Social Media Management with HootSuite

June 10, 2013 6:25 pm / Leave a Comment /

 

HootsuiteIf you’re a newbie to the world of making money online, then using social media for your online business is undoubtedly one of the wisest decisions you’ll ever make, and for a multitude of reasons, (the main of which is for the sheer volume of free exposure your business can get). However as the number of online social networks increase, it can become both tricky and time consuming to manage all those social networking campaigns without the right tools for the job.

Certainly one of the best methods in social media management right now has to be HootSuite. HootSuite is a complete social media dashboard that you can sign-up for, free of charge. Within a few clicks (and just a few minutes), you can set-up a social media management tool that will display up to five of your preferred social networking accounts.

To login to Hootsuite you can do so either from Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, WordPress, Foursquare, MySpace, mixi, and Ping.fm, and can access all of these (plus more)  simply by using this one single web based application.

Social media management with HootSuite is not only convenient—it is very easy on the eyes as well, thanks to its streamlined user interface. You can easily perform the same tasks with all your social media accounts in their native form, such as liking posts, re-tweeting, sending and receiving direct messages, posting updates, as well as composing comments.

Certainly one of the best benefits of using HootSuite as a social media management tool is that you can schedule updates to be sent at a specified time, and even post the same message to multiple social networking sites. You can also schedule automatic updates for your social networks with RSS or Atom feeds, but you can only link up to two of these at any one time.

While there are plenty of advantages in social media management with HootSuite, there are also a few disadvantages that you may want to consider first. For example, there’s no email or calendar integration, and reporting can be expensive. The Help function has also been reported by many as “fragmented and slim.” Thus to resolve these issues and to take full advantage of all the benefits that HootSuite has to offer, you might have to open your wallet and bite the bullet with Hootsuite Pro.

HootSuite Pro is available for a reasonable price of just $7.99 per month, and will give you more flexibility with your social media management. By upgrading to the Pro version, you can also enjoy unlimited integration of all your social networking accounts, plus fully automated RSS and Atom updates. If you do not have much time for social media management, HootSuite Pro can most certainly save you that time, but for all the benefits that you’re going to need, it’ll be at a cost to your wallet.

Paul Graham
signature

 

 

 

Paul Graham Blog.com

Posted in: Social Networking Tips / Tagged: , ,

Using Social Media for Business

May 27, 2013 3:15 pm / Leave a Comment /

 

Using Social Media For BusinessUsing social media for various personal and networking purposes is quite common—after all, most of us have either Facebook, or some form of account with an online social networking site. However many people, especially newbies, are relatively unaware of the huge potential of using social media for business.

Before we look at the different ways of how to use social media for business, let’s quickly define what social media really is…

Essentially, a social medium is any website or mobile phone function that allows the user to share content, ideas, thoughts, and even pictures or videos with other people.

Getting the basics out of the way, using social media for business will also require you to know just a little more about the possible avenues that you can explore. For example, setting up a simple blog for your business (using WordPress which is free), is one of the key steps toward effective utilization of social media. (I recommend that you download my free online success complete cash blueprint to learn more). This will then form the basis for all your activities in social media.

So what are the different types of social media that you can use to promote or expand your online business?

Facebook—yes, that social network from the hugely popular Hollywood movie—boasts over 845 million users form all over the world, and it’s a great place for you to promote your business and interact with your customers or subscribers. Facebook allows for more than just simple status updates, or posting vacation pictures and videos—its huge popularity means your customers will check in frequently to see what your business is up to, in turn sharing your updates or business’ page with their network of friends. It’s the sharing that makes Facebook such a potent business tool, which in the modern world is the equivalent of word of mouth and we all know how powerful that can be.

Twitter is another great way for using social media for business. This social network allows people to post messages, read updates, and include media such as audio, video, and pictures—all using only 140 characters. Twitter will allow you to update your business’s promotional activities in real time, and to be right at the heart of the news that matter’s in your industry (no matter how big or small), but most importantly it also keeps you and your business at the forefront of your clients minds.

YouTube has enjoyed a particular renaissance over the last few years, allowing businesses and organizations to take advantage of its popularity and enormous viewer base. Through this social network, you can share videos and quality content with people who not only want to do business with you, but who want to learn more about you and your products and/or services.

