Popular Articles on Business 2 Community

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• Drive Social Selling Success with LinkedIn
• The 12 Days of Social Media Marketing — No, Really
• Top 10 Issues Small Businesses Will Face in 2014
• New Social Media Compliance Guidelines To Help Financial Institutions
• Is Your Lead Gen Process Built Upside Down?
• Why Segmentation is Important in Analytics?
• 50 Content Marketing Predictions for 2014
• Crafting a Customer Centric Culture: 3 Key Factors
• Introverts Make the Best Speakers
• 10 Top Tips to Grow Your Email List

Drive Social Selling Success with LinkedIn Posted: 16 Dec 2013 01:05 PM PST Social selling is the new driving force behind increased revenue and improved business-buyer relationships. This approach allows sales professionals to 'engage' with buyers rather than 'pitch' to them. Thanks to an increased awareness of Internet search capabilities, buyers can now find all the information they need about a product or service before even being contacted. This means that the sales professionals of today have to always be a step ahead. They should be visible, offering answers to the questions buyers have at the right time and engaging them before they have a chance to search elsewhere. The Transformation from Telemarketing to Social Selling The main difference between social selling and telemarketing is effectiveness. Telemarketers know very little about the leads they contact, and the majority of the time, these leads cannot be qualified. This is why IBM's 2012 Preference Study revealed that cold calls are 97% ineffective. If sales professionals don't know anything about their leads, they can't personalize sales scripts to improve their chances of landing a sell. This called for a transformation in the way that these professionals approach buyers. Social selling has proven to be much more effective than telemarketing, since it leverages the data that users submit. The professional social platform, LinkedIn, is the leader in rich social data, which is updated by over 200 million professional users daily. These users leave important imprints on the platform by updating statuses and asking and answering questions, as well as networking with other members. This information can be leveraged by B2B companies who want to improve their lead quality before selling. LinkedIn allows companies to find their target audience by using their search option. They can find buyers by location, company, type and title. Social media sites like LinkedIn give a face and personality to the buyer; this opens the opportunity for sales professionals to engage in a meaningful conversation with the buyer before selling. According to Sales Guy Consulting, 72.6% of sales professionals use social media as part of their sales process. This enables them to outsell their competitors and exceed their quota 23% more often. Why Social Selling Drives Revenue Using LinkedIn's strong search function, sales teams and marketers are able to qualify leads before contacting them, as well as leverage warm referrals. A warm referral improves the odds of sales success by four times. In B2B sales, the most important aspect of improving sales lies in lead nurturing. Social Media Today states that 79% of marketing leads never convert into sales and that a lack of lead nurturing is the common cause of this poor performance. LinkedIn's social selling tools help these companies improve their lead nurturing process by allowing them to post industry-related information to their potential buyers. This process does away with email spamming, cold-calling and mistakes made in the nurturing process. What remains is a pure opportunity to leverage information about the buyer and their needs, and if approached at the right time, this could easily increase the likelihood of a sell. As you can see, social selling is more effective than traditional selling for one reason — it opens up the channels of engagement. When buyers are having a problem and need a product or service to solve it, they want to know why they should go with a particular company to get it. Social selling allows sales professional to not just explain why they're the right choice, but also show what they know about the industry in general. This increases brand trustworthiness, which drives sales and improves the odds of obtaining lifetime buyers.

