My Favorite Tools to Manage Social Media

Today, guest blogger Jennifer Fong (@LiaJen) tells us about her favorite tools to manage social media. She & I share some favorites but she also has a few I didn’t know about. Enjoy!

There are so many reasons why social media is good for a home-based business. There are so many things social media can do to help you grow your business in a powerful way:

· FIND PROSPECTS who are looking for your products and opportunity right now!

· Provide BETTER CUSTOMER SERVICE than you ever thought possible

·Position yourself as an EXPERT that people go to for product recommendations

· BUILD COMMUNITIES of people that want what you have to offer, and who will refer their friends to you

·SUPPORT YOUR GROWING TEAM members, and help them learn from one another

·Grow professionally as you LEARN from the best of the best

All of this results in additional income for your business.

There are a number of online tools that can make it easier for you to use social media effectively. Some of my favorites include:

Facebook

Friend Lists – This feature of Facebook enables you to group the content from your friends in meaningful ways. As a direct seller, this is a great feature, because you can make sure to keep up with the content, and build relationships with your targeted niche. You won’t miss their content because of a very active feed. The best part is that you don’t need to download anything. It’s already built into your Facebook account. Just click the Friends link at the top, and start sorting!

Twitter

TweetDeck – This is a great tool that can be used to sort your Twitter stream. As you begin to gain more and more people that you follow on Twitter, the number of comments flying by can get a little overwhelming. And since there are specific people and search phrases that you really want to pay attention to as you build your business, TweetDeck is a FABULOUS tool to help you keep up.

Twellow - Dubbed the “Yellow Pages of Twitter,” Twellow is a fabulous search tool that helps you find people in your targeted niche market to follow. Simply enter the key phrases that your targeted niche is most likely to include in a profile, and a list of Twitter users will appear. Browse the list, and choose who to follow!

Twitter Search – Another great way to search for people and topics important to your targeted niche. Twitter search enables you to search conversations.

Blogs

Feedburner - Feedburner allows you to set up an RSS feed for your blog. This means that the people who read your blog and like the content can be automatically notified, either through a feed reader or through email, when you update your blog. Some of you have already signed up for this service on my blog. It’s a great tool because it lets you know how “sticky” your blog is…how many readers want to come back for more. And that helps you produce better content.

AutoResponders

Did you know that it takes 7-15 times for someone to hear from you before they purchase from your website? Now if you’ve been in direct sales, you know the effort it takes just to do the regular follow up needed for your party customers. How are you going to keep up with contacting the right people at the right time with the right messages in the right order? It gets overwhelming!

Fortunately, technology comes the rescue again, through the use of Autoresponders. When someone signs up for your mailing list on your blog, you can have a series of emails, already in place, pre-written, that they receive on a regular schedule. This might take the form of an e-course, valuable info, a newsletter, or some other information. The point is, when people start receiving info of value from you, they start to trust that your emails have value, and they’re more likely to read them. Then, when you make a product recommendation at the bottom of the occasional email, it’s taken a LOT more seriously. Trust me, if you are considering marketing your business online, you NEED an autoresponder.

I spent a LOT of time looking through autoresponder programs, trying to pick the best one. After a lot of time, I’ve finally decided on AWeber. It’s got the most user-friendly features and templates, and it makes your life a LOT easier, once you get it set up. And for less than $20/month, it’s TOTALLY worth the investment. 

So that’s my summary of tools that I think are great when you’re implementing your social media strategy. You don’t want so many tools that you get overwhelmed. But by making careful, informed decisions about selected tools, you can be more efficient and effective, saving you time while reaping the benefits of social media for your business.

What do you think of these tools? Do you have other recommendations? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below!

Jennifer Fong is a speaker, coach, and trainer who teaches her clients how to use social media marketing effectively in their businesses. She coaches business owners on how to establish and build a social media presence, and speaks on the topic at business events and seminars. A passionate believer in corporate social responsibility, Jennifer founded a company with her husband John that donates 100% of its corporate profits to charity, and was the recipient of the Direct Selling Association’s Vision for Tomorrow Award for Corporate Social Responsibility in 2008. To learn more about Jennifer, attend one of her events, or hire her to help you establish your own online presence, visit her blog  and follower her on Twitter.

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