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LinkedIn for Healthcare: 5 Must-Haves

admin — Mon, 21 May 2012 18:58:51 +0000

With everyone going on about the wonders of Facebook and Twitter, my poor friend LinkedIn sometimes gets left out in the cold. While not the most visible of the major social media sites, it is definitely one of the most powerful. With millions of people from all over the globe taking part in the conversation on LinkedIn, it is definitely a place online where your target healthcare audience thrives.

Whether your healthcare organization is B2B or B2C oriented, you can carve out your own audience on LinkedIn.

So if you have registered for a profile, why isn’t anything happening?

I have the answer.

Let’s get moving and create some stellar results! Here are my 5 LinkedIn “Must Haves” for healthcare organizations who are looking to get the most out of their valuable time online.

1. You MUST Fill Out Your Profile: A name and title is not enough. LinkedIn gives you ample opportunity to showcase yourself and your healthcare brand. Instead of leaving half of the profile blank (the percentage of which LinkedIn will show you on the right hand side of your profile), why not take an hour or two and really fill it in properly. Want people to call you? Add a phone number. Want people to look at your website? Mention it with hyperlink at the drop of a hat. Don’t skimp here…this is where people are going to find you credible or not credible. Oh, and one final thing. Have a professional profile picture, nothing wild and off brand. No picture = no credibility in my book.

2. You MUST Join Groups: Not only must you join groups, you must also take part in them. I know it seems like a tall order, but this is one of the areas where the magic happens on LinkedIn. Now don’t get stuck on the fact that you have to find groups only within the healthcare sector only, you want to find those in addition to groups where your target consumers may be. For example, if you are a cosmetic surgeon in NYC you may want to join 25 groups on cosmetic surgery and 25 groups based around the NYC area. The idea is simple. The professional ones will help you gain news and knowledge in your sector while the others will help you share your business and expertise with target consumers. I say join as many as LinkedIn allows (50) and start working them!

3. You MUST Ask Question and Answer Questions: There is a wonderful function of LinkedIn that allows you to answer and pose questions to your network as well as LinkedIn at large. This is a great way to get in front of prospective supporters, consumers and referral partners – so don’t be afraid to jump in there and share your expertise by answering a few questions now and again.

4. You MUST Reply: Nothing drives a social media user up-the-wall more than sending messages that never are replied to. I’m not saying the mass messages that start with those wonderful words “Dear Friends”, but rather those emails sent to your on LinkedIn. Not interested in what they have to say? Give them a polite “No thank you, but I appreciate your kind offer”, don’t say “Leave me alone” or ignore them completely. This is networking. Would you act like that in a cocktail party? Not likely.

5. You MUST Bring Your Profile Alive With Testimonials and Applications: Even the most engaging profile can use a helping hand now and again. First off, anyone that you have ever worked with or has known you professionally – ask for a recommendation, a mutual recommendation. This is an eye-catching way of proving credibility and the quality of your work. Never ask for testimonials from people you don’t know, never worked with, and just friended. That’s tacky. On the application side of things, go onto your profile and scroll until you see the Applications section and click “More Applications.” This will take you to a section that allows you to not only integrate your Twitter account and your WordPress blogs, but also share pdf files and PowerPoint presentations. These are wonderful ways of bringing your profile to life….not to mention adds to your credibility as a expert in your niche!

I’m sure I could go on with the wonders of LinkedIn, but these are definitely the ones I am most passionate about. These steps will help your healthcare organization get the most out of LinkedIn in addition to helping you learn more about shaping your LinkedIn marketing strategy. Its not easy at first and can be time consuming, but keep with it. Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither is your social media following. It is an ongoing effort that will bring you what your after, if you are patient.

6 Healthcare Social Media Mistakes….and How to Avoid Them

admin — Mon, 21 May 2012 18:35:12 +0000

With all of the information out there about social media, it is tough to know what to pay attention to and what to take with a grain of salt. Yet even with all of this information, it is still possible to make a few mistakes when executing your healthcare social media marketing campaigns.

