Successful Social Media in Fifteen Minutes Per Week

SUCCESSFUL SOCIAL MEDIA IN FIFTEEN MINUTES PER WEEK

By Susan Escalante, Director of Social Media, Federal Financial Group LLC

April 8, 2013

Many people want to know how to use social media without spending a lot of time on it. Here at Federal Financial Group LLC, we value person-to-person contact so much that sometimes we forget to connect online, which is why I want to share this streamlined, time-efficient and effective social media shortcut.  In my ten years’ experience in public relations, media relations and social media, I have developed a system that will help you use Facebook and Twitter to drive people to your website with little time investment on your part.

It is true that there are hundreds of social media platforms to choose from today. However, almost everyone has a Facebook account. Start with Facebook. If you do not have a personal account, set that up first. Then add a page for your business. If you work with Federal Financial Group LLC, we are happy to post it on our central company page or you can use one that is there already to tweet out!  Here is a word of caution: It is possible to cheat the Facebook system and set up an account under your business name, but this is not recommended for several reasons. The most valuable reason is that once you have invested time to build up your presence, when Facebook discovers that you have used their platform this way, they will block your account. So, initially, save yourself time in the long run, and use a Facebook PAGE for your business.

Once you have your Facebook page established for your business, post something every 2-3 days. Conversely, we have found that no more than 4 times per day, though! (Too often and you start losing followers!) Make sure you monitor your page: “like” or “comment” on things others have posted to your page. Delete anything offensive. This should take you about 15 minutes per week total. Set a timer for yourself if you are concerned that you will get “sucked in” to the virtual world.

Post things that are relevant to what you are doing, but be sure to also post something funny and entertaining about once a week! Your social media does not always need to be about you and your business. People appreciate variety. Be professional. A good rule of thumb is to think of someone you respect because of their integrity: Then post only something that would not offend him/her. Avoid political issues, religion, humor that might be considered offensive in any way, and anything about drugs, partying, alcohol, or tattoos. The last thing you want to do is offend someone, so when in doubt, don’t!

Adding Twitter to your social media strategy will broaden your reach tremendously. One of my Facebook friends recently asked, “Should we connect on Twitter where the real business is done?”

You will need to spend a little time on the learning curve for Twitter, but once you have it, you will spend only 1-2 minutes per work day. Here is a link to the basics of getting started on Twitter. https://federalfinancialgroupllc.wordpress.com/2013/03/25/103/

So, once you are set up on Facebook and Twitter, here is how it works. You post something on Facebook then blast it on Twitter. Use #hashtags to reach your target audience. Get inside your potential client’s brain and determine what keywords they will use to find you. Those keywords are the same words you will use for your hashtags. Also use those keywords as part of all of your messages.

Additional tips for your Facebook and Twitter profiles. Be sure to have your contact information right there conveniently located in your bio or profile. Include the link to your website. Tweet and post about how your potential clients can reach you. Engage with your followers so they know you are a real person and not an automated bot. Retweet some tweets that are either motivational, humorous, or further your cause.

Social media is not rocket science. Anybody can do it. Be confident with your tweets and remember K.I.S.S. – Keep It Simply Simple. When in doubt, you can always say “XYZ Company is here to serve you. http://website.com” or “Hope you are having a great day!” In 2010, I acquired over 3,000 followers on Twitter simply by saying positive affirmations each day such as “You are a beautiful person! Don’t forget it!” In 2012, I lost about a thousand followers in that same account by saying negative things about political events. Haha! So there is the “what works and what doesn’t work on Twitter” in a nutshell!

Good luck! If you have any questions, feel free to email us socialmedia@ffg2.com. Remember that this is the basic of all basics. If you find that you like using social media to connect, there are at least a gazillion more strategies to accomplish your goals!

Building an Online Community is Like Having a Neighborhood

Building an Online Community is Like Having a Neighborhood

By Josh Rice

Social Media Specialist for Federal Financial Group LLC

http://www.ffg2.com/

April 4, 2013

When I think of the words “community’ or “neighborhood’, I think of growing up on the street where I lived. All the kids played together after school and the adults hung out on Saturdays. Everyone in the community knew each other and for the most part looked out for each other. This is what I think of when I hear the word community. Well this same kind of thing exists when you are online; you just have to go about it in the right way.

Facebook and other social media sites allow you to connect with people and the cool thing about this is that you are not limited to how big your street or community is. Social media has a larger reach which allows you build a lot larger communities that have the same interests, spending habits and ideas as you.  Through a social media community you can guide people to your blog, website and gain customers that last a lifetime. That’s why Federal Financial Group LLC has all of these different types of things online.

Here are a couple of steps to get you started on building a community:

Facebook profile or page – There is a difference between the two.  A profile is for people and a page is for a business or company. If you already have a personal profile you can have a page for your business, too. You can put yourself as the administrator for the business page that you created and keep your personal account separate. Most businesses do this. For example, here at Federal Financial Group LLC we have a number of different admins that contribute to the company page, but they personally have their own Facebook profiles online. This keeps their personal lives away from the business. A business on Facebook is looking for “likes”; this is similar to “friends” on a personal account. The more “likes” you get, the larger your community gets.

Detailed “About” section on your Facebook profile/page – You would be surprised on how many people browse Facebook and the internet and run across someone’s Facebook page or website and can’t really figure out what they do or what they are trying to achieve. Be very detailed on what you do and your purpose. Make it so clear that any random person that comes across your stuff will know what you are doing. Federal Financial Group LLC has it stated on our website and Facebook page very clearly that we are in the insurance/annuities business. There are links to our business website on our Facebook page so that people can learn more about us if they want to.

