Now, on with the interview…
As a caveat, I should point out that my business is completely an online business. Any time I spend promoting my business falls into that category of promoting my business online. In a typical week I spend between ten to fifteen hours a week creating my presence online. This includes creating content for my blog and participating on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest.
Funny, I was just talking about this with someone else so it is fresh in my mind. This isn’t a short process and you never really “finish”.
1. Figure out what your goal is in creating your online presence? What is motivating you? Is it money, is it a hobby, is it a passion of yours?
2. Research the other “voices” in your space. Listen and go to events to learn more about the latest developments online from peers and experts.
3. Take every opportunity to learn new things.
4. Images are really important. That is particularly true in the food/parenting/lifestyle industry. Whenever you can include an image on something you post, do so.
5. Develop a unique voice and perspective and post regularly.
6. Whenever possible, have someone else read your writing before you publish.
One of my favorite mentors once told me to always think “ready, fire, aim”. It means, don’t wait to get things perfect, get work out there and you can tweak it later.
Imagine going into a cocktail party or networking event and you see someone there and they are just talking and talking about themselves. You really wouldn’t want to interact with that person, would you? Social media is like that cocktail party. You need to listen more then you talk. Be conscious of your audience and interact with them. Don’t just talk at them.
I have found Twitter to be very beneficial for reaching other businesses, bloggers, journalists and other thought leaders and establishing relationships. It is like a networking event where everyone I want to interact with but I never have access to is attending. I identify people who might be strategically valuable to the Scramble. I follow them, listen to what they tweet or blog to learn what interests them, build a relationship by interacting with them and build to the point where I can ask them about whatever partnership opportunity I have in mind.
On Facebook, I have a direct relationship with my customers. For me it is a focus group. I can ask questions and see what people respond to and what interests them. The recent changes in the algorithm are making it harder to reach my whole audience though. It is a good reminder to not put all my eggs in one basket.
I am on Pinterest as well and am playing with it but I would say that is still a work in progress and I am figuring things out.
Yes. Be involved in the details! Peek under the hood. Don’t ever think that something is too technical or too menial for your involvement. You will be surprised what you will find. Just recently I was able to solve a big problem we were having with SEO indexing just by poking around my content management system. Success means getting dirt (proverbial or not) under your fingernails.)
To learn more about Aviva and her Bethesda, Maryland based business, visit The Scramble, PBS Parents.org (where she is a weekly contributor to Kitchen Explorer, or connect with her on Twitter or Pinterest.