Designing to Leave an Impression: Part One (Social Media)

As I sit back and reflect on my 2019 business year it dawned on me how quickly it’s nearing the end of the year and we’re all scrambling to get things in order before the holidays roll around and (hopefully) already working on our 2020 business plan. Which brings me to this Fall time miniseries called “Designing to Leave an Impression”. In each special miniseries post (of which there will be 3; social media, web design and marketing) I will be sharing with you handy dandy tips n’ tricks for refreshing your virtual face. So, let’s get busy and dive right on into part one … social media: tactics for a content makeover.

Good content attracts readers and builds strong communities. And if it’s really good, can even go viral. But if it’s not, well … that’s a whole other story altogether. Stale, under-performing social content (including blogs) can drive your audience away. But it’s not like you don’t have options! With my mini 3-step plan you can drive more ORI from your efforts without having to publish anything new. But before we dive into those 3 simple steps, I want to go over some traits every piece of content should have. Because if you want your brand to be a trusted resource, you have to offer true value. And by “true value” I mean every experience you create in the virtual world should not only reflect your focus on winning in the moment your audience begins paying attention, but also in every single person who precedes and follows along. So, if you’re looking to gain the trust of your audience (which we all are), always be thinking about these traits …

CONSISTENCY by delivering regularly and reliable content each and every single time;
PERSONALIZATION based on what you learn from you audience;
RISK APPROPRIATION as you need to void asking for anything before providing true value; and
CUMULATION as you must always be building on what came before (re: strategy/content plan).

Social media creates communities, not markets. ~ Don Schultz, Professor/Researcher/Writer

Now that you have those 4 traits top of mind, let’s finally dive into my 3-step plan for your content makeover …

ONE: Create content pillars by consolidating your posts.

For starters, a content pillar reflects the core topic(s) of your business. Basically, you are building the mother of all plans. So, whether it’s a core service or product you’re aiming focus on, this will act as an authority on the matter, covering everything from general inquiries to small details but with strong focus all the while leaving just enough room to deep dive with supporting materials.

Begin by going through your content by making a list of everything you already have that touches on your core topic(s). Look for opportunities to consolidate social posts (or blog posts), optimize your keywords and turn things around by turning the combined content into something totally refreshed. Thus, helping you roll the strong points of several related pieces into one!

TWO: Use your “knowledge bank” to refresh dates content.

For starters, a knowledge bank is a library of your business’s insights, data, areas of expertise, personalized stories and generalized information. Having all these goodies squirreled away and ready to roll will help you easily fuel your content efforts. If you’re just beginning to build your knowledge bank (or your business) you could start by conducting interviews with the experts in your niche, then organize and store their answers.

If your virtual content is far and few between or you left things on the backburner for too long, start by posting short, targeted articles that address the questions people want (and need) answered. And build your knowledge base from there. It’s truly the easiest, cheapest way to keep your audience happy. And as a bonus, it’s available as a self-serve, 24-hours a day, seven days a week so you don’t burn out and can actually have a life beyond your business.

Ready to begin building?

Start with these steps …

Determine what you need.
Gather up your content. Store it together.
Stay consistent with your brand.
Find your voice and stick with it.
Manage your content storage with consistency.
Keep things relevant and up to date.
Make things easy for yourself. And keep it that way.

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. ~ Aristotle

THREE: Optimize lead gen by finding fresh opportunities.

Having fresh/new ideas will make it easy for your audience to take that next step and engage with you further. It can also turn a low-performing piece into one of your best pieces ever. Almost instantly! So, having a collection of in-depth content on your site of social platforms which each include a relevant call-to-action will only bring you desired results. Because your audience is more knowledgeable than ever before.

Stuck on writing the perfect call-to-action?

Here’s a few resources to get your hamster wheel turning …

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Crystal Kordalchuk

Crystal is an artist, a writer, an organizer, a dreamer, a doer, and down-right proud of it NERD!.

Struck with a love for #AllThings creative at a very young age, Crystal dreamed of a life fueled by her passion for creating and bringing the stories and images in her mind into reality.

As she worked toward her dreams, she earned a diploma as a Computer Applications Specialist then another in Graphic Design and from there began to develop her extensive background in multimedia and the arts. She began her worked in the magazine industry as a layout designer and had a succession of design jobs thereafter. It was her role as a graphic/web designer that gave her the first real glimpse of her future. Soon she began a side job as a freelance designer while keeping one foot in the corporate world. A spark was lit! She turned her freelance gig into a full-time business combining design work with her other passion: creating organization from virtual chaos.

Crystal is one of the most organized individuals on the planet. She is by all means a Zen master of her crafts. She excels at helping others become “untangled” and provides her clients with tools to run their businesses smoothly while she takes care of the details behind the scenes. Thus Virtually Untangled was born. A successful business where her work as a top notch creative in graphic and web — with a twist of virtual assistant — married into one amazing place where clients can come with their virtual messes and become magically untangled. Crystal can always make sense of even the most unorganized chaos and offers a virtual detox of order and peace, so her clients can get busy doing the work that they love the most.

Designing to Leave an Impression: Part One (Social Media)

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Crystal Kordalchuk

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