How social media can help you recruit top quality employees

As a business owner, you will know that to remain competitive within your market your business needs to grow. If you are not increasing your turnover and profits, you risk soon being overtaken by businesses that are.

Whether you prefer to remain a relatively small business or if you have the success of Richard Branson’s Virgin in mind, business growth will inevitably lead to hiring more staff. The importance of hiring top quality staff cannot be overestimated, because it can prove to be the difference between success, survival or failure.

Although many small businesses have never had or can no longer afford to have in-house HR departments, using external HR companies or HR software can provide a solution. However, if you decide to manage your HR matters, recruiting employees will be down to you, of course.

Along with more traditional recruitment strategies, today’s business owners are now turning to social media to hire top quality employees. If you are unsure how to do this, here are some tips.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn was established specifically with recruitment in mind. It not only enables job seekers and employees to promote their skills, education and experience online, but also acts as a business network and provides a way for like-minded professionals to contact and connect with one another. 

If you or your business does not already have a presence on LinkedIn it is a good idea to set one up. Along with enabling you to network with fellow business owners, potential and existing customers, it will enable you to search for potential employees. Think of it as online dating for the corporate world, where you and job candidates can connect online before making the commitment to meet in person.

Twitter and Facebook

Don’t make the mistake of thinking Twitter and Facebook are just for teenagers or bored housewives. They are both very useful tools for promoting businesses and recruiting employees. Top quality employees want to work somewhere that offers more than just a great salary, they also want to work in supportive and enjoyable environments, too. 

Facebook and Twitter provide a great chance to show your company’s personality to potential job candidates, who will likely be searching through your Facebook page and Tweets to find out more about your business. If your company has taken part in a charity event, held a team-building day or any other social events, promote it on your Facebook page, because it will show potential employees that your company can offer more than just a nine-to-five job.

On a practical level, Facebook and Twitter are ideal places to advertise jobs. If a vacancy becomes available, post it on Facebook with a link to how applicants can apply. Also Tweet about it and encourage staff to Retweet it on Twitter.

Growing trend

Use of Social media isn’t a fad – it continues to grow. Google+ has become the latest social media tool that combines LinkedIn with Facebook and enables users to create separate professional and personal networks in one place.

There are many business benefits to using social media and businesses have realised it is a perfect tool to enhance their recruitment efforts. The fact is, failing to use social media could put your business at a distinct disadvantage when seeking to hire top quality employees.  

By editor and blogger Derin Clark writing on behalf of Octopus HR. 

Be brave enough to invest in your business

Inspired by a post called Be Happy it’s Not Easy I read on Sarah Petty’s Joy marketing blog site, I wanted to share my thoughts with you about free marketing.

There is no shortage of experts who will tell you not to waste money on a website or smart brand identity – having you believe instead that social media will catapult your business to financial success alone. And there is probably no denying that somewhere out there, someone will have made their first million (probably selling info products) in spite of their “horror show” of a website. But they’re the exception, not the rule.

A powerful brand identity and website will attract the right sorts of client prepared to spend what you need to charge. It will differentiate you from your competitors and it will help you stay memorable. You can’t get that sort of design for free. To be honest, it doesn’t even come “cheap”. But the great news is, investing in marketing your business means your competitors can’t copy as easily as free marketing.

I’m not knocking free marketing. Social media is the lifeblood of my marketing activity – but only in conjunction with a range of activities. And it only works because I take myself seriously.

The problem of not being able to invest in your marketing because you’re not making any money is an age-old catch 22. I firmly believe that you need to invest in your business and get all of this right at the outset and the results will pay dividends. It’s all about being brave.

Ask yourself this: If I don’t believe enough in my business to invest in my brand identity and website, why should my clients?

Fiona Humberstone, Flourish design & marketing 

A Twitter convert living in Marrakech writes…

I run Splash Morocco, an adventure company and riad (small B&B) in Marrakech, Morocco. When a colleague told me Twitter was the future for web marketing I rolled my eyes, but I was prepared to hear him out. One year later, after giving it some time and effort, I'm forced to agree with him: Twitter rocks! 

I use social media as a way of attracting clients, building contacts and providing free information to prospective travellers. The cost of using this medium? Absolutely nothing. The benefits? Several thousand pounds worth of bookings and all for the cost of some of my time each day.

