Running a competition or contest through social media is an activity every small business owner should consider. Not only does it allow you to expand awareness of your business, it gives a good reason for you to engage with fans and followers and vice versa. They are also a great way of enriching your data.

Facebook continues to be a great place to promote a quick and effective competition without the need to use a third party. However, there are still restrictions that the small business owner should be aware of https://www.facebook.com/page_guidelines.php

Not all competitions are as successful as they could be and they need to be well thought out and well timed. Is it worthwhile to participants – what are they getting in exchange for participating time or data?

A €15 euro book voucher may not have the same effect as a €50 hamper. Having said that a quick competition with easy interaction requirements such as like this picture or share why you should win may yield a good result if you have a busy fan page and you are just doing a spur of the moment giveaway to your fans.

If your campaign is in exchange for something of theirs then the prize needs to be more lucrative, something that the fans of your page are likely to be interested in.

I have often made reference to the fact that social media platforms are rented spaces. The most that you will know is there name and where they are, and unless your fans are messaging you and doing business with you, much of what you garner on your page is engagement and reaction.

So how can you bridge that gap? Create a competition that is alluring in exchange for data. This is where using a third party application such as Shortstack.com comes in handy.

Shortstack lets you create engaging campaigns, competitions and sweepstakes.
If you are just starting out you cam set up account for free, and get started with your first campaign. The first one hundred entries are free. After that you pay to play. Don't worry, they offer really great pricing with substantial discounts for annual membership.  Your first campaign might yield 40 entries, then you have 60 remaining for another.

It's a great way of growing your email list, which is data that you own and can progress with and regular competitions will help grow your list.

For more information on shortstack visit their website shortstack.com. Here is a useful infograph created by the Shortstack team – is your facebook contest legal 

If you would like help in introducing a competition into your social media marketing, message me. I have helped a few of my clients run campaigns and have seen their email lists grow.

You might also like to read about making the most of newsletters   

Keeping it socially simple
Micala 

With rentrée hot on our heels, and the lazy hazy days of summer rolling into autumn, it's back to business! Now is a good time to review and plan for the remainder of the year and move your business forward for 2018.

My little business is back with a bang too, with a series of affordable and timely workshops for small business owners. Marketing and promoting your business is non stop, and I have put together a series of workshops that will enhance your skill set and at the same time help you keep close to existing customers and potential new ones, without busting the bank. I use these skills in my own and client businesses, so I know they will be useful to yours.

Dare I say it, Christmas and other seasonal activities are on the horizon, it's time to give them some thought. You may have got stuck in a social media rut and need some inspiration or need to explore new ways of keeping in contact with your customers.

The first workshop takes place on September 12th. Visit the events link on my Facebook Page for more information:
https://www.facebook.com/pg/AlacimSocialMediaMarketing/events/?ref=page_internal

Keeping it socially simple
​Micala 

Small business owners are very often time starved. As well as the bureaucracy of running a business here in France, we are all required to 'manage' our business. That includes admin, sales, marketing, promoting and earning an income during the process.

One of the biggest time drains that we have is the amount of time spent on social media. Social media has become one of the most popular mediums for businesses of any size. It's a great way of keeping awareness of your business out there. While accessing social media platforms is free, for the small business owner it comes at a price... valuable use of time.

We all look to the social media experts, the gurus, who tell us when the exact best time to post is, what we should be posting. 2017 we Instagram and SnapChat have also become popular mediums to dabble in. Every year something new grabs our attention and just as we have fathomed the art of one platform, we feel compelled to stay up to date with another. 

But do you really need to add another media platform to the to do list? Just because others are doing it, do you? Where are your customers? Are they global or local? Do you have the time? Do you want 100 fans that are quality or 1000 fans that you just need to keep entertaining? Use social media platforms where you are likely to find your customers and use them well.  Better to work one or two extremely well than have half a dozen or more live accounts. There's more to social media marketing than posting the same post across half a dozen platforms. As with other marketing activity, social media requires research and planning. 

I prefer to keep it real and simple when it comes to self marketing for small business owners. It's about knowing what you have got, how you can create your story and share some sizzle to an identified audience. With little opportunity to offset expenses as an auto/micro entrepreneur, I want to help small business owners make better use of their time when it comes to self marketing with social media. Help them understand the tools that they can use to be more effective, help them share their story and encourage them to stop and see what's going on in their business so that they can plan ahead.  

