People are talking about you behind your back.

And that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

In fact, it’s actually a good sign. Your brand is getting attention and starting to take off.

Whether we’re talking about your personal brand or your business’s brand, you’ll reach a point where people start talking about you.

It can be kind of surreal. I remember when my personal brand started getting popular. At first, it feels really weird to see people talking about you, not with you.

It’s something that not everybody experiences. Chances are, it’s new to you.

And if it’s your personal brand we’re talking about here, it can even feel a little scary at first.

While it’s true that popular brands get their fair share of haters — I have my haters, too — even some kinds of negative feedback can be a great opportunity to find ways to improve.

You’ve probably noticed that a lot of companies will reply to you if you @mention them on Twitter.

There’s a reason for that. If it’s a customer complaint, responding back to help resolve it is great PR.

Good customer service matters to people. And social media platforms like Twitter let you provide that service one-on-one with an individual customer.

Of course, Twitter’s not the only place people might be talking about you.

Journalists and bloggers might be mentioning you. People might be talking about you on Reddit.

And this post is about how to find out who’s talking about you and what they’re saying.

This is called “social listening.” It’s a powerful way to gain new and useful insights into your target audience.

I’ll also tell you how to start interacting with these people. This is a prime place to really engage your audience one-on-one, in a way that feels authentic and helps cultivate trust in your brand.

It can also be a great opportunity to pick up some juicy backlinks and boost your SEO.

So let’s start with the basics: how do you find out who’s talking about you in the first place? [click to continue …]

Social media is one of the best ways to build a loyal brand following and establish yourself or your company as an industry leader.

But social media also takes tons of time from your daily schedule.

In fact, most marketers spend multiple hours each week on social media.

And on top of that, there’s tons of competition.

Everybody and their mother (and grandmother) can be found using Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and more.

So standing out and besting the competition has become a laborious, time-consuming task that takes some finesse and dedication.

In fact, I used to find myself spending hours every single week on social media just to keep up with the competition.

Most people are using social media nearly two hours every day.

Yes, it can eat up your daily routine, but we need social media.

In fact, social media is one of the best ways to connect with fans, followers, and current customers.

It’s also an incredible tool that I’ve used to promote new content and drive sales through the roof.

So what do we do when we’re short on time and heavy on the competition?

How do we beat out our competitors without spinning our wheels?

Thankfully, there are tons of social media services and tools at our disposal.

There are ways to automate the process and best our competition.

I personally use them daily to get the jump on other brands and provide better content.

Here are five examples of social media services that you can use to beat your competition and save time.

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Can you imagine having the ability to make other people buy things just by posting on social media?

That’s exactly what influencers do.

Think of the last time you bought something because of a testimonial from someone well-known. That’s influencer marketing in action.

You’ve probably seen it a lot on social media networks.

For example, a food startup called Klean Plate used influencer marketing on social media to increase its sales 14 times and get 204% more traffic in just 4 months.

That’s not a freak accident either. These are fairly typical results for businesses who work with important influencers.

Whether it involves testimonials or product promotion, influencer marketing can work almost like magic.

Why does it work so well?

It’s all about social proof.

The idea is simple: If we see other people doing something, we’re more likely to do that same thing.

And if we see someone we look up to and respect doing something, we’re way more likely to do it too.

Makes sense, right?

So when influencers and celebrities promote certain products, that product usually sells like crazy.

Influencers have a lot of power because their followers want to be more like them.

That’s why people respond to influencer marketing, and that’s why businesses make about $6.50 for every $1 they spend on influencer marketing.

That said, there are some pitfalls to avoid when creating an influencer marketing strategy.

It’s not as simple as just picking an influencer in your niche and throwing money at them. If you do that, you could waste thousands of dollars.

If you’re interested in influencer marketing, this article will help you figure out what not to do. [click to continue …]

When it comes to managing social media accounts for your business, the research, scheduling, and posting might seem boring or tedious.

But the logistical and management steps behind the fun posts are key components for promoting your business and building a strong online presence.

And, ultimately, they lead to better connections with your audience.

Luckily, there are ways to make the mundane parts of social media a little easier.

But first, one of the most important things you can do is get verified online.

Whether it’s your personal account, your business account, or both, getting that little “check mark” next to the profile name is massively important.

It provides instant social proof and credibility when anyone looks up you or your company online.

Verification can also help with networking or to push your company toward the forefront of your industry as a trusted option.

Getting verified can be pretty difficult to do, and it might take some time, but it is definitely possible. And it’s worth it.

But maybe you’ve already tried to become verified and you were rejected.

Or perhaps you just don’t know where to start.

Unless you’ve got a huge following like Beyonce, becoming a verified account takes some commitment and trial and error.

If you already have a massive following, you probably aren’t verified because you either haven’t proved it to Twitter, or Twitter hasn’t noticed yet.

Or, if you don’t have a huge following, you haven’t proven your identity and told them why other users need to know that your account is official.

If you’ve tried to become verified before and you’ve been rejected, you’re probably not following the rules closely enough. For some sites, it’s a lot harder than others to show your worth.

But don’t give up.

I’m going to explain why your business isn’t verified on social media.

And then we’ll walk through how to become verified on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest, and Snapchat.  [click to continue …]

When you hear the word “Pinterest,” what pops into your head?

Wedding inspiration? Design DIY? The best Oreo cupcake recipe ever?

But here’s the thing: Pinterest is useful for so much more than that.

In fact, when it comes to Pinterest, it’s good to employ the good ol’ “don’t judge a book by its cover” adage.

Because once you dig a little bit beneath the Pinterest surface, you’ll find some amazing tools to grow your business.

Are you not convinced that Pinterest will work for you?

I wasn’t at first, either.

But the truth is that continuing to ignore it means you risk missing out on new sources of revenue, traffic, and customers.

When I first started using Pinterest, I was amazed by the traffic it drove to my site.

I was shocked, to put it mildly, when I saw this in my Google Analytics:

In just a few minutes each day, I was able to drive 67% more traffic with Pinterest.

If I had stuck with the Pinterest-stereotype mindset, think about all the traffic I would have missed out on.

Trying new things can be scary, tough, and even risky.

But Pinterest is a free social network. And you just saw the traffic count.

It’s proven to work if you do it right. And there’s almost no risk.

It’s a great platform for driving traffic and building a consistent following.

So I used it to drive traffic and build an audience. Then I took it to the next level.

I started using it to land more leads and customers.

I want to help you do the same with a few helpful Pinterest hacks.

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