I'm lucky that here in Marrakech, there aren't that many other businesses that are Tweeting on a regular basis, so slowly I'm developing into an authority on travel and information in the area. I use TweetDeck and have various search terms set up to allow me to filter through the myriad of information out there and capture the useful data I can directly respond to.

Tweets I love seeing are things like "Just booked my flights to Marrakech - anyone got any tips on things to do?" or "Looking for an adventure in Morocco". With these, I can send a speedy response speaking about the riad or the adventure activities and tours I offer. These vary from white water rafting, canyoning and quads to gentler sightseeing tours of the High Atlas Mountains.

Any business can use this as a method of not only sharing information about their products on the web, but also of directly interacting with their potential clients and even acting as a free information service, building trust and reputation amongst followers who otherwise may have never considered or found your business.

Follow @MarrakechAndy on Twitter

Lessons learned about social media marketing (part two)

Recently, I spoke to Claudia Kapp of Deadly is the Female, a customer of my business, to learn about her experiences of social media marketing.

Deadly is the Female is a Frome-based boutique and web shop specialising in fabulous quality faux vintage fashion from head to toe. Both in store and online, the shopping experience is designed to make their customers feel like old-time Hollywood starlets.

Claudia has been using social networking websites since opening her shop in November 2008.

“We started out with a MySpace page,” she remembers, “which was the site with which I was most familiar, but I soon realised many of our followers were more focused on Facebook. We now mainly use Facebook and Blogger with some Twitter on the side.

“We try to find a balance between updating regularly and bombarding people to the point of irritation. Generally, we post something on Facebook every day and on Twitter a couple of times a week.”

Do she have any good social media tips? “I find it useful to follow other people with similar businesses and learn from them. This is easiest when they do things that are annoying. I hate getting slight variations of the same picture posted again and again, so don’t do that. Try to keep things fresh and don’t focus on selling all the time, a little bit of personal stuff is a good thing, too.”

Claudia recently started using Google Analytics, to find out more about site usage. “You wouldn’t ever guess some of the keywords that lead people to your site. Occasionally, we’ll run Facebook exclusive sales, too - which is a great way to see if people are paying attention.

“Social networking is a great way to connect directly with your customers. You can ask opinions or for help and advertise events. It’s also useful for keeping an eye on trends and gauging popular opinion, which even in a niche market has an impact.”

She says her favourite thing about Facebook is the variety of ways it can be used and how visible everything is. “You can make people feel involved by tagging them. Twitter is great for short, sharp information sharing. I feel less comfortable with Twitter, but I’m still learning.

 “Social networking can be quite time-consuming but it’s worthwhile. The instant feedback and volume of information shared is like nothing else and it can help with making important day-to-day business decisions. I sometimes still feel a bit silly typing my thoughts out and sending them out into the unknown, but it’s worth it.”

And if Claudia could only use one social networking site? “It would be Facebook,” she replies. “It’s so easy to add attractive links to specific pages of the website as well as endless photos, videos and just about anything you can think of. You can have your own identity without the clutter of some MySpace pages and you can make people feel part of your brand. Using social media for business marketing takes time and practice to find out what works, but my advice is stick with it and stay positive,” she concludes.

Alex Astell of Manage My Website

Blogging your way to more business

Without a doubt, contributing to a blog requires commitment and time if it is to produce effective results. However, making use of blogs is an easy, fast, inexpensive and effective publishing tool to spread the word about a new business, generate customers and increase prospects. 

Blogs are corporate tools that allow businesses to communicate with the public to provide information about products and services being provided. To be effective as an advertising tool, the blog should be linked to the company website and provide relevant web content about the company’s products to attract prospective customers. To grow a blog, it should be updated consistently in order to include new and ongoing entries. Investing in blog advertising is a rewarding endeavour but it needs to be sustained in the long term.

Blogs provide the following four key benefits when promoting a business:

1 An effective platform for content marketing

Content marketing is a method of promotion designed to attract customers by providing valuable content about the business, products and services that it offers. Rather than being a brazen and overt marketing strategy, content marketing takes the form of publishing content that delivers information through important articles, press releases and news feeds. This approach treats established and potential customers as intelligent individuals. Content marketing provides accurate, honest and relevant information that consumers need to know before purchasing products and services. There is no better place for content marketing than on a blog.

