Author: Justin Luke

It’s May 1st- May Day, as many know it and for me, it’s the beginning of a very special month. It’s also my anniversary. May brings us Mother’s Day and May is also the month of my birthday. So while there are lots of great things happening, there is no time for rest as it’s also a time for new beginnings. I have many new goals both personal and professional. I’m excited to venture into a new month, a new season and a new business outlook. With this comes a blogging challenge led by a great friend of mine.

My friend Oscar, from Notagrouch.com has a blogging group in Facebook that challenges us all to write a blog post a day. I’ve been a part of the group for a few months and I’ve been able to complete the challenge on at least one of my blogs each time. However, it’s too hard to keep up with all of my sites and my client work so my new goal for May is to write a post a day here on Social Media Satisfied. This is where most of my energies are directed and I really want this blog to grow and be a source of

So today I am creating an elevator pitch for my blog. This is based on Darren Rowse’s 31 Days to a better blog, which you can get right here and in response to Oscar’s blogging prompt. While I’m familiar with Darren Rowse’s work, I have not previously done an elevator pitch for this site so I’m super excited to make it a priority and do it now. Like Oscar and Darren both say on their blogs, it’s likely to change over time but the important thing is just to get something down in writing to start. So that’s what I’m setting out to do today. I think if you stick around with me, you’ll see this elevator pitch grow and change as my blog grows.

What is an Elevator Pitch?
“An elevator pitch is an overview of an idea for a product, service, or project. The name reflects the fact that an elevator pitch can be delivered in the time span of an elevator ride (for example, thirty seconds or 100-150 words).” – Wikipedia

In business terms, the elevator pitch is typically something that start-up entrepreneurs will do to help attract investors. It’s a way of showing what your business or brand is all about. So it only makes sense that the same can be done for your blog. What can readers expect to learn from your blog? How will the benefit? What is the purpose of your blog? These are the questions you want to answer for your elevator pitch.

As Problogger explains:

Knowing what your blog is about helps you in developing every aspect of it including:

Writing Content
Promotion and Finding Readers
Search Engine Optimisation
Networking with other Bloggers
Branding
Design…. the list can go on.
Seeing the importance of it and the value that it contains, I’m ready to act and create my own elevator pitch.

My short version: Social Media Satisfied is a blog ran by Lisa Mason dedicated to helping individuals and brands understand social media better.

My long version: Only 5% of companies are satisfied with their social media campaigns (based on a 2012 survey of more than 2,700 social media professionals conducted by Ragan/NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions.) As a social media marketing manager, consultant and content developer, I help brands maximize their earning potential and connect with their target market online. My goal is to help you stop wasting your time on social media and finally feel social media satisfied. This blog is designed to help you explore social media in a new light, feeling empowered by your new-found knowledge and satisfied with your results.

So there we have it for now. Stay tuned as I give you 31 days of social media and tech blogging here at Social Media Satisfied.

I believe one reason I fell in love with Twitter when it first came out was because of the way it allowed me to quickly and easily connect with others from anywhere in the world. That was years ago and it has only gone up since then. Yes, it’s fast paced and there is a bit of a learning curve for some users. No, it’s not the best platform for a private conversation or a long conversation. But it has its purpose and for that, I very much love Twitter.

One of my favorite ways of using Twitter is as a search tool. I build lists around search parameters such as people I like to follow regularly, hash tags or common interests. I don’t read every single Tweet from these people and for some of them, I don’t even follow them every day. But by following them on Twitter, I know where to find them when I do need them. Some of my lists involve fellow social media people so that’s what I’m going to share with you today.

There are so many great social media influencers out there, I struggle to list my favorites. Some are my friends. Some are my mentors. Some I have met only online and others I have heard speak in person or even enjoyed lunch with them. But the one thing they all have in common is that I learn something from them. Because of that, I try to spread the good news and tell others about them so you can learn as well.

Twitter follow meSo here you have my recommendations for 10 social media influencers to follow on Twitter:

1. Michael Stelzner (@mike_stelzner) – “Founded Social Media Examiner & Social Media Marketing podcast, authored Launch & Writing White Papers. Committed Christian and dad.”

