12 Most Magical Ways to Make Meaningful Media

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 Meaningful media helps your business grow in today’s noisy landscape. When you turn off the noise and turn up the magic you get three things:

• Simplicity
• Clarity
• Purpose

But magic doesn’t always come in a rabbit-filled hat. So, here are some tips for the 12 most magical ways to make your media more meaningful:

1. Automagically share your instagram photos on Twitter

Automagically sharing photos on Twitter makes your feed more visually appealing. But sharing photos on Twitter isn’t quite so seamless. It’s mostly a text-based platform, which is why it’s even more necessary to pump up the magic. So… why not create a secret magic recipe?
You can use the platform If This Then That (IFTTT.com) to create a recipe which will automagically share your Instagram photos to your Twitter stream.
Once you turn the recipe on, people can now view your beautiful photos on both platforms — just like magic. But please be sure that the photos you share on Instagram best suit your brand. For example, if you run a shoe company but share photos of food on Instagram, this will leave a bad taste in your customer’s mouth (pun intended). And it’ll likely cause a lot of confusion with your brand messaging.
Strive for clarity with your messaging by making sure what you choose to share has meaning behind the photos. If it’s not immediately apparent, at least make sure there is some sort of symbolism that corresponds with your brand.
For example, when Audi isn’t sharing photos of cars, they may share an image of tire tracks in the snow. This leaves room for imagination, while still aligning with the core of their brand.

2. Tell stories

You don’t need to be David Copperfield to meld storytelling with magic. Let your imagination run wild. Weave worthy moments of your brand story into your content to make your magic credible. This shows that you’re a quality showman, which builds trust with your customers. Telling stories also creates more impact across your various media platforms, if you tell them right.

3. Cross-post content

When you find the magic in one platform, you’ll want to cross-post it to another to re-create the magic. But wait. You’ll want to make sure you have the magic touch.
Each social network has a different set of tricks. So make sure that you don’t cross-post content without understanding the conversations first. Some social networks simply work well together. Others? Not so much.
For example:

• Pinterest and Google+ go together like peanut butter and jelly.
• Instagram and Twitter can work together well too (see above).
• Facebook and Twitter are completely different conversations. Do not automatically share the same content across both of these networks. Hashtags are helpful on Twitter but can come across annoying on Facebook.
• LinkedIn and Twitter can work well together (just make sure you remove any hashtags when sharing your updates on LinkedIn).

4. Use visuals

Couple the written word with beautiful visuals to achieve depth and clarity of the experience. And yes, the right visuals make it an experience.
Make sure each visual you choose makes sense for your brand. For example, if your customers are of the Millennial generation, find images that best represent this demographic. You can do this by either using vintage-style photos, or making young people the main characters in the stories you tell and the images you select.

5. Curate content with context

Context clarifies meaning. When you use context, you get not only clarity — but meaning and purpose. And this makes for awesome magic.
For example, instead of using the headline of an article in a tweet, why not tweak the tweet so that you create context around why you’re sharing it? This makes your content more meaningful. And in turn, it creates more meaning around your media.
Anyone can share a simple headline. But when you take the time to tweak it, you show that you’re human. And humans can make some awe-inspiring magic — if we curate accordingly.

6. Slow it down

“There is more to life than increasing its speed.” ~ Ghandi
Seek out more substance with quality content. Learn how to slow down the fast-paced media of yesterday and use slow media to inspire instead. Slow media helps you laugh, think, and question the status quo. Slow media helps you rise above the noise, and settle into your stories (no screaming necessary).

7. Elicit enchantment

Enchantment is “the state of being under a spell.” When you elicit enchantment, you build an ecosystem around your brand — and you engage with your customers in a real, authentic way. But as Guy Kawasaki discusses in his book Enchantment, it’s a process, not an event. The best way to keep enchantment strong is to enjoy the process. That’s where there’s proof.

8. Do less marketing

Your media platform has more value than any marketing that you create. Your media is where the magic happens. And here’s the thing: when you put the focus on creating high-quality media first, you don’t need to use as much marketing.
More media, less marketing is the way to go. You’ll instill more meaning and trust into your brand. And you’ll cut to the core of who you are, so that you don’t need to market yourself as hard.

9. Intersect science and magic

Data-driven metrics can sometimes take away certain synergies. So, no matter how technically savvy you become, make sure that you leave room to get transported by magic. When you believe that there’s more to life than you know about, you start to sync with synchronicities. The other synergistic benefit is that this concept also allows for some insightful stories.

