Linda Dessau – Page 56

Should You Outsource Your Social Media? Yes and No

April 4, 2011 By Linda Dessau

Building your business with social media takes time and consistency. And with entire blogs, courses and books devoted to doing social media “right,” it can be intimidating to get started.

Some people wish – and maybe you’re one of them – they could just hand this whole social media thing over to someone else. So when they find out I’m a ghostwriter who specializes in web content, they sometimes ask, “Linda, will you ‘do’ my social media for me?”

The short answer is “no,” but the longer answer is “yes and no.” Let me explain:

In social media, there are two equally important components – content and connection.

Content is made up of all the great ideas, opinions, perspectives and resources that you want to share with your network, often via your blog. Having masterful content is the best way to promote your business on social media and help people get to know you.

Connection is all of the back-and-forth interaction you have with current and prospective clients, as well as your fellow business owners, neighbours and other online friends. This is how you get to know people.

More importantly, by connecting directly to your readers and colleagues, you’ll get to see which content they’re looking at and liking. What do they link to or forward along to their networks? When you post something new, do you get comments and interaction, or do you just hear crickets?

Pay attention! These details will teach you more about how to create the content that would be most helpful to your readers.

Many hands make masterful content

Yes! You can outsource your content creation by working with a writer and/or editor who can take your ideas and help you put them into writing.

Ghost blogging is a big part of what I do. My clients and I work together to create feature articles, along with related pieces of connective content they can post to their blog and/or send via email to their mailing list.

Along with that, I’ll usually provide several social media updates for each post. These are designed to announce the new content and invite my clients’ social networks to view it.

And the outsourcing doesn’t have to stop there. Many of my clients have a VA or other team member who will publish the piece to their blog and/or email service provider (or maybe they’ve automated their weekly newsletter), as well as pre-scheduling their social media updates.

Relationships are built through direct connection

No! I won’t and can’t effectively handle this part for you – and neither can anyone else, in my opinion. Connection must come directly from you, or you’re not building the kinds of honest, trusting relationships that will grow your business – not to mention the ethical considerations of someone else pretending to be you.

So even when you’ve outsourced and gotten help with content creation and publication, it’s YOUR job to monitor any responses.

If you’re concerned about missing these messages – or you don’t want to lose productivity by constantly checking your accounts, sign up for a free service like Postling. They’ll notify you by email once a day, or even the instant someone mentions you in a social network or anywhere else on the web.

Aside from posting your own content and responding to comments, it’s also your role to start new conversations and comment on other people’s content. Social networking is just like networking offline, and you’ll succeed by applying these networking basics:

Be visible
Be positive
Help out
Educate

To maintain your productivity (and sanity), try blocking out specific times through the day when you’ll go into your Postling account (or other social media dashboard) to participate in conversations and/or start some new ones. Batching the tasks this way will help you make conscious choices about how much time you’re spending on social media.

So by all means, outsource the task of creating great content to share on social media. After all, it’s a lot easier to plant your flag of expertise on top of a mountain of content. Then, practice applying your offline networking skills to this new medium. Let’s keep this social – and fun!

Top 10 Signs You Need a Blogging Retreat

April 2, 2011 By Linda Dessau

You feel embarrassed to send anyone to your blog because you haven't posted in so long.
You're bubbling over with new blog post ideas and haven't had the time to develop any of them.
You've been staring at the same unfinished post for longer than you can remember or care to admit.
You learn new writing skills but then forget them by the time you're sitting down to write your next blog post.
You have an approaching event or product launch and you want to promote it with valuable content.
You made a New Year's resolution to blog more this year – whatever happened with that?
You have writer's block.
You start to work on your blog but end up distracted by other things.
Your blog always ends up last on your to do list.
You're a better and more productive writer when you can work at a relaxed pace and focus on one thing at a time.

If some or most of these signs sound like you, please join me for the next Content Mastery Action Day presentation call on Thursday, April 14, 2011 from 9:30-10:00 a.m. Eastern to learn "How to Create Your Own Blogging Retreat."

We'll cover:

Why retreats work
How to prepare for a blogging retreat
How to draft three months worth of weekly blog posts in one weekend
How to keep the momentum going and finish the job
How to capture and develop impromptu ideas in between retreats

Note: This post was inspired by a previous article on the Genuine Coaching Services website.

Weekly Blog Posts I’d Like to See from WriteaBio.com

March 28, 2011 By Linda Dessau

Barbra asked for blog topic ideas for WriteaBio.com, saying, "It's not currently a blog but I want to add a blog component. My audience is anyone who needs to write a bio, which ranges from executives to tradespeople."

When I visited Barbra's site, I saw that it was indeed geared to people in a WIDE variety of industries. What do they all have in common? They're looking for a job, or some sort of career change.

And so a valuable topic for a monthly feature article might be job interview/meeting tips, e.g., confident communication strategies, the importance of non-verbal cues, preparing for your interview, or even hints about clothing and make-up/accessories.

Of course there's already been lots written about this topic, so be sure to put a creative slant on your posts. Try something like, "How job interviews are like ________," or "What _________ can teach you about job interviews."

In between those monthly feature articles, I'd suggest playing off the main topic with industry-specific suggestions that help people make the best impression in their particular field or industry.

