10 Tips to Brand your Business on Twitter.

Twitter is a social media and micro-blogging site where you send out short 'tweets' to all of your followers. With over 65 million tweets going out every day among its 160+ million users, your business needs to be there. Here are 10 ways to use Twitter to brand your business.

1. Follow the Experts
Find experts in your field and follow their tweets. This shows your followers that you know what's going on in your industry and you can also learn how to market yourself on Twitter by watching what they do.

2. Be a Subscriber
Don't just subscribe to the experts, but also to anyone that's active in your industry. Twitter is the only social media site where users often follow more than they're followed. Follow lots of people and comment on their tweets.

3. Mark Favorites
When you find a tweet that you'd like to save for later, you can mark it as one of your favorites by clicking on the little star. Your followers can see your favorites listed on your profile. Your favorites list shows everyone a bit about who you are.

4. Ask Questions
Get discussions going on Twitter by asking questions. They don't have to be anything earth-shattering but can be about anything. Just throw them out there and let your followers respond. You not only get some activity going, but also learn valuable information about how your target market thinks.

5. Comment on Links
When you like something you see online, you can tweet it. It gives you the option to comment on your links and you should always do this. Just sharing without saying anything about it doesn't do anything for your branding; it only directs people to the link.

6. Make it Personal
People want to know about your brand but also they like to learn about you. Sometimes, it's good to tweet something purely personal as long as you don't do this too often. Twitter users love these tweets and they'll show the human side of your brand.

7. Post Pictures
You can post pictures on Twitter and you should be doing this often. Choose pictures that are related to your brand and take your own photos showcasing your goods, your employees or the way your business works.

8. Value and Relevance
Whenever you get ready to post something, ask yourself these two questions: Is it relevant to my brand? Does it provide value to my followers? There are lots of tweets that don't deliver either relevance or value, so make sure yours do.

9. Don't Self-Promote (Too Much)
Once in a while, it's alright to show off your products and services, but don't be the type of user who shares it every time something good is said about your brand anywhere online. Focus on benefitting your users and not yourself.

10. Make the Most of Your Characters
Since Twitter only allows you 140 characters on less in your tweet, you need to learn the art of concise writing. Check out magazine and newspaper headlines to see just how much you can pack into one short sentence. And make sure you use a url shortener so that you donít waste precious characters.

The most important thing to remember is that Twitter is supposed to be enjoyable. While you should be professional and realize that everything you do reflects on your brand, whenever possible offer something that's just plain fun. Show your sense of humor and be personable. Twitter is all about human interaction and that's what Twitter users want to see.

10 Reasons YOUR Business should be on Social Media.

The Top 10 Reasons You Should Use Social Media to Promote Your Brand

Social media sites are networks where people interact with each other through personal profiles. They use them to hang out, keep in touch with friends, share interests, network and even find jobs. For your business, it's not a question of if but when you should start using them. Your business needs to be social and here are the 10 reasons why.

1. Everybody's There Already
Social media sites have hundreds of millions of users and a handful of them are among the most visited websites on earth. A large number of users check their profiles daily to see what's going on and they're growing in leaps and bounds. If you're there, you can be in daily contact with them.

2. Excellent Branding Opportunities
These sites put you in direct communication with your customers and there's simply nothing better for branding your business. Your customers can have a personal dialog with you.

3. Listening Stations
Social media also offer wonderful market research opportunities. Message boards, updates, groups and reviews allow you to find out exactly what your target market likes and doesn't like. You can use these resources to get to know them and better create products and campaigns.

4. Lead Generation
You can use social media sites to get more customers. People will see your posts and hear about you from their friends. Plus, you get global reach 24/7 not only to your fans, but to their fans, and their fans, and their fansÖ

5. SEO Benefits
Profiles, updates and other social media content appear in search engine results pages and often rank quite high up. This is one of the biggest ways that people will find your profile. You also get backlinks coming into your site from your social media content.

6. The Personal Touch
Your social media presence and interactions with your fan base give your business a personal touch. That's what so many companies are lacking today. People like to know who they're buying from.

7. Easy Promotion
Social media sites offer the easiest way to reach everybody who might be interested in your sales and promotions. With one update, everyone you're connected to knows instantly when you have a special offer.

8. Rewarding Customer Loyalty
You can use social media sites to reward your fans' loyalty by offering exclusive discounts and freebies that are only available to them.

9. A Ready-Made Platform
There's no need to create a new website when you can simply make a profile. On most of these the social media sites, it takes only minutes to sign up and get started. Not only is it easy, but you also get the built-in SEO benefits of using their already popular website.

10. It's Free
You get advertising, marketing and branding tools at your fingertips without paying a dime for them. Social media networking is a dream come true for businesses.

Before you get started, it's important to have clear goals. What do you want to do with your social media presence? What action do you want your fans to take? Stay focused on these goals and devote some time each day to building your social media presence.

