3 quick ways to use visuals to improve the look of your LinkedIn page

1: Add a header image

Much the same as Twitter banners and Facebook cover photos, LinkedIn headers add interest but can also contain a lot of information. You can either choose from 25 different stock images or create a custom one for yourself.

Helping people understand more of what they will find out about you and what you do, the header image can be used to give a location, drive people to your corporate site, advertise your services or simply provide contact details. Either way, "people do business with people" (Bob Burg, 'Author of Adversaries into Allies' and 'The Go Giver') and header images are a great way of showing your personality.

2: Use images and videos in your summary

As engaging as your written summary may be, you have the opportunity to add images, links and videos to help bring your profile to life.

Add videos that introduce a product or service, a testimonial or simply a few images that help illustrate what you do or who you are. Images are always better than ‘boring’ text.

3: Use visuals in your posts and updates

Combining text within a picture increases the attractiveness even further. Think 'info-graphics' and 'quotos' (quotes with a photo). Some of the most shared posts on Twitter and Facebook are memes and there's no reason why LinkedIn shouldn't make the best of them too. Introduce a blog or link with an image.

Using the simple desktop tools in Word, you can add tag lines and descriptions by including text boxes, shapes and smart art. One of the biggest pulls to using these tools is that you can add personality to your business presence on LinkedIn. And that really is what social media is all about.

Visual content is by far the most attractive part of social media and LinkedIn is not excluded. There is no need for your visuals to be designed by a third party anymore, when the range of tools for you to DIY is so vast. If you’re feeling more adventurous you could try…

Canva:

I created this image in a matter of minutes, never having used Canva before. I was provided with a template and was able upload my own images, which appeared on the left of the screen and insert them into the spaces, by dragging them in. I could easily change the written content, colours and even adjust the justification and sizes of the images. 

Canva offers a number of different sized templates, such as Facebook cover, LinkedIn header etc. and even a simple way to customise the dimensions. This saves a huge headache in trying to re size your own images - it's done automatically for you!

A design tool that provides pre-designed templates into which you can drop your own images or ones sourced on-line and the opportunity to customise the templates for yourself, Canva offers features like filters, fonts, text styles and the ability to upload your own images.

PicMonkey:

PicMonkey is a photo editing tool recommended by Social Media Examiner. It allows the use of any font installed on your computer and features icons, graphics, filters and designs that you can adapt and integrate. PicMonkey also provides holiday themed templates, allowing you to easily create celebration or event related visual content.

Both Canva and PicMonkey have their benefits, it could be well worth spending an hour trying them out.

Help is at hand

If you know you should be making more use of LinkedIn but just can't make sense of it all let me demystify it all for you.

LinkedIn Boot Camp is running on Wednesday 12th November, 9.30 – 12.30. Bring your laptop and let's get your profile page sorted and schedule some updates.

This is a hands-on workshop so you will leave with an optimised profile, company page and an system to easily continue your LinkedIn activity into the future. Book now here.

Is business child’s play? – Dr Seuss’ wise words for entrepreneurs

Reading

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.” 
― Dr. Seuss, I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!

I never imagined I would read business books, but in the early days of my business I devoured each one recommended to me. ‘The E-myth Revisited’, was a real game changer in the way I thought about my business, ‘SUMO Shut up and Move on’ for not taking things personally and effecting change for myself, ‘7 Habits of Highly Successful People’.

The personal development gained from absorbing and implementing what I was reading, coupled with the amount of time I spent relaxing in the bath reading these words of wisdom in no small part has transformed me from the person I was 18 months ago.

Self-Belief & Determination

“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go...” 
― Dr. Seuss, Oh, The Places You'll Go!

Everyone has advice for you, everyone thinks they can run your business better than you and most people will inflict their opinions on you of your brand, business card, strap line, offering, website… the list goes on.

I was persuaded in the early days to move away from my original logo, re-design my website and try to ‘be more specific’ with my ‘speciality’. My speciality is being able to do pretty much anything that falls under the marketing umbrella; a flexible marketing manager, organising, project managing, ideas, motivation, support, training and old fashioned getting stuff done.

