#LearningIsAwesome - The Value of Learning Something New

In the spirit of the Back To School time of year, we realized that you are never too old to learn something new. Our kids shouldn’t be the only ones continuing their education this Fall. So pick up some extra school supplies because we are going to list the 5 reasons you should open yourself up to learning new things!

You Will Live Longer

In a study done by Reader’s Digest, professionals found that people who read more for 30 minutes a day for years would on average live two years longer than those who didn’t read at all. Instead of watching tv at night, try to pick up a book, you might just live longer!

You Will Get Better Job Offers

By continuing to learn everyday, you are guaranteed to increase your knowledge, literacy, and understanding of new innovations. These skills will show in job interviews and you are more likely to get the job you want than someone who’s brain power has been stagnant since grade school. If you are a small business owners, those offers could look like speaking engagements or opportunities to spread your message to a wider audience.

You Will Win Family Arguments

There is little that is more satisfying than the silence that follow’s a relative’s inability to retort an intellectual conversation at the dinner table. With Thanksgiving on the horizon, it might be time for you to work out your brain for any potential family arguments.

You Will Find New Talents

When you spend the time to learn a new task, you may find that you have a knack for it. Don’t avoid learning a new skill just because you don’t think you have the time for it or you think you’re too old to learn. Instead rent out a book from the library or take a class on a skill you’ve never tried.

You Will Make New Friends

You might not be convinced but there are other people out there in the same position as you! You may meet someone new in a class or connect with someone online who is also trying to learn something new. Or you could learn a new language and find yourself meeting people from all over the globe! The possibilities are endless!

Being an adult is no longer an excuse; there is so much value to learning something new even when you are no longer in school. So pick up a book, sign up for a class, or join an online forum and start learning! Can't wait to see your AWESOME!

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Hollie Clere of The Social Media Advisor is a “#BeAwesome” Developer, Social Media, Brand Builder, Content Manager, Trainer and Author in LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Google+,YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram and the tools to manage them.

Click here for her Social Media Workshops, Classes and Seminars

#AwesomeBios - Promoting Your Offers in Your Bio

When we first talked about building your #AwesomeBio, we mentioned that it was necessary to include a Call To Action. If you have an offer for your potential clients and customers, you have a call to action ready to go.

Bios are the profile sections on main social media pages. You recognize them as the About Us areas. Each social media platform functions as a powerful internal search engine. Therefore, fully fleshed out bios that are loaded with the right keywords are how people will find you. We talked at length about marketing on different social media platforms to gain a return on investment here. This offer that you provide is something called a lead magnet. It’s a way to turn social media browsers into potentially loyal customers.

When you promote your offer, stay away from clickbait titles. A person wants to know exactly what they’ll receive for clicking your action link. Don’t make them doubt your credibility as an honest business. Put only one offer in your bio. It’s a great idea to build a social media campaign for particular offers. Keeping the same one may grow stale, and your current customers want in on the action, too. A long term customer or client is worth its weight in gold. As a matter of fact, 80% of your company’s future revenue will likely come from 20% of your existing customers. Lee Resources Inc., a trusted consulting firm, conducted research about customer retention. They found that attracting new customers will cost your company five times more than keeping existing ones. 

Your offer should involve scarcity. Scarcity is a time limited option that triggers the urge to buy or take on the offer. Without this, it's too easy for a potential client to wander away from your site. Even with the best intentions, there is no guarantee that they will remember to return and take you up on your offer.

When setting up your promotional offer, keep these three things in mind:

1. Use short links for character-limiting platforms.
2. Keep the promotion valid and up-to-date.
3. Make the offer limited time to induce the urge to buy.
4. Make sure the link goes directly to the sale, signup, etc. that you’re promoting. Otherwise, it feels like a scam.
5. Create unique offers, bonuses, etc. unique to the platform you’re using. Consider it insider perks that make people more likely to follow you on their preferred platform. Experiment to find out which perks work best on which platforms. You may be surprised!
6. Track your results so you can gain a deeper understanding of your customer base.

Your bio (with the offer you provide within it) becomes a first impression technique for anyone who doesn’t know or understand what you do. Take the time to develop one that’s right for you, while keeping it specific to your social media platform, and you’ll gain a loyal following of enthusiastic customers and clients.

Be sure to Follow us and Let's Engage!

