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Time to Switch: Making Facebook Timeline Work for your Business

24 Apr Filed Under: Education, Marketing, Shalyn, Social Media

Love it or hate it the, Facebook Timeline is here to stay. The good news is, evidence shows that engagement scores can sky rocket with the new layout.  In fact, Simply Measured recently reported that brands get 46% more engagement per post with timeline which is quite a staggering increase!  So, how can you capture stellar results with Timeline? The four tips below will help you do just that.

1. Make your cover photo engaging

Since the welcome page is no longer where prospective fans land, your cover photo is your key visual brand element. It is therefore essential that you create a cover image that reflects the energy, aesthetic, and market position you want new vistors to understand about your brand.

Different brands have employed different strategies– from Starbucks single image, to Verizon’s user generated cover image, to Ben and Jerry’s graphics, to Coke’s snazzy image collection.  Some brands have stuck with the idea of placing their logo as their timeline photo and a different image as their profile picture, but remember, in people’s NewsFeed only your Facebook profile picture appears, so if you choose to use your logo as a cover photo rather than your profile picture, it will get less exposure on a new’s feed.

Helpful Hint: Your cover photo needs to be 851 x 315 pixels.

Examples

What we did at Two Bright Lights

 

 

 

 

What Coke Did

 

 

 

 

What Starbucks Did

 

 

 

 

What Ben and Jerry’s Did

 

 

 

 

Helpful Hint 2: Facebook says that cover photo CANNOT include price or purchase info, contact info, references to Facebook features, or calls to action.

 

2. Pin and Star Posts

Now you can control what post appears on the top of your page by “pinning”them to the top. They will stay there for 7 days unless you create a new pinned post during that time. Since you can only pin one post at a time, make sure to pin a post that you think is the best representation of the activity and message you are trying to communicate for a week. You can also Star posts which makes a post wider, giving it more screen real estate on your page. This layout control is a helpful way to highlight to your fans what you think is most important – and the pinning and starring feature allows you to help guide them through your page.

Helpful Hint: Because the Timeline shows post from the whole period you have been on Facebook, you can always go back and hide or delete posts that you feel do not represent your brand anymore.

3. Organize your tabs

Photos, likes, and apps are listed right below your cover photo, but only four of these tabs are visible from your main screen. You have control of what order the tabs appear and what images and icons shows as the tab “cover.” In order to change and edit these tabs, simply click on the arrow next to your last tab. From there you can click the pencil icon that appears when you hover over each tab which will allow you to edit the cover photo (for all by the image tab) and/or move the position of the app.

Helpful Hint: You can have up to 12 apps on your Timeline.

4. Enable Messages

If you enable messages, fans can send you private messages which is a great feature for those of you who are in the creative industry. This tool can allow you to have non-public conversations about everything from bookings to pricing. The messaging feature should have been a default setting when you transitioned over to timeline, but if not you can always turn it on (or off) in your admin settings mage.

Helpful Hint: Messages will appear in your admin panel.

If you do these four simple things, you will be well on your way to creating a more engaging and profitable Facebook Timeline for your brand. If you have any other helpful tips you would like to share please let us know in the comments section!

 

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Filed Under: Education, Marketing, Shalyn, Social Media

Be a Social Media Maven: Pinterest Best Practices

8 Feb Filed Under: Education, Marketing, Natalia, Social Media, Strategy

If you haven’t joined one of the fastest growing social media sites in history yet, now is definitely the time! We’ve already covered the basics about Pinterest and even put together some tips and quick explanations to get you started on Pinterest in a previous post. Now we are ready to dig a little deeper and get to know some of the best practices for using Pinterest, while even helping your own brand!

Be Social on Pinterest

After you Pin an image to your page, then you get the chance to share it with your entire social network! If you want to share what you pin with more people, you can tweet pins to your Twitter account or share pins on Facebook to help expand your network across all three services. You can also share a Pin with another Pinner you know by using an @mention in the description, just like you do on other social sites like Twitter. They’ll get an email to let them know they’ve been mentioned.

Showcase Your Newest Products

When launching a new product, whether a new dress, dinner dish, or piece of jewelry, businesses want to know the initial reactions to the product’s look and feel. Because of Pinterest’s commenting ability, it is the perfect platform to introduce a new product and gather firsthand opinions from your own followers and other new viewers. As users Repin a photo, business owners and managers can gather more knowledge and ultimately decide whether they should move forward with their latest product. Think of it as a social media focus group!