As an owner of a social media marketing firm, everyday I speak with healthcare professionals who are trying to make the most out of their Facebook and LinkedIn profile, or making their “tweets” count on Twitter. The following are a few of the most common mistakes that I have seen healthcare organizations make on social media and what we can do to combat them in the future.

Mistake #1: Lack of Research on the Platform

This is a very important one. With all of the hype around social media (and also due to the fact that creating accounts is free and easy), many of us are eager to just jump in head first. Keep in mind that social media is a branding and visibilty platform and thus needs to carry the right messaging and voice. Before you go full speed ahead, first see what you are getting yourself into.

I suggest taking the time to look through each site. Where is your target market? What is your competition doing right (which can really help you come up with a strategy)? What applications can be useful? How are people communicating? What tools to I have to communicate with my market? While Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter can work to everyone’s advantage, if you only have time to manage one or two presences, it is best to be able to pinpoint the right ones and save yourself time and effort.

Top tip: a great way of seeing what sites suit your healthcare organization is by asking your existing patients and/or clients via polling.

Mistake #2: Lack of Focus

When you execute an advertising campaign, you know who you are targeting. When you do a public relations campaign, you know what market you are trying to reach out to. When you do an email marketing campaign….well, you get the point. Social media is no different.

Social media allows us to target with laser focus, you just need to identify who you are trying to reach. Once identified, the key is to connect with “meaningful people” not just random people to get “the numbers.” Come on, why connect with 10,000 people who don’t care about you? What good does that do? Find connect and engage with people that matter. Focus!

Mistake #3: Lack of Consistency

If you are going to do social media, make sure to do it on a consistent basis – not whenever you can grab a free second. By consistent I mean daily, weekly, bi-weekly…on some sort of schedule. Since you are growing your audience, you need to be in front of them gaining that visibility and credibility consistently. My tip? Create a schedule of when you will be executing social media and what messages you will be highlighting. It takes a few minutes, but can save hours of weekly work.

No time to even make a plan? Outsource! It’s not a dirty word anymore.

Mistake #4: Using a 100% Push Marketing Approach

Push marketing is used all of the time in traditional marketing. While it is a perfect fit in many instances, it is not the foundation of an engaging social media strategy. Push marketing literally “pushes” what you want from your audience directly on top of them, while “pull” marketing using social media is about starting a conversation, engaging, enchanting and much more. My suggestion is to use a 90% pull and a 10% push marketing equation. This is something that I have used and it works a treat. This way you can grow your audience and create value before offering up something exclusive. If they believe you to be credible through your pull approach, when you incorporate the push elements you will have higher levels of success.

Mistake #5: Wrong Goals

Truly look at what you are trying to achieve, and “more patients through the door” is not enough. Social media has many outcomes, so it is smart to have a broader scope. Think in terms of hits to your website, newsletter signups, ebook/book sales/downloads….this is the way to go!

Mistake #6: Lack of Planning

Again, I am going back to the importance of a plan: without a plan, you plan to fail. Although we know this cliche all too well, there is definitely truth to it. Why? Because a strategic plan saves you time and money – two things that we all can use, right?

Sit down and figure out your marketing strategy and then layer your social media strategy on-top. Social media can support and enhance everything you do, you just have to keep the two connected. Without the connection, you are wasting the power of cross marketing and branding. Flying blindly in a new marketing medium could not only be risky for your reputation, but also cause you more trouble than you can handle.

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I hope that these healthcare social media mistakes are ones that you have not made and if you have, you will no longer make. It is important for us to all to take a close look at our plans and strategies in order to see how strong and effective they can be. Without strategy or planning, a healthcare social media marketing campaign takes a lot more time and a lot more effort to execute.

