There are many puzzle pieces to effective Social Media Marketing and Pinterest is certainly a major piece of the puzzle. If you have been grabbed by Pinningmania and are now using Pinterest for business you’ll understand there are quite a few essential elements to using it effectively.

There are many pieces of the Pinterest puzzle and here are 10 of my top tips to remember.

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Recent changes to the way Pinterest delivers our notifications of recent activity is just another of the constant changes we see in Social Media Marketing.

As Pinterest gets more sophisticated we start to see changes appear. But, I have to say to date most of the changes on Pinterest have been for the better. Better quality images, changes to the layout and better search capabilities. Pinterest is certainly going from strength to strength. Keeping abreast of all the changes in Social Media Marketing can be challenging but as Pinterest is growing I see a logical progression and changes that are really worth instigating. All too often Social Media Networks appear to make changes just for the sake of it.

I just love using Pinterest for business and am thrilled at the huge amount of traffic it is sending to my websites. Not only is Pinterest the 3rd largest driver of traffic on the internet users are more likely to buy and spend more on the products and services they see on Pinterest. If you want to know how to harness the power of Pinterest for business grab your copy of PINNINGMANIA, the number one Profit making System that shows you how to use Pinterest for business.

Are you using Pinterest for business yet? Leave you link below so we can connect.

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Thinking of your email marketing as a chance to build a relationship with people is the first and foremost way to increase your open rates. Don’t think of your list as a number but as a group of people you chat with regularly. People care about and love to share great opportunities with. You can help improve their lives and yours but helping them take advantage of the opportunities you offer them.

When you have this mind set you find the way to talk to the people on your list changes. Once I stopped trying to “say the right things” and started “talking”, my success increased. It wasn’t hard to think of attention grabbing headlines and material that would be relevant and interesting to these people. I reminded myself that I was just chatting with people who actually wanted to hear from me because they had actually given me their email address so I could  talk to them.

I had been listening to lots of advice about the right words, the right timing  and the success stories of others. But it wasn’t until I got rather frustrated and thought, ” You know what, I just gonna write to my friends and share this info and if they like it great and if they don’t well there you go!”  I stopped trying to create someone else’s formula. Sure I thought about a headline, and was conscious about what image to include, but it became a lot easier when I changed my thinking.

Using a reputable Auto-Responder company is important too. It does your relationship building to continually have your emails end up in the trash bin because of the service you are using.  Often companies have their won blogs and resources to help you with how to increase your open rates, but basically email marketing comes down to the way you communicate with your audience. If you are just after the quick buck it has an energy about it that people pick up on and all the tricks in the book won’y help that open rate of yours.
No matter what I am doing whether it’s Social Media Marketing in any format, when I come back to basics and remind myself that growing your business is all about SERVICE , I set myself back on the right track to success. There are a lot of good business quotes but the one I have created is very helpful to me… SERVICE then sales. The two big “S” words need to be in the right order for you to be successful in all things.

I f you liked this blog post grab yourself a copy of my “SUPER STARTS E-Zine” and I’ll drop by your inbox for a chat now and then.

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Email Marketing marries very well with Social Media Marketing

If you aren’t using Social Media to help you grow your list of potential clients, then your Social Media Marketing efforts are not really business focused. Social Media is a great way to develop relationships with people and promote your brand. But, if you aren’t taking those relationships further and offering people another way to “stay” connected with you via an email marketing list, you’re not serving them well or your business. A list of potential customers is at the heart of any business. If people are interested enough to connect with you via Social Media they may very well be interested in being connected to you even further. There are many Social Media strategies you can employ to develop your list.

Whether you run a competition, hold a sweepstakes, have a free giveaway, offer a FREE E-Book or any other type of promotion, they can all be used to grow your list. As Chase Kramer of Aweber one of the best email marketing services says, “What’s really important isn’t sending to a bunch of people that aren’t all that interested and hoping for a few sales. It’s positioning yourself so that a month from now, a year from now, two years from now and beyond, the sales are coming to you.” As Social Media is so “social” you attract people that are interested in you and your business. It’s not just about a large list, it’s about the right type of people on that list.

As with a lot of things, size isn’t everything! A smaller list of people who love what you do and are hungry for more is much more preferable than a huge list of disinterested people. So how do you grow your list? As in all things, offer solutions to the problems of your prospective customers. Social Media is a brilliant way to find out what those problems are. It makes it so easy to actually ask people and get real time feed back. This is one of the real benefits of using Social Media for business. But, and it’s a big but, you still need to be genuine, offer great value and be respectful of your Social Media connections. I’ve always said that people buy people first and them they buy the product. If you’re not real you won’t have a very powerful list.

