The audio show of this article was taped on Monday, December 1, 2008 and can be heard in archived version at: http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/tscmd/tc/33960 or on Monday Morning Marketeer radio channel at www.postiivelypittsburghlivemagazine.com
How many times have you felt horrible because you screwed up a first impression? Well it’s even worse on line because that impression stays t there until you update it and who knows how many people see it. Unlike live networking dozens of people may see your social networking profile in a minute. Your social networking profile page is often the first big impression you make on your contacts
When posting on any social networking site, be sure you post profiles that make people want to know more about you and your business. Here are some tips for you to create a winning ad dynamic profile page that makes your friends and followers take notice and want to do business with you! . Here are some things that you want to keep in mind when using Web 2.0 to Market your business and you create your social networking profile.
Create a Dynamic, Magnetic Profile- This is THE first step in utilizing Facebook, Twitter, Ning, Linked In, or My Space efficiently for business. If you think of Social Networking sites as your on line marketing campaign, your profile page can be considered your “brand.” A strong profile should include: a professional picture, a picture is worth a thousand words. Also include your contact information, your website address, hello someone may want to contact you live instead of just writing on your wall, so you also want to include your phone number and your e-mail address. If you are concerned about spammers collecting your e-mail address, then do what the professionals do, spell out at and dot in your e-mail address.
Here are some ways to create that Dynamic, Magnetic Profile:
1. Flaunt Your Expertise, this is no place to be shy!
A dynamic profile explodes onto the page with your expertise and clearly states why you are an expert, what you expertise is, who your synergistic partners and clients are and flaunts the great results of your work. Please don’t start your profile with family stuff, like single, unwed mother or confirmed bachelor, which has nothing to do with your business and distracts from your purpose which is to market your business successfully on line. Always lead with your expert status so people don’t have to dig into all the copy to find out what type of business you’re in.
2. Make Sure Everyone Knows You are a Human.
Once on some kind of social networking site where I was leaving a comment, the little box used for security reasons and anti-spamming that asks you to type on words or letters and number combinations said, “We want to make sure you are a human.” After you lead with your professional expertise, you want to round it out with some interesting personal information. Include what you feel most comfortable with, such as hobbies, marital status, family info, or fun quirky things you think others might find interesting.
3. A picture is worth a thousand words.
Another part of making sure that prospective clients know that you are human is having a great picture of yourself. Remember in some cases you will never meet the person you are doing business on line with and this is how they create their impression of who you are. Just like in person, I think a great smile is always inviting. Your social networking profile always includes space for a photo of you. Choose a photo that shows your face clearly, not a distant photo of you in a big crowd. Experts say that a picture of you looking directly at the camera will create connection faster with your viewer than pictures of you looking away from the camera. Be honest with your profile picture, too… that means to use a fairly recent photo, not the old standby you’ve been using since 1995.
4. Make it Easy for People to Find You and Connect with Your Expertise.
Be sure to leave links to your website, blog, and other social networking sites so people can move into your inner circle. Be sure all your links are “live” by using http:// in each web address. (Many people just use “www” and miss the traffic that can be visiting their site.)
5. Give yourself the First impression Test:
It is said that in person you have 15 seconds to make a great first impression, in this microwave generation, do you think you have any more time than that. Come on this is the internet, the queen of quickness. You have no more than 10 seconds to make an impression on visitors who come to your social networking profile pages. Some experts say you have less than that. So make sure you define who you are immediately and make it easy to figure out what you do. Also one of my pet peeves is the formats that put all of your information into one run on paragraph, so check the formatting and make sure that doesn’t happen and check it often as formatting may change when social networking sites are updated.
When you have A strong profile page that does these things, you have a better chance of finding the right business connections:
· Establish your expertise
· Establish your credibility
· Define your services and products
· Let prospective contacts know what challenges you can solve and how you can help them.
The idea is to stand out and generate visibility and credibility, so take some time and dress your profile like you would dress yourself for a first date or a first business meeting, otherwise you may not get the second date or the second meeting.
This blog post can be reproduced in its entirety with the following information: © Joanne Quinn-Smith, Monday Morning Marketeer 412-628-5048
Listen at: http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/tscmd/tc/33960 or
www.positivelypittsburghlivemagazine.com on the Monday Morning Marketeer Channel.
Blog: www.marketingmondaymorning.blogspot.com
e-mail: infoatmondaymorningmarketeerdotcom
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