Sell Your Work Through Pins

If you add a “$” or a “£” to the Pin description, Pinterest will automatically add a price banner to the photo. The Pin will then appear in the Gifts category. Within the Pin, remember to link to your website where fans can purchase the actual item. Just remember to remove the Pin once you’ve sold out! You can also add a ‘Pin It’ button on each product page of your own website to allow customers and prospects to share and catalogue your images.

Some Words of Caution from Ready2Spark

  • Self-promotion – Every social networking site has its own etiquette. Pinterest is no exception. They discourage users from using the network as purely promotional. (Don’t forget to share others’ work as well as your own!)
  • High quality photography needed – If you’re going to participate, recognize that if you want to be repinned, your images / videos need to be high quality and attractive.
  • Open window into your thoughts, ideas & organization – Pinterest does not have the ability to make your pins private for now, although they have identified this is something they’re considering working on. So, be cautious about what you share. For example, you might not want to post ideas for projects you’re working on – for confidentiality and privacy reasons.
  • Rules of conduct – As with any social networking site, there are specific (and legal) rules of conduct. Ensure you follow Pinterest’s Copyright, Privacy and Terms of Use Policies.

Pinterest holds immense potential for brands to interact with their audiences and to visually entice current and potential customers. Using the power of images, businesses can create buzz around products, display different aspects of their businesses, and ultimately create more personal and visually pleasing social experiences for their audiences.

For more inspiration and ideas, follow our Pinterest Page through Two Bright Lights!

- Natalia
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Filed Under: Education, Marketing, Natalia, Social Media, Strategy

Be a Social Media Maven: Get Started on Pinterest

19 Jan Filed Under: Education, Marketing, Natalia, Social Media, Strategy

You’ve probably heard the buzz building around Pinterest the last few months, and it’s no surprise why. This social photo-sharing website has already become one of the top 10 social networks for 2012, and it’s even being touted as the fastest growing social media site in history– and it’s still invite-only! In case you aren’t familiar with this popular new website, we put together some tips and quick explanations to get you started on Pinterest.

1. What is Pinterest?

Pinterest is all about sharing visual images and ideas. It is a place to organize all the things that you find inspiring and intriguing. The images that you share are called “Pins,” which you can then place onto “Boards” that are themed and/or categorized as you wish. You can create a board for practically anything, including (but not limited to): exotic locations, gorgeous photography, DIY ideas, and more! You can even think of it as your personal wishlist, filled with things to try out for yourself.

You can sign up for a Pinterest invite on the website, but prepare for a little bit of a wait. Chances are, you might know someone who is already pinning, and you can ask for an invite from them!

2. Why should I use Pinterest?

You can use Pinterest to just pin pictures of cool stuff all day, but it’s also a valuable tool for people with a specific purpose in mind. In the wedding industry, many new brides have employed the simplicity and portability of a Pinterest account to collect their favorite ideas and inspiration. Some people create a Board for each room in the house and then pin decorating ideas for that room. Artists can use it to organize inspiring images for their work. DIY-ers can bookmark crafts and ideas for those projects they always meant to try. You can also allow your boards to have multiple contributors, so collaborating with co-workers on a project is easy with everyone’s ideas and inspiration in one place.

3. How can Pinterest help my business?

Whether you’re a wedding photographer, florist, baker, or any other type of vendor, you can showcase your own work simply by pinning images to your boards. If your product or service can be visually compelling, then this is definitely the site for you! You’ll be able to reach a huge audience that continues to be highly interactive. Start by picking out your favorite images of your work and dedicate a board (or even a few!) to what you can offer. If you’re a florist, maybe you want to create one board for wedding bouquets, another board for boutonnieres, and another board for centerpieces. The possibilities are endless!

4. How do I start Pinning?

By using a simple drag-and-drop browser extension from the Pinterest website, you can use the “Pin It” button to pin any image from any website you visit. Just click the “Pin It” button, select the  picture you want, assign the pin to a Board, add a short description, and you’re done! If the Pin is something you want to buy, you can also include the price in the description and it will attach to the Pin for easy reference. The best part: anything you pin from a website will link back to exactly where you found it! There’s no reason why you shouldn’t Pin your own images to drive traffic back to your blog or website!