10 Simple Ways to effectively leverage Google +

Google+ is Google's own social media site. Fully integrated with other Google sites like Gmail and YouTube, it's still relatively new compared to Facebook, but offers great promise. It currently has over 20 million users and this number is growing every day. Creating a Google+ account for your business gives you an advantage in Google searches and also offers excellent features that help you build your brand. Here are 10 ways to use Google+ for brand-building.

1. Write a Killer Description
Your short description is what will show up with your page in search engine results, so spend some time making it really good. It should grab attention, tell what your business is about, and be keyword optimized.

2. Be Unique and Personal
Whenever you're interacting with people on Google+, be yourself and show your human side. Don't be afraid to use a little humor. It's important to be real and not appear impersonal.

3. Use Scrapbook Photos
Google+ lets you put photos at the top of your profile's main page. These are called 'Scrapbook Photos' and you can use them creatively to attract attention and brand your company. You can also change them as often as you'd like to.

4. Track Trends with Sparks
The Sparks feature lets you search using keywords and find out what's trending. You can then post these trends on your Google+ page to show your fans what's going on in your industry. This helps to brand you as an expert who knows what's hot.

5. Tell Them about You
Spend some extra time writing a great 'about' page that tells people who you are, what you do and your brand message. Go ahead and use your real name and link your 'about' page to your personal Google+ profile to put a human face on it.

6. Get Rid of Useless Tabs
Google+ gives you a whole bunch of tabs automatically and there are many you won't use. Delete the ones you don't use so that they don't clutter up your profile. When you click on 'Edit Profile,' you'll see where you can delete them.

7. Think About Your Posts
On Facebook or Twitter, it's perfectly acceptable to make crazy, off-the-cuff comments, but with Google+, you should be more careful. Currently, the site is used mostly for professional networking or as a news source. Spend some time on your posts and make sure they're relevant and appropriate.

8. Share Everything Everywhere
If you use Google Chrome as your browser, you can download a program called Extend Share. This automatically gives you the option to share your posts to Facebook and all of your other social media sites, allowing you to brand across platforms easily.

9. Hold a Hangout
Hangouts is a feature that lets you do live video chats or impromptu webinars. Pick a topic related to your industry and hold your own Hangout. This gives your fans a chance to interact one-on-one with you. Even the Dalai Lama and Desmond tutu have done a hangout!

10. Don't be Greedy
Don't use Google+ only to promote your own brand. Devote some time to checking out other people's profiles and updates. Comment and interact with them. This boosts your brand visibility and attracts new fans.

Google+ is new but it is getting more active every day. The key to using it effectively is to set aside a little bit of time each day to interactions. There's a lot to learn and features are being added constantly. Always stay focused on this one question ñ What do you want to achieve with your Google+ presence? Stay focused and the time you spend on Google+ will be well worth it.

10 Simple Steps to Brand Yourself on YouTube

YouTube is more than just a website; it's the new TV. When the president of the United States uses a website to broadcast his or her State of the Union Address, you know that it's a force to be reckoned with. However, YouTube is better than TV because it's free and user-driven. This is an extremely valuable tool for spreading brand awareness online. Here are 10 easy ways to get exposure for your business on YouTube.

1. Keyword Optimize
YouTube is owned by Google and videos appear high in search results, so make sure that your tags and descriptions are keyword-optimized. You might want to also optimize the actual content of the video because Google may use voice recognition software in the future to index videos.

2. Show Your Expertise
The key is not to sell but to show your expertise. Pick a problem related to your business that your viewers might have and give them a solution. If you're a plumber, offer a simple plumbing tip. A cleaning company can make videos on easy carpet cleaning. Show them something you know how to do that will benefit them.

3. Show Your Products in Action
Don't just show your products or services, but show them in action. If you sell barbecue grills, teach your viewers some great BBQ recipes. Videos that show how to do something using the product are the most effective in marketing.

4. Short Videos Work Best
Videos don't have to be long. In fact, they shouldn't be. Focus on making videos that are just a few minutes long. If you've got a topic that stretches over 5 minutes, make two videos covering different aspects of it.

5. Give Them a Sneak Peek
Make videos that show your business's inside operations. Viewers who already like your brand love to get a sneak peek at what goes on behind closed doors.

6. Socialize and Subscribe
Remember that YouTube is a social media site. Subscribe to other channels, watch videos, comment and make friends. Other users will do the same for you and you'll create a network of similarly minded businesses that share leads.

7. Customize Your Channel
Make use of all of the customization options that YouTube offers for your channel. Try to give your visitors the best user experience possible. Align themes and colors with your website and other marketing materials.

8. Production Schedule
It doesn't matter how often you produce videos, but you need to do it regularly. Decide how many you'll post per week and stick to it.

9. Embed Everywhere
Put your videos all over your other social media sites. Embedding videos is as simple as copying a code and pasting it. You'll get them seen by more people and you'll also get backlinks.