Selecting and streamlining news feeds from credible industry news sources and linking them to blogs will keep interested readers returning to blog pages on a regular basis. It also prompts viewers to return to the blog for news updates which secures repeat viewers and potential customers. It is best to integrate a credible news feed with other non-competitive website links which subtly promote and advertise the business. Adding neutral, industry relevant, and credible news feeds and web content allows the business to present itself as a knowledgeable and accurate source of information in its respective market.

2 Low-cost advertising methods

Setting up a blog on Wordpress, Gizmodo, and Compendium is a free alternative to having actual web presence. Blogs can be linked to other social networks, such as Twitter and Facebook, to attract potential clients. Blogs provide an effective way for small businesses to share their expertise and offer press releases in a larger market to bigger audiences. They are user-friendly tools especially for business owners who know little about HTML.

3 Input from customers

Setting up blogs with opportunities to moderate and answer questions and comments from clients presents a human face of an enterprise and allows a business to speak directly with clients and address their concerns. No company can expect to be an industry leader without an authentic and ongoing interaction with its customers.

4 Search engine magnet

Blogs are search engine magnets, directing not only curious bloggers to business landing pages, but also regular and targeted traffic from Google searches. Search engines crawl content and keyword rich blog sites, bringing the blog (and business landing page) closer to the top of page ranks.

When composing blogs, be sure to make your contact information clear and make navigation easy to help convert views to sales.

Dani Higginson, Purecontent

Not for the house-proud

Being a mum can be challenging, being a business woman can be challenging too. Trying to do both at once can be mind-boggling. I fight shy of the term mumpreneur, but if it suits you, then that's what I am. I run my small business from home and I am also full-time mum to two pre-schoolers.

I always swore I wouldn't and couldn't run a business, house and family at once and I was right, something had to give and sadly that was housework! If inspiration strikes but you think circumstances prevent you from acting on it, then ignore your head and go with your heart. Running your own business is a rewarding, fun, busy add-on to family life and just the challenge my poor nappy-brain needed. So a few tips if you fancy joining me on a self-employed mum adventure:

• Plan, plan and plan some more. Time will be the biggest constraint on your business, so make sure you make the most of every bit of time you have. All of the usual business management tools work well: to-do lists, diary systems, electronic reminders. I've always preferred telephone contact to email, but am finding email works better for me now. It's off your to do list, even if the person at the other end can't help you there and then.

• If you are house proud then don't do it! There are not enough hours in the day to do everything and your business and family should come first. If you can't sit and work at the kitchen table whilst stoically ignoring the pile of laundry and washing-up then this isn't for you. Ignore the chores and don't feel guilty, if you've got one get your other half to step up his cleaning contribution.

• Set targets for the day. Aim to actually complete one task a day, that way you will feel that you are progressing your business plan.

• Keep special family time. Make sure you set aside time in the day that is just for you and the children, no interruptions. Or you'll get to the end of the day feeling that you've done neither job well.

• Use TV wisely. DD2 still has a nap but DD1 conveniently gave hers up as I launched the business. We now have quiet time, no TV during the rest of the day (hopefully) but she watches for a chunk in the middle of the day while I crack on. Don't be worried about using the TV to help, all children watch TV, use it wisely to get the most done.

• Don't underestimate the power of social media. It allows you to network quickly and cheaply from home, even if there is chaos all around you. Keep your laptop open and logged on and then you can pop in when you have five minutes.

• Make time for yourself. You will inevitably do most of your work after their bedtime, but make sure there is time in the week for you to do something for yourself: gym trip, coffee and cake out, stroll around the block, whatever. If you don't, you risk burn out and then you are no use to anyone.

Good luck to you and I'd love to hear all about your experiences.

Rachael Dunseath runs www.myroo.co.uk handmaking all-natural, luxurious skincare products. She also offers a baby range at www.millyandflossy.co.uk.

How do you fit it all in?

I do love the support and compliments I get from my fellow mums. I am regularly asked: “How do you fit it all in – not just one child, but a baby and then your business?”.

