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How to Use Instagram for Your Online Business

Maybe I have a coffee Shop that has a skate park in the back, who knows, What’s kind of the first step. What should I be looking at So think about your audience? I know Instagram is Definitely preferred by teens and Millennials, so that’ll be Great for your business idea, which you stole from me, ( laughing ), But also some cons like a lot Of the platforms out there there’s a pay to play component Right.

It’S important to Think about who are you trying to target before You even get on there Also identify your voice. Because you wan na be on there and be consistent because After all, it’s your brand, So you don’t wan na Be one way on one post then 360 on another post, And it’s hard to follow, Yeah, which I know for small businesses, because they’re doing and juggling a million different things. Sometimes they’ll have Four different people at the business doing the Instagram, And while I see why they’re doing that, it comes off that way.

And it’s too inconsistent from the way the photos Look to the coloring to the captions. It’S just there’s, no consistency there! Absolutely! So what about my profile? I’Ve seen some pretty great profiles. I’M just looking around I’ve seen some bad ones. What are some best practices? And things to avoid So best practices, definitely Starting with the name, you want your name to Be consistent across –, So Coffee and Kickflips Yeah exactly Again stealing my business ( laughing ), So you wan na be consistent.

Across Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, with That name that handle Also when it comes to Your photo, I’m sure, because it’s a visual platform there’s so many ideas. You wan na put up there Also stay consistent across the platforms and don’t forget your description. What should I really Put in my description Should, I just say: cool Come buy coffee in my shop or what should I do Just give me essentially Your elevator pitch, What makes you unique, Also feel free to just In a way kind of brag, What makes you cool All right, so Instagram Has posts and it has stories, Can you talk to us About some of the things we should look out for When we’re doing a post versus a story Yeah, so there’s a lot to Say about posting on Instagram One thing that I like to Remind small business owners is that it’s important To come off, authentic, consistent, but also professional, So it’s like a balance.

Those are the ingredients. The one good thing with Instagram is that, although it’s a highly visual platform, you don’t have to hire a photographer And give us a sense of That behind the scenes Who works there, The outside the inside of your business. I love that because you Can really get a sense of I’m already there, But you’re not you’re, maybe On the go or chilling at home on your couch, but you Could feel like you’re already at that business? I’Ve got a great idea.

Should we do behind the scenes? Let’S do a behind the scenes Right now Right now Absolutely So. This is really going to bring to life what we’re doing for All of y’all out there We’ll see if this makes the cut Okay cool, So we got behind the Scenes here of the crew Say: hi, Please, document this Perfect height, Oh, come on man, ( laughing ), All right, diving back in So line ( laughing ) Back to what we’re actually talking about You’re on Instagram, Great Literally all day.

Now what You wan na be active, proactive, So as a business, it’s really important that you’re paying Attention to when a customer or potential customer Comments on your post Let’em know. You heard Like their comment, respond back Also, if they’re tagging your business or mentioning acknowledge that as well And that can help with customer retention. I mentioned a business that I was at and I was traveling and doing My own thing on the road – and I just mentioned them – Because they had amazing soy latte and I was stoked on it Sure enough.

They respond Back with this genuine message of thanks for business, And even though I preach About this all the time and educate business owners on doing this, and it happened to me – I felt truly valuable and it like made my day So I’m more likely to go back. And do business with them Yeah I love it. We have an easy way. Just To actually talk to people, If you go up to a random Stranger and say hi they’re like wait.

What are you doing On Instagram, it’s just the norm Or if you call me don’t call me Who calls It’s 2019, So cool so give us a lowdown On just Instagram search Yeah, so Instagram Search is really helpful if you’re looking to for Example, grow your following: You wan na look for a target. Audience of your own look for people talking About things that pertain to your business Search those hashtags, Yes, search, hashtags So you can find people that are relevant and follow them, so you’re growing, an Organic following right Right, But also you can chime in On conversations with people, So maybe you area vegan restaurant.

Let me know I’ll be there. So if you’re, a vegan restaurant, maybe search for other people, Talking about vegan cooking vegan recipes, maybe you Then follow a vegan, blog or a chef and that way You’Re really cultivating this niche bubble, which Will ultimately help your engagement, which we’ll Talk about engagement right, I mean you brought it up, please Without further ado, So engagement right is really important because you wan na make sure You’Re measuring your success on there.

So engagement rate is your ROI, So you hear me say the word a lot, but what it actually is it’s some math. Are you ready? No, What was your best subject in school? Not math, Not math? Okay. So it’s really simple. Engagement rate is the number of likes divided by your followers times. 100 Carry the three divided by… ( laughing ), All right cool I’ll write it down for you later. Thank you, But that’s going to give you some insight as to hey this post.