My personality is 90% of the reason I get and retain business, it’s my company, my decisions and my entrepreneurial instincts that have got me this far and created the business relationships I am most proud of. So I will listen to advice but in the end, as I develop a new brand, it will be uniquely me - no apologies.

Get support

“I'm afraid that sometimes you'll play lonely games too. Games you can't win 'cause you'll play against you.” 
― Dr. Seuss

Whether it’s a spouse, friend, colleague or a business mentor find someone that will challenge you and your decisions, play devil’s advocate and push you to think and act outside your comfort zone. It’s a lonely life running a business on your own and as you are probably moving at 1000 miles an hour it’s hard for employees and family to understand what you’re going through.

A coach or business mentor will be able to objectively present your business and decisions to you, slow you down if you’re behaving like a headless chicken and stop you spiralling too fast, either up or down!

Proactive winging-it!

“If things start happening, don't worry, don't stew, just go right along and you'll start happening too.” 
― Dr. Seuss

Life and business are always going to throw you a curve ball. Diaries are suddenly empty while clients are making decisions, opportunities for growth arise sooner than expected, large bills arrive you weren’t expecting. Whatever the day presents, use it. Unbillable time, utilise it for some well deserved time off – how many evenings and weekends have you worked? Spend the time ON your business; marketing, paperwork, communications. Sometimes you have to take the risk, take the leap and ‘go right along’, it’s rare you’ll regret an action more than an inaction.

“Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple.” 
― Dr. Seuss

K.I.S.S. keep it simple stupid! Procrastination and over thinking doesn’t achieve results. Sometimes if you start with a simple answer to a problem you have at least tackled the issue,  instead of letting it fester while you come up with and implement the perfect plan. A simple phone call, letter, meeting or change of process can solve a problem and give you the time to create ‘the perfect process’ for the future.

“Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.” 
― Dr. Seuss, Happy Birthday to You!

All statistics on buying behaviour, attention to speakers etc… focus on the unquantifiable elements of being and personality - body language and being liked, so be you and imbue your organisation with your you-ness, ethics, ethos and personality. Surround yourself with those who share your values but have different skills because for better or worse there really isn’t anyone who is more youer than you.

"Running a business is scary it’s true, but there’s a whole lot of people more scareder than you" - Lucy Lavers

3 free tools every business should be using. Save time, impress clients & stay on top of the game!

Almost without fail, every client I speak to has not discovered all three these tools;

They are BCC-ing bulk emails, so are unable to write Dear ‘Bob’ or mention the company specifically without spending hours cutting and pasting.

They don’t know how to get as-it-happens information on the web about their industry or interests and once they do, they don’t know how best to share it out on social media without spending all day, every day at it.

These three simple tools solve all those problems. Find great info, share it in a consistent manner that saves time and then share specifics with your contacts in an impressive way.

1. Hearing all about it - Google Alerts (www.google.co.uk/alerts)

For those of us old enough to remember cuttings services, discovering Google alerts was an epiphany. Not only I could hear news about ANY industry or topic's news as often as I wanted, or even as it happened but it was for free! Great for keeping tabs on anything being written out there, whether it’s about you, your clients or competitors.

Great for keeping abreast of things, great for content to share on social media, great, great, great all round.

Simply (and it is simple) set up your google alerts to let you know what and how often you want to know.

2. Manage all your social media - Hootsuite.com  

There are other programmes similar to Hootsuite but it is my favourite as it let me include Google+ early on.

Hootsuite lets you schedule and keep an eye on all your main social media channels from a single 'dashboard' (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Blogger and now mailchimp). It also has the Hootlet, letting you share/schedule anything you find on the web with a single click. Go have a look at hootlet.com

The free version gives you 5 social media channels (you have to count a company or business page as a separate channel) and you'll need to pay to see Hootsuites analytics but there are other ways of looking at your social media analytics.

Use Hootsuite to take the pressure off day-to-day social media. Look at your diary and tweet where you’ll be, what you’re doing and add the odd retweet. Write and schedule a topically blog and use Hootsuite to promote it across your social media, days, weeks,  months in advance.