The 12 Days of Social Media Marketing — No, Really Posted: 16 Dec 2013 10:32 AM PST The holidays are in full swing and there's no better time to play off the old "12 Days of Christmas" content marketing regime. Never heard of it? We haven't either, so below you'll find an all-in-one guide to upping your sales and customer engagement and hitting the holiday rush in the gut. "And a blog post that everyone reads" For starters, you need to come up with a publishing schedule that counters any ask-off time in your marketing department. Blogging works, and the more you do it, the more results you'll experience as long as you're writing on entertaining, intriguing subjects. Consider throwing up a blog post twice a week that somehow ties together the holiday season with your business' products and services. But remember: No one wants to read a 500-word advertisement. "2 tweets per day" To keep your blogs and presence up on newsfeeds, tap into trending hashtags (either fun or industry-related ones) and tweet away. You should keep track of how successful each one is before encouraging ignores and un-follows. "3 pins that stir" Unless you're an industrial supplier of silica sand, Pinterest is a great resource for spawning likes and shares across social media. Take some festive photos, add in some brand-esque text, and aim to enlighten and make your followers' holidays brighter. "4 Web updates" Keeping your website current shouldn't be a hassle. Every time you post a major blog or are mentioned in an article of some sort, do a small write-up and toss it on your site's front page. Viewers respond better to sites that are updated after 1996. "5 Facebook posts!" Five a day may be stretching it, but there's no harm done when you're sharing, commenting, and liking your followers' posts. Stay active on Facebook but do not — do not —overindulge. It's much easier to hide pesky brands on newsfeeds than it is to wade through sappy holiday greetings. For you creative types out there, stick with image-heavy and brief statuses that inspire likes and shares. "6 Google Ones" Keep your Google+ circles active by giving plus ones to blogs and articles. See something you agree with or like? Don't be shy — promote it! 'Tis the season and you could be on the receiving end. "7 Insta-grammers" Okay. Seven Instagram pics might overdo it, but it never hurts to schedule a post a day. You can use these to beef up your Twitter and Facebook accounts at the same time. With Instagram, strike a balance between fun and business-related pictures. "8 new connections" LinkedIn — do you have it? You should. Though it's not as active as other platforms, LinkedIn is a great place for professionals to share ideas and network. Search around for people within your industry connections that could lead to new hires one day. Don't be afraid to recommend and share news stories, too. "9 YouTube clips" We know that this numbers thing isn't working, because by day 12 there would be some 36 YouTube videos. Still, it's easy to look for creative and effective videos on YouTube and jot down some ideas for future productions. Consider Vine for shorter creations. "10 branding basics" We're jumping off ship a bit with this one, but really quickly here are 10 ways to properly promote and brand your social media/content marketing: Make a plan Stick with set images Keep your company name consistent Get creative Don't think likes and shares are automatic Quality trumps quantity (for social media and blogging) Mix fun with business Avoid excessive self-promotion Keep accounts updated Don't force-feed newsfeeds "11 newsletters" Again, 11 is a bit excessive. Regardless, keeping up your email marketing is a necessity in every shopping season. Encourage your followers to enter their emails for free coupons, company updates, and other information. Make sure to include a call-to-action in each one and to keep them brief. "12 traffic targets" Every post, share, tweet, blog, and pin you publish needs to be targeted at someone. Existing customers are the ones to send deals to; potential customers are the ones to convince. Keep your marketing campaign in check by tailoring each piece of the puzzle to a specific group. And that about does it. Even if you're uninterested in some of these strategies, it's helpful to be aware of them. Take this advice as you see fit. Either run the gamut and go full out to generate post-holiday followers or pick and choose. With social and content marketing, it's all up to you. And one more time for good measure! "On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, 12 traffic targets, 11 newsletters, 10 branding basics, 9 YouTube clips, 8 new connections, 7 Insta-grammers, 6 Google Ones, 5 Facebook posts! 4 Web updates, 3 pins that stir, 2 tweets per day, And a blog post that everyone reads." (It almost works, doesn't it?) The team at Grammar Chic specializes in a variety of professional writing and editing services. For more information about how we can help you, visit www.grammarchic.net or call 803-831-7444.

