With social media marketing now in its second decade, marketers are always trying to see if there are better social media management tools out there. After all, with all the changes that go on in social media marketing, you would assume that every tool would also be continually innovating, right? Well, the truth is that…
About Neal Schaffer
The 16 Best Video Marketing Tools for 2020
As nearly everyone in our industry knows, video marketing is hot. Really hot. In fact, video marketing has been slowly taking over multiple social networks due to its overwhelming popularity. Although at one time it was expensive to produce, nowadays video marketing is a cost-effective option for most brands. If your company hasn’t tried this…
14 Ways to Monetize Your Social Media Influence and Intellectual Property
How to monetize Instagram, or any social media, is a question that I get asked a lot, and since I recently appeared on a podcast talking about this, I thought I would provide you a slightly different, more comprehensive, and overall updated perspective from another post I wrote on the subject entitled How to Make…
The Top 15 Influencer Marketplaces for Your Next Influencer Campaign
For those of you who have read my post on influencer marketing tools, you may have been surprised that I included influencer marketplaces in that article as a type of tool. You see, there are many ways to find and activate influencers as part of a comprehensive influencer marketing program, but if you think about…
The 15 Best WordPress Plugins for Business Blogs in 2020
![The 15 Best WordPress Plugins for Social Media, SEO, and Better Visitor Engagement [Always Updated!]](https://nealschaffer.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/fikret-tozak-Zk-Ydz2IAs-unsplash-225x118.jpg)
I have been regularly sharing my own experiences using WordPress plugins to run this business blog to help you make your own website more social media optimized, SEO friendly, and even help convert more of your visitors into new leads. I say “website” because WordPress is not just for blogs: As a CMS or Content…
The Top 15 Pinterest Tools You Need to be Successful on Pinterest
Before we look into the top Pinterest tools, let’s first debunk the Pinterest myth. Even a few short years ago, Pinterest was a relatively unknown social media network. Why? Because it had a niche: young women with disposable income. It wasn’t until recently that the men started signing up in large numbers. Maybe that isn’t…
The 16 Leading Podcasting Tools to Help You Start or Grow Your Podcast
All of the podcasting statistics point to the continued growth in the industry. More and more businesses and entrepreneurs are launching podcasts. Whether you are planning a new podcast or want to grow your current one, I created this list to both simplify the selection process for you but also to let you know of…
The Top 15 Facebook Ads Tools You Didn’t Even Know Existed
Many people think that Facebook Ads Manager is the only Facebook Ad tool you need. But did you know that there are a host of other Facebook Ads tools that can help you improve your ad spend ROI? Especially if you are a large company or are simultaneously running multiple ads campaigns or have a…
How to Find Out If An Instagram Influencer Has Fake Followers or Not
Have you ever wanted to work with Instagram influencers but worry they might have a community of fake followers? Instagram influencers can be great for your brand, from expanding your audience to finding new ways to engage your current customers and even creating user-generated content. Since Instagram hit the magic 1 billion monthly users in…
Top 15 Instagram Tools for Marketing
If you’re one of the 70% of companies marketing on Instagram, you’ve probably been searching for tools that can help you gain an extra edge through desktop publishing, grid preview, hashtag analysis, and general Instagram metrics to help you understand what is and isn’t working. Note that if you are looking for Instagram tools to…
Enter the Epic Marketing Book Giveaway! [U.S. Residents Only]
![Enter the Epic Marketing Book Giveaway! [U.S. Residents Only]](https://nealschaffer.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/BOOK-GIVEAWAY_1200x630_v3-225x118.png)
If you’re in a hurry, you can enter the epic marketing books giveaway at the bottom of thi blog post! In celebration of the publication of The Age of Influence, I am teaming up with my marketing author friends who endorsed my book to give you a chance to read their books along with my…
The Top 15 Twitter Clients Used by the Top 35 Social Media Influencers
A couple times over the last decade (!), I’ve written blog posts about what Twitter clients are popular or those that are heavily used by social media influencers. My objective in doing so was to uncover new or popular Twitter clients that you might want to consider for your own Twitter marketing. Although the idea…