Hollie Clere of The Social Media Advisor is a “#BeAwesome” Developer, Social Media, Brand Builder, Content Manager, Trainer and Author in LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Google+,YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram and the tools to manage them.

Click here for her Social Media Workshops, Classes and Seminars

#AwesomeBios - Why It's Essential to be a Bio Completionist

Consistency is a foundational element to for like, know, and trust concept. It’s a core fundamental for your brand, and if it’s not, it should be. One way to ensure consistency is to complete your bios on every platform you use. They should tell your viewer who are you are, why they should care about you, and what you want them to do next.

In addition, you’ll want to include a professional photo since an image will stick in the mind longer than written text. You’ll want your bio to be personal, compelling, and shareable. Ensure it contains ALL of your links (if possible). Most of all, include a powerful call to action.

You need to develop four levels of your bio so that you can keep things consistent across all platforms. They are a full bio, a short bio, a mini bio, and a tagline or byline-type bio. Check out this article we wrote if you want to know more about developing your perfect bio.  

Full Bio (500 words or less): Website and Blog

A full bio should contain most of your information. It should be compelling and list all of your relevant accomplishments.

Short Bio (Two paragraphs, max): Professional Publications, Shop Stores, Bio Sections on Professional Sites (Who We Are, About Us, etc.), and Extended Bio Sections for Social Media Platforms like Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Instagram

A short bio should contain who you are, why your readers should care, and how you’ll help them in their lives. Tailor your accomplishments to whichever platform you use.

Mini-Bio (Two sentences, max): Business Cards, Bottom of Articles, and Short Bio Sections on Social Media

A mini-bio is one that covers most bio needs. You can extend a tagline bio into the two sentence one with ease.

Tagline Bio (One sentence): Extremely Short Bio Sections like Twitter, Bottom of Articles, and Print Publications like Brochures.

Here is a formula we like to use in developing a tagline (or byline) bio: “I do ____ for ____, so that they can _____.” A tagline/byline is the perfect intro to most of your other bios. It’s the special interest attention-grabber that makes the world curious about who YOU are.

Here are some quick tips:

• Don’t use filler words to make you sound more impressive. You don’t have the space to waste.
• Make sure you add some color and spice to your bio (your personality)
• Include hyperlinks whenever possible to your store, site, newsletter (with your lead/bonus) and social media hubs. Make it easy for people to find you on their preferred medium and you’ll have grateful customers and clients.
• Adapt your bio as your business adapts. It’s not set in stone!

Your bio is what makes potential customers and clients interested in your work. Emotions are the primary reason people make purchases.

Be sure to Follow us and Let's Engage!

Hollie Clere of The Social Media Advisor is a “#BeAwesome” Developer, Social Media, Brand Builder, Content Manager, Trainer and Author in LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Google+,YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram and the tools to manage them.

Click here for her Social Media Workshops, Classes and Seminars

#AwesomeBios - Making Your Bio Fun

Your bio is one of the first things people see when they find you. Whether it’s on social media, your company website, your LinkedIn profile, or more, what your bio says about you can make the difference between a potential client or customer and an immediate bypass or click away from your content. Consider your bio to be your digital business card. There are over 2.2 billion active social media users. Making your bio stand out is imperative.

One of the ways to make you stand out from the crowd is to make your bio fun. Smiles are universal. People will always remember the way you made them feel over anything else. Humor isn’t the only way to make a connection, but it is an effective one. It helps use bond with one another, to attract others. It makes us feel better and it has a massive amount of entertainment value.

Your bio needs three distinct sections:

• Your aspirations and goals as a human being are just as important as the values your company represents. It’s the humanity aspect that intrigues your potential clients and customers.
• Credentials, education, and experience are key to building like and trust.
• Your unique quirks and the softer side of your personality are so very important. They are the human aspect you need for personal connection.  
  
  

These three things are necessary to building the entire package. Customize your aspirations by lining them up with the audience you’re targeting. Don’t lie or fake it, but bring those things you both agree with to the front and center of your conversation.

Choose education and work experience that is only relevant to your audience. Remember that your bio is the highlight reel of who you are. Be selective in your humor here since this is key to social proof.