Social media is about being social and interacting with your followers, but using Hootsuite saves time and leaves you free to share the ‘fun’ or happening side of your business knowing there are consistent topical posts happening thorough out the week.

3. Send great emails -  www.mailchimp.com

When I left my job and started my own company one of the very first things I did was update my contacts list and let everyone know I was ‘going solo’ with MailChimp.

I didn't want this to be a boring email, I wanted it to seem personal with Dear ‘so and so’, remind people of my face and show off my new company logo (not so proud of my DIY logo now!) but still.

MailChimp is free to use unless you want to send thousands upon thousands of emails, or use its extra clever features. But for sending great looking emails to all or just some of your contacts, seeing who opens them, how often and who clicks through is an invaluable tool.

If you’re sales focused you can gauge an interest from the recipients based on who opened the email, you can resend the email (changing the title) to all those who didn't open it, you could even call the companies that opened the email and clicked through…the possibilities are endless!

A MailChimp app is now also available for Hootsuite without adding to you count of 5 social media streams.

…It’s worth an hour of your time to check these three out 

If you have not already discovered these tools then take a look, (other similar tools are also available, but these are my favourites) and strategise with all three of them to make the most of your time, know all that’s happening and share that with your clients and contacts.

When is the right time to move into an office?

When you start your own business you tend to take a zero expenditure approach. Working from home, seeing clients in your kitchen or a cafe (they'll understand) and thinking you won't be spending much. The reality is so, so different. 

Beside the obvious distractions of home; the dishes, the washing. the fridge, friends popping in, you quickly realise not only do you not want clients in your home, you don't want work in your home. So when is the right time to move into an office as surely it's an expenditure you can't afford.

But can you afford not to?

 How much time do you spend getting to and from appointments because clients can't come to you? How much do you spend on drinks when you're in some cafe? and how much does it cost you in professionalism when you're charging for consultation with babies screaming, WiFi failing and the general public milling around you?

But is an office like new shoes, just a nice to have? 

My Nan said that you should never scrimp on shoes or mattresses as if you're not in one you're in the other, and she is right. She didn't work, but If you're not at home you're at work and the two really need to be separated mentally and physically so you're not at work 24/7 at home. (mouthful!)

My desk in the kitchen constantly reminds me I could be working. 

But do I just WANT rather than NEED an office?

maybe, but if you WANT your business to grow can you stay at home?, if you want to employ people, they can't work from your house forever. And talking to people about an office some valuable comments struck home.

If you want a business that has it's own office and you don't have one... then aren't you're failing if you don't take one?

How do you want your clients imagine you when you're not with them, working from a kitchen?

But can you afford it?

on paper, no maybe. But if you don't have goals and challenges, you will never grow. Paying the rent has to be the most concrete of goals I ever heard of. Bill all billable hours, let clients know how much you want to work for them next month and sack the time wasting clients and freebies for a more profitable approach to business. It's not ruthless, it's not exploitative, it's business and will be respected or discussed respectfully, and for me that's all I ask. 

It IS a new ear, a new start and an opportunity to grow. (and buy new cool stuff)

So do I have a new office?

I do, and am moving in on Tuesday. A new era, a new pride in my business and a new attitude to the growth of something bigger than my kitchen.

Wish me luck!! thanks for reading.

Why Use LinkedIn?

If you see the value of networking in real life, just think of LinkedIn as online networking.
Let’s start by answering the most common question. Why use LinkedIn when my company is still growing?

The stats are easy to read,

• Over 3 million companies have a LinkedIn company page (as per mid-2013 stats)
• More than 500,000 company pages were added between 2012 and 2013
• There are 148 different industries represented on company pages
• To date, there are 1,275,000 products and services highlighted across LinkedIn company pages

http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/make-linkedin-company-page-useful/#more-5618

Not Just Gossip

Of all the social media networks out there, LinkedIn is by far the most business oriented of them. Your audience is out there, looking for you and waiting to hear what you have to say.  With LinkedIn you can keep the focus on your message without the irrelevance of other social sites getting in the way.

