Social Media Short Cuts

instagram, marketing plans, Marketing Strategy, social media, Uncatergorized

For most seasoned professionals, unless it’s a personal account, social media is just a hassle. A big time suck. They know they must have an “online presence” but in secrecy they don’t really care if they have one or not. They just want clients and customers.

So they post and publish because they must, not because they enjoy it or want to. And that inevitably leads to the desire for short cuts. Who doesn’t love a short cut really? I am all for reducing time, energy and resources whenever I can.

But, there is a problem with this shoddy approach to managing your professional social media. Basically potential customers and clients can see you don’t care. People can see it and smell it from miles away and you know what else, it takes up so much space on what could be a great online experience. There are so many ‘same as‘/’me too‘ blogs, articles, tweets and videos spread throughout the web, taking up so much real estate. Pure clutter and typically never creative. And this type of “content” never gets any engagement.

Short Cuts Lead To No Where

I have a remarkable client who is an author, business strategist and personal development coach. He’s bright, enthusiastic and very ambitious. I am helping him launch a brilliant new book that he wrote about how to go from idea to reality with your new business or brand without a marketing degree. Okay, so actually, I wrote the book for him, but he paid me and it’s his.

Along with writing the book, I created a marketing plan to launch it. The plan is packed with everything he needs to do, from book signings to podcasts to blog content, influencer outreach and ways to propel the book into an online learning experience so he can make additional money off the concept. I outlined the book in a way that would make it easy for him to do everything step-by-step.

Now he and I are truly fond of each other but we have also argued a lot. That is until recently when he finally admitted I was right.

So, what did we argue about? We argued about the fact that he wasn’t bothering to follow the marketing plan that I created for him. The plan to launch the book.

He didn’t say it, but I know what he was thinking . . .this is too much work, I want/need an easier way. There must be a short cut – especially with social media.

You see, he thought the plan was overwhelming and you know what, launching anything is overwhelming. The fact is, whether you are finally offering your consulting services on line, launching a new book or starting a fashion or food business, it is a huge amount of work. And, it typically takes years to build momentum and brand awareness. Everyone thinks it’s so easy.

So we argued about how he wanted to start with Facebook ads first. Bad idea! Especially when you have 100 likes on your page and a few measly posts with 0 engagement. It’s much smarter to build a fan base, post witty and interesting videos every day and then boost a popular post with a few bucks. At least you know it got some traction without dollars behind it. Do the same thing on Instagram.

Take Smart Cuts, Not Short Cuts

So you just can’t rifle your way through social media and expect results. Yeah, there are no short cuts, but you can take smart cuts. You can develop a more thoughtful approach to social media with the limited amount of time that you have in your day.

One of my favorites smart cuts is to listen to your clients and customers.

You know the same old questions your clients ask you about in real life? Write individual blog posts about your answers to those questions. 1. You know the answer 2. These are popular questions. Popular questions get more attention.

If you need help with a marketing strategy or plan, please reach out at hello@mj.works I would love to learn more about what you are working on.

How To Efficiently Create The Most Interesting Online Presence

building brand trust, Content strategy, content writing

It seems like the only news that goes viral is that which is sensationalized. So how are you, as a business owner, or a personal brand, going to captivate new followers on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn? How can you be more interesting on line? How can you become a magnet for curious customers and clients?

Every new business owner I work with struggles with the same issue. On the one hand they know they should “put themselves out there” on social media. They completely understand the power of blogging and vlogging (video blogging) but at the same time they are overwhelmed and confused about the type of articles and videos they should produce and share.

Then of course comes the “who has time for all of this?” question. Yes, producing “content” is time-consuming.

So, just how do you prove your own worth on social media in the most efficient way possible? How can you get others to listen to what you have to say? How do you become noticed when there is so much “noise”? How do you cut through the clutter and really stand out?

The truth is, you don’t have to write every single post that you publish or create a new video every week. Each platform provides a way for you to share posts that are already popular, making you the DJ or curator of interesting content.

On Twitter you can retweet and share trending tweets that are getting the most engagement. Simply search for the topic you are most interested in #health #fitness #fashion #beauty and retweet posts that are getting the most likes and follows. Of course you want to make sure that the content you are sharing is in line with your values and is of interest to the followers you already have. On Instagram you can use an app like Repost to share popular videos and photos from those you admire and respect.

