LinkedIn Tip # 22 - Updates...What?!

There are so many nuances to the LinkedIn platform that most users miss this.

Why do I need to know about LinkedIn Updates?

Wonder over to your Profile tab and scroll down to "Your Updates". Click.

You enter a world of your streaming posts you have liked and shared on LinkedIn. This is great because you can check to see how many other people have liked and shared your posts. It also tells you how many posts you have shared.

Inside this window you will also find how many posts you have published on LinkedIn, as well as a notification of the number of drafts you have in progress.

On the far right side of this page, you will find how many connections and followers you have in total. Remember this is "Total Followers", so there will be some who follow you, but have not connected with you formally.

Have you read a great blog on LinkedIn and wanted to share it with your connections? I sure have. I read, like, and share these great posts. Then sometimes I get distracted and wonder if I actually shared the post after I liked it?

Here is a solution!

Check your updates screen and you will be able to see if you have indeed shared the post.

Easy-peasy!

Oh yes! And when you have had to leave in the middle of publishing a new post, you can see the ones that are incomplete right here.

So publish away!

For more tips book into our series of complimentary webinars. The next one is April 12th at 4pm Mountain Time.

       https://siftingthroughthenoise.eventbrite.ca

Christine Till

The Marketing Mentress

     https://ca.linkedin.com/in/marketingmentress

www.2csuccess.com

LinkedIn Tip #21 - How to Publish on LinkedIn.

What is the right process for you to publish a post on LinkedIn?

There are 3 places to publish a post on LinkedIn.

1. The Pulse. To publish on the Pulse, you need to "Publish a Post" on the Home page.

Here's what happens! 

Your wonderful post/blog gets sent out on "Pulse" as well as your own "Profile Page". Check it out and see.

Then you simply copy the link for your new post and paste it on your "Company Page" feed.

This I find is the optimal way to post your blogs on LinkedIn.

2. Profile Page. When you Publish a Post on your Profile page, you then have to publish it on the pulse and the Home page, but then you end up with duplicate posts on your Profile page. You will still need to publish your post on your Company page as well.

4. Company Page. The great thing about your Company Page is that you can use it to invite people to follow you and read your blog posts. You can post the blogs you post in your Pulse, Profile page and Home page, on your Company page. You will not have any duplicates on your profile page.

Next time I will write about "Your Updates", what these are and where to find them.

To learn more about marketing and branding best practices, join us on our FREE webinars.

       https://siftingthroughthenoise.eventbrite.ca

Christine Till

The Marketing Mentress

     https://ca.linkedin.com/in/marketingmentress

www.2csuccess.com

Why Blog?

Why does your blog need to be at the center of your online marketing?

Blogging achieves several business objectives.

It can help you get found online. It allows you to include keywords that people might search for in order to find you online. Blogs help engage people and then they want to share your stuff with their connections. The more you blog, the more people sign up for your blog.

When you have written a bunch of blogs, and people go to your site, they will stay there longer because they become engrossed in your content.

After you have written a blog, you have a piece of content. Then you can take that content and easily post it to all your online platforms.

Take blogging seriously and do it consistently. It may not start out as being the best written blog in the world, but people will enjoy watching you grow and improve through your blog.

People like reading your stories.

What do you blog about?

What do you love to talk about? What is it about your products or services that makes you different? How have you made a difference in your customers lives? Talk about why your customers come to you? What do people like to hear from you?

Blog boosts. Check what content most of your followers read the most. This will tell you what to write about. When you continue to write about what your "peeps" want to read, the search engines will also pick up on your content...especially when you use key words.

Great bloggers, Darren Rowse & Seth Godin. They tell us to Be authentic.

Blogging helps you build valuable relationships with customers. People do business with people that they know, like, and trust. It's the regular contact that endears people to you.

Your blog needs to educate, engage, empower, entertain, and inform your audience.

Education - positions you as the expert.

Engagement - makes your audience want to comment and share your blogs.

Empowerment - encourages your audience to take charge and implement.

Entertainment - exposes your lighter side and makes people laugh.

Information - helps your readers better themselves or their businesses in some way.

Your blog needs to be at the center of your marketing campaign with your website and other online platforms attached. When you publish a blog, it will then instantly be sent out through all your social platforms for your connections to read.

The content in your blogs becomes an asset to your readers. You are offering real value.

Jonathan Christian taught me the true power of blogging and I am very thankful for him. Blogging has become the most powerful piece of my business.

