Three Reasons Businesses Hire Wellman Wilson Consulting

Have you ever thought about shooting us an email or giving us a call, but you are not quite sure what you need help with? Perhaps you are an entrepreneur or small business owner and you have a website (yay!), but haven’t the faintest idea how to set up a Facebook page for your business (or perhaps you accidentally created it as a Group), or maybe you have a page, but it hasn’t been updated since you created it… two years ago.  Then there are those other social networks you know you should have an account with, but don’t know which ones are the best to reach your target market. And let’s not forget about your blog… and a newsletter! 

Businesses, like yours, hire Wellman Wilson Consulting because of our ability to break down social media and e-marketing into manageable pieces and teach you the tools and methods you need to make them work for you. Here’s how we do it:

1) Teaching businesses how to use social media

We don’t just teach people how to use Facebook ads or promote your business on Twitter, we teach you the value social media has in making connections with your clients, online and in person. Our Simple Start programs walk businesses through learning how to connect, promote, endorse, engage, and interact with customers. We teach you how having a conversation with a perfect stranger online can result in sales for your business.

We have had clients come to us afraid of social media, but by the end of the Simple Start program they not only have multiple social media accounts set up, but also have a solid plan in place to keep their social media current and relevant.

These same clients go on to expand their digital marketing to include newsletters and within weeks they have learned all the tools they need to start, create and send regular newsletters to their audience.

2) Creating a plan and making sure businesses stick to it

Every business needs a social media plan and we make sure it meets your business’ objectives. We take a look at who your audience is, where you can reach them, what your key messages are, what your goals are, and how we can make social media work to reach your audience and your goals.

We then take this strategy one step further with our Accountability Program. We have helped numerous clients stay accountable by helping them develop an action plan, keep track of their monthly activity, examine their content, and talking to them on the phone every month for a full year to review how things are working for them (and making sure they are doing what they say they are going to do).

3) One-on-one feedback, guidance and support

Our coaching programs are all about accountability, encouragement and feedback on your social media and e-marketing efforts. We help train clients, implement strategies and develop content. We also customize our coaching programs to fit our clients’ needs – because we know that not every business has the same problems.

Clients come to Wellman Wilson Consulting because they know they are not just getting a regurgitated written social media strategy. They are offered a personalized social media and e-marketing plan that not only includes a strategy, but the training they need to implement the strategy, the accountability support needed to make sure their plan stays on track, and the option to outsource content creation and graphics to us.

So, if you are not sure what you need from us, but know you need help with social media, we have given you three reasons why businesses just like yours took the next step and contacted us. They didn’t regret it and neither will you, so email or call us today!

We look forward to hearing from you.

Is your content inclusive?

The language you use to communicate with your audience says a lot about your business. If you’re using language your audience is unfamiliar with then you are less likely to have your message heard, or if it is heard it may be misunderstood. Your online content is sometimes your audience’s first impression of who you are as a business and the last thing you want to do is leave them feeling excluded or confused.

So, how do you make sure that you are creating inclusive content?

Use plain language

When you use plain language more people understand what you’re saying. This means your message will not only be heard more often, but that it is more easily sharable between your current and potential audience.  Think about some of the greatest brand slogans, such as Nike’s “Just Do It” – it’s easy to remember, easy to type and easily associated with the brand. 

Use conversational language

Whether you’re creating content for your website, blog or social networks, keep the language conversational. This means avoiding convoluted terminology and using words that you would hear in every day conversation. If it isn’t a word you would feel comfortable using all the time, don’t use it, and the same goes for a word that you don’t know the definition of – if you have to look up the definition, don’t use it in your content.

The best thing about conversational language is that it is more likely to generate a conversation between you and your audience, which could result in great things for you and your business!

Write more like you would speak than in what would be considered a “professional” way. A great way to practice doing this is to draft your post orally and record it and then listen to it and transcribe it. This will give you a great starting point for conversational sounding content.

Don’t think of it as “dumbing down”

The following video from the Government of Digital Service in the UK explains it best:

The term “dumbing down” is offensive and just because your audience doesn’t necessarily want to read complex content doesn’t make them dumb (as the term implies). It simply means that your wording is confusing or it takes more effort to read when people want to be able to skim.

Using complicated language excludes people from learning about what it is you have to offer, which could result in loss of sales or revenue.

Think of your content as an extension of yourself.  If you were in a room surrounded by your ideal audience would you want them to feel welcome or excluded? Use language everyone can understand and relate to and you will better the chances of one-time visitors becoming a part of your loyal audience.

Leave us a comment and let us know what you think.  Do you prefer content written simply and in a conversational tone or does it feel too simplified for you?

Facebook account cloning: what it is and how to prevent it

Have you ever received a Facebook friend request from someone you are already friends with? If so, don’t accept it! Chances are your friend’s account was cloned and the cloned account wants to get a hold of your information. Accepting a friend request from a cloned account leaves you vulnerable to spam and often reveals personal details that could be used in identity theft. So, how do you avoid having your Facebook account cloned?

Check your privacy settings

Is your profile picture able to be viewed by your friends or by everyone? You can easily tell this by looking on the top right hand side of your opened profile picture – if you see a tiny icon of the world, this means your profile picture can be viewed in a larger format by the general public and in turn can be downloaded easily (and therefore re-used by someone else) – making it easier for someone to clone your account. Make sure your current and past profile pictures as well as all photos and photo albums you have uploaded and created are always set to “friends” and are never made available to the public.

