Get more followers – on Facebook, Twitter and More

Social media is not the wave of the future anymore, it is here to stay. To be really successful with your online business it is important to know how to take advantage of the “marketing tools” that are known as “social media sites”.

It doesn’t matter what you are using – Facebook, Twitter, FriendFeed, Digg, Bloglog, Stumble (and the list goes on and on).

I am going to teach you some basic rules that will boost your online exposure – but first I feel the need to remind you of a really big no-no’s, that will stop you from successfully using social media sites.

So what is the biggest mistake of all?

The biggest mistake anyone can make is being superficial, only caring about the bottom line. If you are only out for yourself, you will find you will not make many truly great connections, and you will not get many followers.

It is blatantly obvious when people are selfish, and it is a big turn off.

That does not mean, you don’t post links and have a call for action once in a while. It does mean you need to connect by giving away great information and links. Genuinely engaging in conversations with others – and basically participating in giving and sharing. It is the key to attracting followers and maintaining them.

The saying – Give and yea shall receive, is alive and well – and most definitely TRUE.

8 Guidelines for Social Media Success

BLOGGING Did you know that most blogs can be fed (through an RSS feed) to the social media sites?

Example: Whenever I post to my blog it automatically goes to my Facebook page and twitter. This keeps my Facebook and twitter page active as well as establishing my expertise.

One of the fastest ways to raise your online profile is to start blogging. It helps if the subject matter is something related to your expertise and/or business. Becoming an active participant in online forums helps as well. If you have a service that is in demand, post pictures and advice – in fact a great way to get exposure is go to ask.com and be an active contributor.

DON’T BE BORING BETTY OR BOB… Boring people do not get a lot of followers. "Don't just ramble on and on about yourself all day long”. Read what other people are posting and respond to them. Ask questions, answer questions. Truly interacting with people will help build your followers.

QUALITY INFORMATION Building trust takes time and work. You can increase you followers by good content, and consistency. It will take a bit of time but it will be worth every minute.

Posting great articles, giving links of websites you find of interest and following back is important. Promoting others will make an impact, and networking is the name of the game.

BECOME PART OF THE ACTIVE COMMUNITY "Post and tweet frequently "This will increase your relevancy and authoritativeness which in turn will boost your following." I personally take about an hour or two out of my day to research. I find relevant links I can post or ideas to write articles about. I try to tweet every day, at the minimum to build your exposure you should post 2 to 3 times a week.

ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING No matter what perspective you are coming from, if you're branded a "complainer" then that can be a turn-off. Projecting positive emotions and feed back is the way to attract others. Being in it for all the right reasons is one way of building your online credibility.

SPEAK UP A great way to attract followers is to start discussion(s) that will intrigue and engage people, causing them to interact with you. Giving a hint or a tip is also an excellent idea and will create a following of people who like the information you are disclosing.

MAKE IT EASY FOR PEOPLE TO FIND YOU

Do you know what your potential client is interested in? When you know your customer (like you should) you will know what they enjoy, where they go for information and recreation. This knowledge is invaluable – it will give you a powerful tool. Keywords... Using the right keywords and phrases in your posts and tweets will help people who are interested in what you have to offer find you through use of the search tools.

Make it easy for people who are interested in you!

MAKE A PERSONAL CONNECTION

People tend to follow those they can relate to. Social media users trust people they can identify with personally. Often, it's as simple as posting a picture and a brief biography on your profile.

People are more likely to read what you have to say when they feel they know you. Furthermore, posting a picture of yourself can actually make people feel they can trust you more.

If you are following these 8 guidelines you are on the right track! Succeeding in the internet world is not for the timid.

One more thing…

You are always hearing about the size of the list but what about the quality? I personally prefer a smaller list that has people I can converse with (quality) than a giant list of followers that are non-responsive.

With these basic rules in hand you can now successfully start building your followers – and remember to enjoy what you are doing, smile and relax – my motto?

Follow Your Passion and Everything Else Will Fall Into Place!

Pamela Jacob - Artista Design Providing Practicle Solutions & Valuable Results

Is Article Marketing for You? 4 Ways to Kill a Perfectly Good Article.

