social media for solopreneurs and small businesses

Social Media for Solopreneurs(and small business owners)

Social Media Breakfast Los Angeles, Coupa Café

Presented by Jaclyn Mullen @jaclynmullen

“The Jaclyn of All Trades”

JaclynMullenMedia.com

Every small business and solopreneur starts with a story………..

• At Social Media Breakfast a few months ago, Neal Schaeffer suggested that you always get the background on “social media experts” so here goes. – I started working in ninth grade. I’ve worked in restaurants,

retail, hair salons, offices, commercial real estate, entertainment, radio, HR consulting.

– I went to school at the University of Miami and studied Music Business.

– I’m half Armenian and my mom’s parents were entrepreneurs.

– My dream had always been to move to LA to become an…………………………….

Entertainer! (but entrepreneurs are entertainers in their own way, right?)

Entertainers and those of us in the social media space have a lot in common: we both require an AUDIENCE to connect with.

Jaclyn Mullen Media

• Claim to fame: helped a client raise $1244 in one hour solely through Twitter (@pwrof2)

• At present: Jaclyn Mullen Media works with small businesses as well as emerging brands that are consumer facing and primarily female focused. Categories include: beauty, entertainment, food, fitness, wellness.

• 100% funded by me! Bootstrapping all the way to the bank and proud of it.

Jaclyn Mullen Media, Continued• On average, personally manage and oversee 8 brands at

present. – Some are more Facebook centric, some are more Twitter centric.– There are profiles with a VERY strong sense of community

vs platforms and audiences who convert on short, specific calls to action.

• This juggling act has taught me how to be smart, swift and strategic. – It’s taught me to create content, cultivate communication and

connect with people!• Benchmarks I am most concerned with: Organic increase in Twitter

followers, Alexa rank, Facebook engagement. And yes, email

acquisition and open rates too.

Prior to the growth of Jaclyn Mullen Media

• I used to be guilty of 16 tweets or more a day! Let’s face it, it’s fun to be social.

• As my business flat lined, I experienced a social media epiphany. – I attended a social media panel sponsored by Constant Contact in

NYC. – The speaker shared something I had never heard before: streamline

your social time. She didn’t mean automation. She meant 6 tweets per day, 2-3 days per week. And that was just Twitter. I thought, “how could 6 tweets per day be enough?”

– However, as a small business and solopreneur myself, the more projects I began to manage, the more brands I helped, but they were often small business owners too so their budgets were LIMITED.

– Came to the realization that my own versions of these suggestions would have to be something I should (and had to) try.

What About Your Business or Your Personal Brand?• When time and money are limited, how can you

make the most of your social media marketing? • How many solopreneurs, small business owners and

social media marketers in the room here have been stuck in the social media time trap?

• How many people are measuring social media efforts and benchmarks at the very least on a monthly basis?

• Lastly, how many of you are spending money on your social networking? (Be it ads, apps or assistance)

• This is what we’re going to talk about today: getting more by doing your BEST (not by doing “less”).

What is your best? I’m glad you asked.

• Identify specifically WHO it is that you are talking to. • What is it that you want them to do?

– One thought at a time.

• If they don’t do what you want them to, what other actions will still be beneficial for your brand? – I.e don’t purchase your product but sign up for your email list instead. Measurement!

Starting the Smart, Swift, Strategic, aka “Streamlining Process”

SSS not SOS

Smart (like Steve)• Minimal to no investment!!!! (other than

some designated time)• Brand health (customer loyalty, content

sharing, buzz/word of mouth)• Revenue (referrals, patronage, conversions)• Feedback. Innovation.

• Fill in your blank here _______________

Smart also means: self educated!

• Read, write, read some more. – Hubspot! GREAT RESOURCE. @hubspot

www.hubspot.com (Certified Inbound Marketing Program) FREE!

– Marketing Profs email newsletter and content. FREE!

– Likeable Media Twitter chat. FREE!

• You can get the inside scoop from some of the nations most respected firms!!!!!! FOR FREE!

http://www.hubspot.com/inbound-marketing-university/

Swift. No, Not Taylor. • Swift as in: Frequency and consistency. • Setting a timer, setting a limit, setting some specific

parameter.– 3 blog comments per day. – 5 new connections on Linkedin. – One Twitter chat per week. – 6-8 tweets per day.– 2-3 status updates per day, 3 days a week. – 2 networking events per month.– One contest per quarter. – 4 daily deal promos a year.

Swift, continued• Perfecting the art of prompt and Improv.

– Saying what you need to say with less characters while still containing the same meaning.

