Beginning Bloggers Social Media Cheat Sheet

Your blog can [and should] be set up to automatically post to your social media platform(s)…yes, you need to set-up the five most important networks discussed below, but before you get overwhelmed, read on, it’s easy.

Automating social media is a great tool, with some exceptions – important ones, that you should be wise to. There are also a few tricks, tips and etiquette that can help you make it turn-key , i.e. little-to-no time involved once you set it all up. And, do NOT confuse social media “follow” buttons with “share” buttons.

They are different and you need both.

The fact of the matter is, you don’t even really have to participate in social media itself for the buttons to be of benefit to your blog (…website or business) by creating the coveted backlinks/pingbacks that help you rank higher in search engines.

Although, it’s true, the more you participate, the more effective it is.

The Fab Five, Get Used to Them

FaceBook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+ and LinkedIn.

Don’t leave home without’em! Or, at least don’t blog without’em.

Five for Five

There are good uses for the others, but these five are the focus [because they’re fabulous for blogging] so here are a five things to do now:

1. Set-up your blog so that it auto posts to FaceBook and Twitter (every time and only). However, if you already have your FaceBook and Twiiter connected to each other, pick one to set for a feed from your blog; otherwise you will be double posting and Tweeting, which is rarely a good thing. You can lose audience instead of gain it if you do not adhere to a little “etiquette”.
2. Manually “Pin” images from each post to Pinterest. If you use only the “PinIt” button at the bottom of your post it will only “Pin” one image (which is fine of that is all you have in your post). Instead open your Pinterest and click “add Pin”, when it opens it will allow you to select from all of the available images on the page.
3. Cherry-pick which posts are appropriate for LinkedIn. Not all posts are equal and if you are using social media right, then you have “different” audiences/networks on different platforms. If however, all of your posts are business related, go ahead and include LinkedIn to your automation like FaceBook and Twitter.
4. Create a FaceBook “fan page” for your blog. Be sure that you use the same header for your “fan page” cover image for consistency. Include “follow” icons on your blog so people can “Like” your page.
5. Include ALL of the social media share options at the bottom of each page. It is not up to you to decide which platform(s) your readers/visitors use, it is up to you to provide a way with which they can share your work on their platform(s) of choice. This also allows you to “Stumble”, “Digg”, “G+” and more with your own posts, and you should. These also allow readers/visitors to email or print from your page.

If you follow these five simple tips, you will be building new pingbacks and new traffic in no time!

http://www.BootCampsForBloggers.com

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• CEOs get hands on with social media (readingeagle.com)
• 7 Things You Can Get Out of LinkedIn Groups When You Get Into ‘Em [INFOGRAPHICS] (socialmediatoday.com)
• Which Social Media Channels Should I Use For My Business? (business2community.com)
• How To Start A Successful LinkedIn Group (Infographic) (business2community.com)
• Choosing the Right Social Media Marketing Platform for Your Business (socialmediaclub.org)
• Promote Your Business with Social Media (wyomingentrepreneur.typepad.com)