Humor is more than just laughing out loud. It can be observational, dark, sarcasm, satire, wordplay, witticism, and more. You can use a humble brag, a seemingly self-deprecating comment that draws attention to something you’re proud of. You can be whimsical about activities and interests. What's funny to one person could be offensive to another, keep it tactful and professional and on brand. If you’re in doubt about whether your bio will be considered offensive, get an opinion from trusted friends and work associates.

If it fits with your branding, don't be afraid to use emojis, gifs or other popular tools to spruce up your bios. Just don't replace those great keywords that help people find you!

Keep in mind the following: Your tone should be the same across your platforms. Don’t give mixed signals, or you’ll leave your viewers wondering which “person” is the real you. Make sure you supply the important information as well: name, contact information, hours of operation if you have business hours, and best way to reach you.

Your bio is worth more than a generic description. Use it to build personal connections between you and your audience, and you won’t regret it.

How will you inject your personality into your bio and make it that much more awesome? Don’t wait. Get started today. The Social Media Advisor helps businesses create robust bios every day! Feel out of your league and want some support? Contact us or a discovery session.

Be sure to Follow us and Let's Engage!

Hollie Clere of The Social Media Advisor is a “#BeAwesome” Developer, Social Media, Brand Builder, Content Manager, Trainer and Author in LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Google+,YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram and the tools to manage them.

Click here for her Social Media Workshops, Classes and Seminars

#AwesomeBios - Picking Images For Your Bios

When inputting your bio information on the various social media platforms that you want to associate with your business, it can be tempting to rush through the process in order to get started. I implore you to avoid this urge, and set aside time to really flesh out the bio areas of each site to optimize your profiles. Why? Because it will make it easier for your target audience to find you.

Once they have found you, however, you need to grab their attention if you want to convert them to followers or leads. You will only have seconds to do it. What is the best practice for extending the amount of time that a passer-by lingers on your profile? Using the right images.

Visual Content

We are a visual people. In fact, over 65% of people are visual learners, mainly due to the fact that 90% of all data processed by the brain is visual in nature. Before live video came along, photos were the most engaging type of content on Facebook with an overwhelming 87% interaction rate with viewers. Facebook data is so convincing that the social media giant adapted its algorithm so that text only updates weren't given as much priority - and then implemented a method to the color the background of text only posts in order improve their reach.

The Right Images

Understanding that you need to use images in your bios and profiles is just the first step. It's even more important to recognize what makes a great visual! Just grabbing something off-hand is not ideal. The image needs to be clear, crisp and engaging. It should also match your branding.

This means understanding resolution. The detail that a photo or image holds is its resolution. The higher the resolution, the better detail which makes the image look better. It's measured in various ways but the key is to understand that you always want to use an original, or high resolution, version of an image in your marketing. Find out more about resolution at this website.

Ask around. Gather your brand advocates, your fans, and your cheerleaders, to make sure that the images you've selected are not only visually appealing but they make sense for what you are trying to accomplish. A confused lead is a prospect that moves on and finds something that makes more sense for them.

Copyright

The other error we see way too many small businesses doing is using images they do not own. The temptation to grab a stunning graphic off the internet and use it for your purposes should be avoided at all costs! What you don't know about copyrights, trademarks and licenses can hurt you.

The best practices to engage in are to:

1. Purchase stock photography from reputable sites like Shutterstock, iStock, Dreamstime or Deposit Photos.

2. Download FREE stock photography from sites that offer images with no copyright or license concerns. (Always read the details on each image to be sure!) Our favorite sites are Pixabay, Pexels and Unsplash.

3. Take your own photos! Or enlist the help of a photographer that you know that will take photos that belong 100% to you and your brand.

If you have already uploaded profile pictures, cover photos or other bio images that don't meet these standards, don't fret. Just go find better images and get them uploaded as soon as you can. Your images are the perfect complement to your expanded, detailed bios. The bios will ensure that your ideal clients find you and the images will make certain that they stick around to find out why you are the perfect fit.

Just another way The Social Media Advisor team is encouraging you to #BeAwesome with your online presence and social media!

Be sure to Follow us and Let's Engage!

Hollie Clere of The Social Media Advisor is a “#BeAwesome” Developer, Social Media, Brand Builder, Content Manager, Trainer and Author in LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Google+,YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram and the tools to manage them.

Click here for her Social Media Workshops, Classes and Seminars