– Practice with this: FREE TOOL http://oneword.com/

• Getting the point across, quickly.– Take a 200-500 word blog post. – Break each paragraph into 140 character

synopsis. – Does it tell the same story?

Strategic: There Are So many places to talk so how do you make the most of each platform?

• As a solopreneur and small business owner, we have identified two limitations: time and money.

• What’s the solution? How can we do our best with the smart and swift components within a 40 hour work week while still managing operations or building our careers?– Start simple. Keep it basic, 1-2 platforms. Build

from there.

Speaking of strategy, what else should you look for online to ensure your brand will be a success?

• Monitor the competitive landscape. • Listen for consumer hot buttons/questions.• Story telling. This was a HUGE paradigm shift for me!

– Trying to be more of my voice or the voice of brands I was working with and less formal/third person for lack there of a better word. The 1,000 true fans (will reference article) thanking them, communicating with them

• Overall trends and opportunities in the marketplace.

How Long Should You Monitor for?

• Patience can equal profit. Learn to give things time. – Test a social media marketing mix over a 30 day period. – Why? We can make assumptions about many things,

let’s not make them about where our audience likes to hang out online.

– EXAMPLE: Had one client that’s pretty mainstream. They’re a restaurant here and I swore that Facebook would be a hot spot for us.

– Boy was I wrong. We generate more traffic, more engagement through Twitter, Foursquare and Instagram but I had to find that out myself through testing.

Implementing It All

You have to have a balance of: Learning vs communicating via social networks vs Converting vs servicing, conducting business development and repeating the process over and over again.

The Smart, Swift, Strategic Method Across One Platform For Example’s sake

• Facebook: Swift. 2-3 updates per day. 4-5 days a week. – What does this include? Not just pushing out your own

content but tagging potential strategic alliances, prospects or employers too.

• Smart: Can often build visible community. • Strategic: Utilize insights to provide you with ideas

for content in other places and a breakdown of customer demographics. – Email Marketing, Blog posts, website copy, Linkedin,

Presentations, classes and workshops.

Applying this to Twitter, too

• Hootsuite helps! Schedule some tweets but not all. – What are some you should schedule?

• Calls to action. • Informational tweets, I.e menu items, benefits,

features, perhaps even operating hours. • Inspirational quotes.

If you want power of the people, you have to bring products to the people

• One of the things I learned from my entertainment studies was that you literally wanted to get your product in people’s hands.

• Are you using mobile and apps to help YOU do so?– Foursquare– Twitter – Instagram – Facebook pages (For you as the admin!)

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/facebook-pages-manager/id514643583?mt=8

Free Traffic Measurement Tool FREE Toolbar app: Alexa.com – Fairly Accurate benchmark of website

traffic. The higher the Alexa rank (closer to 1 million+), the LESS traffic you are actually getting.

– You want the Alexa rank to be as close to 1 as you can get. That may be 400,000 for you considering Google has an Alexa rank of 1.

Marketing is awareness.

• And awareness doesn’t happen in one place.• You must establish and diversify your approach

through strategy to obtain awareness. The P90X effect.

• Market awareness leads to relationships so do your homework. – Keep your ear to the ground and try to find where your people are

online. Don’t automate your efforts right off the bat. – I always suggest you start a 30 day “listening” and communicating

plan between Facebook, a blog with Google analytics and Twitter. – Leveraging events. Offline vs online.– Daily deal sites. Use discretion. No upfront cost to make $$$

Friends With Benefits (social media style)

• Building these relationships in the right place ultimately lead to sales. “right time, right place” for a reason.– Referrals– Data acquistion, aka LEADS– Prospect and Client trust– Authority

Bringing It All Home• Be Smart

– Identify your audience– Identify a goal for them– Identify the platforms you will use to achieve these goals

• Be swift.– Specify YOUR social media actions, I.e 2-3 Facebook status

updates. 6-8 Tweets per day.– Use a timer to help you monitor and measure activities.

• Be strategic. – Don’t automate 100% of your activity especially right at the

start.– Pick 2-3 platforms to get to know your audience. Allow them

to show you where they are and prefer to be.

BONUS!

• If you want a sample campaign to see how I used this approach and how you can create one for your business and brand too, sign up for my newsletter: https://www.facebook.com/jaclynmullenmedia/app_100265896690345

Thank you!

www.jaclynmullenmedia.com

Info@jaclynmullenmedia.com

Facebook.com/jaclynmullenmedia

Linkedin.com/in/jaclynofalltrades

@jaclynmullenmedia