Social Media Marketing | Solo Mompreneur

Be Social Be Rich

Guest interview today – enjoy!

Martha Giffen speaks out on social media marketing and her book, “Be Social Be Rich”.

What is your personal definition of “social media marketing”?

My definition of social media marketing is reaching out to others and expanding my sphere of influence.

How do you leverage social media to build your business?

Well, the wonderful thing about social media platforms is they give you so many different ways to get your message out. The internet is truly a “web” and the more places you interact with people, socially, the more intertwined in the web you become. Others begin to see your work, like it, and refer their friends and clients to you.

Congratulations on your book! What prompted you to become a published author?

You know, “Be Social Be Rich” isn’t my first book! Ok, it’s my first solo book, but I got the bug when I was a contributing author to two other books, the latest being “Money From Anywhere” with Pat O’Bryan and a host of other influential marketers.

What were your greatest challenges in getting your book into the marketplace?

My challenges are always personal. My personality is such that I usually create my own obstacles and this was no different. Writing the book was the easy part. Putting myself “out there” was a little more challenging. You know, when you do something new for the first time, that self-doubt can sometimes seem like a mountain!

In fact, I have a chapter about it in “Be Social Be Rich”. I thought it was that important! It’s entitled “Taking Risks” and I am honest about how it shows up in my own life and what I do about it. I think many readers will relate.

What are you hoping will be your readers’ biggest takeaways from reading “Be Social Be Rich”?

I’m hoping that they will increase profits to their business, of course, but I also hope they will begin to enjoy their own network and find that it’s fun connecting with others. There’s a “richness” that comes into your life with your social sphere. I would hope they would find the truth in that. Of course, increasing the bottom line is a great perk!

In what ways do you plan to use your book as a marketing tool?

Books always give the author more credibility. At least, if you write an informational book, which this is. I will use it to increase my own business (imagine that!) and use the enhanced visibility to expand my social networking, teaching programs, and speaking gigs.

What’s next for Martha Giffen? What can we look forward to seeing from you in the future?

My passion is helping others. I enjoy encouraging and motivating people to be successful entrepreneurs. You can look forward to seeing more top-notch programs and books to help and inspire new biz owners on their way to a lucrative business.

Martha Giffen is the author of “Be Social Be Rich”. She has built a successful online biz using social networking as her focus. A popular blogger, Martha dishes out plenty of southern charm as she helps entrepreneurs build their own lucrative businesses using her proven formula. You can find her at MarthaGiffen.com

Filed Under: Social Media Marketing Tagged With: Business, Facebook, Internet marketing, Marketing, Marketing and Advertising, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Twitter

How To Get More From Google Analytics

By Melanie Kissell 41 Comments

Google Analytics is one of the best known analytics tools. Although there’s now plenty of competition, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t get everything you want from this fantastic Google tool. Here are some of the things you can do to improve your use of Google Analytics.

Leave Yourself Out

If you’ve ever spent some time installing a new WordPress theme or tweaking your site design, you’ll know that you spend a lot of time on the site. You may also spend time adding content, checking that it looks good, tweaking and checking again – and that activity shows up in your site stats. Since you don’t really need to know how often you visit your own site, then it’s best to leave those visits out. Google Analytics makes this easy by letting you exclude your IP address from tracking via a custom filter.

Check Social Media Activity

Ever wondered how you could track all those likes, tweets and shares to see what kind of social media pull your site has? Once again, Google Analytics has the answer with the track pageview function. Add the right piece of code to your social media button (suitably customized so you can tell where the source of the click is) and you will be able to find out how people are sharing your content via social media in your Analytics dashboard. Check this post on on Hongkiat for more detail.

Compare and Contrast

When you log into Google Analytics, you don’t have to stick with the default view. This shows you stats for the past month up to the previous day. There are two things you can do to make this data more relevant. The first is to manually select the last available date to give you stats up to the previous hour – which means you can figure out what’s happening with your site in almost real time. The second is to click the ‘compare to past’ check box to see how interaction with your site has changed month on month. It’s useful to be able to see what content is increasing in importance and what content is less popular so you can make changes.

