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It was exactly two years ago that I made a very purposeful and conscious decision to establish an online presence for myself. I had already gained some traction, though not much, on social media through my sporadic but valuable posts and shares about how essential oils had become such a game-changer in my small family’s life. I remember so vividly the feelings of fear and self-doubt creeping in as I was making this decision. I remember thinking I don’t have what it takes to make it online, or I would never amount to these successful entrepreneurs and wellness coaches that are already attracting their tribe, helping and serving so many people. I just didn’t think I had what it took to “make it online”. I didn’t even comprehend what it actually meant to be successful online but I knew that it was the journey I wanted to be on.
Social Media
5 Easy Steps to Content Curation
Two weeks ago I gave you my Top 10 Ideas for content creation which I hope you have been able to implement and share across your social media platforms. This week I want to look more at content curation – which according to Hootsuite – is defined as the process of
“adding your voice (and value) to a handpicked collection of content. Gathered from a variety of sources, around a specific topic, that you publish and share with your fans. Wherever they may be..”
Content curation becomes important for you as a small to medium allied health practice owner because it saves time. You already do not have enough hours in your day to get through your caseload, so having to consistently come up with and create original content for your audience leaves you even more strapped for time. Content curation enables you to source and share interesting, relevant and evidence-based content that is going to add real value to your target market. In doing so it builds authority and enables your audience to trust you. In this information-saturated world we live in, trust and authority help you stand out from the crowd.
Top 10 Social Media Content Ideas for your Allied Health Practice
You have your website and have set up all the social media channels applicable to your target audience. So now what? You know you have to blog and share content that will inform and be of use to your audience but you haven’t a clue where to start or what to write about. It’s a common problem. The amount of content shared on a daily basis across social media is astronomical. Somehow you need to stand out from the crowd and have your voice heard.
Given that many practice owners are scratching their heads not knowing what sort of content they should be preparing for their audience, I’ve decided to share my top 10 social media content ideas relevant to the allied health industry.
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A Practical Guide to Evaluating Social Media Management Tools
Up until a few years ago we have been able to manage our social media efforts manually, posting as and when we have something to say or some useful content to share. This approach works for most start-up and small businesses, but normally only for a short time. As soon as growing the business becomes the focus, social media becomes a priority for engaging with and nurturing clients, and you will quickly find yourself too busy to manually handle daily posts across multiple social media channels.
As the second installation in our ‘Theme of the Week’ series, we have chosen to look at social media management (SMM) tools. There are a vast number of these products on the market and not all will suit everyone’s needs. To help businesses make an informed decision we are going to look at how to evaluate a social media management tool to find the right one for you and your business. Each SSM tool has different feature sets, ease of use differ and then of course pricing plays an important role. The best way to find the one that will work for you is to evaluate each tool, but you can use our list below to at least narrow it down to 3 or 4 that you can take a closer look at.
Privacy Policy: Why your website needs one
As a digital agency we build new websites, and part of that process is to help our clients compose content. It is interesting how many business owners insist on ditching the traditional ‘Privacy Policy’ and ‘Terms of Use’ pages to make space for more trendy footer links and widgets, or are happy to ‘copy and paste’ pages from competitor websites and adapt it based on their needs. This made me wonder about the need for these pages in today’s digital age, and whether or not the ‘copy and paste practice’ is enough to keep you on the right side of the law.
In addition – based on our experience – most advertisers on Social platforms, Google and other third party providers such as Mailchimp are blissfully unaware of the additional privacy clauses that have to be included in your website’s standard privacy policy, so we will set the record straight with a downloadable infographic summarising the additions.
Spring cleaning your web assets
Finally winter is starting to come to an end and the prospect of spring is lifting moods and promising renewal. For me this has been a long winter, and one that I am glad to see the back of. Of course I ate too much and I will probably have to nearly kill myself all of spring to undo the damage I did, but nonetheless I am full of hope, enthusiasm and excitement about what summer will bring. I am also looking forward to assessing what I am happy with and what not so I can work out my priorities for the next few months on both personal and professional levels. I find myself already making summer resolutions, so I thought I’d share one of them here and now before I get bogged down again and it becomes another of my to-do items on a never-ending list.
As one of the owners of a digital agency in Melbourne, I see a lot of online mishaps start-up and small businesses make when entering the online arena. Like many mistakes in life, most are completely preventable or avoidable and is probably made simply because these business owners did not have the right information when having to make crucial decisions. So instead of just shaking my head in silence as I’ve always done, I am now speaking up, purely based on my own personal experiences. So sit up and indulge me for a moment or two – I really believe what I am sharing here are useful and practical tips if you are doing some online asset spring cleaning and want to set your business scene for summer.
The importance of actively listening
Technology is something that I’m sometimes a little bit cynical about. Simply being new and shiny isn’t enough for me. My favourite gadget is my Swiss Army knife and I still have a Melways in my car. I even resisted getting a smart phone for as long as possible. But I am a complete convert to social media.
Years ago I left a standard 9-5 job to do my own thing as an independent consultant. I didn’t use tech much. After being invited to join LinkedIn I created an account and then ignored it for the next 5 years. Twitter passed me by. I was fortunate enough to have a steady stream of projects coming in from an existing network to keep me sufficiently busy. However, what I was doing was a classic case of working in my small business rather than on it.
Choosing the right social media channels for your business
Dealing with start-up and small businesses we often have to answer the question: “On which social media networks will my business get most traction?“. Unfortunately the answer is not as clean cut as we would all like it to be, and to put it bluntly: “It depends“. To answer this question you first and foremost have to look at exactly who you are targeting, and then factors such as the nature of your product or services, the time you have to invest and the budget you have at your disposal (to name but a few) also comes into identifying the channel which will serve you best.
First, a couple of myths….
Gen Y for social media management
I really love working with Gen Y’s.
Me, I’m a Gen X and I love that too. Such good music (Grunge memories) comes from our Gen X era. You know what I had less love for? Business social media. Now don’t get me wrong, I love social media in general. As an entrepreneur with a brain speed of 100 kilometres per minute (I get tired just thinking about that), I can multi task and connect with all channels effortlessly, but really connecting with my targeted audience for business needed my full attention. Just like my conversations with my accountant.
The Silent Observers on Facebook
Since the constant fine tuning of Facebook Edgerank and its effects on Facebook business pages, one question I constantly encounter from creative business owners are: “Do I still need to bother with Facebook? I’m guessing Instagram or Pinterest is a better option.”
So, in my quest to figure out if Facebook is worth our time or not, I decided to do some experiments on my own Facebook page. Because even though many articles discuss various information and strategies, implementing these is more crucial to get the ‘Said’ results.
In my recent experiment with Facebook Organic reach I think I have proved that Facebook is not dead for businesses. But there’s one more reason why I stick to Facebook – it’s the power of the “Silent observers”. No other social media has this important piece of the jigsaw.