Gaining Control Over Social Media

Tonight I want to address an issue I am seeing on an continued basis. Your personal online content. I read a terrible Facebook rant over the weekend and I’m sickened that a business professional would put her hateful opinions for clients and peers to read on her personal Facebook page.

Now, some of you might say that it is her personal page. Sure it is, it is just archived onto Google’s search engine for the world to read. She is entitled to her hateful opinion but she is going to have business lost to it. Peers will soon catch on and stop referring her too. I will not repeat what she said, only that it is filled with hate and aimed at a certain demographic of sexually orientated people.

I can’t stress enough that nothing you write is personal anymore. Friends can quickly become enemies and take screen shots of your “private” social media accounts for all the world to see. Don’t ever write anything on your personal pages that you wouldn’t want to proudly read- out-loud- in front of a client or potential client.

As a business professional, you don’t have a personal life. Your clients’ lives are your obligation- both personally and professionally when it comes to branding and visibility. Voicing your own opinions online (even via a personal account) will harm your own reputation- right or wrong, this is the culture we live in.

Keep it professional and keep those negative or opinionated posts off of social media!

Twyla Garrett

The Making of a YouTube Video -101

This week I've been discussing marketing and how to help your start-up with a little (or none) marketing budget. Today, however, I want to talk about YouTube. Now, I will say that I'm not a big video fan. Having YouTube videos will not make or break my company, but I work in a specialized field. Most companies, on the other hand, do need a YouTube video - or some type of video introduction to their company- in order to stay competitive in today's social media market.

If you are pondering making your own YouTube video, you're at the right place. I decided to do some research and put together a mini-guide (below) on the proper way to create a YouTube video for your company and marketing purposes.

How to Create a YouTube video 101.

First, consider the proper timing when sketching out the frames and script for your video. A great YouTube video should be between one and three minutes. Being concise and to the point is just as important as being timely. Videos that are too short have proven themselves to be ineffective. Videos that are over three minuets statistically bore the customer and you lose business.

Make sure you explain what your company is, who you are, and what services you provide within the first thirty seconds. Yes, timing is everything. Be upfront about who you are and what you're all about. You don't want to bank on a busy professional sitting to the end of the video to grasp an understanding of what it is you do or sell.

Do you have room for a call to action? You should! A video shouldn't just be a video about your company's products or services. It should have a call to action in the video. Make sure you are clear when presenting the call to action and stay away from sales-like verbiage. Be clever with how you word your call to action.

Remain professional. I am not kidding when I say I have watched video after video where business owners are pitching products standing outside on a windy day. I can't hear what they are saying, so why did these people put their terribly produced videos online? Don't they know this hurts their companies? You don't have to have a budget to make a professional video- as long as you use common sense. Your video has to be clear and look professional as much as it needs to be entertaining.

Still have questions? Leave me a message below and I will be happy to personally respond to all of your YouTube and video questions.

In the meantime, check out the 5 most hated YouTube videos via this link: http://gizmodo.com/5866695/the-five-most-hated-youtube-videos-in-internet-history Happy marketing,

Twyla