Google Analytics is changing the way your website traffic will be monitored. Are you ready for the change?Let me know with a 👍 or a 👎 in the comments below.
Remember being a teenager and having to consult your BFF on every little decision you made?
What top goes with these jeans? Should you go out with that person? How should you style your hair? 🤪
⚡ ⚡ Flashback ⚡ ⚡
This is one of those teenage moments! I know, I know. You thought those were over. But, I've been mulling something over and I would totally love to know what you think.
☎ *Dials Phone* (Yes, we used to actually talk on the phone.)
SO…
Filters - yes or no?
Are you using them?
Do you like them?
Do you think they are healthy or do they create a fake feed?
What do you think? Are you using filters on your images or reels?
I’m having one of those days.
You know the ones … when you get to the coffee shop to meet a new client and you realize your computer battery is almost dead and you don’t have your power cord.
Or you realize you forgot to save the file before you closed the file.
Or you are trying to finish off a project… But windows wants to do a massive update and restart your machine three times.
Yep - it’s one of those days.
So I’m putting my running shoes on and I’m heading to the trails. A bit of time in nature always seems to set things right.
I’d love if you shared your tips for working out technology frustrations. Help a girl out!
Today, I give myself permission to:
⚡ Start before I feel ready.
⚡ Do the best I can with what I have right now.
⚡ Work hard for what I want.
⚡ Spend time working ON my business - building my brand, creating social media content, and fixing my SEO so I can be seen, noticed, and remembered.
⚡ Eat cereal for dinner. Try and stop me!
Or…maybe something else? Maybe it’s all of the above?
What are you giving yourself permission to do today?
Today, I give myself permission to ______.
The best place to hide a dead body is on page 2 of google.
-Unknown (but true!)
If you are not showing up on Google, then really you are not showing up at all.
And when it comes to SEO and driving traffic to your website - It’s the little things that make a big difference.
💡 Think of the 80/20 rule - 80% of what you get comes from 20% of what you do.
And it’s just as valuable to do the common things and do them well.
For me, I used to think that everyone liked tweaking their website and playing the game to reach number one.
It turns out, not everyone does! But since I do, I realized that I could turn that into a business.
I love it! It seems simple to me. After all, I just do simple little tweaks and up the ladder, I go. But just because it’s natural to me doesn’t mean it comes naturally for you.
In fact, it's why I am working on a brand new resource - I'm not 100% sure on the name just yet - but I am thinking of 5 Minute Fix for Your SEO. It will include every SEO tweak and hack that I know but be laid out in such a way that you can spend just 5 minutes a day making improvements on your website.
And I'm designing it for total newbies - so no tek talk, no complicated steps, nothing scary and foreign and no way to break your website.
If you think that is interesting, let me know with a 👍 or a 💗. I'll let you know when it is ready.
Hack the Algorithm! 10,000 followers in 10 days! Do this one thing you are not doing on social to Grow Your Following Fast!
I'm calling BS on all these quick growth promises.
If you are still doing follow-for-follow or are in the middle of an engagement pod - I’m not throwing blame at you. In fact, I've played by these rules in the past.
But, I think it’s time for a change. I think we can all do better.
Here’s how:
Stop trying to hack the algorithm and focus on your own rhythm instead (and the rhythm of your ideal client).
If your clients are on IG daily - then post daily, but only if you have something to say.
If they are out there on LinkedIn just twice a week - then maybe only a few posts a week and a meaningful article is a better approach.
It all starts with you and me and how we operate our day-to-day.
So - stop trying to hack the algorithm. Go your own way and find success on your own terms.
Thoughts?
Practice makes perfect?
It always used to worry me that both my doctor and my lawyer had a “practice”. I mean shouldn’t they be “experts” in their fields?
But then I realized that nobody is ever really at the top of the game, because if you keep on learning and trying and stretching and growing and practicing, you’ll get better at whatever you do.
What are you practicing to grow your business these days?
30 reels in 30 days? Mmmmm ... not sure about that. Just like chocolate, it starts to taste a bit funny when you are on the second chocolate bar. 🍫🍫🍫🤮
So - what about committing to 1 reel a week for the next 4 weeks?
Surely you can do that.
It's only 4 reels!
Need some ideas?
✅ introduce yourself with 2 truths and a lie
✅ Film a simple tutorial of part of your process
✅ share 3 tips to help your ideal clients save time or money
✅ bust a myth in your industry or talk about a common trend
Give it a try!
What have you got to loose?