So do your Social Media connections a favor. Offer them several ways in which they can get onto your list so they may benefit from purchasing your products and services. Focus on service first and the sales will follow! Growing your list means growing your business by being of service to many more people.

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Pinterest for Business

To use Pinterest for business you need to be able to tell the story of your business with images.  Keep this infographic handy as it provides all the sizes of images used on the new look Pinterest.  Images need to have the Goldilocks tick of approval.  They need to be just right! Not too small to be missed in all the competition for space on Pinterest. Likewise they can’t be too big or they get distorted when they Pinterest re-sizes them.
More and more Social Media Marketing is employing the creative use of imagery.   Twitter recognized this trend and added Vine while Facebook increased the size of images on users News Feed and eased restrictions around users Cover images.

To increase your SEO ranking add keywords in the description of your images. This area is very often under utilized and can help educate the viewer more about your business . Social Media Marketing is not only about keeping up with trends it’s about effective communication and images are one of the best ways of communicating your marketing message.

The use of infographics has become extremely popular. Yes they are time consuming to make but they are well worth the effort. Pinterest users are hungry for fresh content as 80% of Pins are re-pins.  To me that’s an indicator that people don’t have the time and or skills to create their own infographics.

Need help creating your own infographics? Take a look at my PinngingMania online Coaching program as there are Bonus videos that show you what tools are available and how to use them.

If you found this information helpful I’d love you to share it and leave a comment below. Happy Pinning.

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Due to the constant changes to Facebook terms of service it’s easy to make mistakes when using it for Social Media Marketing. Here are the 4 biggest mistakes to make when using Facebook marketing and how to avoid them.

1. Make sure you direct people directly to your Facebook Page. 

   I see so many people saying “Find me on Facebook” or just adding a Facebook icon to their website. Would you say look me up on the internet? No, you would give your exact website URL . Like wise with your Facebook address. Post your exact address on your business cards, your stationary, your flyers. Add the link to any icons on the internet so people can click straight through to your Facebook Page.

   Better still add a FIND Me on Facebook or follow me on Facebook link so people know it’s an active link.

   Don’t forget to claim your personal URL on Facebook. They call it a Username and you can claim it once you have 30 Likers. This number has varied enormously over the years so just check what their most up-to-date requirements are. Go into the Edit Page back end of your Page and you will find where to claim your URL. Once you do no-one else can have the name of your Page, but util you do, there could be thousands of Pages with the name exactly like yours.

2. You want  to be found so make sure your posts stand out in your Likers News Feed.

   Adding a photo to your posts will help you to be noticed. Using Facebook Ads is a great way to get noticed but most of all be consistent in your posting.

3. Maximizing your Cover Image

   Facebook has relaxed its restrictions around what you can add to your Cover Image. As long as you don’t add text to more than 20% of your image you can add your website, a call to action asking people to Like your Page etc. Use this space to keep Fans up-to-date with what you are doing and encourage then to interact with you.

4. Growing your list

   Use Facebook to grow your mailing list. Adding an App where people can immediately Opt-In is ideal but at least add a call to action on your cover image calling people to sign up for your new E-Book or report or Free offer. Growing your list is vital for the success of your business.

I hope you weren’t falling into the trap of any of these Facebook marketing mistakes. If you you had missed these marketing opportunities at least now you know how to rectify the situation.

For more helpful tips of using Social Media Marketing grab your copy of  ”Social Media Marketing For Super Stars”.  You’ll get early bird access to webinars, free resources and loads of helpful information to help your Inner Super Star shine.

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Want to know how to be successful?

Looking for the key to success?

Success is different things to different people. These 7 steps hold the key to success no matter what your definition of success.

The steps themselves need to be applied everyday. Keeping focused on the prize instead of the lack of it is the answer.

No matter what type of success you’re trying to achieve, your mindset is everything. One of the 7 habits of successful people is to dream BIG and dream it everyday. That means they stay focused on what they want. They believe in their dream and they aren’t swayed by the disbelief of others. Believing in your own dream is the key to success.

Many a success story is comprised of great failures prior to great success. Albert Einstein couldn’t speak till he was 4 years old and teachers said he wouldn’t amount to much. The great Walt Disney was fired and was told he had no imagination. Henry Ford’s first two automotive companies failed and Michael Jordon the great basketball player was cut from the local high school team due to lack of skill. The success story list foes on and on. How to be successful in life con be distill down even further- always reach for a better feeling thought!