Top 10 Issues Small Businesses Will Face in 2014 Posted: 16 Dec 2013 03:30 AM PST The marketplace is constantly changing, and small businesses that stay abreast of contemporary trends and can anticipate the future will survive, while those that stubbornly rest on their laurels will be left behind. The ability to surmount small business challenges is critical to success, and it begins with a strategic plan to overcome market obstacles. To help you plan, the following lists the top 10 issues small business will face in 2014. Are you prepared 1. Healthcare It’s still uncertain how the Affordable Care Act is going to affect small businesses, but it’s fair to say you’re going to spend a lot of time, money, or both dealing with it in 2014. How will you manage your healthcare program and expenses without jeopardizing your budget and work time? 2. The talent pool Even though the nation is dealing with an unemployment crisis, the top talent has little trouble finding gainful employment. Most small businesses acknowledge their success is dependent on the quality of their staff, but with rising healthcare and other costs, how will you keep your top employees happy and prevent them from taking other opportunities? 3. Mobile marketing If your company hasn’t gone mobile yet, 2014 is the time to do so. More and more customers are relying on their mobile devices for research and purchasing; failing to accommodate that could ultimately lead to failure of your business. 4. A return to print Many small businesses have ignored print marketing based on a perception that digital marketing is cheaper. While it’s true that print marketing often requires a greater up-front investment, it’s no more expensive than a full-fledged digital marketing campaign. Moreover, print marketing – especially direct mail marketing – continues to yield higher returns and generate greater customer trust than digital marketing efforts. In 2014, consider a return to print marketing – especially if your competitors are ignoring it. 5. Security WikiLeaks, Anonymous, Adobe and other recent headline-makers have proven that even the most secure organizations can be compromised. How will you keep your private data secure in 2014? 6. Marketing investment dilemmas Small business can face a budget crunch when it comes to marketing. Not only should you continue to invest in proven marketing strategies such as print marketing, you also have to keep up with online marketing, social media, and emerging marketing opportunities. How will you stay relevant without breaking the bank in 2014? 7. Specialization It’s easier than ever to start a small business, but it’s also easier than ever to fail. One of the best ways to promote your small business is to specialize in a specific niche. Doing so makes it easier and requires less investment to market and win new customers. It also allows you to charge more for your services. In 2014, will you be a jack of all trades or a sought-after specialist? 8. Innovation Just keeping your head above water is tough for many small businesses, but you also need to find the time and budget to innovate new products and services as well as new marketing strategies. How will you balance your current offering with innovation in 2014? 9. Productivity As a small business owner, you have to wear many hats – perhaps too many, as doing all the work, accounting, troubleshooting, and marketing can wear you thin and present problems with productivity. Seek ways to lessen your workload and increase productivity, such as outsourcing, delegating, and partnering with others in order to increase your profits in 2014. 10. Time Time is a constant struggle for small business owners. You need time to operate your business, time for friends and family, and time for you. Find your "me" time in 2014 by developing a strategic approach to overcoming the year’s challenges.

New Social Media Compliance Guidelines To Help Financial Institutions Posted: 15 Dec 2013 08:19 PM PST Photo by Paul Lowry. Banks, financial institutions and other regulated organizations have new social media compliance guidelines to help them manage their efforts online. The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) has released new guidelines to help these organizations "understand and successfully manage the potential risks regarding the use of social media." The activities of financial institutions, including social media activities are regulated by specific consumer protection and compliance laws, many of which are highlighted and explained in this document. As such, there are certain steps they must take to protect their reputations and the interests of their clients. At HootSuite we've spoken with the FFIEC about the regulatory guidance they're providing these institutions. Here are a few of the main guidelines they're promoting: Institute Social Media Policies Financial institutions should identify all applicable laws that govern their online activities, perform a social media risk assessment and then institute social media policies to prevent issues and protect their brand. Social media policies help these institutions respond to challenges like spam in a timely manner should they arise. For example, staff should know how to react when a customer posts confidential information like a bank number on their social profiles. It also ensures that all staff members participating in social media are sensitive to the "reputation risks" posed by these social networks and follow the appropriate etiquette. Institutions should regularly keep up with laws to ensure that any changes are reflected in their policies. Establish Social Media Goals Despite all the risks, information shared over social media has the potential to reach a large global audience of existing and prospective clients. Social networks can be used to market products and originate new accounts. As long as an institution ensures that advertising and other communications comply with consumer protection laws, social media can be a powerful business tool for banks and other financial