11
SHAWENON COMMUNICATIONS   
Effective Messaging
No. 79
October, 2012  
Greetings!

Although I don't remember a huge difference when I lived in the city, spring and fall are times of big change in the country. Preparing for winter includes everything from putting the garden to bed to bringing in firewood. In honor of the autumnal equinox, my winter photo is back.

Social media and engagement go together like bride and groom. LinkedIn has a new form of involvement and the first article provides a "how to" of "endorsements." The lead-in about TripAdvisor sets the stage. There's an offer in the article, so be sure to check it out.

The second article was supposed to be about my new role on camera. No, I'm not a maid in Downton Abbey. I'm a disgruntled client in a Consulting Alliance video. But technical glitches have postponed the article about my on-camera debut until next month.  In its stead is an evergreen piece about the importance of making business promotion a top priority. Use this as a subtle reminder to keep a few articles in the hopper for unexpected emergencies.

Last month's Consulting Alliance breakfast presentation "Staying on Message: How to Create Powerful Content," was very well received. One comment, "I was amazed by how much value you packed into an hour." The secret--lots of audience participation.

I'm on Facebook and Twitter. Follow me.
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In This Issue
Rules of Engagement - LinkedIn Endorse
What About Me? - Business promotion
Web Tips - Picmonkey
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Rules of Engagement
TripAdvisor Tag
"They even sent me a luggage tag," chirped the young Argentine visitor, sitting on a stool at the local coffee shop. "They" is TripAdvisor and they sent me one, too.

All social media sites are in a huge contest for loyalty and involvement--known as engagement. TripAdvisor depends on me and thousands of other reviewers for the content on its site.

TripAdvisor does some very inventive things to keep me working for them for free. They are constantly reminding me how valuable my advice is by sending me updates about how many people have read my reviews. Actually, it's quite astonishing. My 11 reviews have touched 1,751 readers. They have levels of reviewer, too. I'm just a few reviews away from being a Senior Contributor, they keep reminding me.

LinkedIn's Endorse

I tell you all of this by way of explaining LinkedIn's new "endorse" feature. LinkedIn is, of course, the world's largest professional network on the Internet. With more than 175 million members in over 200 countries and territories, it is currently available in 19 languages. LinkedIn went public in 2011.

"Ultimately, we'd like our membership to become more engaged," said CEO Jeff Weiner in a FORTUNE magazine interview.

How To

Like much in social media, the LinkedIn skill endorsement process has three steps:
  • Add "skills" to your profile.  From the LinkedIn homepage, click on "More." Then select the "Skills & Expertise" option. Type in one of your skills and click search. It will return profiles with that skill. Look at their skills for inspiration. Steal liberally. You're allowed 50. I added more than half that in less than 10 minutes.
Then click on "Profile." Choose "Edit Profile" and scroll down to "Skills & Expertise," click edit and add your skills.
  • Get others to endorse you. You'll find great suggestions for that in this article.  
  • Endorse others. The easiest way is to click on the link of those who endorsed you. Or you can click on "Contacts" and then "Connections" for an alphabetical list of people you're connected to. Scroll down to "Skills & Expertise" and endorse by clicking on the plus sign.
So if you endorse me on LinkedIn, I promise I'll endorse you back.

What About Me?

The silence was pierced with the squeal of a young girl. "What about me?" she hollered at the top of her lungs. I was in a local shoe store, and I couldn't help but overhear the parental dialogue that followed the outburst. It turned out that the father found a nickel and gave it to the older daughter. The younger daughter's reaction was immediate. "What about me?"

For many of us, our businesses are the little girl screaming "What about me?" "I need to update my Web site, but I just don't have time;" "I know it would be good for my business to have an e-zine, but I've got this big project, the holidays are coming, we're adding a new line to the business, etc., etc."

Taking Care of Business

When does it stop? Or maybe a better question is, "How does it stop?" One way is to listen to that lament and take on your own business as a customer or client. That's right, schedule time, move it to the top of the "To Do" list. Do whatever it takes to accomplish that gnawing project.

Typically, a few months into working with me, my clients will say something like, "I know I'm taking a lot of your time just getting started," or "I didn't think it would take this long, and we still have a lot to do."

"It's always that way," I assure them.

Do I just attract people who take a long time to get things done? Maybe, but I don't think so. I think it's built into the DNA of the small business process. Most of us are rightfully customer focused. And it's always easier to do what we do best rather than venturing into unfamiliar and often uncomfortable terrain.

That's where my experience comes in. I'm here to help with the process of online business promotion.

Build that Mill

For most of my clients, building an email marketing campaign is new territory. Unfortunately, the start-up process is the hardest part. Once the format is established, the next issue is a routine task--one that often becomes enjoyable. Ideas will bubble in your mind. Customer questions or unusual situations will be grist for your mill. But you need to build that mill.

So take this opportunity to put your next business promotion project on your "To Do" list. If the whole thing is too overwhelming, take one small step. Contact me.
Web Tips

Tips2 Back in May I lamented the loss of a free photo editing product called Picnik. I mumbled that it was replaced by something called Picmonkey. I made the obvious snide comments about the name. Now I have to eat crow--to keep the animal metaphor going.

Picmonkey is at least as good as Picnik--maybe even better. And it's so tightly integrated with Constant Contact that you can edit photos in Picmonkey right from Constant Contact. The system even saves a copy in your image library as you're editing your email.

It's a great standalone photo editor as well. In May I wrote that they promised a collage feature. Well it's implemented, and it's easy to use.   

And Finally . . .

Shawenon Communications collaborates with small businesses, solopreneurs, professionals and not-for-profits to get their messages across in the written word.


We specialize in electronic communications, including e-zines and other forms of email marketing, Web sites and social media.  We also ghostwrite articles and other business communications. As a solution provider, we resell Constant Contact's email marketing service.

 

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www.shawenon.com



Sincerely,
First name
Susanna Opper
Shawenon Communications
413-528-6494


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