10. Be human

Magicians may seem like machines, but the best ones know how to show that they’re human. They are masters at explaining the nuances of human behavior and awareness. They use the various quirks in human perception to learn how the mind works and they use psychology as the underpinning of their tricks. They know that magic is not only about being human — it’s also about being smart.

11. Gain levity

Levity is the luxurious lack of a leash. Well, that’s my definition — which is why levity is necessary when you’re magically making media. You don’t need anything holding you back when you need to be lifted up, up, up and away.
Now, the dictionary definition of levity is “humor or frivolity, especially in the treatment of a serious matter.” You don’t need to be a comedian like George Carlin, but it can’t hurt to try to levitate towards the art of comedy.

12. Create art

Kurt Vonnegut believes that “the arts are… a very human way of making life more bearable.” And I think he’s onto something.
Writer and ceremonial magician Alan Moore believes that magic is indistinguishable from art — and that it’s the manipulation of symbols, words, or images to achieve changes in consciousness.
So the next time you seek a magical way to make meaningful media, know that you’re co-creating your future consciousness — by creating art. Laugh, think, tell stories, sing, and create. Just make sure it’s magical.
What are some other magical ways to make meaningful media? Please comment below.

Photo credit: Big Stock Photos

How to Benefit from the LinkedIn Publishing Platform

Did you know you can publish your articles on the LinkedIn publishing platform?

Do you want to build more authority in your niche?

LinkedIn is opening up its publishing platform to all 277 million+ members!

In this article, I’ll show you how high-quality content creators and bloggers can use LinkedIn’s publishing platform to build their influence.

Why LinkedIn Publishing Platform?

 

I’ve always said you don’t have to be anointed as an influencer to build online influence. It’s up to you to contribute to your community, share valuable experience and create astute content that shows your thought leadership.

The LinkedIn publishing platform gives you the opportunity to expand your reach in a major way. Since all LinkedIn members have access to the platform, it’s critical for you to create high-quality content that differentiates you.

Your published posts show up at the top of your LinkedIn profile.

With the LinkedIn publishing platform, you can follow other publishers and build your own followers in the process. While your LinkedIn followers have the potential to see your LinkedIn posts, they aren’t official network connections. (It’s similar to LinkedIn’s current model for following LinkedIn-appointed influencers.)

Any posts you publish on LinkedIn are tied to your professional profile and show up near the top of your profile. This means your thought leadership insights are showcased when someone views your LinkedIn profile.

The first post I published to LinkedIn helped me attract over 200 new followers, and my profile views were up 38% week over week! These stats tell me that the LinkedIn publishing platform is going to be a great place to share longer-form, thought leadership content.

In the rest of this article I give you best practices for making the most of the LinkedIn publishing platform.

#1: Create Valuable, Attractive Content

 

Before you start posting, have a plan in place. What content is most useful for your audience? Is your post too salesy? Although there’s no formal editorial process, LinkedIn makes it clear that sales-oriented content won’t be tolerated (after all, that’s what the advertising platform is for).

LinkedIn has some helpful guidelines in their Help Center about what to publish. This is a good reference for understanding how to frame your content so it resonates with and adds value to both your established audience and your potential audience (which will now be even greater than your existing LinkedIn network).

Make sure your posts are scanable.

The general guidelines I’ve seen (including LinkedIn’s) recommend keeping posts between 400 and 600 words and publishing weekly. However, you could certainly experiment with these parameters and determine what works best for you.

Like other social networks, people want to consume information quickly. Make it easy for them by creating scannable, attractive content. A few best practices are using a compelling headline, placing an eye-catching image at the top of your posts, bolding important text and breaking up longer paragraphs.

Feel free to enhance your articles with YouTube videos or content from SlideShare to make them as interesting and useful as possible.

When you’re ready to write an article on the LinkedIn publishing platform, it’s pretty easy. Go to your LinkedIn home page and look for the pencil icon in the box at the top where you would typically share an update.

When you click the pencil icon, you’ll see the publishing editor. This is where you create your post.

LinkedIn’s publishing editor is very simple to use. It’s similar to the WordPress editor or Microsoft Word. You can type or paste your text into the editor and format it right there. Below is a snapshot of what my first post looks like within the editor:

What a post looks like within the editor.

Your LinkedIn post doesn’t have a bio section. You’ll need to create a bio at the end of each post. Your bio should include a sentence or two about who you are, what you do and who you help, a link to your website or blog or even a specific call to action.

It’s a good idea to make the most of all of your resources. In my bio below, I’ve linked my name to my Google+ profile, and on my Google+ profile I added LinkedIn to the list of sites I contribute to. This ensures that Google picks up my authorship profile for my LinkedIn posts.

