Author Archives: Laurel Lindsay

About Laurel Lindsay

Laurel Stark née Lindsay has helped thousands of businesses get better results from their online marketing since she began her career as a web marketer in 2003. As a speaker, author and CEO of The New Media Group, she’s been featured on CNN, Entrepreneur.com, CTV and ShawTV.

Social in 17 now available

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Social In 17

If you’re feeling confused and overwhelmed about how to use Social Media as a marketing tool, you are not alone.

This book cuts through confusing lingo and contradictory advice to bring you up to speed in under 10,000 words.

Complete with printable cheat sheets, this book will quickly position you to receive the increased exposure, credibility and leads that result from successful marketing on social media.

Buy the book on Smashwords
Buy the book on Amazon
Buy the book on ibooks

 

By focusing on practical and tactical information, you will learn:

  1. The differences between Traditional and Digital Media
  2. The Common Pitfalls of marketing using Social Media, and how to avoid them.
  3. Straight Up Social Media Do’s and Don’ts
  4. Growing your network exponentially and continually.
  5. Converting Contacts To Customers
  6. What to Post- Content Curation and Creation
  7. Automation- Save time with today’s automation tools
  8. Getting Set Up– Starting from Scratch or Renovating
  9. Execution– Marketing Yourself in Only 17 Minutes a Day

If you want to:

● Learn to use Social Media to build your business- without spending long hours
● Learn the exact, hands on, proven tactics the experts use to deliver measurable returns
● To receive the step-by-step to-do’s that will help to translate these concepts into daily action

Then this ebook is for you.

Get it from Smashwords
Get it from Amazon
Get it from ibooks

 

What people say about Social in 17:

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As a budding author trying to market my books online, Social in 17 has given me a perspective on how to manage my social media presents. I believed that social media was another direct sale tool. With this attitude I did not achieve good results and gave up. Laurel Anne Lindsay’s approach of cultivating a network with sales as a result that network makes more sense to me. Laurel gives an easy to follow plan on how to use social media and suggestions on what media to use. I know that with the tools from Social in 17 I won’t be a social media newb for long

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Super job Laurel!
Great read – keeps me engaged throughout.
Good solid advice on social media.
Lays out easy to follow strategies to keep up to date and current on your social media accounts.

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“Really! Social Media can be done in 17 minutes a day. Laurel gives you the structure, the tips, and the ideas. This book is quick and easy to read. She touches on all the major social media platforms but she isn’t short on details. I enjoyed Laurel’s clear and concise style. Well worth my time (and I teach courses on social media). “


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This whirlwind tour of marketing in the social media age gets right to the point(s) with highly actionable, no-nonsense instructions on how to get the job done. While Ms Lindsay does set context with a solid nod to the What and Why, she deftly takes you to the How and When very efficiently so you’re able to put the learning into practice without delay. Social in 17 is an excellent resource for anyone looking to market their business on social media without having to spend extra consuming theories and hypotheses of arguable utility. Its basically a marketer’s Coles Notes for the modern internet!

 

Get it from Smashwords
Get it from Amazon
Get it from ibooks

 

 

Social in 17 E Book Now Available For Preorder

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Social In 17

If you want to:

● Learn to use Social Media to build your business- without spending long hours
● Learn the exact, hands on, proven tactics the experts use to deliver measurable returns
● To receive the step-by-step to-do’s that will help to translate these concepts into daily action

Then this ebook is for you.

PreOrder from now ’til April 15th and SAVE 50% with coupon code CH99B 

 

 

 

3 Reasons Every Business Owner Should Be Blogging (VIDEO)

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You know there are a lot of things you should be doing.

As a business owner, manager or entrepreneur it can be challenging to identify the actions that will generate the best results. When it comes to digital marketing, there is so much information it’s easy to get overwhelmed.

However, there are 3 very good reasons you should be blogging regularly.

Watch the video to learn more.

5 ways to convert your website traffic into qualified leads

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photo (6)Your website could be the hardest working salesperson on your team.

Are you using it to it’s best ability?

Here are 5 simple, yet effective changes you can make to your website design to increase the quality & quantity of the leads it generates.

1. Make sure each page has at least ONE call to action. 

A call to action is quite simply the action you are requesting your visitor takes.

That request could be to call you, to sign up for the newsletter, to engage in live chat etc.

Typically you want to make the most important call to action the most prominent, and ideally, only have one per page.

You need to make it crystal clear what you want your visitor to do.

Clarity & focus can be generated by using bright colors, big font, eye catching graphics and even multimedia, like videos.

2. Show social proof, in spades. 

Be sure to showcase case studies, testimonials or even just how many people are part of your mailing list.

This type of social proof acts as an unofficial endorsement of your abilities and trustworthiness.

Trust is hard to build online, so do your best to reassure your website visitors with reviews, formal or otherwise, from others.

3. Make it easy for people to contact you

Give your website visitors several ways to get in touch with you, so they can adopt the way they’re most comfortable with.