The manner in which you use social media is just as important. You have to make sure that you are professional at all times—post and share things that are relevant to your business, and not your personal life. Make sure that the content you develop is useful and informative for your customers. And more importantly, do not flood your customers with constant updates and hard-sell messages—they will get fed-up and fast, and will simply leave or unsubscribe from your page if they find your updates and messages annoying.

On a final note there are clearly huge benefits to using social media for business. You can reach a whole host of people and most importantly interact with them. But most importantly you can also learn a lot about your customers or subscribers and how to Improve or tailor what it is you do to their needs. In doing so not only are you creating a first class user experience, but your business will also reap the rewards!

Paul Graham
signature

 

 

 

Paul Graham Blog.com

Posted in: Social Networking Tips / Tagged: , ,

7 ‘Must Know’ Social Networking Tips

May 13, 2013 8:44 pm / Leave a Comment /

 

Social NetworkingWe’ve all heard plenty about social networks in the past few years. In fact it seems as though everything has a social networking component these days, but the fact is we all need to know how to leverage these sites if we expect to be successful professionally (or personally) online. But, it’s not as easy as signing up and spewing one long sales pitch. When you leverage social networking for business or marketing purposes, it can be a little bit more nuanced than that.

When you choose to join a social network as a marketing tool, you want to keep a few things in mind. There are millions of people on every social networking site and they won’t pay attention to you if they don’t think there is something in it for them. Below are seven simple social networking tips that I use, courtesy of respected business coach and Internet Marketer Terry Houwerzyl, which you too can use to build your online business more effectively.

  • Have something to say – As stated earlier, your social networking strategy should be more than a sales pitch. Choose an area of focus, link to current events and offer tips or advice to illustrate your expertise in your chosen niche. These things are useful to people and they will come back to read more of what you have to say.
  • Be part of the community – Social networking is a give and take. If you expect others to be part of your network, you need to be part of theirs. Comment on things, repost and share what you like. People like it when their updates are picked up by others and will respond in kind.
  • Keep it professional – While your favourite social network site may refer to those in your network as “friends,” they are not. You should keep your personal and business social networking accounts separate.
  • Update regularly – The great thing about social networking sites is that you can share a link to a news story or another site and call it an update. Don’t get bogged down in too much content or you won’t update regularly.
  • Don’t take it personally – If someone says something you don’t like, ignore it. Your social network presence is an extension of your personal brand and you want to maintain a stellar image. Report anything intensely inflammatory but do so behind the scenes.
  • Find your niche – Whether you choose to focus on a specific market segment or product, you will achieve the greatest success (and the largest audiences) if you find your niche rather than speaking broadly on a topic.
  • Tag everything – Whenever you can optimize something for Web searches on a social networking site, do so. Tag blog posts with appropriate keywords, link back to your site and add an auto signature to your comments.

Social networks are an integral part of your overall marketing strategy. They offer low-cost, high-visibility campaigns with proven success. As you leverage them as part of your own marketing strategy, always remember that these are marketing tools.

With that in mind, every word should be as cautiously chosen as it would be for a brochure, newsletter or Web site. While the vehicles may have changed over the years, the message must still remain consistent. Your social networking strategy will yield far greater returns and increase traffic more effectively when you choose one message, one voice and one target audience.

To learn more about Social Networking Tactics as well as the complete online income formula, sign-up today, it’s free and requires only your name and email address.

Paul Graham
signature
Paul Graham Blog.com

Posted in: Social Networking Tips / Tagged: ,

Email Etiquette and the Phenomenon of ‘Flaming’

April 29, 2013 2:08 pm / Leave a Comment /

 

Email EtiquetteIn the Internet marketing world it has to be said there are many things you need to watch out for. But would it surprise you to learn that can sometimes include your own subscribers as well as your fellow Marketers?

Internet Marketing can be a tough business, especially at the start, but with determination, perseverance, and the right selection of Internet Marketing tools, it can also offer your dreams on a platter.

Certainly when it comes to achieving those dreams, one of the other most essential ingredients on the journey to success, is having a good relationship and rapport with your subscribers and fellow marketers.

If you’re doing the job right and getting a clear message across in all of your communications, then flaming really shouldn’t be an issue for you. If you’re not doing the job right then be assured that your subscribers and fellow marketers will be the first to tell you!