Hide your friends list

It’s fun to scroll through the friends lists of other people, especially when looking to connect with past colleagues and school mates, but by leaving the list open to the public, or even just your friends you are leaving them at risk. If someone clones your account, the first thing they are going to do is try and befriend people on your friends list in an attempt to get ahold of their information as well.

Don’t accept friend requests from strangers

Consider this not talking to strangers online. If you do not who someone is, don’t accept their friend request or create a rule  - only accept a friend request if you have two or more mutual friends in common (Facebook typically shares this information with you at the time of the request).

Don’t accept requests from people you are already friends with

If you are already friends with someone, don’t accept a second friend request from them and be sure to report the cloned account to the original account owner as well as to Facebook. If you are unsure if you are friends with that person, double check your friends list. If you’re still unsure send a message to the original account owner asking them if this is them or not, but when in doubt don’t accept the friend request.

Don’t overshare

If you are heading out on vacation don’t post it as a status on Facebook and then have that status open to the public. At the very least make it only viewable to friends you wholeheartedly trust. You can do this by creating lists and only selecting those lists to share with. 

As with all social media it’s important to remember that whatever you post online is “out there” and even though you may think it is protected it doesn’t take much for complete strangers to access that information. The best thing to do is to take all necessary precautions when posting online and be mindful of what you are sharing and who you are sharing it with.

Using social media for good

We have all read or experienced the negative side of social media: the bullying, the trolls and the negative publicity, but in recent months we have noticed the good side of social media. In particular, organizations such as Kindness Canada and Thank You Ninjas have shown us a more compassionate side. It’s easy for people to hide behind a computer screen and criticize companies or individuals, but what about the good things those same companies or individuals have done?

Compliment don’t complain

When we are angry at a department store or airline, it is easy to take to our social networks with our hundreds or thousands of followers and complain about them, but how often do you do that when a company goes out of their way to do something great? For every complaint that you tweet, why not send out two compliments? 

Become a part of the social media good

Submit a story to Kindness Canada. They promote kindness by asking their audience to submit something kind they did or that they know someone else did. By sharing stories of kindness they hope to inspire others to be kind. How nice. 

You could also send an anonymous “thank you” postcard to someone using Thank You Ninjas. It can be for something as small as holding a door open or as large as a kind paramedic who helped you out during a car accident. Thank You Ninjas believe that the more thank yous people send the better the world will be. They even list ideas on their website as to how people can secretly thank someone: http://thankyouninjas.com/be-a-ninja/

Think before you tweet

Before hitting “tweet” or hitting enter on that Facebook status, ask yourself if what you are sending out to the world is nice. Ask yourself if there is anyone that might be hurt by the message. If so, you might want to think twice about hitting that button.

Instead of using social media to broadcast a negative experience, use it to promote something good as well. Share the good things in life and respond to others who do the same. We all know there are bad things going on in the world and on social media, but there is a lot of good too.

If you are attending this year’s Social Capital Conference, you can start participating in social media for good by helping the Thank You Ninjas secretly thank people throughout the day. For more information on that check out the SoCap blog post about hem: http://socialcapitalconference.com/become-a-thank-you-ninja-at-social-capital-2014/

Do you know of any other social media accounts or websites that are designed to do good in the world? Leave a comment below and let us know.

What do I think? I think you should be more specific.

Most of you probably know that engagement is the key to social media success, but engagement is not, I repeat NOT following up a blog post, or social media post by asking your audience, “what do you think?” What do I think about what? The weather, my lunch, the colour of my shirt? Asking your audience what they think is one of the broadest questions you could possibly ask.

Be Specific

If you want to avoid silence, ask a specific question that directly relates to whatever it is you are posting. For example, if you posted a third party link regarding Canada’s Anti Spam Legislation, ask your audience what is one way the new CASL law will affect their marketing efforts or ask what one thing they hope CASL will do for marketers? By asking questions that directly relates to specific content, you better your chances of getting comments and creating genuine conversation.

Be Network Appropriate

Obviously, you can’t post an introductory paragraph before asking a question on Twitter, but you can on Facebook! If you are looking to engage on Twitter, try asking a question relating to a timely event, perhaps something everyone knows about. For example, if you are nearing a national holiday, such as Canada Day, ask your audience what their favourite Canada Day activity is. You could also tell them (in brief) what you’re doing to celebrate. On Facebook and Google+ you could include a link to Canada Day activities, ask what events they have attended in the past and also suggest activities no one may have thought of before – or ask your audience for suggestions. 

Be Prepared to Answer

When you do ask a question on social media that generates answers, reply! A lot of people on Twitter get frustrated when someone poses a question and they answer within seconds of the post publishing and their answers are followed up with… nothing. This tells your audience that your questions are not genuine and that your posts are scheduled. A good question will get an answer, so be prepared to answer in a timely fashion with more questions or information to keep the conversation going.

The key to engaging with your audience is to demonstrate that the questions you are asking serve a purpose. Why are you asking a question? What do you want to know? By asking a direct question regarding a specific subject you are telling your audience that you genuinely care about what they have to say and want to hear from them. If your question is too open-ended, you won’t get many responses because people won’t know how to answer. The more specific your questions are, the more answers you will receive.

What is one type of question you always answer? What’s the worst question you have ever seen asked on social media?