How can social networking help my business?

Let's start with another question:

What do most people do first when they are looking for information?

Yes, you guessed it – they search the internet using sites such as Google, Yahoo and AOL. Using blogs, social networking sites, digital PR and e-marketing in your business will give you:

• More opportunities to be found on-line by potential customers when using search engines


• Additional links and entry points into your website


• The ability to give useful information that can be used in their decision making process


• The opportunity for third party recommendations and reviews


• The ability to engage and converse with customers throughout their buying process and life as a customer.

Social networking (using sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube) allow you to converse with people interested in the products and services you offer and help you to answer their questions, increase your brand awareness and build their trust in your company.

They can also help to boost your search engine rankings as you will be piggy-backing on the social networking sites’ search engine optimisation (SEO) activities.

For example, uploading a video onto YouTube, then embedding it onto your own site helps people to see what you do as a company as well as giving them more opportunities to find you (because YouTube is checked more regularly by Google than your own site will be).

A mention of a new video on your blog, Facebook page and Twitter feed will also encourage people to take a look.

Best of all, you will be able to see which social media sites are best at attracting business, by looking at your website’s analytics to see how people are accessing your site.

It is important to remember that for digital PR to be effective, it must be planned into your marketing mix, just like any other form of promotion. That way, your messages will be consistent and more effective as the traditional and new media promotions will boost and build upon each other.

Want to know more? Please feel free to call me on +44 (0)1283 808460 or email me for a copy of our Beginners’ Guide to Social Media.

The Write Solution provides digital PR packages, social media consultancy and training to help you identify which sites to use, how to plan social media into your marketing and enable it to work for you.

I look forward to speaking with you,

Hannah

Hannah Sookias The Write Solution Tel: 01283 808460

http://www.copywritingandpr.com/

Digital PR - Blog Writing - Social Media Training - Articles - Features - Public Relations

Why the words on your website are important

Did you know...?

• You have just 3 seconds to grab a visitor's attention when they visit your website



• The first sentence is paramount - if you don't interest them here, they will hit the back button



• Your information should clearly state the benefits of what you do and why they should buy from you.

For example: which would you prefer to read:

"Thank you for visiting our website. XXYZ Company has been established for 40 years and we are committed to giving our customers excellent service and value for money.

We pride ourselves on the quality of our products and services so please call us if you think we can help you."

or

"Eye catching designs at affordable prices. Now that’s something to smile about.

At XYZ Company, we are all about happy clients. So, we understand that you want an outstanding creative design agency that gives results and who understands the importance of your budget, however large or small."

Top Tips!

1. It is really hard writing about yourself and your company. So ask trusted clients why they use you time and time again as this will give you a useful insight into the benefits they value.


2. Use a professional business writer (also known as a copywriter) to help you write your website text. The Write Solution for example, will help you to:

• understand who you are targeting


• clearly state the messages and benefits you want to get across


• write interesting, punchy, to-the-point text


• weave in search-engine friendly keywords and phrases

Want to know more? Read our article, 'Why Use a Copywriter' or give me a call on 01283 808460 - I look forward to hearing from you.

Hannah

Hannah Sookias The Write Solution Tel: 01283 808460

http://www.copywritingandpr.com/

Digital PR - Website Text - Blog Writing - Social Media Training - Features - Public Relations

5 Top Tips - Attending Business Networking Events

How often have you been at networking meetings where everyone you meet is all about 'me, me, me'?

They start the conversation trying to sell you something and quickly move on when it becomes apparent that you are not currently in the market for what they are offering. I personally think that these types of people are really missing a trick. Here's why:

Don't dismiss someone just because they won't buy from you personally
Even when someone is unlikely to buy from you, it is worth spending a few moments getting to know them and their business... after all, they usually have at least one contact within their business and social circles who will be in the market for what you are offering. And you never know, they might just have a contact who you've been trying to connect with or who is looking to place a substantial order.

Give rather than receive (use a 'how can I help you' approach)
Having a giving approach rather than a taking one can reap massive benefits. We've already established that people like talking about themselves, so turn their habit into useful information for you.

