Have you got aim?

I regularly hear from people that they haven't got time to be on social media, or that it doesn't apply to them. 

I've written before about choosing the right platform for your business, it's true that each platform suits different business models better, but it's important to be on all platforms to maximise your visibility. I truly believe that all businesses can use social media as part of their marketing strategy, it's just about finding the right method.

When it comes to spending time on social media, if you are targeted and specific/relevant to your business you will have success. Don't get me wrong. Don't brag about how great you are and shout buy my stuff, let other people do that. Inform people about your area of business. Ie share some relevant blogs or articles from your industry. Demonstrate your knowledge. 

If you use automation, make it chatty as well as informative about you and your services and your industry. Make sure your content is relative to your business. Make sure the right people are hearing what you've got to say. 

Instead of ignoring businesses similar to yours, build relationships with them. Retweet them occasionally, you never know there may be an opportunity to work together or to refer each other. 

Before you start posting, decide what you want to achieve from social media. If you have a goal to work towards, your posts will be much more targeted, and you are more likely to get a positive relevant response. 

Having an effective social media strategy is vital in maximising your time on social media. For my clients I not only write thstrategies, but I also include an action sheet for them to follow, so they know what to do daily, weekly, bi- weekly and monthly. 

The biggest thing to remember about social media, which I say time and time again, is it's a marathon not a sprint, and you need to put the time in to build the relationships and it will take time to get the sales, but once they start happening you will see a dramatic increase in them, so keep going!

Having an effective social media strategy is vital in maximising your time on social media. For my clients I not only write their strategies, but I also include an action sheet for them to follow, so they know what to do daily, weekly, bi- weekly and monthly. 

My Guide To Writing A Social Media Strategy is nearly finished, I'll let you know when it's ready for sale! In the meantime, you can now do social media workshops for just £20pp, check out my website for more information!

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly Social Media Apps

Everyone who knows me knows I'm a complete and total Apple Addict. Whilst I use my macbook for setting up client stuff and the likes, I run most of my social media through my iPhone or iPad.

My friend Maz Hawes of Light and Day Photography is the app queen, and always introduces me to new apps, especially when they concern social media. Seriously, this woman is an app machine, she refused to tell me how much she spends on apps a month, but needless to say, she's also addicted, but on another level to me!

It got me thinking.....there's loads and loads of apps for social media, but which ones are the best? Obviously this is totally subjective, and you may disagree, but these are the ones I love, wish were better, and I really really dislike!

The Good:

1. Tweetbot. (£1.99)

This is the one that got me thinking about the apps. It's beautiful. I've yet to learn enough about it, but its intuitiveness, its simplicity and its interface are just fantastic. It seems totally in tune with Apple products and I love it. I know it's £1.99, but just buy it, you'll soon see why, it's so lovely and beautiful, you will see why it's my number 1!

2. Flipboard (free)

I have mixed feelings about Flipboard. I really love the interface, I love the way it looks, but I just can't quite get to grips with it. It's not my go to app, it's more something I use to show other people the functionality of the iPad. Those that do get it rave about it, so I'm obviously missing something, which is why it's one of the good ones!

3. Lazy Unfollow (69p)  and Unfollow (free)

They aren't very pretty, and it's a bit slow, but it's one of the most useful tools I use when it comes to sorting out my twitter follows. There is a warning involved though! Please please don't use the shoutout tool! Either you will swamp your stream with thanks to people, (I made this mistake, my followers weren't happy!) or by saying who unfollowed you, you basically are telling the whole of twitter you've been dumped, and they will wonder why they're following you too!

4. Foursquare. (free)

People ask me what 4square is all the time. Basically, it's a game, that harnesses my competitive nature and let's my twitter or Facebook followers/friends know where I am (which can be a bit weird but more of that later). The app itself is lovely, its beautifully made, and easy to navigate. I only wish it would know your twitter friends so tagging was easier.

5. Instagram

Apart from selling out to Facebook, do I really need to explain this one?!?!


The Bad:

1. Hootsuite (free for basic use)

I love love love hoot suite on my laptop. I love it, I wouldn't be without it. It helps me manage at least 20 accounts in various locations (twitter, Facebook, linkedin) it does all sorts of amazing things, and I couldn't be a bigger fan. I have been certified hootsuite professional for some time now, so I can share it's beauty with other people.

BUT!!!

The iPhone and iPad app is, in my opinion, rubbish. I much prefer the pre installed apps, and they manage all my accounts perfectly well. I really wish hoot suite would sort this out, as  I miss it when I'm not near the laptop!

Having said that, Michelle Dalley of Creating Media loves it, but then, she says she won't try anything else because she doesn't like change! Maybe I'll shame her into it now!

2. LinkedIn (free)

Oh LinkedIn....I don't really like you at the best of times...I mean, you've got your place, and I know you're necessary, but the app just doesn't cut it IMO. I can do a few bits and pieces, and it looks reasonably smart, but it's slow and irritating. There's no intuitive feel to it, and as a creative person this makes me lose interest immediately.  Cardmunch on the other hand, is fantastic! It saves me a lot of time and is the only reason I persevere with LinkedIn!

3. Facebook for Iphone (free)

Ugh! They just won't stop messing about with the app! I hate updating it, because you don't know what's going to go wrong on it when you do! You can't share statuses, photos or anything else, which is really irritating when you're out and about. It's slow, doesn't load my stream half the time, it's push notifications are rubbish, and when you're worth billions of dollars, there's no excuse! Sort it out! I don't bother with the messenger app, so if you do, I would love to hear your thoughts!

The Ugly

1. Google +

Google + I love you SO much, you will one day make LinkedIn obsolete, I wonder if Facebook are floating now because they recognise you've numbered their days. I know people are being slow to get to grips with you, and whilst we early adopters luxuriate in your oversubscribed but under used pool, one day you will dominate all. Your use of subscribers information to influence SEO will soon make people realise how important it is to be active on there.

HOWEVER!!!

Your app is rubbish!! Fair enough, the recent update made it a much more pleasant place to be, but oh my goodness, how many times do we have to ask for you to include business pages and the administration of???! Please please sort it out. Once you do that, we will all be a lot more active whilst we try to boost our business position on google rankings. Using the app on an iPad is completely pointless, so I'm not going to bother even talking about it, just please sort it out!

You're the only one on my list because I really need you to take notice, please please please google. sort it asap! Maybe it's because you're flawed that I love you so much. Maybe it's because it's where my friends hang out most. I don't know, but I know I need you to get the app sorted.