How to Use Hashtags on Twitter

I had  a conversation with a small business owner the other day about how using the proper hashtags is essential on Twitter.  They immediately looked at me like I was crazy and asked, "um...what's a hashtag?"  That's when I realized that I needed to get the word out on what it was and how to use it properly.  Here is Twitter's definition:


Definition: The # symbol, called a hashtag, is used to mark keywords or topics in a Tweet. It was created organically by Twitter users as a way to categorize messages.


An example of a hashtag would be #socialmedia.  If I were to end a tweet with that hashtag, it would appear when someone did a search for "social media" using the Twitter search tool. Here are 3 ways you build your business brand with Twitter.

1. Get exposure beyond your followers:  One of my favorite things about Twitter is that someone does not have to be my follower to read one of my tweets (unlike Facebook).  If they do a search for a certain topic that I am writing about and use that hashtag (see #socialmedia example above), then they will see my tweet.  This is gold for any industry.  If you were in the health and fitness industry, it would makes since to use hashtags like #health and #fitness or #nutrition.  People that search for those topics would be exposed to your content. This is a great way to build your follower base as well as you are attracting people that are already looking for your niche.

2. Brand yourself or business:  A good way to subtly remind your followers what your brand is all about is to use the same or similar hashtags with each tweet.  Be sure to use tools likes hashtags.org to ensure that people are actually searching for the words that you use.  If you were a Pilates instructor in Plano, you could end your tweets with #pilates or #plano.  I do not recommend using multiple hashtags.  It can be overwhelming as people are going through their feed.


3. Be a part of the trend: When a particular topic or hashtag is "trending" it means that more people are talking about these subjects or topics than anything else.  It's great to get exposure in that kind of traffic.  You can find the trending topics on the left hand side of Twitter under "trends" on a computer or on the "discover" tab at the bottom on the mobile app.  Don't force the issue, but it's good to come up with a tweet to match a trending topic.  For example, as I type, #tweatyourweakness is trending.  Let's say I owned a bakery.  An opportunistic tweet could be, "bananas foster cheesecake #tweatyourweakness". Now the thousands of people that are in that trending conversation will be exposed to your brand and tweet.  Make sure the trending topic is relevant to your business.  No one likes the old bait and switch routine.

Here's a quick video to summarize:

Marketing is all about maximizing our exposure.  Hashtags, if used correctly, can double, triple or even quadruple the amount of people outside of your followers that you can reach with just one tweet.  I hope this helps make some sense of the little # sign in getting more exposure for you and your business.  Feel free to comment below and happy tweeting!  If you do comment, be sure to leave your Twitter handle so I can follow you.  Mine is @marketwithmario.

6 Benefits of Using Twitter For Your Business

Running a small business is difficult enough without having to keep up with how to market and where to market to attract new customers.  There are several social media outlets out there and sometimes it may be confusing on which ones to use for your business.  I always recommend 2 things:  Be seen where the people are and only use as many social media channels as you are comfortable keeping up with.


So why Twitter? How could this possibly work for my business?  These are very common questions and you're not alone. This is a question I often get and I hope to provide you with the value of not only starting a Twitter account, but keeping it updated.  Here are 5 reasons why every self-employed business owner should use Twitter for their business


1. Connect with more people:  There are 554,750,000 users on Twitter today. Of course we can't connect with all of them, but there is a good chance that there are local users that you can connect with that fit your customer demographic.  Unlike Facebook, you don't have to pay to connect with complete strangers and they can follow you just by finding value in one of your tweets (posts). This allows you to expand your network even further by adding people that you did not know before. Also, if you sell products nationwide, you can reach more people than you even have before.

2. Gather information: One way I use Twitter for my business is to gather information and learn.  In most industries (especially social media), if we are not up to date on the latest trends and changes, then we are no longer the expert.  Instead of reaching out to several websites for education, you can have the websites come to you.  For example, someone in the health industry could follow Men's Health Magazine, Women's Health Magazine and Whole Foods.  Each time these companies tweet about new techniques, diets or recipes, they would be informed and can share this information with their followers.  Getting new information to your customer base is vital in continuing that business relationship.

