Small Business Resources

Anyone who knows me, knows that I *love* Twitter. I also love the many tools that are out there to manage Twitter accounts. My favorite by far is HootSuite. Now, no one from HootSuite knows I’m writing this post, and by no means have I been paid to write this post. OK, now that I’ve gotten the FCC formality out of the way… here are *my* top 10 reasons for using HootSuite for managing time on Twitter.

1. Simplicity – HootSuite is incredibly easy to set-up and start using right away. The interface is intuitive and simple to use.
2. Shorten URLs – HootSuite includes a shorten URL feature that will automatically “shrink” the URL using Ow.ly and add the shrunken URL to your tweet. Very cool!
3. Create Groups- Ever find yourself searching through your Twitter feed trying to find tweets from a specific person? I sure have. Well, with HootSuite you can organize Twitter users you follow into groups. I have groups set up by category – business, entertainment, friends, news, specific search terms, etc. This feature is *super* helpful if you’re like me and use Twitter for marketing.
4. Schedule Tweets -The “Send Later” feature of HootSuite allows you to schedule your tweets for future dates and times. I especially like this feature for time management. Say, for example, I find a few articles I want to share with my followers, but I don’t want to inundate them with a ton of  tweets, I’ll schedule my tweets to send every 15 – 20 minutes.
5. Share Files and Images – Share files and photos with your followers very easily by uploading them directly to your tweet from HootSuite.
6. Multiple Users & Multiple Profiles - HootSuite allows one account to manage multiple Twitter profiles. You can also add multiple Twitter editors as well. This feature is extremely helpful for corporate Twitter accounts where you have multiple employees and a corporate Twitter profile.
7. RSS Feeds - Add your RSS feeds to HootSuite account in seconds. This feature allows your feeds to post to your Twitter account automatically. No more copying and pasting blog headlines and links to Twitter!
8. Ping.fm Integration – Update all of your social media network profiles through HootSuite. Paste your Ping.fm API key into your HS account and that’s it. All of your social networking accounts are updated all at once!
9. Add HootSuite to Your Website- The Columns-to-Go feature allows an easy way to add your tweets to your website. Just click on the Columns-to-Go button and follow the instructions on the video tuturial.
10. Statistics – This is my *favorite* feature! See which tweets get the most clicks. View by date and location. Being able to see which tweets are most popular will give you an idea of what to tweet about in the future.

Using Twitter effectively for businesses can be time consuming. Twitter clients like HootSuite make managing that time much easier and effective. Give it a try and tell me what you think.

In a post I wrote back in April, Blogging is it right for all businesses? Yes!, I told you about a client who needed to convince her boss that blogging is beneficial to their small business. The benefits of blogging out weighed the cons, so with my help, she was able to get the ball rolling on a new blog. During a strategy meeting, the question I love the most arose: “What do we blog about?”

Finding the right topic to blog about can be a challenge if you’re not sure who your target market is. Knowing who you’re speaking to and how to effectively reach them is key. The more focused your topics, the more value you will bring to your audience.

For example. Let’s pretend I own a small local restaurant and I want to start a blog. My first inclination may be to blog about how great the food is at the restaurant, or to blog about the specials of the week. Well, that may be OK if you don’t want visitors at your restaurant, never mind visitors who read your blog. Instead, find that niche – that special something – that will help you stand apart from your competitors.

For the local restaurant, say for example, they hold wine dinners and other special events at the restaurant. Then, they may want to blog about the best type of wine that best accompanies steak. Or, maybe they write a blog post on the challenges they faced planning a the menu for a client and how they overcame the obstacles. They could even designate a certain day of the week to an ingredient and post a sample recipe or two for their readers to make at home.

The topics are endless once you’ve determined your special niche. To determine your blogging niche, start by reading other blogs. Use tools like blogsearch.google.com and search for your industry. When reading other blogs, consider the following:

• What topics are bloggers writing about?
• What are the trends?
• Which topics are blogged about often?
• Which topics don’t get enough attention?
• What blogs do you like, or not, and why?

By reading other blogs in your industry, you’ll get to know who the major players are, how much competition there is and what topic is best suited for you.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of Small Business Blogging where we’ll discuss types of posts that encourage comments.

Have you been blogging for your small business? Share your story. Want more information on how you can start a blog for your business? Contact Patti Fousek for a free consultation.

Recently I had hosted a social media presentation at a One More Referral “Brown Bag” business development luncheon. I had presented to a group of 95 New Hampshire and Maine small business professionals who were very eager to learn about how social media could better their businesses.

During the presentation I spoke about the benefits of Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Following the presentation, I have received lots of Facebook friends and LinkedIn connections, but only two new Twitter followers. Many of the survey responses were also super positive, but I did see one comment over and over. “I just don’t understand the benefits to Twitter.”

Well, as a small business owner, I have found Twitter to be very helpful as far as growing my business. Not only have I received increased traffic to my website, but I have also learned a lot from those that I follow.

For example:

• @smallbiztrends (Anita Campbell, CEO of an online community) tweets include small business marketing tips, product info and other tidbits to help small business grow and more.
• @SmallBizTools tweets include advice, tips, and tools for entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small business owners.
• @mainebusiness (Carl V. Natale, content producer for MaineBusiness.com) tweets about lots of useful tips to improve your business. From marketing to social media, to business growth and taxes – he covers it all)

Others to follow include:

@WSJSmallBiz

@MarketingProfs

@thebrandbuilder

@PRmaine

@BeckyMcCray

@smallbusiness

@PaulDunay

@andybeal

@digg_technews

And, of course, yours truly @PattiFousek

Just remember…. Not only can you learn from those you follow on Twitter, but your followers can learn from you too. And… it’s fun.