10. Make 'Em Laugh
Everybody wants to have a viral video. Just one video that goes viral can get you exposure like you've never dreamed possible. Most viral vids get passed around because they're funny, so add a bit of humor to your videos.

Once you start seeing results from your YouTube branding efforts, you might consider upgrading your video equipment. To get started, all you need is a good web cam. But investing in gear such as lighting, a better sound system, a camera and editing software can help you produce better videos more easily. It's well worth the money to create higher quality videos than your competitors'.

Facebook Hashtags? #Srsly?

Sometimes I have to share something that I've found from another source, and this is going to be one of those times.

Head over to All Things D, and check out one of their newest articles about how Facebook might be introducing hashtags, to take a little bit of the love from Twitter. Even with the new News Feed event not announcing it last week, it seems as though Facebook will be heading in the direction of adopting the Hash Tag.

So, what are your thoughts on it? #happy, #sad, #appalled?

Check out the full details here: http://allthingsd.com/20130314/facebook-to-introduce-hashtags-and-thats-a-double-edged-sword-for-twitter/

The Top 10 Reasons You Should Hop on the Social Media Bandwagon to Promote Your Brand

Social media sites are networks where people interact with each other through personal profiles. They use them to hang out, keep in touch with friends, share interests, network and even find jobs. For your business, it's not a question of if but when you should start using them. Your business needs to be social and here are the 10 reasons why.

1. Everybody's There Already
Social media sites have hundreds of millions of users and a handful of them are among the most visited websites on earth. A large number of users check their profiles daily to see what's going on and they're growing in leaps and bounds. If you're there, you can be in daily contact with them.

2. Excellent Branding Opportunities
These sites put you in direct communication with your customers and there's simply nothing better for branding your business. Your customers can have a personal dialog with you.

3. Listening Stations
Social media also offers wonderful market research opportunities. Message boards, updates, groups and reviews allow you to find out exactly what your target market likes and doesn't like. You can use these resources to get to know them and better create products and campaigns.

4. Lead Generation
You can use social media sites to get more customers. People will see your posts and hear about you from their friends. Plus, you get global reach 24/7 not only to your fans, but to their fans, and their fans, and their fans.

5. SEO Benefits
Profiles, updates and other social media content appear in search engine results pages and often rank quite high up. This is one of the biggest ways that people will find your profile. You also get backlinks coming into your site from your social media content.

6. The Personal Touch
Your social media presence and interactions with your fan base give your business a personal touch. That's what so many companies are lacking today. People like to know who they're buying from.

7. Easy Promotion
Social media sites offer the easiest way to reach everybody who might be interested in your sales and promotions. With one update, everyone you're connected to knows instantly when you have a special offer.

8. Rewarding Customer Loyalty
You can use social media sites to reward your fans' loyalty by offering exclusive discounts and freebies that are only available through social media.

9. A Ready-Made Platform
There's no need to create a new website when you can simply make a profile. On most of these the social media sites, it takes only minutes to sign up and get started. Not only is it easy, but you also get the built-in SEO benefits of using their already popular website.

10. It's Free
You get advertising, marketing and branding tools at your fingertips without paying a dime for them. Social media networking is a dream come true for businesses.

Before you get started, it's important to have clear goals. What do you want to do with your social media presence? What action do you want your fans to take? Stay focused on these goals and devote some time each day to building your social media presence.

Want your own Facebook Vanity URL?

Once you’ve decided to create your Facebook business page, one of the first steps you need to take is to get a Vanity URL.  Having a vanity URL will let you do away with that "crazy string of numbers" after your business name plus it will make it easier for others to both link to and "tag" your business page around the web and in posts.  In the past, Facebook has required that you get 25 “likes” before they will issue a Vanity URL, but that is no longer the case.
To get a Facebook Page Vanity URL, follow these simple steps:


1. Create a Facebook business page.  (I'm not sure I HAD to say this but...)
2. Go to facebook.com/username.
3. Choose a user name, or “vanity url”, for your PERSONAL profile.  Facebook won’t let you do a business user name until you’ve taken the step of creating one on your personal page.  Choose carefully, your user name can only be changed ONCE.
4. Choose a user name (“vanity url”) for your BUSINESS page.  The obvious choice is to use your business name, but if that’s taken already, you may have to get creative.  Again, you will only be able to change this ONCE from here on out, so make sure it’s a good name (no typos!) and is able to grow with you as your business grows.
5. Head out onto the Internet and promote your page with your shiny new Vanity URL!
Usernames can only contain alphanumeric characters (a-z, 0-9) or periods (“.”), and must contain at least one letter.


You may also include periods and capital letters to make your username easier to read, but their use by others  is optional. For example, socialaffliction, social.affliction, and SocialAffliction are all the same username and direct to the same business page.
Generic words such as “pizza” or “flowers” are not allowed.
In case you are curious, here are some basic guidelines that Facebook sets for Vanity URLs:



I hope these simple steps make it a little bit easier for you to create you "vanity URL" and get rid of those "crazy numbers"!