A Community of Companies

A company page on LinkedIn is essential if you want your business to build a community around it that keeps you in front of mind for products or services.  Acting like an off-shoot of your corporate website, a company page is an unchanging, uniform section of your account that can not only provide information about you and your business, but interacts with others.

A True Testimony

Uniquely to LinkedIn, past employers, impressed customers and proud clients can ‘recommend’ your company and your skills.  Unlike the familiar and friendly ‘like’ button on Facebook, the LinkedIn recommendations are true testimonials to your services and should never be taken lightly.

Introductions through a LinkedIn connection are more likely to lead to a successful business contact than on other social media sites and often build lasting business relationships, all going towards your network of colleagues and contacts.

It’s not all about building yourself up though.  You can easily interact with other companies that have impressed you, by offering recommendations and introductions to their company pages.

LinkedIn is all about networking, businesses supporting business and engaging with like minded, focused professionals who are passionate about their work.

Get the knowledge

If the thought of getting LinkedIn and other social media up and running is just a little too much right now, and you know it ought to be simpler, get in touch.

We can show you how it can all be made more manageable and start working for you right away. A number of seminars are ready to book at the The Fleece in Witney.  Come along with your laptop and passwords and we’ll get you optimised in about 3 hours!

Book here

6 Simple Ways to Use Your LinkedIn Company Page

Ok, so you have your LinkedIn company page all set up and ready to go.  You have built a small group of followers and now you need to be saying something!

It’s all very well getting off the ground with some interesting updates, links and top advice, but how do you keep it flowing? How can you ensure your business stays up there for engaging content?

Here are 6 simple things you can do to make best use of your LinkedIn company page today.

1: Be the Expert

Ask yourself, “why do people need me?” Solve the problems your client base has, don’t go on about who you are, what you can do and why someone should choose your company - Get to the point of the issue and give the answers.  This way, you can position yourself as the expert in your field, drawing people to you for what they need.

2: Captivating Images

Banners and account pictures create an easily recognisable image of your company page and are more likely to captivate your audience.
Eye catching infographics contained within posts not only make your page look more interesting, but because they deliver simple messages, information and advice, they are more likely to be shared or commented on than plain text.

3: Videos

52% of consumers say that watching a video of a product gives them more confidence in the performance (Invodo).
Performing demonstrations in video form is again likely to captivate your audience and increase the likelihood of comments and shares.

4: Show Off a Little

Create a showcase page of your best sellers, best advice or favourite products.  Highlight your successes and let people know you’re proud of them.

5: Short and Sweet

Fast moving social media does not lend itself well to pages and pages of text. No-one has time to stop and read lengthy updates.  Say what you want to say, keep it on point and entice the reader back to your company’s website.

6: Engage

LinkedIn updates are not to be sent into the ether and never again thought of.  You want the reader to engage, ask questions and leave comments.  And you need to do the same.  If you’ve seen something you like, say so.  It’s always nice to be nice!

Need Help?

Don’t be put off by the thought of spending hours each week trying to write catchy comments on pretty pictures.  It doesn’t have to be that way.  Optimising is not just about making LinkedIn work for you, but keeping it from running your work life!

Your time comes at a premium and we understand that, so take a few hours next month and join our LinkedIn Boot Camp on Tuesday 10th June and save yourself bags of time in the future…

Book your seminar here:

10 things I've learnt in 12 months of running my own business

Push Start Marketing is 12 months old, and I have learnt an incredible amount. 

It's been a whirlwind year, from the highs of supportive clients, 'colleagues' and successful outcomes to the lows of a client that briefly destroyed my confidence and I agonized about taking to court. 

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, and the outcome of that was I got a coach, learnt to separate emotion from business and started looking at things, people, and situations objectively.

As I approached my first birthday my coach (www.charlycox.com, can't recommend her highly enough) asked me for my 10 pieces advice for any new business. Whether they are right or wrong, I am sharing them with you.

1. Network fearlessly

Don't be worried you're a new business, don't be daunted by those 'bigger, more successful' people in the room, they all had to start somewhere. Know what you want from Networking; speaking opportunities, to make an impression in the room, to increase a contacts list, bums on seats and go get it. 