2. Jay Baer (@jayBaer) – “President  a hype-free social and content accelerator firm. Keynote speaker. Author of Youtility. Tequila guy.”

3. Mari Smith (@marismith)- “Top Social Media Expert | Premier Facebook Marketing Expert | Globe-trotting Speaker | Author | ‘Mari like Ferrari’ | Scottish-Canadian |http://fb.com/marismith”

4. Andrea Vahl (@AndreaVahl)- “Co-author of Facebook Marketing AIO for Dummies. Community Manager at Social Media Examiner. Creator of @GrandmaMaryShow. Improv comedienne and wine drinker.”

5. Amy Porterfield (@amyporterfield) – “I’m a social media strategist and trainer. Co-author of Facebook Marketing All-In-One for Dummies.”

6. Neal Schaffer (@NealSchaffer)- “Trilingual Social Media Strategy Consultant, Coach, Keynote Speaker | Author, Maximizing LinkedIn for Sales & Social Media Marketing
7. Jamie Turner (@AskJamieTurner) – “Author, Speaker, Marketing Expert and Chief Executive Officer of the 60 Second Marketer. Follow me for tips, tools and techniques to improve your marketing.”

8. Jesse Stay (@Jesse) – “Author, For Dummies books and Pluralsight, blogger, consultant.

9. Chris Brogan (@chrisbrogan) – “CEO&President, Human Business Works: courses to grow YOU.

10. Phyllis Khare (@phylliskhare) – “#Author #Social Media #Marketing eLearning Kit for Dummies and Co-Author #Facebook Marketing All-in-One for Dummies.

This isn’t an inclusive list. Before I even hit “submit” I am thinking of those who are missing. But it’s a really great start to some people you may not already be following. Look for future posts of this type as well as interviews with experts in the social media field. And don’t forget while you’re there to follow me as well. @somedsatisfied

Every time I give a presentation I am asked “Michele, what is the most important thing to do when getting involved in Social Networking( or as some people call it Social Media)?”

YOUR MINDSET! Now, I can hear some of you saying Michele we already know this…we are suppose to have a good mindset, a success mindset yea yea yea…BLAH BLAH BLAH…so why is it then when I go Listen I continue to hear and see a “lack mindset”.

I know you are going down the path crooked when you ask first thing “How does this make me money?” **(Big HINT here, almost EVERYONE asks that)**

Here is your invitation, instead of focusing on what you can “GET OUT of Being There” or “It’s so time consuming”-that is focusing on what you do NOT want and it will get you that result every time…instead focus on what you can do for others.

Here is what that would look like-Friday first thing meditate and do your 10/10 (if you are not sure what these are tweet me)
Then take your weekly list (you have one right) and go visit that day’s blogs you will comment on then tweet and facebook to your friends ONE good thing you got out of each of those posts.
Then write, record (audio or video) your own post, upload, tweet-facebook-linkedin and ping.
Email 5 people you have met this past year and share a story of something you uncovered and how you created a win form it and then ask them what has been their wins this year.
WHEN you do this daily you will build a following of people who see you as a Giver, someone who cares about THEM and they will be happy to support you when you ask for their help.

Ok, I have reignited a passion of mine today. My friend, colleague and client Dr. Chase Hayden a holistic practitioner who specializes in women’s health in Houston, Tx suggested I watch 6 movies. I was game because having been in holistic health field previously and it is still a passion I recognized I needed to get back into that loop of like minded people.

Food Inc. a movie you can rent or watch on Netflix immediately without having to wait for it to arrive in your mailbox is the one I would say view first.

I had read and was appalled at the things Montsano was getting a way with around our farmers being able to get seeds to grow crops. I had heard they had gone so far as to sue farmers that “their” contracted farmers “OVERSPRAY” on another farmers land who DID NOT USE their ^&*( seeds and it after their crops..I was like how are they doing this…then I learned more today that answered that and activated my activist with a PASSION.