5. How do I become more social on Pinterest?

In addition to uploading your own pins, you can also Repin posts from other people using Pinterest! This is where the social aspect comes in- the more people you follow, the more likely you are to encounter new images and ideas that peak your interest.

To find other Pinners with similar interests to yours, click the Everything drop-down menu and pick a category that interests you. When you see a good Pin, you can leave a comment, Like it, or Repin to one of your own Boards. If you find a Board that is particularly intriguing, you can follow that individual board’s updates or you can choose to follow the Pinner’s profile with all of her Boards. Like Twitter, it’s an open network, so follows don’t require permission, and you don’t have to follow anyone back.

Be sure to check out the Popular button at the top of the main Pinterest page to see what pins are trending at the moment. It’s a great way to find new content and to find Pinners who share your interests!

In no time at all, you can master this simple social site and help your creative business get the exposure it deserves. Follow our Pinterest page for more ideas!

Stay tuned for more tips coming up in the next few weeks on building your brand through Pinterest and other social media networks!

 

 

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Filed Under: Education, Marketing, Natalia, Social Media, Strategy

A Custom Facebook Fan Page is a Great Investment. Enter to WIN one for your business!

11 Jan Filed Under: Marketing, Siri, Social Media, TBL GIve-Aways

We recently designed a custom Facebook welcome page for Two Bright Lights and our blog Done Brilliantly.   While there was an out of pocket investment, we believe it was totally worth it.  We designed ours with Doodle Dog Creative and the process was easy.  We recommend working with a creative shop that has experience in designing custom Facebook pages and for around $200 you can have a great one!  We gave Nikki (the owner of Doodle Dog) a creative brief and she took it from there.  She installed it and the process took just a few days.  We say, go for it!

Here is why we think custom Facebook pages are a great investment.

  1. Creates brand continuity.  Business fan pages on Facebook are a second website—so maintaining brand consistency across your online outpusts is critical.  Customization makes it easy for your fan page to look like your company.

  2. Builds credibility.  A customized fan page projects a level of seriousness about your business.  First impressions do matter!

  3. Easily customizable to suit your needs.  Your customize page can be crafted to suit you.  Looking for email addresses?  Include an email opt in on the page.

  4. Provides for easy integration into your other social networking efforts on Facebook, like advertising and promotions.

  5. Leads to more likes, more leads and more visitors to your page.

  6. Exposes your brand to the 800+million Facebook users who are incredibly active—many users are on Facebook daily.

We are big fans of the custom fan pages and have partnered with Doodle Dog Creative to give one away for free!  Click here to enter our Facebook promotion and take your business to the next level!

Siri

 

To get a sense for Doodle Dog Creative’s talent check out the great work they have done for us over here at Two Bright Lights for our Two Bright Lights and Done Brilliantly fan pages.

 

 

 

 

 

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The Client’s Perspective: The how and why of the final decision

1 Dec Filed Under: Blog, Brand, Marketing, Social Media, Strategy

In May, I started a short series about the client’s perspective in photography and discussed my search for my perfect photographer. I shared how I narrowed my list and honed in on a few photographers. But, then the question remained: how do I choose? After speaking with many Two Bright Lights photographers, I came to realize that few clients ever tell them why they don’t choose them, and sometimes clients do not tell them why they DO choose them. I am going to walk you through the process that helped me choose who I did and who I did not.

Before I start, these views do not represent the views of Two Bright Lights, and I do not intend to speak for all brides. I just want to share my personal experience, to give you insight into my process in the hopes of adding value to your client acquisition process and strategy.

 The Process

After narrowing down my list to about 6 photographers I spent considerable time looking at a few key items to get a better sense for who was going to be a good fit for us. I was looking for the photographer whose online and offline presentation presented and communicated the following elements the best:

Their website

In particular I looked at a few key areas:

Their portfolio: I looked for diversity in the types of shots featured: I wanted to see examples of all the different type of work they did.

Weddings: I looked for a variety of moments featured – from romantic/epic shots to the first kiss to the grandma dancing!)

Engagements: I was looking for examples demonstrating their creativity and ability to reflect the couple’s style, not just their own – so I  looked for variety in style of shots and perspective.