The 15 Best Email Marketing Tools to Consider Investing in Today
Why is investing in the best email marketing tool for your company important? I always say that you need to meet the digital user where they are, and that is either in social, search, or email. Your choice of email marketing tool is as important as to what social media marketing dashboard or SEO tool…
The Top 27 Tools for Blogging That Will Help You Start and Make Money from Your Blog
Let’s face it: blogging isn’t always easy. And in this age of intense competition, making sure your message gets out there is much harder than it used to be. Luckily, there are a whole bunch of blogging tools, both paid and free, that we can use to maximize the impact of our quality content. Let’s…
The Top 17 Facebook Statistics Businesses Need to Understand in 2020
Almost everyone in social media can agree on one thing: Facebook is the king of social. There are a lot of reasons for this, of course. For example, when you think of the term “social network,” this platform is the first one to come to mind. At the same time, unless you consider YouTube to…
The Top 21 LinkedIn Statistics for Business in 2020
A lot of ink has been spilled over the value of advertising on Facebook, Instagram, and, even the newest of shiny objects, TikTok. After all, these are among the largest online forums for social advertising and lead generation. Certainly, for B2C companies these other networks are excellent sources of engagement with customers. But what about…
New Data Helps You Measure Your Instagram Influence – and Hints at How to Become an Instagram Influencer
This how to become an Instagram influencer post contains affiliate links, meaning that if you choose to click through and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission at no cost to you. The growth of influencer marketing is driving more and more people to want to learn how to become an Instagram influencer….
The Six Best Business Productivity Tools I Use for Sales and Marketing
As a business owner, you don’t want to play around with technology. You want to find something that works, stick with it, and continue running your business. Simple and efficient processes are key, lead generation is mandatory, and effectively sharing your message on social media is a must. That’s where you need to be using…
The Top 19 Twitter User Statistics for 2020 to Guide Your Marketing Strategy
Ask me what social network I recommend to B2C companies, and it would be Facebook and/or Instagram followed by Pinterest and/or Twitter. For B2B companies, it would be LinkedIn followed by Twitter or Facebook. Clearly it’s easy to lose site of Twitter for marketing amongst newer and sexier rivals. But as a 2nd or 3rd…
5 Creative Ways to Incorporate Video in Your Small Business Marketing Plan
Ready to elevate your small business today? Then it’s time to get serious about video marketing. Don’t worry, you don’t need a scriptwriter, film crew and headstrong director to create compelling videos. In fact, all you need is right here in this small business video marketing tips guide. Why are videos so important? Video content…
Facebook VPN: How to Unblock Facebook Wherever You Are
For anyone involved in Facebook marketing, it is critical for you to understand what is a Facebook VPN and why it exists. Whether you’re trying to promote your brand to a country where a VPN is necessary or you happen to be on a business trip where you can’t access Facebook, VPNs are an essential…
The 18 Pinterest Statistics for Marketing You Need to Know in 2020
Pinterest is a mysterious place if you’re not active on it. However, once you realize that it is more of a search engine and a discovery network rather than a social network, all of the Pinterest statistics for marketing that I will go over below will begin to make some sense. Before the Pinterest statistics,…
Seven Best Practices for How to Use Pinterest for Marketing in 2020
This how to use Pinterest for marketing post contains affiliate links, meaning that if you choose to click through and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission at no cost to you. I was also compensated to create this post, though all opinions are my own. Living in the shadow of Instagram, Pinterest…
The Top 34 Video Marketing Statistics for 2020
As we review the video marketing statistics below, you will see that video marketing is a strategy that you cannot ignore if you want to market online. You’ll soon be wondering why you aren’t using videos to comprise a bigger part of your marketing strategy. Most people agree that video is hot. No matter the…
The 27 Definitive Instagram Statistics for 2020 You Should Know – and Why