How can we sit by while more and more people everyday grow obese and become type 2 diabetics. It is not their lack of control as one mis-informed person wrote…it is about BIG Business having WAY more money and ability to get laws passed that create an environment where it is against the law to speak out about it publicly. HOW CONVENIENT.

The very people who are suppose to be controlling regulations to protect us are wolf’s in sheeps clothing having worked for and paid great money to our lawmakers to appoint them into these critical roles.

We have seen that we the people now do have power with our voice in social media. Will you stand for integrity and unity for our health and freedom to know what is in our food and where it comes from. Food is not just a pleasure it is what nourishes our bodies to function and be healthy. Our forefathers are rolling in their graves at our loss of freedom on this issue because they NEVER imagined something like this would occur or they would have put it in our constitution.

What can you do?
One watch the movie Food Inc. so you can see and hear with your own eyes and ears what is happening around us and is being kept secret by Big Business.Two many organizations have made it as simple as possible to join with them to send the message to our government that we are NOT okay with this control over what we choose. I have listed several here and will continue to add to it as I uncover them…(your sharing ones you are aware of is welcome)

Slow Food Nation

Victory Gardens

Child Nutrition act

Food Trust

Heifer Project

Organic Consumers

Texas Legislation

Three be conscious of what you eat-we vote three times a day by what we put in our mouths…YES, it make take more effort and Americans are up to the effort and integrity to stand for what we believe it today as much as we did 250+ years ago.

Your dollars are what moves mountains, even the Big Bully Walmart started carry milk with out Growth hormones because Mothers spoke up and said they would not buy it anymore…we can do it again…be a part of carrying on a legacy for your children for they now for first time in our history will live a shorter life span that their parents.

How can you connect and help on a local level? I am seeking out local farmer’s markets to see how I can offer my services to get the word out. What will you do to get back your right to healthy foods?

Facebook is one of the most popular social networking sites in existence. Many people use this site for both personal reasons and for business. It’s a great way for businesses to get their name out there, to build brand awareness and it’s one of the best ways to stay in touch with friends and family members.

You can locate old friends that you haven’t talked to in years or make new friends from all over the globe. You can leave messages, share photos and talk about everything from how your day is going to breaking news that caught your eye. Operations of Facebook all revolve around the friend’s list. When you add people to friends, they can see your wall and the content that you place there and you mutually see theirs.

So what happens if you notice you’re being unfriended on Facebook? There are some common reasons why people ditch their FB friends. Let’s take a look:

Not Communicating
Most people are on FB to connect. If you have not posted in a very long time and your account looks abandoned, people might unfriend you while they are doing a cleanup. If you’re active but you never talk to some of your friends, those people may disconnect from you. Facebook allows you to have up to 5,000 friends and honestly, who has the chance to stay up to date with 5,000 people? Not likely any of us… however, some people use Facebook as a sort of Rolodex in the sense that they add people so they connect with them when they need them but they may not speak with them regularly. It all depends on how you use the site. Just keep in mind, if you’re not talking with someone, they might remove you from their list.

Posting Offensive Comments
8719395_lJust like in real life, if you make someone mad, they might just stop being your friend. The difference with Facebook is that there is so much content being shared so quickly, it’s easier to offend someone. Also, many people will post things online or share an image or post they would not actually say in person. Maybe you make a Pope joke not realizing it may offend your Catholic friends. Or maybe you share a funny picture about kids but a friend with kids doesn’t find it so funny. This is a quick way to get yourself de-friended.

Most Facebook users are pretty lenient about what they allow but the most controversial posts- those on politics and religion- are sure to rub some people the wrong way. I’m not saying don’t post about these things if they are important to you but understand that it may carry some consequences if you do.

Aggressive Selling
There is a place for FB selling and a place for just personal Facebooking. If you blur those lines, you’re going to lose friends. There are few things more annoying to me on Facebook than connecting with a new friend who seems nice and then getting a message about how they can help me “Make millions working from home” or how I can “lose inches with their new body wrap”. Don’t spam your friends with aggressive advertising.