3. Your Competition is on Twitter:  I can promise you, without looking, that all of the heavy hitters in business are on Twitter.  The coolest part is, whether you started your business today or you own a Fortune 500 company, you can have a Twitter account. And it's FREE!  This allows even the smallest self-employed business owner to compete the big players in their industry.  Our competition is on Twitter which means we need to be there in order to keep up.

4. People are searching for you: Twitter has a couple of nice search options in which you can search for particular products or services.  If you set your profile up correctly with the proper keywords, your Twitter profile will show up for these searches.  Also, Twitter has something called hashtags (#) in which you can search for particular conversations.  If you owned a healthy cooking company and someone was searching for #healthycooking they would find your tweets if you ended it with the hashtag of #healthycooking. The more we show up in popular topics or hashtags, the more likely we are to attract business.


5. More Exposure for Your Blog of Website:  It is great when people just stumble upon our blog post or website, but the more traffic we can get the better.  If someone has 2,000 followers on Twitter and they tweet a link to their website or blog post, that goes out to 2,000 people at once.  Imagine if just half of those people enjoyed your article and Retweeted (shared) it with their followers and so on.  That's when posts go viral!  Twitter is great for this.


6. Advertise: Twitter is a free service, but you can also advertise with them to attract a laser targeted audience. Similar to Facebook or Google Adwords, you are paying for people to follow you or be exposed to your tweets.  I highly recommend this for people that are trying to attract followers in a specific city or for businesses that are running a particular promotion or special and want to get the word out to a specific demographic. Ex: if a women's spa ran a laser hair removal special, they could run a campaign where a particular tweet for the special only went to women in their city that had specific interest.

There are probably several more reasons to use Twitter for business, but these are a few that I have found that have worked for mine.  Social media is not the end all be all (we still need to get out and talk to folks), but it sure does shrink the business world down a little where we can build relationships with people that we would never have had an opportunity to meet in person.  Twitter is definitely a powerful tool to reach that new audience.  Please leave your comments below and use the share buttons at the top if you think someone in your network could benefit from these tips.  Thanks!

How To Brand Yourself By Specializing

As Entrepreneurs and business owners, sometimes we want to be everything to everyone.  This can be dangerous, because if we do it all, we really do not specialize in anything.  Remember the expression, "jack of all trades, but master of none"?  There is something to that and I have experienced it personally.  When I left the corporate world, I tried my hand at several things in hopes that I would be able to help anyone that I came in contact with.  I was working a fitness business, consulting for a credit repair firm, and marketing for an seo company.  My thought process was, if someone needed help in those areas, I could be a one stop shop. This turned out to be counter productive because I had no identity, therefore I was not top of mind when it came to health, credit, or marketing.  This is when I decided that I needed to specialize in one of these areas to achieve maximum success.  In this article I hope to show you how branding yourself as an expert in a specialized area can lead to more referrals. Especially in social media.  Here are 3 ways you can brand yourself.

1. Create or pick a niche that separates you:  I know a mortgage broker named John Snell that is great at what he does.  He receives several referrals for divorcees due to the way he has branded him self.  He specializes in working with individuals that have gone through a divorce. He will obviously help someone that is single or happily married, but he has created a niche to where those in his network think of ONLY him if they ever hear the word divorce.  He has narrowed his market, but he has a very specific market that keeps his name on your mind when you hear certain buzzwords.  There are thousands of mortgage brokers, but he'll stand out for this reason.

2. Pick a city and dominate it:  This conflicts with the normal entrepreneur mindset I know, but hear me out here.  If we market to a specific city or two, we have a better chance of being the go-to guy or gal in that city. If we try to cover the entire metroplex or state, we are then the small fish in the big pond.  Plus this saves on gas if you travel to your clients.  Regardless of the industry, imagine if you helped every single person in your city.  Those numbers would be staggering!

3. Include your specialty in your social profiles:  This basically recaps 1 and 2.  Let's take a realtor for example.  We know that realtors help consumers buy and sell homes.  That's a given, but if a realtor really wants to attract referrals, they will specialize in a certain area (buy or sell, residential or commercial).  I often see social media profiles stating everything that a person does and it does not trigger an exact person to connect them with.  The best thing a realtor could do in their profile (for example) is state that they specialize in helping individuals in Allen, TX sell their homes (again, just an example).  Now of course they can help someone in a different city purchase a home as well, but they will be known as the go to realtor in Allen for selling homes and get a steady stream of those referrals.  This will also help when people search for you or your niche online (ex: searching for a realtor in allen, tx).

