This infographic from ArgyleSocial offers a little insight as to when your posting efforts will have the greatest chance of making the connection.  Connection is not necessarily engagement, however, it is the starting point for building relationships online.

How do you determine when to post?

Ok, here’s the answer:

Think of Twitter as a faster shorter way to email someone.  Reply is just like replying to an email. 

• Someone sends you a message (tweet)
• You click reply to respond

On an email this is a direct message intended for the recipients who names are on the top line of the email header.

Also, in the email header, there is another line where you can send a copy (mention) of the message (tweet) to others who you want to see it.  They do not necessarily need to reply.

On Twitter, just like in email, to reply to someone click the reply button.   This places the person’s Twitter handle at the beginning of the tweet (top line of the email header).  Then you can write your message.

To mention someone in a tweet place the person’s Twitter handle somewhere else in the tweet except at the beginning (cc line of the email header).

Unlike an email, the big difference between a twitter reply and mention is in where the tweet goes. 

A Twitter reply shows up in the timeline of the person whose Twitter handle is at the beginning of the tweet.  A mention shows up in the timeline of anyone who follows both the recipient and the sender.

Here’s an example:

I follow both CrossChannelMkt and MikeKoenigs.  When CrossChannelMkt mentioned MikeKoenigs in a tweet, I saw it in my timeline because I follow both of them.  MikeKoenigs saw it on his Twitter mention tab and not on his main timeline.  Instead of just seeing it on his Twitter home page, he would need to go to the mentions tab to see who is mentioning him when ever he normally does that.

By putting the Twitter handle at the beginning of the tweet, CrossChannelMkt would have made this a message that went directly to the recipient’s timeline and ready for him to see immediately when he logged onto Twitter.

@MikeKoenigs Looking forward to proofcaster sessions today

This Twitter reply would not show up on my timeline because Twitter treats it like an email to which I would not receive a copy.   

Now this doesn’t make it private, it just makes is more efficient and direct.  Plus, when @MikeKoenigs sees his name at the beginning of the tweet, he will know that @CrossChannelMkt intended to talk to him directly.

 Why is this important?

It is important to know that your Twitter followers have access to you with a tweet.  When wondering why a follower did not reply to a tweet in a dialogue from your end the answer could be that your tweet ended up in their mentions tab and they never saw it. 

Do you ever wonder why you get weird tweets from people you follow?  There’s a conversation going on but you know you’re not part of it so why would you get it.  It’s because the person you are following is tweeting by mentioning the person they want to talk to instead of replying and you follow them both.

So, the bottom line is this: 

When you want to send a public message that goes to a particular person, place their Twitter handle at the beginning of the tweet.  This will ensure that the tweet shows up on their timeline and is not hidden on their mentions tab.

If you use Twitter for business, a good practice is to follow back everyone who follows you.

photo credit: icons.yootheme.com

LinkedIn is full of wonderful features some of which immediately prove their worth.  Take LinkedIn Answers for example.  It is easy to see that this feature creates an opportunity for one to be an expert in a variety of subjects.  As an expert, you are bound to find that other members will want to connect with you and possibly do business with you.  Yet, it is not as easy to understand the value of some of the other features.  Who’s Viewed Your Profile is one of those features.

I ran across a fabulous tip for making the most of this feature in the LI & Business Magazine article, Shake Up Your LinkedIn Profile.   I thought you might like to know about this creative way to make qualified connections on LinkedIn.

What is Who’s Viewed Your Profile?

On the right hand side of the LinkedIn home page, you’ll find a section with this title.  It tells you the number of other LinkedIn members who have clicked on your name either in a search, another member’s connections, or from group activity.   The members whose names appear in this section are often first time visitor’s to your profile to which you are not connected.

Clicking on the number link will take you to a page where you will see the names of other members who recently checked out your profile.  LinkedIn allows members with a free account to view at least five of the people who viewed.  Card-carrying paid members can see the full list.

Why do I care about the Who’s Viewed Your Profile feature?

It’s true, you may not care or even need to use LinkedIn for anything more than staying connected to colleagues and old school buddies.  However, if you use LinkedIn for finding business opportunities then this feature can be a lead generation tool. 

It makes sense to assume that someone who took the time to view your profile might have done so for a reason.  The problem is figuring out the reason so you can determine if this person is a new prospective client or someone who was just browsing.

Before we go any futher, here’s the tip.

Send them a message!  Simple, right?   The message is the key to opening up the door for a new qualified connection to happen.  You should say something like this:

Hi (member name)!  I noticed that you viewed my profile.  How can I help?  If you were just browsing then there’s no need to reply.  Forgive the intrusion.  My company specializes in (whatever that is).  If this is of interest to you, then let’s chat.  It would be my pleasure to connect with you.

Why would I want to connect with a member in this way?

LinkedIn can be one of a business professional’s primary networking sites.  Networking is the art of starting and nurturing relationships that might lead to making a sale.  Connecting is the first step toward building those relationships.  If a member went the extra step of viewing your profile then perhaps they are seeking something that your company provides.  How will you ever know unless you actually talk to the person?

How do I send a message when I am not connected to the member?

There are a few ways to do this.  What you decide to do will depend upon what your own goals are.  The way messages are sent depends greatly upon which type of account you have.