While businesses do use this networking site successfully, you have to know how to use it correctly to get good responses and not try to push your products on your friends. If you are trying to sell something on your personal account, you may lose a lot of friends very quickly.

Too Much Politics
443789_frustratedYou have most likely heard many times that there is a time and place for everything. The same is true for interacting with others on Facebook and as we said earlier, politics is controversial. Some people can tolerate respectful political chat where others don’t want to hear it at all. Some people like to debate and communicate and others get stressed by it. If you’re the type of person who loves to rant about politics, just understand that some Facebook users won’t like it and they might unfriend you.

Having Too Many Friends
9156684_mWhile many people like to talk about all the friends they have on Facebook and some may even consider it a competition, it is possible to have too many friends. If you have such a large pool of FB friends you cannot communicate with them all, you might see some friends drop from neglect. If they feel like you are too busy to actually chat with them, they might just cut you loose or choose to only follow your public updates.

Being Negative and Depressing
Nobody likes a constant downer. If you are always posting depressing comments about feeling bad, your breakup with your loved one or how bad life is treating you, then you are bringing others down and there is a good chance you’ll be unfriended. Sure, true friends will stick by you when you have a problem in your life but a constant drama queen is going to annoy people and they just might have to let you go for their own sanity.

Have you ever unfriended someone on Facebook for any of the reasons above or some other reason? Have you ever been unfriended and not know why?

Do you have questions about social media? Stop by on Facebook and post your questions!

The most crucial factor in content marketing is building and maintaining a following. To do that you’re going to need unique content, but you also need to keep up a consistent online presence. If you write great technical advice but you only publish a few sporadic blog posts, readers will be disappointed. Just when they get excited about your content and want to learn more about your brand, you fall off the radar. You have to produce fresh content on a regular basis, and you have to build the reader’s confidence in you by never going too long without posting fresh content. Nothing is worse from a marketing point of view, than going AWOL.

Consistently producing content is a pretty demanding job, especially if you’re working solo. Everyone gets busy sometimes, or struggles to come up with fresh ideas for generating web content. Everybody needs to take the occasional sick day or vacation. And we all know how frustrating it can be to discover the internet is down or the computer needs a serious repair. But if you work smart you can plan for these events, and ensure a steady flow of engaging content on your company website, blog or social media accounts.

Schedule posts so they will publish automatically when you know you’ll be away or too busy to be present online. Always reserve a little content that isn’t time sensitive, to be used in an emergency. Even if you can only get only for a few minutes, it’s simple to publish these posts. They will help to fill the gap until you are able to start generating unique content again.

Share content published by colleagues and experts in complementary fields when you’re too overworked to generate your own content. Often this can fill the gap when you need a Tweet or short Facebook post. If you have time to write a short review or commentary, so much the better! This is also a good way to generate blog posts when you’re in a rush.

Highlight reader feedback. Take advantage of scripts or widgets that post reader comments prominently on your page. Surveys, photo caption contests, and other means to engage readers provide additional content marketing opportunities, and they can prove to be a rich source for unique content for a blog or Facebook page as well.

Invite guest bloggers to contribute content when you know you’re going to need it. Plan ahead for times when you’re going to be extra busy, and solicit content from some of the colleagues whose links you’ve been sharing. Offer to return the favor when colleagues need extra content, too. This will extend your brand’s reach, all the while building a support network that can help you maintain your web presence when you’re in a pinch.

Split content into segments. Write a series of posts on a single topic and publish them over a period of days or weeks. It also pays to pick a tighter focus for any content you are working on. You’ll quickly discover that content you edit out of a blog post or article can be turned into one or more additional pieces of writing. It really pays to take the time to edit!

How do you maintain a consistent online presence? What tips or tools do you have for keeping fresh content going out on a regular basis?

Content marketing is about more than writing some articles and blog posts. While that is often where a bulk of your content will come from, it’s also very important to get your content out in social media networks (but in the right way).

While some are still hesitant to jump on the Google+ bandwagon, I see it as the next big thing.

Why Do you Need Google+?
You may be thinking “Not another social network” but there are some good reasons why you want to take the time to look into Google+.

