How do you schedule content?

Don't get overwhelmed at the idea of posting content on social channels regularly, write it in bulk (or get someone else to do it) and then schedule it! (Here's some inspiration for finding good content to schedule too.)

How do I schedule my social content?

There are lots of different tools that can do this. I'm going to talk about scheduling straight to Facebook and two tools that will let you schedule to multiple other channels. 

Scheduling directly to Facebook

I can't help but be a bit of a pessimist when it comes to Facebook not penalizing third party apps when posting to your Facebook page. That means that I recommend that when you schedule content to Facebook, you do it right in Facebook.

The good news is that it's really simple. When you go to your Facebook page, write the post as you would if you were posting it right away. Instead of clicking post, click to the right of post and select Schedule. 

Editing or making changes is just as easy by going to the very top of your Facebook page and selecting Publishing Tools and then going in to your scheduled posts tab on the left.

Using Hootsuite for scheduling

Hootsuite is a tool that I use more for engaging and organizing my content (mostly Twitter in fact) but it has a lot of capabilities for scheduling. A free account lets you connect 3 accounts and a paid account will let you add more accounts and more users. 

Hootsuite connects to:

• Twitter
• Facebook (personal account, pages and groups)
• LinkedIn
• Google+
• Wordpress

Scheduling is easy and you can schedule the same content to multiple channels (as long as that makes sense - remember that most of the time you want to use different language and tone depending on the channel). Select the channel you want to schedule to from the dropdown on the left and select the calendar to open up the scheduling options.

There are two easy ways to find the content afterwards if you want to change anything. Either select the publisher icon on the left hand toolbar (it looks like a paper airplane)

or create a stream for scheduled content, which is my preferred way of doing it. 

Using Buffer to schedule content

The tool that I use the most for scheduling is Buffer. Like Hootsuite it has limited capability unless you have a paid account (which I have).

Buffer connects to:

• Twitter
• Facebook (personal, page or group)
• LinkedIn (personal or page)
• Google+
• Pinterest

You can schedule to multiple channels at once and easily access your scheduled content by selecting your channel on the left hand side and viewing the queue tab.

Buffer also has a plugin you can install to Chrome that makes it easy for you to schedule content as you're browsing the web. It even has an advanced schedule that lets you schedule the content to post more than once, which is handy for scheduling your own new content.

Which tool should you pick?

A lot of what you pick comes down to preference. Scheduling will take a lot of the daily pressure off of your online marketing work, so even though learning a new tool can feel like a big time commitment it will save you time in the long run - for real :) 

I find Buffer a bit easier to use because everything is bigger and there is more white space. Hootsuite has the ability to see more at once which can make it a more useful dashboard for some. I recommend you give both a try with the free version and see if you have a preference.

Leave me a comment and let me know what tool you have been using for scheduling and what you like about it. I know there are some I didn't mention too!

Tell your audience why you're worth their time

Once you've figured out why you're using online marketing, who you're talking to and what you want them to know, you have to convince people to pay attention. One thing business owners overlook when they ask people to sign up for their email newsletter, like them on Facebook or follow them on Instagram is sharing what's in it for them.

What are you giving your audience?

You need to figure out what your audience values and what you can give them.

There is too much content online for people to spend time reading things they don't care about. That means you need to really understand what your audience is looking for and give them that.

It's about them - not you. The happier you make them, the more likely they are to spend money with you down the line. You're building a relationship with your audience where they value you, your expertise and your content.

How do you know what they want?

You need to figure out the perfect blend between what you want people to know about you, what you're trying to achieve and what they want. It can be tricky to navigate this, so here are a few examples:

For me, I share content. I sell my knowledge, but I also give it away. Why give it away? People who follow me online are looking for knowledge and by giving them some for free they a) believe I know what I'm talking about, b) get a taste for what they could get by paying to work with me, and c) start to appreciate what they got for free and think of me as their go-to person.