Be sure to create a bio section at the end of every post you publish!

Before you hit Publish, please be sure to review your post and check it for grammar and spelling (the Preview option is helpful here). But if you don’t catch everything, you can go back and edit your post any time.

#2: Share Your Post Everywhere

 

To maximize your reach and engagement inside and outside of LinkedIn, share your post on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Google+. If you have a LinkedIn company page, share it there as well (assuming your post is relevant to your company page’s followers).

This kind of aggregate social networking adds credibility and encourages more shares and engagement across the social web. In turn, all of that engagement sends social signals to Google’s search algorithm and can help increase your visibility in online searches!

#3: Manage Your Post Comments

 

You’ve written a useful post, you’ve promoted it far and wide and people are reading it. After all that effort and exposure, don’t forget to check your comments!

In the Comments section of your post, you can respond to and interact with members who are leaving feedback or starting a discussion.

Don’t forget to respond to comments on your posts!

In most cases, those who commented on my posts were people I’m not currently connected to. That means the post is getting visibility beyond my first-degree network, and yours probably will too.

Unfortunately I did see one or two spam comments when I posted, but you have the ability to hide and/or flag these.

#4: Evaluate Content Performance

 

LinkedIn immediately starts to show you the number of views, social media shares and comments your post generates. I admit that it’s exciting to see those metrics changing right before your eyes in real time!

Use your LinkedIn post metrics to determine how well your content is resonating with your audience. As you build your professional content library, compare your posts to see which ones outperformed others.

When you have a feel for what’s working for you, take some time to review the posts of your favorite official LinkedIn influencers and your competitors. Evaluate their posting schedule and which posts got the most views and engagement. Consider how you can use similar tactics for your own success.

For example, a LinkedIn influencer I follow is Sallie Krawcheck, CEO of 85 Broads and former head of Merrill Lynch Wealth Management. She publishes to LinkedIn about once a month.

Even though she’s a prominent thought leader in the financial services industry, she writes about universal topics that appeal to a larger audience. Below is a compilation of her most recent posts. Her article about productivity hacks clearly stands out in terms of the number of views and level of engagement.

Evaluate what your favorite influencers are writing about.

Seeing what’s working gives you an idea of what people are responding to and you may want to consider using similar topics or how-to’s that appeal to your own audience.

Learning from the LinkedIn influencers who have gone before you can help you craft a more successful content strategy of your own!

Keep Your Existing Blog!

 

It’s critical to remember that LinkedIn’s publishing platform shouldn’t serve as your content publishing hub. It’s a place to syndicate and further showcase your existing professional content from your blog.

Remember, you don’t own your LinkedIn presence or the content associated with it.
I recommend publishing the original post to your own blog first, then publishing it to your LinkedIn profile in its entirety.

You may want to vary the two posts a bit, however. Perhaps write your blog post to your specific audience or niche, and when you publish it to LinkedIn, change it to appeal to a broader audience.
I’m super-excited about this publishing opportunity on LinkedIn. The LinkedIn publishing platform is an important part of any marketer’s content strategy. I think it will be interesting to watch the network grow as an online content destination for professionals.

What do you think? Will the LinkedIn publishing platform be a game-changer? What kind of content are you publishing? Please share your thoughts with me in the comments below!

5-Step Strategy To Improve Your Facebook Engagement & Growth

Thanks to numerous Facebook changes recently, many businesses are thinking about dropping Facebook entirely. Engagement is in the toilet, and the page just isn’t growing.

Before you do, it pays to take a fresh, close look at your Facebook strategy. Often the problem lies there and has absolutely nothing to do with algorithm changes.

Here is a sneak peek at part of my evaluation processes to identify where the disconnect lies.

1. Figure Out Who Your End Buyer Is

 

When a business doesn’t really know who actually makes the purchase decision for their product or service, they don’t know who their audience is.

Without understanding that audience, odds are slim that the content being posted will resonate with them. If the target customer isn’t something a company can rattle off the top of their head, then it’s important to do a quick analysis of who has purchased their product and why.

If I am working with a security company, for example, here are the types of questions I might ask:

• Do you sell commercial or residential solutions?
• Residential -> Are most of your buyers men or women?
• Women -> Do you know what triggered their decision to improve security?
• If you were to set aside the fear tactics so common to the security industry, what kinds of things would interest them? Engage them? Build a relationship with them?

Questions that dig into buyers and their purchase decision make the foundation of your social media strategy. They tell you who you are talking to, what concerns they have, and what brought them into your sphere of influence. It gives you a basic foundation to begin understanding who your prospects might be.

