Reputation Management and Online Clean Up
Thought Talk
Bant Breen is the Founder and Executive Chairman for Qnary, an award-winning executive reputation management and talent branding company. As more people appear online, it’s become clear that their name searches need to be cleaned up and more professional. Qnary’s company grew dramatically during the pandemic because your online presence matters more than ever, and executives understand this. In this episode, Bant talks about what executives should be thinking about when it comes to their online reputation, how to best reduce “bad” instances in your online presence, and why how...
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Upcoming Design Trends and The Future of Design
Thought Talk
Mushrooms, alternative alcohol, digital health and merch have been four of the fastest-growing sectors for startups and small businesses in the past year. Here 99designs by Vista CEO Patrick Llewellyn talks to Karen Tiber Leland about some of the global trends that have emerged on the design platform and among its customers and community. Trends among fastest growing sectors for startups and small businesses A platform like 99Designs by Vista reaches communities far and wide and it has given people new opportunities that they otherwise wouldn’t have had in their...
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How to Become a Thought Leader in Your Field
Thought Talk
Today’s guest is Peter Winick, the Founder and CEO of Thought Leadership Leverage and the podcast host of Leveraging Thought Leadership. In this episode of Thought Talk, Peter talks about, you guessed it, thought leadership! Since it’s easy to have an opinion on social media, it’s so hard to get something good and worthy of substance in today’s fast-paced world. Intentional thought leadership changes that. Thought leadership is a hot topic right now, but it can get a little cloudy on what it really is. Peter shares examples of what thought leadership is, what it is not, and how...
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Four Foolproof Ways to Stay Crazy Ahead of your Competition
Thought Talk
As I head into my 79th episode of the Thought Talk podcast, I’ve decided to take a break, step back, and do a bit of reworking. The Thought Talk podcast will be back by the end of March and better than ever. So for this episode I wanted to share with you four tips I learned decades ago that can help you ensure that your brand stays crazy ahead of your competition. In all honesty, they are so simple, it’s easy to toss them off. But don’t - they can truly transform your career and business. These four simple things almost certainly ensure...
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The Art of a Better Photograph with the iPhone Diva
Thought Talk
Today’s guest, Lynette Sheppard is also known as the iPhone Diva. Lynette joins the show from the highly photographic island of Molokai in Hawaii to give us some insight on how we can best use our phones to practice creativity through photography. Lynette Sheppard has taught iPhoneography throughout Europe, Canada, and the United-States. She is known for her out-of-the-box imaginative uses of taking photographs and making images with an iPhone. When you take a photograph, is the app doing all the work? Does it still count as art? Our discussion covers what makes...
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COVID-19 has Changed Real Estate, maybe forever...
Thought Talk
Today’s guest is Theresa Souers, managing broker at Corcoran Global Living. Theresa has been in the real estate business for the past 25 years. On this episode of Thought Talk we discuss the impact of COVID-19 on the broader real estate market and the implications for buyers, sellers, and investors alike. You will want to take notes as Theresa shares her impressions on this seller’s market, the trends that are here to stay, as well as the things we can expect to see in the future. Theresa also shares a treasure trove of tips for investing smart and buying right. Tips on making...
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Overcoming Multitasking Madness For a More Efficient Workflow
Thought Talk
Overcoming Multitasking Madness for a More Efficient Workflow Karen’s latest book, is now available for order on Amazon. Today, Karen tackles one of the topics addressed in the book, a problem all of us face: multitasking madness. Studies have found that when people switch back and forth between tasks, they experience substantial losses in efficiency and accuracy — in some cases as much as 50%. In today’s non-stop tech world overcoming multitasking is a critical part of learning to work from home efficiently. Tips Turn off your tech — the frequent bells...
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Fine Tune Your Business Goals With Less Excuses & More Adjustments
Thought Talk
On my most recent Peloton bike ride, the gentleman leading the session said something that I found applies to so many aspects of our professional lives: “Less excuses, more adjustments.” In today's short episode, I will share five ways for you to fine-tune your business goals by doing just that. Oftentimes when we work on our time management, personal brands, marketing plan, or business development we throw up our hands and give up when things don't go as planned. Today’s podcast is all about making small adjustments in your business goals as you go along so that you don’t feel the...
