Notice I titled this ‘Social Influencer’, not ‘Social Media Influencer’. In our Social Influencer Marketing programs, we believe that it is our job to have our clients become Influencers in their world, and Social Media is one vehicle for making that happen. Let’s see if you agree or disagree with me after this article…!

First, a definition: an influencer is, simply put, someone who carries influence over others. An influencer on social media wields influence through social media. You probably know that word-of-mouth is one of the valuable forms of marketing; in our digital age, word of mouth goes way beyond what friends and family recommend to you, and that’s where influencers come in. No matter who you are, if you’re a thought leader in your network, people think of you and come to you first.

Becoming a thought leader in your network is a process, and our standard plan for our clients has about 20 steps, but here, I want to give you the top five things that could give you a head start down this path, something to think about and gain some traction. Even if you do nothing more than this, you will be further ahead than when you started.

Even if you’re not aiming to be a solution provider, becoming a social influencer can help you advance your career; we actually teach this as part of our career advance program in universities. On a corporate level, showcasing a company’s culture on social media can build the company’s reputation. Even more, employees can become corporate advocates – you can empower staff members to share their own insights about their work on their own social media feeds!

#1 – Pick your niche or focus

To be an influencer people need to really be able to easily digest what you can and will do for them — how you will serve them and solve their problems. You are most likely a solution provider of some sort. If you can clearly address a need that your target audience has, and match the skills you have to what you can provide, then you’re well on your way. Make sure your solution speaks directly to their need so that you are addressing the lowest common denominator of the problem at hand.

Example:

Say you’re an accountant. There are thousands of accountants, what makes you different, what is your niche in this very crowded world? I have a friend who over the years has forged his reputation in property tax savings. He completed his law degree and represents his clients from both an accounting and legal perspective. While he has enough knowledge to do your taxes and many other services, he decided over 20 years ago to pick a specialty and maintain that position. He is now one of the most recognized property tax attorneys in Chicago and has a limitless flow of referrals. We are now looking at how to add the social media component to take him to the next level. You might be this same position. Once you know your focus, you’re ready to move to the next step.

#2 – Subscribe and Monitor The Competition

While you may not think there is any, there is always competition. How to find them? Simply Google search either by need or solution discussed previously, then look for blogs, webcasts, podcasts, and other sources of information. This will give you a perspective on how to either refine your message or, if nothing else, what to do better or what not do. This will only make you better. You can also set up Google Alerts with those words of ‘need’ or ‘solution’ as mentioned earlier, names of competitors, even your own name(s).

To setup a Google Alert you will need a gmail account and be logged into google, then simply go to: https://www.google.com/alerts , add as many words or phrases as mentioned above, define the frequency, and you’ll be alerted when this news hits the Internet.

Once you do find competitors or colleagues, make sure you subscribe to them and block out regular time to review the information you glean. This will only make you better.

#3 – Define Your Social Channels

You will never master all channels, so you need to really think of where your ideal target spends the most of their time, and decide what you can manage. We manage channels for many clients who want to be influencers and don’t have the time to make that happen, so you can consider that as well – hire and pay for assistance or find a volunteer help to build and manage. You can also reference our slide deck listed below.

Remember when doing this: one tip is to simply ask your clients where they spend their time on social media. This will give you a great start to making that choice.

#4 – Look like a thought leader (a.k.a. Social Influencer)

Please reference one of my last blog posts on Personal Branding, this is the critical next step. Google yourself and see how your digital footprint represents your position in the market place. Most likely, social media sites like LinkedIn, videos and personal websites with your name will be at the top. You’ll want to make sure the first two pages identify that ‘solution’ niche you selected in step one. Be sure to update all your profiles and remove or rename any content that is not relevant. Your past will catch you up here, so be sure to search, scan and clean it up! Mark your calendars at the first of the month as a reminder to yourself to do this on a regular basis; we create more social profiles by accident than we know!

 #5 – Turn on your content machine – remember your focus!

