Shoot good video with a smartphone.

Social Media Manager

Your next career - SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER

If you like visiting social media sites like Facebook and Pinterest, and you are looking for a new career this might be the perfect one for you

If you like spending time on social media, Facebook, Pinterest & Twitter, you might be an ideal candidate to become a freelance social media manager.

The job of a social media manager is to promote their clients businesses and services on the various social media networks in a way that engages potential customers. Essentially this means making Facebook & Pinterest posts about the business or product to attract new customers and responding to questions or comments about those posts.

For example, if as a freelance social media manager you sign up a local restaurant as a client, you would likely post photos of the restaurant's daily specials on various Facebook groups. You might also post, under a different Facebook name, a glowing review of your experience at the restaurant or photos of the restaurant staff helping in a community project.

In return for doing this, your restaurant client would pay you a monthly fee - usually starting at $250 and going up - depending on how large the business was.

As a freelance social media manager, you might have four or five clients and spend most of your day creating social media content for them and posting on the various social media sites.

To make your job easier, you would probably use one the social media manager tools like HootSuite, a tool that lets you manage multiple social media identities across multiple social networks from one web-based dashboard.

Starting out, you could use their free solution, and later on if you expanded your business to include more than four clients, you could sign up for the pro version.

You can learn more about HootSuite and other social media management tools at https://blog.dashburst.com/best-social-media-management-tools/.

So exactly how does a social media manager spend their day?

One way is to find out is to check the daily schedule put together by Socialcast. It shows what a busy social media manager does with their time.

You can see their schedule at http://www.slideshare.net/socialcast/060914-socialcast-socialmanagerday

Or just check out Michael Patterson's social media [and here] checklist infographic shown below.  Be able to answer what the different purposes are for each of the different social media.  

FACEBOOK.  Their Analytics page is called Insights.
TWITTER.  Twitter Analytics.
PINTEREST.  Pinterest Analytics.
GOOGLE Analytics.
GOOGLE+.  Google Analytics.
LINKEDIN.  LinkedIn Analytics.
TUMBLR.  Tumblr Analytics.
SNAPCHAT.  SnapChat Analytics.
YOUTUBE.  From Homepage, click on Video Manager at the top of the page.  Once there, click on Analytics.  YouTube Analytics. 
There are more social media sites, a lot more.  Here are the 15 Most Popular Social Media sites.  Some good tips on how to use these sites, starting with their Analytics.

Know, too, the general audience--age, family, work, income brackets, and so on. Basically, Social Media is used to promote your business.  What's involved in promoting one's business?  And boost your brand.

DAILY
1)  Respond to Inbound Social messages.
2)  Monitor and respond to Brand mentions.
3)  Create conversations with Brand advocates.
4)  Find and Engage with potential customers. 
5)  Research the Social Media Industry.
6)  Load your Social Editorial Calendar. 
7)  Post 3-6 times on Twitter.
8)  Post 1-2 times on Facebook.
9)  Post 1-2 times to Google +
10)  Post 1-3 times on Instagram.
11)  Post 1 time to LinkedIn.
12)  Study your products and services. 
13)  Monitor the competition, using Google Alerts and subscribing to their sites.
14)  Work on a blog post.

WEEKLY
1)  Engage with thought leaders in your niche/industry.
2)  Engage with marketing partners.
3)  Discuss tactics with your team.
4)  Run your social media analytics.
5)  Encourage sharing through employee advocacy.

MONTHLY
1)  Audit your strategy.
2)  Attend local events.
3)  Detox from Social Media.
4)  Collaborate with other departments.

QUARTERLY
1)  Adjust quarterly goals.  
2)  Assess key performance indicators. 
3)  Gauge team capacity and needs.  

IMMEDIATELY
1)  Check out how Sprout Social can help you more efficiently tackle your checklist with a free, 30-day trial of your social media management software.  