Another example would be someone who sells cooking tools. Their audience wants to cook. What can they share with them? Tips on how to cook efficiently, recipes they can make, tips on cooking for a family or cooking for a party. They are giving them information that their audience wants while reinforcing that they sell great cooking tools that can make cooking even easier/better.

A third example would be a personal trainer. They need to convince people that they know what they're doing, share tips on things they can do now on their own, and demonstrate that they understand the demographic they want to work with. If they love to work with new moms, they need to share photos and articles about being a new mom, fitness for a new mom, understanding the difficulties of fitting fitness in as a new mom. That messaging, the articles shared and the things new moms would want to work on are very different than that of say a 45-year old man looking to get in shape.

Putting the pieces together to provide value for your audience, while not forgetting what you're trying to achieve can feel overwhelming, but it doesn't have to be. By breaking down each piece and then pulling them together, your marketing message will become clear.

If you need any help brainstorming, book one of my 45-minute coaching calls and I'll help you work through it all!

Social Media Simplified: Filling up your key message buckets

There are three things you need to have a solid understanding of to find success with online marketing: goals, audience and what you want people to know.

Today we're going to talk about the final piece - what you want people to know, otherwise known as your key messages.

What do you want people to know about your business?

When I'm working one-on-one with business owners I ask them what makes their business stand out, what makes them different, what are they proud of and what should everyone know about their business?

Think about these questions for a minute or two and then write down 3 or 4 answers. Here are a few examples:

• I simplify social media
• We have experts on site that can help you figure out what product is the best for you
• Exercise will make you feel better
• We use only the best quality local ingredients

If you're struggling to figure out what your key messages are, go back to your goals and your audience and think about both of them. What do people need to know or believe for you to reach your goals? What would convince your audience that you're a good fit for them?

Here are a few more examples of key messages:

• Yoga during pregnancy can help during labour and delivery
• A personal chef service can save you money
• Kids don't need a lot of toys to be happy

What do you do with this information?

Now that you have these key messages figured out, what do you do with them? Let your key messages guide your content.

I like to think of key messages as buckets. Each bucket has a key message on the outside and every piece of content that I share, whether it be something that I wrote or something that I found, supports one of my key messages. For example:

An article that shows how much food the average family throws out in a week - I can put it in the bucket showing that a personal chef service can save you money by cutting down on waste created by those meals you meant to cook, but never got around to.

An article on how 10 minutes of walking a day can increase quality of life - I can put that in the bucket that says exercise will make you feel better.

I can share a photo of some ingredients that just got dropped off by a local farmer and tag the farm - that falls into the bucket about using the best quality local ingredients.

I can share a blog post about how to set up a Facebook page step-by-step - that falls into my I simplify social media bucket.

You now have a method for qualifying content - if something doesn't fall into one of the buckets, does it really make sense for you to share it? Maybe, but the answer more often is no.

You have buckets to fill. Challenge yourself to find 3 or 4 things that back up each of your key messages. Write some tips, take some photos, write a blog post or share some articles that prove your point. 

Leave a comment and let me know what some of your key messages are what kind of content you can put in each bucket to back those key messages up!

What are you trying to achieve by using social media?

I've been conducting a lot of one on one sessions lately and before we can come up with a strategy for any specific social media efforts it's really important to be clear on three things:

• What are you trying to achieve?
• Who are you talking to?
• What do you want them to know?

Over the next little while I'm going to write a post for each of those questions to hep you figure out how to answer them. Once you have those three things clear it will be a lot easier for you to figure out what you should be saying online.

What are your goals?