Pinterest 101: 10 Ways to Get Started (Part 2)

admin — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 14:12:37 +0000

Last week I shared the first 5 ways to effectively get jump-started in marketing your business on Pinterest. Now I want to share with you the second batch of 5 ways to make your Pinterest account pop.

These 5 tips will help you overcome two of the most troublesome obstacles that new Pinterest users often face: how to effortlessly share links and information and, getting over the hurdle of not having enough content to share.

Here they are:

Install the “Pin It” button. On Pinterest, under the “About” section, there is something called the “Pin It” button. This is a browser related plugin that, once downloaded, will appear on your bookmarks bar and will allow you to instantly pin just about ANY photo that you see on the internet to one of your corresponding boards on Pinterest. This is a fast and simple way to build your initial group of boards, and as you begin to use the app, you will think of new boards to add to the mix. It also allows you the opportunity to instantly share your pins on Facebook and Twitter….which is up next.
Connect Pinterest With Your Facebook Account. This is another great way to promote your content with your network and increase the back-links to your website. When logged into your Pinterest account, simply click on the Facebook button and allow access to your account. Then every time you share something new, you have the option of sharing it with on your Facebook Profile page.
Connect Pinterest With Your Twitter Account. I prefer utilizing this function over the Facebook link, as currently you cannot connect Pinterest to the branded Facebook Page for your company, just to your personal Facebook Profile. With Twitter you are able to connect it to your business Twitter account. This is a great feature, as any time that you add a pin, you are able to Tweet it out to your network. This is valuable as the more content that is shared through your Twitter account, the more back-links and shares!
Add the Pinterest Button to Your Website. If you want to grow your Pinterest network on a regular basis, add the Pinterest button to your website alongside your other social media links. This will promote more people following you and give you more opportunities to share your content.
Use a Third Party to Help Generate Content. There is nothing worse than when the “content” well is dry. Many of us can struggle with finding pictures on a regular basis that will be useful on Pinterest, so it is a good idea to look into any third party option for help. There are many lists available through a quick Google search that show tools that can help with content creation on Pinterest. One such tool, called Spinpicks, enables you to search the web for images using a plethora of categories that you can instantly share via your Pinterest account. This can be a lifesaver if you have lulls in your content creation.

And there you have it: 10 ways to get jump started on Pinterest! Remember, with any social media marketing that you do, consistency is key! Make sure to constantly update your account (as surely there will be changes introduced along the way) and engage with other members through commenting, liking and sharing their content. Is all of this successful for you? Make sure to track it using a tool like Google Analytics or your own version of tracking your website hits. You will be pleasantly surprised!

Pinterest 101: The Top 10 Ways to Get Started (Part 1)

admin — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 23:08:47 +0000

By now I’m sure that you have either heard of Pinterest or are a member of this rapidly growing site currently taking the social media world by storm. As of today (April 12, 2012) it has become the third largest social network in the Unites States…right behind Facebook and Twitter, and beating out powerhouses such as LinkedIn and Google+!

If you are not familiar with Pinterest, let me give you a quick explanation. Pinterest is a cork board-style photo sharing website allowing members to create theme-based image collections which other members can view, share and comment on. If you think: “That doesn’t sound business related…”, read on!

An easier way to understand what Pinterest is and how it works, is to think about it in terms of your Facebook Profile.

Imagine that your photo albums were the first (and only) thing that was visible on your Facebook Profile. Other Facebook members would be able to see your albums, look through your photos and view updates to your account. If a member liked one of your albums or photos, they could comment and/or share it with their own network.

Pinterest is really as simple as that.

That’s all great, BUT the best thing about Pinterest, and the biggest difference with the site, is that when you post a picture, you are able to hyperlink it to your website, online point-of-sale, blog…whatever. Thus, when people click on any of the pictures that you’ve posted, they will be transported to the link where it lives and to all of the additional information you have on the subject in order to bring people closer down your sales funnel. Also, if people share your photo (or “pin”) you will receive valuable back-links to your site, which in turn builds SEO.