organizations. Simply being on social networks isn't enough. To ensure that you're making the most of social media, establish concrete goals with trackable KPIs. These should align with the overall goals and values of the company. Use Social Media Monitoring Tools By being active on social media, financial institutions are adding a channel that can expose their brand to additional negative comments or sentiment. Using social media monitoring tools helps them to identify any issues that may cause a negative reaction, so they can respond quickly and appropriately. Any content placed on social networks should be monitored and tracked, not only to respond to any negative consequences but also to track your successes. The use of social media monitoring tools also helps banks respond to any inquiries and complaints in a timely manner, and refute any inaccurate statements, protecting the brand reputation among its clients and the observing public. The FFIEC encourages institutions to consider establishing one or more specific channels consumers must use when submitting complaints or disputes. Train Employees on Social Media Whether or not they expressly represent your brand on social media, employees' public communications on social networks may be seen to reflect your financial institution. The best way to combat any risks associated with this is to train your employees on how to use social networks professionally. This doesn't only mean educating them about the required regulations or disclosures, but also teaching them to use to tools themselves. A social media monitoring tool helps in this process by ensuring that all employees are using the same system to engage on social networks. Kevin Zellmer. "I am pleased to see that the new guidelines discuss the broader implications and risks of social media and how they may be addressed." said Kevin Zellmer, Global Director of Enterprise Business Development. " Often these types of guidelines focus on a specific rule or two. In the broader view, companies have not only government guidelines to take into consideration but also have internal policies that must be managed and enforced. To focus on one and not the other leaves massive holes that could result in damage to their brand, customers and even monetary penalties." While it may seem like the risks of social media are high, the opportunities it presents banks and other organizations are much greater. Even the FFIEC notes that "financial institutions are using social media as a tool to generate new business and provide a dynamic environment to interact with consumers. View the full guidelines document, "Social Media: Consumer Compliance Risk Management Guidance," online here.

Is Your Lead Gen Process Built Upside Down? Posted: 15 Dec 2013 07:20 PM PST One of your goals as a B2B marketer is to generate as many sales qualified leads as possible. This is often one of the most challenging tasks for marketers, but we could easily improve it by re-examining the way the qualified lead generation process is traditionally built. So how do most marketers do it today? Lets take a high-level look at the typical process: First, you'll set up different ways of reaching your general audience – let's say you're targeting IT security managers – with online and offline advertising, email marketing, event marketing, inbound marketing, cold calls, etc. Once you've started running the various campaigns, you'll probably start generating some leads (hopefully many). The next step would typically be to run various lead scoring calculations in order to qualify those leads based on their behavior or firmographic attributes. The objective here is to filter out the irrelevant leads, focusing on the relevant leads for nurturing and once qualified, sending them to sales. Most of your resources and budget are usually focused on managing these campaigns and qualifying or nurturing incoming leads. The usual way to generate qualified leads looks like this: Makes sense, right? Maybe not… The "classic" qualified lead gen process is built the wrong way. Imagine how much time you just spent on all of those leads that didn't even make it past the qualification stage! Not to mention the amount of money spent on all of that advertising and marketing to prospects who – after filtering – weren't qualified. And those who actually made it to sales – well, by the time the lead was identified as sales qualified, precious time may have been wasted. Consider how low the chance of conversion is with most leads: 79% of marketing leads never convert into sales. (Source: Marketing Sherpa) Only 25% of leads are legitimate and should advance to sales. (Source: Gleanster Research) So, the current process takes lots of resources to bring lots of "leads" and then even more effort in finding out which ones are relevant – or qualified. But there is a better way. The brilliance of Account-Based Marketing is that it reverses the typical process. Instead of marketing to a broad audience and then filtering your leads, you're filtering in advance and then marketing to a more defined audience. With ABM, you start by identifying the profile, industry, size, location, need, or even actual lists of organizations that will most likely generate revenue. Yep, those are your qualified prospects. Then, and only then, can you focus your marketing efforts on these types of prospects, using real-time targeting and personalization technology to generate leads from these targeted accounts. And guess what? Every lead is qualified because it is generated from a group of already qualified prospects – matching the profile of your ideal customer. The right way to manage your qualified lead gen process looks like this: By starting out with the Account-Based Marketing method for qualifying leads and hitting those sweet spot accounts, you'll have a winning strategy that is more cost-effective from the get-go. Target those key accounts from the beginning – and every lead you bring in will be qualified or at least very relevant, and you'll make better use of your marketing budget.

