How to Find the Permalink of a Social Media Post

People are busy. If you want them to look at your content, you must get their attention, tell them why the information will be relevant, entertaining or valuable, and then make it easy to get there. Otherwise they will grow weary of clicking on your links in the future.

While it’s great to promote each new blog post by sharing a “teaser” with your social media networks, you need to be sure to provide the right link.

In a previous post about how to find the permalink of a blog post, I explained that the problem with just posting a link to your main blog page (called the “archives” page) is that this page changes every time you add new content.

If a new post has displaced the one you're talking about, it can leave people feeling frustrated, confused or annoyed. These probably aren’t feelings you want associated with you and your business!

The same is true for sharing a link from your social media page, which probably changes much more quickly than your blog. You would never say, “Go watch my latest video at youtube.com,” – instead you would link to your specific video. You need to be just as specific with Facebook and Twitter.

Whether you’re sending the link in email, on social media, or in a blog post, you need to use the permanent link (permalink) for the specific update, conversation or event that you’re referencing.

The easiest way to find the permalink for a social media post is to look for a day, date or time, move your mouse over that text, and click. A new page should open up where you see just that one status update or conversation.

Next, highlight and copy what you see in your web browser’s address bar – that is your permalink.

Finally, paste that link into your email, blog post or social media message.

If something you’ve posted on social media is important enough to link to, consider turning it into a blog post. Ultimately, your blog is the best place for people to read your content, because they are just one step away from taking the next step to doing business with you.

P.S. Here are some tips for how to turn your LinkedIn and Facebook activity into blog posts.

Photo Credit: CarbonNYC via photopin cc

Reader-Focused Blogging: Set an Empty Chair at Your Blog

In To Sell is Human, Daniel Pink lets us in on a success secret of one of the 30 wealthiest people on the planet - Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com. At every important meeting, Bezos leaves an empty chair at the table. Pink writes:

"It's there to remind those assembled who's really the most important person in the room: the customer."

I often suggest to business bloggers that you write as if you're talking to ONE ideal customer, imagining that person is sitting across the desk from you. 

Here are five ways to make that empty seat as welcoming as possible:

1. Begin again and again - If you've ever read a bedtime story to a child, you've heard the command, "Again!" No matter how many times you or others have covered a topic, your most important reader is the one who's hearing it for the first time, or who just needed to hear it again.
2. Answer real questions - As you picture the imaginary customer sitting in the chair, give that person a voice. Think back to conversations with current and prospective clients. What's the first thing people said or asked when you told them what you do? Answer those questions. Again.  
3. Watch your language - Some people suggest you write as though you're explaining your concepts to a young child. Others say your grandmother should be able to understand. The point is to eliminate - or spell out - any jargon or acronyms that will be unclear to someone new to the topic. Use the same words your clients are using when they ask their questions.
4. Make it comfortable - Ensure your text is easy to read (dark text against a light background), and that it's large enough for people with older eyes. Choose a clean, uncluttered layout, break up long paragraphs into lists or sub-points to create more white space on the page, and choose attractive images to go along with your posts.
5. Provide a menu of choices - Make it easy to find other topics and information on your blog (provide a search box, list of categories, recent posts, related posts, etc.). As well, cater to different learning styles by offering your content in different formats, such as audio, video, slideshows and graphics.

There are many benefits to keeping up with your business blogging, but the most important one is the relationship you build with each individual reader. Keep that person in mind as you write your next blog post.

P.S. For more tips on reader-focused blogging, check out "How to Make a L.O.V.E. Connection With Every Article You Write."

Blogging Alternatives for Franchisees

I often hear from franchisee businesses who want to blog, but as franchisees they don't have the same options as single location businesses.

Franchisors may have strict restrictions on what franchisees can put out there, and for good reason.

If an individual franchisee goes "rogue" and does something that negatively affects the brand, that will impact the entire company and all of the other franchises. As Nicole Norris, President of The AGENCY*, explains,

"Franchisees pay for the right to use the brand of the company, and the goodwill and reputation that brand has built up. It is the franchisor's job to manage the brand and the franchisee's job to manage their business."

In a blog post about what franchising really means, Nicole writes:

"Franchising can be summarized as an agreement with a company (Franchisor) that owns a trademark and provides a license to another company (Franchisee), to use for the selling of products and services under a proprietary system of commerce. It is a business model that is governed by law in the province of Ontario through The Arthur Wishart (Franchise Disclosure) Act and has a national voice through The Canadian Franchise Association."