Having my undivided attention via a Skype session will help you, the small business owner, understand the various social media platforms, decide which is best for your business and then work together to create a plan that will use your time more efficiently and effectively.  You will have plenty of hints and tips to put you on the road to social media marketing success. 

Social media has been with us long enough for us to know that it is never going to go away.  Get socially savvy with me and book your social media session with me.

You may also want to read articles about Facebook   
You may also want to read articles about Twitter 

Keeping it socially simple
​Micala 

Things change constantly with the social media landscape and Faceook is no exception. Over the course of many months, we have all seen various changes, some frustrating, some pleasant. One thing is certain, Facebook continues to be the number 1 platform of choice. Many business owners continue to use it, whether they love it or hate. There is always room for improvement, particularly when changes take place. There are also times when we get a bit of Facebook fatigue. Things become stagnant, we run out of ideas. 

Page owners need to be able to keep their page at the top of their game, the 10 tips below will certainly help. There are things beyond our control when it comes to Facebook... we cannot control the algorithm but we can control what we do with our page. It means keeping loyal fans happy and engaged and at the same time being creative and adventurous in acquiring new fans to join your page. It means reviewing your insights, seeing what others are doing, repeating what works well and dismissing what doesn't. Self marketing through social media is a constant and I hope the following tips are helpful in your self marketing quest. 
​ 

If you are a business owner with a Facebook page, then there is every likelihood that you are a member of a number of Facebook Groups in a personal and professional capacity. People join groups for a variety of reasons: commonality of topic, share ideas, get support, gather new information, build relationships, network, learn from others, make friends.

What you post can have the power to influence. Your actions and interactions can work in favour of your business or work against it. As a Facebook page owner, would you agree that you are responsible for managing your professional reputation wherever you participate?

Take for example France. France has a lot of community minded groups where fellow English speakers congregate. There are a number of professional groups where English speaking businesses congregate to ply their trade and network with others. With groups comes ones thoughts, in the form of opinions and comment. As a business owner be mindful of how you are contributing in non professional groups. It is easy to type from head straight to keyboard with very little thought about content and tone... with posters erring on the side of “I have a right to express my opinion”. Yes you do, you also have a duty of self discipline – to make sure that what you are saying is in the best interests of not just yourself but the person a comment is intended for and others who will see it. Would you just holla out loud in the middle of SuperU under the guise of 2I have a right to freedom of speech2??

Please don't be fooled into thinking that because a group is closed that you can say/play how you like as the likelihood is that the same people are also on many other groups professional or otherwise. People's perception is their reality and when you are playing less than professionally in a commonality group and then hop on over to a professional group – guess what – an opinion of you is formed already. For many of us we are operating in a business to consumer environment and when a business owner with a Facebook page is trying to win over potential customers from this platform – you need to make sure that the perception you are giving off is heading in the right direction. Your professional brand is only as strong as your personal brand. How you conduct yourself online gives a pretty good indication of how you may operate in your business.

Facebook group hints and tips

• Acquaint yourself with the group rules or policies. Most groups offer a welcome. Acknowledge that and get involved as and when you can, respecting the rules of the group and Admins who get involved.
• Watch your words, your tone and your own mood at the time of typing. It is so easy to misconstrue text online. It is difficult to understand how your post will be received – we all interpret things differently, but you can control what you say. Is it balanced, is it open minded, is it kind, is it delivered with meaningful intent for all readers. Or is it giving off a hell bent side of the coin, i.e. Yours and that you really don't care what others think.
• If you are asking a question or posting – please take time to respond and thank those who have contributed to your post. Doesn't have to be individual – a BIG THANK YOU to you all will do.
• Read a post first before responding. You get a notification that something is posted, you immediately head on over and post your thoughts or comments before reading through the comments. It is natural to want to respond while a thought is fresh in your head. Take a moment or two to read the other responses – is what you are saying still valid? Can you add more?
• Don't be the person who only shows up when you want something or to gloat with a link back to your business. Contribute to posts and ask questions yourself.
• Share your experience and knowledge. Participate contribute and provide for others. There's nothing nicer than sharing a positive viewpoint, a few words of encouragement.
• When participating in a number of other groups – be mindful that cross posting is annoying. When you are flying out of the door before 9am and you have cross posted the same post to half a dozen groups that a large % of people are also members of, we see that post half a dozen times. Space those posts out.
• If you are posting in a group that is allowing you to promote your services please add more than just a picture. Share what you are promoting. There is nothing worse than seeing a post that is just a link of your Facebook page or a flyer. Why should others use you?
• Position your rants carefully. On some groups airing and venting is perfectly OK, but the more professional groups could you post your rant differently? Could it be a question on how to deal with something and solicit advice or opinion from others. What you can get away with on other groups may not always be the case on others.

