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I have moved!

After several months of procrastination, I finally moved my blog from WordPress.com to WordPress.org. It is on my website at www.seekcustomers.com

I hope you enjoy the new layout.

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Categories business management

Does Twitter bring you Klout? (part 3)

28 May

Image by barney.craggs via Flickr

In the last post, before the great apocalypse of Klout, I reviewed Pluggio as a primary tool to help you raise your Klout score.

Pluggio is used to help you build your Twitter followers and post tweets. Yet Klout looks at Facebook activity as well. LinkedIn connection will be coming soon to Klout. Even with Klout not looking at LinkedIn, for the moment, people who are on social media sites tend to be on several. How do you manage these social media accounts? I use Hootsuite and you can see a screenshot below.

Hootsuite allows you to setup “mentions”, so you can know when you / brand are being “mentioned” on the Internet. Ensure your scheduled tweets are ready to go, review what tweets you have sent, direct messages from your followers, and tweets from people you follow. There are many more features, but I think you get the picture that it is a Swiss Army Knife for social media. Some people like Tweetdeck and I have tried it. However, I kept coming back to Hootsuite. The choice is yours.

You can also add a browser extension to help you schedule tweets of content that you want to share. Why is scheduling important? If your life is like mine you are always being distracted by something – work, family, friends, your favorite NBA team being kicked out of the playoffs (sigh), etc… These distractions can make your tweeting erratic which does not help your personal brand or commercial brand which ever you are building. You should be known for consistent and quality content sharing.

This is Saturday morning and I have already scheduled my Monday tweets. Hootsuite has them in the queue. Now I am ready for any distraction today or Monday. My followers will never be the wiser of how my feable mind was easily distracted over the weekend!

I use a to-do / project scheduler (The Hitlist) and have scheduled a weekly repeating editorial list of tweet subjects. It looks something like this:

Monday – Marketing & Digital content for tweets
Tuesday – Social Media & Design
Wednesday – Business & Apple related
Thursday – Technical
Friday – Lifehacking & misc.
Saturday – Fun stuff

I read my rss feeds daily (using Feedly). As Feedly allows you to categorize feeds, I will read tomorrow’s tweet subjects first before reading my other feeds. As an example on Monday I will read Tuesday’s subjects of Social Media & Design. Find content worthy of tweeting and schedule the tweets via Hootsuite to go out at varying times on Tuesday.

I send out two tweets in the morning and two in the afternoon. This is a screenshot of Hootsuite. As I said it is a very versatile software, so this is how I have set it up. Your Hootsuite could look different depending upon what streams you want to monitor.

In the next post I will discuss Feedly and try to tie all of this together. My current Klout score? 34. (it should be higher, but the glitch has slowed the updating)

Till next time…. Terry @Globally_Tested

HOW TO: Use HootSuite as a Marketing Tool (mashable.com)
@Klout vs @PeerIndex vs @EmpireAve- which has the real influence? [Georgina Lester] (ecademy.com)
Finding influencers is more than just comparing their Klout score (martingysler.com)

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Categories business management, entrepreneur, lead generation, marketing management, online marketing, small business, social media

Take these tips into the weekend to think about

27 May

Take these tips into the weekend to think about.

How to Make a Plan That Will Help Your Business Thrive http://ow.ly/54hEl

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Categories business management

Does Twitter bring you Klout? (part 2)

19 May

Well I have been Tweeting, Facebooking, and, LinkedIning to raise my Klout score. When I began this journey 3 weeks ago my score was a measly 10, but as of yesterday the score has risen to 22!

As I have said before patience is needed when trying to raise your Klout score. In a future post I will talk a bit about a second score from Hubspot called Twitter Grader that approaches your online influence ranking differently than Klout.

The tools I am using are:

Pluggio is a web-based software for managing Twitter accounts. I am using the free version. The free version only allows one Twitter account and you have to accept this annoying pop-up screen asking you to upgrade – every time you log in. Oh well it is a great tool and free.

Here is the “home” page when you log in: (click pic to enlarge)

Pluggio is based on keywords that I select: (click pic to enlarge)

Another limitation to the free edition is I can only have 5 keywords working at any one time.

Pluggio uses these keywords to search for people who have tweeted on these words: (click pic to enlarge)

You can then click follow if you want to add this person. You can also set the keyword search with geographical filters. I have not and simply click “discard” if the person’s Twitter profile is not in English.

One last cool piece of Pluggio is the ability to connect RSS feeds which will allow you to find articles on subjects that you would like to Tweet. You can tweet them instantly, schedule them, or place them on a rolling list.

All in all I really enjoy Pluggio. If I ever have more than one Twitter account then I will upgrade the free plan. Check them out to see how quickly Pluggio can help you become a better Tweeter.