There are tons of blog posts out there about Instagram statistics for 2020. I don’t intend to add to the noise, but I think that there is some data that is important for every marketer to understand so that they maximize their Instagram marketing. These are the Instagram statistics that I bring up in my…
The Top 21 Business Blogging Statistics for 2020
Does your company website have a business blog. Are you actively publishing to it or is it an after-thought? Don’t have one yet? It’s time to join the club – and it’s a big club. Blogs are increasing in popularity with businesses, with more than 4 million blog posts being published every day. It’s no…
The Top 19 Podcast Statistics You Need to Know in 2020
I just spent the last few days at Podfest Expo in Orlando, Florida, which is considered the largest conference for independent podcasters in the world (note: Podcast Movement is probably the largest podcast conference dedicated to podcasting, but not necessarily focused on independent podcasters like Podfest Expo). While podcasting has always been seen as a…
12 “Secrets” to Writing Quality Content for Your Blog
Keeping a blog is more than just telling the world what you like. Posting useful information online, you attract many readers who become your customers in the digital age of today. When you gain a considerable community of followers on your blog, you can earn money from promoting your own products or publishing partners’ content…
The 10 Best Social Media Marketing Podcasts to Listen to in 2020
Let me tell you a true story about me and podcasting: I have had a podcast since 2013, but as I indicate in my own Episode 140, which you can listen to below, I was never a consumer of podcasts. It was a conversation with a millennial marketer at one of my clients that changed…
The 15 Best Marketing Books to Read in 2020
As marketers, we tend to be busy people. Between social media, emails, Slack conversations, internal as well as client meetings, phone calls, webinars, conferences, and on top of that creating the latest, greatest ad campaign ever takes up a lot of time. But what about continued learning in our field? If we don’t keep track…
The Top 20 Influencer Marketing Statistics You Need to Know in 2020
I have seen the ROI from influencer marketing, and by reading The Age of Influence you will too. Sometimes, however, seeing the stats is believing, and this is truly the case with influencer marketing statistics. Case studies is another area where I plan to blog more about, but let’s first see the different statistics that…
(Influencer) Marketing in the Age of Influence: What You Need to Know to Succeed
I am getting excited for the publication of my 4th book, The Age Of Influence, so I felt it was time to make a formal introduction as to why I wrote the book and and how it will help you become a better marketer in today’s age of influence. For those of you that are…
The Definitive List of 64 Influencer Marketing Tools for 2020
Whenever I speak on influencer marketing, I inevitably get asked: Are there any influencer marketing tools that can my life easier? After all the work involved in influencer identification alone could require a tremendous amount of time, especially once you understand my influencer marketing definition and its broad implications. And that is only the beginning…
The Top 29 Compelling Email Marketing Statistics for 2020
It’s been predicted that there would be an end of email one day, but so far, email is still going strong a decade after that famous prediction was made by Sheryl Sandberg of Facebook. Social media may have caught up to the spotlight when it comes to marketing, but is email marketing still critical to…
The 10 Essential Types of Online Collaboration Tools Your Agency (or Small Business) Should Have
There is no type of business that has a greater need for online collaboration tools than an agency has. An agency’s business model is based on the collaboration of its employees together with client collaborations. As an agency owner myself, I can attest to the fact that choosing the right online collaboration tools are critical…
A Complete Guide to Successful Facebook Messenger Marketing
We all know that even today email marketing is one of the highest performing marketing channels in terms of ROI. As budgets for social media migrate to Paid Social and Influencer Marketing, some are wondering where else you might find ROI with an Organic Social program. For some companies, they have already found that in…
How to Approach Micro Influencers to Create Content for Your Brand and Replace Your Content Studio
Is your brand struggling with content creation for visual social networks and/or visual content mediums? Are you trying to figure out how to best leverage influencers as part of your content creation efforts? What about the challenge of how to approach micro influencers to collaborate around your content initiatives? These are the questions that are…