There is no real secret to it. But this is how I manage:

1) Firstly motivation – without motivation, there is no way you will fit it all in. If you are motivated, then things do become much easier. This is what motivates me:

• For starters, I only do what I love – I frequently refer to my business as a “hobby business” – it is a hobby for me and I enjoy what I do. If I didn’t enjoy it, then there would be little motivation.
• Personally, I need something other than just the kids. I love my kids to bits, but come on – playing puzzles all day or dealing with another tantrum only gets you so far. Baking cakes is fun, but someone has to eat them all and I really do not want to go up two dress sizes.
• At work you regularly get feedback – being at home with the kids, you don’t really – you don’t get a project review or an annual review, you don’t get a buzz from a presentation that you've done well. Nobody says: "Wow, you did ALL that washing this week!" or "well done for cooking all those meals" or "ten tantrums today? Good on you". Every time I sell something, it is like getting a little pat on the back – well done me!

2) There is, of course, time management:

• There is a lot to be said for “do it now” – today I had a choice: nap or write this post. I chose to write the post.
• Write lists/ diary notes of what needs to get done – always look at the whole list and prioritise – that way you a) don’t forget anything and b) you soon discover what is important. Some things have been on my list for months – I see them and I don’t do them as I have other things to do first.
• Cause and effect/ timelines. Think ahead. For example, I want my alphabet book done by Christmas so that Red Ted can start reading it before he is three (Feb 2011). Working back it means I need to do xx now and then yy.
• Routine – this is a very important factor for us. My children know that I need half an hour or so at the computer in the morning, they also both (still) nap at lunchtime – giving me one-two hours of me time. Red Ted is also in nursery one day a week and I dedicate this to Red Ted Art and Pip Squeak (who still naps three times a day), I avoid doing “mummy” things like playdates, as it is work time.
• Neglect the housework (much to my husbands dismay – tough luck I say!).

3) Set realistic expectations/adapt to the time you have:

• Now that Pip Squeak is here (she is 3.5 mths old) I have lowered my expectations as to what I can achieve as she needs more cuddles and holding than Red Ted needs at two years old.
  • I have shifted my focus from going out and visiting shops to sell my cards/ paintings for me, to networking online, which you can do when you have five minutes here or there. When Pip Squeak is older, I will shift my focus again to something else.
  • Painting is limited to a little in the evenings (I can’t paint when it is too dark) and the weekends – so I currently sell less.

I was recently asked if I ever sleep – you know what – I do! I sleep more than my peers, almost eight to nine hours a night (with interruptions from the baby, of course) and I do read too – probably one book a week. So the tips above do work. Honest.

The key is probably to find something you love and the rest will follow naturally.

Margarita Woodley, Red Ted Art

The simple life – three ways to gain success on the web

Start up business owners absolutely can’t ignore the opportunities that are available online to market their small business. As great an opportunity as there is, it’s also a pretty daunting task for a new business – especially if you’re not an expert in getting attention on the web. The good news is, keeping it simple is one of the best ways you can ensure that your website is ticking all of the boxes and serving the purpose it needs to for potential customers or business partners.

Stefan Tornquist, Research Director of Marketing Sherpa, talks about improving your search rankings organically through relevant website content. As a small business owner, how easy do you find it to write copy and articles for your business? Is it something you can do yourself, or do you prefer to outsource this job?

The tortoise and the hare guide to online networking (for start-ups)

On social networks, it’s tempting to try and grow your network rapidly by accepting any friend requests that come your way and building a network of strangers. As Louis Gray explains, when thinking about business networking; revenue is only going to come from a small selection of your online community. For that reason, building a network of highly engaged people with whom you have a genuine connection can prove to be a great way to unlock business opportunities.

It’s easy to judge someone’s social media “usefulness” on their number of friends or followers, or assume that low numbers equates to a small and relatively useless network. But it might be sensible to start slowly and focus on quality. What do you think?

Starting a business? You should be tapping into social networks.

Penny Power, founder of Ecademy.com, explains why anyone starting up a new business should be active on social networks.

Are you already using social networks to get your business off the ground?  Please share your story.

Getting the basics of online marketing right

The growth in the use of the Internet in recent years has led to a huge shift in marketing activities to the online space. This article explains some of the key things for you to focus on to help you market effectively online. Secure that domain name early. The natural starting point is the creation of a website. Once you start your business it is important to secure the domain name in the markets you intend to compete in. We at Palo Alto Software, Inc and Palo Alto Software Ltd have lots of domain names ranging from PaloAlto.com (global), PaloAlto.co.uk (U.K.), and PaloAlto.ie (Ireland). These help ensure that prospective customers can find us easily by typing our name directly into a Web browser.