Spend some time thinking about your business goals in general but more specifically about what you're hoping to achieve by being online. It's probably (though not necessarily) a given that one of your goals is to make more money. But your goals may also include things like:

• Being known as an expert at something
• Being seen as a resource on a certain topic
• Expanding your audience geographically or demographically
• Getting more engagement online and building community
• Increasing sales in a certain part of your business
• Getting other people to talk about you to their communities

Because it always helps to see specific examples I'll share some of mine and create some fictional examples:

• Be seen as an expert in explaining social media for small business
• Be seen as an expert in nutrition and wellness
• Expand audience beyond the Ottawa-area
• Expand audience to new moms 
• Increase sales in one-on-one coaching and speaking
• Create content that is linked to by other bloggers and media outlets
• Be more findable in search

You can be even more precise and create goals that are channel-specific:

• Increase Facebook likes by 300 people
• Establish a presence on YouTube and get 1000 video views
• Get retweeted and tagged by industry experts on Twitter

Really understand what you're trying to achieve

The more you work to figure out these goals and why you're setting them, the more likely you are to be able to work them into your plan efficiently. Take a few minutes and write down an explanation of what you mean by each one and why they're important to you.

For example:

I really enjoy helping small business owners figure out how to use social media for their business. I get charged and excited when having one-on-one coaching calls with business owners and hearing them figure out what they could be doing. Their lightbulb moments make my day. I want to do more of that so I need to make it clear that this is something that I do, like to do and am good at.

You may feel that it's time to expand beyond your local market. You like to spend time in Toronto and Boston and want to start by growing your audience in those specific cities next. To do that, you need to start to grow an audience in those cities so there is already a start of a customer base in those cities when you arrive to hold an event or launch a product.

Time to do the work

I challenge you to spend 10 minutes right now coming up with 3 or 4 goals for your use of social media over the next 6 months. Really think about what you like to do, what you want to be doing and why you want to be doing it. Then leave a comment and share some with us here!

Newsletter sign ups a must at your next trade show

This past weekend I checked out the Live the Smart Way Expo that was happening here in Ottawa. I had quite a few friends exhibiting and I was excited to check out a show that was getting great buzz.

My friend Julie of The Magic Fridge at the Live the Smart Way Expo

Because I can never quite turn off my work mode, as I walked around the show I couldn't help but notice how many people had nothing at their booths that would give them an opportunity to follow up with the people that they met. Thousands of people would walk by and might even take notice of them, but how many of those people would ACTUALLY take the printed materials you give them and later get in touch?

A trade show is the perfect place to get new email subscribers onto your newsletter list. It allows you the opportunity to follow up with them and then to continue staying top of mind moving forward. Here are a few tips to help you do this effectively at your next trade show:

Have an incentive

People don't WANT to be on hundreds of mailing lists so you need to give people a reason to sign up. A giveaway is a really great way to do this. The important piece here is to make the giveaway applicable to what you do because while you want as many email addresses as possible, you don't want email addresses of completely unqualified leads. 

A great example of a giveaway that isn't a good fit for most people is an iPad. Why? Everyone wants an iPad. They'll sign up and then unsubscribe as soon as you send them anything - all they wanted was the iPad. Instead, offer something that relates to your business i.e., a gift certificate for your business, access to a free class, an hour of consulting, a free rental, etc.

Tell people 

Have signage and verbally encourage people to sign up. When you talk to people and they seem interested in what it is you do, let them know they can sign up to get updates, promotions, and other great information - and also let them know that they might win whatever great thing it is you're giving away.

If you have a big booth with things for people to touch and feel and see, make sure that you have signs at the different sides of the booth, or possibly multiple sign up sheets and/or ballot boxes to make it as easy as possible for people to see the opportunity and take advantage of it.

Follow up

It's great that you got all those email addresses, but you need to make sure that you follow up within a week of getting all the email addresses.  

Why? Because if you wait too long they could forget how they got on the list and be frustrated when your email does show up. Not only that though, it's an opportunity to reinforce what they learned at the show.

Tell them it was great to meet them, send them some links and extra information on what you do and that they might find interesting, and offer them a special time-limited promotion. That one-time email to just the people you met at the show will then set the stage for future emails you send.

A quick note about the Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation. To make sure you stay compliant, make it clear with a check box for newsletter that someone is agreeing to get emails from you by giving you their name and email address. Then keep that documentation, either by scanning it and saving it or just keeping paper copies permanently.

So, next time you're at a trade show, don't miss out on this great opportunity - get those email addresses for your mailing list!