Social Media Marketing Course – Drive FREE Traffic to Your Blog Posts!
Every single blog post should be social shared once it’s published. Even if you feel like you don’t have a lot of time on your hands, you should still at least put your stuff out on social media after publishing with a hashtag and image to help you get found faster. This is course is for social sharing blog posts only not direct affiliate links on social media.
Social sharing each blog post will not only help you get ranked quicker by search engines but it will also allow you to be found outside of search engines. Search engine rankings shift and change but with social media you at least have another route of exposure.
Social Sharing Matters
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Using Google+ Video
Consistency is key with Google+. Do not expect to do it a couple times and be famous. That’s not how it works. I work my account every day for a few minutes. It’s not time consuming and I’ll show you exactly what I do to gain the exposure I do.
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Google gives preference to Google+ in search engine returns but how they do it is a little complicated. To show up in another persons search results you need to be in a persons G+ circle or in their Gmail address book (yes, that counts too).
Using Social Networking to Get More +1’s
The more +1’s you have on a post itself, the more preference Google gives to your post in the search engine returns. Social networking groups help you get those necessary +1’s on your post, my video will show you want I’m talking about.
Social sharing groups are not just about getting a boost in social media, there’s a lot you can learn in these groups from others (similar to how we do in Pajama Affiliates). When you’re looking at their posts to give someone a +1 or share, look at what they are doing. I’ve learned so much from just observing what other people do – especially if you know they are making money.
Another great thing about the social networking groups is that you can add other bloggers, marketers, parents to your Google circle and they almost always follow you back because they’re active with their accounts. I have grown my account substantially this way.
When Others Share You on Google+
When other people share you on Google+ (like myself for example) you are reaching out to all their followers as well. This can be a very powerful reach in search engines. Just like if you share something of theirs on social media, your followers will see their stuff.
It’s a powerful reach if you can get people to follow you and even more powerful if you can get someone to share your stuff that actually uses Google+.
Don’t stress if your Google followers are not in large quantity right now, in this case, hashtags are going to be your best friend while you grow your following.
Hashtags on Google+
- 1-2 words. Examples #FashionTrends #Christmas2015
- Use in a sentence; it looks nice and Google reads them the same in the sentence.
- Use no more than 3 hashtags so you don’t appear spammy in the feed.
Writing Your Google Post
- Write AT LEAST 2 sentences. Google will actually give you preference on all the words in your sentences not just keywords. If someone in your circles uses any part of your sentences, Google will pick them up and return you in their search results.
- Use your keyword naturally because eye appeal is always buy appeal.
- Use Hashtags
Using Pinterest
If you do not have a business account, you need to upgrade. If you are using your account for business (and we are) then you need a business account. Nothing bad will happen, in fact, I’ve only had a positive experience after upgrading.
Verify your website with Pinerest. There are plug-ins you can use if you don’t want add the snippet of code to the actually website code you can verify in yoast.
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Using Twitter
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Uploading an Image on Twitter
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I admitted in my video I don’t have a large following on Twitter. The way I gain free traffic leveraging Twitter is via hashtags and nice images. That’s it. I am consistent in this and that’s why I see a consistent flow of traffic to my website. I don’t do something once or twice and stop. It’s the same with blogging right, if you stop, you won’t continually increase in your traffic and earnings. Same for social media. Be consistent with it and you will find your traffic and earnings increasing over time.
Using Facebook
Posting the Perfect Image on Facebook Using Yoast
Robin shows you an awesome trick for getting the perfect image and text up on Facebook EVERY time! You will need the Yoast SEO plug-in for this.
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There is an image tutorial in the step by step blogging course and the our how to write a blog post that converts sales course as well. Knowing how to make good images is going to help you immensely. Take some time learning Pic Monkey or Canva, look at other people are doing for their images and see if you can’t come up with something creative and eye appealing too. It takes practice but the more you do, the better you’ll get at it.
Posting on Fan Pages
When I post to fan pages I make sure the blog post itself contains an image that will fit the width of the Facebook post image area. 1200 x 628 is the size I have found to be ideal for this area. You can definitely change this size to your liking, I just found this one works great for my Facebook and Twitter area so I can use the same image. Using the same image on both social media platforms saves time for me. You’ll see this in my video.
A good picture can really grow you reach on Facebook and its why I always try to have one. Be sure to see our note about a cool feature in Yoast that will upload just the right image for you for Facebook.
Using this example above, I posted it on my fan page with a great image and it reached 101 people in 3 hrs. Pretty good. The image and wording had A LOT to do with that reach. Some hot topics on Facebook that reach quickly are trending topics in the media, making money and weight loss to name a few. Certain toys I have are really popular as well. A good image and something to say will give you more exposure than just posting a link with any old picture that pops up from the page.
Hashtags are up to you. I use them for the purpose of reaching an audience that is following a topic. Some bloggers will not use them because they feel they lose out on their reach. Reach is temporal in my case, hashtags will last longer and get me found by people who are following a topic. I don’t always use them, but I don’t avoid them either. This will be an area that you may need to tweak depending on your niche and audience.
