Social media is, of course, big news in the business world. If you’re a business owner or business leader, it’s not surprising if you’re feeling overwhelmed by everything you see, hear and read about how to get ahead with social media. The good news is that it doesn’t have to be as difficult as it seems, especially if you ignore some of the buzz and hype, and focus on the few things that really make a difference.
In June 2012, Forbes magazine included me at #5 in their list of top 10 social media influencers in book publishing. I’m particularly pleased because the criteria they used weren’t just about the number of followers (reach), but included the ability to engage a community (resonance) and how it fit their particular circumstances (relevance). Those three things together – reach, resonance and relevance – go together to create influence.
Getting Started with Social Media
There are a lot of resources – on my Web site and elsewhere – about social media, and it can be difficult to know where to start. I should warn you that my approach to it is different from what many other people advise. I want you to be seen as a leader and an authority, not just yet another business. This means you have to be willing to position your expertise, build credibility, generate content regularly, and be active as a “consultant” to your customers and clients.
Here are some articles I’ve written about this – to give you a flavour of this approach:
- If One Thing Could Fix Your Social Media Campaign, This Is It
- Seven Practical Ways For Leaders To Use Twitter
- Get More Bang In Your Social Media
- Stress Less With Social Media: 5 Surprisingly Simple Tactics
- Take a Chance on Social Media Leadership
Still with me? Good!
As you will have noticed, my focus is very much on positioning yourself as an influential authority. This starts with your blog, and this two-minute video will show you how to set up your blog and other social media tools:
The next step is to create high-quality content and distribute it through your entire network. Watch my slide show “Content Marketing Made Easy” here – it summarises the process:
Finally, I need to tell you that I’ve got firm opinions and views about how you get to the top of Google – and it’s not the typical “search engine optimization” stuff! Watch this webinar recording “Seven Secrets For Boosting Your Google Ranking” for more:
If you’re willing to do all this stuff above, then I think we can work together. Please explore the other resources here, and get in touch with me.
The eGurus Community
If you're a member of the eGurus Community, there's a section of the eGurus Vault with resources about using social media effectively. Start with the slide deck on that page for an overview.
If you're not an eGurus member, find out about membership at www.eGurus.info.
Leverage Mentoring Program
If you want a more direct approach than you get in the eGurus Community, you might be interested in my monthly Leverage Mentoring Program. You join the program, we discuss your specific goals and outcomes, and we work together to help you achieve them. You can join for as long or as short as you like (typically, it will be 3-6 months). This is ideal for you if you want to get more from what you’re doing – whether it’s about using social media, turning your programs into information products, reaching more people with your messages, managing information overload, or being more productive. I can help you get more from what you’re doing without necessarily spending a lot of money, employing more staff, or harming your lifestyle.
Consulting: Social Media Leadership
The Social Media Leadership mentoring program is designed specifically to help you tap into the power of the Internet to boost your business. I’ll work with you personally to show you how to get more traffic to your Web site, using the new tools of expertise, authority and influence you need to succeed in today’s connected world.
Conference Presentation: Social Media Leadership
Most business owners and leaders know that social media is important, but don’t know how to use it well. The real opportunity for leaders is social media leadership, where you can position yourself and your organisation as the leader – not just part of the crowd – in your social networks. In this practical and interactive presentation, Gihan shows you the five key principles of social media leadership, and how to apply them in your business.
Webinar Recording: Facebook Success For Your Business
Facebook matters. With more than 750 million users, the largest social network offers great marketing opportunities for business owners, brands and individuals. But most businesses who try to use Facebook struggle with building a business presence on a social platform. In this three-part webinar series, with guest expert Sam Maxwell, you'll learn how to successfully create and maintain your Facebook business presence, leading to more leads, stronger connections and greater loyalty.
Webinar Recording: Google+ For Your Business
Google's new social network is unlikely to be a Facebook killer, Twitter killer or blog killer. But because it's Google, it could turn out to be one of your most important tools for Authority Marketing. In this webinar, I'll show you how to get started with Google+ and how to use it effectively as part of your marketing mix.
10-Minute Reputation Builders
Most of us have built our life-long reputation with lots of small steps, not a few giant leaps. The same is true on the Internet. You don’t HAVE to spend half your life on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and on-line forums in order to build a credible on-line reputation (although some people do!)
This on-line course sends you daily ideas for building your on-line reputation. Each items takes no more than 10 minutes at a time, so you can do them whenever you have a small window of spare time – waiting for somebody to turn up for a meeting, waiting in line for a coffee, taking a break between bigger tasks, and so on. If you’re really keen, you might even set aside a 10-minute window in your calendar every day!
On-Line Positioning
How to write a compelling Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook profile. This webinar looks at how to show your face – appropriately – in different social media platforms. Based on the Show Your Face chapter in my book Fast, Flat and Free.
Google+ Brings Search and Social Together for Authority Marketing
This webinar looks at Google+ and what it means for you as a marketer. It's not a Facebook killer or Twitter killer, but it might turn out to be the biggest change in search engine marketing in the last decade. For more about the principles of building a reputation as an authority, read the Invest In Reputation chapter in my book Fast, Flat and Free.
Build Your Online Reputation in 10 Minutes a Day
Building your online reputation doesn’t happen in one giant leap. It takes many small steps, which means consistency is important. In this webinar I’ll show you how to build your reputation one step at a time, by consistently being visible online, but without taking more than 10 minutes each day doing it. From the “Invest in Reputation” chapter of my book “Fast, Flat and Free”.
Social Media Myths Busted
If you’re a business owner or business leader, it’s not surprising if you’re feeling overwhelmed by everything you see, hear and read about how to get ahead with social media. The good news is that it doesn’t have to be as difficult as it seems, especially if you ignore some of the buzz and hype, and focus on the few things that really make a difference.