You can read more about this infographic at http://www.adweek.com/socialtimes/a-complete-checklist-for-social-media-managers-infographic/622615.

After you've built a solid reputation as a social media manager, you could choose to leave the freelance world and seek work for one major client. If you decide to do this, you wouldn't have any problem finding a job.

Just check any of the major job sites and you'll find thousands of openings for social media managers. Example:http://jobs.monster.com/search/?tjt=social+media+manager.

So if you are looking for a new career, one that you can start from home using just your computer, and you enjoy spending time on social media sites, becoming a social media manager might be right for you.

Follow the links above to find out more.

As part of this social media manager, be sure to check out Bill Myers recommendation on usign Facebook for advertising.

FACEBOOK

WHAT MAKES IT UNIQUE?

It's the most common among all the social media marketing tools out there. Facebook uses the social graph and activities to target demographics and people, making Facebook Advertising incredibly awesome. Think about it, any product/service you advertise on Facebook basically gets put into the hands of the exact person who wants or needs it. While it's mainly a B2C [Business to Consumer] platform, every fan who has LIKED your page is truly interested in what you have to offer.

DOWNSIDES & LIMITATIONS

It's not all about you. I know, hard to believe but it's not.  Of course it's extremely important and necessary to share your products, offers, services or what have you, BUT you also need to prove that you are en expert in your field. People aren't going to automatically trust you. You need to build that trust, and doing things like sharing valuable content, news articles, and information on the latest and greatest technology that's going on in your industry will prove that your fan base can trust what you say.

HOW to USE FACEBOOK for MARKETING

Facebook is definitely the easiest and most user friendly of them all. Build your fan base, share your page with friends and family, post your Facebook link anywhere you can, and give incentives for people to like your page. Maybe you're giving out a $20 giftcard once you reach 10,000 fans. People love challenges and we find that techniques like this work well.

Share valuable content and interact. Do not forget to INTERACT! This is very important. People love to see that there is a real person behind your brand. If you don't show your face, people get weary if it's really you or not. And for all you busy CEO's out there, it doesn't have to be you posting either. Have someone in the office do the job. Make sure you keep that Facebook page active, interesting, and never stop engaging!!

Having trouble developing a Facebook marketing strategy? Give us a call at IMPACT and learn how we can help!

TWITTER

Twitter is quick, frequent and has the smartest of the audiences. With 140 million registered users, twitter is a sea of information waiting to be read, followed, and re-tweeted.

Twitter also transformes your lengthy blog articles to small snippets of information. This is great for grabbing people's attention quickly, driving more people to your blog, then BOOM, new blog subscribers. Easy as that. Hash tags are also a unique twitter attribute. They're great for search purposes when your looking for people to follow and also to see what people are tweeting.

DOWNSIDES & LIMITATIONS

Twitter has been at the top of the micro blogging platforms since 2006 and generates 175 million tweets daily. While it's a great way to share quick thoughts and generate traffic to your website and offers, there are also limitations that come with it. Building relationships with followers is nearly impossible to do. People follow you because they like what you have to say, they don't always care about your business as a whole. BUT, there's ways around that. Choose what you tweet wisely and follow people that have an interest in you and your business.  At IMPACT, we really focus on finding followers who we know will really benefit from our clients products/services or even people who we know will share our content. Check out how we built a valuable twitter following for IMPACT.

HOW to USE TWITTER for MARKETING

Twitter, like all other social media, is great for directing people to your website to generate leads. But you need to have enticing content for people to stop and read yours. People are normally scrolling through quickly and only clicking the ones that stand out the most. Make sure when you're constructing your tweets, each one has tags for searching purposes and a link that is directing your viewers where you want them to go. Wether it's to your contact page or a coupon your offering, make twitter useful by getting people to your website.

Twitter marketing have you confused? Contact IMPACT today to schedule your free consultation and we'll help you develop an effective social media plan.

LINKEDIN

WHAT MAKES IT UNIQUE?