32 Content Marketing Statistics That Actually Matter to Your Business in 2020
Hopefully, by now, your company is one of the 91% of B2Bs and 86% of B2Cs that are currently using content marketing. With increasing budgets in content marketing, it’s important to always be optimizing your budget spend and looking for new ideas to maximize ROI. However, it is a sad fact that as many as…
How to Retarget on Facebook: Five Effective Strategies to Use with Your Pixel
You have probably heard that retargeting ads provide some of the highest marketing ROI possible. But for some reason, perhaps you have not been as successful. Or perhaps your retargeting ads are not set up properly. I believe that many businesses still do not know how to retarget on Facebook correctly, or, for some reason,…
The 39 Best Social Media Conferences You Should Attend in 2020
Social media conferences and the current coronavirus pandemic If you’re reading this, you’re probably wondering what you should do concerning social media conferences in the age of the coronavirus. I was lucky enough to attend both Social Media Marketing World as well as Podfest in the first week of March shortly before the global economy…
21 Content Marketing Tools Every Marketer Needs
Let’s face it: content marketing is hard. Every business, from decades-old establishments to enthusiastic startups, are all fighting for the attention of their audience online to grow their businesses. Original, engaging content is of the highest demand ever, and every successful content marketer must find that sweet spot between understanding their audience and creating content…
When is the Best Time to Post on Instagram for the Maximum Engagement?
We all know that social media algorithms favor recent content and will see how people engage with your content after you publish it. If a lot of people engage with your content you will tend to get more impressions, and if your content is greeted by the sound of crickets. Therefore, timing is one aspect…
Here’s How to Structure a Good Blog Post for Readers and Google
Whenever I see someone posting a photo on Instagram, they are adding a caption. And if they are adding a caption, they are writing. Look around and you might find a lot of people writing today, not just in short-form social media captions but also in long-form content. In fact, with so many social media…
Metricool Review: How Metricool Helps You Manage a Comprehensive Social Media Program – and More!
When someone recently asked me what is the number one challenge for marketers in the near future, I replied that it would be how to bring together the various types of data regarding their customers, communities, and audiences and make sense of the insight before their competitors outsmarted them. The first step in doing this,…
Top 3 Influencer Marketing Problems of Today and How to Deal with Them
What are the issues plaguing influencer marketing this year? How can brands and marketers deal with such challenges? In this article, you’ll discover the top three influencer marketing problems that come with implementing an influencer marketing program and how to overcome them. #1: Fraudulent Social Media Activity & Fake Followers Fraudulent accounts today are overpopulating…
The Opposite of Evergreen Content: What to NOT Write About
Everyone who has to deal with content in any of its manifestations knows that it is the key to everything in digital and social media. Whether we are talking about a blog, website, or even creating social media content, if the delivered information is fresh and engaging, it will attract the audience and become a…
The Formula to Becoming a Thought Leader on Twitter and Social Media
I personally can say that thought leadership can uplift a brand’s status on social media if things are done just right. Twitter, as an example, is one of the most powerful platforms where informed opinion leaders are developed. It is due to the platform’s openness and natural design users are inclined to connect with each…
Top 11 Tips on How to Optimize Your Instagram Captions to Boost Engagement
The secret to thriving on social media is creating relevant, engaging, and useful content for your target audience. When it comes to a visual social network like Instagram, if your Instagram posts aren’t attracting as many prospects or likes as you’d wish, it doesn’t mean that the quality of your photos or videos is poor….
The Ultimate Guide to Writing Instagram Branded Content
It doesn’t matter whether you are a small business owner or the CEO of a large company having a social media account for your organization is essential for many reasons. But what’s even more important is being able to create quality content that will reflect what your brand stands for. Here’s how to write Instagram…
Where are the B2B Marketers in Japan?
