What is Social Capital?
The basic concept of social capital is that social networks have value. The larger, deeper, and richer your social network is, the more social capital you have. Being part of a social network, being inter-connected with other people has value, even to those people who...
6 Tips for a Successful Local Marketing Program
I went to a franchised store to pick up a cookie cake. Upon arrival, I checked in on Foursquare, a location-based app on my phone. Surprise! The store had a coupon offering six free cookies for the purchase of a cookie cake. I showed it to the employee who pushed back...
Social Networking Done Wrong
Whenever I have new followers, Twitter notifies me. This way I can check them out and follow back if they're worthy. Many times, I pass on following back because some of these users' tweets are mostly self-serving. Social networking will not pay off for these people...
Add a Video to Your LinkedIn Profile
Do you have videos of yourself giving a presentation, showing how to do something or giving advice? It would be worth adding to your LinkedIn profile because videos add another dimension to your online resume. They give people a way to see you in action, and get a...
Stop Networking … Start Building Relationships
You've been invited to another networking event. How do you feel about it? Do you dread the thought of approaching people, delivering your 30-second elevator speech and making conversation? Are you out of questions to ask once you get an answer to "What do you do?"...
How to Respond to an Overly Bold LinkedIn Request
I received an email from Suzanne (not her real name) who had an interesting LinkedIn story that I bet some you can relate to. I know I can. In his initial LinkedIn connection request, a man asked Suzanne if they could start referring leads to each other. Furthermore,...
Tips for Creating Your Own Content from Other People’s Content
Need an easy way to get ideas for your own blog posts, videos or social media posts? Use content from other people as a starting point. Here’s how… Link to the other blog post and talk about why you agree or disagree. Was your...
Tips for Sharing Other People’s Content
We talk a lot about using other people’s content, especially blog posts, as a way to stay in touch with the people who matter to you. What are some of the best ways to do that? We usually keep it simple – just say: Thought you’d be interested in this… Or I was reading...
Easy Email Newsletters Using Other People’s Content
When you have a small business, it’s essential to stay in touch with people – to get your email newsletter out regularly. But there are lots of months when you are just too busy to write an article, or even to come up with an idea for someone else to write. That’s why...
Creating a Great Facebook Fan Page: For Small Businesses
Today we're delighted to have a guest post about Facebook marketing from Craig Robinson of Qwaya. If you’re reading this article and have a small business you want to promote on Facebook, we’re going to go ahead and assume that you already know how to create ads and...
Prospect Intelligence
Once you’re connected to someone on LinkedIn, for example, what do you look for? How do you use their social media profiles to find out about them? Where do you look? Obviously, you can read over their profile and see what they are doing now, how long they have been...
6 Ways to Get Prospects’ LinkedIn URLs
If you have decided to add social media information to your CRM so you have permanent contact information for your prospects, clients and partners – congratulations! That’s a decision that will benefit you for years to come. The simplest way to start is to add the...