Maximize Your Social With Neal Schaffer

If you're on LinkedIn for sales, business development, or marketing, you need to realize that everything you do on LinkedIn leads back to your profile. Here's advice on how to improve upon it.Key Highlights[01:02] How To Better Leverage LinkedIn for Business?[01:39] The Second Demographic[02:41] LinkedIn Demographics[03:18] Think About What Social Media Can Do for You[03:59] It All Comes Down to Your LinkedIn Profile[05:43] Why It Is Critical to Put Time and Effort In Your Profile[06:55] Put A Professional, Well-Branded Headline[07:32] Expose Your Personal Brand In Your Profile[08:31] What to Put In Your Profile Summary[10:36] Data Points that Show the Power of LinkedInNotable QuotesBut from a b2b sales perspective, you haven't figured out how best to align it with everything else you're doing to help you find new clients or better engage with your current clients.It's not everybody. And therefore, when you think of using LinkedIn as a sales tool, you have to understand that you'

What is the value of guest blog posts on your website? Learn about the history of Windmill Networking along with advice on what type of content you should try to source for your website blog.Key Highlights[01:07] Moving From Windmill Networking to Maximize Social Business[01:29] How I Started Windmill Networking[03:43] From Personal Blog to Collaborative Blog[04:18] What I Realized with Guest Blogging[06:13] The Story of the Term Maximize Your Social[07:05] The Bigger Benefits of the Switch[07:17] My Advice[08:05] The Key Thing on ContributingNotable QuotesReally, the Concept of windmill networking came about when I was in the shower, in all honesty, and I write about this, I think in the preface of the book, of trying to find a visual concept, if we are windmills and we plug ourselves into this grid, that is social media, we can receive and share energy 24/7 worldwide, something that, you know, maybe something trivial to us could be a godsend to someone else.And that's really, you know, my base for help

A holistic and realistic perspective on the role social media marketing can play at your business.Key Highlights[01:08] How to Get Started in Social Media?[01:57] What Social Media Can Do for Me?[02:59] Push-Pull Approach[03:12] Ways of Driving Consumer Demand[03:31] One Thing that Most Companies Forget[04:10] How Much will this Cost?[05:09] The Beautiful Thing About Social Media[05:50] Relationships Doesn't Happen Overnight[06:53] Start Small[06:59 What Immediate Results You Will SeeNotable QuotesSo the question really becomes and I asked this of all my clients, and you need to ask yourself as well, how did you go about getting leads before social media?Can social media first of all help in that process.?And obviously, if you're doing b2b sales, social media, we all know can be a great help starting with LinkedIn to try to find decision makers. And then by sharing and creating your own content to try to influence them, and is creating sort of icebreakers to start conversations with. And once you st

More companies are sharing more content in social media, but when a social media user has a conversation with your business, does your voice branding back up your content - and is it "human" enough to deepen online relationships?Key Highlights[00:52] The Notion of Having a Strong Corporate Brand[02:21] Different Forms of Content[03:30] You Need to Have A Conversation[03:52] What Should Your Blog Be[04:18] How You Engage with Your Audience Is Critical[04:46] Be Open to Anybody[05:19] The Dangerous Pitfall We Have[05:41] Back-Up Your Content With Human Side[06:49] The Best TestNotable QuotesAnd it's not just LinkedIn, but really the HR industry is talking about this notion of having a strong corporate brand, as an employer, which then will help you really recruit better talent potentially quicker. And at even a less expensive cost. But the notion of branding obviously, is popular, it's always been popular in marketing. And in social media, we hear a lot about it as well.Nevertheless is anoth

A deep analysis of Social Media Examiner's 5th annual Social Media Marketing Industry Report. Learn where the social media marketing market is today and what trends are in store for its future.Key Highlights[01:48] The 2013 Social Media Marketing Industry Report[02:54] Survey Participants Demographics[03:28] The Most Interesting Takeaway on the Report[03:50] The Fifth Most Popular Question[04:20] The Third Most Popular Question[05:03] What Worries Me[06:24] Huge Potential for Social Media Profession[06:46] Other Date Points[07:26] The Benefits of Social Media[09:27] Spending Time on Social Media[10:51] The Intangible Benefits[11:57] Start Blogging[13:15] The Other Surprising StatsNotable Quotes83% of those that are engaged in social media that were questioned, actually don't know how to create a social media strategy. It's sort of worrying that, in essence, more than 80% of marketers that are engaging in social media don't really have a strategy. And because they don't have a strategy

