It’s that time of year again when people are starting to think about what they want to change about themselves over the next 12 months – starting New Year’s Day.
For some, the lure of the Roses tin over the Christmas period will mean a new year’s resolution to lay off chocolate. For others it will be cigarettes, alcohol or some other vice.
New year’s resolutions come into play in the working world too – and for the small business owner this might mean a promise to keep on top of the annual tax return, make a conscious effort to expand into new territories… or maybe even get to grips with using social media for the company.
Here are some interesting new year’s resolutions you might want to sign up to when it comes to social networking. They cover all forms of social media and are most definitely do-able. They might just help grow your business too.
- “In 2012, I will use the Facebook page I set up for my business ages ago.” Loads of people set up a Facebook page, Twitter account or LinkedIn group, lose interest because they don’t see the value in it and then leave it to stagnate. If you are in this boat, pledge to post something on the wall 3 or 4 times a week, and make sure that the text invites people to leave their thoughts and opinions. Do this for a sustained period of time, with a little bit of thought behind what you are doing, and see what affect this has when looking at your page insights. If you set up a personal account for your business instead of a business one, change it ASAP. Find out here how to change a Facebook personal page to a business page.
- “I will ask my customers to review my business online in 2012.” Loads of small business owners say that word of mouth is more important to them than anything when it comes to picking up work. Well take that word of mouth from behind the counter and get it online for the world to see. Ask your customers to review you on industry-specific websites and general websites like Yell.
- “I will join LinkedIn in 2012.” LinkedIn is great on lots of levels. One, it works as your online CV. Two, it offers a chance for people to connect with businesses on a person-to-person basis. Three, it’s a good site to add your details to when it comes to ranking well on search engines for something like your name, or your business name. If you already have a profile on LinkedIn but have done the ‘add as little detail as possible just to get going’ thing, boost your profile with links, a photo of yourself and loads of detail about you and your company.
- “In 2012, I will properly track what I am doing when in comes to social media.” If you are spending time on Twitter or Facebook for your business, you’ll want to know what difference your efforts are actually making. Make a vow to ensure that each link you send out is trackable, using a URL shortener, and keep an eye on the numbers to see what’s popular and what isn’t. If you have Google Analytics on your website, use the campaign code this provides on your link, then shorten that down, to discover exactly what people do on your website once they arrive from social platforms. Do they flick through photos, watch a video or buy something? This is all valuable information.
So there you have it. What will your social media new year’s resolution be? We’d love to know!