Report Back

One often underused feature in Google Analytics is custom reporting. This is a great way to drill down into the really crucial data on your site. Want to find out how many people are really engaged with your site? Check out and customize the Non-Flirts report available on Occam’s Razor. Want to know how many people search specifically for your brand? Or how many people came to your site via the links you tweeted, liked or shared? Custom reporting can help you work it out. The feature is easy to use with drag and drop parameters and the ability to test your report to see if it’s giving you anything useful. And to make your Google Analytics reports even more useful, you can email them to yourself (or anyone else who needs access to them).

This was a post by Lior Levin who works for an applicant tracking software company and also advises to a neon signs online store

Filed Under: Blogging, Online Marketing, Social Media Marketing Tagged With: Google, Google Analytics, neon signs, people search, Search Engines, Social Media, WordPress

Quietly Controversial

By Melanie Kissell 18 Comments

No. Such. Animal.

Total oxymoron (you know, like “jumbo shrimp” or “loose tights”).

I dare you to write a post with the intention of being quietly controversial!

And good luck.

I tried it once. IT DIDN’T WORK (that’s a story I promise I’ll share with you at a later date). So hold that thought.

Today I want to encourage you to head over to Newbie Lifeline and check out the Headline Blog Challenge Sheila Atwood is hosting. Yes! There are cool prizes being offered.

(By the way, this is not a lengthy, ongoing type of challenge. You will need to submit ONE headline and post — that’s it!)

Headlines are powerful.

Did the headline of this post make you at least a little bit curious? Were you thinking, “What the heck is Melanie going to say about this strange combination of words?”

I hope so. Because that was my goal.

You can craft the most wonderful posts imaginable. But if your headlines don’t grab people by the lapels and pull them in to read on, you’re sunk. Headlines are where the engagement with your audience begins.

Got an idea for a compelling headline? A HOT headline?

Then get over to Sheila’s blog and read about how you can participate in her headline-writing challenge.

I’ll see you there!

Filed Under: Blogging, Creativity, Social Media Marketing, Writing effective headlines Tagged With: blog challenge, Headline, Newbie Lifeline, newbies online, oxymoron

“Tug of War” For Entrepreneurs

By Melanie Kissell 30 Comments

Website or Web Presence.

Which one is tugging harder?

You can have a website that resembles designer fashionwear — with all the latest trendy tools and trimmings.

Peachy.

I mean, after all, who doesn’t want to LOOK good, right? And not only is form important, so is function. You’ve got to have a website that’s working for you — easy to navigate, captivating content, and one that won’t have people clicking away in seconds.

Your work is cut out for you.

It’s not an onvernight accomplishment to design a website that educates, enriches, entertains, and engages your target audience.

Website is pulling pretty hard on that rope!

But what about web presence?

I’m sure you know this by now. To have success on the internet, you’ve got to be seen everywhere. You can’t hang around on your website all day and expect to create a presence online. Ain’t gonna happen.

But being seen everywhere takes mounds of time.

Joining conversations on Twitter, answering questions on Quora and LinkedIn, participating in forum discussions, submitting articles to article directories, interacting on Facebook, recording audios, doing interviews, hosting teleseminars, publishing blog posts — WHEW! And this is only a partial list.

Looks like web presence is pulling pretty hard on that rope, too!

So which one is going to win the entrepreneurial game of “Tug of War”?

Website?

Or Web Presence?

You tell me.

Filed Under: Blogging, Brand yourself online, Building relationships online, Internet Marketing Tools, Social Media Marketing, Social Networking Tagged With: Facebook, LinkedIn, Online Communities, Online Visibility, Quora, Social Networking, Tug of war, Twitter, website design

First Ever “No Questions Asked” Interview

By Melanie Kissell 12 Comments

Solo Mompreneur exclusive!

