebook page features that can help you take your Facebook use to the next level. Start using them today!

Treasure #1: Allow Replies To Comments

Facebook now lets anyone reply directly to a comment. You can make a reply by clicking Reply under the comment. Your reply shows up directly below the comment.

This feature is great when you get a lot of comments, and when you get several people responding to a comment. Nested replies keep the conversation together, making it easier to see which comments go together.

To turn on this feature, in your admin panel go to Edit Page | Edit Settings and check the Replies feature checkbox.

Don’t forget to use the reply feature when you respond to people who comment on your posts.

Treasure #2: Similar Page Suggestion

Have you noticed that when you like a page, Facebook now suggests other similar pages that you might enjoy? You can add your page to that list with the similar page suggestion feature.

It’s a great way to get your page seen by people who might like it. Facebook puts a like button next to your page to make it easy for people to like your page.

To turn on this feature, in your admin panel go to Edit Page | Edit Settings | Your Settings and check the Similar Page Suggestions feature checkbox.

Now, sit back and watch the new likes rolling in for your page.

Treasure #3: Invite Your Email List to Like Your Page

Here’s a quick and easy way to let your business contacts know about your Facebook page.

Facebook makes it easy for you to send a message to the people on your business email list. They provide easy connection for several of the big email list services (Constant Contact and MailChimp) and allow you to upload a contact file.

To use this feature, in your admin panel go to Build Audience | Invite Email Contacts and locate your business email list location. Click Invite Contacts and follow the instructions.

Treasure #4: Your Audience Demographics

Do you know who likes you on Facebook? I don’t mean their exact names. I mean their demographic information.

Are there more men or women who like your page?
What is their average age?
What cities have the most people who like your business?
Do you have international likes?
You can tell of this at a glance in your Insights.

To review this information, in your admin panel go to Edit Page | Edit Settings | Insights and in the Insights menu, choose Likes (at the top).

Use this information to customize what you share and how you talk to the Facebook portion of your online community.

Note: You must page at least 30 likes to get Insights for your Facebook page.

Treasure #5: Custom Facebook Web Address

When you create your Facebook page, you might have gotten an ugly web address. The good news is that you can choose a better web address that is easier for your customers to remember (and type).

Facebook calls your unique business page web address your username. Facebook has a few rules about selecting your username and some suggestions to help you choose a username that helps you promote your business.

To review or change your username, in your admin panel go to Edit Page | Edit Settings | Basic Information and review your current username in the Username feature. Click Change Username and follow the instructions to choose a different username.

Treasure #6: Help Center for Pages

Facebook has a help center with basic information to help you manage your page.

While the Facebook help center isn’t always complete and sometimes contains outdated information, it is still a valuable resource to help you learn more about your page.

To review the , in your admin panel go to Edit Page | Edit Settings | Help and review the current help topics for business pages.

• Before You Start: You have a business Twitter account. You use the Vine app to create business videos.
• Learning level: 4 | Creating Solutions
• Article Last Updated: Friday, May 24, 2013

Pin Vine Videos on Pinterest

Are you using the Vine app to create business videos? They can be a smart way to give people a video glimpse into your business products and operations.

The Vine app makes it easy to share your videos on Vine, Twitter and Facebook. That’s great, but what if you want to share them on Pinterest? After all, Pinterest allows you to pin videos, so why not add your Vine videos?

At this time, you can’t pin your Vine videos directly to Pinterest. The Vine app doesn’t automate the process, and Pinterest only accepts videos that you upload or link from YouTube or Vimeo. But there is a way to do it.

Thumbnail Procedure

This procedure lets you pin your Vine videos to Pinterest by pinning and creating a thumbnail image for your video. You need photo editing software to create the thumbnail. The advantage is that you get to choose the video thumbnail and you can add words to the thumbnail.

Here’s how to get your Vine video on Pinterest.

1. Create your Vine video.
2. Share your video on Twitter.
3. Go to Twitter and locate your tweet with the Vine video.
4. Click view the media.This expands the tweet so your Vine video begins playing.
5. Click view on web. This opens your Vine video in its own brower tab. Keep this tab open because you will need the web address (URL) later in this procedure.
6. Create a thumbnail for your Vine video. Using your photo editing software, take a screen capture of the Vine video. Crop the image down to make a thumbnail image of the video. Save this file as a .jpg or .png file. Add a caption to the image (optional).
7. Pin the video thumbnail on Pinterest.Place the pin on the appropriate board and write the video description.
8. Display the Vine video pin in your Pinterest account. So far, you have pinned the thumbnail, but you haven’t linked the thumbnail to the video.
9. Edit the pin. Add the Vine video web address (from step 5) into the Source field in the pin. Save the updated pin.

Test the pin to make sure that you have everything working correctly. It takes two clicks to get the Vine video to play using this work-around procedure.