by Shelly Lodes on February 3, 2010
You’re working hard to develop your brand and increase your business visibility.You’re developing relationships & gaining credibility. People are starting to talk….
- How are you keeping up with the buzz you are creating?
- Do you know who is talking about you?
- Do you know where your articles are being posted?
- Who’s saying positive things about you?
- Who’s saying negative things about you or your products and services?
- Who’s linking to your online real estate?
As a solo business owner it’s critical that you manage your online reputation.
It is perfect social manners to thank anyone who gives kudos to you, your business or services. If anyone bashes you, it is important that you are on it by implementing damage control immediately!
Let me introduce you to one completely free “Reputation Management” tool.
Google Alerts: http://Google.com/alerts.
Google Alerts are delivered via email or RSS feed and contain the latest relevant Google results (web, news, etc.) based on your choice of query or topic.
- Your Domain Keep an eye on your blog or website. Just type in your sitename.com leaving off the www or http. If you have a specific link from your blog posted someplace else that points back to your blog, Google should pick that up.
- Your Name, Business Name, Products & Services These are critical alerts to implement into your social media reputation management system. Setting up an alert for your product names, you business name and your personal name will uncover additional buzz. If you have a service that is listed as a named “system” such as “How to Close Every 5 out of 6 Sales Blueprint System” you need to set up an alert for it as well.
- Your Articles If you write and distribute your own articles to various directories you can set up an alert for each article title.
As a solo business owner you can set up this monitoring system to help you stay on top of the buzz you are creating as you strive to build long, healthy relationships by keeping the 2 way conversation going.
Sign up for my Free Step By Step Social Media Weekly Newsletter full of advice and tips on how to expand reach and visibility while eliminating overwhelm associated with social media marketing. I focus on creating a simplified “Step By Step Social Media” plan that include automated, easy to manage processes & systems!
You’ll also receive my free Twitter 3 in 1 Bonus Report
- How to use Twitter for Business The Right Way: A guide to creating, implementing & maintaining a business presence on Twitter
- 3 Mistakes Newbies Make on Twitter
- 17 Business Boosting Twitter Tips
I’d love to hear how you are monitoring your social reputation or using Google Alerts. Leave a comment!
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by Shelly Lodes on January 29, 2010
Image: Danilo Rizzuti/FreeDigitalPhotos.net
As a business owner I use social networks to build relationships. My main objective is to build stronger, deeper and more meaningful relationships. I want to connect with my audience in order to find more prospects, clients, customers and business partners.
I leverage Facebook to connect with people and spread my expertise beyond my local market. It’s pretty simple really….I post an update and someone may post a comment to my update. Any comment I receive confirms that I’m being heard.
Are you trying to leverage Facebook for business?
If you are, you want to be sure to acknowledge everyone who interacts with you. Your social networking success will depend on it. It’s crucial that you respond to comments if you want to find & grow strong relationships that have real substance and value to both of you. For this to happen you must open the door to every possible relationship relevant to your market.
When a friend or fan reaches out and leaves a comment, it opens that door a crack. When you respond it gives you an opportunity to open the door wider and engage your new friend or fan deeper into conversation. It also shows them that you care about what they have to say.
1. If a friend or fan compliments you, thank them.
A compliant is a great way to start a conversation. Thank them for the compliment and then turn around and ask a question about them! If you want other people to be interested in you, you must show interest in them.
2. If they ask a question, answer it.
Questions provide the perfect opportunity to demonstrate your expertise to an interested person. Sharing your knowledge will build credibility and give value to your Facebook community. The more value you provide the more likely they will come back for more.
3. If they have an opposing view, respect it.
If there is one thing I know, it is this…. not everyone thinks like you do. If we want to build relationships with existing and prospective customer and clients, it’s mandatory that you respect what they think and believe. I’m not saying that you need to agree with them. I have close, personal friends that I don’t agree with 100%, don’t you? I still try to respect their opinions and they respect mine as well. By simply stating,”I can appreciate your opinion, thank you for sharing that with me” lets them know that you heard and acknowledged them.
4. If they have a complaint or problem with your product or service, fix it immediately.
Never, ever, ever let negative comments or complaints about your product or service go unaddressed! That is business suicide. Either fix the problem or let them know that you are working on it and will get back with them. It is counter-productive to put yourself out there as the trusted expert and then not respond when they need you the most.
Using the social networks to expand your reach requires that you BE social! Don’t waste your time on Facebook if you only want a one-way conversation. Turn it into a 2-way conversation by giving your fans and friends a voice too!
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by Shelly Lodes on December 2, 2009
If you mention a friend in one of your status updates, you might want to consider “tagging” them.
As solo and small business owners we need to expose ourselves often. To do this we use using various social media platforms. This is how we increase our visibility. Increased visibly helps our audience get to know us, connect with us and remember who we are and what we do.
Tagging is another way to get a little more oomph from our efforts and a creative way to interact with our friends.
How does tagging help your business?
- Tagging in Facebook provides your businesses with a way to stay in the forefront of your friends and fans minds.
- When you tag someone they will receive a notification that they have been “tagged” and more than likely will want to check out what you “tagged” them in.
- Your tagged status update will show up on their wall as well. There is not an option to comment on their wall so if they want to comment they have to click on the link under the post where it says “View Post” This will link back to your original update where they can leave a comment on your profile or page!
So how do you “tag” someone?
- Type in the @ symbol plus the first letter or so of the name, group or page that you want to tag in your status updates.
- This will activate a pop up box that displays the names that start with the letters you typed.
- When you select one the names, the @ symbol disappears and the name shows up as a hyperlink in your update.
- If you click on their name in your update, it will take you to their wall.
- This works in the “Notes” section as well.
There are some limitations…
- It does NOT work in comments.
- You can’t tag someone if they are only a fan. They must be a friend on your profile page too.
DO NOT abuse tagging!
- Only tag a friend if they are relevant to the post.
- Don’t randomly tag a big influencer in your industry just for extra exposure to their friends. Not cool!
- Be sure that you have a relationship with the person you tag. Don’t randomly tag a person who you have not communicated with or have some form of connection.
Tagging is great for…
- Complimenting, congratulating or thanking a friend personally in a public way.
- It is also a wonderful way to bring exposure to your friends fan pages.
So………..tag, you’re it! Go give it a try!
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