We are taking a break over Christmas/New Year commencing Wednesday 19th December. We will be back mid Jan 2013!
Have a wonderful Christmas and a happy and safe New Year. See you in 2013!
Best Wishes
Dec 192012
Sep 242012
A few weeks ago I wrote online in Dynamic Business about whether the social media connections you have are the right ones. It posed the question whether individuals actually think about the connections they are adding to their social media networks.
As social media continues to immerse our lives both – personal and professional – it is important to think about the ‘likes’ or ‘followers’ or ‘connections’ you have.
So how can you get the most out of your connections?
The first place to start is by auditing your connections. Have a look at those in your networks and see what benefit they are bringing. Further, if you would like to connect with someone outside of your network ask for an introduction from your closet connection.
Here are some other tips:
Don’t Accept All Invites: establish whether the person who wants to connect with you has any association with your industry. Think before you click ‘accept’!
Go Slow: Take your time in growing your connections. It is not actually all about quantity. It is the quality of connections that is more important.
Inform, don’t sell: If you establish yourself as an information source, you place yourself in a better position to sell yourself the long run.
Shift your thinking to the modern two-way communication style of ‘conversation’. Encourage an emotional and personal connection with those in your networks so that people can get to see who you are. This is more essential than the quantity of connections.
What do people think? What has worked for others?
Thanks for reading!
Feel free to ‘tweet’ or ‘repost’ this article or leave your comments….
Apr 192012
Given the amount of time people spend on their social network sites, building their connections and growing their network, it is surprising when their profiles don’t get as much attention as they should. If the aim is to increase your brand’s visibility, both personal and business, then having a strong profile is key. A profile that ranks highly in searches is important to improving online presence.
Here are 4 ways to strengthen your profile.
Maintain Your Identity
With so many social media platforms, each with its own uniqueness, it is important to create and maintain a consistent identity or brand. Use the same tone throughout each profile, as this will ensure that your profile is delivering the same message throughout. If a potential client searches for you online through Facebook and LinkedIn the profiles need to say the same thing otherwise the message is not clear.
Something else to consider with your identify, is your photo. Make sure that the image you choose is consistent throughout all your profiles and enhances your credibility not detracts from it. That means you need an update to date and professional image, not one from a party last week.
Content is Important
What you write about yourself is vital so consider your profile a CV summary. Tell people about the services you offer and the skills your have. Sell yourself in a few short sentences so be clear, brief and to the point. People need to be able to understand what you do immediately and the message needs to be the same throughout all profiles.
Although the aim is to be professional, allow your personality to come out so that people can gain an insight into your individuality.
Keywords
Keywords are important in your profile as social media profiles are highly searchable and have greater chance of being at the top end of search engine results.
It is, therefore, important to think about what keywords best describe what you do. Ask yourself what keywords you would use to search for your business. It may also be useful to ask other people you know what keywords they would use. Then incorporate a mixture of words that are both specific and general so that you can optimise connecting with your target audience.
Consistency
Google loves regularly updated content so to be successful in social media consistency is key. This means being active and having a planned approach with postings everyday or least every couple of days. This way you can engage with your fans, connections or followers and stay regularly in contact.
Having multiple accounts is very time consuming so it is better to have fewer platforms than more if you can’t regularly post in all of them. Choose the ones that you believe will connect with your target audience and start there. You can always increase the platforms once you find a structured approach that works for you.
Today, social media profiles are more important than ever. So when you create a platform, know that you are creating an identity. Hopefully it is one that people will want to connect with so that the benefits will flow.
What are your thoughts?
This article was published in Dynamic Business.
Feb 022012
There has been a lot in the news lately about the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) which is an anti piracy bill put before the USA House of Representative. The Senate equivalent is Pipa (Protect Intellectual Property Act). Read more about it in this article: Q &A: Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA).
What seemed assured a safe passage bill has seen US senators walking away from the bill (Senators Back Down on Online Piracy) after considerable online opposition particularly by Wikipedia and Google.
It has become an argument about Internet freedoms versus protecting intellectual property (IP) rights, which is backed and supported by Hollywood – old media vs new media (Google, Facebook). IP rights should be respected and protected, however, applying this kind of legislation means that those who claim their IP rights have been infringed could request a court order to stop payment facilities (i.e PayPal) from conducting business with websites who are infringing among other things. The powers would be sweeping, potentially with considerable collateral damage.
However, is the argument that simple? Anyone who knows anything about the Internet knows that it can’t be compared to offline media. It is so fundamentally different, vast and interconnected with a multiple of information changing constantly. The issue to me seems to be that the ‘old media’ business model that is being applied to the Internet does not work. A new business model is needed for the Internet that balances IP rights but also protects Internet freedoms and allows innovation to thrive and prosper. The world no longer exists in a small economy but a vast online environment where anyone can be connected to anyone. Media companies need to understand this and adapt instead of trying to control. If they continue to force the issue, they will also loose.
Any thoughts?
Dec 212011
Wishing everyone a happy and safe Christmas & New Year.
I’ll be back writing blogs in the New Year!
Sep 282011
Anna Cairo
Hello and Welcome! This is my first post of what hopefully will be many. I hope that you will follow me, share in the experience along the journey as well as participate and contribute to the discussion. I am a communicator by trade and these blog posts will reflect an exchange of ideas about what is happening in the online world. I love the Internet and can’t live without it. With technology changing so rapidly my aim is to give you information on current issues of the online world, tips, interviews (eventually) and hopefully solutions on how better to utilise the net for your business. I hope that you will join me in the conversation and I look forward to hearing your comments.