Here is a helpful article on how to share popular posts on LinkedIn as well.

Remember, you need to vet (carefully examine) the best content that has the most comments, likes and shares.

I am here to help you with your social strategy. Feel free to send me your questions by commenting below or drop me a line at hello@mj.works

Yours in Service,

Madeline Johnson

The Biggest Mistake Made On Social Media

social media, social media marketing, social media statistics, Uncatergorized

One of the biggest mistakes I see almost every company making on social media, especially Instagram and Facebook, is treating these networking platforms like they are a place to showcase their work without interacting with potential customers and clients.

Most brand managers and business owners will spend too much time worrying about what to post and too little time liking, commenting and sharing on other people’s posts. They treat social media like it’s a one way street and a platform to show off, rather than a place to genuinely connect with new clients and customers.

Think of it this way. If you were going to go to a cocktail party (think of Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, etc. like a cocktail party), and you were going to talk about yourself the entire time (only posting), people would get completely turned off.

You must spend equal amounts of time posting and interacting with your followers and those that don’t follow you yet. Spend an hour or so a day discovering new content and teach out to customers and clients that are like yours and start liking, commenting (in real full sentences) and sharing their posts. Then watch how fast you build a following.

How does this work? Everyone loves to see a new notification with a comment on their post. What is the first thing you do when you see that comment? You read it and find out who did the posting. This act of “discovery” is a surefire way to building a real, true and authentic account.

Need help with your social media strategy? Reach out via email at hello@mj.works and follow me @madelinemariejohnson on Instagram.

Your Best Website Yet

building brand trust, content writing, website design

Your website is one of your best tools to help you attract clients and customers. A great website is designed to be of benefit to the people you are trying to attract and serve.

You are a benefit when you are helpful.

You see, if you’re not helping your customers or clients. you’re selling them and most people don’t want to be sold anything. They want to learn. They want to educate themselves.

Your job as a business owner or marketer is to help your website visitors. If you really want to be of value, help, don’t sell.

What does that mean exactly?

It’s simple really. Think about all of the questions your customers and clients ask you on any given day and answer them on your website and your social media profiles.

You can do this in the form of blog posts or create a FAQ (frequently asked questions) page.

If you need help designing your website or would like a free audit, drop me a line at hello@mj.works

Optimizing Your Google Business Listing

Google Business Listing, Marketing Technology, Measureable Marketing, Pop up Retail, video marketing

I am in the middle of building a marketing strategy to increase revenue for a health and wellness center for a Doctor of Naturopathic medicine in Middlesex County, New Jersey. He has outstanding patient testimonials, has transformed people’s lives with his seven-week detoxification cleanse and a growing base of 15 five star Google reviews.

I strongly believe that his practice will continue to build on word-of-mouth recommendations and friend and family referrals, however he has to be prepared for potential patients who will do their due diligence. They will Google him and his practice. So of course the marketing plan I am creating for him recommends that he polish up his Google Business Listing.

How do you optimize a Google Business Listing in 2019?

With 30 second videos of course.

Last January 2018, Google started testing videos on business listings.

Here are the video guidelines. . .

Google says that once you upload your video it can take up to 24 hours for it to display, but some may upload in minutes.

I am recommending a 30 second video for each one of the doctor’s services (my client) that include quick testimonials from patients.

Video one – The doctor asking his top three questions for his initial consultation and health assessment (with a patient).
Video two – The doctor surrounded by foods to detoxify the body while discussing the benefits of his seven-week cleanse.

Ideas for your local listing. . .

After you’ve decided what video you want to upload to your Google Business listing, make sure the video follows these guidelines:

Google My Business Video Max Duration: 30 seconds
Google My Business Video Max File size: 100 MB
Google My Business Video Min Resolution: 720p

What Kind of Google My Business Videos Should You Create?

Customers enjoying your delicious, healthy meals.
What goes on during a complimentary consultation.
Live music and happy hour fun.

Think about the misconceptions that customers and clients have about your business.

