February 9, 2012

5 Social Media Marketing Lessons Learned from People’s Chatting Nicknames

ME Liz Strauss wrote this at 1:07 pm

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A Guest Post by
Rahil Muzafar

Social Media Marketing is easy for those who understand the nitty-gritty of sociology and human’s need to share anything substantial, with their loved ones. Everybody likes to share, even the people who appear to be a little unsociable have this underlying desire to let somebody in on what’s going around in their lives. Any social media marketing campaign that manages to trigger this desire is sure to make it big. Sharing is made extremely easy by all those social networks out there, all you need to know is exactly why, when, and what people want to share with their friends, families, or colleagues. When looking for the answers, there are some invaluable lessons that you can learn by looking at the people’s nicks in your contact’s list (given that you have a fairly large one), let’s take a look at some of these lessons.

Like to share something inspirational:

People look to share whenever they come across something that touches their hearts in a positive way, giving them something good to think about, something to cheer, and something to help them see a silver lining in the dark clouds, that’s the reason you will see people using the phrases like “You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it come true” or “It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves”. Therefore, if you can come up with an article, image, or video which is inspirational in one way or another, you will surely find people who are keen to share that with the friends.

Like to share something hilarious:

Another thing largely shared by people at social networks is anything which is downrightly funny. People love to share a good laugh with their friends, doesn’t matter if it is coming from a witty one-liner, funny incident, videos, or an article. Hilarious videos are one of the most commonly shared types of videos at social media and you don’t need to see any statistics for that. You can simply go to your Facebook page and take a look around. You will surely find a couple of funny videos shared by some of your contacts at any given point of time. Lesson for you; come up with something funny, which is directly related to the theme of your blog/website. It doesn’t necessarily need to be outrageously humorous, anything that brings smile to someone face will do.

Like to share something adorable:

That’s especially popular amongst the female users, apart from the nick names; you can see the popularity by looking at the number of views at videos with babies, pets, and the likes. To make the most of this trend, you need to offer something cute, anything having to do with family and the loved ones, something that ignites the feelings of love, affection, bonding, and care.

Like to share the ironies of life:

This is cynic’s reply to people sharing that cute stuff. You will often see nick names like “It may be that your whole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others” or even the more crude ones like “We are born naked, wet and hungry. Then things get worse”. It’s not easy to come up with something that true yet funny, but that’s probably the most commonly shared type of content amongst adults, especially if it has something to do with their profession.

Like to share something that’s closer to their heart:

At times you will see people keeping nick names, which are not funny, cool, witty, inspirational, or doesn’t even make any sense at all, the only reason for choosing these nick names over the more interesting ones is because there’s something that’s closer to their hearts. Lesson to be learned? Put yourself in your customers’ shoes, and then try to come up with some slide, video, or article that they can relate to, something that’s directly related to their age group, profession, ambition, views, likes, or dislikes, and chances are that they will be sharing that with the like-minded people in next to no time.

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Author’s Bio:
Rahil is an Internet Marketing and social media expert. Feel free to visit his website and avail yahoo domain code and coupon for midphase . In addition to yahoo and midphase, you will find many different coupon codes and discounts for web hosting services.

Thanks! Rahil!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

Filed under Marketing, Successful Blog | No Comments »

February 9, 2012

Be a Good Newbie!

ME Liz Strauss wrote this at 7:40 am

A Guest Post by
Rosemary O’Neill

Last week, I wrote about how to be an upstanding citizen of the Twitter and LinkedIn worlds. But what if you’re venturing farther into untested waters? What if you’re pointing your canoe toward some of the newer and less-traveled areas of the web?

When a new social tool arrives on your map, it is even more important to mind your manners, especially if there are natives who have been there for a while already. Pinterest, Google+, Quora, Tumblr, EmpireAvenue and others were populated with early adopters and beta testers long before the rest of the Internet discovered them.

If you’re considering planting your flag on new territory, here are some tips that will ensure you are welcomed with a feast, and not eaten for dinner.

Listen & Lurk

My golden rule for approaching a new network is to listen for at least a week (more, if you have time). Read lots of content, and get a feel for the tone of the network.

Be Honest

Don’t try to pretend you’ve been there since the beginning if you haven’t. If there’ an “introduce yourself” area, take advantage of it to break the ice.

Take it Slow

Until you get the lay of the land, treat lightly. Don’t try to “speed date” your new connections. Share little tidbits at a time, and don’t flood the network with a million updates all at once.

Find a Buddy

One trick I’ve used to get acclimated quickly is to find a network “mentor.” Find someone whose behavior you admire, and follow them. Rather than “friending” 100 people at the outset, try to establish one or two stronger connections and build from there.