Yours socially
Micala 

March 12th 2105 I will remember it well. Two things, one it was my dad's birthday and secondly the fear that escalated across Facebook because of their intention to remove inactive and memorialised accounts on their platform.

I saw scores of messages similar to this  

Here is the official line of communication regarding Facebook's intention. https://www.facebook.com/business/news/page-likes-update It was clear. Now we all know that things can go a little awry on these kind of platforms and no doubt some accounts have had an over zealous amount of removals.

Now inactive accounts, got me thinking. I have an inactive, forgotten account, and yes I have just checked, it has not been removed. There are likely to be thousands of accounts which are fake, forlorn and forgotten, like my original account. Set up years ago and never used. I am hoping that all those fake farmed followers out there have been swept out into the Facebook backyard too. These accounts are going to be doing nothing for your page ever! Would you seriously consider emailing a raft of contacts that did not exist for whatever reason?

So please spare a thought for Facebook wanting to make a sound business decision to clean up it's data.   

Something which I keep at the back of my social media mind is that my data that I have given Facebook, has been given with consent. Some aspects of the profiling I have not completed through choice. I know as a business owner and personal user that it is going to be used for a variety of purposes. I know that my interests will appeal to a business owner who may have struck a chink of glitter and has chosen me in their demographics to be targeted with an ad or sponsored post. I accept that.

As a professional user of Facebook, I also appreciate and accept that Facebook owns the data. That data is there to make them money whether we like it or not.

The start of this week has been rife about the fallout of Facebook banning Like-Gate activity.   Having used 3rd party apps to conduct like-gating exercises for clients, I appreciate that it would have had a place in the social media armoury for bigger brands and businesses.

Not every social media activity is going to be the right thing to do for each business and is dependent on where that business is; it's budget, time, resources.  What kind of visual content is to hand, what they are offering and who they are wanting to promote to.  No two businesses are the same, and what might work for  one, may not work for the other.  Whoever is managing your social media, whether in house or outsourced you need to stay tuned to your audience.  By all means try different things, but don't do what everyone else is doing or tells you to do. Time, planning, regular posting and keeping an eye on the response will help you understand what is happening with your social media activity.  My advice would be keep it simple but effective.

To show case simple but effective here's what Pink Chillies did las week that got them great engagement.  Pink Chillies make and sell beautiful plush cuddly elephants and other elephant related products.  The page shares messages from their elephant characters along with fun and emotive content about elephants.  Elephants are a global topic at present and they look set to stay that way for some time to come.

At a time when Facebook has underdone yet more changes, this time with migration to the new look pages, another successful #FacebookFriday took place May 30th 2014.  The theme was Getting To Know You, so ladies had an opportunity to share a bit about themselves and their Facebook page links, and generally do what ladies are very good at doing, chat.  Event doors opened at 9am and closed at 9pm. Many members are working mothers too, so the 12hour networking opportunity meant that they didn't have to miss out.  Over 60 ladies participated throughout the course of the day and like any face to face networking event it was in full swing in no time.  The beauty of online networking in this way is that those who are less overt in their online networking activities have a private environment in which to mingle and learn. 

They say that women dominate social media platforms and we feel that we have proved it as the group has grown significantly in recent months, with membership currently at 630 plus.  With ladies in business from all corners of France ranging from recent AE startups to experienced Sarls.  We know that this the tip of the iceberg and we will be taking LIBIF to Twitter very shortly so that we can  attract new members and continue with building relationships in a less private arena.

The group is a huge and helpful resource. Questions are posted daily and ladies respond where they feel that their knowledge and experience will beneficial.  Questions range from 'where to start up as AE' through to 'how do I market and promote my business in France' and anything else in between.  What we have learned is that information from region to region can be quite in consistent but the various responses and useful links are a quick and effective way of pointing someone in the right direction.

In addition to regular #FacebookFridays, we have regular Monday Marketing Meetups. Other themed power hours are on the agenda for essential subjects such as the various business regimes and key ports of call to support them. 

If you are Female and have a business in France or are about to set up, then please request to join the closed group Ladies in Business in France.