However it’s also possible that no matter how clear your message may seem, sometimes the whole thing just seems to get lost in translation. Either way it’s at this point you might find that you’ve just been flamed.

So what is it and why do you need to watch out for it?

Flaming itself is nothing more than a message in the form of a blog comment, a forum post or an email from a fellow marketer or subscriber. What differentiates it from the norm is the sinister nature of it.

Flaming is a harsh, nasty or even malicious message which can knock the wind out of even the most hardened marketer when they’re not expecting it.

Certainly, when communicating with subscribers and fellow marketers it’s always essential to maintain an open mind towards constructive criticism, especially if you’re the new kid on the block, but whether you’re at fault or not, let’s be clear that flaming is not only unprofessional it’s also completely unacceptable.

So what can you do about it?

First of all, try to look at it rationally. Flaming generally occurs in the following instances, so try to identify why it’s happened before taking any action.

  • You haven’t listened to your subscribers needs.
  • Your message has been confused somehow.
  • The Flamer is simply an idiot with no email etiquette.

If you’re guilty of the first offence then learn quickly and perhaps even offer a humble apology. If the second is true then don’t hesitate to set the record straight. If the third is true and someone is just being nasty for no obvious reason — the best recourse is indifference, to simply ignore them and not reply at all.

Certainly, if this has ever happened to you then you know how shocking it can be, if not then don’t sit back and wait for it to happen, instead listen to your subscribers from the start and not only will you avoid a flaming but you might just find yourself a few steps closer to those dreams on a platter.

To learn more about this or any other Internet Marketing related topic, sign-up today, it’s FREE and receive five very exclusive subscriber benefits.

Paul Graham
signature
Paul Graham Blog.com

Posted in: List Building Tips / Tagged: ,

Email ‘List Burning’ For The Unfamiliar

April 15, 2013 5:01 pm / Leave a Comment /

 

List BurningSo why is it these days that I’m finding myself opting out of more lists than I’m opting into? There are literally thousands if not hundreds of thousands of genuine and reputable Internet Marketers out there and the numbers are increasing daily.

Out of the 20 or so emails I receive every day, only two or three ever get my attention, so why is that? Well, the reason is actually very simple. It’s because I know the content from those very few particular Marketers such as Tim Lowe and Chris Farrell for example, is worth signing up for and always top notch. The rest just gets filed for a rainy day.

So what’s the problem? Well the problem isn’t so much the Marketers. Many of these guys have been in the job a lot longer than I have, but for me the problem is the list burning strategies so many seem to employ.

So what exactly is list burning you may ask?

Well, if you’ve recently opted into a mailing list for a money making or marketing product and in turn you’ve been bombarded daily (or in some cases twice daily!) with those 2 or 3 line plain text emails (you know the ones I mean) with the link underneath so you can either buy the offer or opt-in to someone else list, then whichever marketer it is that’s sending you those emails is quite simply ‘list burning’.

List burning is a long used technique by Internet Marketers to generate as much income as often as possible, not that there’s anything wrong with earning an income, that is after all the very nature of Internet Marketing, but list burning is far too commonplace these days. As such, too few Marketers actually take the time to build a relationship with their subscribers, or to even write about or review the product or offer they’re emailing out in any detail, and what about using HTML instead of plain text? It seems those same Marketers are more hell bent on ‘quantity’ over ‘quality’ and rather than ’risk’ email open rates with the use of HTML technology in what ironically is a technology driven industry, it instead just begs the question “where’s the content?”

But perhaps the greatest irony of all is that list burning with plain text can actually shorten the life of your subscriber list from an average of 160 weeks to only 80 weeks. However a really great example of how to have the opposite effect with your list is Tim Lowe who I mentioned at the start. Tim has been hugely successful over the last nine years and is it any wonder when you look at the quality rather than the quantity of Tim’s once or twice weekly HTML content (no plain text from Mr. Lowe!), that Tim still has active subscribers on his list and buying nine years later!

So once again and on a final note it really does beg the question that if the money is in the list is list burning really the way forward? Or is it actually more profitable to invest the time in writing good quality content for your subscribers from the outset, more so when you consider just how much time they may be willing to invest in you?