To learn more about marketing and branding best practices, join us on our FREE webinars.

       https://siftingthroughthenoise.eventbrite.ca

Christine Till

The Marketing Mentress

     https://ca.linkedin.com/in/marketingmentress

www.2csuccess.com

Tights are IN!

I wish that women could REALLY see what they look like in these!

When women try these on, they must be seeing themselves through rose coloured mirrors...20 years younger and 40 pounds lighter.

Yes, they look cute on those young figures. Have you seen a woman who is middle aged, somewhat out of shape, wearing them?

Ummm...Scarey!

Even with the long top that comes three quarters of the way down the thigh. When they bend over...oh my!

That extra large top makes the legs look extra skinny, like the woman will topple over in a stiff wind.

Sorry gals, but if we are trying to be professional and trendy at the same time, it just does not work, even for the slim gals. When you wear tights or skinny jeans to a business event of any kind, even putting on a sharp blazer does not cut it.

If you want to be taken seriously, wear a skirt.

You can wear your skinny jeans and tights all you want to a boot-scootin dance party, but a rule of thumb I like to use is, "What if you met the Queen at the grocery store?"

Just sayin.

Love you all,

Christine Till

The Marketing Mentress

www.marketingmentress.com

marketingmentress@gmail.com

780-904-9557

Are you on LinkedIn?

You are on LinkedIn and wondering how to make it work for you?

My question to you is, "Are you serious about your business?"

If you are serious about your business and want to grow your business and yourself, 

LinkedIn is the place to be. If you are not willing to get out of your comfort zone and stretch beyond where you ever thought you could go using your online social media platforms, stay with Facebook.

If you are genuinely searching for ways to make your business and yourself grow to achieve your goals and dreams, then LinkedIn is the place to be. It will take time, consistent effort, hard work and patience to get there. There will be times when you wonder if you are ever going to succeed.

Remember "When you do the things that most people won't do, when you don't feel like doing them, you will have the things that most people won't have." Know this, that when you consistently and persistently do the things I teach, you will enjoy the success you have always dreamed of for your business.

It is all based on building the relationships you need and want for your business. It takes time to build these relationships because it takes time to build the Know, Like, and Trust people require to want to do business with you.

Here's the biggest secret of all online marketing: You build the relationships online. Real business gets done offline through a face-to-face meeting of some sort...phone chats, Skype calls, over coffee or a soda, at networking meetings, through webinars.

Find out more of these precious tips through "Sifting Through the Media Noise."

Join the conversation today!

       https://siftingthroughthenoise.eventbrite.ca

Christine Till

The Marketing Mentress

     https://ca.linkedin.com/in/marketingmentress

www.2csuccess.com

Flying by the Seat of Your Plans?

A friend on Facebook asked me, "Should I place paid advertisements on Facebook?"

My question to her was, "Do you have a marketing plan in place for paid advertising on Facebook?"

Whether you are advertising on Facebook, LinkedIn, or the print media, you need to have a plan. If you do not have one, my best advice would be to get together with someone who can help you put a plan together.

Many times I have seen people get into paid advertising on Facebook, LinkedIn and other print media without knowing how to approach it. They were flying by the "seat of their plans." (quote from Betska K-Burr)

Without a plan, you can end up paying far more than you should.

With a plan, you can zero in on your target market with every word and picture you use in your paid advertising program. A specifically targeted marketing plan can pay you huge dividends when done right.

I am not saying that these above mentioned types of ads are bad, but they definitely will not work for you if you do not know what you are doing. Also, you need to have a budget in place for this kind of marketing activity.

For example, with print media, you need to have an ad placed on the same platform 17 consecutive times before you begin to see results. If you are using the newspaper, one ad can cost you $1200. Multiply that by 17 before you get a sale. Can you afford that investment?

With online platforms, it takes between 6 and 13 times for people to see your paid ad before they will buy from you, on average. That is if you have a great, professionally done ad! Just throwing ink on the page can burn your possible target market with one ad. Once your audience is burned, it is next to impossible to entice them to take a look at you again.

Remember that online, you have 3 seconds to make a great first impression. That not only goes for your personal profile and the profiles you set up for your business and company pages, but also reflects on your advertising. It all needs to be consistent with your business and what you are offering your possible clientelle.

Merely shooting in the dark will leave you terribly disappointed.

You need a plan.

Check out our FREE webinar series for tips and ideas that you can take away and use instantly.

Join the conversation today!

       https://siftingthroughthenoise.eventbrite.ca

Christine Till

The Marketing Mentress

     https://ca.linkedin.com/in/marketingmentress

www.2csuccess.com

Have you heard this?

