To start, you need to set up your profile, which is relatively similar to any other social network. Addyour ‘about’ information, profile pictures and try understand the basic mechanics of circling, sharing, commenting.

Once you’ve done that, you’re ready to start building your business’s presence. Here are our top 7 tips for having a successful business account on Google+

1. Don’t hide the good stuff

With the ability to share content with specific groups of ‘circles’ we often find ourselves sharing directly with that circle and no one else. This is the wrong way of thinking. Gaining exposure and as much of it as possible you need to be casting your net far and wide, to do this share it with ‘public’ as well so new potential followers can find your content and connect with you.

2. Share Circles

A great way to get your content in front of new people and gain more followers is to share circles. Simply build a circle of great people to follow who are all a part of a particular niche and add yourself to it (just as long as you’re relevant to it!!) and share it. People will then follow this circle and share it with their followers – gaining you more and more new relevant followers!

Due to the viral effect this can have, it’s worth putting in some effort to make your circles as good as possible before sharing them.

3. Mention others

Find authorities within your niche and mention them, chances are they will get involved with the conversation, circle you and share your great content. Play on egos but don’t be a suck-up, no one likes that.

The same goes for giving credit, when sharing someone else’s content mention them, this will get their attention so they know you have shared their content and hopefully they will return the favour.

4. Help people

Its crazy the amount of questions that are asked on Google+ (and other social channels) that could be answered with a quick Google search. Fill in that gap and answer their questions. Google+ has a great search functionality that lets you find tons of people, all asking questions about your niche; you being the expert in your field can answer these questions and gain new advocates while you’re at it. (psst. If you don’t know the answer just Google it!)

5. Copy Competitors but be Original

Looking into what your competitors are doing can be a great insight, try figuring out what they are doing well and not so well and learn from this. At the same time don’t be a copy cat; you need to stand out from the crowd so experiment with your own ideas.

People use different social channels for different reasons and have different expectations so take your time to figure out what your audience responds to.

6. Don’t over promote

This golden rule should be used across all your social platforms. Don’t over promote. It’s simple. Share over people’s content in order to get your own content shared/liked/seen.

A general rule of thumb is to share 5-10 pieces of content owned by others before sharing your own, depending on how self promotional it is.

7. Don’t expect overnight success

Social media takes tremendous effort. Effort that needs to be consistent on a daily basis! Don’t think just because you have a huge following on Facebook or Twitter that you will be an instant success on Google+, it’s a different beast and should be treated like one. Not only that G+ is fairly new to the game and like I said before it might not be the social platform for your audience.

Saying all that, make sure you make it as easy as possible for people to find you by adding it to your email signature, newsletter, business cards, website and anywhere else you find relevant.

Also consider adding exclusive G+ only content and promoting it across your other channels to encourage people to look at your profile and begin interacting with you on there.

The post 7 Google+ Guidelines for Businesses appeared first on ProTelp.

Online reputation

A reputation is nothing if people are not talking about you, so you may use social media monitoring tools to see who is talking about you. You can see what they are saying about you and find out if it is positive or negative.

Public relations

Some people use social media to vent their anger or admiration, and social media monitoring tools help you find out who is saying what. You may then approach the commenter and try to fix their problem or explain yourself. If the comments are positive then you can bask in their admiration.

Market research

A social media tool will help you to find the people who are talking about your website or products. You can find out what they are saying and apply its lessons to your marketing campaigns. You can also use social media to find out the demographic information of the people talking about your products and website.

SEO value

Social media markers have a search engine optimization (SEO) value. With a social media monitoring tool you can find the people who are talking about you, and encourage them to create positive social media markers and direct them to your website.

Something that allows a comprehensive search for a certain keyword

You need to find a tool that is going to create comprehensive searches for the keywords of your choice. There is little to be gained from a social media monitoring tool that has trouble monitoring social media mentions that are related to your chosen keywords.

How many keywords can it search for?

Some social media can search for long strings of words, and others have to search for a minimum or maximum of three words. You need to find the right tool that is going to work for you. For example if the name of your business is three words or more, then a tool that can search for a maximum of three keywords is going to be of little use to you.