Offer live chat, texting, social media channels, a map to your location, hours of operation and any other information people would need in order to get in touch with you.

4. Update your site often.

Or at least, remove any outdated dates. Nothing destroys credibility faster than a website that appears to have been abandoned.

For best results, add a blog to your website and contribute to it at least monthly.

5. Clearly demonstrate the problem you solve

Make sure you are clearly communicating the benefits of what you offer, what makes you different than your competitors and what problem you solve.

If you communicate your benefits clearly, your target market will respond.

Are there any other elements you feel add to your website’s ability to sell for you?

Please share in the comments below!

 

 

 

Three Questions to Ask Yourself To Hit the Content Jackpot

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http://clubpenguin.wikia.com/wiki/File:Treasure_Chest_Costume_icon.pngContent development and inbound marketing have taken the lead as business development strategies.

But when it comes to figuring out the best way to reel people in, where does one start?

Many companies are beginning to lean towards blogs or other forms of content marketing in order to showcase their expertise, ideas, and experiences.

Developing a content strategy can seem like a daunting task; content marketing isn’t as easy as simply writing a post and pushing it live. How do you know what content your potential customers or clients want to hear? How much should you write? How do you cure writer’s block?

Here are some questions you should ask yourself when trying to take the first step in Content Marketing:

1. What do people (my future customers) want?

When it comes to developing content, I’ve always found this question to be the best place to start: what do people want?

If you can create content that shows people how they can get from where they are now to where they want to be, you’re a million miles ahead of your competitors. Maybe they want to be lying on a beach in the Bahamas, maybe they want to be building their dream house, maybe they want a kick butt new website for their new company.

As the content creator, you need to learn how to show your potential clients and customers all the possibilities that lie ahead of them.

2. What challenges do my customers face?

People don’t realize how many obstacles they overcome everyday. We defeat cold weather with warm clothing, we defeat long commutes with good music or novels, and we defeat exhaustion with coffee and energy drinks.

We’ve faced and defeated these challenges so often that we forget to see them as problems. Content that shows us how to overcome our challenges, whether it means a service or a product will help you show off your expertise and build a more loyal and trusted following.

3. How did I get to where I am now?

A percentage of your content should be about communicating what you know and what you’ve experienced.

By sharing your milestones, whether it’s actively or through remembering fond memories, you are helping your readers learn a little bit about you; showing a person as the face of your business instead of a company logo. You can choose to create content about anything from quick things you learned in a course, or maybe some motivational quotes that have helped you through the hard days.

When you show people that your company is built up of people who are human and have daily tasks and struggles and motivations, you will build stronger customer relationships.

Building a blog is the same as building a community. Your content needs to show people how you can solve their problems, help them reach their goals, and connect with them.

The answers to those three questions will help you create content that will serve you as a tool for customer acquisition, engagement and retention.

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Is Gmail Hiding Your Emails?

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Since Gmail launched its latest update, you may not be getting all of the emails you want to see.

Kitty-hiding-place-1920x1200Newsletters you signed up for might have disappeared, or maybe your online bill reminders don’t come anymore. Sound familiar?

If this is an issue for you, it’s probably because Gmail has divided your email into several tabs:

Priority – this is your main inbox

Social – this is anything it sees as related to social media

Promotions – anything related to discounts or special offers ends up here

Updates – anything related to bills, confirmations, receipts etc.

Forums – Mailing list emails and messages from online groups or discussion boards

It has been auto-sorting your emails into tabs for you now, thinking this is helpful. And sometimes it is!

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But, if you aren’t in love with this new system, the good news is you don’t have to just ‘get used to it’ like so many other updates. This one, you can change.

If you would like to change your tabbed inbox, you have two choices – you can go back to exactly how things were before and get rid of Gmail tabs completely, or you can change it so emails to come into the tabs you think they ought to so it makes better sense to you.

Here’s how to do both.

TO GET RID OF GMAIL TABS 

You can delete all tabs so that you only have one inbox again, or you can keep the ones you like.

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In your Gmail account, click on the little  ‘+’  button to the right of your Gmail tabs (shown in yellow above), and uncheck any tabs you don’t like having, then click ‘Save’. Voila! They’re gone forever.

From now on, everything that was sent to the banished tabs, will go to your main (priority) inbox, as will any emails that are in those tabs currently.

Note: If you get rid of Gmail tabs and later want to restore them, click on your settings cog inside Gmail and choose ‘Configure inbox’. A box will pop up asking which tabs you would like to enable. Select the ones you want, and then click ‘Save’.

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TO CHANGE WHAT TAB AN EMAIL IS SORTED TO

 If you want to get our emails in your main inbox, but Gmail is sending them to the ‘Forums’ tab, just left-click on the email you want to move and keep holding your mouse button down.

Now, while you are still holding the button, drag your mouse pointer over to the Priority tab.

Click ‘yes’ when a message appears asking you if you would like emails from this sender to go to this new tab from now on, and you’re done.

