This social media experiment has been an interesting one. When I set my goals for 2018, I really did not think I would learn much about how to market my business as an SLP. I thought I would learn about each channel and be able to just continue posting everything everywhere. That’s what that “share” button on Instagram is for, to just share that one piece of content across Facebook, Twitter, Tumbler, etc? While I have learned that yes, you can do that, there’s more to social media marketing than just that. See what this SLP found out during her month with Twitter and LinkedIn.
For March, I targeted two unknown channels. I have had a Twitter account for a while as well as a LinkedIn profile. You know that feeling when you bring home your first-born child and you realize it is your job to raise this tiny human, but it seems as if the hospital must have forgotten to send home the manual on how to do it. Then panic sets in. Yeah, that is how I felt with both! Actually, I was more comfortable raising my tiny humans than posting anything to Twitter or LinkedIn. At least I had “manuals” for Twitter and LinkedIn! (Now, if the hospital could just send me that “Congrats! You made it to the teenage years. Here’s how to survive that!” book!!!)
Twitter for the SLP
I found a great book that was really easy to read. “Twitter: 25 Powerful Twitter Marketing Tips for Small Business” by R. S. Boone is great for the Twitter newbie just wanting to promote their business. When I first started out,I did not know anything about Twitter. This book helps you make a great profile, how to find connections, and what not to do. If you are in private practice or running a TpT store and you have a Twitter account, I definitely recommend this book.
I will admit I am in still in the learning stages of Twitter. I do schedule my posts on HootSuite, but I still use the free version. Until I start seeing a major impact on my TpT store and blog, I will probably continue to put very little money into marketing on Twitter. However, my interactions did increase this month on Twitter. I added more followers, found people I am following on Instagram and had more retweets this month than ever before, but Twitter is such as fast-moving channel that many tweets go unnoticed. I post around 3-5 times a day. Then I try to retweet 3-5 tweets from other SLPs or companies that I follow.
LinkedIn for the SLP
LinkedIn is unlike any other platform. I rarely posted on there because I had no idea what to do and I did not want to look like I did not know what I was doing. Then I heard this podcast with a guest named Viveka Von Rosen. In the podcast, she mentioned she had written a book about using LinkedIn. I bought a sample of it on Amazon (I read many books on my IPad.). I was instantly hooked! I ended up buying “Linked In: 101 Ways to Rock Your Personal Brand” and loving it! This book is ridiculously easy to read. I loved that I could read a section and instantly apply what I had just read. It is literally a list of 101 ways to improve your profile.
While my profile is FAR from perfect, it is more improved than before! I am sharing my blog posts relevant to SLPs as well as the occasional TpT product. My target is to post 3-5 times a week and I am working up the nerve to post videos. But let’s face it- I have just now gotten comfortable posting videos on Instagram.
“Hit the Mic with The Stacey Harris” is a new podcast I found over the last week. She was a guest on another podcast I listened to. She covers LinkedIn on several of her podcasts. They are relatively short, which makes them great for traveling SLPs.
If you are on either of these platforms, I would love to connect!!