Ideas on what to include on your Facebook:

• Write a bio that will attract people to know more about you and get them interested in learning more about you or your company.

• Never make comments that will offend anyone’s religious and political.

• Use an awesome profile photo. Use something that will let people that don’t know you see your personality right off the bat. If it’s a company, put something that will get people’s attention.

• Tell people why they should be your friend or like your page! What is your purpose? Goals? What will make them want to be a part of your community?

• If you have a website, list it first! Put it at the very top so that people can see it right away.

• Provide links to ALL your social media that they can connect with you on. This way if they don’t do Pinterest don’t worry, they might have a Facebook or a Twitter account.

Join groups that are applicable – Get involved! Just like your community that you live in, online is the same way; you get what you put into it. If you are active and know your neighbors they will be more willing to look out for you in so many different ways.  The same applies to our online community. By joining groups and getting involved in the conversation it can get your profile or page known within your community. Let’s say you sell insurance like Federal Financial Group LLC does: If you have built a community around you and have gotten involved online, people will know you and reach out to you sooner or later. We have seen this time and time again. Remember to try and share good relevant information. It is alright to add something funny occasionally to lighten the day. We like to draw from the most popular humor sites, and always make sure it is family-friendly in case children are surfing the web.

Follow the right people – You can get great ideas from people or competing businesses around you. Find people that can provide you with content and ideas; follow them and learn from them. This includes businesses that you are competing against. You can always learn from your competition and see what they are doing right and wrong. This can only make you stronger. I don’t think enough businesses or people do this often enough to see real value in this. That’s one thing that I learned when I started to work at Federal Financial Group LLC and I have seen so many benefits from it.

The key is to stay involved and if you do this there are so many benefits that you will receive for you and your company. Even if you just dedicate 5-10 minutes every day to doing these steps you will see the benefits to your online community and real results in your business.

How to Use Social Media to Promote Your Business

By Josh Rice, Social Media Specialist    March 28, 2013

Anyone that is in business, does business or associated with business knows that networking is everything! You can have an amazing product that is life changing in every way possible but won’t go anywhere if you don’t network. It’s not what you know, it’s who you know. The baby boomer generation knows this very well. But things have changed really fast in this technological world we live in. It’s no longer networking face-to-face that will help you.  If you are doing this and this alone, you’re missing out on huge relationships and even more importantly ——>  HUGE money.

If you thought social media was a fad and was going to disappear over time you were wrong.  Social media has been around for more than ten years and every year more time, money and attention gather around some of the top social media sites. Think of social media as a popular place where people hang out in a city. All the people that are the opinion leaders, cool kids and potential clients are at this place and there is a ton of opportunity at this hang out spot.

Top social media sites-

LinkedIn – This site is key in the business world. If you don’t have it, then you’re missing a piece of the business world puzzle. Here you make a business profile that shows your professional accomplishments. You can find current/former colleagues, clients and even partners that you already have a relationship with or want to have that relationship with. You add connections by inviting contacts you have and meet new contacts through those relationships.

Facebook – This site has snow-balled into a social conversation scene. People talk about anything from what they had for lunch, politics, and even business. This site can help you connect with clients, share fascinating content and promote yourself to others. Businesses have had to change the way they do things because of Facebook and other social media sites. Every business now has a page on Facebook and they are seeing the opportunity to get people talking and engaging the consumer in the conversation. Brands can make or break it on this site. If you do it right, you really can make a huge presence for yourself by capitalizing on all opportunities with Facebook.

Twitter – For the first time ever we have the opportunity to access direct contact to anyone we want at any time. Now the trick is to get their attention long enough for them to connect back with you. Twitter allows it’s users to send updates or post in 140 characters. Some use this to follow their friends and see what they are up to. Others see this as an opportunity to connect with people they don’t know and people they want to know for business.

These are a couple of ideas to totally capitalize on your social media experience:

• Target – With social media you have the opportunity to track and focus on certain groups of people that can benefit you for sales. Always be watching for these people.
• Opinion Leader – Generate and find content that people want to see and start a conversation about. This will get your name out there.
• Be yourself – The more you show your personality, the more people will want to connect with you and find out what you are saying.
• Engage – Invite people to start a conversation with you, be genuine and show your personality, make it easy for people to contact you.
• Participate – Join and create groups, get yourself visible online in conversation.

Always try new things on these sites. If it is not working, then find something that is. Follow people that are doing it right and emulate them.

One of the most important things about social media is that people are talking about you and what you do. You have a chance to shape their opinion about you and mold what they think about what your product is… and always have a conversation with someone not at them.

Twitter account

STARTING A TWITTER ACCOUNT BASICS By Josh Rice
Twitter is a new form of social media for a lot of people. It can be used as a great tool to get your name out on the web and talk with so many different people that you would have never had the chance before. Twitter is one of the fastest growing social media outlets and here’s how to get started:
– Go to http://Twitter.com
– Look for New to Twitter? Sign up
– Put your full name, email address and a password that you will remember. Then click on the “Sign up for Twitter” in yellow.
– The next page will verify with you that all your info is correct, and then click “create my account” in yellow.
– It will give you a list of people that you may want to follow. At this step they want you to follow 5 people to get started. Then click “next” at the top of the page. The next page will ask you to do the same thing again. Follow 5 more people. Then click “next” at the top like you did before.
– You can find friends through your email or skip this step and head to putting a profile picture up on twitter of yourself.
– You have set up your new account, at this time go to “compose new Tweet” at the top and write this as your first tweet – “Excited to be working with @ffg_2, great company to work with! #insurance #annuities”