"I am quitting my business because none of my clients are paying me!"

Can you believe it?!

When I heard this the other day, it sent me into a dizzy! I could not imagine it happening to anyone. Why would all of the clients for one company not pay their bills?

It prompted me to ask some questions.

Exactly how many of your clients did not pay you?

Have you sent them bills?

Did you have them sign an Memorandum of Understanding upon agreement to work together?

Why didn't you get 50% paid to you up front?

Are you sure that your clients knew exactly how much you charged? Perhaps there is a misunderstanding about how much you were going to charge?

Usually when I hear comments like this, questions come to my mind. It is always a two-way street. This type of situation is because of a lack of communication and lack of understanding.

Being in business for yourself is tough and sometimes we have to chase the money to get paid. However, if we set things up from the beginning with proper documentation completed and a deposit up front, the rest comes easy.

Try it with your next client and see how it works.

If you have challenges with how to write a Memorandum of Understanding, I have a simple one-page one that was written by a lawyer for my coach. He was gracious enough to share it with me. I can share it with you if you like.

To avoid getting into a situation like the one mentioned in this post, sign up for our FREE series.

Join the conversation today!

       https://siftingthroughthenoise.eventbrite.ca

Christine Till

The Marketing Mentress

     https://ca.linkedin.com/in/marketingmentress

www.2csuccess.com

The Magic of the Written Word!

How has social media played havoc with our English language and online communication?

One day I was waiting to cross the street and in front of me were two young ladies about 13-14 years of age. They were both busy typing on their smart phones as they stood there waiting for the light to change.

Suddenly one looked over at the other saying, "Yeah!" Then she went back to typing.

Then the other one turned to the first one and replied, "Yeah!"

I suddenly realized that they were texting to each other! Here they were standing right beside each other! I was in shock!

What is happening to the art of our conversation?

This way of communicating is trending into our emails and all the online systems we use to communicate with others.

I have almost lost two good friends because of a misunderstanding of the written word. Who knows how many friends we may all have lost without knowing because we tried to be quip.

Emails, blogs, Facebook comments, LinkedIn comments and the like are not a place to be sarcastic or quip. People cannot see your face of hear your tone of voice. Sarcastic quips usually come across as sharp and hurtful. In fact sarcasm usually comes across as hurtful and inappropriate any time.

If we want to build relationships with people online it is pertinent to be professional and visualize how we would feel if someone said the exact same thing to us in the same context.

If you are not sure, have someone proof read it before you post.

Learn more tips and tricks for writing, branding and building relationships online in our webinar series, "Sifting Through the Media Noise".

Join the conversation today!

       https://siftingthroughthenoise.eventbrite.ca

Christine Till

The Marketing Mentress

     https://ca.linkedin.com/in/marketingmentress

www.2csuccess.com

Thou Shalt Have A Marketing Plan!

Thou shalt have a marketing plan, the first commandment of successful business management.

Social Media is not the be all or end all to online marketing programs.

It is merely a further enhancement to traditional systems. The thing is, we need to have a plan. If we have already been using multiple traditional marketing systems that are part of our marketing budget, then we need to keep it up. Stopping abruptly can have huge negative effects on a business. By adding online systems we will increase our reach to more potential customers, customers that perhaps we would not have without them. Eventually we could even cut back on some of the expensive traditional systems and replace them with these new, much less costly ones.

Because these online systems are offered for free, they are often taken for granted.

We tend to think that we can get clients or make sales for free. That is not the case. There is nothing for free.

Even if a platform is free, we must monetize it. In other words, make it pay. It takes time to build the "know, like and trust" with people online, especially when we are doing it the free way. So there really is a cost to marketing a business even using free platforms.

If we want to get clients a little sooner, we can purchase ads on Facebook, and LinkedIn for instance. 

These save us a tremendous amount of time, and pay for themselves with the time factor alone.

However, if you have never used paid ads on Facebook or LinkedIn, it is a good idea to educate yourself first.

Remember the nature channels you have watched on TV where you see schools of fish swimming together first one way and then quickly changing to a different direction. They do this continuously with two things in mind: 1. To find food. 2. To not be food.

Are you running your marketing program without a plan?  Are you constantly running to one shiny idea after another, discovering that none of them work? This is what your online marketing can be like if you do not have a plan.

You can find examples of marketing plans online, but if you do not know how to set up a marketing plan, my best suggestion is to get a coach who can help you get started in the right direction.