Posting in Groups
When posting in groups you need to grab the reader’s attention, that’s why you need a sharp image the clearly says what it is that you are posting about AND you need to actually write something. Speak from emotion not logic, people relate to emotions not logic when they are buying.
Posting in Your Status Update
When posting your own status update you need to post it exactly like you would if you were talking about a good meal you just ate at Red Robin. No joke, it needs to be personal the way it would be if you were just updating your status about something you were so jazzed about.
Pictures are very, very attention grabbing!
Try not to name drop because Facebook works on a smart feed, if you talk about “Pajama Affiliate” specifically for example, only Pajama Affiliates will see it for the most part. Do your best not to name drop companies unless you know they are very popular. Try to be excited and broad if possible. You absolutely can NOT sound like an advertisement. Facebook knows.
Don’t be an OVER poster! You don’t need a dozen status updates a day and Facebook will start to bury you for over posting if you’re not getting a lot of attention.
Facebook Groups and Fan Pages and Communities!
This module is geared mostly for those in the self help industry or those promoting their own products or who want to promote their own products one day, weather physical or digital. There will be some nuggets in here that will help other affiliates as well and some Law of Attraction stuff as well so please don’t skip over this module just because you don’t have your own products or are not in the self help niche. Fan pages aren’t always in the self help niche and I will share a bit about those too!
Brief Introduction!
Facebook Groups
Facebook groups are a great way to engage with your audience and ultimately get more sales. I would say 80% of the sales for Pajama Affiliates comes from the Pajama Affiliate Mastermind group and other groups that have stemmed from there such as the How to Write a Blog Post that Converts Sales or the Amazon Associates Masterclass.
These groups are all about building relationships. This includes the members building relationships with each other and not just you building a relationship with members of your group. When people have friends in the group, the group is more active and people are more comfortable to engage. This encourages others to engage as well.
Be you, Be Real, Don’t Censor
Show your personality! Don’t censor your posts to please others. When you censor, you attract sheep and sheep do nothing but follow others. When you are brave, vulnerable and yourself, you give others permission and courage to do the same. I think this world needs more leaders and less sheep personally. If you are in the self help niche, regardless if it is dating and relationships, hula hooping, or affiliate marketing or whatever, your job really is to assist others into stepping into their power. At least that is a big big part of my why. What is your why? If it’s just for the money, people will feel that energy from you and you will not develop loyal relationships. 50% of my business at this point is from loyal repeat customers.
Being real means you share the good and the bad. A group with nothing but rosy posts gets dull after a while because no one has a rosy world all the time. It’s just not real. They stop relating. If you have a group where you post nothing but motivational quotes several times a day, you members eventually just begin to tune you out. Please don’t do this. I am in a group that does this now and there are like 3000 members and several of these posts a day. The engagement rate is close to zero.
Remember like attracts like. All the more reason to be yourself, that is unless you are combative, you may create a war zone in your group. lol. The people that you attract into your group when you are yourself will be like minded, and the result, they will also attract more people into your group. Your group really is a reflection of it’s leaders. That being said, choose your leaders and moderators wisely. Best to align with those that share your dream and values.
Encourage People to Share
Start threads and ask questions that encourage people to share. This is not hard to do, just tailor it to your niche. If you have a group that is for sketching for example, have a thread where people share their work. We have specific threads at Pajama Affiliates where people share their posts, share their triumphs, and a motivational thread. This get more and more active as more and more people get involved.
Ask your members how they would handle a certain issue or thing or person or whatever. Encourage people to open and share.
If you start something like this and it’s early, don’t stop because of low engagement, keep on doing it. These things take time. A group just doesn’t start out and take off in a week or so. It can take months to years. Remember this is the long game.
One on One Interaction
Read every single post and comment in your group. If you see someone who needs some help or maybe some guidance or you get an idea or inspiration for them, take the time to reach out and let them know. I have seen people in our group that maybe could have used a better keyword, so I private message them to suggest it. If someone does something fantastic, I may private message them as well. If I find an affiliate product that will fit their site, I let them know. If something they said moves or touches me, I start a private conversation. Be involved in their journey. I know you have heard that to get what you want you must help others get what they want. Celebrate their successes and lift them up when things aren’t going so great.
If you have never read Dale Carnegie’s book, How to Win Friends and Influence People, I recommend it.
Managing Conflict in Groups!
Facebook Fan Pages
Facebook Cover Photo!
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Schedule Facebook Posts!
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Images and Video!
I know we have drilled this into your heads by now, but on Facebook, images make your posts stand out, and get more engagement and are just plain noticed!
If I have a short quote to share, I will put it in an image. This makes it stand out in the Newsfeed!
What catches your eye more?
Or This?
Take the extra five or ten minutes to make an nice image for facebook!
Sharing videos on Facebook Pages!
Best Way to Share Videos!
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