Once you understand the largest segment, you can branch out into looking at smaller segments.  Then, you can start being creative with how to reach them because you understand who these people are and what motivates them.

In keeping with the security company as an example, I might create a Facebook presence around a fake “thief” that posts  stories of his/her activities.

Targeting women? Maybe it’s a cat burgler that is actually feline. Furry fun to entertain and trigger laughter while educating.

I’d use Fiverr or (preferably) a local illustrator to create some custom images with captions, if the budget allowed. Or perhaps we would create a sexy fake Sean Connery-styled James Bond who does residential burglary and corporate espionage. Have fun with it! Don’t be scary, be interesting.
(Note: These ideas are my intellectual property. Don’t steal them unless you hire me and have my permission.) 

You can’t be successful on Facebook without understanding your customers and prospects.
Once you understand who they are, you can put on your thinking cap to focus on what might interest and motivate them. It’s important to keep the niche narrow – don’t try to sell everything to everyone.
Then, forget about marketing. Start conversations. Tell stories. Fit your activity to your audience.

2. Realize They Just Don’t Care

 

Other than current customers, who make up the bulk of fans for most Facebook pages, understand that the general population doesn’t care about your brand, product or service. They care about their own needs and interests.

Most people follow very few brand pages, so giving them a compelling reason to stick around is critical.

What can you give them that they can’t find anywhere else? Education? Entertainment? Emotional reactions?

Get over any ego and assumptions that make you think they are innately interested. Your customers might care because you’ve already proven your value – which is why Facebook is a wonderful customer retention and customer service platform – but prospects? They. Just. Don’t. Care.
How are you making them care?

3. Do an Audit of Your Facebook Page

 

Now that you understand the buyer and target audience, look at your existing Facebook page. Would it appeal to them? Why or why not? Are you giving them reason to engage? Are you promoting too much and acting in YOUR interests, instead of theirs?

That’s common. Entrepreneurs and marketing professionals that think of social media as a marketing tool often lose sight of what matters. Remember: It’s not about you, it’s about being a part of your community and providing value.

Take an honest look at your page from an outsider’s perspective. Consider asking your customers/prospects what they like and don’t like about it and take their recommendations into account as you re-vamp your Page.

4. Define Your Marketing Objectives and Customer Acquisition Goals, Then Map Them to Your Facebook Strategy

 

Understanding your audience is essential because it helps you build community and engagement. But what good is that if it doesn’t lead to revenue, website traffic, or other marketing objectives? Be clear about what you are trying to accomplish. Common objectives include leads, traffic, reach, and sales.

Back to the security company. Say we decided the primary target audience is women homeowners purchasing residential alarm solutions. If the marketing objective is website traffic, how can your posts trigger click-throughs? If your marketing objective is building your email database, how are you giving them incentive to subscribe?

I follow the 80/20 rule – eighty percent of social media activity is entertaining, conversational and/or educational, and twenty percent is marketing about the company/product/service. All of it works to build the brand, but in different ways and always being careful not to over-promote.
After all, this is social media, not advertising.

5. Define Your Brand Attributes, Then Make Sure Your Posts Fit Them

 

Brand attributes aren’t the graphic standards you use – they are the attributes you want your company, product, or service to be known for.

What do you want to build your reputation around? Is it complicated installs? Knowledge of iPad integration? Complex computer security? Inspiring women to put safety first?

Posts should connect with these attributes and tie in with your marketing objective. It’s part of what makes you different. Unique. Worthy of interest and connection.

Identify your top 3-4 brand attributes, then connect them to your activity. Showcase these brand attributes in everything you do: your cover image, your tabs, and every post you make. Make it smack-upside-the-head obvious, so page visitors and fans don’t have to guess.

You can also include product or service attributes. These are your key differentiators on a product or service level, instead of a company level. Are you different due to uber simple control panels when everyone else offers a hot mess of complicated computers? Or your panel is a crazy simple smartphone app? Or your installation service is faster and cleaner? Then your Facebook posts would speak to those specific attributes and create conversation about it. Know what makes you different and build on it so your audience has something to connect to.

As you start integrating your attributes, some will interest your audience more than others, so don’t forget to try new ideas for your page! Make sure they fit your audience, objectives and attributes, but constantly test new ideas and monitor the results using Facebook Insights.

Putting It All Together

This is just a quick, down, and dirty overview of my basic process, but I urge you to give it a try before you delete your Facebook page.

Map out these strategies in a spreadsheet or Word document that you can refer to often and you may be able to identify a major gap that is killing your success.