Four Ways To Build A Community On LinkedIn
By Cheval John
Many thought they was no value in LinkedIn because it was not generating buzz like Facebook.
However, LinkedIn has grown quietly to 500 plus million active users with no signs of slowing down.
The recent addition of native video video to their platform gives business owners and jobs seekers more opportunities to build a strong network.
Here are four ways you (as a job seeker or business owner) can build a community on LinkedIn
1. Do Not Send A Generic Invitation
When you send a generic invitation, it comes across as disingenuous because you only want to connect with them only to get new business or get an intro if they are connected to a big name influencer.
What you need to do is send a personalized invitation because the majority are not doing it.
Which leads to number two.
2. Do Your Research
You need to do your research on the person who you are trying to connect with.
Let’s say you are looking for work and you want to connect with a key decision maker.
What you can do is look at their LinkedIn account and see what they accomplished in their careers.
You can also do a google search and see if they have made an appearance on their local media outlets or even major media.
From there, you send a personalized invitation to the key decision maker.
Nine times out of ten they will accept because they saw you went out of your way to know them.
3. Share Other People’s Content.
You might think it is uncool to share your “competition’s” content on LinkedIn because they are vying for the same work position.
If your competition is sharing valuable content that your connections can benefit from, it does not make sense to withhold it from them.
What you are doing is robbing them of a solution that could help them take their careers to the next level.
Marcus Sheridan, who runs River Pools and Spas, wrote a blog post about the top pool builders in the Richmond, Virginia area.
Mr. Sheridan left himself off the list and still got business because of the willingness to recommend the competition.
Zain Asher, anchor at CNN International, shared during her “Trust The Struggle” TED Talk of how she coached her “competition” who was going for the same work position at a television station.
Video courtesy of TED Talks
Zain advised her on what to say during the interview process and how to present herself because she was the first to be interviewed by the executives at that station.
When you share your “competition’s” content, they will eventually become your biggest ally.
4. Use The LinkedIn Publishing Platform Wisely
You should not use the publishing platform just to advertise your latest book or events for your organization because it comes across as distasteful.
The platform should be used to share valuable content that solves a pain point that people are dealing with.
If you are a public relations major in college, you can use the publishing platform to write quality posts about the changing trends happening in the public relations field.
Or chronicle what you are learning during your time in a public relations practicum.
If you are consistent in cranking out quality post by the time you graduate, you will be way ahead of the competition when you are going for any entry level work in public relations because companies are now looking at google to find out more about potential hires.
Also, you can re-purpose your blog posts on the publishing platform to build brand awareness as well.
It takes a while to build your network on LinkedIn.
If you are consistent with all of these tips, you will have the right tribe which will serve you in the long term.
Do you agree or disagree with this post? You can share your comments below.
Top 10 Livestreamers To Follow In 2018
By Cheval John
As we are coming close to the end of 2017, we can see the rapid changes in social media.
Facebook continues to be the dominant social media platform with over two billion monthly users.
YouTube is second with one billion monthly users this year
The biggest shocker was YouTube TV being the official sponsor of the 2017 World Series in which the Houston Astros won (yeah for my friends here)
Instagram (a subsidiary of Facebook) achieved 800 million monthly users and is on pace to reach one billion monthly users next year.
Snapchat has 178 million monthly users by the third quarter of this year according to Statista.
Though it is less than facebook, snapchat seem to be the dark horse in social media because they are more focused on dominating the iPhone market.
Which leads to video.
It has been the driving force for 78% of all internet activity this year.
It is set to be at 82% by 2021 according to Cisco.
Snapchat is leading the way with ten billion video views a day.
YouTube is second with five billion video views a day.
Facebook has 500 million video views a day.
It is a different story in the case of live video.
According to the state of live streaming by Go-Globe.com
17% of video views is on Facebook Live
16% of video views is on YouTube Live
12% of video views is on Snapchat
And more live streaming shows have become more professional looking thank to third party video platforms like Blue Jeans Network, Zoom and Crowdcast.io.
We can expect to see more businesses invest in live video next year due to personalizing their message to their target market.
We also will see more post cable networks created next year and become a force like Cheddar.
Businesses can take a look at the people who made the top ten livestreamers to follow in 2018 list.
They use a variety of social media platforms like facebook live, youtube, periscope and snapchat to put out quality content on a weekly basis and grow their audience.
So without further ado, here are the top ten live streamers to follow in 2018 (not ranked in any particular order).
1. Vicki Fitch
Vicki’s shows are business related topics since she is a direct sales expert.
She hosted Vicki Fitch Live, A Fresh Perspective which she interviews highly successful entrepreneurs.
You can catch her shows on Periscope and Facebook Live.