It needs to have a really good filtering process

A good social media monitoring tool is going to find a lot of mentions about your chosen keywords. It may find many mentions about your products or brand name, so it is imperative that the tool has a good filtering system. Some good tools will show your social media mentions in order of strength. Any mentions that are likely to be directly related to you will be called strong, and any mentions that may involve you are called weak. It should have other filters for how good your online reputation is, and how many times your brand name or chosen keyword is mentioned, etc. The tool must make it easy for you to quickly access the information you desire, without forcing you to look at lots of information at one time.

It should have some form of ranking system

Most social media monitoring tools will search for mentions of you and then give you an idea of how often you are mentioned in relation to your products/keywords. This ranking system is often called “Online reputation” and your social media monitoring tool should have a similar function.

Does it have to search more than one social media platform?

You may only require your social media monitor to search and monitor one social media platform. You may require it to search and monitor multiple platforms. Whichever the case may be, you must find one that works for your circumstances.

Is it reliable?

It is annoying when you see many mentions about your website or products on a social media website and yet your monitor does not alert you to them. You need to find one that is reliable. It also becomes annoying when one day it claims that hundreds of people mentioned your website and the next day it says that five people mentioned your website.

How quickly after writing/posting will the tool pick up on a mention/keyword?

This is a factor that is widely unknown by the people who use social media monitoring tools. Some tools may take longer to pick up on how many social media mentions you have. This is not always a bad thing, but you should be aware that some tools will not pick up on mentions right away. However if a tool is able to show historic data that is accurate and correctly time stamped then the tool may still be useful to you.

The post How to Select the Right Social Media Monitoring Tool appeared first on ProTelp.

Genius Scan

Where is a scanner when you need one? If you and your team members spend a great deal of time out in the field or with customers, you’re likely to have occasions when a scanner would come in handy. Genius Scan allows you to scan documents, save and organize them, and email them to employees or customers from your phone. All you do is take a picture of the document with your camera phone and this app leads you through the rest of the process. It’s so easy you may be inclined to use the app even when your regular scanner is available.

Basecamp

Communicate with your team about their progress and yours with Basecamp. This handy application lets you check in on discussions, forward emails and documents, check off your To Do list and record dates. Whether you’re in the field or the office, you and your employees can stay on the same page by checking in to Basecamp throughout the day.

FlipTop

Manage your social media marketing and keep track of your customer demographics with FlipTop. This multitasking app connects with all your social media accounts, such as Facebook and Twitter, and provides detailed information about each consumer following you. Use FlipTop to post, interact with followers, track your social media marketing and organize the data all in one place.

Expensify

Managing your business’s expenses can be overwhelming if they get away from you. Don’t let being away from the office prevent you from tracking your mileage and other business expenses. Simply upload receipts, save them and create an expense report with the touch of a button.

Bump

Networking with other small-business owners, entrepreneurs or people in your on and offline business community can be beneficial in helping your business grow. Bump is an app that allows you to exchange business contact information with others without having to worry about remembering your business cards. Since 2008, more than 8 million Bump users have been touching their smartphones together to exchange information.

Use these mobile applications to streamline your business and help your company move forward toward the goals that have been set. Each app can assist you in the different areas of overseeing business operations, employee communication and customer service. By working more efficiently, you can ensure that each aspect of small business management is handled with quality and care, rather than feeling like you have to rush through things haphazardly. As you smooth out the rough spots and streamline business operations, you may also find yourself feeling less stressed while enjoying your work more.

The post 5 Apps for Better Small Business Management appeared first on ProTelp.

Twitter is not just one of the most popular social networks out there – it’s also one that causes a lot of confusion for small business owners. Most people will know following certain companies can be handy for getting the odd special offer – in fact I follow MoneySupermarket and recently saved some cash on my business insurance – but how can Twitter help your plans? And should you even be bothering with it in the first place?

Here are five questions you should ask yourself before setting up an account:

Is it the right network for you?

Twitter is definitely adaptable, but there are other social networks out there that may be more worth your while. If you run an online store and images are important, why not try Facebook or even Pinterest to draw attention to what you are doing? You can tweet individual pictures, but as a showcase these two options may make much more sense.

Will people care?