Today I’m excited to post an extraordinary interview with Leanne Chesser and Cheryl Wilms of WAHM Solution — my first ever “No Questions Asked” interview.

How is it possible to interview someone without asking any questions? Not one single question??

Click the WAHM Solution logo below and find out!

Filed Under: Balance work and life, Blogging, Brand yourself online, Building relationships online, Following Your Passion, Making money on the internet, Moms in Business, Small business owners, Social Media Marketing Tagged With: Blogging, Cheryl Wilms, Leanne Chesser, passion and purpose, WAHM Solution, work at home moms, Work Life Balance

Themed Content – Not A Grab Bag

By Melanie Kissell 36 Comments

There’s no telling what you’ll find on some people’s blogs on any given day. Have you ever been to a proverbial “grab bag” blog?

Visit one day, and you’ll find a post about personal development.

Visit a few days later, and you’ll be reading a product review.

The following week, it’s a pictorial post of last summer’s family vacation photos.

Next visit, it’s a music video with editorial comment.

Following month, the author is asking you to take a survey about heartburn and indigestion.

Can anyone see the problem here?

Better question …

Can anyone tell me this blog’s “theme”? Can you guess the purpose of this blog?

I wouldn’t be able to figure it out. There’s not even the slightest hint of consistency.

If you’re blogging for business, crafting a ‘grab bag’ of posts is going to confuse your target audience.

Remember …

A confused audience WON’T take action.

And chances are really good they’ll have no desire to come back and reach into your grab bag for more surprises.

“Mystery” and “Suspense” are great if you’re writing a book or screenplay or even a speech, but not if you’re working to brand yourself and your business.

Your target audience has questions, issues, concerns, and problems they want solved. And they’re counting on your ‘themed content’ for support, inspiration, motivation, and answers.

Filed Under: Authors, Blogging, Brand yourself online, Building relationships online, Inspiration, Making money on the internet, Social Media Marketing Tagged With: Blog, Social Media, WordPress

10 Minutes of Unscripted Honesty about Blogging for Money

By Melanie Kissell 19 Comments

Blogging for money is a topic we REALLY need to have a conversation about.

The majority of my readers are working hard to find ways to monetize their blogs and it’s a huge challenge. Some online marketing experts make it sound like a walk in the park, but guess what? It’s not.

Please watch this 10-minute video first and let’s get the conversation rolling into high gear!

I discovered this video on my friend’s blog and it really got me thinking. Thank you, Danielle McGaw, for spending some time hanging around on YouTube.

We need to put on our thinking caps, pitch in, share our insights, and lend some solutions for how to make money through blogging.

Is creating your own products the answer?

Will affiliate marketing do the trick?

Are niche sites the holy grail?

Ana Hoffman of Traffic Generation Cafe produced this video. Her blog is outstanding and she’s got thousands of readers.

If someone of Ana’s caliber and popularity considers blogging for money a formidable challenge, how difficult is it going to be for the rest of us?

Would love to hear your thoughts.

Filed Under: Affiliate Marketing, Blogging, Brand yourself online, Info Product Creation, Making money on the internet, Money, Niche marketing, Service Business Owners, Small business owners, Social Media Marketing

20 Best Blogging Tips – Compliments of Members of the Tweet Like Comment Club

By Melanie Kissell 27 Comments

Enjoy these blogging tips from 20 members of the “T.L.C. Club”, jot down the ones that resonate with you, and get out into the blogosphere and rock your blog!

Sweepy Jean: I try to limit the post length to about 500 words. We all have good intentions, but with so many blogs competing for attention, the shorter ones are going to be read fully, the others maybe will be skimmed over. I don’t go crazy over it, and occasionally the subject matter requires more space. But when I hit the 500 word mark, I know it’s time to wrap it up or if possible, edit it down.

Maureen Hunter: Although a relatively new blogger I would have to say from my own experiences, blog about what fires your Mojo. Write about what you know of, inspires you, or feel would be of most benefit to others. Don’t be afraid to show something of yourself that others can relate to.

