Slow Down to Move Faster

Have you ever clicked "send" and realized there was an error in your memo or an important thought or call to action was left out of your email?  These mistakes can move you further away from your goals rather than closer to them.

"I'm under the gun."  "I want to be first to market."  "I need to beat my competition to the punch."  All of these things show passion and drive, but without planning and attention to detail, your message will be lost.

A quick, but funny example:

"Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe."

Programs can identify spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors, but they cannot help you with the clarity and flow of your message.   Just like spelling, your objective and message are clear in your head and this may result in missed errors when proofreading; it is imperative you have clearly communicated your thoughts and calls to action to your audience.

You are busy, your team is busy - your boss and potential clients are certainly busy.  Do not waste their valuable time or lose that opportunity because you had such desire to be heard or first to their inbox.

Slow down to move faster.

Find The Good Stuff, Share The Great Stuff

Twitter is a fantastic tool for listening, promoting, and gathering information about your brand, but how do you do these things in the most efficient way?  Utilizing a dashboard like HootSuite will help you listen to your Twitter lists, but I need a more efficient way to uncover the best and share it.
Flipboard is a social media aggregator that brings the content of your choosing to you to your tablet or smartphone, then allows you to easily share it across any social network you use.  It is not only a sharing tool, but an customer engagement method as well.
Create your own magazine and fill it with relevant content aggregated by Flipboard.  Now you have a content marketing piece to share with others.  You may even invite customers and brand advocates to curate the magazine with you - keep them engaged with you and your brand.

Happy Flipping!

Cheers,
Toby

Twitter vs Email Marketing

Each week you break out that trusty email list and send out your latest collection of brilliant thoughts.  You have taken time to research and craft this wonderful newsletter to show your readers (and clients) that you have something to offer them, that you are different from all the rest who are bombarding their inboxes.  Is your message getting through?

How many emails are you sending?

How many are getting opened?

How many are getting forwarded to others?

Twitter can answer all of these important questions.

But how do I capture leads with Twitter?  I am using a subscribe button on my site to build my database of email addresses.  Your Twitter followers become your leads to convert into clients.

How to get started:

1.  Create a Twitter profile for your business.

2.  Add a Follow button on your site next to that trusty subscribe button and give your visitors a choice of how they want to receive your content.

3.  If you are not doing so, host your newsletter on your site.

4.  Include a Follow button within your newsletter.

5.  Utilize hashtags within your tweets to make them easy to find.

6.  Measure the following with a tool like Hootsuite or Google Analytics 

• Compare the click through rate for links within tweets to those that open your emailed newsletter
• Compare the leads generated (Twitter Followers), to month over month newsletter subscribers
• Follower growth, mentions, and retweets

Building a twitter following takes time and effort: measure your growth, engage those who reach out to you, and know that a large following will not happen overnight.  Twitter is a vehicle to show you are a thought leader because of your great content and it will allow your followers to become your brand advocates and share it with others.

Cheers,

Toby

Giving Away the Good Stuff

Technology has given companies targeted reach to consumers they never had before, but it has also made it easy for potential customers to ignore them.  Companies are trying to prove they are different while connecting with potential leads that matter.

Content Marketing has been successfully utilized since 1895 and provides a way for a company to demonstrate it is an industry thought leader by delivering helpful, free content to its current and potential customers.  White papers, eBooks, and infographics are current examples of content marketing and they do a wonderful job of providing value, creating leads, and giving calls to action, but they miss the mark in one place - human touch.

A TweetChat allows you to engage with and listen to many people at once while documenting the conversations and capturing contact information. Idea-share, focus groups, and feedback sessions: it’s all about conversation.  Lead the conversation and answer questions: you are able to provide insight and promote your brand without mentioning it.  Because your twitter profile is your mini-resume, those who you exchange information with are able to see who you are and even click on a link to your personal or company's website.

As with any content marketing vehicle, a tweetchat takes time to organize and promote, but because they are real-time, they allow true connections and provide these potential customers insight to you and your brand.

As always, I look forward to your feedback.

Cheers,

Toby