Articles on Social Media, Social Media Marketing, and Social Networking

Building, nurturing, and maintaining relationships is a critical part of every business and the core philosophy behind a successful social media strategy.

Social media isn’t meant to be a marketing tool. Social networking isn’t meant to be a marketing activity. Instead, you need to look at social media as a connection tool and social networking as an opportunity to start a conversation.

Social media is one of the hottest topics and cool tools for businesses – after all, everyone is doing it. Some are using it correctly, many are not … and ultimately consumers will decide if you deserve to be included in the conversation.

Below you’ll find a collection of articles on social media and social networking, learn our perspective and insights on the topic, and get tips, resources, information, and more:

6 Smart Marketing Tips to Increase Your Networking Results

January 31, 2013 | By | 14 Comments

Networking tips to maximize small business marketing successNetworking is how I built my business. Networking got me to where I am today (along with A LOT of hard work). Networking taught me the right way to do business, how to speak about my business, and how I wanted to show up.

I started my business when I was 25 years old. I had no idea what I was doing and when I walked into my very first networking event packed with professional business women, I was so nervous and scared! Joining networking groups helped me grow up as a business owner and grow my business. It has also yielded some of the strongest relationships I still have today.

But there are things you need to know and understand to be successful at networking — and there are definitely wrong ways to network.

Here are six tips I have learned over the years that have helped me maximize my networking results and my marketing at networking events:

Learn My Marketing Tips to Increase Your Networking Results

Filed Under: Business & Entrepreneurship, Client Attraction, Marketing Tips & Marketing Strategy, Social Media & Social Networking | Tagged With: , , ,

Marketing Tips to Position You As An Expert

January 24, 2013 | By | 33 Comments

Marketing tips to position you as an expertThese days everyone wants to be an expert. Heck, everyone thinks they are an expert.

I even think some people just wake up and decide to call themselves an expert out of the blue just because they can.

But what about those who want to become a true expert, a real expert, a respected expert?

How to they become known as an expert? How to they get other people to say they are an expert and endorse them — instead of them saying it about themselves?

Get Marketing Tips to Position You As An Expert

Filed Under: Brand Design & Brand Strategy, Business & Entrepreneurship, Client Attraction, Social Media & Social Networking | Tagged With: , , , ,

Falling Back in Love with LinkedIn Through Company Pages

December 14, 2012 | By | 19 Comments

Bourn Creative on LinkedInLinkedIn was the first social network I joined. I never had a myspace account and I wasn’t an early Facebook adopter. But LinkedIn intrigued me and at the time I liked that I could stay in touch with former colleagues and business peers etc. through the site.

Then I got started with Facebook, which I liked better than LinkedIn. Then came Twitter which quickly became my favorite platform. And LinkedIn fell by the boring wayside.

Soon there were grumblings in the business and entrepreneurial world that LinkedIn is making a come back. That LinkedIn is where it’s at. That you need to be there to be successful … and I sort of half believed it — But I resisted getting more invested in another social network. Plus, while I have a personal LinkedIn profile, Brian doesn’t use it at all, and I wanted something more general for the business.

Learn More About LinkedIn Company Pages

Filed Under: Business & Entrepreneurship, Marketing Tips & Marketing Strategy, Social Media & Social Networking | Tagged With: , , ,

Why Your List of Top People to Follow on Twitter Stinks (And How to Fix It)

September 18, 2012 | By | 11 Comments

Why Most Twitter List Posts Stink - And How to Fix ThemThis post was inspired by a blog post I read recently: 3.5 Reasons Why I am Sick of List Posts

It got me thinking about all the annoying blog posts people write about the Top People to Follow on Twitter.

Without writing some long diatribe …

Here are some general reasons most Twitter “people to follow” posts stink:

  • Most of these lists are poorly researched, or not researched at all
  • It’s clear the writer just listed their friends
  • Or, it’s clear the writer identified “influencers” they want a retweet from and included them for that reason
  • The writer just Googled “top people to follow on twitter” and copied someone else’s list — this is probably why so many of these lists are exactly the same when there are thousands of great people to follow
  • It’s just a long list of Twitter handles and maybe avatars, but includes NO REASON to follow them or why you put them on the list (Do you even know why they’re on the list)

Learn What It Takes to Write a Great “People to Follow on Twitter” List Post

Filed Under: Social Media & Social Networking | Tagged With: ,

5 Things to NOT Share On Social Media

June 18, 2012 | By | 4 Comments

Social Media MistakesIf you’ve been using social media to connect with your audience and consumers for any length of time, I’m sure you’ve heard all kinds of social media advice like:

  • Be yourself and show your personality
  • Get personal. Don’t make it all about business
  • Be authentic and honest
  • Don’t be afraid to make people mad
  • Be real, share your struggles too

But what happens when that advice is taken the wrong way. What happens when you take it too far? What is too far?