Using Google+ can help you increase visibility of your website in Google’s search engine. See this article on Google Authorship to understand one way this is done.
Google now appear to be bringing their many services together better than ever before. Google+ is one way to do this and it will increase your exposure.
Google+ makes it easier for people to discover you and connect with you.
I’m not saying that Google+ is better than Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn but rather than each social network is unique in the way that it works and the way that it connects you with people. Now let’s take a look at how to use Google+ for content marketing.

Formatting Your Text on Google+
One trick to help your text stand out on Google+ is to use formatting but just like in an article or a blog post, don’t go overboard. For example, all caps on the Internet is often interpreted as yelling. All bold text might have the same effect.

Use special formatting only for certain words or phrases you want to highlight or emphasize. Here are some shortcodes for formatting your text within Google+ posts:

More Google+ Messaging and Posting Tips
In addition to understanding how to format your text, these tips will help you get more from your experience with Google+:

How to mention someone- You can mention someone (tag them in your post) by placing an @ before their name (like on Twitter) or a simple +. For example, +LisaMason will allow you to tag me in your post.

Share the link to a specific post in your feed- Click the timestamp on the post to get that post with a permalink.

Send a private message- You can send private messages on Google+ by setting them to share to only that person and disable resharing.

+Mentions and Hashtags
Just like Twitter and Facebook, mentions and hashtags are going to help you draw more attention to your posts. There are two main rules with mentions and hashtags:

Don’t overdo it!
Avoid spamming!
Basically this means that you should only choose relevant people to mention or those you know will be interested in your post. Avoid sharing every single post you make with the same people (they’re going to grow annoyed with you).

Don’t use too many hashtags in one post. Instead, stick to 2-4 of the most relevant to your topic. Mentions (+) and hashtags (#) will be one of your most useful tools for gaining attention to your content on Google+ but you must use them successfully.

Respond to Mentions
Yet another way to increase interaction on your Google+ content is to reply to all of your mentions. Did you know that Google + allows you to see your notifications according to category? You can “view all” or you can choose which ones you want to see.

Get Visual
Everyone loves a good picture or image. There’s a good reason Pinterest is growing so popular these days. Adding visuals to your posts will help them catch the reader’s eye in their stream. It also greatly increases the chances your post will get shared or receive a +1.

Add a Photo or Video
You can add photos or video files from your computer or from a URL. Did you also know that you can add videos, links or photos to your posts by dragging links directly into the share box? It’s very easy!

Add an image that is relevant to your posts to increase visibility. When sharing other content (such as blog posts) to Google+, be sure you have a quality, interesting image attached.

Go Easy on the Viral Shares
Viral shares are great. They usually make us laugh and sometimes they make us think. Nearly always, they make us want to click the share button. That’s great for your content marketing plan but you want to be sure you’re sharing something unique and original as well. Posting LOLcats every day is not liking to incite confidence in your professionalism.

Replay a Winner
If you have a popular post or share, don’t be afraid to repost it when the appropriate time has passed or if current events suddenly make that particular post relevant once again.

Organize Your Circles
One of the most innovative aspects of Google + is the ability to create, edit and manage your circles. This means you can send specific messages and posts only to certain groups of people. For example, I might send a social media tips article only to my circles of people interested in social media. I might share a cartoon about writers to my writing circle. You can control where the content goes so that you are not spamming your wall all day long with things that only certain followers will want to see.

While organizing your Google+ circles might be a time consuming mission (especially if you began adding people before deciding to get organized but it is well worth the effort with how it will pay off for you in the long run. Your users will appreciate your content more and when you make sure you send the right content to the right groups of people, you will increase your exposure and your interaction.

So you’ve heard that having a Facebook fanpage is great for your business and you set one up (hey, it’s free!) but now you’re not having fans flock to it in droves. What’s going on?

The number one reason fanpages fail and fizzle is that people don’t know how to create them properly or how to manage them properly. I can honestly say that this is one task that is truly not as easy as it looks. While anyone can create a FB fanpage for free, that doesn’t mean that you’re naturally going to know what to do with it.