Neal Schaffer reveals the secret fact that businesses should know in order to leverage the potential that is Google Plus.Key Highlights[01:23] Why Do You Need A Presence On Google Plus?[01:57] Google Plus Changes to the User Interface[02:36] How Google Plus Is Different[03:19] Understanding the Importance of Google Plus[03:45] Google's Correlation With LinkedIn[05:37] The Community Fabrice of Google Plus[06:46] How to Attract Google UsersNotable QuotesWe've had social networks that are based on people, right social networks are people that have user profiles, that post user generated content. That's sort of the general definition of a social network. Google Plus is a social layer has a community a community has been developed of the social layer, but it is a social layer that ties together whether all of Googles products.And it all works together to give the content on women networking, more authority, which therefore means it gets better search rankings, and therefore, getting better search tr

The importance of focus in everything you do in social media marketing: Platforms, content, and objectives. Key Highlights[00:40] Why You Need to Perform Internal R&D[01:28] FOCUS![02:00] What Focus In Social Medi Means[02:19] The Problem That Most Companies Fall Prey To[02:48] The Components of Anchor[04:12] Take Baby Steps[05:12] Take Some Withdrawals[07:04] Stay With the FocusNotable QuotesI think that anybody that is active in social media, anybody that's active in business has a need for their own internal r&d to stay ahead of their game, to network with other people, and to learn auxilary skills that can help them succeed in business and in life.The problem is, the less focus you have in social media, it truly comes down to the less you get done, right.And I like to talk about when creating a social media strategy, the need to create an anchor, okay?And there's no one right way to do it. It all comes down to not only where you want to build a community, but what you want to build a com

Join me as I share my own usage of and reviews of popular social media dashboards while also recommending some new ones for you to explore.Key Highlights[01:13] What the Evolution of Social Media Dashboards means[02:42] Twitter Social Media Dashboard[03:15] Another Thing I Realized About TweetDeck[03:40] Moving to Hootsuite[04:03] The Problem I Am Having with Hootsuite[04:41] Exploring Social Sprout[05:30] Sprout Social's Timesaver Functionality[06:52] Viral Heat[07:01] CW Dashboard[07:40] Mediafunnel.com[07:50] Sendible[07:58] Other Tools You Can Check OutNotable QuotesAnd therefore, it's really important not only to find the one that you feel most comfortable with, both in terms of functionality as well as user interface, but also over time, the way that your company or you use social media, the way that social media evolves.And the evolution of social media dashboards means that I believe just as you should be auditing your social media on a regular basis, it almost makes sense every few months o

Ian Clearly of Razor Social joins us for a look at the best social media marketing apps for social media management, monitoring, and automation.Key Highlights[00:30] Introduction of Podcast Guest, Ian Cleary[01:22] Defining Different Categories of Apps That Social Media Marketers Can Use[02:09] Ian's Recommended Platforms[02:55] Special Features of Nimble[03:54] Monitoring Tools[05:08] Recommended Automation Tools[06:13] The Advantages of Zapier[08:17] Connect With Ian[08:32] Final ThoughtsNotable QuotesI suppose the a lot of it puts in is in the management section. So pure management tools for managing social media. And then like you say, there's the monitoring site for monitoring activity related to social media, and so on, as we talked about, then some automation tools for automating some tasks within social media could be within management or outside of management. Basically, picking the people that you want to engage with in social whether you're trying to develop new business or new partn

A look at Empire Avenue from a social media marketing perspective. Does it make sense for your brand to have a presence there?Key Highlights[00:46] What Is Empire Avenue?[01:50] Why Empire Avenue Should Matter[02:59] An Example of Why Empire Avenue Is Interesting for Social Media Marketers[04:07] Is Your Target Audience on Empire Avenue?[04:51] Creating Missions[06:35] My Empire Avenue TickerNotable QuotesCompared to the 10s, or 20s, or hundreds of millions of users that other social networks have it's small, however, because it's based on social media activity, and it's really the only game out there based on social media, if you think about it, and therefore it attracts a lot of very, very active social media users. Empire Avenue is interesting for social media marketers, and that it gives you a chance to engage with people in a very, very different way than you can on other platforms.With Empire Avenue, if the person you want to engage with is a daily Empire Avenue user, it's guaranteed