Personally, I have had many coaches and still use coaches and mentors. My business would never have reached where it is today without the help of these professionals.

You will get many great marketing ideas from our free webinar series, Sifting Through the Media Noise.

Sign up today!

       https://siftingthroughthenoise.eventbrite.ca

Christine Till

The Marketing Mentress

     https://ca.linkedin.com/in/marketingmentress

www.2csuccess.com

Looking for places to make big announcements?

A question that I am asked often is, "How do I post and get recognized on LinkedIn?"

We can now belong to 100 groups on this platform and we could actually be posting our educational and informative blogs on all of them, but very few of our members read these unless they have reason to. In fact many of the group owners will send us to "LinkedIn Jail" freezing us out of posting in their groups forever.

Here are the reasons that we can be locked out of posting to groups:

1. We are pitching to our readers instead of educating and informing.

2. We are not complying with the rules of the group. Every group has its own rules of posting. Read them.

I am impressed when one of the members of my group contacts me personally to ask for my help in announcing a special post. It is a pleasure to help or assist these professional people in any way I can.

One of the members in my Marketing Enthusiasts group reached out to me to ask for help announcing their special post about a book they are launching. He gave me a brainwave!

You see, it is not all about me. It is about how many people I can help. 

Here is what I came up with:

I would like to offer our individual group members opportunities to feature themselves, each on a weekly basis. (Since as the group manager, I can only send one announcement a week.)

Do you have a book launch or a new product that you are itching to tell the world about? Let me know about it and I will announce it to the group just before you post it in our discussion thread. The announcements will go out on Mondays and the hi-lighted posts will go out on Tuesdays.

I suggest that you get your thinking caps on and reserve your hi-light spot today!

Feel free to ask if you have any questions.

Our first spot will be for: BlogDash about their new book, "Brand Mentions: The Future of SEO". Watch for it tomorrow!

Make it an awesome marketing week!

Best regards,
Christine
marketingmentress@gmail.com

www.marketingmentress.com

What do I do now?

AACK! I'm spending $3K a month on newspaper ads and my business is tanking every month!

At a networking meeting a short while ago I met a gal who told me she was spending $3K a month on newspaper ads. She said that with the economy the way it is, she has noticed that in spite of the fact that she is continuing to advertise in the newspaper, there are less and less people coming into her store. She said that there used to be 30-60 people a day come into her store, and now she is lucky to have 10 people a day.

Huge drop in sales for this business. What is she going to do?

She does not want to close her store! She wants to sell her business. But who will buy her business in this state? Some drastic changes need to be implemented immediately.

But what?

This particular business does not have any social media presence, and if she gets active on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest, along with a regular blog, she will have success in a short period of time.

The plan is to start regular blogging and posting these to her platforms on a daily basis using an auto-posting system. The one we are using is Sprout Social.

The plan is being implemented by the end of the month, and I will keep you posted as to how it is working out.

I am sure that she will have some positive results within a couple months.

If you are having some challenges with your business tanking in these times, join our webinar for branding and marketing ideas online. It's FREE! https://siftingthroughthenoise.eventbrite.ca

Christine Till
The Marketing Mentress
www.2Csuccess.com

Tired of being Pitched to Online?

Remember the "Rule of 10 Posts".
For every 10 posts:
6 are reposts of great blogs, quotes and music from other people.
3 are posts or blogs you wrote/inspired yourself.
1 is a pitch.
People want to be educated and informed first. They do not want to be pitched to with every post you put out there.

These could be 10 posts a day, or 10 posts a week, or 10 posts a month, but for every 10 posts, these are the rules of posting online if you want to build that "Know, Like, and Trust" needed to build your clientele.

Happy Building!

Christine Till
The Marketing Mentress
www.c2success.com
www.marketingmentress.com

Here's the place to learn how to market yourself online and offline:  FREE webinar series:  Register now!  https://siftingthroughthenoise.eventbrite.ca

Why are you stressing out?

Did the cows get out again? Who can we blame this time?

Back in my ranching days, when a cow got out of the pasture by breaking through the fence, it caused huge trauma and stress.

            1. Because the fence was broken and had to be mended.

            2. Because the cows were wild and very challenging to herd back into said field.

We discovered a great way to get the cows to come back willingly. Simply place a large bucket of oats on the tailgate of the truck and drive slowly enough so the cows could almost get a mouthful, then stop, so they could get a taste, and move again slowly until they were back home in their fenced pasture. (Of course someone had to sit in the back of the truck to hold the bucket, or the bucket would be knocked to the ground spilling all the oats out, and defeating our purpose all together.)