To discover more about this, and many other topics for online beginners, sign-up for my Top Business Tips Newsletter today.

Paul Graham
signature
Paul Graham Blog.com

Posted in: List Building Tips / Tagged:

How To Build a List That’s ‘Highly Responsive’

April 1, 2013 11:27 pm / Leave a Comment /

 
How to build a listFollowing on from my last post, if you’ve finally made the decision to build a list, then regardless of whether you’re brand new at any kind of online venture or a seasoned professional, you are most certainly on the right track to earning a decent income.

Email marketing has been around since the dawn of the internet and for very good reason, it works! Learning how to build a list is also very easy to do… when you know how of course! It’s also relatively easy to build a large list, with the right tools such as WordPress, and some decent landing page software such as James Daysons’ Optimizepress for example.

In fact to build a list really isn’t the problem at all. The problem the vast majority of online entrepreneurs’ face in an ever competitive industry is learning how to build a list that’s responsive.

So where exactly do you start?

To build a list that’s highly responsive you always, and I mean always have to consider two things from the outset:

1. The quantity/frequency of emails you’re sending out.

2. The actual quality of those emails.

Build a list and send out too often and you will of course start hitting spam filters (providing your subscribers haven’t put you there already!) If you don’t send out often enough then they’ll quickly forget who you are, let alone the fact that they signed up to your list in the first place.

So what’s the ideal?

Ideally you want to be sending out to your list no more than 2-3 times per week if you want consistent open rates. It’s always to be expected that a number of subscribers will unsubscribe anyway over time, regardless of how good you are at maintaining your list. However to reduce the amount of unsubscribes and to build a list that’s highly responsive, it’s the quality that’s the undisputed king.

If you consistently send out 2-3 line emails hammering your subscribers with offers, it’s not just a lazy numbers game you’re playing, but your unsubscribes will also go through the roof as you slowly burn through your list! If you’ve ever signed up to a list like that, you’ll know exactly what I mean. However if you take the time to build a list and most importantly build a relationship with your list by providing a good combination of quality offers and useful information, then those subscribers will in turn reward you not only by staying on your list, opening your emails regularly, and trusting you with their hard earned cash, but most importantly of all by doing all of these things again and again.

One man that’s been building trust consistently with his subscribers for almost 10 years now is online legend Tim Lowe. Tim has subscribers on his list and still buying I might add, from when he first started out all those years ago. To sign-up to Tim’s list and discover for yourself how a master of list building builds a list of quality over quantity then take a look at how to build a list the right way, right here.

Paul Graham
signature
Paul Graham Blog.com

Posted in: List Building Tips / Tagged: ,

Email List Building For Beginners

March 25, 2013 9:57 pm / Leave a Comment /


Email List Building UncoveredIf you didn’t know it already, the primary focus for your online business really should be gaining subscribers by email list building, and sending out quality information and offers on a regular basis.

But how exactly do you do that?

Well, the first step in email list building is to get yourself an account with a good email auto responder service such as Get Response or Aweber. This way you can personalise and automate all the offers and content you want to send to your eventual subscriber list.

To save you time Get Response and Aweber are also the auto responders of choice for the vast majority of online marketers today. Both of these services offer a free trial and allow you to easily create your very own data capture forms for the name and email address of your eventual subscribers. Plus the copy and paste code also makes it incredibly easy to pop it right into your blog or website. Aweber also have a brand new WordPress plugin making it even simpler to integrate if you’re running WordPress.

The next step in your email list building campaign is to consider what kind of offer you want to use to incentivise people to subscribe to your list. For example, I offer a Free Cash Blueprint which shows in simple steps how to start earning money online. I also offer a 21 Traffic Tactics Report based on what I’ve tried that works well. These are reports that I’ve written myself however, when first starting out you might not have the time or inclination to do it yourself. If that’s the case then there are plenty of PLR (Private Label Rights) Products to choose from at a very low cost. One great such site to choose from for example is The Resellers Superstore.

As soon as you have just a few subscribers on board a great way to really grow your email list building campaign exponentially and on complete autopilot is by list swapping with other marketers who, like you, are just starting out. The most secure and recognised name in the industry to start right away with is Safe Swaps. You can start with a $1 account at Safe Swaps right now and watch as your email list building efforts pay dividends to the tune of hundreds of new subscribers every month.