Learn 5 Things You Should Not Share on Social Media

Filed Under: Client Attraction, Social Media & Social Networking | Tagged With: , , ,

How to Add the Facebook Like Box to Your WordPress Site

May 11, 2012 | By | 28 Comments

Facebook Like BoxAfter my post on how to add the official Twitter Widget to your WordPress site without a plugin, several readers emailed me and asked me to explain how to add the Facebook Like Box to their WordPress site.

Now, Facebook doesn’t give you too many customizing options … They wan to make sure that no matter what it is always obvious it is a Facebook widget and that their brand is promoted.

With that said, there are a few options for adding a Like Box to a website, and the method below is probably the easiest and the one we choose to use for our clients.

For the record, we don’t use the like box, we prefer to just use the like button.

Here’s step-by-step instructions (with screen shots) on how to add the Facebook Like Box to your WordPress website or blog:

Learn How to Add The Facebook Like Box

Filed Under: Social Media & Social Networking, Website Design Tips & Strategy, WordPress Tips & Resources | Tagged With: ,

Where Start-Ups Fail: Visual Social Media Brand Design

May 5, 2012 | By | 12 Comments

Facebook Brand DesignPresenting your brand consistently across all marketing platforms is a critical part of transforming your business into an extraordinary brand, and social media branding is becoming more important every day.

As social media sites continue to grow in popularity, often the very first interaction a person has with your brand is through a site like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, or Pinterest.

With social media you present your brand in different ways – the two most common are in the written word and the visual design.

Learn Why Start-Ups Fail With Social Media Brand Design

Filed Under: Brand Design & Brand Strategy, Social Media & Social Networking | Tagged With: , ,

Gary Vaynerchuk Keynotes Infusioncon 2012 and Asks, What’s the ROI of Your Mother?

April 25, 2012 | By | 12 Comments

Gary VaynerchukOne by one, I’ve been recapping my favorite parts of Infusionsoft’s 2012 annual user conference Infusioncon.

I’ve shared my thoughts on Pam Slim and Ali Brown’s keynote presentations, and Tim Ash’s breakout session … and today I’m sharing with you some insight from probably the most popular and most talked about keynote of the entire conference, Gary Vaynerchuk’s talk.

Gary Vaynerchuk, author of The Thank You Economy, is an undeniable force to be reckoned with. He speaks with such enthusiasm and emotion that you can just tell he’s got fire inside and great passion for life and business, and the power of relationships in every aspect of them both.

Get More Insights From Gary Vaynerchuk’s Infusioncon Keynote

Filed Under: Business & Entrepreneurship, Social Media & Social Networking, What's Up With Jen | Tagged With: , , ,

How to Add the Official Twitter Widget to Your Website

February 18, 2012 | By | 15 Comments

How to Add The Official Twitter Widget To My WebsiteWhen building custom WordPress websites and custom WordPress themes for our clients, we are often asked to integrate their Twitter feed into the website sidebar.

Many personal brands like to display their Twitter feed in the sidebar to bring more dynamic content into their site, promote their Twitter feed and get new followers, and show the value they provide with their tweets.

We believe in keeping website plugins to a minimum, so I’m happy to report that adding Twitter to your website can be accomplished quickly without using a WordPress plugin by instead using the official Twitter profile widget.

While there aren’t a ton of customization options, you match the widget to your brand color palette.

Here’s a sample of the Official Twitter widget (left) customized with a grey and orange color scheme.

The Twitter Profile Widget can also be used non-WordPress sites. Only the final implementation on your website will be different.

Get instructions on how to create your customized Official Twitter Widget

Filed Under: Social Media & Social Networking, Website Design Tips & Strategy | Tagged With: , ,

Use Custom Shortlinks to Keep Your Social Media Links on Brand

June 17, 2011 | By | 10 Comments

Bitly Custom Domain URL shortnerIf you use Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn, it’s no doubt that you have seen shortened links like http://bit.ly/ipOaP5. Tiny URL and Bit.ly are just two of the free URL shorteners available to help you share links with social media.

Why use a URL shortener? First, it keeps the link shorter so you take up fewer characters in the post. Second, you can track data and statistic for the shortened links.

A while back, I upgraded my free Bitly account to use a custom domain (http://bourn.co) while they were beta testing custom domains. The result is branded sharable domains like: http://bourn.co/jMuRs4 and http://bourn.co/lPMbCK which are trusted because you recognize the brand name – our name – in the link.

Here’s the great Custom Domain Shortlink news for you!

Learn How to Get Your Own Branded Short URL

Filed Under: Blogging & Blog Strategy, Social Media & Social Networking | Tagged With: , , ,