As a franchisee, you may not be permitted to associate your name with the franchisor's name or trade-marks when you post anything online, but there are still some blogging techniques you may be able to use. 

• Show your expertise – Seek out opportunities for public speaking at local networking groups, schools or at seminars you host or co-host with related businesses. You could speak about some aspect of your business, or about business in general. You can also write "how to" or top 10 articles and submit them as editorial columns to local publications such as SNAP Barrie.
• Support your community – A blog is great forum for supporting community causes. So why not borrow a blog? The Barrie Chamber sells space in its blog, and some Chamber members use it to post details about a cause they support.  
• Gain wider exposure – Business blogger Glain Roberts-McCabe notes that by participating actively on social media, people in her network say she always seems to be showing up on their screens - and because she posts relevant, helpful information, that's a good thing! You can build your network, credibility and community just by being you and posting from a personal perspective.
• Keep your website fresh – Take any and all opportunities to update your website (or your local page of the franchise website) with news about local events or campaigns, staffing changes, new products or services, and community news including charity causes. Be sure to remove or replace outdated information immediately so your website doesn't look like a ghost town.  

Ideally, your franchisor will launch a blog you can submit posts to, so you'll be able to put all of my blogging tips to good use. (In a future post, I'll explore the many benefits of blogging for franchisors). Until then, try infusing a little blogging technique in your business and see what happens.

Whichever of these options you decide to try, please first consult your franchisor and franchise agreement to ensure you are complying with their requirements. 

*The AGENCY is a boutique branding and marketing consultancy that helps franchisors and retailers build brand equity and helps businesses get their brands ready to franchise. I'll be attending The AGENCY's upcoming Franchise This Brand! seminar on April 22, 2013, and I'll share my notes in another blog post.  

Thanks also to Joseph Adler of Hoffer Adler LLP for sharing his franchising expertise as I wrote this post.

Blogging Encourages Longer Website Visits

When people are getting value from reading your blog posts, they will stick around longer to read more. The longer someone spends reading your blog, the more likely they will:

• Associate your company with that topic (your area of expertise)
• Remember the value you provided
• Visit other pages on your website to learn more about your business and its products and services

That's why I encourage people to make a blog part of your business website - so that prospective customers are always only one click away from taking the next step to doing business with you.

Here are five blogging practices that will encourage longer website visits:

1. Post consistently - How you do anything is how you do everything, and keeping up with your blogging shows people they can count on you. 
2. Invite readers to explore - There are tools such as YARPP and LinkWithin that will automatically display links to your related articles at the bottom of each post.
3. Craft compelling titles - When readers see those links, you need to quickly capture their attention by summing up what they will find if they click.
4. Embed links within your posts - If you mention an idea that you've covered in a previous blog post, provide permalinks that lead back to your goldmine of archived content.  
5. Provide clear and relevant topics - Display your blog post categories in the sidebar and use these to tell your readers exactly what topics you're knowledgeable about. 

People will also stay on your blog longer if your posts are relevant, readable, relatable and varied, and if there are interesting visuals to go along with your text.

Ultimately, when you provide valuable content and make it easy to find more of the same, you're creating goodwill with your blog. People will remember that when they need help later.

How Can My Business Blog Stand Out?

A client recently asked, "How can we make sure our blog stands out from the rest?"

A great question, considering the vastness of the Internet and the number of websites and blogs from all over the world that may have similar information as yours. 

Here are some of the points I shared about making your business blog stand out:

1. Be yourself. Trying to stand out is a little like trying to be a thought leader. They will both happen as a result of you being the best you can be. So as you achieve new innovations in your business, make sure those are reflected in your blog posts.
2. Commit to quality. Ask for feedback about your writing and use the suggestions. Proofread your blog posts for errors. Give yourself time for all stages of the blog writing process.
3. Narrow your expectations. You don't want or need to stand out to everyone, only to a very specific set of people who are your ideal customers, or who can connect you with your ideal customers.
4. Get the word out. Make it easy for those right people to come back to your blog when you have new content. Post multiple times on social media sites so you catch them when they're looking.
5. Stick with it. Just by blogging consistently, week after week, month after month, year after year, you will stand out from all of the businesses who've abandoned their ghost town blogs. 

Though it may seem intimidating to add your business to the busy blogosphere, if you keep these tips in mind you will find your own place - and the right customers will find you.

P.S. Client questions like this are one of the best sources for blog post topic ideas. If one client is asking, it's guaranteed that more clients and prospective clients are wondering the same thing. What's a question you heard last week? Turn that into your next blog post!