There’s very little point in setting up a Twitter account if your product is painfully dull. Twitter is a social tool and for the most part people only want to follow those with similar interests. With this in mind, you’ll need to think about whether or not people will be interested in what you have to say and whether there is a conversation out there you can get involved with.

Do you know how to talk to people?

One of the most important things to remember about Twitter is that, like emails and text messages, you can be misinterpreted. You need to know how to speak to your customers if you are using it as a service tool and how to engage with people if you are using it for sales. Getting the right brand tone of voice isn’t easy, so ask yourself if you have the people skills.

Are you ready to do business?

Many small businesses have tried to get involved with Twitter and then found that they have nothing to say to people. At that point, it can be easy to wander off and start tweeting your thoughts on the football or randomly asking people what they are up to for the weekend. Remember, people have friends for that – they don’t need you for it.

Have you got time?

Social networking doesn’t have to take up too much time, but it isn’t something you can go into half-heartedly. You need to stick with it, make regular updates and take part in the conversations around you. Tweeting a link to your products once a week will do nothing, so if you haven’t got the time to dedicate to making the most of it, forget it.

Twitter can be an incredible tool for business and there are plenty of examples of brands doing it right. Just remember that it isn’t for everyone – especially those with more pressing business matters to attend to!

Guest Article by Mike Goodwin -  freelance journalist with 5 years experience in using social media strategies at Startup incubators.

The post Does My Small Business Actually Need Twitter? appeared first on ProTelp.

How to check if your Place already exists

When a user visits your establishment they can Check in to that place when they post an update to Facebook. If this is the first time someone has checked in then Facebook will automatically add it as a place.

To find out if your business has already been listed as a place follow these steps;

1. Go to your search bar and type the name of your place

2. If you have a business page this may show up too but you’re looking for a result that has your address below it. Another way to distinguish a page from a place is an unclaimed place will have the Placemark image in grey/white.

3. Click on the result and it will take you to that place’s page.

If you have found your place and it hasn’t been claimed you can then follow the next how to.

How to claim a Facebook place

When you visit an un-claimed place you will have an option to notify the owner that they can claim this place. To do this click the Know the owner? button located on the top right.  Once you have clicked this a pop up appears:

You can then type in the name or email of the person who owns the business. Obviously, this may be you so just type in your own name/email.

Once you have added this information and clicked submit an email will be sent to that person requesting that they claim there page. The email also lists competitors that are already using places, nice touch?

I have added a copy of the email I received when requesting to claim a business.

Once you click on the Claim page button you are taken back to that Facebook Place. All you have to do now is enter the address of your business and phone number (optional). You will then be asked to verify your position at your Place by confirming your work email address.

Congratulation! You have now successfully claimed your Place. You can add images, contact details and interact with people visiting your business. But there’s one problem, you already own page that’s doing the same job. Read the next section to find out how you can merge a Page and Place.

Merging Your Existing Facebook Page With Your New Facebook Places Page

So, if you have a Facebook Page and now a Facebook Place you have the option to merge the two. But why merge? It is a lot easier to manage your Facebook presence from one point instead of having to be active on both Pages and Places.

Go to your existing Facebook Page

Click on Edit Page and then on Update info on the drop down

On the left column, click on the Resources tab

Click the Merge duplicate Pages link.

 This link will only appear if you admin two Pages with similar names and have the same address information..  

A dialogue will show Pages and Places you admin that qualify to be merged. Select the Page(s) you wish to merge and Confirm.

This video will walk through the steps above:

The post Merging your Facebook Place with your Facebook Page appeared first on ProTelp.

Actively Participate

As a result, some general “best practices” have been determined on how to use Pinterest. The first one is to actively participate in the Pinterest community. Your brand won’t build any kind of following if you just pin a pretty picture once in a while. Post regularly, re-pin and comment on other users, and respond to and engage with anyone interacting with your Pinterest boards. Creating meaningful relationships with other users will help you to gain more followers.

Next, it’s important to know which Pinterest users you should follow. Determine if there are other brands similar to yours using Pinterest, or simply personal users who demonstrate an affinity for your brand or related brands. Pay attention to what they’re pinning, interact with them, engage them with your brand. These are the users whose posts you’re going to want to re-pin, and hopefully they’ll feel the same about you and re-pin your posts for all of their followers.