There are numerous ways you can build a website, from doing it yourself using available software tools, to hiring website specialists. Regardless of the method chosen you need to be completely clear on the main purpose of the website. Is it to sell products or to generate leads? Once the primary purpose is clear, you can then decide on the layout, alongside the look and feel.

Ensure your website is optimised

Given the hundreds of thousands of websites out there, it is worth reviewing a number to get a feel for the type of design and user interface you would like. Finally, when it comes to a website it needs to be ‘search-engine friendly’. This means that searches initiated from the likes of Google (using repetitive software, called ‘bots’) can find your site, scan it and identify the keywords associated with the website. Many firms offer Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) services which are designed to help you achieve high rankings on the search engines, such as Yahoo! and Google. Most of the techniques they employ are widely known so you could choose to do it yourself. However, be aware: anyone promising top place listings on Google should be treated with caution. There are techniques (so-called black hat techniques) which can be used to game the system – however, Google has been known to punish sites known to be using such techniques, as BMW® found, to its cost, when Google delisted them in 2006.

As it takes time for a new website to get indexed by the search engines, it is likely that traffic will be low at the start. New sites tend not to feature in organic search returns for some time, but there are ways to drive traffic to your site using some of the methods described below.

Use Web analytics to improve your site

Once you have set up the domain name and site, you will want to understand how many users you are attracting, where they are coming from and how they are behaving on your site. Google Analytics is the most popular tool to manage this. It is available free from Google, easy to implement and even easier to use. If you want to see where people are going on your site, tools such as Crazy Egg® will help you improve the design of your site by showing you where people are clicking and where they are not.

Once the basics are in place it is now a case of creating awareness of the existence of your site and generating traffic to the site.

Get traffic to your site on day one

The quickest way to get traffic to a website is signing up for Google AdWords’ Pay-per-click (PPC) service. In the U.K. the vast majority of Web searches are via Google so this is the best one to focus on. This service lets you create adverts that appear when people search for certain keywords. You then pay according to each click you receive (hence the name ‘Pay-per click’). The main attraction with this option is that it is a highly targeted form of advertising, and you only pay when the prospect clicks on your advert and lands on your website.

Create unique landing pages

You need to decide where you want to bring the prospect when they click. Dropping users onto a homepage can be confusing, so you need to create a number of landing pages that are highly relevant to both the search term and the AdWord copy. For example, if a user searches for ‘marketing plan’ and the advertising copy is for Marketing Plan Pro® then the landing page needs to feature Marketing Plan Pro prominently. The beauty of running Analytics in the background is that you can measure conversions so you can identify which combinations of advert copy and landing pages are the most successful. After that it’s a case of testing, testing and more testing. A/B testing is a popular method where 50% of the audience is randomly assigned to see page A, and 50% to see page B. Whichever page results in the most conversions ‘wins’ and that then becomes the new default page.

Get websites to link to you

One well-known component of the Google algorithm that decides on the attractiveness of your website (which then correlates to a higher search ranking) is the number of back links to your site. The more sites that link to your website, the better, particularly if the linking site is an academic or government-owned site.  Each link is considered a ‘vote’ and votes from impartial sites such as academic ones are deemed to carry more weight.

Seek a presence on high-traffic sites

It may be possible for you to feature on larger portal sites by offering to support them with either new or fresh content or special offers. Steer clear of anyone offering you a tenancy agreement, e.g. you pay £1,000 per month to feature on a third-party website. These offers mean you bear all the risk and they rarely, if ever, deliver any meaningful traffic. Similarly, spending money on banners and buttons is not in vogue like it used to be – for good reason. PPC marketing is where your budget should be going – not on risky placements on websites.

Blogging is not all it’s cut out to be

A number of companies set up blogs to enable them to communicate with interested parties and customers on a more informal basis. Blogs are simply basic websites which contain a list of posts or news stories by an author, typically about a specialist topic. While they are easy to set up and maintain, they do place a demand on the blog owner or blogger to constantly update them. If you do not think you have the time to post news stories daily it is probably best to avoid the temptation of creating a blog. Other, less demanding forms of social media include placing comments on forums and participating in news groups.

The above activities should give you a flavour of some of the types of marketing activities you can undertake online. Others, such as issuing online press releases and creating newsletters, can also help you drive traffic to your websites. From there it’s a case of ensuring the design and offer are compelling enough to entice the user to buy from you, assuming that is the primary purpose of your website.