Okay, don’t get overwhelmed here, but you’ll need to schedule and start posting relevant content about your niche, your focus. This can consist of videos, blog posts, podcasts, interviews, slide decks (like we have done above), photos, articles you write or are featured in, and anything else that can live on the internet. Remember, when you are posting any content, tie it back to your social media sites and websites, and always make sure you include client’s need and the solution you provide. One of the simplest tips here is that you can add videos, slides or articles to your LinkedIn profile. If you author something, make sure to claim it, add it to your profiles, websites, and then post about it on your social media channels. And if you do work with a partner like us, make sure you communicate to your partners and trusted allies that you are posting and want their support to jump into the conversion online with you.

In Summary – you are an influencer – time for the next level!

You are all influencers; sometimes, as we develop and migrate, we get lost in the shuffle of our business or lives, and we need to regroup, focus, reclaim our position, and tell the world. The great news is that Social Media allows us to do this faster and more efficiently than ever before. There are also millions of other people trying the same thing. The important thought to remember is to not get overwhelmed, start with these simple steps, and if you need help, ask those around you for support. If you would like to have a conversion with us, just email me and let’s set something up, you might be closer than you think.

To hear more on this subject, you can listen to a recent podcast where I was interviewed on Influencer Marketing: “Turn Attendees Into Super Fans Using Influencer Marketing with Dean DeLisle

 

Social Jack™ is also a proud sponsor of the Virtual Event: Best Practices in Influencer Marketing, which will be taking place on Tuesday, August 1st, 2017.

 

Can’t wait to see you looking good as a social influencer online soon! – Dean


Thanks to Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook, the video streaming world has been opened to everyone. While it’s been out for a little while now, Facebook Live’s popularity shows no signs of slowing down. This is all by design, of course; Zuckerberg figured that if he could get everyone streaming from Facebook, then he could beat out Googleat their YouTube game and dominate video streaming, both live and recorded. He is so invested in this that his team built an algorithm: once you commit to a Facebook Live broadcast, Facebook will immediately start to gather an audience for you. Now this works better from a personal page than a business page, but below we will show you three easy steps — or as we like to call them, “Power Moves” — to help you prep either way.

Power Move #1 – Plan Your Production

Typically, no more than one day ahead is required for this, because these streams are meant to be short and entertaining. For us, our business is Influencer Marketing, so we make sure we add a little bit of education and inspiration to the formula, but this all depends on your brand and image you want to portray. For clarification, please see our previous articles on Personal Branding and Storytelling.

So one day ahead, plot your topic. Keep it easy to digest and engaging. Next, determine your target audience; if you have hundreds or even thousands of followers, determine who you want to attract and then tailor your message to that person or that audience This will make it seem personal, and your audience will better relate to it if your message speaks to them. Also think hashtags and tagging, no shame in using a couple of hashtags; even though it’s Facebook, it can still play a role in helping your video get found once it’s posted. We also recommend tagging others who might be in the video or mentioned in the video. It’s always best to get permission before you tag someone, especially in video; always remember that this business is all about the relationships. Don’t be a tag spammer (tagging a ton of people without permission). This is a huge turn off. Another consideration is that time is valuable, and it may be difficult at first to figure out who will take the time to do this, but ask your audience for feedback as well.

Once you have this process set and in place, tell your social network in advance what and when you are doing your subsequent production. This will allow them to plan to tune in, once Facebook notifies them.

Power Move #2 – Talk to Your Audience

The best thing we can tell you here is to make sure to remember this is a conversation with your audience, so acknowledge those who are tuning in, mention those who comment, and create a level of engagement so that others will be encouraged to chime in. Once they join, Facebook will notify their network that they are on the live stream with you and this will allow your audience to grow even more. This is wonderfully simple – and beautifully effective.

Power Move #3 – C.T.A. – Call to Action

Now that you have an audience, make sure you know where you are taking them next. Are you using this process to build community, take them to the next broadcast, have them download something, go to a landing page or website, call your office, you name it, it’s yours for the asking, just remember to ask.