Very delicate procedure this was. And it worked like a charm!

Once we discovered the secret formula to rounding up the escaped animals, the next time one escaped, we knew just what to do.

The same thing applies to business today.

All we need to do is figure out a plan to help solve our customer's pain and voila!

What is keeping your customers awake at 2am?  What is their pain? What can you do to help ease that pain?

Once you have solved this puzzle, you have your solution to making your business prosper.

The customers will come to you!

The cows' pain was having to go back into the pasture where they could not eat the fresh green grass growing in the ditches along the road. They hated to leave that luscious food.

Enter a food that cows will do anything for...oats! Cows will do anything they can to get a mouth full of their favourite oats.

What is it that you can offer your customers that will keep them coming and coming over and over again?

If you are puzzled as to what you can do, come join our "Sifting Through the Media Noise" webinar series. It's FREE. https://siftingthroughthenoise.eventbrite.ca    

       

See you there!

Christine Till

The Marketing Mentress

www.2csuccess.com

marketingmentress@gmail.com

Did you know about Saved Searches?

Are you searching with a new Boolean string every day and not saving?

It can get monotonous trying to search for your target market on LinkedIn if you do not know who they are for certain. So what can you do to save the perfect searches?

There is a way to go into LinkedIn and set up an advanced search.

Click the word, Advanced, on the right side of the search bar on your LinkedIn Home page.

You will see a menu open up that allows you to choose the different search parameters to fit your desired target audience. Once you have chosen the parameters you want, you can then choose to save those selections. You can set a specific advanced search, save it and let it run for a week or two and see if it is producing what you are looking for.

When a saved search stops producing, simply go in and set up a new one, save it and let it produce for you.

This is LinkedIn's way of helping you with Boolean strings.

Let LinkedIn help you.

Learn many more tips and tricks for LinkedIn and branding your business on our FREE webinar series starting this next Tuesday afternoon. You will discover how to get your online marketing working for you:

Sign up today!

       https://siftingthroughthenoise.eventbrite.ca

Christine Till

The Marketing Mentress

     https://ca.linkedin.com/in/marketingmentress

www.2csuccess.com

Ignite your Success?

Where can professional business women go to learn ideas for growing their businesses?

On Meet-Up you can find many different groups to join and network endlessly if you like. But I was searching for the network that worked for me and my business. They all looked great and I was having challenges choosing the right one for me.

Then one October day I happened to see some beautiful magazines stacked in the FREE magazine and newspaper racks at Save-On-Foods. "Womanition Magazine" was printed on the cover.

I just had to take a look inside.

Wow! There were all these gorgeous business women featured on every page. I was sooo envious!

All I could think of was, "How do I get in this magazine?!"

I carried that magazine around with me for several weeks. Then one day when I was working with a LinkedIn client, she asked me if I had heard of Womanition?

Well, of course! I pulled out the magazine. She said that was the same organization and invited me to attend the next Edmonton Womanition Connect Group meetup.

Of course I agreed.

When we arrived, I was impressed with all the great women in the room. I loved everything I heard and saw. I even picked up some great tips for my business.

I had found the group I was looking for!

It is almost a year and a half since I started attending ALL the Womanition Connect Group meetups and I am now IN Womanition Magazine 2015...page 25.

The day the 2015 magazine launched, I had 14 women approach me asking for help  with their LinkedIn marketing.

My business doubled in one day all because of Womanition Magazine.

Womanition is designed to empower women in business to be more than they thought they could be.

Womanition also has events like the BizBrigade, designed for the mentorship of women, bringing them together to "Plan Your Business", "Grow Your Business", and "Grow Yourself". The first time I attended one of these events, I felt that there was so much information I could use immediately to help me with my own business. I went home and right to work.

This spring BizBrigade will also feature a special panel on "The Power of Mentoring".

The BizBrigade is held twice a year, spring and fall. We had over two hundred professional business women in attendance last October. The 2016 Spring event is almost here, April 8th, and seats are moving fast.

You won't believe the price! And that includes a fabulous lunch buffet.

If you want to learn what you need to do for you and your business, this is a must attend. It is the most professional women's event I have ever been privileged to attend.

I would be tickled pink to have you join me at my table! Scroll down this link to my name and sign up.

Secure your seat today and avoid being disappointed at the door. Seating is limited.

Biz Brigade:

     http://www.womanition.com/index.php/cultivate-your-success

Christine Till

The Marketing Mentress

     https://ca.linkedin.com/in/marketingmentress