Brainstorm Design Blog

Heard about Social Media but not sure how to use it? Or don’t know how it can benefit your business?

Now you have an opportunity to gain this valuable knowledge for FREE...by liking our Facebook page! Our competition has now been extended 31st October. After that date, we will randomly pick a fan to attend our social media crash course.

The course will introduce you to the main social media tools, focusing on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, and taking you through a step by step guide how to set up your business profile on each of the above.  We will show you examples of how social media can be used to engage with potential customers as well as your existing audience.The course is run by our Director, Danny Bermant, who has over 10 years experience of digital marketing.

So what have you go to lose? Visit our Facebook page today! http://www.facebook.com/BrainstormDesignLtd

If you want more followers on Twitter, remember this golden rule: 

"People are attracted to people who have a great sense of humour"

Humour makes you look human, especially if you can laugh at yourself. So here are a few pointers to help you be more humorous on social media. 

1. Share a humorous quote.
2. Share humorous videos. It doesn't have to be related to your work: e.g.  Just for Laughs gags.
3. Humorous observations from your work. E.g. I posted a blog article about illiterate SEO consultants, by publishing some sample comments I found on my blog.
4. Describe humorous things that have happened to you.
5. Most importantly, never make a joke at someone else's expense. It's not funny, it makes you look unprofessional, and it will probably backfire.

I have posted a video on how to use LinkedIn effectively: 

I have posted a video on how to set up your LinkedIn profile. 

Congratulations. After several months of work, your company has finally put together a social media plan, and started to put it into action. What do you do next?

If you’re sensible – tear it up. Well, not immediately. But every three-to-six months or so. The reason is simple: the technology, and the way people use it, changes so quickly that it necessitates frequent rethinks by businesses. There are frequent new arrivals on the scene. 

If you run a business, you presumably have a business plan that sets out your aims and objectives for the next six to twelve months. But do you have a marketing plan? 

If you want to attract more business, you need to plan what you’re going to say to your target customers, when you’re going to say it, and how you’re going to say it. And it’s the “how” that I’m going to talk about. You can get your message across through your website, your pay per click campaign, your emails, and even through SEO. But social media has become such a major force for attracting new business, it needs a plan all of its own. 

Ever accepted a LinkedIn invitation by mistake? Or discovered that one of your connections are not as legitimate as you thought they were?  If that’s the case, then it’s time to remove them. 

Go to the top menu and click on “contacts”. On the next page you’re taken to, there is an option on the top right of the page called “remove connections”. You will then see a long list of your connections. Just select the people you want to remove and click the “remove” button. 

Would you like more business through LinkedIn but not sure how to make it work for you?

Today, Friday 1st July, I will be holding an online question and answer session on Twitter. Tweet any question you like about LinkedIn to @brainstormdsgn and I will give you my opinion. 

I will be taking questions between 2-4PM UK time. I look forward to hearing from you!

So, you've launched your new Facebook business page. All your friends, relatives and even a couple of strangers have 'liked' it. What now? How do you continue drawing new fans to your page, giving it enough exposure to turn it into a useful business tool?

One way is to use other social media sites in order to promote it and drive traffic to your page. Of course, any time you post an item to your Facebook page - be it news item, poll, special offer or information -- you should post a link on Twitter. Hopefully, some of the visitors will decide to follow your Facebook page permanently.