To learn more about list building and the complete online income formula, watch out for my next post. Or you can sign-up today, it’s free and requires only your name and email address. (You can unsubscribe again at any time).

Paul Graham
signature
Paul Graham Blog.com

Posted in: List Building Tips / Tagged:

How To Make ‘Serious Money’ With Simple Content

March 11, 2013 1:43 pm / Leave a Comment /

 

Content MarketingSo what is content? More so how do you make money with it?

In simple terms content is nothing more than a blog post, review, or an online article for example.

Whist many believe that content marketing belongs to the realm of professional writers only; the truth is anyone can write content, and you don’t even need any special skills to do it. Obviously the more compelling your content the more people will read it and in turn take action, but it’s a fact that you don’t even need to work hard to create good content, you only need to work clever.

These days content marketing is one aspect of Internet Marketing I thoroughly enjoy, why? Because I automate 90% of the work involved, plus I earn a substantial living from it. But how exactly do I do that?

To understand how to make money with any kind of content marketing, you first need to be clear in your mind what the content is for and why you need it, because unless you’re a professional writer then writing articles by themselves won’t make you money, however by using them to ‘drive traffic’ to a blog or landing page for example, most certainly will.

By understanding these first three simple steps below, not only will you understand the basic principle of content marketing, but you’ll also be well on your way to understanding how hundreds of thousands of internet marketers make a lot of money online simply by focussing all their content marketing efforts on gaining the subscriber and not the sale.

Simple content marketing strategy

  • Write (or better still) have written, a simple yet informative keyword targeted blog post about your blog’s niche. Whether it’s dieting, dating or making money for example, try and focus on no more than one or two keywords per post, keeping the post to no more than 300-500 words.
  • Write (or again) have written a separate keyword targeted SEO article relating to the above blog post. Use the same keyword/s, but this time make the article a little longer at around 500-1000 words.

If you follow this simple strategy and just rinse and repeat on a regular basis then what you’ve just done is two things.

  • First, as people start to find your online articles you’ll start to receive immediate traffic and sign-ups on your blog. You’ll also continue to receive these for the life of your article and for every article written.
  • Secondly, thanks to all those article backlinks, your Blog’s PR (Page Rank) with the major search engines will slowly start to increase, giving your website more authority in the eyes of Google for your chosen keywords and eventually giving you a ton of organic or free Google traffic as well.

If you don’t have the time, skills or inclination to write your own posts or articles, don’t worry. Believe it or not most marketers don’t have the time, skill or inclination to do it either. Instead try automating the entire process using one or more of the three simple methods below.

Automating all of your content writing and directory submissions

  • Hire someone to write for you. Sounds expensive? Well how does $24.95 for a professionally written, SEO and keyword targeted blog post or article sound? Paul’s Backlinks is my very own link building and content writing service and will give you complete access to the very same resources I use week-in week-out. And by using Paul’s Backlinks for example, you’ll soon see that decent blog posts and articles will start paying for themselves very quickly, by bringing tons of highly targeted traffic directly to your blog.
  • Manual Submission. The manual submission service I use is again my own service, which as well as manually submitting my articles to thousands of relevant sites and directories, it also generates thousands of quality backlinks every month PLUS a whole host of targeted visitors, for what amounts to only a few dollars spent.
  • Finally, if you’re a Word Press user then you can also try WP Robot. This system not only sources existing web based articles and completely re-writes them for you, but it also monetises your blog automatically with relevant products from Amazon Associates, Click bank, Commission junction and nine other income sources..

One final tip…

…If you decide to go down the path of writing your own blog posts and articles, don’t just write for SEO purposes. Many Marketers make the mistake of writing (or having written) cheap and poor quality articles for the purpose of SEO and backlinks only. Instead take 20 minutes and re-write any element of any article you’ve written or had written that you’re not happy with. This can make a really big difference to the instant traffic you receive because it’s a reader’s first impression of you and what you have to offer. If it’s trash then it’s you that stands to lose.

To learn more about Content Marketing and my complete online income formula, sign-up today, it’s free and requires only your name and email address.