So Pinterest is essentially an interactive photo sharing site where people can choose to follow a single board you have, or all of them – and get updates whenever you add to, update, or change a board. So the more you share, the better the opportunity you have to take advantage of its benefits.

While in its initial growth stages, the majority of the audience was women (at 83%) in the United States. But things are shaking, and now men are joining in droves. Outside the USA, in the UK for example, 56% of the users are men. At the end of the day, the ratio of male to female is fairly balanced.

Now – how can you and your business get started?

Here are my 10 essential ways for you to get jump-started on Pinterest so that you can begin to build your following and enjoy its benefits. These are the first 5 with the final 5 following next week.

1. Stake Your Claim Now! I usually suggest researching a social media site before creating your own business account, but as so many people are latching onto Pinterest so quickly – you need to get in there now to set up your branded account and stake your branded real estate. Go to Pinterest.com and you will see towards the top of the page “Request an invite”. If you will be using Pinterest for your company, add your company email address. Usually they will get back to you within 24-48 hours for you to complete the registration. When you get your invitation, go and sign up and register in your company’s name. Fill out your profile, add your company’s logo as your profile picture and add anything else to the profile that is necessary.

2. Plan and Organize Your Boards Before Creating Them. Setting up your Pinterest boards can be time consuming, so I suggest identifying what boards you want to create first. Although your new Pinterest account will come with a few standard ‘board topics’, you will want to edit them for your specific needs. I find the easiest way to think about this is in terms of your products and services. For example, if you were a doctor whose owned their own ear, nose and throat practice, you should create a board for each specialty area (ear, nose, throat). Then fill each of these boards with helpful information on each topic in visual form (“pins”). For example, perhaps you have a diagram of nasal passages, a chart of nasal afflictions and another graphic explaining preventative measures for sinus infections. Add each of these to the board pertaining to “Nasal Information”. Planning will help set you up for growth on Pinterest and save you precious editing time.

3. Add Hyperlinks, Hashtags and Keyword in Your Descriptions. First off, every organization who is marketing online should have a keyword list for their company. When you are sharing “pins” or pictures in your “boards” or albums, each one will need to contain a point of origination on the web (where the picture actually lives online) but also a description. Use #hashtags just like you would on Twitter to make the title of your ‘pin’ more searchable within Pinterest. For exmpale in the ENT example above, using #tinnitus would allow people searching for information on that affliction to find your ‘pin’, and thus a link to your website! Make sure that each description is packed with keywords and contains a hyperlink to the content you want people to see. The best way to do this as a rule is….

4. Add Images to Your Blog Posts, Web Pages and Landing Pages. Every page on your website should have a few images on it. If you do not use pictures on the pages of your website or on your blog….now is the time to start! This is the key method of pulling content from your website to Pinterest and linking it back for added SEO punch. No pictures on your website could equal no web hits generated from Pinterest. Remember that this is a visual site – so make sure that your pictures are eye catching, easily seen, and visually descriptive.

5. Connect With Your Existing Contact Base. The best way to build an instant network on Pinterest is to see who you know that is already a member. You can do this through the “Invite Friends” function where you can connect using your Gmail account, Facebook account or simply manually invite people by entering their email address. You can also send an announcement to your email list, or make an announcement on your website, etc. Connecting with those that already support you is crucial in social media! These people are comfortable and familiar with you, and they can make for the best brand evangelists on social media sites like Pinterest.

Those are my top five ways to get started. Look out next week for part two of the series when I will discuss how to easily share information on Pinterest as well as show you how to get over the hurdle of not having enough pictures and content to share.

If you enjoy this article, please feel free to share it with others who you think could benefit from it!

Passover Special Recipe: Apple Cinnamon Charoset

admin — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 01:45:54 +0000

As you probably know, I’m always up to trying something new. Whether while I’m managing our clients social media marketing campaigns at Go! Media International or when I’m in the kitchen with just my thoughts and a few ingredients. You may also know, if you follow this blog and the accompanying radio show, that I love trying anything ethnic, traditional, or different from what I am used to.

Growing up Catholic in a predominantly Jewish area of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania I was exposed to a wide array of goodies over the years. It was actually quite a juxtaposition of sorts, especially going to a private Catholic school and having nearly 100% Jewish friends.

What I love about the culture the most, aside from my amazing friends and memories, is the food. Much like my Italian family, food is such an important part of the Jewish experience.

With that said, I want to provide two Passover recipes this year to honor these great memories and experiences.

The first one (here) is a sweet one and the second one (which can be found by clicking here) is a savory one.

Now for the sweet one!

I’m a big fan of an easy recipe that is all natural and healthy – and this one has it all!

My good friends at Negev Nectars happily stepped in to supply their absolutely amazing honey for this recipe. You should definitely check them out – their range is absolutely delectable!

Let’s get onto this EASY recipe. Keep in mind that this makes enough for 8-10 people as a side. If you want less, 1/2 the recipe below (as this only keeps nice and crisp for a few days):

*1/2 cup of Desert Magic Pure Acacia Flower Honey (to die for)

*2 Granny Smith Apples

*2 Gala Apples

*1/2 Cup Raisins

*2/3 cup Walnuts (smashed)

*1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

*1/2 cup concord grape juice

Now, shopping is the hard part. Making this is SIMPLE. Let’s get started.

Now the shopping is over, let's get started!

Get your walnuts and pop them into a zip lock bag. Grab a rolling pin and whack them until they are very small pieces….not too dust-like. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Dump the walnuts onto a cookie sheet and pop into the oven (when hot) for 10 minutes or until the walnuts brown slightly. Keep an eye on them….they burn quickly when over done.

Now get onto the apples. Core each of the apples and roughly dice them. Knife cuts are not too important, as I like how the different sized slices add character to the dish.

Now…your prep is done! Presto! Grab a large mixing bowl and apples, honey, raisins, cinnamon, toasted walnuts and grape juice and mix together until everything is fully incorporated. Once mixed, cover and put into the refrigerator to set for about an hour and then serve!

Scoop and serve.

Easy, healthy and naturally sweet!

Grilled Salmon & Cream Spread

admin — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 21:56:15 +0000

I don’t know why it happens, but every time that I cook salmon for dinner I make way too much. Of course this is a good problem, as cold salmon is delicious on salads and even better in a dip or spread.

This recipe is simple, quick and very impressive. Let’s get right to it:

*1-2 grilled pieces of salmon (chilled)

*8oz cream cheese (fat free cream cheese works in this recipe if you would like to opt for a light version)

*1 cup smashed walnuts

*1 pack of ranch salad dressing mix

*1 teaspoon of hot sauce

*1 tablespoon of dried dill (or more if you want a strong dill flavor)

*1/2 white onion (chopped)

*salt and pepper to taste

Now this couldn’t be more simple. In a food processor, add all of the above ingredients (but not the nuts) and pulse until completed mixed into a rich pink color.

Put your smashed nuts (which is easy to do: simple grab a zip lock bag, put in the nuts, seal, and then bash with a rolling pin until they are little bits) in a wide bowl or plate. Then scrape the mixture from the food processor into your hands and work into either a ball or log shape.

When you have the shape right, slowly roll in the nut mixture until fully covered. You may need to press some of the nuts into place. Once completely covered, cover and place in the refrigerator overnight. This will help it harden into a good shape for serving.

The next day, when you are ready to serve – place onto a serving plate and surround with crackers. Presto! Instant appetizer!

Why Bother With LinkedIn? Because Others in Your Industry Are!

admin — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 15:09:10 +0000

If you are on LinkedIn already, you may be familiar with the following information. But if you are still trying to figure out how LinkedIn is relevant to your company (or just want to know if your marketing is a little off the mark on LinkedIn)….read on!

You may know that LinkedIn is one of the premiere social networking sites for professionals to connect, share, discuss and hobnob with one another. What you may not know is how many professions and professional categories that LinkedIn currently services.

While you may be in a niche within a niche inside of a niche professional category, chances are that there are many other professionals networking on LinkedIn just like you.

But as always, the proof is in the pudding. Here is a comprehensive list of all of the professional categories that have vibrant LinkedIn communities. Scan through and see if you find the one that best describes your organization, and THEN make sure that’s the one you categorize yourself under on LinkedIn. Without further ado, here is the list:

Legal

Government

Consumer Goods

Arts

Organizations And Non-Profit

Recreation, Travel And Entertainment

Corporate Services

Agriculture

Transportation

Manufacturing

Construction

Service Industry

High Tech

Education

Media

Medical And Health Care

Finance

So, as you can see, there are absolutely TONS of categories represented on this professional networking site. I’m a firm believer in LinkedIn networking and LinkedIn marketing – so I hope this list will give you that extra push to dive into LinkedIn and either renew your efforts on the site, or if you haven’t already – see what sort of outcomes you can achieve for your own company!

The “Forget the Bread Maker” Loaf

admin — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 19:29:03 +0000

Baking. For a long time it was my arch enemy. The exact measurements. The chemistry. The long prep. All of it was just too much.

Then one day I turned the corner. I put on my “big boy’s pants” and saddled up to the task of baking. My goal: to force myself to make baking a natural creative process.

While it did take some time, in the end I found out that I had a knack for it. While the intense love I feel for cooking is not matched when I bake, I’ve come to enjoy my time coming up with new recipes and trying them out.

One of these was bread. I’ve seen my mom, her sisters and my grandmother make bread for years….but it always looked like such a pain. Then I found a few recipes that I really liked….that took half of the time! I changed and experimented and the following recipe is what I came up with.

This is a healthy version of my favorite rustic-style bread. If you want to go full-throttle, trade the whole wheat bread flour for plain old white bread flour. So let’s get baking folks!

*5 1/2 cups whole wheat bread flour

*2 packages of instant yeast

*2 cups warm tap water

*2 teaspoons of salt

*2 teaspoons of ground black pepper

*Olive oil (approximately 4 tablespoons or so)

As you can see, this is not an expensive recipe by any means. Here’s the simplicity of this. Dump all of the ingredients (except for the olive oil) into a large mixing bowl. If you have a stand mixer, pop the ingredients into that and mix with the paddle attachment for 5 minutes or so, until fully incorporated.

Start off with all of the ingredients in the bowl.

I say – let’s get messy! I enjoy combining the ingredients with my own hands, mixing and kneading until fully mixed. While this will take a toll on your hand muscles, I really love it.

Get in there with both hands and mix together.

When done, shape it the dough into a ball and place back in the mixing bowl. Cover with some of the olive oil until lightly coated. Then get a dishcloth damp with warm water, and cover the dough. Then place it is a warm spot for an hour and 15 minutes or until it has doubled in size.

Get your dough ready to rise up!

When it has doubled, dump it onto your counter and punch the dough down. Once the dough is flat, knead it for a minute or two. Then back into the bowl, a little more olive oil and the same damp cloth. Put it back into the warm spot for another hour (or until it doubles in size again).

Time to knead that dough into shape!

Now dump the dough out onto your counter and punch it down again. Cut the dough in half so that you have to equal parts. Knead each into the shape that you want your bread to be in (round, square, rectangular, etc).

In this demonstration I used the wonderful Wellbake non-stick Loaf Dish for baking which browns the bread evenly without having to use lots of excess oil….plus it is easy to clean! Check out all of their products on their official website here: http://www.wellbake.co.uk.

Next place the bread in your loaf tin (x2). If you don’t have a loaf tin, shape and place on a baking sheet with at least 6 inches between the loaves. Cover with the damp dish towel and place in the warm spot for 10 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Once the time is up and the oven is preheated, uncover the bread and score diagonally.

Score the load diagonally with a sharp knife.

Brush with olive oil and dust lightly with a pinch of flour.

Dust with flour and olive oil.

Pop into the oven for 20-25 minutes, checking on it regularly after the 20 minute mark. When the bread is a golden brown – take out and place on a rack to cool.

Ta-Da! Thanks WellBake.co.uk!

That’s all! While it does take a few hours, the active time on the recipe is mere moments. My tip is to schedule this around other cooking or when you have things to do around the house. It’s all down to timing!

Also, a big thank you to everyone at WellBake Silicone Cookware for sending us through their wonderful products that made this recipe turn out so wonderful!

Thank You For Being a “Twitter” Friend

admin — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 21:57:46 +0000

Twitter autoresponders. I love this topic because it is such a polarizing one. Some people love them, some people hate them…and let’s just say those that hate them REALLY hate them.

What I am talking about here are what appears to be ‘stock’ messages that show up in your Twitter Direct Messages folder from the new Twitter users you just followed.

I’m sure you are familiar with these. The better messages will say something like: “Thanks for following. I tweet about sports medicine and have more information on my blog www.sportsmed.co.uk”.

The worst ones will say something like this: “Someone is saying something bad about you. Click here to find out:www.whocares.com”.

Obviously the second one is straight spam, with the user probably involved in some affiliate program where they get paid for click-thrus. But many would argue that both of these are spam, as they are auto-generated.

My thoughts? Different strokes for different folks. Personally I believe if you do not have the time to personally say hello to each new person who follows you, these auto-direct messages can be very helpful. They allow you to get in front of the person and share exclusive information about yourself or your business.

My two rules?

1. Make it Juicy. When I read a good auto message on Twitter, I will click the link, reply and all the rest. It will drive me to action. So if you choose to go down this route, be sure to make it count!

2. No Bait and Switch. Don’t lure the person with a message that doesn’t mirror what they will see on the other side. Be 100% transparent…this approach always works beautifully online.

Now, how do you do it? There are loads of services out there (free and paid) that will enable you to generate these auto-direct messages. I’ve tried many of them and there are two services I would suggest. The first is a paid service called SocialOomph.

SocialOomph (https://www.socialoomph.com/) is a pretty robust third-party agent that helps you handle many aspects of your social media campaign. I’ll let you go through the site and check out all of the bells and whistles. Right now I want to focus on how to quickly set-up an auto-direct message for Twitter.

Here are the quick steps:

1. Register and/or login to SocialOomph. When you register, you want to choose the service where you are able to send “Welcome DMs” to your new followers.

2. Once you are registered and paid, go to the left hand side menu there is a button for “Social Networks”. Click on that and follow the directions for adding your Twitter account.

3. Now that you are registered, go to the left hand menu again, this time choosing “Direct Messages”. Then click “Edit Welcome DM” and choose your Twitter account.

4. On this page, first click the box next to “Auto Welcome”. Then, in the “Send This Message” write your 140 welcome message (remember to follow my two rules above).

5. Underneath this you have the option to “Auto Follow” which means that anyone who follows you, you will immediately follow back. This can be tricky, so I would use this with caution.

6. Last, I would click the box next to “@Replies Digest” to receive the email updates as it is a great way to track your engagement on Twitter.

The other site is called Tweet Manager. It is a wonderful service, just visit them online and follow the very easy to follow steps that they provide. It is much easier to use than SocialOomph and currently doesn’t cost a penny to use.

And there you go! From then on in, your new followers will receive a welcome message. Again, this method is not for everyone, so try it and track its effectiveness for your campaign. Twitter marketing, like other social media marketing, is organic and can be tweaked when needed.

Get the Tweet Outta Here: How Often to Tweet

admin — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 20:02:10 +0000

Since Twitter has exploded onto the scene, it seems that we can’t even watch the local evening news without someone asking us to “Tweet them”. Celebrities are tweeting about their failing relationships, politicians are tweeting the final nail’s in their campaign coffins, and businesses are sharing press releases with gusto!

So where do you fit into the messy, fast and furious Twitter-verse? Good question.

I think finding your way on Twitter does take time, research and a good plan. But once you have these crucial elements a new question arises: how often should I tweet?

I love this question as it seems everyone has a different perspective on the correct answer. Some believe that it has to be based on time, others based on topic. While both of these are good points, especially for targeting purposes, they really don’t answer the question “how many”.

Let me throw my hat in the ring and attempt to not only answer this question, but give you a quick template on how to do it.

I believe that consistency and a plan are both crucial to a successful Twitter campaign. With every plan, I believe there should be a good mixture of activity so all of your bases are covered. Twitter gives you a few options in terms of activity/interaction and I want to focus on the main venues here: tweets, mentions, direct messages and re-tweets.

So, as you can see, there are several ways that you can communicate with others on Twitter. First, think about how much time you will be able to dedicate to marketing on Twitter everyday. Maybe you have a couple of hours (lucky you) or maybe just 20-30 minutes a day (which sounds realistic). Using this time frame, consider how many actions that you will be able to complete during this time and create a daily plan.

While this is a bit more practiced and could be labeled “not spontaneous” I think when you are a busy person (which I know you are) you need to tick things off your daily list with great speed. If you don’t, then things probably slip away from you and end up in the dreaded “Ah, tomorrow’s another day” pile.

Here’s a sample of how many “tweets” and other Twitter activities that I would suggest you execute on a given day with a little description of the importance of the activity:

Tweets (2): These come directly from you/your company and will contain content that is engaging, entertaining and/or educational. Share links, photos, videos, quotes or updates pertaining directly to items that you target market (followers) will enjoy reading and will be eager to share.

DMs/Direct Messages (2-5): These messages are sent privately between two Twitter users. If you have a relatively small number of followers, these do not come in fast and furious. They will once you begin to amass followers on a daily basis. Take 2-5 of the DMs that you receive and send a personal response to the Twitter user. This will help you get in front of your followers yet again and add that “personal touch” that many miss on Twitter.

RTs/Retweets (2): These are tweets from another Twitter user that you are sharing with YOUR followers with the click of a button. I suggest finding two influential Twitter users in your product/service category and RT (share) their tweet with your followers. This is a great way of getting in front of that influential person, while also sharing good solid information with your followers.

@replies/Mentions (2): When you type @ in front of a Twitter user’s name, your tweet will be shared within their main Twitter stream. Choose two influential people and tweet them about something that they have shared, or even something that you have seen in the media outside of Twitter – anything on topic. This is a great way to connect with influential people in your niche and will help you connect with more quality members of your target audience.

So my total for the 20-30 minute Twitter user is a consistent 8-10 per day. As your Twitter following begins to grow, you will need to spend more time as you will receive more mentions, RTs and DMs. By the time this happens though, you will be in a groove and will be able to handle everything that comes your way. When you do this everyday, you will hit your stride and after the first month won’t even need to worry about the number of Tweets that you put out. It will become second nature and the whole process will become organic.

Another good thing to mention is that there are tools such as TweetDeck and Hootsuite that can help you schedule your Twitter activity so that you don’t always need to be in front of the computer when your Tweets go out. Be aware that you should not depend on them 100% as it is helpful to keep a watchful eye on the live activity on Twitter. Also, sometimes these sites will go down for maintenance….and you could make you lose all of your scheduled activity. Just keep an eye on your actual account so that you are not shocked when you check back and see that your scheduled Tweets did not go out for the last two weeks.

I hope this sheds some light on how to get your act together on Twitter. If you can tweet more than this, do so! If you can’t, don’t! It is all about consistency – so only bite off what you can chew.