Not everyone needs to know you have updated every field in LinkedIn.  So did you know LinkedIn allows you to turn off the Activity Broadcasts (you may think of this as the updates notification setting) – which means when your doing a mass update of your profile, everyone won’t see that you have just added your school etc……

The updates that normally trigger an activity broadcast or update are:

• Adding a new current job position
• Adding a new current school
• Adding a new link to a website
• Recommending someone
• Following a company
• Adding a connection
• Adding additional skills to your profile.
• Sharing content with your network.
• Editing the title of your current position
• Current work experience anniversaries

So when doing major updates to your profile – I thoroughly recommend turning off the Activity Broadcast. However, I am conscious that not everyone knows how to do this.  So hopefully this quick tip will help you.

• Log in as normal to LinkedIn.
• Go to your Privacy and Settings Page – to get to here, move your cursor over your photo in the top right hand corner of your homepage and select Privacy and Settings.
• Go down to the bottom of your screen to Privacy Controls.
• Select Turn on/off your Activity Broadcasts.
• Remove the tick from the tick box that says “Let people know when you change your profile, make recommendations or follow companies.”

Bonus Tip:  You may want to turn this option off if you’re looking for a job and don’t want your present employer to see that you’re updating your profile.

Just remember to turn it back on at the end, because normally you want others to see you have been interacting on your profile. I also recommend that you turn it back on just as you do the final “juicy” update – Another good tip is you save changing your Headline (120 characters which is Google Searchable so should be keyword rich at the same time as explaining the difference you make) to the very end once the update status notification is turned back on.

At Your Executive Secretary we now offer a 30 Steps to creating a Great LinkedIn Profile Package – if you would like to know more, call me on 0800 612 5596 to register your interest.

We all know how important Social Media is to any business in this day and age, and it’s only going to become more so in 2014.

But it can be time consuming, confusing and downright irritating at times! You need to be Tweeting, Facebooking, taking part in LinkedIn, Pinning, Blogging and more – just reading about it makes some of us exhausted!

You’re running a business, you don’t have time for all of that, right? But your competitors are doing it so you need to – what’s the answer?

Well one solution could be to outsource your Social Media Marketing to a VA (Virtual Assistant).

A VA could take all the stress away from you an ensure that you and your brand are well represented on Social Media.

Here are my top 7 tips for outsourcing to a VA:

1) Do your research

Don’t just go for the first VA you see on Twitter, or the one with the flashiest website that you met while networking. They may be great, but the best way to find the perfect VA is to do the research.

You want them to handle your Social Media, so check theirs. How many Twitter followers do they have and do they engage with them? Is their own blog regularly updated? Are they posting regularly on their own Facebook Business Page?

While I’m not saying that a VA that does no Social Media for themselves can’t handle yours, you need to find someone with a good grasp of the things you need – someone with 5 Twitter followers, a blog that hasn’t been updated since 2012 and no Facebook page doesn’t instil confidence does it?

Whittle your choices down to 2 or 3 and then contact them (by telephone is best) to see how you get on with them – you’re going to be working closely together so a good rapport is essential.

2) Don’t buy on price

It’s tempting to go for the cheapest – after all Social Media is easy isn’t it? But the saying ‘you get what you pay for’ definitely applies here.

Someone cheap may well do a good job, but remember you’re paying for experience and know how as well as posting / writing etc.

This is your business we’re talking about, so it’s important that you are represented well; is the cheapest in the room going to do that?

3) Brief them well

A good VA will want to know all about your company, what you want to achieve, who you’re trying to reach and more. They won’t start work without a good brief, and you shouldn’t want them to!

A little time spent here can save a whole lot of heartache in the future so a good brief is essential. With my Social Media Clients, I always want to know how Social Media fits into their overall Marketing Plan.

4) Decide on responsibilities

Decide ahead of time what’s going to be your responsibility and what will be your VA’s.

Who is going to deal with direct messages and enquiries from Social Media? If someone asks a question about your product or service on your Facebook page, who is the person responsible for answering it?

In some cases, my clients want me to answer any queries and question; in others they want to do it themselves – or I pass the difficult specialist questions to them!

5) Monitor their work

Even the best VA needs monitoring, at least at first. Keep an eye on their output to make sure it is exactly what you want putting out there with your name on it.

Give constructive criticism and tweak where necessary – your VA will appreciate the feedback.

6) Measure the results

Make sure you measure the results of your VA’s work. You may want to track enquiries, sales, traffic, followers or even something else but you need to be tracking to see if the work is efficient.

Remember, a VA cannot guarantee you sales or followers – this isn’t a quick win purchase, if they do promise these things, it is likely they are buying them and that is not what you want.

7) Have regular catch ups

Arrange regular meetings (whether by phone, Skype or email, or even Google Hangout!) to talk about what’s been happening, what’s going to happen and how your VA is doing.

Social Media Marketing is like any other form of marketing – it’s important to keep on top of it and make strategic plans.

So, 7 tips, 7 ways to help you make the most of outsourcing your Social Media – if you’d like to know more about how Your Executive Secretary can help you be more productive and get more from Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn – call Amanda on 0800 612 5596 to discuss.