Basic Account Type

This is the free account.  With the free account, you can:

• Find out how they found you
• See your viewers by industry and location
• Message a member who is already a connection
• Message a member who is in a group with you
• Connect and message a member whose email address you already have

Paid Account Type

With a paid account, you have the expanded opportunity to send In-Mails.  An In-Mail allows you to send a message to a certain number of members to which you are not connected.  How many depends upon the account type you select.

The Personal Plus account type is a good value if you can do without the In-Mails.  For under $100 a year, you can see the full list of members who viewed your profile.

Give me 5 examples of when to connect with a member who’s viewed my profile.

 Ok, since you asked:

• When a member is in your target industry
• When you don’t know who to connect with on LinkedIn
• When you’ve met the member at another networking event
• When you believe another member may have mentioned you to them
• When your boss tells you to measure your results with LinkedIn

How do you use the Who Viewed My Profile list?

courtesy of: www.planetofsuccess.com/blog

You invest hours of your precious time writing blog posts, then distributing the links only to find yourself hearing crickets when you hope to hear from potential clients.  Does that sound like your experience? 

Consultants say that having a presence online is necessary for marketing anything in today’s web infused world.  Oh, if only it were as easy as just tweeting or updating a facebook page! 

However, it’s not easy because there is a fierce battle happening online.  Businesses want and need something that is getting harder to secure.  That thing is the attention of the people who need the product or service that the business is offering. 

The internet multiplies the number of competitors in the fight.

In days gone by, large companies with plenty of money could practically own their industry because the strategy was to reach the masses with advertising.  Now, any business with a laptop and an internet connection can give them a run for their money.  Advertising is not dead but it has changed.  People want answers.  Content that answers the one question that every web searcher is asking is the way to stand out from the crowed.

What is content?

The type of content I’m talking about here is any information you write and deliver via online means for marketing.  This could be blog posts, white papers, eBooks and the like.  Any material that answers the one question that every web searcher is asking is marketing that guides the searchers attention to the answer for their one question.  That’s the definition of content marketing in a nut shell.

What is the one question that the content of my blog posts must answer?

I like the way Rosie Taylor, a Duct Tape Marketing consultant, said it.  She wrote:

“… online content needs to answer the question, “Can you solve my problem?” …

It’s true!  Potential clients want answers that help them find out how your business can help them solve the problem your company solves.

Writing blog posts is a simple strategy that offers a good return.  The foundation of content marketing is delivering relevant and complete answers to the one question your clients have about the solutions you offer.  A blog is perfect for answering the question because it gives you more room to speak. 

There is a difference between content marketing and social media marketing.  With social media, the space is limited.  For example, Twitter can only handle 140 characters at a time.  A Facebook or Linkedin status is around 300 characters.  An average blog post is around 200 to 500 words.  Social media compliment your blogging by serving as a terrific way to distribute what you write.

6 steps to start writing blog posts today

1. Starting is not as hard as it seems.  You need a domain name and a hosting service. Expect to pay around $100 a year.  Any more than this is too much in my opinion.  Alternatively, begin with a free blogging platform such as WordPress.com or Blogger.  Be aware though that the content you develop on anything other than your own domain is not really in your possession.  You’ll have access to it but if something happens to a free site then all your content goes with it.  A best practice is to use a reputable self- hosting service. 
2. Create a list of questions that your potential customers ask frequently.
3. Use Google Adwords Keyword Tool or Wordtracker to understand what words people would use to search for answers online.
4. Create a list of about 50 to 100 words that people use to search for the answers your company provides, and then use these words to create titles for your future blog posts.  Remember the list of questions you created in step 2?  Take each question and create a blog post title.  Use one word or phrase from your keyword list.  Keep the number of words in the title to around ten.  Some of the most read blog posts have titles that start with “How to” or “7 Best”. Don’t start writing the blog post yet, just write the title.
5. Next up is the publishing calendar.  This is nothing fancy.  Make a spreadsheet and plug in the blog post titles you just created.  Decide when you want to post each one to your blog.  Don’t wear yourself out trying to post every day.  Post once a month for the first two months or twice a month if you can.  Work up to once a week as soon as possible. Knowing when and what you will post takes the strain off trying to think of the subject and write it at the same time.
6. Now answer the questions.  Those questions are the blog posts.  Keep it informative, no sales talk.  Answer with real solutions.  It might be tempting to hold back relevant information in an effort to get people to contact you for the rest of the answer.  Don’t do this.  When someone reads your post and finds what they already knew then they will click on another site.  Moreover, they’ll keep clicking until they find an honest answer that goes beyond what they already knew.  Strive to make your site the only one they need.  Will that actually happen?  Probably not, however, in the words of a favorite saying, reach for the stars, land on the moon.

And, as if that’s not enough information, here’s some more:

50 Qualities of the Best Business Blogs in the World 

What do you think?  What other advice do you have for newbie bloggers?

I’m so happy to say that I believe inspiration just smacked me in the face. Brian Clark, over at Copyblogger created his first infographic. An inforgraphic is a compliation of ideas set to pictures to illustrate a point. And, boy, isn’t this just the graphic I needed to see. The best point for me to remember: I don’t always have to be original. It’s ok to share other people’s stuff. So with that in mind, I present to you, 22 Ways to Create Compelling Content When You Don’t Have A Clue.  If you’ve been a lazy blogger lately, maybe this will help.

Like this infographic? Get more content marketing tips from Copyblogger.

What point from this information smacks you in the face? Do you have any other ideas about how to create content when you are in a slump?