Have you started planning your goals for 2015 and wondering how you’re going to achieve them? You know the expression ‘fail to prepare, prepare to fail’? Without planning, you can feel a bit like you are stuck amongst the cogs of a machine, like you are constantly turning the wheels but not recognising your achievements and more importantly, not celebrating them either! I’m noticing that social media is playing a much bigger role now in how I set out to achieve my goals. Here’s a snapshot of my goals for 2015 with some suggestions for how you can use social media to achieve your goals.
My goals for 2015:
Ghost writing: Part of my business is writing blog posts and website copy for clients – I’d like to secure two more long-term clients for regular blogging. I’ve found Twitter and LinkedIn to be instrumental in developing and continuing relationships with business people – some of whom go on to request copywriting.
Training courses: Our plans for We Teach Social, our business for social media elearning courses, we’ll be using a variety of media to grow this side of our business. This part of the business is also B2B (Business to Business), hence LinkedIn is also invaluable in terms of growing awareness of the training offered – in terms of individual training, group training and online courses.
Book sales: Sales of my book Would You Marry A Farmer? have a particular target market and I find my blog, twitter and facebook page essential in gaining press coverage and growing sales. Traditional media still has a huge place in increasing sales and I find that my social media contributes to achieving free press coverage. Looking at my press and reviews page on my other website, I know that my social media presence is responsible for helping me secure at least two third of the press and reviews. When I was recently asked to be a panelist on the daytime show Midday, the invitation came via a DM on twitter. I have plans to bring a second book out in September and will be using social media and traditional media to publicise it. I also wish to secure a paid column position and I know that my social media content as well as my following will have a bearing on decisions made by employers.
Planning Your 2015 Goals:
I’ve just noticed that Pinterest is letting users to look back on their 2014 pins by showing them a overview of their pins. Here’s a link to mine! They are also encouraging them to use Pinterest to plan what they want to try in 2015.
Do you use social media to get to know other people, to engage with them and to let them see the personality behind your business. Do you use Facebook to share articles and material that you believe your target will enjoy. Do you use twitter to share articles but also to chat and to share opinions. LinkedIn provides your online curriculum vitae, many valuable connections and the potential for worthy discussions within the groups – not only can you learn from others but you can share your own expertise too. Pinterest can be used for planning, learning and sharing knowledge. All have the potential to drive traffic to your website, generate leads, and help with sales and bookings.
If you are thinking that you would like to improve your social media in 2015, have a look at our latest social media ebook. Entitled 365 Social Media Tips and available on Amazon, it is designed to help you master social media one day at a time by learning how to use the various tried and tested tips we share with you. I co-authored it with my Blog Awards Ireland and We Teach Social partner Amanda Webb. We even found that we learnt loads from each other as we brainstormed the tips we wanted to share with our readers. Somehow, I had never noticed that if you click on the ‘number of people reached’ under your facebook updates, it provides you with lots of data as to the interaction, click throughs to your website and any negative feedback. Were you aware of that tip?
Amanda had been confused by some of the recent changes to Pinterest so I was able to help her out with those. Have you ever noticed that so many of the social media tools are tricky until someone shows you how to use them efficiently and then you forget that you once found it difficult? It’s all easy when you know how.
Many of our 365 social media tips contain illustrations to make them easier to follow. There’s over sixty tips on each of the main social media platforms plus many tips on various tools to make your usage more efficient and effective. Do take a look at the sample and if you wish to purchase, the book is £3.65 (approx €4.99) on Amazon.co.uk and $5.99 on Amazon.com. You can read the tips a week at a time, a month or a time or make it your new year’s resolution to try out a tip each and every day.
photo credit: Profound Whatever via photopin cc