I will discuss the other tools in my next post. Till next time… Terry @Globally_Tested

Getting Your Klout Out (adweek.com)
10 ways to improve your Klout score (customerthink.com)
Klout’s Twitter Metrics Get More Clout (marketingpilgrim.com)
Supporting Your Social Media Campaigns With Fundamental SEO: Part Two (wpromote.com)

Tags: Facebook, Klout, Social network, Twitter

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Categories marketing management, online marketing, small business, social media

Does Twitter bring you Klout?

6 May

Image via CrunchBase

About 3 weeks ago I decided I wanted to raise my Klout score from its miserable score of 10. What is a Klout Score you ask? Well Klout says “The Klout Score is the measurement of your overall online influence.”

A quick side note – I was not a big fan of Twitter. I knew it was popular and I have my account – Globally_Tested. I just was not convinced Twitter had much value for me.

Then 3 weeks ago a friend asked me what my Klout score was and I admitted I did not know what Klout was. Once I learned then I became excited and my competitive streak kicked in as I wanted to have Klout! My heart sank when I went to Klout and read – “The Klout Score is the measurement of your overall online influence…Klout uses over 35 variables on Facebook and Twitter…” Crap! Twitter? I stink at Tweeting. Double Crap!

Well my competitive streak was in full stride and there was no turning back now – I had to have Klout. I began working on being better at Twitter and within a few days raised my Klout score by 4 points. This might not sound like much, but if you are desiring to have a higher Klout score then you must understand this takes work. It takes time. I hear my mom’s voice in my head saying “All good things take time.” She would be surprised that I was actually listening.

My next few blogs will be a journal of my experience increasing my Klout score and becoming better at Twitter. (And Facebook) I have read numerous articles on this subject, and tried several software platforms promising splendid results. Some worked and some didn’t. I will try to help you avoid this time waster by using the platforms that will help you increase your score.

Till next time…Terry @globally_tested

Klout’s Twitter Metrics Get More Clout (marketingpilgrim.com)
A sneak peek at the new Klout redesign (thenextweb.com)
Find out who has the most Klout on Twitter with this Chrome extension (thenextweb.com)
Klout as a Tool for Community Managers: Why I Don’t Buy it (mizzinformation.com)

Tags: Facebook, Klout, Social network, Twitter

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Categories marketing management, online marketing, small business, social media

Social Media Strategies

23 Mar

(This is another blog that I wrote for Chicago AMA. (see link below) Also checkout my interview with Blagica Bottigliero who heads up Social Media for Motorola Mobility.)

“All-things Internet” site Mashable reported last year that there are three things businesses should do when creating social media strategy.

Image by Intersection Consulting via Flickr

“Everyone must work together. Marketing, IT, and Sales must work together when creating a strategy plan.” I would throw in one more very important group – customer service.
“Top management must be involved.” As with most major initiatives, it always helps having the big guys as cheerleaders.
“Don’t expect overnight success.”

Let’s look at these three points. Everyone working together seems like a no brainer, but is it? All four departments (marketing, IT, sales, and customer service) have differing business goals. Then there is the finite amount of financial resources available. Who gets what and how much of it? As you can see this point can be filled with land-mines if you are not careful. Everyone coming to the table should have their goals / needs to present. This way everyone knows what the other person needs from the social media strategy plan.

Many top management will respond in one of two ways. Either they are over-the-top optimistic, or takes on a “whatever” attitude. Both can create problems for launching your strategic plan. The over-the-top people will be underwhelmed when immediate over-the-top numbers do not come in. Then what will be their attitude toward your social media plan? The “whatever” attitude can suck all of the wind out of your sails when you launch your plan. People will begin to say “If the top execs do not care then why should I?”

If your top execs fall into one of these two categories then have a plan on how to convert these people.

Finally with social media having so much publicity – expectations by businesses can take on unrealistic expectations. Do a Google search of the term “social media” and the results are 161,000,000 hits. Media tends to report the sexy stories such as 500 million Facebook members or 10 million views of a YouTube video.

People dream of their social media plan turning their business into the new darling of the media. So what would be realistic expectations? Social media can bring clarity and depth to a brand. It will bring clarity to your “brand message” and through the viral characteristics of social media your brand can gain depth in the market.

What is so wrong with a social media plan that helps a brand clarify its message and increase its popularity? Now do you need some help with great ideas for your social media strategy?

Social Media: Beyond the Chaos will present a forum to learn practical insights from the front lines of some of the most successful brands in B2C and B2B. Come hear their stories, inquire about their successes and failures while socializing with fellow marketers.

Who should attend? Any person involved in their company’s social media strategy development or tactical deployment. What will I gain from attending? Strategy ideas, lessons learned from some of the best companies using social media, and a better understanding of how to fit your social media strategy into your marketing mix.