Money, Marketing and Soul for Massagepreneurs
Posts tagged social media
Build a Tribe on Facebook
Feb 8th
Often times when I am meeting with client about building their business online, Iʼll ask if they have a Facebook fan page. Most, do not. They find the process confusing and donʼt know where to start. Plus, its just one more thing to do on top of their long to-do list.
Why do you, as a small business or start-up need one? Check out these stats from Facebook:
-More than 500 million users
-50% of active users log on to Facebook on any given day
-Average user spends more than 55 minutes per day on Facebook
Think about this: your clients are not going to log onto your website everyday, but more than half of all users log on to Facebook in any given day. Thatʼs over 175 million people you could potentially reach with a daily status message. Plus, a Facebook page offers these advantages:
1. Visible to even those without a Facebook profile account. If you send a Twitter message or email with a link, anyone can view the page.
2. Indexed on Google. Meaning, if someone does an online search of your company, this is one more link that will come up.
3. Not sure who your target market is? Facebook fan pages can help you figure that out. Each page keeps statistics of who your followers are and who is participating. It will tell you if they are male or female, their age range, where they are located and what language they speak.
4. With a regular Facebook profile you are limited to 5,000 friends. With a Facebook Page the number of fans is unlimited. This might not be a huge thing if you are just starting out, but always plan for your growth.
5. You can further establish your brand. People do business with people they know, like and trust. Social media is all about building the trust over time and Facbook is a great way to do that.
If you’re not sure how, check out this video tutorial on how to create a Facebook Business page. Once you have build your Page, here are 21 Ways to Increase your Fan Base.
Establish a Powerful Online Presence
Feb 1st
If you want to build a successful massage practice in today’s economy, you must have a powerful online presence. In 2010, Pew Research Foundation reported 62% of Americans search for health information online. People are online looking for support and information. If you are not present where people are hanging out, looking for you, it makes it that much harder for your practice to grow.
I know some of us havenʼt reached the digital age and are uncomfortable with the idea that we must be online to build our practices. Online is where people are and all business, commerce and marketing is moving in that direction (this is why newspapers, traditional TV and radio are struggling to survive). Here is my short list of what you need to develop an effective online presence.
1. A blog. Blogs are a wonderful way to post helpful information for your current and prospective clients. A blog that you can edit and update independent of a designer allows you to optimize your marketing and multiple income streams. I suggest a WordPress.org blog that you host independently. You can use a free template or paid theme (for a paid theme, I suggest Headway, check the Resource section of my website for more info.)
2. Active profile on LinkedIn. LinkedIn is a great place to network with like minded colleagues. Think of it as an online, never ending networking event.
3. Get a Facebook Business Page. With over 500 million users on Facebook, some of them are bound to be looking for YOU! Be active. Provide value! Check out this blog post for a video tutorial.
4. Twitter. I canʼt tell you how much I love Twitter as a marketing tool! Used effectively, Twitter allows you to communicate your ideas to thousands of people many times per day. At first glance, Twitter may not seem relevant or make much sense to you. Iʼm planning on pulling together a class teaching the ins and outs of Twitter for helping professionals. In the meantime, hereʼs a short video tutorial to get you started. Follow people who tweet ideas that speak to your interests. Many will follow you back. When you feel comfortable, start sending your own tweets. Donʼt worry, itʼs free and you canʼt break it!
Embrace Social Media (SM)
Jan 25th
A big mistake I see my clients (heck, other businesses for that matter!) make is thinking that social media marketing (SMM) is not as important as other parts of your business. I say you canʼt afford not to make SM a priority. SM is an extremely powerful tool and itʼs FREE to boot! So youʼll want to take advantage of it. If you donʼt embrace SM, your competition will. If you are resisting it, believe me your competition is right there using social media to connect with their clients…and possibly yours. Youʼre likely not making SM a part of your business because youʼre resisting it. Anything you resists become bigger, but you probably already know that. If you think of social media as if “I have to” vs. “I get to” youʼll never embrace it.
When you resist something, youʼre probably not going to get great results. So hereʼs the deal, just as you put lots of passion into giving massage, put that much passion and energy into your SMM (into the times youʼre on any of the SM platforms and engaging with your clients).
Have you ever heard of the 80/20 rule? The belief that success is 80% mindset and 20% mechanics. The power is how you think about a situation (mindset), not how you solve it (mechanics). Itʼs one thing to know the latest and greatest tips for SMM (and I will be teaching those in the future), but itʼs an entirely different experience when you have values that are aligned with your SM strategy. Those who embrace SMM as an extension of their personality and as a way to penetrate the thoughts, feelings and desires of their audience, theyʼre the successes because theyʼve embraced SM, not resisted it.
This week, let go of the guilt of what you “should” be doing but youʼre not and stop resisting integrating SMM into your business model. Youʼll free up a lot of mental space which allows you to embrace SMM in a new way. How can you turn your SM experience into something you enjoy and embrace? Once you answer this, you will definitely be able to up your game and spend less effort and enjoy the process.
How to Create a Facebook Business (Fan) Page
Dec 13th
Create a Facebook Page for Your Business
With over 500 million users on Facebook, you are missing a huge opportunity if you are not marketing your business using a Facebook Page.
In this video tutorial, I walk you through step-by-step how to create one for your massage practice.
Difference Between Profiles, Groups and Pages
It also includes what is the difference between Profiles, Groups and Pages and which to choose for your business and why Pages are very powerful way to market on-line.
Let me know what you think of the video. I created it differently that I have below, so I’m curious to get comments.