Maybe they think –

Your clothing is too pricey.
Your meals are loaded with butter.
You don’t offer any vegan or gluten-free options.
You don’t take their health insurance.
You never have live music.

Make sure to address those misconceptions in your video.

Need help marketing your business. Reach out via comments here or drop me a line at hello@mj.works

6 Rules to Make Sure Your Marketing Messages Don’t Smell Like Spam

Email Marketing, marketing demographics, Marketing in the Moment, Marketing Mavens, Marketing Strategy, Measureable Marketing, Uncatergorized

Nobody wants to spam their customers, but most do it anyway. Spam isn’t just about the quantity of emails and marketing you do you. It’s also about the quality.

Rule 1

Make a promise to yourself to never underestimate the intelligence of your customer or client. People are much smarter than you give them credit for and every time you send them an email or lead them down a drip campaign that smells like spam, you lose any form of trust that you were hoping to get.

When you are building a business, trust is everything.

Follow these surefire ways to build trust with your future customers.

Rule 2

Marketing messages that over promise and under deliver and sound too good to be true not only smell like spam, they taste like it too. Keep your claims and benefits realistic and believable.

Rule 3

So don’t use unnecessary words to describe your product or service. It’s better to describe what your offer is in a more clear and precise way than to add on adjectives that lose their meaning. Another benefit of writing concise copy – it can be read and understood faster and easier.

Rule 4

Speaking of wasting another’s time, that is exactly what spamming does. If your email or landing page copy takes more than a minute to read or watch you have wasted everyone’s time. Get to the point as soon as you can. People are smarter than you think and don’t enjoy being lead down a long, boring sales funnel.

Rule 5

Especially if you are trying to put a squeeze on their decision making. People are on to your tactics and they aren’t going to buy into your limited time only offer. Knock it off. If they are looking for what you are selling and you have a superior product, they’ll buy it. No need to put the squeeze play on. It’s a total turn off.

Rule 6

Please price your products competitively. The more time it takes to understand how much you want for that product or service you are selling the more frustrated your customer will become. Be upfront and make sure your price is sensitive to competitive pricing. If it’s higher, be prepared to explain why and if it’s too low, you risk looking like a cheaper and lower value offer.

Would you like me to review your marketing messages? Drop me a link at hello@mj.works – I am happy to connect.

Your Top 5 Health & Fitness Marketing Questions Answered

Marketing Strategy, personalized brand experience

Q. I’m launching my business in two months, when should I start marketing my business. A. Now.
Q. How should I begin marketing my business on line? A. With a marketing plan and a clear strategy.
Q. Should I start with Facebook and Instagram Ads? A. No. Start with organic posts first.
Q. How can I increase sales on my website? A. Brand awareness through links to your site.
Q. Where do I find influencers to review my products. A. Instagram

Do you have a question about how to grow your new idea? I have helped hundreds of brands start their businesses online. If you need guidance, you can email me at hello@mj.works or reach out on Upwork. You can find my profile here.

Helping Health, Beauty, Fashion & Fitness Brands Grow Their Businesses

Beauty pr, Brand Awareness, business, Clients, digital content strategy, Fashion Marketing, fashion PR, Fitness, Fitness Marketing, instagram, instagram insight, media relations, Public Relations, social networking

As a business marketing coach, I specialize in helping people who are creating and building anything that makes you look and feel great. This includes designers, doctors, trainers, and formulators in health, fashion, fitness and beauty.

Today I will be interviewed by Tyler Wagner on The Business Blast podcast. He’s received over 130 five star reviews and after listening to his profiles, I highly recommend adding him to your list of business growth gurus.

Working with Wellness Professionals

Health & Wellness Clients

Most recently, I have been working with Duke University’s Dr. Adam Perlman. He is a doctor of functional medicine based out of Charleston, SC and now moving over to Mayo Clinic. I built his website (WordPress) and a series of 28 videos to kick off his blog on alternative therapies in health and wellness and a new type of health & fitness concept that he helped build called Synchronicity. This project had me reaching out to influencers in nutrition, fitness, meditation, yoga, cryotherapy and flotation tanks for collaborations with Dr. Perlman. I did all of the leg work and production and collaborated with Travis and Aja on video and graphics.