 Happy Inboxing!

This post by Maria Schmidt

Welcome Brooke Boser as Digital Marketing Manager!

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Brooke is joining us as Digital Marketing Manager as of Feb 19 2014.

Brooke Boser is a ten year veteran of professional business analysis and project management delivery.

brookeWhere there’s a process gap, she will spot it. Where there’s a task to complete, she will manage it to completion.
She is ambitious, resourceful, and team-oriented, and is passionate about the emergence of social media and digital marketing as key influencers in consumer decision-making.
Brooke is excited to take on the role of Marketing Manager at The New Media Group and is ready to apply all of her knowledge in order to provide the best customer service possible to our clients.
In her spare time Brooke reads, blogs, tweets, posts, pins, and +1’s. She is also the founder of LTIA Consulting, Inc, a Social Media Strategy & Management consulting firm based out of Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
In her role at The New Media Group, Brooke will be sharing her project management & marketing skills with us, ensuring all our deliverables get met on time and on budget.
Brooke keen to shape the business and improve our client campaigns with her keen insight and digital marketing insights.
You can find Brook on the web at:

Welcome Caitlin Finley; Client Services Coordinator/Executive Support

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Caitlin is joining us as Client Services Coordinator/Executive Support, effective Feb 19 2014

caitiefinleyCaitlin Finley was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario and studied at Queen’s University.

Her work experience is largely in digital media and communications, and she has a passion for the innovative nature of the industry.

When she’s not working she can be found camping, writing, cheering on her favourite hockey teams, or spending time with her golden retriever.

In her role at The New Media Group, Caitlin will be sharing her plethora of skills with us by providing amazing support and administration to our team members, our clients and the President.

You can find Caitlin online:

A fond farewell to our Operations Manager, Maria

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meet mariaAfter much consideration, Maria has decided to leave the world of full-time independent contracting behind to rejoin the brick and mortar business world.

Although working and growing with The New Media Group has been an experience she wouldn’t trade for the world, the at-home lifestyle has lately proved a bit isolating for our little social butterfly, and to honor that need in herself, she has, with a heavy heart, decided not to renew her yearly contract.

She is currently in talks with several companies and intends on accepting the pick of the litter in early March, after a week of holidays and deliberations. Please support Maria in her transition so we can send her off in New Media Group style.

She will be missed!

Social Media Success in just 17 Minutes a Day

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If you need a straight up checklist of how EXACTLY to spend your time on social media, you’re in the right place.

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Here is what you should and should not be doing, each day at minimum, to maintain your credibility.

When I started, I found myself getting stuck in the three major pitfalls people fall into when it comes to social media marketing:

1. I ended up spending hours a day on social media marketing sites, without generating any tangible results.

2. Feeling the pressure, I set up more profiles than I could keep up with, so I had all these abandoned accounts which were doing more to harm my reputation than anything.

3. No matter what I posted, I wasn’t able to generate much interest or interaction, which was really discouraging.

85% of Internet users have Facebook accounts; 49% are on Twitter. (HubSpot)

Through years of trial and error I’ve been able to identify the key actions that will generate results.

(Tell me! What other frustrations are you having with social media? Share below in the comments.)

More importantly,  this checklist will show you how to integrate social into your daily life so you can consistently apply these practices in the minimum amount of time per day.

Obtaining results in a short period of time usually requires working smart & being very focused. So, before you start, make sure you’re present where you’re most likely to get new prospects.

It’s important to find out where your target market is on social media . Once you’ve done that, you will need to commit to 17 minutes a day at minimum.

Social Media In 17 Mins A Day: Cheat Sheet

Bookmark this page or print a copy of this sheet for a handy daily social media checklist.

5 days a week: 17 minutes

▢ I’ve checked my newsfeed and engaged (comment, like, etc.) with 3-5 contacts

▢ I’ve shared content from people on my “hit list” or list of influencers, clients, strategic alliances

▢ I’ve checked the “people I may know” section and added at least one person

▢ I have added anyone I’ve met in real life on my social media profiles

▢ I’ve replied to comments, answered questions & acknowledged all interactions.

*TIP* Set a timer to keep yourself accountable

One day a week: 17 minutes

▢ Create and schedule at least one post a day through Hootsuite.com these posts should be 90% non sales related.

▢ Add, Follow or Friend 3 related or peripheral businesses/market leaders

▢ Measure & adjust your content based on what content your audience responds to (I use Google Analytics for this)

Points to remember:

▢ Social media is more like networking than marketing. Be personable, not pushy.

▢ It is better to be consistently on one platform than absent on many.

▢ Give of your knowledge & expertise to generate value

▢ I use my smartphone to download the social apps which will make real time engagement easy for me

▢ I champion others to build trust & get my network to grow

If you find that you need more background information before you start, check out these related posts:

How to Alleviate Social Media Guilt

3 steps to creating an online sales funnel

The complete guide to blogging for Beginners

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