I travel to Japan frequently for business (read My Japanese Approach to Social Media Strategy for some background), so it is fascinating to see the unique developments in digital and social media marketing there. I know that many of my clients are Japanese-owned or sell to the Japanese market directly through a subsidiary or indirectly…
What Consumers Really Think About Businesses Using Their Social Media Data
There’s no doubt that the potential reach of social media is massive. In fact, it’s become the main marketing channel for an increasing number of businesses. Accompanying the massiveness of social media is the plethora of social media data that exists. “If you took out social media, Bark and Co. wouldn’t be a company,” said…
Do Social Media Automation Apps Pose a Security Risk to Your Social Media Channels?
Do you realize how much social media marketing automation goes on around us? Engaging in social media is essential for any business today. It’s no surprise, then, that in order to scale and become more efficient, some marketers try to employ the use of social media automation to save time and add consistency to posts…
What Do I Put in My LinkedIn Profile if I am a College Student?
I get asked a lot about LinkedIn for students use-case scenarios, and although this post is originally based on how I would have responded sometime ago, my college-age niece recently asking me this question reminded me that I should have an answer revised for the times. You can find more details in my podcast, which…
How To Become A Social Media Influencer and Make Money From It
Believe it or not, a lot of marketers – and younger professionals – often ask me this question. So here you go, my advice on how to become a social media influencer, and following the advice below, actually make some money from it. Gone are the days when you have to leave the comforts of…
A 10-Step Plan to Launch (or Revise) Your Instagram Marketing Strategy
Why does every business need an Instagram marketing strategy today? Not only is Instagram is a social media network that marketers can’t afford to overlook anymore, being the second largest social network with over 1 billion users, the time has come to make it an integral part of every business’s marketing strategy, even B2B companies…
The Definitive Guide to Instagram Affiliate Marketing
One of the ways in which influencers from all industries are trying to monetize their social media influence is through Instagram affiliate marketing. With Instagram becoming so popular globally and having an active and engaging audience, Instagram affiliate marketing is one of the top ways in which influencers can monetize their social media followings – 1…
How to Get Verified on Instagram – The Latest Advice and Analysis
Marketing budgets are shifting to influencer marketing on Instagram, so it should come as no surprise that more and more social media influencers (and wannabe influencers) are wondering how to get verified on Instagram. Social Media Verification Currently, most prominent celebrities, politicians and athletes from all over the world are active on Instagram and make…
How to Make Money on Instagram? Here’s 9 Different Ideas to Chew On
We live in a world of technology, where social media has become a basic part of human life, and with the latest gadgets and devices, one can easily access the web at little or no cost wherever we are in the world. In the 20th century, people didn’t have the sort of exposure to the…
7 Instagram Mistakes That Kill Your Online Business
With more than 1 billion active Instagram users, it becomes tough to grow your online business without having a presence on this social platform. As of 2017, 71% of American brands are already on Instagram. In 2019, this percentage likely exceeds 80-85%, bearing in mind the yearly growth rate of nearly 50%. With so many…
Where’s Your Social Selling Playbook?