And how about some case study examples from your customers? You already have some wonderful testimonials on the site – can you approach some of those people to do a more in-depth interview with you? Photos would also enrich these stories – especially if you can capture people "in action" at work.

For more connective content, you could also be combing newspapers and blogs for interesting stories about job interviews and career success stories, and playing off those from your own perspective and experience as a career coach.

Now that was a challenge – blog topic ideas for a site that doesn't have a blog yet! Thanks for playing along, Barbra – I can't wait to see what you do with them.

Do you need some ideas for YOUR weekly blog posts? You can submit your blog for consideration and I will write a post just like this one – but it will be about YOU, YOUR business and YOUR prospective clients.

Click here to apply now.

Could Your Last Email Exchange Be Your Next Blog Post?

March 28, 2011 By Linda Dessau

As I was thumbing through (yes, I printed out the e-book) Karri Flatla's new Sales Page Relief package, I noticed she had a section about how to craft a mobile version of your sales page or "mini website."

Typepad does a decent job of displaying my website on mobile devices (at least from what I've seen on my iPod Touch), though not as nice as the Genuine Coaching website I recently re-built using Weebly.

I've been wondering whether I should bother creating a separate mobile version of this site, so I emailed Karri to ask what she thought. When she replied promptly with a stellar answer, I immediately suggested she post it to her blog – and so she did!

She was respectful enough to leave my name out until she could check with me, but of course I was happy to tell the world about how brilliant she is.

You can read Karri's post at: Wondering if You Need a Mobile Website? Some Things to Consider. [Update January 19, 2013 – This blog post is no longer available, but check out how Karri is bringing a coaching approach to real estate in Lethbridge, Alberta!]

Writing prompt: Has anyone responded to one of your emails lately by saying something like, "Thanks, that was really helpful!"? If so, see if you can re-work that email exchange into a blog post that ALL of your readers can learn from.

How Will Weekly Blogging Make Me More Money? Coach Bloggers Talk…

March 18, 2011 By Linda Dessau

Some coaches wonder whether there's any point to blogging or if it's worth their time. Their bottom line question: Am I going to get more clients? And the real bottom line question: Am I going to make more money?

I spoke to some accomplished coach bloggers to get their answers:

Blogging shows prospective clients whether they can relate to you

Glain Roberts-McCabe is the Founder and President of The Executive Roundtable, devoted to supporting ambitious mid-career leaders. She's a regular blogger (sometimes multiple posts per week) and says that even if they’re not reading every post, people are still seeing her posts go by (for example, on her LinkedI n updates), and that's a good thing because it keeps her "top of mind." People tell her she always seems to be showing up on their screen. This reinforces the perception that her business is fresh, there's always something new going on and she is at the forefront of her industry.

And she's met prospective clients, who've sent feedback like "I totally believe what you’re saying [in this post]." Glain told me, "[Blogging] is a very powerful way for coaches to connect to an audience. It's important for clients to feel like they can relate to you, and if they're reading your blog, they’ll either like your tone of voice or they won’t."

Even the busiest people are online looking for information

Some coaches scoff at blogging, because they say their clients and prospects are too busy to read blogs. Dr. Marcia Reynolds is the author of Wander Woman: How High-Achieving Women Find Contentment and Direction, and a pioneer in the coaching profession. She is also a busy blogger, contributing regularly to Huffington Post and Psychology Today, as well as her own blog.

Marcia told me that her audience of executives and leaders may be too busy to read LONG posts, but they are definitely online looking for information. They want "sound bites," she said. "People who don’t write in a quick-scan format won’t get read."

Marcia has found that blogging has helped expand her visibility, so that when she publishes a new book or launches a new program, she has a wider audience. And even when prospective clients have discovered her another way, she finds that they still check out her blogs as a way to get to know her better – before they call.

Blogging helps establish your credibility

Peter Bregman is the author of 18 Minutes: Find Your Focus, Master Distraction, and Get the Right Things Done (September 2011). As CEO of Bregman Partners, Inc., he is a management consultant who coaches CEOs and leadership teams at some of the world's premier organizations. He also writes a weekly blog post for the Harvard Business Review and occasionally contributes to Fast Company and CNN opinion. He spends at least one day per week writing, and says, "I love it so it's easy to make time for it."

He also cautions that blogging is a mistake for people who are doing it simply to get clients. "If you don't enjoy the writing, and you're not dying to get new ideas out every week, then it will feel like a real burden to blog and it will be a huge challenge to sustain." (A note from Linda: Remember, you don't need to completely re-invent the wheel every week. You just need to present the information from your own unique and creative perspective.)

How has blogging influenced Peter's business? He said that blogging helps establish credibility, which has made it easier to get new clients.

As for me, one of the biggest benefits that weekly blogging has had for my business success is that my confidence as an expert has sky-rocketed. As I explained in a previous post, it's much easier to plant your flag of expertise on top of a mountain of content.

Is weekly blogging in your future? Contact us today to learn how we can help!

P.S. Update February 2, 2013 – For more insight into this topic, scroll to the end of this article for Mark Schaefer's crystal clear explanation of the six ways you can money with a blog.