Social Media Strategy | Social Media Marketing Plan for Business | Social Media Marketing Training at DonCrowther.com : DonCrowther.com

Why People Take A Break From Facebook

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Do you know anyone who has eliminated their Facebook profile entirely or who has taken a break from Facebook?

You probably do:

61% of Facebook users have taken a Facebook Vacation for several weeks or more, and 20% of online adults once used Facebook but don’t any longer.

Here’s an infographic that shows why:

Does this mean that Facebook is going out of business next month? Absolutely not!

But it does show that not everyone is happy with Facebook and that Facebook does need to address these problems to hold onto their dominance long term.

Have you ever taken a break from Facebook or stopped using it altogether? Please share the reason why and your comments about the information from this infographic by leaving a comment below. Plus, don’t forget to share, like, tweet and pin this, and to repost this infographic to your site using the embed code below:

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Filed Under: Facebook, Featured, Life, Online Marketing Strategies | Online Marketing Solutions | Tips & Training for Online Marketing at DonCrowther.com, Posts, Social Media Strategy | Social Media Marketing Plan for Business | Social Media Marketing Training at DonCrowther.com Tagged With: Facebook, facebook vacation, internet, Marketing, online, Social Media Strategy | Social Media Marketing Plan for Business | Social Media Marketing Training at DonCrowther.com, take a break from facebook

5 Essential Tips for WordPress Security

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WordPress is the most popular blogging platform in the world. Because of this, WordPress doesn’t attract just people who are blogging, it also attracts people who are wanting to hack blogs. The more popular a platform, the more hackers there are. Here is some food for thought: what are you using for WordPress Security? If the answer is nothing, then you are in big trouble.

WordPress Security

Let’s talk about five basic security precautions you should be taking with any WordPress site.

Choose Your Username and Password Carefully - One big mistake that people make with usernames on their website is making the username “admin.” That is very easy for someone to figure out. Then it’s just a matter of time before they figure out your password. So, don’t use “admin” as your username on your WordPress sites!
(To fix: Login in as admin and set up a new administrative user, then log in as the new one and delete admin.)
Update Your WordPress Installation – Updating your WordPress installation is one of the most important security precautions you can take. Chances are, if you are not updating the installation, then you are using an out dated version of WordPress that has known security problems. And this can make it easier for hackers to get in. Whenever WordPress prompts you to update–do it!
Update Your Plugins – Many people think WordPress hacking comes from the core installation. But, the fact of the matter is, most of the hacking occurs from compromised plugins. One compromised plugin can result in your entire WordPress installation being hacked.
Backup Your Content – You should regularly backup your content on your WordPress site to increase security. Store a copy on your computer or somewhere not on your site. I recommend backing up weekly.
Install a WordPress Secuirty Plugin – This type of plugin helps protect your site against hackers. There are many to chose from. You can just search in Google for “WordPress Security Plugin.”

Security for you WordPress site is not something to mess around with. Take action today and make sure you follow these basic security steps. What other security methods do you use?

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Filed Under: Blogging, Posts, Social Media Strategy | Social Media Marketing Plan for Business | Social Media Marketing Training at DonCrowther.com Tagged With: blog, business, Website, Wordpress, WordPress Security

The New Facebook Graph Search

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It’s about time!

In the ever changing world of social media, Facebook has announced a new component–“Graph Search.” No, you don’t have to dig out your old high school graph paper to be able to use it.

Graph Search is Facebook’s new way of being able to search within Facebook instead of doing a public online search. With the new Graph Search, you can connect with your friends, friends. You can use regular search phrases, but it makes things a little more personal. You can search for friends of friends who have been to Italy and restaurants they like. Or, friends of friends who are bicyclists. The possibilities are endless.

Graph Search for Your Business

Of course with new additions to such big social media sites like Facebook, there are also questions. How can you utilize the new Graph Search in your social media marketing? Here are a few thoughts that come to mind:

You can find people who are interested in your product or services by using search phrases you would use on Google. However, these people will already be connected to you through one of your friends. So, it’s not a cold call.
You can use Graph Search as a way to see what your own friends are posting about. What their interests are that may be the same as yours. Remember, social media is all about building relationships.
You can use keywords in your posts, photos and videos that you know other Graph Searchers are using. This will help attract them to your brand.
Lets say your niche is a certain age group or former CEO’s. You can use Graph Search to look for people in that age range with your niche keywords.

Where to Find More About Graph Search

You can log into your Facebook account and go to http://www.facebook.com/graphsearch. Here you will find all the new information about privacy and how to use it. Graph Search results will be different for everyone based on your privacy settings. So, make sure you look at your Facebook privacy settings.

Now, Graph Search is not widely available yet. You can sign up to be in a beta test group. However, at some point we will all be forced over to it, so it’s good to learn about it now.

How do you think the new Graph Search will affect social media marketing?

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Filed Under: Facebook, Featured, Posts, Social Media How-To, Social Media Strategy, Social Media Strategy | Social Media Marketing Plan for Business | Social Media Marketing Training at DonCrowther.com

The Top Three Excuses That Keep Small Biz Owners from Using Social Media…

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(And Why They Are All Silly)

I’ve been researching, using, living and breathing social media for years now. Yet after all those years of discussing social media with folks – I have yet to hear one good reason for someone to not use social media.

What I hear, instead, are a lot of profit-killing excuses.

Here are my top three. And here is the way I shoot each and every one down.

Excuse #1 But I’m so busy already! I don’t have the time.

Sure you do. The most time-consuming part of social media is getting comfortable with it and setting up your own individual strategy. Once that’s done, maintaining your social media program is a breeze. Mainly because all it involves is something you’re probably already great at: talking with your customers.