Do each of your salespeople have their own social selling playbook? It is a social selling best practice that you need to follow for social selling success. Having just finished another 5 ½ hour social selling training session, this time for insurance sales professionals, I reflect upon how I can do better at not just…
The (Social Media) Marketing Trends You Need to Understand Today
Social media keeps changing – and that’s exactly why it is a constant fight to keep up with latest social media marketing trends. It seems that every few weeks you hear that Facebook has some new algorithm that messes up all the energy you’ve been putting into it. Then a new feature appears and everyone tells…
The Influencer Marketing ROI of Creating and Publishing a Roundup Post
You’ve probably seen blog posts before saying, “10 Experts Choose Their Favorite Social Media Speaker” or “27 Influencers Share Their Favorite Influencer Marketing Book.” These are examples of what one would call a roundup post, and they are a powerful form of influencer marketing when strategically planned and implemented correctly, especially but not limited to…
How to Create Your Own Instagram Followers Policy to Increase Your Community and Gain More Engagement – Podcast Ep. 131
Instagram. It’s not only the 2nd largest social network, it’s also seen a huge growth in influencer marketing spend on Instagrammers who yield great influence. No wonder why a huge industry has been formed feeding those who seek “influence” through purchasing fake followers and engagement. This partially explains the large number of people who only…
5 Tips to Ace Your Social Media Marketing Strategy
If you want to engage in social media, you need to have a social media strategy. If you want to engage in social media to market your company, you need to have a social media marketing strategy in order to most effectively use social media for marketing. Whether or not you have a formal social…
The Struggle is Real: Finding Influencers That are Right for Your Brand
On the surface, influencer marketing seems simple enough. Find an online influencer, pay them some money and watch them drive new faces to your product. Of course, anybody who has ever tried influencer marketing knows that it is far easier said than done finding the right influencer for your brand. The truth is that not…
4 Reasons Why Holiday Posts are Crucial to Your Social Marketing Plan
Many social media marketers see holiday posts as “fluff” – content that doesn’t really mean anything, but is easy to create and post. The truth is, holiday posts and newsbreaks can be some of the most valuable content you produce. And, with the right tools, it could be easy to produce, but it should never…
Six Steps to Strategically Building an Influencer Marketing Program
Welcome to the era of Influencer Marketing. The rise of social media has allowed more people to share more information to a wider audience. This paved the way for a new breed of celebrities: The digital influencers. Today, with virtually everyone using social media for a variety of purposes, any one of us might influence someone…
My Top 25 Social Media Quotes for Business
Over the course of speaking to thousands (if not tens of thousands) of professionals at a few hundred events over the last 5 years as a social media speaker, I’ve seen more and more of my attendees mention that certain things that I said resonated with them. I’ve also seen more people tweet out soundbites…
The Ultimate Best 61 Social Media Books List
As a social media speaker, author and professor, I often get asked at the many social media conferences I speak at what are the top social media books I recommend. The barrier of entry is so low for anyone to pretend that they are an expert and publish on Kindle that it is an important…
How to Use the LinkedIn Publishing Platform
Today I was finally given access to the new LinkedIn publishing platform so that I start blogging with LinkedIn, and as a result published my first post on the new platform in the same day entitled “How Will YOU Use the LinkedIn Publishing Platform?” To all those who have asked me how they can apply…
11 Important Ingredients of a Comprehensive Social Media Strategy Plan [INFOGRAPHIC]
![11 Important Ingredients of a Comprehensive Social Media Strategy Plan [INFOGRAPHIC]](https://nealschaffer.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/people-discuss-about-graphs-and-rates-3184292-225x118.jpg)
Since early 2010, when I launched my social media strategy consulting firm Windmills Marketing (DBA PDCA Social), I’ve helped a multitude of companies through the creation and implementation of a social media strategy plan. When I launched my company, social media marketing strategy was something that wasn’t talked about, but I knew it was the…
Professional LinkedIn Profile Tips: A Checklist of 17 Must-Have Items
LinkedIn continues to evolve at a fast pace with 630 million users – but is your professional LinkedIn profile still stuck in the past? via GIPHY I’ve blogged about LinkedIn profile mistakes as well as LinkedIn profile inbound marketing tips. It’s time to provide you all an update aligned with all of LinkedIn’s changes to…
8 Creative LinkedIn Profile Tips to Help You Maximize Your LinkedIn Presence
Isn’t it time that you update your LinkedIn Profile? Considering that LinkedIn profiles are the most viewed pages on LinkedIn, and your profile page really is every professional’s starting place to claim and create their own professional brand, you should be regularly reviewing your LinkedIn profile to see how you can optimize it with every…
