HaliBlab returns! Join host Anita Kirkbride as she learns about the small business community in Halifax and how they use social media to further their business goals. Her first guest is Micheal MacMillan, SEO expert from SEO Brunch. They rant a little about bad SEO companies and practices, and give you a few tips and … Read more
Every week I talk to small business owners who are struggling to manage their own social media and some of them are thinking it would be better to outsource it. Sometimes there is a lot of pressure from those outsourced managers for everyone and their dog to outsource social media marketing. And sometimes experts and mentors are big fans of outsourcing. But, the question remains, is outsourcing your social media right for you?
Have you noticed some Instagram profiles have a funky row of circles just under their bios, and if you click on them, they look an awful lot like Instagram Stories? Well, that’s because they ARE Instagram Stories that have been saved to Stories Highlights. Unfortunately not everyone has access to the Instagram Stories Highlights feature yet (June 2018). But, when you are granted the feature, here’s what you need to get ready.
They say Twitter is alllllll about the pictures, but some people just won’t give up their ASCII look! I’ve been collecting fun, no picture tweets for a while to inspire me to think outside the box when it comes to using my 280 characters. For example, did you know you could actually put one character per line? Yeah…some people actually did that when they changed Twitter to 280. Here are a few of my favourite, creative, text-only tweets.
Are you one of the 87% of online marketers who is already using video as part of your social media marketing strategy? If not, it’s time to get on the bandwagon…and make a video about it! There are so many amazing apps and programs out there to help you on this journey, you’re sure to find at least one to help you create your video content. Here are a few programs I’ve found to be fairly user friendly for those who are new to social media video production.
Building a social media strategy for your business isn’t rocket science. It’s actually quite simple. But, just because it’s simple, doesn’t mean it’s easy! The “meat” of your social media strategy is a content calendar–a plan for what and when you will post your content. Before you get to that point, however, you need to think about a few other things: what type of content your audience wants, who your audience is, and what type of content you can reliably produce.
If you take a bit of time to work through each of the steps you can build a social media strategy you can handle on your own.
Attention seekers on Instagram, listen up. STOP using Instagram photo tags to get my attention! You got my attention alright…but it’s not good attention. You’re annoying me. This unwanted advance makes me want to bury your quite legitimate efforts rather than repost them, or call you to work with us. There is a right way, and a VERY wrong way to use Instagram photo tags. If you’re new to the platform, I’ve got some pretty pointed thoughts for you.
What do my cats and a Jesus fish have to do with social media? Well, it makes for a compelling introduction to How to Avoid Facebook Jail, for sure!
When was the last time you cleaned out your social media profiles? It’s something you should consider doing if you’ve been on a network for a few years, and probably should make a reminder to do on at least an annual basis. Spring cleaning your social media profiles can take care of various issues and maybe most importantly, can decrease your privacy and security risks.
Social media is time-consuming. It’s as much art as it is technology. It’s new and complex and frustrating. Every business owner feels that way at some time or another. When I’m coaching clients I try to encourage patience, long-term visioning and planning. Some people take longer than others to join me in this position.
“I’m looking for a loophole, a quick fix, the easy way to do this,” one person said to me.
Here are my thoughts on that view of social media.