Starting Up with Skincare

I just finished a project helping launch @soonkskincare a new Korean skincare brand with a smaller marketing budget. I helped the team by reaching out to vanity media (Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue, etc) and at the same time micro bloggers in the beauty space on Instagram. I wrote the pitches, DM’d the bloggers and connected them with skincare enthusiasts around the world. This led to Soon Skincare getting noticed by Nordstroms for a holiday pop up.

New Fashion Frontiers

Day-to-day I help run the business side of things with the designer of Orseund Iris, an emerging fashion brand. We just launched on Net A Porter this past November and I am happy to say we are into our second buy from them and Bella, Beyonce and Kim are still asking for styles, so we remain humble and continue to create beautiful apparel and accessories for women around the world.

Fitness on Instagram

I am in the midst of creating a guide to getting started on Instagram as a fitness brand guide. This will be a lead generation tool for Fitness Mentors, a study guide site for personal trainers trying to pass the very difficult NASM tests. The guide will include how to develop fitness tutorials that are helpful, useful and valuable to followers, unique hashtag strategies to broaden audience and target new followers along with collaborating with others trainers to build a community of loyalists.

Emotional Intelligence

I have a passion project that I am working on and it is

called www.undisputedorigin.com.

It is a website devoted to self-awareness and emotional intelligence. I write each morning about something I am learning about myself and others. I pair each essay with beautiful artwork and credit the artist and post to Instagram. I am devoted to learning each day and read a wide variety of books which I also recommend on the site. I spend equal amount of time writing as I do reading and following other sites on the topic of mindfulness and self-improvement. I believe this practice is important for any business to build brand awareness. Your work can be great but it must be discovered by others.

How to Become a Thought Leader in Any Industry

How to Do Your Own PR, Influencer marketing, madeline johnson, marketing plans, personal branding, Thought Leadership, video marketing, website design, Wordpress website

Sometimes I work with individuals who are interested in developing their own personal “brand”. They want to create what is currently called a “thought leadership” position on the internet and social media. This will develop opportunties to meet more clients, customers and well, maybe even new friends.

Often, these clients will have years and years of real-life experience and talent but little knowledge of how to bring that to the world wide web. They know it’s the smart thing to do, the next step in their career and a way to stay relevant, but they don’t know where to begin. It’s foreign territory and it feels uncomfortable.

What is a thought leader exactly?

Someone who demonstrates knowledge and authority on a specific subject that targets their potential customer or client.

“Thought leaders become the go-to people in their field of expertise. They are trusted sources who inspire people with innovative ideas”

For the past four months, I have been working with Dr. Adam Perlman, Co-founder of Synchronicity, a Charleston, South Carolina company developing next-generation wellbeing centers. He is also an adjunct Associate Professor of Medicine at Duke University, and from 2011 to 2017 was the Associate Vice President for Health and Wellness for the Duke University Health System as well as Executive Director for Duke Integrative Medicine. He’s currently the Director of Duke’s Leadership Program in Integrative Healthcare.

We started with a meeting to brainstorm Adam’s core messages, what he felt the world needed most.

Once we nailed down his messages, I created a plan to develop three months (posting once a week on his WordPress blog) of video content. Why video?

Adam is good on video. If he wasn’t easy on the eye, knowledgable and relatable, I would have rethought this approach.
Videos are more impactful and consumers of social media content want more of it.

How to Develop Your Own Personal Brand

No matter where you work or what you do, you need to be continually developing your connections, influence, professional relationships and your network.

A personal/professional website and social media allow you to scale this process on a regional, national and worldwide level. As long as you are creating helpful and useful blog and video content with the proper organic SEO and hashtag strategy you will be assisting others in a very valuable way. At the same time, commenting and sharing your point of view with others in health and wellness or whatever field you are in you will develop an influential presence.