Build your Brand

Another important thing to remember is diversity within your Pinterest boards. If you only share pictures of one type of product, or only products from your brand, you won’t draw any interest to your profile. Of course, if you are building a brand, everything you share should be related to that somehow – even if it’s just an “inspiration”. Pinterest can help you a great deal when it comes to building your brand identity. Every time you share an image ask yourself are these photos something you can build your brand around, pin and re-pin images that bridge with the lifestyle you are trying to promote with your brand. Remember, images you share become your “keywords” that will potentially bring new costumers to your website.

Is it Right for your  Business?

Most of all, think about whether Pinterest makes sense for your site. Sure, it’s easy to think of Pinterest as a space for free ads, but if you’re not careful with how you use the site, it could end up backfiring. Think carefully about what kind of photos you would be sharing, and if they would be of interest to the Pinterest community. Of course, Pinterest is still a new website, so the makeup of its users and their interests could evolve over time.

Armed with a solid Pinterest strategy, you could easily use this unique new social network to build your brand name, gain followers, and direct your fellow Pinterest users back to your main site.

By Mary Johnson who is a freelance editor specializing in social media marketing, currently working for Tothego.co.uk.

The post Use Pinterest to Boost Your Online Business appeared first on ProTelp.

That is key. There is quite a big difference between the professionals and the time-wasters when it comes to how each one perceives Twitter. If you think the online application is just a running tap that is losing you money by the second then read no further. Not only are you wrong but you’re already falling into the trap.

In this article we will look at the basics of how to use Twitter and create a plan that will see you succeed among the fast growing number of tweeters out there.

Twitter: Where to start?

1. Set up your account.

Go to Twitter to get started. Enter your name, email, and a password. Click Sign up.

You will now be taken to a second screen where can select a username. This is the name by which you will be known on Twitter.

What name should you use?
If you’re using Twitter for business you should always try to match your brand. If your business was called Suits for Sale, the username you should use is @suitsforsale. It wouldn’t be @Twilight_Fan112 and definitely not @5txc_Ujt (that’s just crazy!)

Now click on the Create my account button. Congratulations, you have now joined the Twitter community!

2. Your settings

From the user bar situated on the top of your Twitter page you can click the avatar which will bring up a list of options. Click “settings” to go your options page.
Do not check “Protect my updates” unless you want to lock the doors, windows and cash register of your shop. This option will keep all of your tweets invisible to other user unless they are following you. This will vastly stunt the growth of your followers and make your business less visible.

Go to the Profile tab and upload your image. This requires a little bit of thinking, you need to decide whether you want your image to represent you or your business. If you are a sole-trader and sell handmade crafts then your personality will want to come through with your tweets. In this case you may want to add an image of yourself. On the other hand if your business is large and offers professional services then you should opt for your logo.

Now, enter the rest of your information including your location, website and bio. The bio is limited to 160 characters so keep it short and to the point. You should summarise your business and services here but remember that is will be the first thing someone will see. Keep it clean and inviting.

You will also have the option to link your Twitter feed to Facebook. I recommend you not to do this as you use things like hashtags and mentions in Twitter that just look ugly on Facebook. There is also the fact that all your conversations will be posted to Facebook too which may look like spam to the average user. I would recommend this if you only use Twitter to update customers such as the status of a server for a hosting business.

When you are finished, click the Save button.

3. Followers and Following

First of all, add businesses that you already work with and individuals that are associated with your business by clicking the “search” field that is situated at the top of the page. You can either type in the users “handle” or full name. Once you have submitted your search term a list of relevant tweets and users will be displayed.

You can also do a more advanced search (e.g., searching by location) by clicking on “Refine results” or by going directly to the Advanced Search page.

You can begin “following” them by simply clicking on the Follow button near their profile. When you have Followed a user their name will appear under the Following section of your profile page. Most businesses/individuals will Follow back if you are relevant or appear interesting to them.

To gain more Followers you need to actively tweet about interesting topics that both relate to your Followers and your business. If someone likes your tweet they will click the Retweet button, that tweet will then be displayed on their feed so that more users will see your post. The more users viewing your posts the more chance you have of been Followed.