Why Segmentation is Important in Analytics? Posted: 15 Dec 2013 06:21 PM PST Segmentation means breaking a bigger piece of data into smaller parts in order to properly analyze them and take corresponding actions accordingly. In broader terms, segmentation of your data allows you to take better decisions which helps to grow your business. In my opinion, there are 4 types of segmentation that every inbound marketer must analyze in order to effectively measure the success of their campaigns. These 4 types of segmentation in Google Analytics are explained below:- Keyword Level Segmentation Segmenting your keyword data lets you analyze the amount of traffic coming from potential keywords. Under the keyword level, you must group your data according to the goals set up for your business. For example, if you are a seller of online cakes then you may segment your keyword data as per 5 levels of segmentation:- Revenue Generating Keywords – Your main revenue generating keywords like "buy cakes online", "online cakes delivery", "buy birthday cakes online" etc should come under this group. You can group keywords here by tracking which keywords are sending more conversions. Local Traffic Generating Keywords – Your main local traffic generating keywords must come under this category. Keywords like "cakes delivery in London", "buy cakes in London" which contains the name of local place or location of the visitor should be tracked for preparing this type of segmentation. Occasional Keywords- Such keywords that pertain to a specific occasion like Birthday, Wedding, Anniversary, Christmas etc must come under this category. Branded Keywords- All keywords that are having the brand name in them must come under this category. Non Branded Keywords- All those keywords that are not having the brand name in them must come under this category. The Advantages Main benefits of keyword level segmentation are given below:- 1-      Identification of main revenue generating keywords. This can help to improve landing page optimization. 2-      Identification of locally potential keywords. Data gathered can be used to take decisions to boost up the local campaigns. 3-      An increase in brand related searches can give you useful insights regarding the enhancement in brand value and the underlying potentials in them. 4-      Landing pages of top occasional pages can be well optimized to increase conversions. Page Level Segmentation After you have completed the keyword level segmentation, now, it's time for analyzing the pages that people see when they search with those keywords. Segment the pages as "best performing "and "needs attention". These types are given below:- Best Performing- Pages that are having the least bounce rate are the best performing ones. Needs Attention- Pages that are having maximum bounce rate are those that needs serious attention. Also, it is important to find out the corresponding keywords that are sending in traffic to these pages. It may happen that user is looking for something different and your page is serving something different. Page level segmentation can help to identify these issues with your site and help to optimize them. Traffic Level Segmentation  Identify the sources that are sending in the maximum traffic or are helping in maximum conversions. There are 3 main types of segmentation that can happen here:- Organic Traffic- Find out the sources that are sending maximum organic traffic to your site like Google, Yahoo, Bing, Ask, Yandex, Baidu etc. Paid Traffic- Find out the sources of paid traffic that are providing the maximum conversions like those from search engines or social media and analyze the ROI for those as this will help you to better invest in those channels. Referral Traffic – Social media is serving as a great source of referral traffic. You need to identify the top channels of referral traffic that are sending visitors with maximum rate of conversion. Conversion Level Segmentation This is the most important of segmentation as your business revenue is directly associated with it. You need to be extremely careful in doing conversion level segmentation. There are 3 main types of segmentation that can happen here:- Revenue Level – Segment the conversions on the basis of their revenue. This will help to identify a range of price level on which people are interested in spending the most. You can then increase your products in that price range in order to increase the conversions. Channel Level – Segment the conversions on the basis of the channels of internet marketing. Find out the answers to questions like "Which channels are helping in maximum conversions?", "How much am I spending in those channels", "What is my ROI for those channels?"etc. Finding appropriate answers to such questions can help you to better invest in those channels that are converting the most. Geo location Level- Identify the location of the traffic that has the maximum rate of conversions. This will help you to invest more in those location specific campaigns that are converting well. You may also use this data for better landing page optimization for such local traffic. The Power of Segmentation                                               Segmentation lets you uncover the main keywords that are sending you potential traffic, the top channels that are sending in the traffic, the main landing pages that are containing that traffic and last but not the least, the goals that are converting and boosting up the revenue of your business. All these will enable you to take better decision decisions. Hence, I would suggest all the webmasters to segment their data and see what lies covered behind the original and default metrics that Google serves. These metrics are extremely valuable for the success of the business.

