Well folks, I've already jumped up on my soap box and screamed from the rafters to let you in on the many benefits of using a Pinterest business page.  You can find that in this post here.  Today, however, I'd like to help you put your plan into motion and let you know how exactly it is that you can make Pinterest work for your brand.  These steps are important so make sure you listen close and take notes.  Or just print/save this page.  That kind of makes more sense - and saves paper as well.

Well it’s official, no matter how you feel about them –hashtags have now officially made their way onto the Facebook playing field.  They are fully interactive; not just a sad leftover symbol copied from a Twitter post.  What does this mean for your business?  Well, as we’ve seen on Twitter, hashtags can be totally beneficial when used properly and nothing but noise when used badly.  Surely there will be a few bumps along the way while all of Facebookland is learning this Twitterverse function.  When Facebook introduced Graph Search, it was a big deal.  Problem is –the reach of the graph search is limited to what is contained in people’s friend’s profiles.  Hashtags reach a whole new realm of customers.  You just have to have a common idea and viola! #InstantConnection

Hopefully by now you’re all wrapped up in the world of social media.  For those of you who aren’t using social media for your business, have just started using social media for your business, or are still trying to figure out how to best utilize each social media platform –this one is for you.

I’m no stranger to Pinterest.  This isn’t such a huge shocker to those who know me.  In fact, my husband would be rolling his eyes saying, “Are we talking about Pinterest, again?” He’s still bitter about the corn husk glue gun project.  My point here is this –Pinterest is big.  Huge even.  In fact, Pinterest produces four times the revenue-per-click as Twitter.  Do I have your attention yet?

What’s the secret?  What’s the magic trick that gets all the balls rolling in the right direction?  The secret is, there is no secret.  The trick is, there are no tricks.  No magic pill.  No puff of green smoke.  If you want success, you’re going to have to work for it.  There are, however, a few tips that keep popping up –over and over and over.  I can either whack you over the head with a wooden mallet to get your attention –or you can start listening to the advice that’s been there all along.  Up to you.  It’s your headache; it’s your choice.  Since people these days are in a hurry and heck –maybe you’ve got an awful memory; I’ll just go ahead and make a nice neat list for you.  Pin this to your computer, your desk, or your forehead.  I won’t judge.  Successful small businesses are made up of a little bit of sweat, a dash of tears, a heap of stress, and a whole ‘lotta determination.

Hootsuite saves my life, sanity, the happiness and well-being of those around me on a daily basis.  Dramatic much?  Perhaps, but I’ll tell you this - anything on this planet that saves both time and money on a consistent basis is a win in my book.  So how does Hootsuite save me?  How does this delectable tool keep me coming back for more?  Well, I’ll tell you.

Adding to the list of “things I didn’t know about before, but now I do –and so should you” is a little HTML something that goes by the name of “ ”.  It is what’s called a “non-breakable space” in HTML.  As a very wise man explained to me –they appear automatically in text when you double space after a period (like we were all taught to do in typing class).  In your text, they will display as spaces and that is all well and good, except for one thing: they are non-breakable. What does this mean to you, you ask?  It means that the text cannot wrap or be broken up into separate lines.  You may be wondering, “Why do these “ ” even exist?” They exist to irritate me I think.

There comes a time in every person’s life when they’ve got to ask themselves –is it time to redesign my website?  That may not actually be true.  The truth is, however, that if you DO have a website and if you ARE invested in it –it is worth a second look every now and then to see if there is actually need to shake things up a bit.  This could be anything from swapping out colors, to changing your whole theme.  Maybe your little spokesperson is a brunette, but you heard blondes have more fun.  Whatever your reasoning, if you are asking yourself if it’s time to redesign, here are a few pieces to look at that may need a little tweaking, moving, and shaking.

We’ve already discussed Facebook’s Graph Search’s plot to take over the world: here.  Now, lets dive a little deeper into how your business should be rearranging itself a bit to get the most out of those search results.  If you want to be noticed, you have to stand out a bit.