This is the fourth installment of our series, Business Models Online where we delve into the secrets and techniques of very successful online marketers. This week we take a look at the phenomenal social media success of Sandi Krakowski…
When it comes to success in the social media world, Sandi Krakowski certainly has the credentials of a great role model. She is recognized by Forbes as being a Top 20 Women Social Media Influencer and a Top 50 Social Media Power Influencer. She gathered a Facebook following of more than 700,000 in under 19 months and she also has 266,000 followers on Twitter. She is also a very successful online business owner (she started in online businesses in the 1990s), copywriter, marketer, author and trainer.
There are a number of aspects to Sandi’s success with so many strings to her bow, but in this article we chose to look at what makes her so successful on social media. Here are 6 steps we found…
1. Be people-centred
Before you post a single thing on any of your social media accounts, you should always take the time to stop and think who you are posting for; what audience do you want to attract? What types of people are your ideal market? This comes back to knowing your customer “avatar” which we have discussed before and always keeping that avatar in mind when posting. Social media is meant to be “social”, so if you can find a way to connect with your people, it’s a great way to build your online “tribe”.
2. Post regularly
Sandi posts regularly – very regularly on social media. If you take a look at her very popular Facebook page, she generally posts every hour, while she Tweets at least twenty times each day. Do you need to be posting this often on your social media? If this sounds like too much to you, just start where you can and test your results. You may find you are able to build up the number of posts or that less do work for you. You could also post some by using a scheduling tool such as Hootsuite (though we don’t recommend that you do all posts this way, as it came out not so long ago that Facebook shows preference to posts that are directly from their platform). The point is to be regular and consistent…
3. Be real
Sandi’s posts are always very ‘her’ rather than sounding like an anonymous social media “team” is creating all of her posts. Very central to Sandi’s philosophies on business and life is her own personal faith and this is reflected in many of her posts. Of course plenty of people out there will disagree with her, but that doesn’t matter as there are also plenty of people who do! It’s something that you can keep in mind in your business too; what are your personal values and beliefs? There is a “tribe” out there that will be a perfect fit for you and your business if you have the courage to be authentic.
“Quit adjusting yourself so no one feels threatened by you.”
Sandi Krakowski
4. Do business on a business page
This is one thing Sandi always emphasizes; it is bad form to spray business posts all over your personal profile, the chances are only a percentage of your friends are actually interested in your business. You could simply put a post up on your personal profile with a link to your business page, tell people that’s where you discuss your business and invite them to join you there.
5. Build relationships
This means not constantly posting about your products, services or opt-ins, but delivering content that aims to foster good relationships with your followers and provide them with value. Sandi speaks about the greatest marketing campaign her business ever did, which was “how can I help someone get a result today?” It’s about building a community rather than a “sales page”. As Sandi puts it, think about back in the old days when merchants knew about you and what you wanted, and strove to deliver excellent service. The new business model of our generation is “loving our customers” as those merchants of old times did.
6. Stay up to date
Features and strategies on social media are constantly changing, so it’s important to test how they affect you and adjust what you’re doing accordingly. Sandi regularly posts videos on Facebook updates on her website and tests out different strategies. If you’re feeling overwhelmed or struggling for time, a great way of staying up to date with the latest strategies is to join a group which provides you with the tools, strategies and ideas that affect you so that you don’t have to spend a whole lot of time researching the latest. Digital Traffic Institute is a private group which provides the latest strategies for driving traffic to your website, while giving you custom help and direct access to Andrew and Heather. One of the great things is being able to talk to other business owners in the private forums to get ideas too.