Non-wedding Work: I was hoping to get a sense of how they saw the world and what non-wedding work struck their fancy. This gave me a sense for who they were. If it was mainly baby images that gave me one sense, if it was mainly fashion, it gave me another.

Their style

I wanted someone with a documentary approach to photography – who focused on taking beautiful pictures of real moments versus someone who took the epic, but more posed shots. Because I knew what style I wanted, when I looked at their portfolios, it helped me narrow down the list – eliminating those with different styles and keeping those who did.

Their client praise section

I know that photographers often ask the brides who they felt were pleased with the ultimate work to provide feedback to share with other clients. Understanding that what I was reading was from people who were asked – I looked at the type of praise they chose to give. I looked for comments about how the photographer created work that really reflected the wedding, about how the photographer was non-intrusive, about how the photographer was easy to work with, made clients feel at ease being themselves, and that the work was fantastic.

Their blog

Content. I wanted to see what work of their own that they chose to feature and the commentary they wrote. I was looking to understand how the photographer positioned themselves within the field. The photographs they chose to highlight gave me more insight into their style. I looked at what other sort of content they wrote about – did they highlight the work of other vendors, did they report on industry trends, did they seem up to date and excited about quality equipment, etc.

Social Media. I looked at their Facebook page and Twitter feed. I was not judging the number of followers, though I did hope to see enough to seem like they were connected to their peers. All I wanted was to have evidence of their engagement in the industry, as noted by the content of their tweets/posts and when it came to Twitter the people they followed.

Features. It was important to me that they had been featured on blogs or in magazines, and that they understood that was important. I looked for links to their features and checked out who featured them and what work was featured.

Lists and Professional Affiliations. I kept an eye out for any lists they were on, such as Green Wedding Shoes or Style Unveiled. I paid attention to what industry groups and professional organizations they belonged to. It was important that this information was easy to find and was there.

The Connection

After I had a good sense for who they were, I called them. Because I lived far away I was unable to meet them in person. I realize this is a somewhat unique position, but like in a meeting I was hoping for a good connection, someone who I felt understood what I was looking for, someone who I could be comfortable around.  Their personality and professionalism mattered to me. I wanted to feel like they were excited about me and wanted my business, but were not desperate for my business – so little intonations and word choice gave me clues to this. It also mattered that they knew the answers to my questions and that the answers came smoothly.  I asked about how they would describe their style, what their favorite part of shooting a wedding was, how their pricing worked, what their training was, etc.  Charlie (my fiancé) also talked to them – and we compared our impressions.

Price was also a factor, but the photographers we like had almost identical pricing, so the decision came down more to fit and follow through than anything. Because we did not have a chance to meet in person, it was essential that they returned calls and emails promptly, followed up on the what they said they would send, and were quick to answer questions.

So, who did we pick and why?

We picked Otto Schulze of Otto Shutlze Photographers. Why? Well, in brief he had an extremely professional website and blog, took award winning documentary style photography, was delightful on the phone, and conveyed a genuine sense of excitement to work with us. The other photographers were also amazing, but they missed some of the key elements I outlined above.

So far the working with Otto has been amazing. Charlie and I are in love with our engagement pics (which we will feature soon) and cannot wait for the wedding pictures!!

 

 

 

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Get Your Work to Work for You: Share your work on Twitter and Facebook

16 Jun Filed Under: Community, Marketing, Social Media, TBL How-To's, TBL Updates

If you are part of the wedding industry you probably know that being on Twitter and Facebook is a must.

Having a Twitter and Facebook presence is in fact correlated to higher revenue!

But its not just HAVING an account it is USING those accounts, and its using those accounts in an effective way. So what does that mean? It means using social media as a mechanism to get your talented work in front of brides. Prospective clients check out your Facebook and Twitter.  They want to see your work. But they don’t just want to see a few great image, they want to see a series of images, a series of related images, a series of images that create a feel. They are trying to get a sense for you.

Well good news, sharing work in these ways just got easier…….

Now you can share your Inspiration Boards and Slideshows on Twitter and Facebook right from your Two Bright Lights account!

When you create an Inspiration Board or Slideshows with your images, they are stored in your Creations tab. There is a Twitter and Facebook button next to each creation. Just click the icon, and an automated editable tweet or status updated is created! You can also email and download your creations from Two Bright Lights in one click. Remember, each of these creations is a glimpse into your talent and can do your marketing for you. So share them!