LinkedIn is definitely different from the rest of the social media outlets out there for business. Instead of just connecting with individuals themselves such as clients or customers, you can connect with other business as a whole. 

LinkedIn carries a feature that most social media platforms don't, you can see who views your profile! And it's not like those silly Facebook apps that everyone clicks at one point in time. This one really works!

DOWNSIDES & LIMITATIONS

There is a lot less conversation happening on a LinkedIn page then there is on other social media marketing profiles. One way around this is to join groups or communities where you can ask questions and engage in conversations. Take a look at our Client Community page for a better idea.

HOW to USE LINKEDIN for MARKETING

Stream all your social media profiles to this one page. Everything from Twitter, Facebook and your blog can stream right to LinkedIn, making it the home of where all your social media will live. It doesn't get much easier than that.

Also, utilize that recommendations tool. You can acuire new business by having your loyal customers write you a recommendation and spread the word. You can also use LinkedIn to search for new employees. A LinkedIn profile is basically like an online resume where you can list your experience, schooling, interests and more. What better way to find qualified employees?! Look at our company page to get an idea of what yours may look like.  

Not sure how to get started with LinkedIn? Contact IMPACT today and we can get you started!

GOOGLE+: WHAT MAKES IT UNIQUE?

Many are saying that Google+ is the up-and-coming Facebook. With 250 Million registered users already to date, I may not disagree! Do you have a lot of different types of people you want to reach out to? From employees and customers to your CEO and General Manager? Well, this is where Google+ Circles comes in handy!

With Circles, you can separate your followers into different groups so when you're making an announcement or just posting your lastest press release, you can choose who you want to share this information with! AWESOME! No other Social Media Marketing tools can really do that. Another unique feature with Google+ is the "Hangout." Here, you can video chat with up to 10 people at once. Now everyone can make it to the business meetings, virtually. No excuses!

DOWNSIDES & LIMITATIONS

Word on the street is that small business owners are getting worried that their website wont be of use if everyone can visit their Google+ page and get everything they need to know. Well, we can't really argue this because you never know what the future holds on the internet.

Google+ also lacks some privacy. Unlike most social media marketing platforms, theres no "request" button for Google+. You basically just add the page to your circles and you have access to their feed at all times. Although you have a business and your posting information for everyone to see, I think we all still like to have a sense of protection.

HOW to USE GOOGLE+ for MARKETING

Use killer images, make your profile OPEN to search, and use your Circles wisely. Google+ gives you many areas to use images. Whether you choose the tiled images or the one to span across the top of your page, choose the best one you have. After all, it is the first thing someone sees when they click on your page.

Also, don't forget to add some albums. Even if your company photos aren't your best ones yet, get them on there. Any photos look better then none. You can always schedule re-takes later. Since Google is king in the search world, you NEED to make sure your profile is open to search. If not, no one will find it and all the time you put into making your page wont count. Lastly, use your circles wisely. Circles is probably Google+'s best selling point right now so you really need to use this feature at its fullest. And it's going to make your life a lot easier when you're sharing content.

Aren't familiar with Google+ and how to incorporate it into your marketing strategy? Schedule your free consultation with IMPACT and learn how we can help!

From Lynda.com.

Firebug plug-in.

Google Adwords, pay per clip advertising service.
create the set up page.

https://www.xml-sitemaps.com

Majestic SEO or SCO?

https://semrush.com/features/backlinks

https://moz.com/researchtools/ose

https://ahrefs.com

Traffic alone to a site does not mean that your site will produce sales and loyal following, referrals, or other benefits.

You want people calling in with orders and not questions.

Peter Kent claims that there are only two important search engines--Google and Bing.  Did not realize that Bing was that important.  Yahoo gets search results from Bing.  97% of all searches in North American come from Google & Bing.

SEO field is constantly changing and you've got to keep up.

A utility that lets you look at the html code underlying a web page to see how specific components were created.