Look for Clues

Many networks have guidelines, either formal or informal, stating the rules of the road. And if there aren’t any on the website, try doing a quick Google search for “insert social network name + etiquette.” You’ll find tons of resource blog posts that detail behavioral norms for you. Here are a few official resources:

Pinterest Etiquette: pinterest.com/about/etiquette/
Quora Etiquette: www.quora.com/Quora-Etiquette
Google+ Etiquette: insidegplus.com/2011/07/google-etiquette/

If you’re looking for a buddy on any of those networks, I’d be happy to help! You can find me obsessively “pinning” at pinterest.com/rhogroupee/, enjoying the Q&A on Quora at www.quora.com/Rosemary-ONeill, and building my empire at https://www.empireavenue.com/rosemary. Come introduce yourself

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Author’s Bio: Rosemary O’Neill is an insightful spirit who works for social strata — a top ten company to work for on the Internet . Check out their blog. You can find her on Twitter as @rhogroupee
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Thank you, Rosemary!

You’re irresistible!

ME “Liz” Strauss

Filed under Business Life, Successful Blog | No Comments »

February 8, 2012

Can You Find Success Following a Firing?

matt wrote this at 12:00 pm

One of the most challenging situations a person can find themselves in is trying to secure a new job after they’ve been terminated from a previous position.

While there is hope of locating employment following a termination, the odds are definitely lessened for such individuals, who must fight through the stigma of being removed from a company.

The bottom line is resiliency and the ability to best explain away why you were let go.

For those individuals who have to deal with such a situation, keep several things in mind:

• Deal with reality – It is never easy when the pink slip arrives and you’ve been fired from a job, especially from a financial stand point. That being said, the bottom line is you have to locate a new position and the sooner the better. Don’t let the anger you more than likely have from your firing carry over to the job interviews you go on. By putting the most recent experience in the rear view mirror, you will stand a better chance of doing well on job interviews and securing a new position;
• Understand why it happened – Employees get fired from jobs daily, so you’re not the first and you certainly will not be the last. One of the worst things you can do is not grasp why you were let go. You may not know all the details, but it is important to have a general understanding of why it happened so that you don’t repeat it in your next job;
• Sit back and reflect – In some instances, a firing may be the best thing that can happen to you, permitting you the time to decide on whether or not you seek a career change, etc. While you will likely have to tighten spending while you look for a new job, the time away can be positive for reflection;
• Keep your head up – Looking for a new employer is a full-time job in many instances. You will have employers who will not respond to your resumes, employers who will interview you and then lose interest when someone better comes along, and employers who would like to offer you job, but that stigma of being fired leaves them a little unsure of you. The bottom line is that you can’t afford to throw yourself a pity party at this time. You need the work, so plow forward until you find what you’re looking for;
• Don’t hide the truth – Getting fired is never fun, but don’t compound the problem by lying to a potential employer. While you may do your best to hide the fact you got fired and not laid off, you would be amazed how word can quickly travel. If you lie to a potential employer or even someone who ends up hiring you, it could come back to bite you, given the employer will question if they can trust other things you say;
• Avoid issues with your new job – Once you finally do find that next job, take what you learned from the previous experience so you hopefully do not repeat it this time around. The goal is always to learn from your mistakes, so make sure you understand to the best of your ability why you were fired and don’t put yourself in that position again.

If you were recently fired, how are you dealing with it and have you started back on the job hunt trail?

Photo credit: ehow.com

Dave Thomas, who covers among other subjects’ phone systems, writes extensively for Business.com, an online resource destination for businesses of all sizes to research, find, and compare the products and services they need to run their businesses.

Filed under Business Life | 1 Comment »

February 7, 2012

Five Delegation Thinking Traps that Trip Almost Everyone Who Wants to Scale Up

ME Liz Strauss wrote this at 7:39 am

Scaling Up Requires Pushing Down Lower-Level Tasks

In the companies I worked with and for, product development schedules were cyclical, with seriously tight deadlines at certain times of the year and a more relaxing pace when those deadline had been achieved. To even out this ebb and flow of deliverables, we would hire freelancers, off-sire staff, and development groups. Even the most entry-level full-time people were managing and influencing the performance of someone else.

The ability to influence another person’s performance in positive ways affected how quickly employees could grow in their individual roles. The ones who scaled up most quickly were the ones who understood that to take on higher-level tasks, they would have to delegate effectively the lower level tasks that they’d already mastered. They delegated well.

Those who couldn’t scale were often tripped up by five thinking traps.