Paul Graham
signature
Paul Graham Blog.com

Posted in: Blog and Content Tips / Tagged:

How To Make Money Blogging

February 25, 2013 12:11 pm / Leave a Comment /

 

How to Make Money BloggingSo what do you think, is it really possible to make money blogging? Many people have tried and failed so if it is then what’s the big secret? Well… I can tell you that it’s not only possible but that the big secret behind how to make money blogging is actually a very simple four step process.

1. Choosing the right blog for you and your business.
2. Provide original and quality content for your blog or better still, have it done for you!
3. Get the very best FREE traffic to you blog.
4. Turn visitors into subscribers and subscribers into income.

Creating a blog or website isn’t just about earning money. It also gives your business a base or a home. It’s a place where you can share with your audience what it is you do, and why they should listen to you as an expert or authority in your niche.

When thinking about how to make money blogging, choosing the right blog is naturally the first step, but which one is the right one? As I’m sure you already know there are plenty of blogging platforms to choose from, but two in particular, that really lead the way when it comes to taking the pain away from the entire process are:

  • WordPress – If you have a more technical mind-set then you’ll want to consider WordPress which is free to use, but requires more technical knowledge in regard to setting-up domains, hosting and the uploading and self-management of all your blog content. This is an excellent platform to learn how to make money blogging, but if you don’t have the level of knowledge required to set-up your own word press blog but would like to give it a whirl, then why not download my Online Success Complete Cash Blueprint where I’ll show you in easy to follow step-by-step detail how to do it.
  • Squarespace – If you’re looking for a complete solution that takes all that pain away then I highly recommend Squarespace. When setting up my very first blog I decided on the Squarespace platform simply because it’s easy to use and saved me a lot of time. None of the provided templates or add-ins (which are completely customisable) came across as tacky or gimmicky in any way. In fact once I’d finished there was no sign that I’d even used an external platform at all, thus giving the site a very polished and professional look. Squarespace Blogs are also completely optimised for the search engines making your job of getting found on Google much, much easier.

So why all the fuss about blogs? Well… one of the reasons for the mass exodus away from more conventional static websites is because blogs are incredibly search engine friendly, more so if the blogs have a consistent stream of original content to keep your readers interested.

When considering how to make money blogging, it doesn’t matter whether the subject matter (or chosen niche) of your blog is dieting, dating or starting a business. The real key to blogging success is originality in your content.

To learn more about providing original and quality content for your blog, or better still, having it done for you, then make sure you catch my next post on how to make serious money with simple content.

Paul Graham
signature
Paul Graham Blog.com

Posted in: Blog and Content Tips / Tagged: ,

Online Money Making Secrets

February 11, 2013 8:55 pm / Leave a Comment /

 

online money making secretsWhen it comes to making money online, sure enough there are a number of different ways to do it, but how many will genuinely take you from nothing to life changing wealth in the shortest possible space of time?

In fact, is it even possible?

The truth is, one of the greatest secrets isn’t whether it’s possible. The thousands of people already doing it teaches us that it is.

Instead, one of the greatest online money making secrets, that lies hidden beneath a veneer of industry hype and fluff to the contrary, is that such income is neither instant nor effortless.

The Problem…

Almost everyone is looking for that one product solution that will give them instant success without doing any of the work themselves. So strong is this desire that many of the products out there try to feed this desire by promising more than they can realistically deliver.

To debate whether or not it’s the fault of the lazy consumer who is creating a market for something that doesn’t exist, or whether it’s the fault of the unscrupulous marketer who consistently promises more than he can deliver is for another day.

The Solution…

The fact remains that there are many money making products out there that do exactly what they say on the tin. All you have to remember is that each product or tool is just one piece of the pie, not all of it.

By choosing carefully the right combination of products and strategies, combined of course with a little time and effort, then what you should end up with is certainly one of the easiest roads to success that exists today.

So forget the short term fix. Instead think long term with your online business and you’ll dramatically increase your chances of success, because the truth is there are no quick fix solutions or online money making secrets that are going to yield extraordinary results, but then significant wealth isn’t about speed, it’s about stamina and to understand this is to know the real secret behind earning a considerable income online.

To discover absolutely everything you need to know about the complete online income formula, sign-up today, it’s free and requires only your name and email address in the box on the right.

Paul Graham
signature
Paul Graham Blog.com

Posted in: Money Making Tips / Tagged: