As one of the first social media consultants in Red Deer I have had to pave my way to create a community who understands the importance of Social Media. Does this mean that Red Deerians were not using social media before me? Haha NO, not even close!! It means that most although they were using it didn’t really know why they were using it and had no plan on how they were using it.

As a business this presented an interesting problem for me, as a player in an industry early in it’s area. The problem was, though it is always nice to have little competition it also means that I hold the responsibility of educating the public in my own hands. A job I take very seriously and enjoy. There is nothing more exciting then seeing the light bulb go on in a clients eyes when they learn the one step they were missing to find success with social media.

Since I began a few other consultants have ventured into Red Deer’s Social Media world, which is exciting since it adds to the knowledge and opens more people’s eyes to the importance of Social Media in Marketing.

To attend any of my upcoming classes and education dates please check HERE

If you are interested in having me speak at a company training event or in hosting a laptop party in or around Red Deer area please contact me. I am always interested in speaking opportunities.

Some of the topics I speak on include:

• Introduction to Social Media
• Social Media for Direct Sales and Multi-Level Marketing
• The Wonders Of LinkedIn
• Twitter for Beginners
• Blogging for Business or Pleasure
• Protecting Your Kids Online, What Every Parent Should Know About Social Media

Tagged In:Guest Speaker, Keynote speaker, Laptop Parties Red Deer, Public Speaker, Red Deer Alberta, Red Deer Blogging, Red Deer Classes, Red Deer Consulting, Red Deer Direct Sales, Red Deer instructions, Red Deer LinkedIn, Red Deer Public Speaker, Red Deer Social Media, Red Deer Social Media Consulting, Red Deer Social Media Help, Red Deer Social Media Speaker, Red Deer Speaker, Red Deer teaching, Red Deer Training, Red Deer Twitter, Red Deer Wordpress, Social Media in Red Deer Alberta, Social Media Marketing Red Deer, Speaker

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When building an online business it is extremely important to remove any opportunities that make your customer concerned.

We have all been there. We have found something online that we really want. It is cheap and looks great. But we are just not sure. In a brick and mortar store we have the opportunity to use our senses (touch, smell, taste, hear and see) when deciding if we want to buy a product. We also get the satisfaction of the instant purchase we get to take the treasure home with us right now. No worry of shipping charges or how long it will take to get here. We hear horror stories all the time about online scams, which also adds some worry.

So as a business we know the challenges we face when it comes to selling online.

The key is to remove as many concerns as we can so that the customer can make the purchase without worry.Here’s how:

Have a FAQ Page (Frequently Asked Questions)

Creating a good FAQ page will not only help your customer but will also save you time on unnecessary questions. Some points to include in your FAQ page are shipping costs and times, taxes, extra charges, guarantees and return policies

Testimonials

A good testimonial should include the persons first and last name as well as location. When possible a photo would be ideal. The best testimonials include results. Ex. “Thanks to John I lost 40 pounds in 6 months and have kept it off for 3 years” OR “Thanks to Pam I earned $10,000 in 5 days wearing my pj’s”

Stats/Facts

People trust Stats!  For example a business considering whether Facebook would be worth it for their business might take comfort in “One in every nine people on Earth is on Facebook”

Guarantees

Almost anyone will order something that has a 30 day guarantee and unless your product sucks (which why are you selling it???) very few will ever ask for their money back. It is giving your customers a safety net and people like feeling safe

Use PayPal

PayPal is the world’s most trusted online money transfer; don’t risk using some cheaper unknown version to accept money. People want what they trust and it will make you back the money you spend in fees

Site Design

Let’s face it looks do matter. Kind of like we would not be impressed for someone to show up unshowered and in their pj’s for a job interview, we are not impressed by a 20 year old website. I am not saying that you need to spend a fortune on a custom design by with wordpress and web template options galore; there are options at every price range.

Contact Info

Nothing makes me want to run more than a site with no contact information listed. If you take your business serious and want to come across as legit. I suggest listing your email, phone, social media profiles and if applicable an address. The more ways a person has to contact you the more they will trust you.

Images provided byCopyright (c) 123RF Stock Photos

Tagged In:online business, online sales, Red Deer, Red Deer Businesses, Red Deer Social Media, selling online, Shopping online, social media

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Anyone who takes my Social Media Classes know I talk alot about “Keywords”

Well what really are Keywords?

Every day there is millions of online searches generated by people all over the world. How do they find what they are looking for when they don’t have a specific website in mind? They type “keywords or phrases” into their search engine.

For example if I was looking for a specific type of Chocolate I heard was made in France, I would probably open up Google and Type in “Chocolate made in France”. There is no guarantee I am going to fall directly on the chocolate I am looking for but there is a good chance that if I scroll down the list a few I may find it.

So as a business how do you decide which keywords to use when promoting your business online?

Start with your industry related words

For example: I would probably start with “Social Media”, “Social Media Consultant” and “Social Media Red Deer” for my keywords.

Review Google Analytics

Review your Google Analytics for keywords people are currently using to find your site. Look for recurring words and new possibilities.

Enter the keywords into Google’s Free Adword tool https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

What I am looking for is which words get the most hits. The reason for this is I know that those are the words that people are typing in to get my services. If the word shows small hits then I will avoid it since it is not likely to generate leads.

The next thing I am looking at is the number of competitors. Meaning the number of websites that are using the keyword. In general my goal is to find keywords that have low- Med competition.

Test

Once you have chosen your words you just need to try them out and see what happens. Keep an eye on your Google Analytics and which words are bringing you hits. There is never a guarantee which words will work the best and it requires ongoing tweaking and measuring to see which words will be your best contributors.

Tagged In:Central Alberta Social Media, Google Analytics, Google Keywords, Keywords, Red Deer, Red Deer Alberta, Red Deer Businesses, Red Deer Social Media, Red Deer Social Media Training, Red Deer Websites, Social Media Keywords, social media marketing, Social Media Tools, social media training

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A Tweet Chat is pre-organized event on Twitter using #Hashtags to group all tweets. It is a great way to host an online conference or promote an upcoming event. Twitter Chats are drop in events and are very casual. During a Tweet chat there is generally a moderator who welcomes the followers and keeps the conversation moving in the right direction. The Tweet Chat usually consists of questions and answers. All questions are regarded as Q1, Q2, Q3 and all answers are recorded as A1, A2, A3. Since this conference is taking place on Twitter all questions and answers must be less than 140 characters. Moderators generally ask participants to retweet all questions and answers. This helps spread the word of the event and helps gain new participants.

Tips for organizing a Tweet Chat:

• Set a date and time ( approx 1hr)
• Invite participants- consider inviting special guests who can both help draw attention to the event as well as can share a unique perspective of the topic ( ex. authors, industry experts, employees etc)
• Create a information page on your website, blog or Facebook group with Tweet Chat info including: date and time, topic, #hashtag, information on Tweet Chat, list of questions, instructions of how a Tweet Chat works
• Have the attendees use Tweet Chat to follow all responses in one simple location. Nice thing about Tweet Chat is it automatically adds the #hashtag into the post
• Create a #hashtag (keep it short) for the event and send it in the invite to each of the participants
• Create an agenda – Your welcome message, list of questions, your closing statements

Tips for participating in a Tweet Chat:

• Don’t be afraid jump in ask questions and post comments
• Remember to include the #hashtag with  each tweet ( unless you are using Tweetchat.com it automatically adds the #hashtag
• Remember to label Questions with a Q and Answers with a A

Tagged In:online training, Red Deer, Red Deer business, Red Deer business training, Red Deer Businesses, Red Deer Online Training, Red Deer Social Media, Red Deer Twitter, social media training, twitter, twitter chat

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One of the main questions I get asked is should I use a photo of myself or my logo?

The answer to this varies on your branding. Who are you trying to brand your business or yourself? For example McDonalds is branding a business, so they would use their Logo. I am branding myself, so I would use a photo of me.

The next thing to consider is do you use the platform for personal or business. If it is a personal platform it should not be connected to your business.

There is an exception to the rule:

LinkedIn should have your head shot. The reason for this is LinkedIn is promoting you as a professional not your business directly.

Once you decide which image you are going to use, run it through these filters.

Profile Picture:

• The photo is professional
• Keep the image simple
• Head shot avoid full body images
• Simple background
• Current picture (no 1980’s photo from when you were skinnier)

Logo:

• If your logo is very complicated consider using a simplified version of it

Be consistent with the image that you choose use the same image on all platforms.

Once you choose an image stick with it

For more tips on designing social media logos check out http://www.thelogofactory.com/logo-design-tips/social-media-logos/

Images Provided by Copyright (c) 123RF Stock Photos

Tagged In:LinkedIn profile, profile pic, profile picture, Red Deer Alberta, Red Deer business, Red Deer Businesses, Red Deer Social Media, Red Deer Social Media Training, twitter profile, wordpress profile

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Every time I show one of my clients the powers of Hootsuite they are in awe. What seemed to be a never ending battle of updating statuses and trying to find the time to do it on a regular basis, now becomes manageable with the help of Hootsuite.

Hootsuite is a Social Media dashboard that allows you to monitor, update and track your social profiles all from one easy location.

Schedule and send messages from different networks. ( Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Foursquare,Myspace, and WordPress)

Pre Schedule social media posts days, weeks or months in advance. Great for when you are on vacation, during busy season or for the days you know you won’t have time to be online.

Hootsuite is free however also offers a premium membership. I find that the free version works perfect for my needs.

Some of the cool features it includes are:

• A link shrinker for website links ( great for Twitter)
• The option to save posts as a draft rather then publishing immediately
• ability to attach files or images
• customizable dashboard to view all social media streams and messages
• no need to download files, allowing you to access your accounts from any computer anywhere

Tagged In:hootsuite, learn social media, Red Deer business training, Red Deer Social Media, Red Deer Social Media Training, social media, social media training

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Do you ever wonder when the best times to post on your Social Media platforms are?

As you all know technology is ever changing and how we use it changes just as fast. So when I read the latest recommendations from KISSmetrics I was not surprised to see that the best times to share online have changed since I finished University last year.

According to KISSmetrics:

The best times on Twitter are at noon, 5pm and 6pm. The best days of the week are midweek and weekends.

As for Facebook the best day of the week is Saturday and the best time of the day is noon.

Blogging is most effective in the mornings, with Monday being the best day to post.

Some things to keep in mind when thinking of the best times to post are:

• Who is your target market?
• What are their days like?
• During the day are they at work or home?
• Do they check their platforms from work?

What time zone is your target market in? If you are in a different time zone than them you’ll have to plan this into your Social Media planning.

So now that we know the best times to post does that mean we should all post at the same times every day?
NO!! For best results I would suggest not focusing all your posts to set times. Yes knowing the best times can be helpful and yes we should try to get some posts into those key times…but the key to success is to sprinkle your content.

During peak hours you may get exposure but there is a high chance your message is going to get lost in the hustle and bustle of web traffic.

So sometimes it’s better to sprinkle your message though out the day and week to see which days are your best times. You may be surprised.

During quieter days and hours you may have less people online to see your post but you also have less competition for content to read, making it more likely to get quality reads.

Images provided by Copyright (c) 123RF Stock Photos

Tagged In:Blogger, blogging, facebook, facebook training, linkedin, linkedin training, Red Deer Alberta, Red Deer Social Media, Red Deer Social Media Consulting, Red Deer Social Media Training, social media training, twitter, twitter training, wordpress

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Learn how to create a Group On Facebook

Tagged In:Facebook Consulting, Facebook Groups, facebook training, Red Deer business, Red Deer Consulting, Red Deer Facebook, Red Deer Social Media, Red Deer Social Media Advice, Red Deer Social Media Consulting, Red Deer Social Media Training, Social Media for Groups, social media training

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Use Facebook to create easy to share events for your next business event.

Part 1-

Part 2-

Tagged In:facebook training, Red Deer Consulting, Red Deer Facebook, Red Deer Social Media, Red Deer Social Media Advice, Red Deer Social Media Consulting, Red Deer Social Media Help, Red Deer Training, small business, social media consulting, social media training

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Here is a great tip for making the most out of your business photos on Facebook and how to draw people to your website.

Images Provided by: Copyright (c) 123RF Stock Photos

Tagged In:Facebook Business, Facebook Business Photos, Jennifer Belanger, Red Deer, Red Deer Alberta, Red Deer Social Media, social media, Social Media Consultant

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