In today's business, it's important to carve out a specific niche that we can be known for so we can separate ourselves from the masses. The way I see it, trying to be everything to everyone is similar to trying to chase 2 rabbits. Of course we want plenty of business, but think of it like this:  We can either get tons of bait and go out in a huge lake where there are tons of fish in hopes to catch some...or we can have some fish in a small bucket, use no bait and just reach in and grab them with our hands.  Less fish? Maybe, but very little effort involved when done correctly.

I hope this helps when it comes to how to market and brand yourself.  Please feel free to comment below and I appreciate you taking the time to read this.  Good luck in your marketing efforts!

What To Do With Business Cards

So we attend an outstanding networking event, meet some great people and collect a stack of business cards that end up on our desk. Sound familiar?  So what should we do with all of these cards?  Do we keep a running stack? Do we call everyone? Throw them away? There are several philosophies on this subject, but i'll just share a few ways I use business cards to help build relationships and add to my network.





Here are 5 things we all should do when we receive someone's business card.


1. Comment on the card:  Most of us have business cards and we put some time and effort in designing the layout and content.  This is the same for the person that just handed us a card so take some time to look at the card (front and back) and comment on it. Shape, color, title, design, etc. Just something to show it's not just another card.  People appreciate it I promise.


2. Follow up email/phone call:  If we have an engaging conversation before or after an event with someone, the only way to grow that relationship is to connect again. This is NOT a sales call or email.  Just a friendly hello to say it was great connecting and maybe throw out an invite for lunch or coffee to further the discussion.  Networking is all about building relationships.  No one wants to be pitched. The more people that know what we do, the more referrals we will received. Without pressure.


3. Keep them:  This one is easier said than done.  I have a business card book that I keep in my bag at all times.  On top of building relationships, networking is also about helping others.  The more people we help, the more people help us.  That being said, when we carry other business owner's cards with us and a colleague needs a service provider, we can give them the referral information on the spot. Now we are the hero or problem solver.  Also, we may never know when we might need their services as well.  If you have everyone's info in one spot, it's easy to access.


4. Upload the info:  To piggyback on the card book above, some of us lean more towards digital "books" than physical.  That's cool too!  We can actually upload business cards into our smart phones with apps like Card Munch.  The information (phone number, email, fax) will be populated into your contacts so you can carry the "cards" with you in your phone instead of a binder or book.


5. Connect to social media outlets:  More and more business owners are on Facebook, Twitter, etc to help reach more people to grow their business.  When we get someone's card, it's best to look to see if they have their Facebook Page, Pinterest profile or other social media channels on their card.  If so, go ahead and "like" that page or "follow" them.  Chances are, they'll follow you right back. In social media, we receive what we give.

There is not a perfect system and I am sure I left out some things (please feel free to add in the comment section at the bottom). If we consistently do these 5 simple things after we receive a new contact's business card we will not only grow our network, but build more relationships as well.  Please share this article with anyone that has a stack of cards on their desk ;)

How To Find The Best LinkedIn Groups For Your Business

The LinkedIn community is growing by the day.  It is a great platform to be a part of for any business professional as the content there tends to lean more towards business related topics.  Collecting contacts and posting is great, but that alone will not result in closed business referrals.  We must be able to connect with people as well and engage with our network.  One of the best ways to do that is to join LinkedIn groups.  Now the question is...which one(s)?  Here are some tips on how to find the best Linked group for you and your business.

1. Groups that are your synergy partners:   One of the best groups to join is one that is filled with people that you work side by side in business and do not compete with.  A few examples:  A good group for a wedding photographer would be an event planning group.  A great one for a Realtor would be a mortgage professional group.  An seo company might find value in joining a web design group.  When joining a group it's best to think, "what kind of people do I get referrals from that walk in the same doors as I do"?  Avoid joining groups that your direct competition would be in. ex: financial planner joining a financial planning group.

