Most simple domain names were either not taken, or had some random content (e.g. Tigers.com was a bunch of pictures of tigers, not the Detroit Tigers MLB team).

Seeing that gave me an idea: buy a whole heap of these simple-word domains. Eventually, individuals and companies will want them, and I’d be able to sell them for a profit.

The problem was I was in college. And broke. And domain names cost $100 each. Eek.

I was eating Rice-A-Roni for dinner every day – how could I follow my ambitious plan to buy 100 domain names, and hold them until this internet thing really took off?

I knew banks wouldn’t give me a loan since I had no collateral, I felt my parents would have said “no,” and my friends were all broke too.

Thus, my only option was my grandfather, who had worked his fingers to the bone as a farmer his entire life, but for the last 10 years of his life, he made some great business moves, and so I knew he could potentially loan me the money.   

Could I really ask my grandfather for $10,000? What it if didn’t work out? My grandfather was one of my best friends. When I went to community college for two years to save money to go to Michigan, I stopped by his house every day to bring in his mail and talk for a while. I didn’t want to lose that.

If it didn’t work out, I would feel horrible around him for the rest of my life. My family would chastise me for taking advantage of him. I couldn’t have any of that. So, I did nothing.

Well, the rest is history. I know people who bought domains for $100 and sold them for hundreds of thousands of dollars. At one point, I worked for a company, who had a client that was trying to get investors to help them buy a domain for $6 million. SIX. MILLION. DOLLARS. And that domain was one of the names on my original list.

I still kick myself for not following-through on my idea.   

My point is this – never be afraid to:

1) Start with what you’ve got – I didn’t need $10k. $1k would have started me off just fine. So would have $500. Work up to your bigger vision.

2) Ask for help – My grandfather probably wouldn’t have given me $10k, but he probably would have given me $500. And if I never paid him back, he was such a great guy, he wouldn’t have cared.

3) Follow your dreams – if you have a great idea, CHASE IT. Don’t let fear stand in your way.

Tips to make your training sessions sing

My team has conducted a slew of training sessions this year. Based on those sessions, here are 4 key takeaways you can use to make your training more effective:

1) Make training interactive.

There’s nothing worse than talking at a group for 55 minutes, and then having 5 minutes of questions. Invite questions throughout the session, and cater your training to your audience’s answers. If no one is asking questions, ask them instead.

2) Show how to do things LIVE.

Yes, this adds an element of danger if the wi-fi isn’t strong at the venue, but live demos based on the needs and situations of your audiences are a lot more beneficial to them, and will keep them engaged.

3) Train small groups or conduct individual sessions.

Depending on the size of the group, this isn’t a possible, but try to get those groups down to small numbers. That way, participants won’t be afraid to ask questions, you will get a good dialogue going, and your message will stick.

4) Give homework. 

It’s easy for participants to attend a training session, think it’s great, but then go back to their desks and keep doing what they’ve always done. Have an “ask” for them (with a deadline), and follow-up to ensure they did it.

Follow these tips, and your training sessions will improve in 2018!

All social media marketers want to create content that resonates with their target audience. However, I have noticed after years in social media that many companies seem to make similar mistakes when it comes to social media content marketing.

Here is a list of 5 common social media content mistakes to avoid:

1) Making it all about themselves.

In social media, content needs to be about the audience – based their needs and what resonates with them. What companies want to talk about is their products and services, and many companies post this content on a regular basis. The problem is, social media users did not log-on to see content about products and services, so social media marketers need to frame their content in a way that will be valuable to their audience.

To do this, social media content needs to be P.U.R.E. – Powerful (compelling, stands out, stands on its own), Useful (provides values, not selling products), Relevant (something pertinent to the target audience at that time) and Engaging (makes target audience want to do something with it – e.g. share it with others, sign-up for a newsletter, buy something).

2) Losing their identity.

When I conduct reviews for companies regarding their social strategy and content, I see many brands posting content that is not aligned with their target audience.

For example, they have a highly-sophisticated client base, but they are posting 101-level content because it gets the most engagement. So, even if they get a ton of engagement, it is not with the audience they want to buy their products and services. Thus, even though it’s “successful” on the surface, it’s ultimately unsuccessful because it will not lead to business.

It’s all about quality over quantity – 10 shares from a company’s target audience is better than 20 shares from people outside that target audience.

3) Not using data enough.

Every company has a plethora of valuable data on their customers from sales, social and traditional marketing, but many companies don’t use this data when they are creating their social content. The most successful companies on social segment their overall audiences and target messages only to certain segments to which it is relevant.

Also, the results of previous pieces and campaigns inform what audiences like, do not like, and what will drive leads and sales. To optimize this further, test, test, TEST different messages to continuously keep up with target audience preferences and changing needs. Data needs to be at the heart of all content decisions from original strategy to end-of-the journey optimization to ensure strong ROI.

4) Designing for desktop.

Per Comscore, 65% of all digital time in the US is spent on mobile. However, most companies are still creating and optimizing their content for desktop, which is a big disconnect with consumer preference.

Companies need to ditch those extra long articles, and especially those enormous infographics! After all, users can barely read those on a desktop device. To use this content, cut those big infographics, brochures and other materials into “snackable” pieces that can be easily consumed on any device. As added bonuses, companies will have 10x the content to use, and it will be much more likely to be viewed and shared this way!

5) Sharing the exact same content across multiple channels.

Many companies with slim social resources post the same content on many different social sites, which is understandable, but not ideal. Although, some things are universal like using imagery and video, the thought leadership content that works on LinkedIn doesn’t necessarily work on Facebook, and definitely doesn’t work on Pinterest.

If resources are scant, optimize for each channel by adding site-specific nuances, like adding a hashtag and/or tagging the appropriate @ on Twitter. Middleware programs like HubSpot and Buffer make it easy to do this.

If resources are not an issue, design for each channel, then look at the type of content that works for each channel, and create accordingly. For example, the content that results in the most engagement and conversations for me on LinkedIn is…content about LinkedIn – big surprise! When I post that same content on Twitter, it receives a lot less interest. The more time companies can take to create content that works with each channel, the more successful their social media efforts will be.

Key Takeaways

To avoid the biggest social media content mistakes, companies need to make sure they are:

• Designing content for their target audience’s needs and preferences
• Using data to shape their strategy and tactics
• Creating site-specific content

Related articles

• The value of social selling
• What should your social media objectives be?
• 4 steps to social media content success

About the author

Robert Knop is a passionate helper of people, and Founder of Assist You Today, a company focusing on helping companies get closer to their clients, build trust and drive sales by harnessing the power of strategy, data, digital and social.

To find out how to set your company up for long-term success in this new digital age, and generate more sales using strategy, data, digital and social, contact Robert at 323-972-3566, or simply complete the short form below.

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Photo: Andy Roberts