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Why Creating A Team Brand Might Be Your Best Bet In 2021 With Karen Tiber Leland
Thought Talk
Even as we sit on the verge of bringing an end to COVID-19 with the new vaccines, the trend towards a decentralized workforce seems likely to be an integral part of the new normal. With that in mind, in this episode I talk about going beyond team building to team branding. Team branding is essentially about defining a given team’s brand and then translating that brand into a strategy, a code of conduct, and a series of actions. If you do it right, it can have a powerful impact on a team’s alignment, effectiveness, and engagement. Pre-COVID I always did team...
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Applying The 80/20 Rule for a Winning 2021 With Karen Tiber Leland
Thought Talk
Today I am talking about a great principle you should be applying to your business for the coming year. I’ve been using the 80/20 rule for years and regularly suggest it to my clients, and although most of you may already know of the 80/20 rule, very few know where it comes from and how broadly it applies. In 1897, an Italian economist, Vilfredo Pareto identified that 80% of the wealth was owned by 20% of the population. This may seem too broad, but listen in for a breakdown and actionable tips on how this rule applies to different aspects of your business and how you can put it to...
info_outline“I have a big social media following but it does not seem to be translating into new customers/clients.” I hear this comment all the time from potential clients who call me up wondering how to make their social media a more effective business development tool.
The first step in gaining a greater conversion from your social media is understanding that social media is just one out of a necessary six to eight touchpoints to convert a potential customer, and so expecting social media alone to close a client is not reliable.
To increase the chances of you converting someone who likes your social media into a paying customer or client, there are four things you need to ensure are happening as part of your sales funnel:
Tips on improving your conversion rate
- Have a direct call to action — put up a direct link in the social post that leads to a dedicated landing page, white page, or download (special offers, promo codes and limited time offers work well).
- Show, don’t tell, your trustworthiness — too many businesses speak generally about why they’re trustworthy. For example:
- Saying “we are professionals with a great deal of experience” is a general “tell” description. Instead say “we have worked with more than a hundred companies in 20 countries around the world including American Express, AT&T, Apple, and more”, as it is a lot more tangible and “show” oriented.
- Focus on thought leadership and high-quality content. Social media will get people interested in you but it’s the quality of your content that will close the deal. Blog posts, LinkedIn articles, white papers, podcasts, ebooks, etc.: these all provide additional touchpoints for potential customers and help make you the provider of choice.
- Put a lead-nurturing campaign in place. A prospect who clicks through your social media or dedicated landing page enters into your sales funnel but they’re not necessarily ready to make the purchase yet so keep them engaged, interested, and on the path to being a customer. Try setting up what’s called “gated content”: this is free, high-value content the visitor to your website gets in exchange for providing their contact information.
About Karen Tiber Leland
Karen Tiber Leland is the founder of Sterling Marketing Group, a branding, marketing, and color strategy and implementation firm helping CEOs, executives, and entrepreneurs develop stronger personal, business, and team brands. Her clients include Cisco, American Express, Marriott Hotels, Apple Computer, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
She is also the best-selling author of nine traditionally-published business books that have sold over 400,000 copies and been translated into 10 languages. Her most recent book is The Brand Mapping Strategy: Design, Build and Accelerate Your Brand. She regularly writes for Inc.com and Entrepreneur.com and has had articles published in Self, The Los Angeles Times, American Way, The Boston Globe, and many others.
Karen has spoken for Harvard, The AMA, Direct Marketing Association, and Stanford, among others. She has been interviewed on The Today Show, CNN, CNBC, and Oprah.
Get in touch with Karen on Twitter | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook
Resources
If you are interested in a complimentary consultation on either your CEO brand or your business brand, please feel free to contact me at [email protected] or go to KarenLeland.com.
I will be delighted to schedule an appointment with you to take a look at how and what you’re doing and give you some advice on how you can convert your social following to customers a bit better.
Sharing (Tweetables and Quotes)
In today’s crowded market, credibility and trust are the core of converting visitors to your social media into customers. @KarenFLeland
You have to start thinking of social media as one touchpoint, not the only touchpoint. @KarenFLeland
The bottom line is that trust comes from social proof such as links to testimonials, media mentions, influencers and endorsements. @KarenFLeland
The more you can quantify that you are a trustworthy choice for your customer, the better. @KarenFLeland
Studies show that it takes an average of six to eight touchpoints to create a viable sales lead. @KarenFLeland
Don’t spam people with offers. I think we all know that less is more and value is what’s key. @KarenFLeland