It performed well, or it was a flop and Then from there you can even go further because If you’re on Instagram as a business, which you should be as a business page, Then you have insights, You can see what time of Day worked best to post with your audience what Day of the week worked best, and then you look at the engagement rate as well, and it’s just Going to help you to have this approach to posting That’S not so blind Right, it’s not a shot in the dark, It’s more of an educated guess, because it’s not always perfect, but it gets you in the right direction.

Yeah, But again you want to be there and active. So I really can’t stress: The importance of commenting and replying to your Customers as they’re engaging taking the time to engage With your business Literally comment back On every single person, Because they took the time to say something Replay back, Give them that time of day And have fun with the Stories just like we did because that’s truly a live element.

It’S a very organic, authentic element to your personality and your brand, And if you feel like, I don’t have time to do all this, then I Encourage brand ambassadors Get your staff involved in this Also come up with a hashtag. So that way, when your customers Come in they can start getting the content for you. And you can just sit back, use it repurpose it I’m all about efficiency Right. Well, thank you! So much for hashing it out on the Gram.

You’Ve been awesome. Emma Thanks for having me Do it for the Gram. Do it for the Gram Well, this has been The Journey, Make sure you comment and subscribe. So you know when the Articles are coming out next. Thank you again, signing off

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How to Use Twitter for Your Online Business

Let’S jump in. I hear a lot from different businesses that Twitter is dead. It’S irrelevant! Why? Why should we be on Twitter? Give me what are some Pros to using Twitter, So I hear that all the time too, and it’s absolutely not the case – It’s on the rise popularity is growing and Twitter is really Unique in that, the real time that it embraces is What makes it so special So should all businesses Use Twitter or should some Are there certain use cases where you probably should avoid it? I’M a big fan, I’m a huge advocate of using all three Platforms, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram because they Work better together, Okay, But the thing about Twitter is and some view this as a Con is the algorithm So you’re not going to just see things in a chronological order.

Okay, So to keep your content Actually, coming up and being found, you wan na make sure that you have quality Content, not quantity, You don’t need to be Tweeting on steroids, Mass, producing content right. You wan na make sure that you’re giving something of value to your audience. What’S kind of the first Steps once I sign up What should I really look at So first steps. You definitely wan na start following like-minded users, Okay, And that can also help you to get in front of their followers, which will give you a really organic presence And then also go and engage.

With other users on Twitter, You know go and click retweet on something that makes sense to your business. That would also be of Value to your followers, So what about my profile? I know there’s some things that I should probably do just To make sure it’s consistent, What does that look like With your profile, you wan na Make sure that you have usually do you have a logo Yeah Yeah, so you wan na put Your logo out on your Twitter and definitely make sure Your handle is consistent, So that’s a at symbol and then the name of your business preferably Make sure that’s consistent across Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

‘Cause. After all, you’re Branding yourself Right And then from there you Have a little bio description right beneath the photo and your handle Cool. So one of my just absolute favorite topics ever are hashtags Hashtag. I did it all. For the cookies right Tell us about kind of the Best practices using hashtags Like should we just go On a hashtag tangent, are there best practices What should we avoid? Give us a low down? Yes, so definitely real it in don’t need to go hashtag crazy, Okay, But I also love hashtags.

It’S a great way to get more exposure, They’re free to use, and it can help you to be found by someone who Doesn’T even know you exist Also, including an actual Caption that you’re writing it’s one of my favorite things to do when I’m traveling the country – And let’s say I did this Seminar right on social media – and I got a cool picture me – At the microphone feeling [ Justin ], I can see it now Feeling pretty cool at a trade show, and so I wan na, like get That out to my audience – and I caption it like “ Having a blast sharing # socialmediatips.

”. So then, it’s in my caption and then now, if anyone’s searching in the area or social media tips in general, [, Justin ] Right, I have a chance to be discovered, Seems more natural, Right than just having it at the very end make it Part of the conversation Exactly make it part of the caption, But do both by all means. Okay, You can get real localized with it. [ Justin, ], Really Yeah. So when I travel Like, for example, I was in Austin recently, I just wanted to know where’s a good place to Eat or get a craft beer, You know it’s a big thing in Austin, So I would just search # austineats and from there I found Out what tourists locals where they were going to get food and then that helped me make my buying decision So think about it as a Small business owner: how does this relate to you? Well, consumers are out There searching hashtags Right When they’re looking For a product, a service, a cup of Joe And then so, if you have these hashtags on your Posts you’re more likely to be found when someone’s Searching coffee, Perfect and what I would say, To you, when searching that joining in on the conversation With those hashtags that are relevant to what you’re searching and that’s what’s more Important about Twitter right Is talking to people and being social, social media for a reason, Yeah exactly it’s a two way street.