  2. Set out decisions and deal breakers and don’t cross the line

What will you do and what won't you do?

I will: Work for free if I want to, cold call, work 9.30-5.30, take on employees - create a team, embrace challenges, charge £xx per hour,

I won't: Work with arrogant clients, discount, take on regular/recurring work with no clear plan, non-paid evening work, work Friday nights.

 

3. Get a coach / support

Athletes that want to succeed get coaches, Kings and politicians have advisers, friends are great but they want to talk about themselves too. Invest (and I mean invest, this will cost, financially and emotionally) in a professional business or performance coach. Their advice and more importantly the changes you will make to your life, values and business are invaluable. 

4. Set parameters

Where do you want to be in 6 months, a year, 2 years, 4 years?

What do you need to earn to break even, make a profit, reward yourself?

What will your working hours be?

How many clients do you need?

Give yourself a structure to work within and to, makes the whole thing much more manageable, real and achievable.

5. Celebrate more than you think you need to

When you work for yourself you have an eye on your cash flow, the need to pay the bills now your self-employed, the next thing to buy for the business etc.. But you will have been working so exceptionally hard, harder than you did for any boss that never appreciated you. You are now your boss, you need to appreciate you. Give yourself a budget to celebrate every time you hit that target, whether it's dinner out, a day off or a small gift to yourself. Another month in business, yay! Another client signed, yay! Celebrate all your successes, if you don't, who will?

6. Outsource anything that takes too much time

We all have strengths and weakness, so outsource your weakness; bookkeeping, admin, cold calling, blogs, social media, whatever it is. Because you don't want to do it, or it is a massive drain on your time give it to someone who can do it better or quicker than you and concentrate on doing what you do best, to earn the money (and more) to pay for it. 

7. Establish values and only work with those who share them

Skills can be taught, decisions negotiated but values are not so easily changed or created. List out yours and your businesses and aim to work with only those who share your values. 

E.g. A few of mine: Honesty, Integrity, Nurturing loyalty, Inspiring focus and direction, Curating expert advise & applying it, Taking opportunities to learn, Trust, Flexibility, Strength - convictions, Rewards, Clarity, Welcoming, Comfortable, Relaxed.

8. Price higher than you’re comfortable with

Most people don't value the price of their advice/work, it comes almost naturally to them because of their skills, training and experience, s it's hard to put a premium on it. But you will also spend time travelling, researching, on admin and follow-ups that you won't bill for. So take advice, do some research and charge appropriately, even if you're not completely comfortable with the figure at first.

9. Don’t buy work

I don't mean spending time networking, I mean lowering prices, discounting, over servicing and under billing, just to have work to do, or work for a certain client. You are effectively buying work. 

10. Fake it til you make it (..or become it)

You might not feel like an MD, CEO or successful business person but if you are running a business, you are. Others WILL see you as entrepreneurial, brave and authoritative, and again you probably are. So if you don't yet feel like it, fake it, till you have the clients, projects and plans in place to realise, for yourself, you have made/become it.   

13 Blogging Statistics, you probably don't know but should: Social Media Writing

13 Blogging Statistics You Probably Don’t Know, But Should [Infographic]

FEBRUARY 21, 2014 BY MITT RAY14 COMMENTS

Are you making the most of the latest blogging statistics to build a better blog?

You can easily find hundreds of blogging statistics around the web. Some of them are stats that mainly state why blogging is important and the others can help you create powerful blogs. I prefer reading the latter ones and implementing them on my blog to get better results.

So I looked around for studies and graphs that contain stats that can be used to build a better blog and created this infographic. I also included some of the stats from research I had conducted in the past, like this one on How to Build a Credible Blog. Along with the blogging stats I have provided some tips on how they can be used to create a better blog too. Check them out below…

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What is your favourite blogging statistic? How has it helped you? Please leave your comments below.

If you find the infographic helpful, please share it with your friends and followers by clicking on the social media share buttons below. 

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About Mitt Ray

Mitt Ray is the Founder of Social Marketing Writing and the Director ofimittcopy (The White Paper Blog). He is also the author of the book White Paper Marketing. Connect with him on Pinterest and Twitter@MittRay.