• We wait too long to get help. The thinking trap is I have to keep my eye on the ball, bite the bullet and get this done. When finally we look up, we still have three weeks worth of work to do and only 1 week to get it done. That thinking risks your reputation and the quality of the work. Solution: Track the time it takes to do one unit of work. Do the math to see how many units you can in a normal day and lower your that projection by 20% — to allow for the unforeseen problem or new project that comes your way. Asking someone to help when you start gives that person time to have a learning curve on the project.
• We think can’t afford the training time. The thinking trap is It will take too much time to teach someone else. That thinking is a great way to stay stuck. Think you’ll have more time 3 days, 3 months, or 3 years from now? Solution: Take a look at what’s currently on your desk. What the work any intelligent person can do? Do it now and in three weeks the person you delegate to will be taking things off your desk.
• We hand over the work too fast — without clearly communicating the scope of the task, expectations, or its importance. The thinking trap is A qualified person will know how to do this. A qualified person can’t know what we don’t tell. Solution: Carve out more time than you need to explain how the piece you’re delegating fits within the bigger project and to let the person know that you’re counting on him or her to do it well. Have the person do a small chunk and review it early to catch any miscommunication.
• We keep doing the work even after we’ve assigned it someone else. The thinking trap is It’s faster if I correct this myself. We have to hand over accountability with the work. If we constantly rewrite and correct their work, the people we delegate to will figure out that no matter what they send we’ll be changing it. Solution: Clearly define and communicate the specifications of the work. Check the work against those specs. Send back the mistakes and missteps for correction. For example, when you hire a professional inputter, take your hands off the keyboard. Check for errors, but let the person make the corrections.
• We think different is wrong. The thinking trap is I need to check and change this work because this person doesn’t have the ___ (dedication, experience, expertise…) It’s delegation critical to understand the difference between wrong and different. Someone else might do the work differently than you, but that difference may not make it wrong. Before you mark a correction, ask yourself Is this truly wrong or just different from how I might do or say it?.

Learning to delegate well is critical to growth. Anything we do ourselves limits the time we have to get to higher-level tasks. Want to scale up? Avoid these five thinking traps and you’ll be better equipped to recognize great candidates who can contribute to your success.

You may wonder how to find great delegation candidates, especially if you have little or no budget to begin. Look to the people around you — those who want experience in what you do. Talk to local colleges to find interns. Ask your friends. Finding the people to delegate to isn’t nearly as hard as learning to delegate well. It will also be easier to attract temporary help, the best VA, or volunteer interns, when you know exactly what the job specs are and how to communicate your needs. the people we delegate to will be more interested in making the same great choices we would make.

What else do you find critical to scaling up?

Be irresistible.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

Filed under Business Book, Successful Blog | 5 Comments »

February 6, 2012

Does Your Business Style Connect or Make People Cringe?

ME Liz Strauss wrote this at 7:43 am

Get Serious Attention

In Amanda Valenti’s recent guest post here about Common Writing Mistakes, she made many important points that I encourage small businesses to take to heart.

If spelling, grammar, and homophones are not your strong suites, find someone who can edit what you write. It IS worth it because Amanda is absolutely correct – these types of errors will cost you visitors and business.

There is something more serious you must be aware of as well and that is what kind of image you are presenting to the world. Specifically, what you consider acceptable regarding profanity, off-color humor, suggestive images, etc. may be anything but appropriate to your potential customers.

Most people over fifty will know exactly what I mean, but those who are significantly younger may not realize that what is normal to them – whether that is dropping the f-word, cursing God, piercings or tattoos or pink or green hair – may cause many to not take them seriously.

One day I was at my ISP when an intelligent, clean cut young man walked in and asked for a job. He didn’t know anything about computers so there wasn’t anything he could do there; however, I did make some suggestions to assist him in finding work.

He was wearing shorts, sandals, and a backpack but what made me cringe was that he had a ten penny nail in each ear. I explained to him why my immediate reaction was to cringe inside (possibly visibly) and think “ouch, that must hurt”. I suggested he dress as though he was going to work there when inquiring about opens and especially to lose those nails before asking for work.

I ran into him at a local coffee shop later that week. He had found work – and I almost did not recognize him without the nails. While his peers might find that normal, the owners, managers, and customers where you might seek work may not.

That applies to tattoos, hair styles, piercings, what you wear, etc. While I am not saying you should not have your own style, I am suggesting that you consider what is truly important to you and that you ask yourself, is this REALLY me or am I doing this for some other reason.

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Author’s Bio:
Gail Gardner writes about why small businesses and bloggers should collaborate to improve the economy and create a better world for all at GrowMap.com (). You can find her on Twitter and other major social media networks as @GrowMap.

Thank you, Gail! You’re irresistible.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

Filed under Branding, Marketing, Successful Blog | 4 Comments »

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