If you’re finding yourself in the that same boat, here are some tips. No matter what industry you’re in or what niche you fall under, these general rules will apply:

Is your fanpage lacking in spice? Do you have a boring cover photo and avatar- or even worse, no images at all? It’s time to revamp!

Get a professional design or build your own with Heyo, Shortstack or similar programs. When possible, use your own face or avatar in the design for increased personalization. This doesn’t work for some brands (Like Pepsi or McDonald’s) but any time there is a human at the head of a company or brand, we should see them in the social media design somewhere.

hubspotA custom cover photo cover that includes that, the name of the business and some other eye-catching graphics will make all the difference. Since Facebook has loosened their rules for cover photos, you have even more freedom to let loose. Add a call to action, link to your free giveaway or share a promotion. For a good example of how to do this, check out HubSpot’s Facebook cover image.

Then you want to finalize it all with some custom tabs- do you have any videos or a YouTube channel? If not, shortened versions of some of your webpages would be good, too. Or maybe an FAQ. Can you come up with some sort of contest or promotion and host it from the fanpage with a 3rd party app (to stay in FB’s contest rules)?

doggieclotheslineDoggie Clothesline uses tabs to create photo slideshows of their dog clothes as well as a sizing chart and their blog feed and Twitter stream. Don’t be afraid to get creative with your tabs. I am setting my newsletter sign up list to be one of my tabs. And promotional tabs are also a popular choice.

Post Regularly

The other problem that I see is people not posting regularly. Posting regularly does not equal spam. 3-5 posts a day is a good sweet spot- less if you still have a small page following. And don’t just syndicate a feed and let it auto-post for you. I have unfollowed several friend’s pages recently because I don’t think they’ve logged on them in 6 months. All I see are autoposts from an RSS. No one wants to see that- they could just follow you with a feed reader. Fanpages are about interaction.

You can post news, updates, great blog posts by others in your niche, your own blog posts, polls, motivational images and posts and more. Be sure to follow up on your posts and answer questions, “like” posts and follow up to questions. Don’t just post and ditch. Show your fans you’re really listening to them.

Get with the Program

FB-Ads-Insider-3-250x250There are some excellent programs out there to help you learn how to make the most from your FB fanpage. I would highly recommend Amy Porterfield’s FB Ads Insider and FB Influence programs because they will help you crash-course in what you need for boosting the page VERY quickly. I was a social media community manager/marketer for years before I had access to Amy’s programs and I learned new tips on the very first session. You will learn how to gain more fans/likes, increase engagement and jumpstart your page into one that will really impress and engage your followers.

Combine Facebook and Pinterest

Are you on Pinterest? You might be surprised to know that any business can benefit from Pinterest if you learn how to do it correctly. I highly recommend Melanie Duncan’s Power of Pinning course.

It talks about how to make money from Pinterest (both product and service-based). Melanie specifically talks about how to get the biggest amount of impact in the shortest period of time. I was a big-time Pinterest fanatic but after I watched Melanie’s Power of Pinning webinar, I already knew I was missing out on things, specifically how to convert my following to customers. The biggest key here is she tells you how to integrate your Facebook and Pinterest marketing: 2 birds, one stone.

A blog is a great way to increase your reach. Content marketing via a blog can include anything from recipes, blog posts and stories to videos and podcasting. This also gives you something to post on the fanpage. Even if you
can only commit to one post per week, it’s a start. It builds a following and shows your fans you know your stuff. A great blog will help establish you as an expert. I know blogging can be a bit intimidating at first, especially to those who are new to writing regularly but once you get the hang of creating and sharing great content, you’ll be a pro in no time!

Who Are You and Why Should We Care?

This is the ultimate question to answer. Fanpages are a dime a dozen and what it really comes down to is showing people who you are and why we should care. I high encourage you to bring out more of your personality with your social media. Let us get to know you and why you do what you do.

Most of all, cut the crap and create a fanpage that rocks. Stand out from the crowds and do something unique, interesting and true to you!