2. Jessika Phillips and Mike Gingrich
Jessika and Mike co-host Magnet Marketers, a weekly training which give the viewers advice on social media tactics and the latest trends in social media.
Sometimes, they interview guests who are highly regarded as the leading experts in their particular social media niche.
The show airs on Tuesdays at 4 p.m. eastern, 3 p.m. central on facebook live.
Chelsea is regarded as one of the leading experts on Snapchat.
She written a book on the social platform called “Talking In Pictures: How Snapchat Changed Cameras, Communication and Communities.
She is the host of ChelsChat, a morning weekly show which talks about marketing and the latest tools for social media.
The show is only on Snapchat and you would have to see them within the 24 hour time frame.
4. Kat Macauley and Chris McManamy
They are the host of “Simply Social Live”
The show dives into the world of social media, content marketing and other related topics.
What is really cool is Chris is based in St. Louis, Missouri while Kat is based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
They just completed their second season and will be back on Facebook Live next year.
5. Ross Brand
Ross is the founder of Livestream Universe.
Under the company, he hosts Livestream Stars, a weekly show which interviews live streamers who have made a dent in social media.
Ross recently branched out into hosting Livestream Deals, a show which showcases deals on products and services for livestreamers.
The shows airs on Facebook Live.
6. Stacy Harp
Stacy is the host of Bible News Radio, an interview based show which has grown a loyal listener base.
The show is now available on Spreaker and Periscope.
Jennifer host the JennyQTips, a show where she interviews experts on livestreaming and social media.
Her show airs on Facebook Live
Jennifer has been live streaming since 2015.
8. Winnie Sun
Winnie is the founder of Sun Group Wealth Partners and hosts a weekly twitter chat called #winniesun
She gives advice on finance and managing your money on facebook live.
This week, she has been sharing tips on smart spending during the holiday season.
Madalyn is a well known expert on growing your audience using twitter.
She is the host of two popular twitter chats called #twittersmarter and ManageFlitter‘s #socialroi.
Madalyn host a live streaming show recap with the guests of those twitter chats to dive deeper into the questions.
Both of those shows airs on Facebook Live.
10. Dr. Ai Zhang.
Dr. Zhang is a digital consultant.
She served as a professor at Stockton University in the Philadelphia area before moving to South Korea.
Dr. Zhang was recognized as top social media blogger at Medium and host “Classroom Without Walls.”
The show features experts in higher education and how they use social media to incorporate in their classes.
It airs Wednesdays at 5 p.m. eastern time on Facebook Live
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Lindsey is a reporter at Fox 26 Houston where she covered events like the Super Bowl and the World Series.
She gives her audience a preview on Facebook Live on stories she is working on for the station.
Sometimes, you will see random singing especially during the holiday season.
Meisha is an anchor/reporter for CBS Philadelphia.
She is also the host of #askmeisha.
The show talks about motivation to overcome all the obstacles thrown into a person’s live and learning to have an attitude of gratitude.
It airs every Monday at 2 p.m. eastern time on facebook live.
She is the founder of Smart Chic, a company which helps business owners stay laser focused on their goals.
Cynthia shares tips on how people can eliminate distractions from their lives and have a question and answer day.
It airs on Periscope.
Kami is the host of Social Media Breakfast Houston, a “seminar” where she interviews experts on different trends like livestreaming.
It is held at the Canopy Houston the second friday of each month and is filled to capacity.
The “show” airs on Facebook Live
Do you agree or disagree with this list? You can leave a comment below.
The Right Company Will See Your Instagram Account
By Cheval John
We heard this saying a lot of times in our lives: “A picture speaks a thousand words.”
The saying is more true today.
That is why many take photos of the places they visit on their vacation or even their best friends and family to show everyone how much they mean to them.
If a person is very gifted at photography, they will pursue additional training either in college or at a professional photography school to make a career of it.
If a professional photographer wants to land clients, they create a page on their website showcasing their portfolio of their work.
In addition, they post their best photos on instagram with a link to their business or personal website to reach their target audience directly.
Upcoming fitness competitors and fashion models used instagram to launch their careers.
With the influencer industry for instagram alone being over a $1 billion dollars according to mediakix, many are rushing to become well known on the social platform which now boast 700 million active users.
I honestly think those who are trying to use instagram to become influencers, missed the boat.
Instagram should be use as a way to tell your story via photos of either running a business or building your professional career.
People will be more inclined to follow you because they see your authentic self in the photos or videos you share on the platform.
There is a journalist who is excellent with using instagram.
When you look at her photos, you see her journey of working at her first job at a television station in a small town to now working at one of the largest media markets in the United States.
You can also see her sing on occasions with shocking reactions from her colleagues which will make you laugh.