#worldpasswordday on May 7
Let's talk about internet security.
May 7 is #WorldPasswordDay. Here’s a few simple tips to keep you more secure online:
🔐 Unmonitored social accounts can be the target of hackers, who could start posting fraudulent messages under your name. If you aren’t using an account - consider shutting it down.
🔐Those “learn your elf name” and 10-year-challenge posts might seem like harmless fun. But they can actually provide scammers with information commonly used to hack passwords. Stop playing them.
🔐In a phishing scam, the goal is to get you or to hand over passwords, banking details, or other private information. One common phishing scam involves fake coupons for big-name brands like Costco, Starbucks, and Bath & Body Works. Be sceptical before engaging.
🔐Secure your device. Protecting your computer or phone with a password or fingerprint lock helps, but more than half of mobile phone users leave their phones unlocked. 🤦♀️
🔐 Use strong passwords. Make sure that your password is at least eight characters long and consists of some combination of letters, numbers, and special characters (for example, +, @, #, or $).
Don’t repeat them and change them often. Password vault software can be tremendously helpful here.
🔐 Use 2FA - 2 Factor Authentication. If it’s available on your software - turn it on. Facebook has it available - you should be using it.
🔐Report scammers and spammers. They will likely never go away, but this helps slow them down.
❤️Finally, remember: once posted, always posted. Use both your heart and your brain when posting online.
Save this list so you can implement ALL of these actions!
Oh, no you didn't! Here is a huge mistake that I see business owners make in an effort to quickly grow their Instagram audience.
❌ Follow for follow. ❌
You know what I'm talking about.
When you follow 10s, 20s, 100s of others on IG in the hope that they will follow you back and then the second they do - ghosted!
👻
Follow for follow will work to increase the number of followers you have.
So if it works, why not do it?
Well, the problem is - you get a whole bunch of unengaged followers. And the algorithm's actually looks at your post engagement as it relates to your audience size.
So if you have 100 followers and put up a post that garners 50 likes, loves and comments - IG will notice that and say, ""good job,"" and push that content out to more people.
But if you have 10,000 followers and put up that same post gathering those same 50 engagements - IG says, ""hmmm.... people aren't that interested in this post or this account.""
Even if the algorithm does push out the post - it will push it out to others with similar demographics to your audience. And if you have filled your audience with seat-fillers and not your actual ideal client - your posts are going to be reaching the wrong people.
Want to know how what my posting strategy is to reach the right audience?
Consistent, targeted, informational, value driven posts. Just like the work I do - I want everything I post to add value.
So time to fess up ... have you used follow for follow?
Happy Earth Day! 🌎🌎🌎 Like National Donut Day, I think we should celebrate this every day. But today of all days is our time to go big or go home! (And the Earth is the only home we’ve got… soooo either way, we’re going there!)
You may not know, but here at Elmtree DM, I’m all about sustainability. I’m careful not to create more problems for the environment.
🌱 I'm virtually paperless (not 100%, but 99!)
🌱 When I do print, it’s double sided on recycled paper with an eco-friendly ink.
🌱 And when I need to buy something, I look for local and/or responsibly produced options to keep that carbon footprint small
That’s just my way of saying thank you mama earth!
What are you doing for earth day?
THE NEW IG FEED AND WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR YOU?
It's here! The long-awaited update to the Instagram feed. And now - you might be wondering what it means to your small business.
Adam Mosseri recently posted that Instagram is putting the power back in your hands to decide what you see on your feed. IG now offers not just one, but THREE new types of feeds to choose from.
💕 Favourites - this feed shows the accounts you have marked favourite at the top of your feed.
👁🗨 Following - this feed shows ONLY the accounts that you follow and no others
If you don't actively select a feed, the normal IG feed continues to be the default (and by the way - you need to select your preferred feed EVERY time you scroll) and IG continues to serve up content that it believes you will be interested in.
So, as a small business owner - what do you do? Honestly, don't worry too much about it. Continue to serve up the awesome value that you have always been focused on.
The only adjustment you might choose to make is to your calls to action. Here's a few suggestions:
👉 Want to make sure you never miss helpful tips like this? Add @brandname to your *favourite* accounts to show up first in your newsfeed!!"
👉 Add @brandname to your *following* accounts to make sure you are always FIRST in the know!
And while you are at it ... add @elmtreedm to your favourites so that I can continue to share tips just like this one with you.
I make social easy. Done-4-you or done-with-you social media solutions. Get your brand noticed on line!