A website and social media functions similarly to a resume or a CV. This is also a place for your own personal portfolio. A platform for you to write, offer video sessions and also share books you have written and/or possibly consult and build other businesses in the future.
Most reporters, journalists and influencers will search for your name online, you want to control what they discover. They shouldn’t have to patchwork pieces of your CV from different websites or LinkedIn. Your website is a great introduction to you and your unique point of view. Most importantly, your own published content will help them write or produce stories that are more accurate and true to your point of view.
If you are pitching yourself as an expert to the media or collaborating with other influencers, most writers and producers want to know who is behind the brand. What the backstory is all about. How the idea evolved. A website and social media gives you the opportunity to highlight your experience and showcase your work and gives you some control over your image and reputation. It will help fill in the blanks for Synchronicity and give the wellness centers more credibility.
Your website online platform where you have the freedom to share your own opinion, this includes the inclusion of photos, work studies, and testimonials.

The website will also assist you in growing your likes, followers and engagement with those interested in your work, which will benefit you and your future projects.

Your own website & social media platforms give you the freedom to try other types of approaches to your community, now and in the future and express yourself the way you want to at any given time.
Your voice may convince and convert future clients and customers and become a vital part of lead generation for future members. It may be an article or video that you product that influences them to become interested in your business endeavors.

If you are stuck and don’t know where to begin, get in touch. You can email me at hello@mj.works or DM me @madelinemariejohnson on Instagram. I am here to help.

How to Pitch The Media & Win Over Influencers on A Very Tight Budget

Beauty pr, Brand Awareness, collaborations, digital content strategy, How to Do Your Own PR, Influencer marketing, Marketing Technology, media relations, Owned Media, press liaison, Public Relations, Uncatergorized

Every day I speak with business owners from around the world. Personal trainers, nutritionists, physicians, cosmetic formulators, fashion designers, spa owners, hair stylists, pharmaceutical companies and so on. I really specialize in anything that makes us look and feel good. New exercise classes, superfood snacks, wearable tech, athletic wear, healthy food services, a breakthrough drug, beautiful apparel, etc.

It’s a part of what I do each day and I learn so much about the real pain points that entrepreneurs face as they try to expand their business and build brand awareness.

Every so often I will post real questions from brave bosses and start-up founders hustling to create their dream businesses. Everybody seems to have similar problems and questions, even though they are in different industries. They’re all trying to figure out this marketing game.

I am a business marketing consultant trying to help them. Sometimes I consult and sometimes I build strategies to help organize entrepreneurs so there not marketing by the seat of their pants. I meet all these brave souls on sites like Upwork, LinkedIn Profinder, YouTube, Angel.co, Clarity.fm, etc.

I love working with startups and passionate people in general. It just makes the day better. They are working on the coolest things. What kinds of things? Apps to help us stick to our diet when we eat out; evidence-based reviews of alternative therapies like acupuncture and cryotherapy; a new health and wellness club that incorporates the newest in tech like DNA testing; a seasonless line of women’s wear with styles that enhance what you already have in your closet; a better bone broth; a way to help people allocated their paycheck and a path to financial wellness, and so forth.

One particular entrepreneur/blogger was looking to pitch journalists about her new website. She is obsessed with how technology is helping women stay healthier and live longer.

She sent the link to her new website and had placeholders for blog posts and zero social media content, but she wanted to build a plan to pitch the media and collaborate with influencers to build her network.

Her questions –

1) Can I use the same pitch for lifestyle and health (journalists)?

Short answer, no. Best practices include tailoring the pitch to each individual writer and website/program. General pitching is rarely picked up unless it is a very timely news story. Pitching should be thoughtful. You’re developing relationships with these writers and you won’t be off on the right foot if you start with “here’s my story, now please write it.”

2) Which news categories should I target?

Health + tech. I’d start with those two categories. It helps if you do a Google news search to see who is hot on your topic. Just search in Google News and read the first ten most recent articles. Recent is important. In this ever-changing, fast-paced world, yesterday’s news is long gone. Then start a simple excel sheet and dig for the email address of the writers who are covering your topics. This will be the beginning of your media list.

3) Best channels (online platforms) to approach media for the site?

Email and Twitter. However, you need to start a relationship first. For example, you don’t just DM on Twitter. Retweet some of their stories, comment and like. Don’t just start pitching, it looks like stalking.

4) Other ideas you can provide to accelerate traction (brand awareness) on a tight budget?

Write or film amazing blog content and be the publisher of all things health + tech. That’s what you should be doing in the first place. Media attention and collaborations come naturally from producing excellent work built on honesty and integrity that gets shared.