In closing, if you want to excel at using instagram, focus on taking the audience along with you on your journey to success in business and life.
They will be inspired to pursue their own journey of starting a business or finding a better career.
And the right company will see your instagram account which will lead to them working with you.
You can leave your comment below if you agree or disagree with this post
It Is Not All About The Numbers In Influencer Marketing
By Cheval John
November 17th, 2017
Couple of weeks ago, I received an e-mail from someone who claimed they could increase my instagram followers by 27%.
This is the start of the e-mail
Greetings sir,
I see you’ve been posting on social media again. Your posts keep appearing on my timeline, but they never seem to have that many likes and shares.
I used to be in the same boat too. So did these people.
This person then showed me instagram accounts of people who had an average of 1.77 million followers.
The message continues:
We all have something in common. We all managed to increase how many followers we have just by following an easy to use system.
I developed this system when I did not seem to be getting as much engagement as I thought my posts deserved and now I want to share it with you.
Using my system, you can increase your followers to over 4,300 almost overnight.
After reading this e-mail, I had to laugh.
The question is why would someone send out e-mails claiming to increase instagram followers overnight.
The answers are revealed in these statistics:
59% of micro-influencers think Instagram is the most effective social media platform to engage their target audience-Veloce Network
57% of companies in the fashion and beauty industry use influencer marketing in their marketing strategy-Veloce Network
92% of consumers trust recommendations from peers on social media above all other forms of advertising-Veloce Network
84% of companies plan on working with a social media star in the next year-Influencer Marketing Hub
67% of marketers will increase influencer marketing budget over the next year-Marketing Profs
Infuencer Marketing In Instagram Alone Is A One Billion Dollar Industry-MediaKix
With all of that money on the table, many are trying to become an instagram influencer.
Some are willing to cheat their way to success either by buying followers, joining pods or using bots.
Sarah Moore, founder of Eleven Lights Media, explains in this video about instagram pods and why she totally hates it.
The only way I can see pods as a good thing is if people are using them to collaborate and share their ideas within the community.
Other than that, I am not a fan of instagram pods
Bots are a totally different beast.
Third party companies created these bots particularly for people to buy for their instagram accounts.
They would set up these bots to comment or like a post for a certain amount of time to make it look like they are getting engagement on their instagram accounts.
When people see the supposed engagement from the bots, they will think this person or brand is an influencer.
Those who used these bots to build their account will be able to pitch to these companies on why they should work with them.
My guess is they will use these same bots to grow their clients account.
The problem is they are not growing their audience organically and it goes against instagram’s terms of use.
This is why instagram is on the offensive of shutting down third party services that provide bots.
A person or brand will never beat instagram with bots or pods because they are changing their algorithms constantly
Just because you do not have a 100,000-1,000,000 followers does not mean you are not an influencer.
If you have the right people following you, then you are an influencer because they know you bring value to them.
So continue to listen to what your audience are chatting about and interact with them.
They will give you ideas of what type of content you need to provide.
When you provide the content that solves their pain points, they will naturally share it and over the long haul, you will grow your following organically.
You can leave your comment below if you agree or disagree with this post
Popups Are Spam
By Cheval John
When you think you have figured out a social media platform, all of a sudden, they change the algorithms.
Now your social media campaigns have very little impact for your business due to the pesky algorithms.
Your try to learn from experts on how to “beat” the algorithm so you can get back to the glory days of organic reach.
Social media are rented land.
If you are building your business solely there, you will have problems.
The old e-mail is still important despite the growing importance of social media because it is your real estate.
When you build your subscriber base through e-mail, you can withstand any algorithm change in social media.
Which lead to the dreaded pop ups.
Pops ups are like the annoying commercials which interrupts your show because the advertisers are trying to get their product out in front of the viewers.
You are reading a fantastic article on a blog when all of a sudden, a pop up appears in the middle of the article asking you to subscribe to their website.
Some believe popups works because they will get more e-mail address.
The tactic of using the popup is very bad and it shows a person or company are very desperate for e-mail address.
That is where the social listening comes into play because you can see what people are chatting about on a daily basis.
The social chatter can give you ideas of what you can write about on your blog.
When you write quality content consistently, your audience will feel inclined to subscribe to your blog.
Over time, you will grow your blog organically through building your e-mail lists.
Even more important is the same people will share your content on social media to their audience which will bring more traffic to your blog.
This is the boomerang effect of building your e-mail lists the correct way instead of using the lame tactic of the popup.
If you decide to go the route of using the popup, you will end up losing the prospective customer in the long run.
Here’s An Additional Article on Avoiding Popups:
4 Easy Ways to Get More Subscribers (Without Using Annoying Popup Boxes)-Julia McCoy, Founder of Express Writers and Contributor To Search Engine Journal
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