These are what Brides want to see. So click on that Twitter or Facebook icon next to each creation and get your work to work for you!

marketing-to-brides

 

At Two Bright Lights it is important to us that we make it easier for you to grow your business. And we believe showcasing your work is the key to success. We added this featuring to make showcasing your talent event easier! So login now and start sharing!

Images courtesy of Jessica Claire Photography.

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Industry Insider: Featuring Liene Stevens: Part 2

14 Jun Filed Under: Community, Industry Insider, Marketing, Social Media

Founder of Think Splendid and Wedding Industry Jobs

Social media marketing plays such a huge role in the wedding industry. So what are three tips you would give for social media success?

1. Use social media first and foremost as a listening tool. What are wedding professionals talking about? What are real brides and grooms talking about? You can learn a lot about how you can help meet the needs of your clients just by listening to the conversations happening.

2. Blog. Even if you are on facebook or Twitter, you most likely should have a blog (not everyone in the industry should have a blog, but that’s the exception, not the rule. You probably need one). It helps your SEO since search engines index sites with fresh, relevant content more frequently and it helps get your brand out into the community in a meaningful way. Because couples spend 6-18 months planning, and are wedding information sponges for a short amount of time, wedding professionals should blog AT LEAST three times per week. Anything less and their attention is on someone who can feed their insatiable appetite for wedding information. Plus, if Google releases a wedding search engine like they’re hinting at, spending the majority of your time on Facebook is not going to help you.

3. Real ROI exists in social media. You should see a financial return by using social media for business, whether that means more clients, more sales, a book or TV deal, etc. If you’re not seeing any ROI, it’s not because social media doesn’t work, it’s because you’re probably not using it in an effective way. Develop a plan that works for your business; don’t try and copy what you think works for someone else.

What are the top three no-nos when using social media in this community?

1. Social media is not a one-way monologue or press release. People don’t care about how great you are, they care about how great you can make them. Again, be helpful, socialize and interact, and most importantly, be a real person.

2. Social media and traditional media do not work the same way. Many traditional PR agencies fail when it comes to social media marketing because they don’t (or refuse to) understand this. Using traditional marketing strategies online rarely works because people don’t consume information the same way online as they do offline.

3. Using “text speak” – OMG, U R gr8. Couples are getting married at an older age and increasingly are more educated than in the past. Using text speak is not only unprofessional, it sends a subconscious message to the reader that you are not smart. It’s the psychological “Blink” phenomenon that Malcolm Gladwell wrote about. No one wants to hire an unprofessional or dumb wedding vendor. If you use text speak to save room on Twitter or Facebook, choose to say less instead.

We love your About Me on Twitter. “Optimist. Skeptic. Insatiably curious. Difficult to impress. Lover of people. INDP post child. Digital marketing strategist for the wedding industry,” We might add brilliant and impressive! Our interest is piqued. Could you give us the longer version?

Sure! Optimist because I like to believe the best in people and I like to hope for big things. An optimist is not the opposite of a skeptic; it is the opposite of a cynic. Cynical people have a doom and gloom energy and that kind of outlook shuts ideas down before they can even start. I don’t feel the need to surround myself solely with positive-spin Pollyannas – because that’s not real life – but cynical people? No thanks.

Skeptic because while I like to believe the best in people, I also know that there is a lot of snake oil going around (and increasingly in the wedding industry, unfortunately). I don’t think people should take things at face value, whether it’s claims competitors make (I booked 800 weddings this week!) to what the news media reports to what you hear in your house of worship. Blindly following someone or something leads to pedestal promotions and idolatry and I don’t think that’s a healthy way to live.

Insatiably curious because I am Nancy Drew. I want to know what makes people tick, why something works or doesn’t, etc. I get my news from a multitude of sources and daily reads include The New York Times, BBC, Al Jazeera, among many others. This also ties in with being a skeptic – when you can get different takes on a story, you can form a better and closer-to-accurate opinion.

Lover of people - while I am not an extrovert, I love people. I love their stories, I love learning about what makes them tick, about why they act or say the things they do. There’s a quote that says “there’s more adventure in human relationships than in any amount of sightseeing or travel.” As much as I love to travel, I really believe this. Walking through life with people, through thick and thin, never ends up the way you expect it to.

