An online presence is extremely important in the modern world where a good portion of business is conducted online. Building that online presence is actually incredibly easy. You can use these five easy steps to get you started.
Step One: Sign Up For Relevant Accounts & Sites
Before anything else, you must become a member of the sites you intend to use. Most people agree that a personal blog site is imperative. You can use that as your base of operations since the rules of the site are your own. Social media is also important, but each site will have it’s own rules and regulations. Your blog is your own, pure and simple. Think about what you want to do on your sites, and go from there. If you want to share instructional videos, sign up for YouTube. If you enjoy sharing small bits of information or personal ramblings, Twitter is a good choice. If you intend on sharing pictures, go with Instagram or Pinterest. Facebook and Google+ are generally good places to share numerous items. You can feel free to sign up for multiple sites in additional to your blog, but don’t spread yourself too thin. Only set up a number of accounts you have the time to be active on.
Step Two: Fully Set Up Your Profiles
Now that you have signed up for the sites you intend to use, fully set up your profile. Include all possible information and link your accounts together as possible. Ensure you have a profile picture, and that the purpose of your sites is obvious- whether it be an account for an entire business or for you as an expert in your field. People will often overlook or un-follow accounts which are not completed.
Step Three: Begin Connecting
Once you have fully set up your profiles, you can begin to connect with others. Reach out to other businesses, professionals, and those who will be interested in what you are sharing. Join relevant groups and ask others to share your pages. You will be surprised at just how many people are willing to share your page forward to their own followers, although sometimes you must offer something in return.
Step Four: Start Sharing
Once you have set the wheels in motion for people to come to your page, start sharing. Write posts, re-tweet or share things other people have posted, and engage your consumers. The most efficient practice is to mix your posts up. Some of these posts should offer relevant information, and others should be used to make your page more personal. Finally, some posts should be promotional in nature. There is a very thin line you must walk to keep these types of posts balanced. Let’s say you post once a day, which is equivalent to seven posts per week. Of these seven posts you could have three informative posts, two re-tweets or shares, one promotional post, and one post engaging your followers to do something. Engagement posts can be asking your followers to answer a question, take a survey, offer an opinion, take a poll, or a variety of other things.
Step Five: Engage With Others
Although you have already begun to engage your readers in step four, you will now want to actively engage with them. Instead of simply sharing things that give your readers something to do, you can now start to respond to them. Become an active part of conversations on your sites. During this step, you can also begin to more actively reach out to other professionals in order to expand your network. Networking is extremely important in social media, and the more contacts you have the better.
Tips
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Stay active on all your sites. Post on social media at least three or four times per week, along with a minimum of one blog post per week. Remember that more is better just so long as you are not spamming your followers.
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Be personal and helpful on your pages. Don’t just promote yourself and your business over and over again. No one will stay interested.
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Be unique and interesting. Keep people guessing as to what you are going to post next.
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Update your account information as often as is relevant. Do not allow the information on your sites to become stale or irrelevant.
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Ensure your profile pictures are all professional, high-quality images.
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Running Rafflecopter giveaways with other businesses and professionals can help to greatly increase your followers. This is especially helpful when you first set up your accounts. Plan one of your own and reach out to others, or look for one needing applicants.
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Don’t get frustrated if it seems things are going slowly. An online presence is not built over time. It takes plenty of time, effort, skill, and planning to be successful.
