#GetOrganized - Build an Editorial Calendar for Your Social Media Marketing

If you use social media for your business, then you know that content is king. You also know that in order to keep your followers engaged you’ve got to post on a consistent basis. Long stretches between posts can cause your community to lose interest. Posting too often can lead to your content becoming part of the background noise. The key is to strike the right balance between posting too little and posting too much.

With all our competing priorities and how quickly time passes, keeping up with a regular posting schedule can be a difficult challenge. Even when we start out strong it’s easy to get sidetracked. Luckily, there is a simple, time-tested tool that can help you stick with your plan – an editorial calendar. Use our five helpful tips for creating an effective calendar and you’ll be well on your way to successfully implementing your social media strategy.

Tips for Creating a Social Media Editorial Calendar

Decide the channels to post on and frequency. Take stock of the social media channels you use and determine how frequently you need to be posting. Determining the right balance can be tricky and you should be prepared to make adjustments as necessary.

Set aside time for planning. Allocate a block of time to create your master calendar. Once you have created your calendar, schedule time each week to review your calendar, make adjustments, and monitor your success.

Determine the type of content you’ll post and the quantity. Your content likely falls into types. For example, some posts are promotional, some are informational, others are purely for engagement. Decide how much of each type is appropriate for each of your channels.

Keep just one calendar. Keeping multiple calendars might sound like a great idea, but it actually makes it harder to keep organized. Save yourself some time and consolidate your editorial into one comprehensive tool that can be shared by the members of your team.

If you don’t have monthly themes, consider setting them. Having a framework for your social media can help you narrow down your posts and refine your plan. One strategy we recommend is using monthly themes to help you target your content. Your themes can be designed around whatever makes sense your for your business. For some people, topical subjects such as “how-to,” testimonials, or informational may work. For others, themes such as showing gratitude, paying it forward, or customer appreciate make more sense.

Exactly what your editorial calendar will look like is up to you. Creating a calendar that works with your current processes and makes your job easier will help you stay on track.

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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

#AwesomeTools - Where to Share Your Blog

Blogging has come a long way in the world over the past ten years.  What started out as a “web log” was really just an online diary for people to share their thoughts, feelings, and experiences with the outside world at large.  But then, something amazing happened. 

People realized that blogs could be used for serious topics, sharing inspirational messages and more - helping businesses spread topics that are related to their work while helping to establish their brand in their corner of the highly competitive business world.  But there is no real point in keeping a blog if no one reads it.  That’s why it is so important to learn how to share your blog properly so that it gets the optimum number of views and brings in your potential customers.

Many don’t realize that if you post the same blog word-for-word on multiple sites, then Google will flag you and your blog.  That means that if someone types your subject into a search engine, then you will be way down the list and probably not be found as a result.  So how do you bypass this? 

One easy way is to use social media accounts as a means of linking back to your original blog post.  A really great way to do this is with Pinterest and LinkedIn Pulse.  Most people think of Pinterest as just a means of sharing craft projects, but it also allows for a variety of different interests to be shared. 

LinkedIn is popular as a means of connecting with people in the business community, but LinkedIn Pulse is a publishing section that allows you to copy your blog in without being penalized by Google.  This is an invaluable tool to reach your desired audience with your blogs.  LinkedIn Groups and Facebook Groups are another way to share your blogs, but be careful that you follow their rules and regulations so you don’t get accused of spamming.

Another tool that really helps you with finding and sharing material is Triberr.  This tool allows you to set up your blog content so that you can find similar blog articles, share these with your followers, and also cross-post your own blogs with those that you find.  The concept behind the website is that you set up as part of a “tribe” so that you can network and expand your brand base.  

Have you heard of Quora?  This site allows people to ask questions and have experts in the field answer the question.  You can set yourself up as one of these experts and reference back to your blog as part of your response.

There are many ways to network your blog to others so that you can get around Google’s penalties for multiple posts.  All that it takes is some savvy planning on your part and you can use your blog to help expand your brand recognition.

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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

#KindnessIsAwesome - Provide Value in Your Content Using the T.H.I.N.K. Method

If you spend five minutes online reading news articles, you are going to probably feel like you need a good dose of anti-depressants and therapy. If the news has you feeling down, what’s even worse is the dreaded comment section of these stories! I always hear people saying “stay away from the comment section”, and for good reason--this seems to be a breeding ground for negativity.