Happiness has no upper limit. You can always reach for more and when you do you are actually expanding Universal energy. Life is about expansion. Love and success is about expansion so keep your focus on expansive, happy, joyous, loving thoughts and what the success you dream of follow a path to your door.

Opportunities will present themselves, people will find you and amazing things will happen all because you dared to dream big.

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The dimensions of the Facebook cover photos you can use on

your Facebook home page have increased.

This is great news for social media marketing. As of March 2013 your are now able to use a larger cover image on your Facebook Page PLUS they can also include calls to action, website addresses and more. Your Facebook business Page is now able to communicate a much clearer message to increase the relationship with your fans. I believe Facebook cover photos will now be more imaginative and be able to reflect the true nature of the business they represent.

Photos are a strong element in Social Media Marketing in nearly all platforms . The sudden surge in the popularity of Pinterest and Intergram has meant that photos are becoming THE way to communicate.  Refreshing the photos you add to your Facebook fan Page is always a good idea. Now we have the ability to use our Facebook business page to let our fans know about our latest products and services, new promotions and opportunities.  It’s a very exciting move by Facebook and one to be applauded.

There are a number of websites that can help you create a cover photo with only a couple of clicks. Sites such as TrickedoutTimeline, The Site Canvas , My FBCovers and Cover Photo Magic  are just a matter of drag and drop images and text. Want inspiration? Try Social Media Examiners article and examples of 16 great Cover Photo ideas. Those of you who love Instagram aren’t left out either. Visit Instagramer and see how you can make a Facebook cover photo using Instergram.  Time saving tip- using these easy online template style websites is very simple so why not create several covers at once and change them around to create more interest. Create covers that match the seasons or holidays. Get creative and have fun with them.

Post a link to your Facebook Page cover photo below, I’d love to see it.

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When you’re considering Facebook Marketing your Facebook

business Page name is very important.

Using Facebook for business is certainly a powerful addition to any Social Media Marketing strategy.  But, sometimes we can make mistakes or change our minds about the name of the Page and we need to change it.
On your Facebook landing Page apart from the cover photo, the name of your Page is what is most prominent. It needs to reflect what you do and relate to what people are search for. Your Facebook Page design needs to pay close attention to the use of keywords that relate to your business. Where possible I strongly recommend including keywords in the name of your Facebook business Page as Facebook’s search functionality isn’t as sophisticated as Google’s. At the moment people can only search for your business via the name of your Page.

It’s also important to note that you can only change the name of your

Page if it has fewer than 200 Likers.

The other important thing to note is that you can only change your Facebook Page name once. Yes, only two bites at the cherry so think long and hard about the name you are going to give your Page.

Consider also adding the name of the area you service. For Example, “John Citizen Accounting Sydney”. The actual name of your business may not describe what you do so make sure the name of your Page is descriptive as possible.

So, one of the most effective things you can do to improve your Facebook marketing is to choose the right name for your Page. Just follow the step-by-step instructions on the above infographic to make any changes.

Do keep in mind that Facebook often changes things so what might work today may not work tomorrow. It’s just the way things are!

How did you decide on the name for your Facebook business Page?

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Facebook marketing has been made easier since Facebook has relaxed it’s rules concerning Facebook Page cover photos.

Facebook Marketing for business is now easier with the change to the rules that apply to Facebook Page Cover photos.

Gone are the restrictions around using calls to action, website addresses and pricing.

As of March 6th 2013 the rules now state :- “All covers are public. This means that anyone who visits your Page will be able to see your cover. Covers can’t be deceptive, misleading, or infringe on anyone else’s copyright. You may not encourage people to upload your cover to their personal timelines. Covers may not include images with more than 20% text.  To see the new guidelines click here

I must say that is a great improvement. Can we dare to hope that this 20% of test restriction will also be lifted in the future? There is always hope.

Facebook marketing is something that needs constant attention to what can and can’t be implemented. As Facebook strives to increase the number of users who employ Facebook ads, they are wise to loosen some promotion restrictions to stem the flow away from Facebook to other platforms. Many small businesses don’t have the time nor the budget to use Facebook ads and have to rely on growing their Page organically. This latest new change will certainly be welcomed by all who use Facebook for business.

Large or small all businesses need to feel it is worth the time and effort Facebook marketing demands. Slight changes to Edgerank lately has seen a vast improvement in the ability to organically reach a wider audience and is enormously appreciate by this writer and I am sure many others who use Facebook for business.

A business that includes a Facebook marketing strategy in their overall marketing plan will surely see enhanced opportunities with these changes. Providing more freedom to businesses to market their products and services would I expect encourage more businesses to use Facebook for business. I’d call this moving in the right direction to assist businesses. What do you think?

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