contractor success As more and more people call on mobile technology for service recommendations, social media sites have become important ways to improve customer relations and increase industry presence. that companies can benefit from using. LinkedIn is a place that people go to dis-cuss business, and because of that it has some advantages over other social media outlets. Atkins said that it’s “where your profes-sional credentials live online.” He added that LinkedIn is important for business owners who are hands on, and looking to work with other established businesses. Russell agreed that the major advantage about communicating on LinkedIn is that “no one will get upset or offended if you’re direct with them” about wanting to talk business. Setting up a profile, and learning how to use LinkedIn is very simple, so while you may not see a big initial return from creating an account, you will have a “virtual resume” and a place to connect with other business-es, according to the experts. “If you own a business, you need to have a presence,” Russell says. He also recommends using Google Lo-cal as the place all of your reviews are put through to improve your search rankings, and get the word out about the great work your operation does. Google holds a lot of power as a search en-gine, and adding your business to Google+ gives your wash a better ability to be fea-tured highly when a customer searches for it, according to Atkins. When you use Google’s search engine for a business that has a Google+ account, you will see information for its Google+ on the search page. It may not be the place an owner will go to communicate with your audience, but if you’re not on Google+ you’re missing out on improving your search engine optimiza-tion (SEO), which is one of the major ways people find out about a business. The Pluses Of Google+ While Google+ has not taken off the way many predicted, it does have importance as a social media tool, even if it’s in a way that you might not think. Instagram: Get The Picture The experts see Instagram as a supplemen-tal tool, but an important one nonetheless. And the best thing about it is how simple it is to use. August 2014 Grab your smartphone, take a picture, write a caption, add a few hashtags and you’re done. “The beauty of Instagram is that people are going to promote you if they get excit-ed about what you’re doing,” Russell says. Instagram is particularly popular with young people, and learning how to use it now can keep you ahead of the pack. Instagram is the perfect place to host pictures you’ve taken for a charity event or to showcase something unique or in-teresting that happened, according to Atkins. Another great thing about it is that it can be integrated with other outlets like Face-book and Twitter. For example, Atkins said you could “pro-mote your event on Facebook, and then post pictures of the event on Instagram.” The ability to place pictures across mul-tiple platforms makes Instagram a tool that can help you increase your Facebook and Twitter as well. Signing up for an account takes min-utes, and you’ll be snapping pictures and posting them on Facebook and Twitter in no time. 34 CM/Cleaning & Maintenance Management ® Images courtesy of anyaberkut/iStock/Thinkstock
CMM – Archives August 2014: 34
