Do I really have to post personal stuff on my social sites?

by Janet on September 2, 2010

I was interviewed on Tuesday for a telesummit that is launching in September, and one of the things that the interviewer asked me was, should we be posting on-line about business, only personal or a combination of both? Well the answer is both.

In my experience, there are people who love reading the personal stuff, and there are those that don’t. So,to appeal to both, you want to do a combination.

For personal posting, you don’t have to get really deeply personal unless you want to. Many of my clients have a hard time with this side of marketing on their social sites. I remember one dear client of mine saying, what should I tell them, that I am picking my nose? Yea, a bit gross, but it was pretty humorous. She really didn’t get why anyone would want to know about her personal stuff, because she is someone who doesn’t enjoy that part herself. But, you have to get over this and fast!

So you might be wondering, what do you post about? My suggestion is to start with what you are comfortable with. Ease into it. You can post about your cat, dog, bird or any other pet you have. People love animals!! If you don’t have a pet, post about a hobby, or class you are taking, or anything that you are excited about. If you feel comfortable talking about your kids, grandkids or any family member thats great too!

There is a commercial on TV for a cell phone company that cracked me up! The kids were trying to tell their parents that they didn’t have to tweet every thing they were doing, and the father looks right into his sons eyes and tweets, ‘I’m sitting on the couch tweeting’ and the kids just threw up their hands! It was classic! As long as you aren’t doing that, you will do just fine.

Now, lets move on to your business posts.This is where some entrepreneurs can get a bit stuffy. So, take off the straight jacket, take a deep breath and go for it!

If you are truly excited about an upcoming event that you’re having or attending, post about it! Use your enthusiasm to shine through those posts. Don’t post stuffy stuff, like ‘having a teleseminar at 1pm, join here’…boring! Change that up and say something like ‘I am so excited to be sharing my social media tips with you today at 1pm, don’t miss it’. Feel the difference?

If you are working with a client and are having great breakthroughs, talk about it! Share you photos, videos, anything that you are comfortable with. Your favorite quotes work well too!

If you are at an event, post about what you are learning, how you feel about the speakers, what is resonating with you and what isn’t.

The key is to let your personality show through. Don’t be afraid! This is all about your on-line persona, keep it real, and keep it fun!

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What’s Really Behind that Curtain anyway?

by Janet on August 27, 2010

There are some things that have been really annoying me lately and one of those things is the overuse of phrases in marketing material, teleseminars, and social networking sites.

I was talking to my coach about the things that really get on my nerves and what I am so sick of hearing.  And since I’m all about being myself in my business, she challenged me to write an article about it, so here it goes.

So many businesses on-line just follow the leader.  They seem to think that what works for one person’s business will work for them. Then when nothing is working they wonder why.  Usually the first place they go in their mind is, it must be me, right?

What we don’t understand is that the problem with modeling other businesses is that your true voice doesn’t shine through, You’re hiding your true personality behind someone else’s and it is not congruent with your brand.  So of course it won’t work!

One phrase that is WAY overused and drives me absolutely crazy is; ‘Let me show you what’s behind the curtain, or ‘let me pull back the curtain.’ Really?  I mean, what are you hiding behind that curtain and why do I need to see it? Are you the all-powerful wizard of oz?  Are you just trying to make us think that you have some secret only you know that will make me an overnight success? And please tell me, is there really anything behind that curtain?

If you ever sign up for a program where they promised to give you a look behind their ‘so called curtain’, you will most likely find that there is no secret sauce or special magic to quick success.  You are more likely to find someone just like you, sitting in front of their computer, working like crazy, with no makeup, hair up and slippers on!

I was on a call that was all about authentic social media marketing.  They asked people on the call what they were tired of hearing.  So of course I had to chime in!  I said if I hear that someone is going to show me what’s behind the curtain one more time, I’m going to scream.  They all laughed and agreed with me.  It wasn’t but 5 minutes later into the call that one of the presenters said, Let us show you what’s behind the curtain.  OMG!!  Did she just say that?  I was shocked!  Did they not hear what I just said?  So needless to say, I hung up.  I just couldn’t listen to anything else after that. They lost a potential purchase right there.

Although I have never used that phrase in my own marketing, I was once guilty of trying to model others, but I quickly found out that it didn’t work for me.  One thing I will always remember is when one of my colleagues said to me, you don’t have to be a copywriter to know how to talk to your own clients. It should be just as easy as having a conversation with someone you know. Now that was great advice!

As you write copy for your sales pages, newsletters, Facebook, Twitter posts, and blogs,  ask yourself, does that sound like something I would say?

So what’s behind my curtain? Its the same as what is in front of the curtain, true authentic real business building strategies!





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Social Media Marketing is changing. Get ahead of the curve!

August 8, 2010

About 6 months ago, I was speaking to a colleague of mine about how social media marketing is changing. I’ve know this for awhile now, but I just couldn’t put my finger on it. The same old way of marketing on line doesn’t work anymore. I have also noticed that the “gurus” who once used [...]

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