The Social Media Butterfly Newsletter - Social Media Success Strategies, Never Run Out of Social Media Ideas and Two Upcoming Free Webinars

In this edition of the Social Media Butterfly newsletter, learn about social media strategies any professional can implement today, how to never run out of social media ideas, two cool new LinkedIn features you should start using and a few free upcoming webinars.

I'd love to hear more about the kind of content you'd like to see in this newsletter - feel free to message me here on LinkedIn, and follow/connect with me on?LinkedIn?and?YouTube?and?sign up for my e-newsletter?for more on these topics.

Social Media Success Strategies Any Professional Can Implement Today

Social media has been one of the key ways I built my brand and business over the years. It took time and dedication, but once I figured out how to use social media, it wasn’t hard.

A major factor in my social media success was in building my audience’s trust through sustaining an authentic brand persona - meaning being myself.

I did this by sticking to my content pillars – the areas of expertise for which I wanted to be known that were in my wheelhouse.

I didn't brag about myself. I aimed to always help others and provide value. I wasn't shy about being myself or being vulnerable at times. I told stories.

I knew that not everyone would like me and that's okay - that's why there is an unfollow button :)

A key lesson I learned was that I didn’t need to be on every social media channel.

It’s better to choose one or two and do it right. For me, LinkedIn is the primary social network where I focus my efforts because that’s where my clients are.

I do recommend that even if you’re not planning on using other social platforms, claim your domain names on them so that somebody else doesn’t. Upload your logo on those platforms and a link to your website in the contact info section at the bare minimum.

Make sure to not post the same content on every social media platform. It’s simply just not one size fits all when it comes to how you use images and hashtags on each platform.

It’s also so important to post frequently in order to build your brand and clout on social media.

If you’re not posting with a regular cadence, you won’t be visible, and if you’re not visible, you’re forgettable, so focus on the frequency of your posts while also focusing on their quality.

Quality is always more important than the quantity of your posts.

But overposting is a thing - so don’t post more than once a day or you will hurt the reach of your posts.

Spending time learning everything you can about the algorithm of the social platforms on which you want to be successful will be key to your success. (That’s why you don’t see me posting links in my posts because LinkedIn doesn’t like when we do that!)

Building relationships with others and giving back without expecting anything in return is another core part of your success because social media is at its core a community.

I hope these tips have given you ideas for enhancing your social media presence.

How to Never Run Out of Social Media Post Ideas

Are you struggling when it comes to what to write on LinkedIn? Well you’re not alone.

Here are some tips to keep in mind when crafting posts that will help them resonate with your network and help you get more followers.

Make sure your posts always do at least one of five things:

• Educate
• Entertain
• Inform
• Inspire
• Empower

If your post does more than one of these – even better! You get bonus points.

I recommend creating an Excel spreadsheet or Google doc so you can keep a running list of ideas for posts in each of these areas.

Map these ideas to your content pillars, which are five or so areas that align with your strengths and opportunities on which all of your content will focus.

Just don’t waste your social media posts bragging about your recent accomplishments and awards. Instead make them about your audience.

Even if people like the posts where you discuss winning an award or closing a recent deal, it’s largely because they feel obligated to do so.

You should be providing value to others, helping your audience, giving back and highlighting others in your social media posts.

Always think show versus tell when it comes to sharing updates on any social platform. Also, there is no such thing as giving away too much information or tips on social media.

In fact, giving away information of value without expecting anything in return should be the goal of everything you post on social media.

Don’t worry about giving away your “secrets.” That’s how you build your brand, clout and following. Besides they will still need you to implement your ideas and there’s only so much you can really "give away" in a social media post.

Then watch your network grow and the opportunities that come from it will as well.

Two Cool LinkedIn Features You Should Start Using

There are two new LinkedIn features that will make your LinkedIn experience more efficient and effective. Watch the video (by the way you can imbed videos in LinkedIn newsletters from YouTube or other sources - how cool!) and read below for more about them.

One is the bell ?? notification - it enables you to receive notifications every time someone posts an update that you don’t want to miss (like clients, VIP contacts and people whose posts provide value to you - like maybe even me?).

Just go to their profile, look for the bell on the top right hand side under the cover story (see the example here in my good friend Paula Edgar's profile), select it and then their posts will appear in your Notifications section. I've been saying for years just how useful the Notifications section is for business development and relationship building purposes, so use it to your advantage!

The second new feature is that you now have the ability to put hyperlinks in your About section, which is essentially your bio on LinkedIn.

You don’t have to do anything special other than just copying and pasting full URLs. This makes it much easier for individuals to click on links as well as your email. I would recommend you put a link to your website, your blog and your contact info.

You may not be able to see the hyperlinks on the desktop version of LinkedIn, but when you go to the mobile version of LinkedIn, they are there in blue as you can see from my profile here.

This is an easy way for people to connect with you rather than search for your contact info, which can be a little hard to find sometimes if you don’t know where to look for it. Just make sure to fill out your full contact info in the appropriately named “contact info” section too (wink wink).

I think both of these tools are very useful and help us be more effective in using LinkedIn. What do you think?

Join Me For How to Use LinkedIn for Lead Generation, Brand Building and Client Retention on February 25

With nearly every business professional on LinkedIn and your LinkedIn profile either being your first or second Google search result, it’s never been more important to have a strong LinkedIn presence.

This program on February 25 at 1pm will take you through how to use LinkedIn to generate business, build stronger relationships with your clients and strategically expand your network as well as appropriately share your successes to demonstrate your value. I will also cover changes in LinkedIn's algorithm and how to use some of LinkedIn's newest features (Creator Mode, LinkedIn Cover Story, LinkedIn Cover Image, Featured Section and LinkedIn Polls). Register for the February 25 webinar.

Effectively Marketing Your Small and Mid-Size Law Firm in 2022 and Beyond

A lot has changed over the past two years since the pandemic, but one thing hasn’t – and that’s the fact that small- and mid-size law firms need to market themselves to stay top of mind with clients and referrals in a crowded and competitive market.

Join me for a webinar on February 24 at 1pm ET on how to more effectively manage your social media and content marketing, event strategy, competitive intelligence, pipeline, business development and lead generation efforts all with an eye on keeping costs low without scrimping on quality.

Follow me on?LinkedIn?and?YouTube?and?sign up for my e-newsletter?for more on these topics.