That’S the beauty of it Right, You’re, not just talking At your customers, anymore, you’re engaging with Them it’s a conversation and, at the end of the day, that’s what’s going to make your presence more powerful. If you have This two way conversation Right on. I dig it So next up, we have Really paid advertising.’Cause. I know I’ve seen Some paid promotions on Twitter every now and then Is there any relevance to that.

Should we test it out? What are your thoughts, I always say, start small and be sure you’re paying attention to the metrics, Otherwise you’re just blindly Spending money right At the end of the Month, you’re like wait: where did my money go? You’Re like well Yeah, so just start small, So Emma so we’re Tweeting a lot we’re searching hashtags we’re using hashtags. How do we know if what we’re doing is Working and relevant Is there any place to go in And check what we’re doing There absolutely is a way to track Twitter.

Has this account dashboard that you can actually see even what time of day people are looking at your Tweets, which could really be informative? You know I used to work at a coffee shop and what we found is there Was certain times of the day that made sense to Tweet To get people to come in Right, Coffee, early risers, You can Tweet something at 5Am about what you have on what your drip coffee is or Your special foam on your lattes and that made sense you know And then so thinking About the time of day, looking at your Twitter Analytics to see what works best Yeah, But also the top Tweet Is really informative? What do yo mean by that? Like the Tweet, that Got the most impression, the most engagement, That’s going to help inform the Next Tweet and your strategy – Okay, Oh also the retweet.

If I’m getting a lot, Of retweets from users I know, oh they liked that you know They wan na tell their friends Yeah like I should include more photos of me skateboarding That got way more retweets and then that informs my next Tweet. So there’s two different Types of retweets, if you will There’s retweet and there’s a quote: Tweet Yeah. So while it’s fast and efficient to simply click retweet, You know back to the million Things you were doing Right.

We found it to be more beneficial. To quote, add your own caption.’Cause, then you’re, adding Your personal flair to it and you’re really explaining the relevance of that Tweet too. Why are you retweeting it Sometimes. I feel like I’m Spending all day on Twitter Is there a way for me. To not have to do that Like can. I just go and Do it just once a day’cause I have scheduled Things help me out here: I don’t wan na spend all Day on social media, I’ve got a business to run Absolutely so there Are ways to outsource [ Justin, ]? Okay, If you don’t wan na, do this Godaddy Social (, laughs, ): There are teams that can Take this off your plate, but if it’s something You wan na do on your own.

You wan na be beneficial with your time, So I strongly strongly Encourage a content calendar Okay! What’S that That what you get a Calendar a blank calendar, and you just plan out couple days of week that you wan na Tweet and Do it months in advance, so then you don’t miss piggy. Backing off of a holiday, Even unofficial, holidays, Like national hotdog day, There’s literally a random Holiday for every day, Yeah, and not all of them, are going to make sense to your business Right.

But if they do you Can really piggy back off of that with Twitter, but the Content calendar is going to be key to help you plan out in advance, So you’re not rushing And scrambling, like I haven’t, been on Twitter for a few days. I just need to go out there and Tweet. No One tool that I found. That is, pretty cool is Tweet Deck. Have you checked that out? No, I haven’t So Tweet Deck. Actually, let’s you it’s inside of Twitter Itself, but it let’s, you schedule out your own Tweets.

So that you don’t have to have to go in every day and post, You can literally take some Time or chunk out of your Monday and schedule out your content calendar, and it will just spin it for you, Yeah and I would just be Cautious with that, though, because while that’s Maybe a good way for you to manage your time. Rather, you wan na make sure that those times of day are Working for your consumers,.

‘Cause, that’s the key! You Want your Tweet to connect with your consumer at The most optimal time All right, thank you so much Emma. This has jut been a blast. I’M going to invest in Twitter now, Like it’s changed my life, so thank you. Hashtag life changing Hashtag life, changing (, laughs, ), Awesome! Well! Thank you. All so much for reading This has been The Journey. Make sure you, like Subscribe comment below, Let us know your thoughts and let us know what you wan na see next And thank you for reading.

Is Twitter the only thing you need?

I don't think so! There are a ton of opportunities for you in the digital world. The best bet is to hire a pro.