Hajra Khatoon: One thing that I keep in mind is that I keep my posts within a word limit. When I hunt blogs, I find that I lose interest when the post is way too long. So I decided to keep mine at a length that is able to capture and hold the readers interest and attention.

Veronica Campos-Hallstrom: Although I have a running list of ideas, in the middle of the night something may come to mind that is worth writing down. So, get your fresh idea on paper or print before it slips away, even if you sacrifice your sleep – you can always take a power nap the next day!

Dani Nir-McGrath: I always get inspired at off times when I can’t actually write a blog…kids are in the tub, driving, or putting the kids to sleep. So, when my brain is creative, I want to capture the thought so I don’t lose it. I just jot down the theme and maybe a sentence or two (or maybe a heading) that I’m thinking. If I can’t write, I call and dictate the thoughts on my home voicemail from my cell while I’m driving or send a text on my phone with the thoughts from tub-side. Then when I’m sitting down to blog, I have a concept, a few sentences, and even a heading to build from!

Melissa Austin: Write about whatever “lights your fire”. Find a niche and go with it. By writing on a certain niche, be it business, a mommy blog, or fitness – makes it so your blog is easier to find. Readers will be more attracted a blog that has a niche and stays on topic. Also, don’t forget spell check. It seems so simple, but it is often forgotten. You want people to come back to your blog, not avoid it.

Leanne Chesser: My best blogging tip is to have a theme or topic or niche for your blog and write within that area. Write what you’re passionate about. Also, respond to all comments. This creates a culture or an atmosphere on your blog of “interaction” and “relationship”. And design your blog so that it’s easy to read and navigate.

Janette Fuller: My best blogging tip is to “know your audience”. Who are you trying to reach? Who are you trying to appeal to? What are their interests? What do they do for fun? To be able to able to effectively communicate, you have to have some idea of “who” is reading your material so you can package it in the best possible ways.

Leona Martin: This is from the 31 Days to A Better Blog: Day 1: Develop an Elevator Pitch for your Blog. Why? ”YOU as a blogger need to have thought through and crystallized in your mind what your blog is about.” I like this idea because I have an elevator pitch for my business when I attend networking events so why not my blog, too?! Put your Elevator Pitch on your business card, email signature, and on all your social media profiles!

Amberly Mauszycki: Just simply “be yourself” when writing. If you are writing and your true personality comes out in your blog posts, people will relate more with you on a personal level and want to read your articles more than a post that sounds too stiff and un-natural. Blogging should really be about branding yourself, and if your true personality isn’t coming through in your posts, people aren’t getting to know YOU. I also suggest doing vlogs (video blogs) to develop more of a connection with your readers. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blogging, Brand yourself online, Building relationships online, Business Card, Email Marketing, Following Your Passion, Niche marketing, Social Media Marketing, Social Networking Tagged With: Blog, Elevator pitch, email signature, Facebook, Mojo, problogger.net, Twitter, WordPress

Social Media: Express More Vulnerability

By Melanie Kissell 21 Comments

As entrepreneurs, we are taught to create personal brands that, proudly and prominently, place our strengths in the spotlight.

And we are also taught to carefully and cleverly mask our weaknesses.

This flies in the face of traditional business school wisdom. Having said that, are you suddenly getting that inflexible, conservative “stuffed shirt” feeling?

Heaven forbid our target audience should find out we goof up sometimes and don’t know everything about everything.

Mistakes.

Errors.

Typos.

Faux Pas (a social blunder or indiscretion)

Boo-Boos.

Raise your hand if you’ve never made any of these.

Imagine that. I don’t see one hand going up.

Here’s a BIG newsflash!

Trust requires vulnerability. If you value trust in your social media network and you want your target market to trust YOU …

You’ve got to remove your mask and start talking about the really tough issues you’re wrestling with and let your human, far-from-perfect self show through.

My personal favorite social media marketing tip:

Express more vulnerability.