I have been article marketing for a long time. However, like a lot of people I would write an article post it on my blog or newsletter, and sometimes it would go to ezinearticles.com.

Even so, in reviewing my marketing plan at the beginning of the year – I realized I was not using the full potential of my resources. Article marketing is a phenomenal tool and everyone should be using it.

What made me refocus on article marketing?

I started getting monthly reports that showed my stats – how many people read my articles – the most popular articles and how many re-posted my articles (with my resource box).

Not only that but I could actually set up my twitter account on ezinearticles.com and when I published an article it would be sent out on Twitter, need I say more?

So – I went on my search for the most effective way to use article marketing – and I am going to pass some of those tips on to you…

However, before I do I know a lot of you are intimidated with the thought of writing articles – and why is that?

I have found the biggest sticking point with my clients is “fear” – what are they afraid of?

With a great majority of my clients, I have found they are worried about “not writing the perfect article”. Yes as suspected they are perfectionists! A fear of failure or not measuring up – what do I say to that? – Phooey!

The Nike’ saying “Just Do It” is exactly right!

Roughly write out your ideas and work from that point. The first article is the scariest from there, it gets easier and easier.

It is not as hard as you think.

Another biggie that is expressed to me is the confusion of what they should write about.

There are so many topics you can research on the internet but the best topic to write about is your expertise what is it, you are good at? What do you have knowledge of that your client needs to know?

The internet has so much information.

Research the topics you want to write about – talk about great articles you come across and link back to them – write points of interest on subject and expand on those.

Brain storm – enjoy the process!

4 Ways to Kill Your Article Marketing Goals

Mistake number one – writing a title that is ho-hum or just plain boring.

With all the competition out on the internet it is extremely important that you write a title to your article that has pizzazz. Make sure it has keywords in it and the more intriguing and interesting the title – the more traffic you will get.

Mistake number two – poor quality content.

OK, you have found an amazing title – you even researched keywords to use. But the content is not exactly stellar, in fact the writing is just a bunch of fluff and empty words – no real instructions or informative content.

Bad idea – people will stop reading your articles – and remember not to bother next time around.

Mistake number three – the copy of your text should not have typos – or be formatted poorly.

Have you ever started reading an article or email and the spelling embarrassed you and you didn’t even write it? I rest my case – make sure everything is spelled correctly!

Another thing to consider is breaking your text into paragraphs and highlighting individual lines. It makes your article easier to read – and will lead to many more readers – and miraculously – many more visitors to your blog or website.

Mistake number Four – under utilization of resource box

Resource boxes are why you do article marketing – it leads the reader to click on a link and takes them to your blog – website or affiliate page. It invites the reader to get more good information from you (or it should).

It also provides valuable back-links to your website or landing page that will help with your SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Instead of talking about yourself in the first few lines it is more effective to offer them something (of value) free. Then introduce yourself - in as short and succinct a way as possible, while still giving them the essence of whom you are.

Example: Less effective resource box.

The way I use to have my resource box – and I have seen others as well

Is your website an integral part of making money in your business? Then you need to "Create the image you need to attract the customers you want." Pamela Jacob, owner of Artista Design, can help you do just that. She specializes in all types of visual mediums and has been in the new media industry for over a decade. To gain more valuable insights from Pamela Jacob visit: http://www.artistadesign.com

Example: A more effective resource box

The way I have my resource box set up now.

As a (FREE) gift to you - download your copy of "The Ultimate Guide to FREE Traffic" just go to http://artistadesign.com

Getting your online business humming can be a daunting task. Having an expert who can guide you - one who has walked the walk and talks the talk is invaluable.

Pamela Jacob is just that - she is the owner of Artista Design and has been working with online businesses for over a decade.

Writing articles is such an important process, especially when marketing your own online business – once you get into the hang of it you are going to find, it is not only richly rewarding – monetarily – but a lot of fun as well!

Until next time – have an amazing day!

Check out my portfolio at: http://artistadesign.com/portfolio.html

Pamela Jacob – Artista Design

Providing Creative Solutions & Valuable Results