4. Learn the Lingo

When thinking about Twitter it is best to imagine you are in a room full of people. The people in your room or your “Followers” can hear everyone what everyone is saying and it appears as a feed running down your homepage. Keeping that in mind here are a few common terms to help you navigate Twitter:

• Hash tags (#) is a way to pick out keywords in your tweet that will a) Tell people what your tweet is about and b) allow your tweet to be searchable for that word. To search for a hash tag just type # followed by your word i.e. #sunbathing – Hash tags can be used to promote business events, special offers and your products.  

Someone might tweet:

Hello everyone, we are new to Twitter but can’t wait to get started! Follow us for great deals on #laptops

• Mentions. If you want to directly communicate with a single person but still want your tweet to be seen by other then you can mention them using the (@) symbol. To mention someone in your tweet so that they are notified type @ followed by their username.

Had a great meeting with @DevonRPage will be bringing out a new range of clothes soon.

• Direct Message. This is for when you want to talk to a business/individual but don’t want the whole of Twitter to know about it. To do this you need to go to that persons’ profile and click the avatar that is to the right of the Follow button. You will then be given a list of options, click “Send a direct Message”.

Part One Twitter: Where to start?

Part Two Marketing Tools, Ideas and Advice (coming soon)

The post The Small Business Guide to Twitter appeared first on ProTelp.

Nasdaq – Facebook IPO

Just two days after Facebook’s IPO and share prices have fallen hard and fast; over 10 percent had been knocked off the company’s record-breaking initial valuation.

Thursday, saw the execution of the much anticipated IPO where Facebook shares were valued at $38 each. With these prices set the eight-year-old company would be worth $104bn the first of its kind for this type of business.

One of the biggest events in Facebook’s timeline, last Friday, was delayed onto the Nasdaq stock exchange due to technical problems. The Nasdaq boss (Robert Greifeld) said he was “humbly embarrassed” by the glitch.

“Investors are increasingly aware of the risk embedded in the stock price. There are real concerns about growth and advertisers’ frequent lack of certainty how best to use Facebook, along with rising costs and ongoing acquisition risk,” Pivotal Research Group Brian Wieser told Reuters.

The shares closed on Friday at $38.23, having hit $45 earlier in the day. Yesterday they closed at just $34.03, down 11 percent from Friday’s closing price.

Other internet companies have had a range of experiences when they started selling shares:

Shares in business networking site LinkedIn more than doubled from their $45 offer price on their debut in May 2011. They peaked at $117 and are now trading around the $100 level.

Discount voucher firm Groupon’s shares jumped 30% on their debut in November. But they are now at about $12, well below their $20 flotation price.

Online games maker Zynga’s shares fell 5% on their first day of trading in December 2011. They are currently around $7, below their $10 offer price.

Google, however, is the star performer of the technology IPOs. Launched in 2004 at $85 a share, it is now trading above $600. It has yet to regain its pre-financial crisis peak of over $740, hit in 2007.

- BBC Business

It’s quite clear to see that the recent IPO has failed to impress the investors but critics are undecided on the future of Facebook. Whilst many argue it is too early to give a verdict many believe the drop in shares is due to Facebook not having a firm grip on their advertising offerings.

Will share prices continue to slope or is it too early to say? Leave your comments below.

The post Facebook Shares Stumble: Flop or Not? appeared first on ProTelp.

Microsoft has launched its new social network site (So.cl) in the wake of the recent Facebook IPO.

“So.cl (pronounced ‘social’) combines search and social networking for the purpose of learning and is the latest experiment from FUSE Labs,”

 

Is what Microsoft said in a description of the site. You can log into the network using your Facebook or Live account which is evidence enough it isn’t contending with the social-networking giant. Once logged in you are presented with a variety of topics and interests.

Primarily the network is a research tool in which students can share information on a variety of topics. To help students share information they have created a bookmarketlet that works in the same was as Facebook’s share or recommend button.  As well as been able to share, comment, and tag other users’ posts, they can also “riff” on the post — which Microsoft describes as “a new way to interact and improvise with content.”

The post Microsoft rolls out So.cl amid the Facebook IPO buzz appeared first on ProTelp.

Each Friday we round up all the best businesses from around Twitter and Facebook and say thank you for been so amazing. 

Twitter

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