Summary

Remember: thanks to Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook, you are now in the live broadcast business, so use this to your advantage. Even when we do our large Influencer Marketing Broadcast Events, we do a few Facebook Live feeds to help drive engagement. Whether you are doing small production work or big production work like us, there is always a place to insert Facebook Live!

Remember the three easy steps:

1.     Plan

2.     Engage

3.     Call to Action

I hope you found this helpful and we look forward to seeing your next online broadcast!

Here is the Power Point from one of our Flash Classes on this topic:

Facebook Flash Class – How to Thrive with Facebook Live


Those of you who know me know what my team and I do for a living: we train and coach thousands of people globally on Social Selling through LinkedIn with our Social Jack Academy. We enjoy training enthusiastic professionals from Fortune 500 companies, small businesses and anything in between. What you may not know is that we also teach about Social Selling using FacebookInstagramTwitterSnap Chat and others! We create and share what we call “Power Moves” which generate appointments or referrals — not just activity, and this is key.

Social Selling is not platform-dependent; sure, our friends at LinkedIn made it famous, and we love it in the B2B space, but remember we see your Social Team as people connected to you, not only on LinkedIn. So let’s cover three quick easy power moves, and if you want more we will happily oblige!

  1. Home page scan – or as we love to call it, UNE (Ultimate Network Event).

What does this mean? When you log into any Social Network, we tell you “think of it like you’re at an event” Pretty easy, right? Facebook is a gathering of people who are talking, networking, doing business, sharing personal info, but this is a gathering just the same. When you log in you might see some people you want to talk to and some you don’t; remember, you only need to talk to those you want. If you see a lot of people who annoy you, you chose not to connect to them. You can easily optimize this by either unfriending them (don’t worry, they do not get notified) or quieting them, unfollowing them (you will stay connected, but not their posts), or hiding the post. For me, that’s too much work; I either unfriend or unfollow. And this is just an example, I am not unfollowing my cousin!

Let’s do the Home Page Scan, it’s super easy. Scan your page for an ideal contact, and then simply “Like” or “Comment”; remember, it makes them feel good and counts as a contact with that person. Their network will also see the relationship, so if there are other targets in that network, they will see you, too. Then, if you decide to share with your network, they’ll love you even more. You know this because you know how it makes you feel. The key here is that if you are really working the relationship, then make sure you have the intent to get an appointment after the exchange. We recommend having two social media exchanges and then taking the conversation off-line (call, text, message, etc.). Which takes us to our next cool power move!

2. The Chat Hook – With NEW Facebook AI personal assistant

The ‘chat’ function is on the right side; on Facebook they call it “Messenger”. We like “Chat” because the intent is to be more casual and social, less business-like. The cool thing is that even if the person is not online, they will get notified when they are. What’s more, if they have notifications on their phone turned on, they’ll see it on the phone. You can also use the new messenger AI personal assistant to set reminders for each other; this is a NEW feature to remind people to connect every few days or weeks, for example. Then you both get a reminder to catch up and connect, which has a much more social feel. So remember the ultimate goal is the get the appointment, so jump on it when you have can, keep it casual and social like below.

For more cool power moves like this, remember to head to Social Jack, it’s free at the point of this article, however that will end August 1st, so jump on quick.

Remember if you are new in sales or an expert, there are people on the other side of the click, not bots or icons, these are people, just talk to them and decide when to connect for that meeting, build relationship and jump to the referrals (in our training we show more detail on this). Watch for more blogs on power moves, and of course we have over 200 videos in our Social Jack Resource Center. You can access our Resource Center by signing up for our Basic Social Jack Account, which can be found under the pricing tab on the Social Jack Homepage.

See you online very soon!