What the world needs now, maybe more than ever before, is a serious dose of kindness.  That’s why I’m hoping to spread the message that #KindnessIsAwesome in life and work.  If you have a strong social media presence with your personal life or business, it is possible to spread a little kindness and hope to the world with the T.H.I.N.K. method.

Is it True? 

The first part of this method is to ask yourself if what you are posting is true.  Always consider this when you are posting something.  The Internet is a fertile ground for conspiracy theories and fake news stories.  If you spread one of these by posting it or linking to the original post, you are tying your good name to that story.

So, the bottom line is, make sure that the content you are posting is true and accurate.  How do you do this?  Only use reputable news sources.  Don’t post any content that begins “A friend of a friend of mine has an uncle whose neighbor told him.…”  Make sure that your content is accurate and something that can be verified.

Is it Helpful? 

Next, ask yourself if the content you are posting will be helpful to your audience.  One of the biggest enemies to kindness is idle gossip, which is spreading information that may or may not be true, but is spread simply to be malicious.  So before you hit that share button on a piece of content, ask yourself if that piece of information will be helpful to your audience.

Is it Inspiring? 

Going hand in hand with being helpful is being inspiring.  A content post may not have a helpful piece of information or statistics, but it may be inspiring to your audience.  These are the posts that lift up your readers and inspire them to follow their dreams to reach their goals.

Is it Necessary? 

The fourth part of this process is to ask yourself is it necessary.  Is this piece of information really something that is needed by your audience?  Does it provide something for them? Does it have value? Will it enrich their lives in some way?

Is It Kind? 

Finally, the easiest way to help spread kindness is to only post messages online that are kind.  Actively seek out content for your web presence that promotes kindness to humans, kindness to animals, and kindness to the world at large.  If you do this, you will draw more people to your brand and improve your web reputation in the long run.

Highly acclaimed teacher, Rafe Esquith, once said that the first rule of his classroom is to be kind and do good. Take a moment before you hit the send button on your emails or before you post on your websites. If you use that moment to T.H.I.N.K. then you will help spread kindness. That’s how we continue to be #SociallyKind and set a good example for how others can #BeAwesome as well!

Find out more about my #SociallyKind project on my website: http://www.thesocialmediaadvisor.com/-sociallykind-project.html

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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

#LearningIsAwesome - Getting Comfortable With Social Media

Maybe you’re not the “techy” type but whether you like it or not, social media is here to stay. Lots of people avoid social media platforms because they feel intimidating or people are uncomfortable with the amount of information that can be shared. As scary and intimidating as social media can be, nearly 81% of the U.S. population is on a social media platform. If you’re not on any social media platform, you are missing out on millions of connections and potentially important information. Your business can benefit immensely from being on a social media platform because there are so many people you can reach out to and find that you wouldn’t be able to access through any other marketing platform. Social Media is scary, but we have created a guide to getting comfortable with social media, so read on and feel the fears melt away.

Find a social media account that you like

The best way to get comfortable with something is to spend some time with it. Find a social media account that you like and take note of the things you like about it. Perhaps you like the curated content or their unique hashtag campaigns. Find what you like about certain social media accounts and create a goal for how you’d like your future accounts to look like.

Find other people who are equally as uncomfortable as you

Talk to your friends about social media and you might discover that they felt intimidated by it at first. Your friends could give you some insight as to how they were able to become more comfortable with social media and what they enjoy about it now. Know that you are not alone in feeling uncomfortable with social media and others have felt that way too and we able to move past that.

Find a class, webinar, or online program about social media

Online courses will help guide you through every step of starting and managing a social media account to make it seem less scary. We offer an online program called Social Power Program where we teach other people who are uncomfortable with social media, the skills to succeed. Through the Social Power Program you will be able to learn the fundamentals of social media, how to build better brand engagement, how to enhance your visitors experience, and how to grow your business using social media strategies.

Social media can be really intimidating when you are starting from scratch, but know that you are not alone and once you’re comfortable, you might even enjoy it! Just another way to #BeAwesome with your business!

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