By asking this question means that people are more likely to tell you the types of clients they are looking for and which industries they sell into, which means you are more able to pass on their details to your contacts.

When they have finished, always say whether you have any contacts they are looking for and thank them for giving you such useful information. Continue by telling the types of clients you are looking for and ask them specifically if they have any contacts in those fields.

You'll be amazed at how much more productive your meetings will be by trying to give rather than receive.

Other people are your best PR
Being recommended is the best form of public relations (PR). People are much more likely to believe someone else that you and your products are brilliant much more than they will believe you. Getting to know people at networking events means they are still able to promote you to their associates and clients, even if they don't buy from you.

Find out what people remember you for
I always find it fascinating to discover how people remember me. At many of the networking events I attend, I give a 60 second pitch about who I am and what I do. By listening to how people introduce me to others is an interesting insight into what people remember from these and the types of topics they are interested in. I then use this information to develop other one minute promotions to build on their interest.

Research and follow-up is important
If there is a delegate list published before the event, do use it to prepare for the meeting. Go with 5 people in mind that you would like to talk to. Ask other attendees you talk to if they know any of them and ask to be introduced.

Always try to follow up meetings with emails, tweets or other social media messages to the contacts you have spoken to. These needn't be all work related - in fact if you can weave a social conversation, it is all the better. How much nicer it is to sign off an email saying. "I hope your son's team has a good game on Saturday" or "Good luck in the Great North Run at the weekend"? It shows you are interested in them as a person as well as their business and something you can build on next time you meet.

Hannah
Hannah Sookias
The Write Solution
Tel: 01283 808460
http://www.copywritingandpr.com/
Digital PR - Blog Writing - Social Media Training - Articles - Features - Public Relations

A Beginner’s Guide to Social Media

What is Social Media?
Social media is the group name for websites that offer interaction between users.
They include blogs, message boards and sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube.

Why should I bother?
Social Media is a way for people to talk to each other in a way that has never been possible before.

Here are some facts:

• Over 100million videos are viewed every day on YouTube


• Facebook has over 250 million active users


• 3,000,000 messages are sent each day via Twitter


• Over 1,000,000,000 links to blog posts, web links, news stories, photos and notes are shared on Facebook each week.

Even if you think you’ve never used social networking, you probably have by reading a blog or watching a video from a Google search...

How Can Social Media Help My Business?
Social media gives you the opportunity to build your brand. It gives you interaction with your existing clients and potential customers. Most importantly, it gives you a way of talking with them, rather than at them.

It’s like networking, but on-line.

You’ll discover new ways to promote your business and the opportunity to increase your ranking on Google and other search engines. It can help you with PR, customer service, loyalty-building, collaboration, networking, thought-leadership and customer acquisition.

The Rules1. Listen
Just listen and observe. Research who is out there and who you want to reach. Join sites you are interested in but sit on your hands and resist the urge to start straight away. Good news travels fast... bad news (or comments) travel even faster!

2. Plan
Decide how you are going to use Social Media and work out the time and resources you will plough into it. If you need help, ask for it...

3. Engage
Think conversation not sales pitch. Even on the internet, people buy from people. Let your prospective clients get to know you and your thoughts and don’t start shouting your sales pitch as it just won’t work.

4. Measure & Review
Like all marketing, you need to know it is giving you a return on investment. Analyse website traffic, enquiries etc to see what works and don’t assume that social media will be the answer to everything!

Summary
Social media is here to stay, but without a plan of how we are trying to use it within our marketing mix, it is easy to waste our time and money. However, by putting together a clear plan of who we are trying to target, with which medium and defined messages can help you to interact with clients and potential customers to strengthen your brand and grow your business.

Many businesses I know have begun their social media experience by 'dipping a toe in the water'. And with training in how to plan their use of the different sites appropriate to their business (and in some cases, help writing blogs and posts) have grown its use so that it is now an integral part of their marketing.

If you would like any further advice, do give me a call for a no-obligation chat about using social media in your business - I look forward to hearing from you!