Besides – there are loads of great time-saving social media tools. I love programs like HootSuite, Market Me Suite and Facebook’s scheduled posts feature for making social media painless (but never overly automated.)

Excuse #2 But my kind of customers don’t use social media.

Really? Who are your customers? Mice? Three year olds? Because those are about the only two segments of society I don’t see on social media sites.

(What, haven’t you seen Dogster.com?)

Your customers do tweet. They are on Facebook even if, for now, they’re just on there to keep in touch with their kids and grandkids.

Excuse #3 I don’t want my customers talking about me publicly. What if they give me a bad review?

Say you have 20 reviews posted about you online and 3 of them are bad. Let’s think about how that looks to potential customers. It looks like you have 17 great reviews and those 17 look real. Publishing the bad ones too proves you don’t censor or fake your good reviews. So there’s built-in credibility.

And don’t forget to look at these reviews with objective, non-defensive eyes. As a consumer, what do you think when you read raving bad reviews in a sea of otherwise glowing ones? Especially ones that seem like they’re written by someone with a vendetta versus a reasonable business complaint? You ignore them. You write them off a bad apple and move on. If you’re doing your job right and treating your customers like gold, your good reviews will far outweigh the bad ones.

(If they don’t, that too is invaluable feedback. The review system might just be the best business indicator you have. It could help your business fix problems you never realized you had on a global scale.)

And finally, remember that if you give your customers a place to comment on your business, you too have that ability to comment and respond. So turn these negative PR moments into positive ones by quickly addressing each and every negative comment. Your disgruntled customer will love you for it – and your potential customers will be impressed!

So what’s your excuse? Why don’t you have a social media strategy? And if you do – what mental hurdles did you have to overcome to get there? Let me know by posting a comment below. And don’t forget to Like, Tweet, Pin and Google+ this post!

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Filed Under: Posts, Social Media Strategy, Social Media Strategy | Social Media Marketing Plan for Business | Social Media Marketing Training at DonCrowther.com

Leveraging LinkedIn in 4 Easy Steps

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Don’t Forget our Friend LinkedIn!

If Twitter and Facebook are the big fish in the social media pond (hey, don’t forget YouTube!)…then where does that leave LinkedIn?

Some may shun LinkedIn as too impenetrable. Or as too dry or too stuffy. But think about it. When you consider how crowded Twitter and Facebook can be, doesn’t a social media outlet that others are intimidated to be…sound like a place you can rule?

Personally, I think that LinkedIn is where some of the best business connections can be made online.

Here are a few incisive, quick-start ways for you to make LinkedIn your best new social medium.

Be The Source: Acting as the subtle, generous, ever-present expert is one way to spread your name and your brand. Contribute to discussions where you can. Offer advice and free answers to posted questions. LinkedIn is like a big fat cocktail party. The more you’re out there generously spreading your free advice, the more you will be considered “the source.”
Talk Up Your Friends: Endorse, endorse, endorse. Jump on every chance you can to recommend your LinkedIn friends. What takes you 3-5 minutes to write could result in a glowing return endorsement of you. And when your LinkedIn profile is loaded with glowing endorsements…guess what? Anyone one checking you out on LinkedIn is going to be suitably impressed.
Spread The News: This is where I wave the “extra, extra” flag. Be the purveyor of the latest, greatest news. Have folks look to you as the person who would keep them on the cutting edge. Your reputation will grow and possibly expand your network. You can also spread your own news. Post your latest PowerPoint presentation. Talk about events you’re attending. Share photos of any banner days you or your company has recently enjoyed.
Poll Folks: There’s nothing more compelling than being asked one’s opinion. People love to be polled. So do it! Set up a poll that tempts them to chime in and more importantly – ZERO in on what you’re asking about. In doing so, they’ll zero in on you and what you are all about. It’s a great way to attract attention and new fans.
Repurpose, Reuse and Recycle! Share your blog posts, Facebook posts, Tweets, Pins and YouTubes with your LinkedIn friends and make it easy on yourself.
Bonus: Don’t forget to answer LinkedIn questions: This can be a great source of showing your expertise. And Google does love an expert!

So go get LinkedIn and let us know how it goes by commenting below!

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Filed Under: LinkedIn, Posts, Social Media Strategy | Social Media Marketing Plan for Business | Social Media Marketing Training at DonCrowther.com, Tools Tagged With: Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Social Media Strategy | Social Media Marketing Plan for Business | Social Media Marketing Training at DonCrowther.com, Twitter, YouTube

Are Your Facebook Fans People or Bots?

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Does your business have thousands of “Likes” and millions of “Followers”?

Do you get excited? I’m sure you do.

But are they all from real people?

Some studies show that many of these clicks that our pages get are from spammers.

Not so excited now, are you? You must monitor the “likes” you get and find out who and where they’re from. It may not be reasonable for us to monitor every click our page gets, but we definitely need to be a little more conscious about the traffic to our page.

A good way to determine if the “like” is legitimate is to communicate with the people who “like” you:

Ask them questions
Answer their questions
Comment on their posts
Share their posts
Tag your new buddies
RT their tweets
Pin their images
Introduce your friends and followers to each other
Provide outstanding and valuable content – this demonstrates your expertise and your friendship

Again, it would be silly to think that we can do this with everyone, but start somewhere. We all want our marketing ads to lead to business, so we need to make sure that the traffic we are getting is real.

And, if you find out that there are some who aren’t really your “friends”, just unfollow, unfriend, unlike, hide and remove them from your lists! It feels weird at first, but you’ll really be able to see the people who will benefit from your friendship.

You all know my famous phrase…Just Go Do This Stuff!

Discover and analyze your Facebook Likes especially if you’re using ads to drive traffic to your website.

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