INTP poster child. This refers to my Myers-Briggs personality profile. I like the big picture. I think everything can be done better or more efficiently and I’m naturally inclined to try and figure out how to make that happen. I’m not easily swayed by status, real or perceived – if someone in the industry for three years has a legitimately better idea than someone in the industry for 30 years, I will opt for the newbie’s idea. I have zero patience for people who are nice to me but not nice to others because they think I can help them in some way. A nice person who is not nice to the waiter is not a nice person. Period. There are some negative aspects, too, that I have to work hard at minimizing (still working on some of them!). For example, I’m incredibly shy in large groups or around people I don’t know, and that can often come across as rude or arrogant. Because I do a lot of public speaking in the industry (which oddly does not scare me), I’ve had to make a focused effort at events to introduce myself or strike up a conversation with other people first instead of waiting for them to come to me. This is super hard for me and I don’t always do a great job at it, but I’m trying to get better. One thing I’ve learned: many people at the top are just as shy as I am, so being the first to break the ice can take you far.

You always say you like to ask why. What are those why questions that are on your mind these days?

I don’t know if there are specific “why” questions on my mind these days because I honestly question everything. I think this ties in with being insatiably curious and not taking things at face value. The phrase, “that’s just they way it’s done” needs to be banished forever. There is a certain level of wisdom in deciding when to buck tradition and when honor it and I think most people can get to that point by simply asking “why?” to commonly held beliefs or practices.

We also wanted to let you know Liene just launched a wedding blog directory that focuses on how to submit to each blog and highlights what they are looking for. We think this is genious (and we are thrilled to see that most of them accept submissions through Two Bright Lights!) and wanted to make sure you all checked it out! It will be a great resource for those of you who are searching for the perfect place to submit your fabulous wedding!

A bit thank you to Liene for the interview!!! We love what you do and hope you always keep doing it :)

 

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Industry Insider: Featuring Liene Stevens: Part 1

7 Jun Filed Under: Brand, Community, Industry Insider, Marketing, Social Media, Strategy

Founder of of Think Splendid and Wedding Industry Jobs

We are so excited about your new project Wedding Industry Jobs. It seems to already be catching on and getting buzz. Could you tell us about Wedding Industry Jobs and the evolution of the idea? Why did you choose to launch it now? How do you see Wedding Jobs effecting the wedding industry? Whats your long term vision for Wedding Industry Jobs?

FindAWeddingJob.com started as an idea on a Sunday morning. I started working on it that afternoon and had launched a “sneak peek” Sunday night. Monday morning was the official polished up launch. I wanted to do it for a couple of reasons:

First, in my work with Splendid Communications, I meet a lot of wedding professionals all over the country. One of the common complaints is how hard it is to find good employees who are both creative and have an office work ethic (meeting deadlines, etc). The mainstream job boards are usually cost-prohibitive (costing $300 and up for a 30 day listing) for small wedding businesses, so I wanted to create something that was accessible financially. FindAWeddingJob.com integrates with other job boards, including LinkedIn, so that their listings are seen by a wide group of people, increasing their chances of hiring the right employee.

Second, I am asked all the time if I know people in the industry who are hiring, and while I try to retweet the openings, it’s hard to remember who mentioned they had an opening and when. I also know many wedding professionals who get inquiries, and if they’re not hiring, I wanted them to be able to refer those job seekers to the job board. We’ve all been in the difficult boat of looking for a job at one point or another and it’s just good karma if someone can say “we’re not hiring, but here’s a resource that may help you.”

My goal is for the site to become an invaluable resource both for wedding professionals and job seekers. Many people complain about the industry being over-saturated, but the simple truth is that it’s not going to desaturate any time soon. I’d rather it be over-saturated with talent than over-saturated with incompetent people. Getting a foot in the door with an internship or job found on the board and learning the ropes from talented people in the industry is a much better solution than a former bride with no other wedding-related experience picking up a camera or deciding to plan weddings.

Your @weddingjobs twitter stream has already gained a lot of traction these past few days. How did you gain this traction so quickly? What do you think this says about the wedding industry? Does using twitter to connect people for jobs reflect a trend in social media?  In the current economy, what role does twitter play in the job market?

