5 Tips for Quick Social Media Marketing Success

My newest article on Entrepreneur.com is called 5 Tips for Quick Social Media Success and it offers five key things you need to do both behaviorally and strategically to boost your social media marketing success.

Following is tip #5 from the article:

Don’t try to keep up with the Jones’.
Just because your competitor is doing something on the social web doesn’t mean that you need to do the same. By blindly following your competitor’s path, you’re marketing scared and without purpose. Plus, it’s probable that your competitor’s initiatives won’t help you meet your goals at all. While it’s essential that you monitor your competitor’s social media marketing activities, you should analyze them against your own goals before implementing any of them yourself.

Follow the link above to read the complete article on the Entrepreneur.com website.

What is your top social media marketing tip?  Leave a comment and share your thoughts.

12 Steps to Get the Most from LinkedIn

My newest article on Forbes.com is called 12 Tips to Get the Most from LinkedIn and I offer not only 12 easy to implement tips but also links to learn more and get started immediately.

Following is an excerpt from my article:

LinkedIn has grown into more than a social networking site for business people.  Today, it’s also one of the first places employers and business partners go to learn more about the people who want to work with them.  It’s also one of the first places that employees go to learn more about potential leaders, managers, colleagues and so on.

Not only does LinkedIn offer information about people you consider working with, but it can also open doors to new opportunities and relationships that can benefit your career in the long term.  Don’t just create your LinkedIn profile and forget it.  Instead, follow the tips below to make your LinkedIn profile work for you.

You can follow the link to find out what my 12 steps to get the most from LinkedIn are.

What is your top LinkedIn tip?  Leave a comment and share your thoughts.

Promote Your Business on Google Places and 10 More Local Search Directories

Have you checked Google Places (formerly called the Google Local Business Center) to make sure your business is listed and listed accurately? You can log into Google Places with your Google account username and password (you already have one if you use Gmail or another Google tool) and then add your business or claim your business listing.

Each business listing includes the business name, address (it even shows the location on a Google map), hours of operation, payment options, and more. Even better, you can publish coupons, photos, and videos to go along with your listing, and customers can publish reviews about your business. All of these features are offered for free. You can also track some of the statistics related to your listing, including where visitors come from and what keywords they used to find your listing. When you see certain trends or parts of your listing working well (or not performing at all), you can change them at anytime.

Google Places listings rank very high in Google search results, and since most people find businesses, products and services through Google searches, your business needs to be represented.

If you own a business with multiple locations, you can even upload a data file with all of your business’ information to make creating your listings quick and easy.

Check out the video below that explains all of the features Google Places offers to businesses.

For maximum exposure and business growth, your business needs to be represented across the Web, and that includes securing your listing on the most popular search engine. With that in mind, you should also make sure your business is listed on the following local search directories:

1. CitySearch
2. Yahoo! Local
3. Yelp
4. Yellow Pages
5. Kudzu
6. DexKnows
7. MerchantCircle
8. Topix
9. Local.com
10. Go City Kids

Own Your Business Decisions

My new article on Forbes.com is called Own Your Business Decisions that offers some thoughts for women working in the field of business about using your intuition and analytical senses to make decisions and then take responsibility for those decisions.

Ladies, you have intuition, use it!  But do so sensibly.  Follow the link above to read the full article.