You took your last final two months ago, you walked across a grand stage and shook the Dean’s hand, and now your diploma just is collecting dust at your parent’s house. For young college graduates, the unemployment rate is currently 7.2 percent (compared with 5.5 percent in 2007), and the underemployment rate is 14.9 percent (compared with 9.6 percent in 2007). Employers are looking to hire employees who come through referrals. Think about the saying, “it’s who you know, not what you know.”

The-Next-Step-College-Graduate

  1. Pick your destination:
    Before applying for a job, think about the location in which you envision yourself and where you want to work. This means you will have to decide which industry you will want to pursue, which company interests you the most or geographically where you see yourself. Regardless which one it is, you will want to pick that destination.
  2. Targeting Individuals.
    Next you will want to identify and name the targets. Make a list of what type of people would be connected to the destination you strive to be at. If it is a particular company you are interested in, connect with the employees currently there. A good starting place is to connect with the head of HR, and send them a message introducing yourself and that you applied for a position. You will want to have a clear vision of that target individual looks like. Within the target, you will want to focus on “hubs” or organizations that would contain those people. This would be associations you are a part of, your alumni group, chambers of commerce or past conferences you’ve attended. There all kinds of past involvement that you can tap in to for career opportunities.
  3. Social Media Accounts:
    Make sure to update your profiles so that they are consistently representing who you are as a person, and for where you want to go on your destination. Build your LinkedIn page to its maximum worth. The use of social media for for recruitment has grown 54% in the the past 5 years. A recent SHRM study found that 84 percent of organizations are now recruiting on social media; only 56 percent of companies were hiring on social media in 2011.group of graduates
  4. Current State Team:
    Then you will build your current state team. Start by looking at everybody within your circle of influence and build a team of people. You then match those people with the targets you identified with.
  5. Get Connected:
    After that you will then make sure you are connected with that team on social media like LinkedIn. If these people are personal connections, follow them on virtual hang out places, that could be Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. This will be different for different team members
  6. Stay Connected:
    The next step is to pick four people a day to connect and have conversation with to then build your rapport and your connection with deepen. You want to let these people know what your destination goal is. By reacting out, having simple conversations, being genuine and authentic, you will have access into their networks and can connect with them. Most importantly, don’t be afraid to ask questions, because your end goal is to get into that destination, company or industryimages
  7. Scouting:
    Scouting for new team members on the professional side is seen as almost identical to scouting for a sports team. One thing that is easy but challenging for people is to let go of current team members who are not getting you to your end destination (Derrick Rose to the Knicks??). Thus, we have a scouting and drafting process in our Social Jack system that helps people bring new team members on board. We recommend that you go our Social Jack website and get a free account, and you will have access to the training we provide. It’s easy and fun!
  8. You’re hired!
    Enjoy the benefits that come along with getting hired., most importantly tak
    e advantage of the snacks! We promise that if you follow these steps, and get into a routine on this, your network will ideally connect you to your ideal destination.

 

We’ve successful training over 100,000 professionals, (high school, college, graduate students) with this simple process yet if you stick with it, it works. Make sure to share this blog post with your recent college graduates.

 


The inspiration for this blog post came from two recent conversations I had with fellow colleagues, along with life experiences that come along with working in the Social Media field. We currently live in a world that is ever changing, and we have access to so many different social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn) in which we can connect with our network.

 

Think about Facebooks new feature Safety Check, during major disasters the feature will let friends and family know you’re safe, and can mark other friends as safe.

1

Now let us discuss your entire network. Over your lifespan, your network has grown by connecting with people around us and we can classify these connections and put them into three different categories.

 

The first is “Friends.” My definition of friends is, people who we connect with, with the intent for relationship. They can be career connections, friends and family, or even the team you build for your life.

2

The second is “Followers.” That is defined by, people who have interest is us in some capacity, either professional, or personal and they literally follow what you do. As a professional, often times people follow your social media pages to stay up to date on what you are posting. Having followers is a choice, check your privacy settings on your social media accounts, because each platform is different.