I am a digital marketing strategist for the wedding industry, so the @weddingjobs twitter growth is no accident or stroke of luck. For the job board to work, both wedding professionals and job seekers need to know about it and use it. In the case of this specific product, quantity of followers is important (this is not always the case for other wedding businesses). I don’t want to give away too many specifics about the strategy since this is the type of work I consult clients on, but I will say that the growth is organic and I think that is key for anyone looking to grow a Twitter presence. There are services that will auto-follow a bunch of people to build up your followers and then clean out those who don’t follow back, but I do not recommend ever using these. If you see someone who has 40,000 followers and is following 38,000 people, they are using this type of service. It cuts out the engagement and listening and the conversion from follower to product user or client are much lower than when growth is organic. Simply having a lot of followers doesn’t pay the bills.

Twitter is huge in the current economy because, aside from personal use, people use it to stay connected to their industry, whether they’re a business owner or employee. If they’re looking for a job, being up to date on the latest news, trends and industry players gives them a competitive advantage that another candidate may not have.

How can we and others help spread the word about your new venture?

Refer people to FindAWeddingJob.com and the WeddingJobBlog.com! If you get a lot of job inquiries, consider setting up an auto-reply for those particular emails that says you’re not hiring right now but that the site may have something available. Follow us on Twitter and retweet job listings that might be relevant to your followers.

But we also love Think Splendid and Splendid Communications. For those who don’t know the story of Think Splendid and Splendid Communications, could you give us the elevator pitch?

Splendid Communications is a digital marketing consulting firm for the wedding industry. I had built a successful wedding planning business through digital and social media marketing because it was a medium that was familiar to me (I have been blogging personally for 12 years). The main arm of that strategy was the wedding blog, which generated over $27 million in revenue for the Phoenix and Washington DC areas in less than four years. My plan had always been to sell the wedding consulting company, so I decided to transition into helping other companies figure out the social media landscape in a strategic way. Think Splendid is the tagline and the brand name used on our social media platforms.

 

Love Liene like we do?? Then check back in next Tuesday for Part 2!

 

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Filed Under: Brand, Community, Industry Insider, Marketing, Social Media, Strategy

Be a Social Media Maven: Monitor your Social Media Presence in 10 minutes

12 May Filed Under: Community, Education, Marketing, Social Media Tagged With: ,

It can feel a little overwhelming right?


 

But you have to do it….that social media thing. But these days in the wedding industry having social media presence is crucial, and its more than just having a presence, its understanding how to monitor it. Monitoring it is about interacting with and responding to the people talking about your business online and getting a good sense of how people perceive your company. The insight social media gives you insight that is critical to your business’ growth.

Good news, monitoring your social media presence only needs to take about 10 minutes a day. We wanted to pass on the insights of Hubspot, a fabulous blog on Internet Marketing, on the how-to’s of monitoring your social media presence……

 

1) Check Twitter for chatter about your company (2 minutes): Use tools like TweetDeck or Twitter Search to monitor conversations about your company in real-time. To check once a day, set up an RSS feed for a specific Twitter Search to go straight to your Google Reader. Do this by clicking the little RSS icon after you complete a search. Now, ongoing search results will be sent to your reader.

2) Scan Google Alerts (1.5 minutes): Check your Google Alerts for your company name, products, executives or brand terms. To set this up, enter your search terms and select to receive updates as they happen or once daily. Now, when people blog about your products, an alert will be sent to your inbox. You can read the articles and respond right away!

3) Check Facebook stats (1 minute): Visit your Company Page’s Facebook Insights. This can be found by clicking “more” under the page’s main photo. Scan your fans and page views count. If you are a member of a group, check to see if any new discussions started.

4) Answer Industry-related LinkedIn questions (3 minutes): Search for questions on LinkedIn that you or members of your company can answer. You can set up an RSS feed for specific question categories to go to your Google Reader as well. When you find a relevant question, respond and include a link to your website.

5) Use Google Reader to check Flickr, Delicious, Digg and others (2.5 minutes): Also set up RSS feeds for searches on your company name and industry terms in other social media sites. Similar to monitoring LinkedIn and Twitter, your Reader will serve as a great place to centralize your other searches too!

Read more: http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/4663/How-to-Monitor-Your-Social-Media-Presence-in-10-Minutes-a-Day.aspx#ixzz1M3Yg9BTx

- Stephanie
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