Social Media for Professional Associations
I frequently get invited to speak on social media for professional associations, and when I do it often seems as if the clocks in the room have been turned back 10 years since before the advent of social media. Although there are always some savvy users of social media in the room when I present,…
5 Steps To Connect With People Outside Your Network On LinkedIn
Once you move beyond the generic “add connections” option that LinkedIn has, you might want to specifically search for and increase your connections with people aligned with whatever connection policy you might have. The challenge is that restrictions exist within LinkedIn that may prevent you from inviting others you don’t personally know. You are entitled…
Social Media as a Catalyst for Social Change
Have you ever looked back and try to grasp the true significance that social media plays in our daily lives? Have you ever thought of how social media as a catalyst for social change has more and more become a reality? Years ago, the masses were silent. As I often present in my speeches, up…
Looking to Start a Social Media Consulting Business? Here’s How in 6 Steps
As a leading social media speaker and consultant, I often get asked about how to start a social media consulting business and develop initial clients. I am happy to mentor a new generation of social media-savvy business consultants, and I plan to be blogging about this more in the future, as I believe the subject can…
Social Media Strategy for Nonprofits: 10 Potential Objectives for Using Social Media
I had a chance this week to speak at an event in front of several different local Orange County nonprofit organizations. While nonprofits are beginning to understand the potential for social media engagement, my sense during the meeting was that efforts seemed to be centered around Facebook for the objective of merely gaining awareness for…
LinkedIn Photo Tips: The Why, What and What Happened?
LinkedIn, like any other social media channel, is a social networking platform. This means that people are networking with each other while revealing who they are and what they do. LinkedIn reminds you to do this when you log in by making sure your profile is 100% complete. Part of getting to 100% completion is…
LinkedIn Account Restricted? Here’s Why. Hint: You May Have Been Too Active on LinkedIn!
Is your LinkedIn account restricted? You’re not alone – a look through the comments of this post will give you an idea as to the issues that others like you are facing. Feel free to read through this article, then pay close attention to the comments to see if there is someone similar to you…
Understanding Those Mysterious Facebook Spam Messages You May Be Receiving
If you are one of the more than 2.4 billion people on Facebook, you have probably already figured out a way to deal with filtering out the many potential notifications, some of it some may consider Facebook spam messages, that you could be receiving. Going to the Facebook Account Settings page under your personal profile…
YouTube and Your Personal Brand: 5 Reasons Why Every Professional Should Have a YouTube Channel
Today I want to talk about YouTube. No, I don’t intend to talk about funny commercials or old TV shows that are popular on the video sharing website. I want to talk about YouTube as a Personal Branding tool. As a supplement to your blog. As a way to help you get found. I want…
6 Reasons Why Your Twitter Account May Be Restricted (Without Your Knowing It)
Twitter is starting to slowly grow up. Now that Fortune 500 companies are starting to recruit on Twitter and social networking sites like LinkedIn and search engines like Google and Bing are partnering with them, it was only a matter of time before Twitter took steps to root out spam as well as those who are…
What is LinkedIn and Why Should You Join?
I attended a great local networking event last night in my local Orange County, California. There were many people who I had communicated with on Twitter and finally had the chance to meet…the feeling was almost like seeing long lost friends! I will save Tweetups for another blog post, because what interested me last night were…
Twitter Followers vs Following: What is the Ideal Ratio?
The never-ending question of quality vs quantity of Twitter Followers is similar to the argument of how many people you should connect with on LinkedIn or “friend” on any other social networking site. Yesterday I wrote that without enough connections on LinkedIn, you will not show up in as many search results. With Twitter, the…
LinkedIn Profile Tips: The 10 Mistakes You Want to Avoid and Why
LinkedIn Profile Tips. A lot of people tell you what you should be doing, but what about what you shouldn’t be doing? LinkedIn is the place to not only find others but also to be found. And that is why you need a profile that not only helps you get found but also will entice…
20 LinkedIn LIONs & Super Connectors You MUST Connect With!
There are many resources on the web for finding people to follow on Twitter. Just do a search for any particular type of person you want to follow (student entrepreneurs? job seeker advice? etc.) and chances are you will find a list. But why none for who to connect with on LinkedIn? Well, just as…
LinkedIn Branding Tips: Should I Indicate on My LinkedIn Profile Status Update That I am Unemployed?