3

Lastly, “Foes” can be identified as the people who connect or tune into your page, for reason of harm. Like theft identity, competition, or possible stalkers. When connections begin to feel disruptive they start to feel more like a foe.

4

Here at Social Jack it is purely about relationship building from connections and acquaintances with the intent to attract good targeted followers that someday will become friends and relationships we do business with. That stems from the practical business side of social networks. Once you have categories of friends, you can then decide how you want to operate those friends and networks, we define this as your Social Team. These networks and collection of friends can help you with building a business, marketing a brand, and having a good life team.

 

Remember that there are positives and negatives when connecting with people from your past, but above all it is your choice if you stay connect. Never feel obligated to stay connected if it is not a mutually beneficial.


Facebook Organic Reach Decline | Next Steps

facebook organic reach declineDoes the Facebook organic reach decline have your business' marketing plan turned upside down?

Facebook Organic Reach – The What and Why

According to Facebook's VP of Ads Product Marketing Brian Boland, the organic reach enjoyed by countless small business owners on Facebook is going away, potentially down to zero.  Put in plain terms, your fans and audience on Facebook will not see your posts anymore unless you pay to “boost” them.  Wait – WHAT?!  Yes, this organic reach decline is coming as a shock to many business owners, especially those who have invested tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars to build a massive following on Facebook.  Many Facebook business page owners are rightfully angry that they now have to pay just to get in front of their own fans.

 

The main impact of the Facebook organic reach decline:

According to the latest reports from Facebook,

your “Facebook organic reach” on fan pages is now only 5%.

 

facebook organic reach declineFacebook Organic Reach – What's The New Push Look Like

According to the latest reports from Facebook, your “organic reach” on fan pages is now only 5%.  Yes, this means that every time you post approximately just 5% of your total fans will be shown your post in their news feed.  Pretty awful, huh?  It seems like just yesterday that Facebook had no ads on it and there was no sign that it was every going to try and suck money out us.  Well times have changed, Facebook is now a publicly traded company, and it appears they are doing absolutely everything they can to track our every move and use that data as justification to business owns as to why they should pay money just to get their posts in front of their own fans.  So where do we go from here and overcome the now virtually non existent Facebook organic reach?  Read on to the next section:

With Facebook's organic reach basically gone, how do I thrive in this new model?

You can still get the absolute cheapest, targeted traffic from Facebook to your posts and/or business's website using Facebook.  You just need to pay for it now so it is crucial that you understand some general best practices for getting the cheapest clicks.  First, understand that the more you use all of the Facebook ad platform's features, the cheaper the clicks get because the more likely the audience is to like your post or ad, the better it is for everyone.  Specifically, Facebook gives you the ability to create a “tracking pixel” which is basically just a snippet of code that you can copy/paste into the “head tag” of your web site and that enables Facebook to begin building a list of your website's visitors to market to on Facebook.  Since that new “custom audience” are all past website visitors, they are most likely to click on your ad and therefore Facebook will charge you the least to get in front of your own website visitors.

Next, you can save money by testing up to 6 images with each ad and monitor which image converts the best.  You may be surprised to discover that the image you think will work best almost never does.  The images that usually work best are those that include people and specifically one with a person's face looking at you.

Finally, its smart to launch your first ads using only small amounts of money so you can test to see what gets cheap clicks, and then increase the budget for ads that are converting the best and for the cheapest amount of money.  Targeting-wise, its cheapest to have the widest audience, yet one that is still pretty targeted.  For example, one service we sell is sales coaching so we might run a Facebook ad to all Facebook users who list “LinkedIn” as one of their main interests.  You can combine multiple “interests” when targeting your audience in general Facebook ad campaigns but your conversion will nearly always be the best when you target your custom audience in the form of the past website visitors (using the tracking mechanism mentioned above).

In conclusion, yes it stinks that Facebook has become a major sell-out and is restricting the organic reach of your business page big time however there are definately cheap ways to leverage Facebook in the form of boosted posts and cheap ads.