Through an experimental post, you will quickly discover the differences between the major 4 platforms and discover value in Google Plus that you might not have seen before.Key Highlights[00:49] One Big Difference Between Facebook and Google Plus[02:51] Google Plus's Different Community[03:34] Some of LinkedIn's Technical Infrastructure Issues[04:17] Why I'm Excited About Google Plus[05:51] The Difference in the Atmosphere Between Google Plus and Facebook[08:33] Google Plus is All About Status Updates[08:52] The Difference in ConversationsNotable QuotesI am going to bring in my on upon airways brand ambassador trip as well as this notion of experimentation in social media to give you a fuller and deeper description of the really unique professional community that is developing on Google Plus a community very different than LinkedIn.And over the last 12 months, I think that a lot of people have felt that their LinkedIn user experience has been well, for lack of a better word to has taken a turn f

Now that you have a robust social media marketing program running in your own country, what about the rest of the world?Key Highlights[00:41] Social Media Is A Lot More Global Than You Think[01:40] Looking At Some Statistics..[03:20] Should US Be In Charge of Every Global Channel?[05:03] Sharing of Best Practices Between Regions[05:30] The Challenge for Smaller Brands[05:46] The Challenge for Bigger BrandsNotable QuotesSocial media is a lot more global than you may think. And for people, it's great the ability to really meet and communicate and learn from people around the world. But from businesses, it also has a lot of implications that I think most businesses still have not realized.So obviously, when you think globally, not every platform is going to be relevant. But Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are three platforms that are relevant. But it's not just about traditional marketers wanted to keep control. And that's been one of the challenges that they have with social media and giving up con

What is the best away to avoid a social media crisis? Listen to Neal Schaffer's advice and, instead of dwelling on the negative, focus on the positive by generating goodwill and brand advocates through growing a social media following.Key Highlights[00:26] Social Media and Crisis Management[01:10] Examples of Social Media Crises[01:30] What to Do When Faced With Crisis?[02:54] The Best Way to Prevent Crisis[04:24] Another Way to Deal With Crisis[05:53] Preventing Potential Social Media Crisis by Building Goodwill[06:59] The Mission of MarketingNotable QuotesI think that social media crises are the reason that a lot of companies actually started engaging in social media in the first place.And I think for every crisis that becomes public, there are a number of crises that have been diffused, because companies have handled them in a very, very efficient and swift way.The best way to prevent crises which you're never going to be able to prevent every single crisis that happens, because you cannot contro

What makes a BAD social media strategy? Here I outline 5 key components that you should avoid in planning your own social media marketing strategy. Key Highlights[01:04] Is There A Way to Write A Social Media Strategy?[01:53] 5 Ways of Looking A Good or Bad Strategy[02:24] Why Having An Objective Is Important[03:30] Campaign-Based Approach[04:47] Social Media As A Two-Way Communication Channel[06:20] Wrong Choice of Channel[07:16] The ROINotable QuotesAnd when I talk about an objective, obviously, strategy or planning starts with an objective, the objective should be a business objective. Social media does not exist in a silo.Social media must map into everything else you do as a business that really starts with your objective in your social media strategy.A good social media strategy will have an absolutely clearly defined objective, or group of objectives. And as social media permeates every single department in a company or large enterprise, I expect that the use of social media is going to have multiple o

Move beyond the semantic differences of content marketing and inbound marketing and learn about the central role that content will play in your social media marketing.Key Highlights[00:27] The Role of Content In Social Media Marketing[02:19] Forms of Content[03:37] Content Vs Inbound Marketing[04:08] Content As One of Key Drivers[04:28] The Best Way to Be Effective in Social Media Marketing[05:09] My View in Content[06:06] Always Provide Information to Your CustomersNotable QuotesBut visa vie social media, social media was made for people. So as brands, as companies, as institutions and organizations, you need to have conversations with people don't you. And depending on what your objective is, or obviously what your target demographic is, who the stakeholders are out there in the public content is one way in which you engage.And while some of that content may be directly related to your products and services in your company, sometimes that content is curated from third party sources. Sometimes that cont