Before I event start answering this question on LinkedIn branding and offer you some personal branding tips, I will tell you that I am going out on a limb on this one. I am going against what a lot of people are actually doing. You may think that I am crazy or just wrong, but…
My LinkedIn Profile: Does My Employer Own It?
The following story of LinkedIn account ownership is a true one, and as with my other blog posts, I am hoping to get your feedback as to what the “right” answer to this question should be. Imagine that you began a job as a recruiter. Part of your job is, obviously, building out a network….
LinkedIn Profile Name: Should I Use My Personal or Company Name on LinkedIn?
LinkedIn, as you already know, is a social networking platform for professionals. It is no secret, then, that there is business to be found on LinkedIn for companies of many sizes and industries. If you are a small business owner, you may be confused as to whether you should use your company name or personal…
LinkedIn for Lawyers 101
I have had the opportunity to engage with many lawyers recently, both in person as well as online through LinkedIn, and the sudden interest in social media that lawyers seem to have has been surprising to me. I had always envisioned the legal profession as more of an old-school, conservative group of people that would…
Two Easy Ways to Disconnect and Delete a LinkedIn Connection
On Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks, it is very easy to “unfriend” someone. For some reason it is very difficult to figure out how to delete connections on LinkedIn. If you think about it, LinkedIn was originally intended to be a social network for professionals who only connected with people they know and trust….
How Do I Send a Complaint to LinkedIn?
Social media changes a lot. Some functionality is here today gone tomorrow. Your LinkedIn account might face restrictions today but I might never. Below is an incident detailing one of those incidents that happened to me several years ago but serves as an example of the never-ending changes that occur in social, and why you…
Can You Sell Your LinkedIn Account?
The timing of my blog posts concerning monetizing your LinkedIn connections has to be coincidental, but yesterday, for the first time, I received an email (which was probably sent out to all of this person’s LinkedIn connections) which was an offering, in essence, to sell his LinkedIn account. He explained how he was getting out…
LinkedIn Question: How to Contact 2nd and 3rd Degree Connections All at Once?
Just got this question from a new member of my LinkedIn network today about how to contact someone on LinkedIn, so I thought I would share my answer with everyone. If you have something you want to tell everyone, or something that you want to sell, it makes sense that you want to go beyond…
7 Reasons Why Every Professional Should Be on LinkedIn
If you are reading this you hopefully already have a presence on LinkedIn, but maybe you are not as active as you should be. Confused as to why you need to join and use LinkedIn? Well, if you are a professional, there are many reasons why you at least need to join LinkedIn and should…
HOW TO: Connect with Barack Obama on LinkedIn
I recently got asked this question about how to connect with Barack Obama on LinkedIn, and because I had a little trouble doing so myself, I thought I would let anyone know who wants to get connected with him on LinkedIn how I did so. Whether you agree with Barack Obama’s policies or not, at…
What is a LinkedIn IDK? And Why Should I Care?
Have you had the experience recently where you were asked to enter your email address in order to send a LinkedIn invite to someone? You might have received too many LinkedIn IDKs. So, what is an IDK exactly? When you invite someone to connect with you on LinkedIn or receive an invite from someone, the…
What is a LinkedIn LION?
What is a LinkedIn LION? LION, in the LinkedIn world, stands for Linked In Open Networker. LIONs are basically open to networking with people that they have never met before, and they are important in the fact that they bridge networks of closed people. If we all follow the standard rule of LinkedIn and say…
How to Build My Network on LinkedIn? Here’s 13 Ways to Grow Your LinkedIn Network
Who to connect with on LinkedIn in order to build a network is a question I often get asked. Every time someone invites me to connect with them, I always send out a reply thanking them and also asking them to contact me should they ever need any help with LinkedIn. I have had so…