50 Content Marketing Predictions for 2014 Posted: 15 Dec 2013 10:37 AM PST As a business resource, Slideshare stands pretty much head and shoulders above most other content platforms. From presentations to educational content and more, you can find information and curated media on pretty much any topic you have an interest in. As a research solution, Slideshare offers analysis from some of the smartest minds on the web across all verticals. These include standard presentations, videos, multimedia and more. Which brings us to this week's Sunday Share. Every week, I'll be sharing a presentation that catches my eye and where I feel you might be interested in the information inside. These will range from business to content to social media to marketing and more. This week, a collection of predictions for 2014 from the Content Marketing Institute. As brands begin to understand the power of owned media, content as a marketing tactic is beginning to become more mainstream. In this presentation, industry specialists share their predictions for 2014 (although, sorry Mitch Joel, but Buffer is not new!). Enjoy.

Crafting a Customer Centric Culture: 3 Key Factors Posted: 15 Dec 2013 09:15 AM PST Some brands want to create a fun culture; others innovative; others exclusive, and while many brands will say they've created a customer-centric culture, there are only a select number whose customers would agree. According to IBM, 80% of companies believe they deliver "superior" customer service, but only 8% of customers say that's true. Given, it's not easy to create a customer-centric culture, because not only does it require an all-in internal effort; it requires an exceptional external effort, as well. But culture can be a corporate game-changer. According to a new Booz & Company culture and change management survey of more than 2,000 executives, managers and employees, 86% of C-suite executives and 84% of all managers and employees say culture is critical to their organization's success; and 60% see it as a bigger success factor than either their strategy or their operating model. So what does it take to create a great corporate culture (customer-centric or otherwise)? Here are three key factors: 1. Employee Engagement: If you don't get employee buy-in, selling your company's culture to your customers is going to be a tough row to hoe. Employees from the top, and especially those at the bottom, need something to believe in to fully embrace and espouse the core values of the company for which they work. In fact, 70% of respondents who said change efforts at their companies were adopted and sustained said their companies leveraged employees' pride in the organization and emotional commitment. Companies must find ways to connect with each member of their team and also give them a feeling that they're a contributing part of something bigger than themselves. Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh cites four factors that are involved in getting employees involved, and happy to be participating in a company and its culture: Perceived Control Perceived Progress Connectedness and a Belief in the Company's Vision or Meaning "We're not out there telling people [that they should adopt the Zappos values] and culture," says Hsieh, "because that would actually probably not work in most cases. Our message is more 'you should figure out what your values are and then align the entire organization around them.'" Zappos' core values such as "create a little fun and weirdness," as well as "be adventurous, creative and open-minded" celebrate individuality, which also contributes to perceived control, which contributes to brand and culture buy-in. 2. Small Change: One of the fastest ways to put the brakes on any culture initiative is actually through a major change. In the Booz & Company Culture's Role in Enabling Organization Change study, 65% of respondents cited "change fatigue" (when workers are asked to adapt to too many changes at once) as the main obstacle to change itself. Large and many changes can actually lead to uncertainty about the company and confusion about its and the individual employee's priorities, notes the survey, so the best route is to take the company's existing positive attributes and use that as a foundation. For Zappos, creating their customer-centric culture starts with first, hiring the right people, and then numerous weeks of training to get them acclimated with the brand and its beliefs. Every new Zappos employee learns the company strategy, the culture and why it's important, as well as the Zappos customer service philosophy. They also spend two weeks in the call center to see if they really do care about delivering great customer service. At some point, they're even offered payment to walk away from the company. Hsieh says they don't want people there for just a paycheck; they want people who are passionate and will remain so about what the company is doing. 3. Consistency is Key: Managing and continuing to make a burgeoning culture a top priority is where a lot of brands lose their necessary momentum. Even brands like Starbucks, known for its customer experience, can attest to this. (Read Starbucks on Creating an Adaptive Customer Experience Culture.) Maintaining a corporate culture takes work and commitment. Less than half of the Booz & Co. survey participants said their companies consistently did a good job of managing culture and making it a priority. What really brings cultural progress to a halt is what Booz & Co. calls "the boomerang effect," when leadership stops being actively involved and moves on to other priorities. This is a key reason why Zappos and its CEO Tony Hsieh have successfully risen to the top of the customer culture elite: pure stick-to-itiveness. "Our number one priority is company culture," says Hsieh. "Our whole belief is that if you get the culture right, most of the other stuff like delivering great customer service or building a long-term enduring brand will just happen naturally on its own. "Zappos is a customer service company that just happens to sell shoes."