Hannah

Hannah Sookias
Sookias Media  Tel: 01283 808460 www.sookiasmedia.com
Digital PR - Blog Writing - Social Media Training - Articles - Features - Public Relations

Have UK businesses got the 'back to school' feeling?

There's something about autumn in the UK that gets everyone feeling that it is time to get back to business.

Perhaps it is the schools starting their new terms or the fact that business men and women have allowed themselves time off, to recharge their batteries and decide how and where to focus their energies.

So after all the recession difficulties over the last few months, I am pleased that this September is no different – backed up by today’s news that the British economy is showing positive signs of improvement.

So what can businesses do to help them become stronger over the coming months? I believe there are 7 important steps to help you business grow:

1. Dust off your business plan - know what you are trying to achieve and decide how you are going to get there.
2. Don’t try and do it all yourself. Use a sounding board and seek out experienced guidance to make the best use of your time.
3. Develop strategies to identify untapped opportunities. ‘Thinking out of the box’ is a well-worn but ever useful phrase to remember.
4. Spend time with clients to understand what they really want and to listen to their needs. If your business is unable to help them, see if you can recommend someone who can.
5. Check how your company is promoting itself. Are you promotions successful i.e. giving out the right messages and are they being heard by the right people?
6. The media loves good news stories. What have you been doing that they could report on? Can you issue the stories yourself or do you need external help?
7. Look at your promotional strategy – is it working for you? Do you need to investigate whether more use of social media, or digital marketing is required?
   

If you’d like to know more, do give me a call on 01283 808460 or come along to one of my autumn workshops. The next two are:

17 September Make the Most of Branding & Blogging £125.00
22 September Grow Your Business £ 50.00

Bookings can be made on-line at http://www.businesstipsandadvice.co.uk/ or by emailing me, Hannah@copywritingandpr.com.

Hannah Sookias, Founder - The Write Solution http://www.copywritingandpr.com/

What’s the secret to a successful blog?

What’s the secret to a successful blog?
  
Is it:

• One that’s full of interesting information?
• Somewhere that is regularly updated?
• A place where there are tips and advice?
• Sites that give an insight into the company, their values and ideas?
• All of the above? 

The biggest blogging stumbling blocks for many companies are being able to:
(a) decide what to write
(b) finding the time to actually write it and
(c) keeping the momentum going (something even the best of us struggle with sometimes!)


So what's the solution? Well, blogging should be part of a promotional strategy; it should have a reason and can be planned in advance. Yes, changes can be made to adapt to news items or business circumstances, but on the whole there should be a plan of action and an idea of what to write and why.

The secret for many companies to achieve this is to have a ghost blogger i.e. employ someone else to help them plan and write their blogs for them!

Words of advice: Choosing someone to write your blog for you does contain a large element of trust, so it is wise to spend time with them, putting a strategy and plan together. Decide how often the blog will be written, the topics to be covered and any ground rules (e.g. making sure you see and approve the copy before it is posted).

Hannah Sookias, Founder - Sookias Media www.sookiasmedia.com

PS Sookias Media helps many clients with their blog writing and offers packages to graphic and web designers so they can offer additional services to their customers. Do contact me if you'd like more details!

Does your website pass the 10 year old test?

Do you have a website? Have you read it recently? More importantly, have you asked a ten year old to read it?

You are probably wondering by this point why children aged 10 are important - especially if you sell products and services that are targeted at adults and businesses rather than girls and boys.

Well, I'll let you into a copywriting secret - the best marketing literature is written in language that has a reading age of ten.

That way, your text is easy-to-read, it can be scanned quickly and your messages come across quickly and clearly.

This is all vitally important when you only have between 3-7 seconds to make an impression and persuade a visitor to look further into your site, or turn over the page of a catalogue or brochure.

Yes, you can have more technical pages and documents included, but the main pages need to be easy to read and tell visitors quickly and easily what it is you do and why they should buy from your company.

Hannah Sookias
Founder - The Write Solution
http://www.copywritingandpr.com/

PS If you don't have a friendly ten year old, do give me a call and we'll pass it by ours!