2. Groups that are local, if you do business locally:  If you live in Allen, TX and do most of your business in that community (basically do not offer e-commerce) or close to that area, it would make the most sense to join groups that are close to that area.  You can perform a search in the top right hand corner of LinkedIn and type in the city or cities that you would like to target and it will give your professional groups in that area.

Here is an example of a search for groups in Frisco, TX:

By becoming active in local groups by posting, commenting and "liking",  we can connect with people that are in our area which will increase our chances of actually getting referrals and closed business.  

3. Groups that have activity:  I will take quality over quantity any day of the week.  Just because a group has thousands of people in it, doesn't mean it is a great group.  I came across a group a few weeks ago that I was really excited about.  It contained self-employed business owners (my preferred client) in my area.  It had a fair amount of people in it as well.  When I went to join, I noticed that the last post and activity was about 6 months prior.  For whatever reason, the group went dormant.  Play close attention to this, because if a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it...you get where I am going.  Be sure there is some activity in the group instead of just looking for the largest group. Remember, getting referrals and attracting business is all about building relationships first.  If no one is active, there is no one to build the relationship with.

Joining a group on LinkedIn is one of the best ways to connect with other professionals and build relationships.  Picking the right group for you and your business will make the difference in whether or not that relationship will turn into a referral stream.  I hope this helps you navigate LinkedIn a little better.  If you think it could help someone else, please share this by clicking one of the share icons at the top. 

5 Reasons to Use YouTube for Business

When we are marketing ourselves and our businesses, it is important to hit our potential clients from every angle.  One of the best ways to connect with our customers is through video because people get to actually see and hear us. As a business owner, managing a YouTube channel is vital in today's social media marketplace. Here are 5 reasons why:

1. Cost Effective:  Everyone is watching their marketing budgets closely today.  It is FREE to have a YouTube channel and relatively easy to create quality videos in a short amount of time.  You can be up and running and posting videos in a matter of minutes without spending a dime.

2. More Exposure:  According to Alexa.com, YouTube is the 3rd most visited website in the United States behind Google (1) and Facebook (2). With over 1 billion users, this gives you a chance to get your message out to the masses. Commenting on other videos while logged into YouTube also allows you to be seen by several people.

3. Google Ranking: Having a YouTube channel and posting videos will help your Google ranking.  After all, Google runs YouTube so it's a good idea to be part of anything that they promote.  Helpful hint:  Fill out your  YouTube profile and include links back to your site.  These are very valuable for your seo (search engine optimization).  Also, be sure to include a link to your site in the description portion of your videos.

4. Personal Connection:  It is great when people read our blogs and content and get a feel for us.  Video just takes that connection to a new level because people get to put a face and a voice with the words.  This will give your potential customers to get a better understanding of who you are and what you represent. Voice over videos are good for "how to's" and for those that are not comfortable being on camera. Posting videos on YouTube will also give you a chance to showcase your past projects or events/products that you are trying to promote:  Ex: A realtor posting a video of an actual listing in the area.


5. Enhances your website:  The more ways that we can connect with people on our website the better our conversions will be.  Some people are readers, some like to look at pictures, and some would prefer that a video told them the story.  Your website improves when it is more diverse so adding video to it will only help in the overall user experience.  Suggestion:  Do not have your video automatically start when a user reaches your site.  This may have people quickly leave your website if they are at work or a setting where noise or talking would not be appropriate.


In marketing, it is key to spread your message in as many different ways as possible.  By connecting with people through YouTube videos, you can get your brand out to the masses and they can get to know you a little better since they can see and hear you.  Please share this with anyone you think it might help and have a wonderful day!  Also, comments are appreciated.

The Benifits of Using Pinterest For Business

Believe it or not, Pinterest is not just about recipes and arts and crafts projects.  I do enjoy using it for those things, but Pinterest is also a great way to market your business.  Especially if your product or service is designed for women, as 79% of Pinterest users are women.  Even if you market to men, Pinterest is still a great place to be if you own a business or are self employed.  Here are a few benefits of  using Pinterest for business.