Introverts Make the Best Speakers Posted: 15 Dec 2013 09:00 AM PST It's time to reframe the old adage that "introverts do not make good speakers." Full disclosure – I am an extrovert. However, I'm surrounded by introverts. My fiance, my step-dad, my best friends and all of my clients are introverts. When I coached college speech and debate, the vast majority of my students were introverts. If there is an introvert on his own at a party, expect me to be the one carrying on an intense conversation with him in the corner. When I googled speaking tips for introverts, I was surprised to see how much of the advice treated introversion like a disease. Something to be overcome, dealt with, treated. In fact, I found an article by Susan Cain about public speaking advice for introverts. Here are her tips: Be yourself Be a performer (Umm, doesn't that contradict be yourself?) Serve the audience Accept your nerves Calm your body Smile Now, while I love me some Susan Cain (her book Quiet and her TED talk are amazing), these tips are just about as generic as they come. They are tips for all speakers, and apply whether you're an introvert or extrovert (except the performer one). Getting nervous before a speaking gig happens to even the most extroverted among us (Hello, I'm an extr0vert, and I still get nervous before a big speaking gig). If anyone is guilty of NOT practicing, it's the extrovert who thinks "I'm a people person. I can totally wing it." Let's stop looking at introversion as something a speaker has to overcome. Let's focus on introverts strengths as a speakers, and in fact introverts make amazing speakers. Why? 1. Introverts do the work 95% of all my coaching clients are introverts. They are beyond committed to the work of mastering public speaking, embracing their newfound strengths as a speaker and getting their message into the world. I love that my introverted clients are game for any speaking homework assignment I give them (no matter how unconventional and trust me I can get a little weird…in a push you out of your comfort zone way). With that kind of commitment to growth, they can't help but become speaking successes. 2. Relish that public speaking is NOT about them The biggest anxiety reliever for an introvert the realization that public speaking is not about you! The audience doesn't care about you, your listeners care about your message and how it can benefit them. Being able to externalize the message (realizing it's separate from the speaker) puts many introverts mind at ease. Because introverts…. 3. Think deeply about their message Since introverts relish thinking big thoughts and having a well-thought out message is easy for them. My experience is they spend a lot of pondering what their audience is going to get out of their presentation and how to articulate their message clearly and succinctly. This aspect sets up the audience for a great presentation experience. 4. Writing and structure A tell-tale sign of an introvert is that they like to write. I recently worked with a real estate developer who was smart, funny and committed to becoming a supremely skillful speaker. When we started working together, he had NEVER given a formal presentation. He always made his business partners do that part of the business for him. He was just too shy and introverted. As we worked on his very first speech ever, he sent me a draft. I was blown away. It was beautiful organized and artful written. Sure, we needed to tweak, wordsmith and cut, but there was no need for an organization overhaul. He nailed it! 5. Self-care is paramount Introvert,s more than any other speakers, I've worked with realize the importance of self-care after a presentation. Presenting is a massive energy exchange between the speaker and the audience. While introverts expect this to be draining, they prepare in advance how they are going to take care of themselves after a big speaking gig. They make time for being alone, curling up with a good book or take an extra long nap. Extroverts typically feel amped up after a speaking gig, the energy exchange is the finest drug in the world for an extrovert. However, there is always the inevitable crash (like a sugar crash after you ate 10 Snickers bars) that leaves extroverts feeling depleted. No self-care has been planned yet it's still desperately needed. Introverts make wonderful speakers. They have unique strengths that some extroverts do not possess. Let's stop solving the "introversion and public speaking" problem and start building upon the rock solid foundations of strengths. Did I miss anything about the speaking strengths of introverts? Let me know in the comment section below.

