I felt that this was a much needed message to share with you because the most precious thing we have in life that no amount of money can replace is TIME.
How valuable is your TIME?
What is the definition of TIME?
Let's take a look:
TIME
Definition - A number, as of years, days, or minutes, representing such an interval: One's lifetime, One's period of greatest activity or engagement. A person's experience during a specific period or on a certain occasion.
Your time is valuable and should be spent wisely.
I bet you're wearing countless hats and doing your very best to maintain balance in your life. On top of that you now have to learn all about this social media thing because you know how important it can be to contributing to the success of your business.
Time is priceless!
Just like you're taking the time to read this note.
I value your time and I'll do my best to ensure that your time spent with me is productive, educational, and of course I'll try to make it fun too!
I can tell you that for me learning is fun! When you learn something new and exciting which helps you become more effective and efficient in your business you better have a smile on your face.
Are you smiling now?
Hold on because you will be in a few minutes! :)
I know that it can be an extremely frustrating and confusing experience when you dive into social media marketing head first. On a daily basis you see all the new tools coming out and countless applications you can add and it leads you to question after question.
You can spend so much time just trying to figure what tools are available let alone what tools you should use for your business!
Pretty overwhelming isn't it?
While this note can't possibly cover this huge subject I plan to help make your social media marketing journey a simple, easy, effective and fun experience for you and your business.
Sound good?
Great!
One thing that I want you to know right upfront is that I'm not an expert, guru, authority, or 'Jedi' in social media marketing nor will I ever claim to be. Social Media Marketing to me is just like our tax code and no single person can or will master it all.
Why?
Because it's constantly changing, evolving, and improving even as I write this note!
What I can tell you is that it doesn't take an expert to understand social media marketing nor does it take an expert to learn how to make social media marketing work for YOU!
Good news right?
You betcha!
What I want to share with you is what works for me and that's it. I don't believe in teaching others about something that I don't use myself.
Fair enough?
Great!
We all want to save time and be more effective so what can I possibly share with you in 5 steps that can accomplish that?
Well, for starters let me ask you a few simple questions that may shed a little light on the subject.
Would you be able to save time if you can create one message in one location that automatically posts as a tweet to your Twitter account and a status update on your Facebook account?
Would it save you time if at that same location you're also able to shorten your URL links?
Would you be more effective if you could schedule your tweets and updates to be sent out on a time and date scheduled basis?
Would you be more effective if you could track and view how many of your followers and friends are clicking through your links that are embedded in your tweets and updates?
These are just a few of the many benefits that you will uncover after you learn and apply the following '5 Steps to Being More Effective & Efficient in Social Media Marketing.'
Best of all is it's FREE!
Let's get started shall we?
Step 1
Set up a Twitter Account
If you're not set up on Twitter then first things first.
Watch the Twitter in Plan English video at http://vimeo.com/757146
Pretty neat video huh?
Now, go to http://www.twitter.com and set up an account. I'm sure that most of you are on Twitter but if you're not now is the time to get started. Once you have set up a Twitter account move onto step 2.
Step 2
Sync Facebook with Twitter
Log into your Facebook account and add the Twitter application. To install the Twitter app click on the applications tab and do a search for the Twitter application. Once you accept the Twitter application make sure to have your Twitter ‘Username' and ‘Password' handy as this is required to sync your Twitter account with Facebook.
Once you have completed this step all future tweets that you send will automatically post as status updates to your Facebook account as well. This is an incredible time saver and allows you to communicate with your followers on Twitter and friends on Facebook at the same time.
Let's move onto step 3!
Step 3
Set up a Hoot Suite Account
What is Hoot Suite?
Hoot Suite is the ultimate Twitter toolbox where you can manage multiple Twitter profiles, pre-schedule tweets, and measure your click through success rates. I love this tool because it allows you to be much more effective and efficient in your social media communication.
I'm sure you've heard me talk about how providing 'value' to your friends and followers is key but what's even more important is to continue to improve that 'value' more and more over time. One of the ways to improve the value in what you send out is to track the click through rates of your messages.
The more you can track what your friends and followers prefer to receive the more effective and productive your social experience becomes!
To set up a Hoot Suite account go to http://hootsuite.com/
Step 4
Sync Hoot Suite with Twitter
Now that you have a hoot suite account you need to sync your Twitter profile to hoot suite. To do this log into your hoot suite account and click on the ‘Add Twitter Profile' tab. Hoot Suite will require you to type in your Twitter Username and Password in order to validate your account. You can add as many Twitter profiles to hoot suite as you wish. Pretty neat huh?
Guess what?
Now you have Hoot Suite, Twitter, and Facebook all synched together!
Step 5
Send out a message with an embedded URL (Tweet / Status Update)
From your Hoot Suite account click on the ‘Create New Tweet' tab. Now type in a message that you want your followers on Twitter and Friends on Facebook to see. Remember it can only be 140 characters but don't worry Hoot Suite lets you know if it's too long. Preferably send out a message with a link that you can shorten. You'll see that right in the ‘Create New Tweet' window it allows you to shorten your URL right from within Hoot Suite. Incredible time saver rather than having to go to tinyurl.com all the time.
What's even better is once you send out your message from Hoot Suite you can view the click through rates of all your messages that contain URLs embedded in the message!
How sweet is that!
For example:
Create New Tweet message -
Example - Got a great business idea? Are you on track to launch? Avoid the '3 Startup Dead Zones' that most entrepreneurs face. http://ow.ly/J08
Notice - After you shorten your URL it will automatically be placed at the end of your message.
Hot Tip! - Notice that after you create your message you also have the ability to choose to send the message now or select a date and time when you prefer the message to go out. You can even choose to have Hoot Suite send you an email to let you know that your message was sent.
How sweet is that!
Now click on the ‘Submit' tab
Congratulations you have just completed the 5 Steps!
Now your message will be sent out to your Twitter profile as a tweet and will be sent as a status update on your Facebook profile. I encourage you to watch the effectiveness of your messages by logging into Hoot Suite and monitoring your click through rates.
I hope that you have enjoyed just one of the many ways you can work smarter in social media marketing not harder.
Remember -
Until you value yourself, you will not value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it. ~ M. Scott Peck
Make it a great day!
Marco
President
National Entrepreneur Club
Marco Carbajo is a business credit specialist and social media marketing trainer. He is author of many credit related articles and is President of the National Entrepreneur Club. An online membership community for entrepreneurs and business owners that makes building business credit and social media marketing Simple to Use, Easy to Understand, Effective for You and Affordable for Everyone.
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