1. Great for SEO:  If you want to to rank well in search engines like Google, then linking your website to Pinterest is a must.  Here's why (in simple terms):  Google has a system called page rank.  The higher the page rank, the more value Google gives the site. The scale is 1 to 10 with 10 being the best.  Pinterest has a page rank of 7, so "pins" from there that link back to your website are valuable in Google's eyes.  Especially if your website is related to the pin (ex: A chiropractor pinning a picture of a spine that is connected to his or her blog).


2. More exposure:  In marketing, the more exposure you have the better.  People often ask me if they should be on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Pinterest.  My answer is always, "YES!".  We never know where we are going to attract customers so the more places (online) we are the better.  I don't mean to beat a dead horse here, but if you market to women, Pinterest is a great way to get your product or service in front of them.  There are over 25 million users on Pinterest so there is a good chance you can find a few customers.


3. Pictures sell:  Pinterest is all about pins and pics.  With our rapid pace, gotta have it now world, people want pictures.  We barely slow down to read sentences that are more than 140 characters.  If you have a great picture that describes your service or product, it can be worth more than a post or tweet.  Think about the possibilities: A realtor pinning a picture of a listing that links back to their listing online, a personal trainer pinning a recipe for a healthy meal that links back to their blog, or even a remodeling company that pins pictures of their renovations that link back to a gallery page on their website.  Very powerful and very effective for marketing.



Pinterest is a great way to escape and check out some great pins, but it can also be an effective social media platform for marketing if used effectively.  Here is a quick video to show you how to create great links to your site from using Pinterest:

Please share with someone that could benefit from this article.  Thanks and feel free to leave a comment below or share on Google Plus (above).

3 Reasons to Use Google Plus for Business

Social media is becoming more and more important for business.  Not only is it necessary to connect with current and potential clients in person, but we must also engage them online if we want to keep up with our competition.  Juggling different social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn etc can be overwhelming at times, but if you want to get maximum exposure, I highly recommend setting up a Google Plus account.  Here's why:


1. Google will love you:  Any business that has a website typically wants to rank well in Google's search engine.  A good place to start is to be active in their social communities (YouTube and Google Plus).   From an seo (search engine optimization) perspective, it is crucial to be on Google Plus because everything that you do/post is indexed in Google which helps your overall ranking. It's helps that Google Plus is actually pretty cool anyway so it's fun "work" to connect with people there.


2. More Exposure:  There will always be some overlapping in our social media accounts (same friends/followers/connections), but there are always new opportunities to meet new people on each platform.  The same is true with Google Plus.  It will create a new audience for your brand or service that has not had a chance to get to know you yet.  This is a great opportunity to broaden your network and connect with new people.


3. It's Different: Sometimes we get bored with the same old same old.  If you find yourself checking Facebook on your computer, shutting your computer down, then 5 minutes later checking Facebook on your phone then it might be time for a change. Or at least another outlet to check.  Don't worry, if I just described you to a "T", I still do that! haha.  Joining Google Plus will give you a chance to experience something different and give you an excuse to stay online after you've gone through all of your other feeds ;)


 It's not necessary to be on every single social platform, but I highly recommend joining Google Plus if you want more exposure on Google. After all, it is the number 1 visited website.  In business, the more exposure, the better.  Thank your for reading and please feel free to comment below or share on Google Plus above.

How To Schedule Facebook Posts

Did you ever come up with a great idea for a Facebook post, but it wasn't the right time, or maybe you just posted something recently and did not want to "over post"?  Almost everyday right?  Well did you know that you can setup your post to go out at a later date or time on your business/fan page?  Well you can.  Directly through Facebook without any fancy tools like Hootsuite etc.


Here are some reasons you may need to schedule a Facebook post for your business:

• You may have a meeting scheduled at the time you would like the post to go out.
• You may have a great idea for a seasonal post and don't want to forget it (ex: St. Patrick's Day/Easter)
• It may need to go out in the evening (or morning or lunch), but you know you will be busy.

I am sure there are several reasons why we would need to schedule a post on Facebook to go out at a later time.  Now I want to show you HOW to do it:

Please watch this short video---->  Facebook Scheduler Video




 If you found value in this video and you think someone else might too, please share it with them.  Thanks so much!