10 Top Tips to Grow Your Email List Posted: 15 Dec 2013 07:00 AM PST The rise of social media saw many bloggers join the race to build Facebook likes, Twitter followers and LinkedIn connections to grow tribes on social media. These all work well and provide a way for bloggers to distribute, gain attention and amplify their content. As Facebook, Twitter and other social media networks kept changing the rules bloggers started to realise that one basic tactic had been forgotten that would give them more control. The art and science of building an email list. Growing your email list is something that should not be ignored by any blogger and should be included in your marketing tactics from day one. Tips to grow your email list So what are 10 ways as a blogger to grow your email list? 1. Provide an opt in email box This is the most obvious and simplest. Provide an optin email box on your homepage. Put it near the top right corner or even in your top banner. Placing it down the bottom of your page will reduce its effectiveness. 2. Offer a free ebook You need to provide an incentive for people to sign up to your email list and one of the best tactics is to give away a free ebook. It doesn't have to be long. My free ebook is 10,000 words and over 50 pages. It can be 10-15 pages and just a few thousand words. Take the time to write and design a professional looking ebook. 3. Provide a light-box pop up This is sometimes argued about as light box pop ups can be seen as intrusive. The reality is that they work and are used by many top blogs to great effect. You may find that by putting the settings to a pop up that appears after 3o-40 seconds may work best rather than hit them straight away after landing on your blog. 4. Do some guest blogging If you are just starting out and don't have any traffic then getting people to your blog is the first battle. Guest blogging can provide a platform to gain some attention and then when they go to visit your site after reading your guest article you can then sign them up by having the first 3 tactics in place ready to capture that important email. 5. Run a webinar A webinar can be a very effective way to build your list. So invite a guest or run your own and build that email list by offering a free webinar. 6. Use annotations in your YouTube videos YouTube has the option of providing annotations that provide a call to action to subscribe to your email list. Use every tactic at your disposal to build that list. 7. Use Slideshare Pro Slideshare Pro is the premium version of Slideshare and offers a pop up box to capture emails and leads. Slideshare is often underrated but can be very effective for not only creating attention about your blog but capturing leads. 8. Offer a free video If you don't feel inclined to write an ebook put together a free "How To" video. Many people would prefer to watch a video to reading an ebook. 9. Add an email optin on your Facebook page tabs Using a Facebook app like ShortStack can enable you to ask for people to join your email list on Facebook. 10. Provide a free giveaway on your Facebook page To accelerate your list building on Facebook offer a free coupon, run a competition or provide a free giveaway as an incentive. How to improve your email contact form conversion rates Building the list is one thing but optimizing it so that you increase your conversion rates is another. Singlehop put together an infographic after doing some research that showed some interesting insights into improving the conversion rates on an email contact form. Here are some of their revelations. Only ask for a name and email to improve conversion rates The quality of your leads increases by adding more fields Expedia increased its profit by $12 million by removing one field in their email contact form Marketo saved over $10 per lead by removing one field One company increased its conversion rate by 90% by changing the call to action copy tense from second person to first person For more insights check out the infographic below from SingleHop. What about you? Are you building an email list? Are you offering an incentive? What works for you? Look forward to hearing your stories and insights in the comments below. Want to learn how to make your blog a success with social media marketing? My book – "Blogging the Smart Way – How to Create and Market a Killer Blog with Social Media" – will show you how.

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