Is there a need for a social media marketing MBA? Let me describe to you my conceptual approach to social media education - and why there is an ever-growing need for a social media marketing or even socal business MBA.Key Highlights[00:22] The Concept of Social Media MBA[00:54] The First Thing People Tell Me[02:02] The Core Concepts That Are Not Platform Dependent[03:12] The Notion of Insourcing Your PR[04:00] The Relevance of Insourcing Blog Content[05:19] How You Can Best Leverage Social Media[05:43] Is There A Need for Social Media MBA?Notable QuotesIt's not rocket science. If you work enough, with the platform's you're pretty internet savvy, you can figure out a lot of the stuff yourself true. Taking these classes can give you a quicker time to market. You may learn a few tips and tricks, but it doesn't come down to the mechanics of the car, it comes down to where you can drive that car would probably be the best way to put it. And it comes down to concepts that you can use, you know,

Stop outsourcing your social media to consultants and agencies who put a black box around your social media. Instead, start thinking of ways to own your social media strategy and insource your social media activities.Key Highlights[00:43] Fire Your Social Media Consultant[01:24] The Problem With Outsourcing Resources[02:50] Are You Blindly Throwing Money Away?[04:00] Own Your Strategy[04:53] Understand The Basics[06:11] Do You Really Need A Social Media Consultant?[06:52] Think Twice And Ask Yourself QuestionsNotable QuotesI took a course very, very early in my career, and I talked about this in an earlier podcast, of actually not implementing social media on behalf of other companies, because I truly believe that it is something that should be done by that company, if they really want to get the most effective use of social media, it really is a no brainer. But the problem is 99% of the businesses that I talk with, if they're outsourcing it, whether it be an agency or consultant, or what have you, there

Google Plus is a critical social network that every business should be on, but many discount it. Why? Find out why - and how you can help your company better leverage G+.Key Highlights[00:53] Should You Care About Google Plus?[02:29] Open Networking[03:31] The Influence of Our Circles[04:02] The Power of Google Search Results[06:11] Google Plus Is An Active Community[06:37] Establish Your Google Plus Presence NowNotable Quotes From a personal perspective, it's one thing you know, when I wrote my first book on LinkedIn, and I talked about Open Networking, and Twitter being an open platform, in essence, where you can communicate with anyone in the world you want whether or not they communicate back with you as another story, but it's a great place to start new relationships. So in that way, our circles are greatly influencing our search results in Google, we all know the power of Google just cannot be underestimated.If you were just to have conversations on Google Plus, and they were being prioritized

Social Business: A New Definition. Let me explain my perspective on the evolution from social media as an independent form of media to how it might impact your business, and thus what social business means to your company.Key Highlights[00:23] Social Business Defined[01:12] The Traditional Definition of Social Business[01:43] My Definition of Social Business[02:00] How I Began My Social Business[02:43] What I Provide Companies That Need To Be Consulted[04:04] One of My First Clients[04:34] My AHA Moment[06:07] Think Outside The BoxNotable QuotesIn essence, I realized that companies needed to be consulted, and I needed to provide them the following two things. Number one is strategy, and number two is education.Education really starts at the top with the executive team and working our way down, I needed to make sure that my clients were up to speed as quickly as possible as to what was possible on social media. What were the best practices? In other words, how can I best replicate my knowledge and really give

Does Facebook Graph Search matter to your business in the here and now? A look at the importance of sticking to present technology in your social media strategy.Key Highlights[00:22] Social Media Here And Now[01:30] The Facebook Graph Search[01:43] How Facebook Graph Search Can Affect How We Use Facebook[02:29] The 2 Things Facebook Graph Search Hinges On[03:08] The Question On Data[03:40] My Advice on Maximizing Social Media Presence[04:49] Understanding The Need for a Historical Perspective[05:39] Try To Avoid The NoiseNotable QuotesFrom an inbound perspective, there is the potential that the more likes we have on our business page, from relevance consumers or potential clients, and the more engagement that we have from them, the higher that's our company, or more prominent that our company will appear and more search results.On the other hand, from an outbound perspective, we can now use the search engine potentially, if it is implemented the way they say it will be to find out more information, more