You can edit the page, modify it in other words.  All major browsers have this built in.  Right click and select "Inspect Element" to open up the code.

https://adwords.google.com/KeywordPlanner

This was helpful. Get to learn more.

This seemed like an interesting site.

The Grommet?

Microphone - Aputure V-Mic D1 Shotgun Microphone (Black)

Skeleton Case - Joyoldelf Skeleton Housing compatible with all GoPro Hero4 Hero3 Hero3+ cameras

External Mic Cable - GoPro 3.5mm Mic Adapter (I found the same thing on eBay for $6.00)

Grip - Fotodiox GoTough Grip Metal Camera Light Bracket with Action Grip for Gopro Hero2, Hero3/3+ and Hero4 Cameras and All GoPro Adapter Mounts - you can get a much less expensive grip and use with the Gopro tripod adapter Heavy Duty Photography L Bracket with 2 Standard Flash Hot Shoe Mounts - $6.95 versus $49.95 for the GoTough Grip.

Tweens, teens, and younger adults . . . are the least likely to click product ads (unless those ads are for clothes or games).

On the uses and benefits of social media, Bill Myers offers some sound advice:

Everything starts with the product you are trying to market and who the most likely buyers of that product are.

If those 'most likely buyers' aren't using the social media platforms you plan to advertise on, your money and effort will be wasted.

A recent survey by ExactTarget (a social media marketing company) showed only 23% of companies that advertise on social media say their social media efforts have been effective.

Much of this has to do with those who use social media the most (tweens, teens, younger adults), are the least likely to click product ads (unless those ads are for clothes or games).

The most effective marketing is when you know where your target market will be looking for the kind of product you have to sell, and you concentrate your promotion efforts there.

So instead of starting out by trying to make social media work for your product, find out where your most likely customers hang out, and concentrate your marketing efforts there.

Bill adds . . . 

When it comes to marketing via social media, you might want to read 'Why Facebook Ads fall Flat'. 

In that report, you learn that in general, ads on Facebook and other social media usually fail, while content reposted and 'liked' by followers gets more attention and results.

That's why big advertisers court and pay people who have a huge number of followers on their social media accounts. They know if they can get the social leader to 'like' something, chances are good the followers will at least take a look at the 'liked' item.

For example, if Oprah or Taylor Swift 'likes' something on their social media feeds, millions of people will click the liked item to learn about it.

But chances are they won't click any of the ads on those same pages.

So the secret to success when marketing with social media, is to get someone your target market follows to 'like' or 'repost' content related to your product.

If you can do that, you'll get a lot of clicks and attention.

Found them helpful on how to think about sustainable watchable videos. There are ten of them but they are only a couple minutes each.

I got a few ideas from them, thought you guys might as well.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLpjK416fmKwQKaaNUnhELspiXiuaa7yEt

Bill Myers writes:

HostGator has announced a new service - optimized WordPress hosting. The servers have been optimized for Wordpress, and sites will have automatic daily backups, automatic malware removal, unlimited storage space and a shared SSL. They claim WordPress sites on the optimized server will have "Blazing Speed".

$12.95 a month for a single site, with multiple site plans available. Free migration from your current Hostgator account to the optimized server.

Details at http://www.hostgator.com/managed-wordpress-hosting

 . . . .

On buying a desktop, here's what to look for in a desktop PC.

Intel i7 Processor, minimum 3.2ghz

Minimum 8 gig RAM memory (more is better)

Video card with 2 gig RAM (minimum)

1 tb Harddrive (2 tb is better)

In the US, you could get a Dell 8700 configured better than above for around $700.

. . . .

If you've been looking for a way to draw or annotate in your computer using a tablet and pen, and didn't want to spend lots of $$$ on a Wacom tablet, you might be interested in this deal.

Monoprice is offering their 10" X 6" drawing tablet with pen for $39.99. 

Connects to your computer via USB and is Mac and Windows compatible.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/371223113451?rmvSB=true