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At one point, Leslie Mock had four websites. Today, the CEO of hair replacement company HairChi – www.hairchi.com – is launching a second website called www.LifeFlipping.com, which will guide budding entrepreneurs through the process of “flipping” from life as an employee to a business they can call their own.
With an MBA from UT-Dallas in global management and ecommerce, Mock calls Dripping Springs home with her husband – artist, maker of green birding products and online entrepreneur Howard Williams – and two cats, Gus, who is a Japanese bobtail, and Edie, a “mutt.”
Mock has been into social media for more than five years, and spends 40-50 hours a week online. And now, she is ready to give some hard and solid advice on how to thrive in the social media world…
1 The best strategy for selling online
You need to use the same practices as an offline business – I think a lot of people separate the two. Channel an overall strategy. I see many small businesses that completely chop [the online sales] off – instead, you should put it in with all your other strategies. At the same time, some people will throw their brochure up and that will be their website. The writing is different (online).
2 What to avoid when selling online
Avoid outdated sites. [Also] don’t think you can do everything yourself. If you think you’re going to be an expert on SEO and PPC, you will spend a lot of time doing that and not selling.
Editor’s note: Search engine optimization, or SEO, is maximizing your presence on web searches through the use of key sentences and words, and directory listings; pay-per-click, or PPC, is a form of online advertising that you pay only when a user clicks on your ad. Google is the leader in PPC; PPC ads generally appear in the top results of a search.
3 The secrets to a successful blog
Pick a niche and the audience you want to reach. You need to be original and transparent. Write about things that add real value, and pay attention to readers – be accessible. A big thing about blogs is getting links. If you build a network of posts on other sites, when they post something, you can always post a back link on your blog.
4 What not to do in a blog
Writing about things that don’t add value. Sometimes people write about their dinner…
5 Why be on Facebook
Some people use Facebook to keep in touch with friends and family. My perspective is I like to establish myself as an authority, and attract people who are interested in what I do.
6 How Twitter can help a business
I prefer Twitter. It gives exposure to your brand. On Twitter, I find something that’s interesting and I put it out to my followers, and they put it out to 30 of their followers, and so on. You can put a question out there, and you not only get a huge response, you’ll have people who say: “Yeah, I’ll do it right now” and they’ll turn it around in an hour. It’s kind of a ripple effect. It’s a great branding tool, for branding yourself, branding your business. You can build a lot of connections.
7 On the disadvantages of not being into social media
Losing the opportunity for all those connections. (You can get your message out to hundreds of thousands of people). You’re losing exposure for your business.
8 What it says if a person isn’t into social media
There are a huge amount of people who are in social media, but they’re not active. Some people – my mother is in a demographic, she’s in her 80s – who haven’t had much exposure to online. They’re not going to go online. Also, people who aren’t curious are not going to use it. They’ve heard about Twitter, but they’re not that interested in it, or they tried it and didn’t see the value in it.
9 On the future of social media
It bothers me that Facebook is like high school. I think we are going to refine and trim to more meaningful levels. So many people are just adding friends and they have nothing in common with those people. Is it really adding anything to your branding? Friendship must be earned.
Companies are going to start embracing social media more, what with budget cuts. There is a real transparency in it … If you’re not responding right away, and people don’t like your product, it’s going to be out there in hours.
10 When it’s time to get offline
Just this week I went on a Twitter diet. At about four in the afternoon I first look at Twitter, then I start posting different things, then I go over to Facebook. I think you have to take a break from it. It’s a culture of rapid response. When you’re sitting with other people, face to face, you should really value that. You have to be structured about your time and spend time with people.
More Info:
www.lifeflipping.com
leslie@lesliemock.com