Ever heard of Social Media Examiner?

Michael Stelzner started Social Media Examiner's blog, which is a how-to resource for all things social media marketing. His idea was to share all the tech secrets behind the scenes. People thought he was crazy for doing it. How would he make a living anymore? How would they make a living anymore?

It worked. Michael quickly rose to the top of the industry as the go-to resource. Today he contributes less than 10% of the content to the company himself, as others in the industry step up to share their knowledge to make a name for themselves as well (and to get those coveted backlinks to their own websites).

Read articles: Sally Hendrick teaches how to use Facebook to market your business

Social Media Marketing World is a HUGE conference in San Diego

If you follow me on social media, you probably know that I attended Social Media Marketing World in San Diego March 1 to 3. Fears of coronavirus reverberated throughout the conference for some but not all. Many upcoming events around the country have been cancelled, opting for online events instead, such as Facebook's F8, Shopify Unite, and Google's conference.

Recently, I started writing for News Landed, an online news site that is fed into the Apple and Google news feeds. They gave me the assignment to cover the conference, so I focused on the coronavirus aspect.

My focus at #SMMW20

I decided to network, attend sessions on Facebook ads analytics, speaking, and Facebook groups.

Notes on the 7 steps to rehearsing your speech with Michael and Amy Port:

1️⃣Table read. Sit at table with script or outline. Read out loud. Mouth gets used to saying it and eats get used to hearing it.
2️⃣Content mapping. Architecture of what you’ve written. 🅰Beats. Pause. In the pause, the magic happens. Gives audience time to take in what you said. We don’t pause because we feel naked and vulnerable. 🅱Operative words. The words in the thought that communicate the meaning.
3️⃣Blocking and staging. Your intentional movement. Helps people retain the message. You’re adding choreography to your speech. Decide when you’re gonna stand and land.
4️⃣Improv and rewrite. Full-blown rehearsal. Capture all on audio or video. You’ll capture the moment and any brilliant segments that came to you and stay in the flow.
5️⃣Invited rehearsal. Get in front of people before you think you should. If you see me wander, circle my script spot where it happened. What was my big idea?
6️⃣Open rehearsal. In front of 10 people to practice. Do the jokes work? Is the emotional arc there? Get over the adrenaline.
7️⃣Dress and tech. Wardrobe malfunctions are real.

Notes on Facebook ads benchmarks to watch for with Andrea Vahl:

Andrea speaks my language when it comes to Facebook ads. One of the slides she shared talks about typical results in the United States. The one thing I must caution you about is that these are theoretical benchmarks and should only be used as a starting point. Every business must come up with their own typical results after proper testing.

• Cost per engagement: $0.10 to $1.00
• Cost per page like: $0.25 to $2.00
• Cost per link click: $0.20 to $2.00 (more for conversion objectives)
• Cost per video view: $0.02 to $0.20 (3 seconds)
• Cost per optin/lead: $1.00 to $10.00 (sometimes more depending on offer)

Cost per sale and return on ad spend (ROAS) are dependent upon the industry and offer being made.

Click on this video to see what SMMW is like.

Do you have any topics I should cover?

With this new journalist position I have with News Landed, I'm always looking for topics to cover that tie to current news. Send me your suggestions, and I'll be sure to credit you if I write a story on it. If you'd like to read the articles I've written for them already, here's a list:

MY EXPERIENCE: NASHVILLE’S TORNADO IS BRINGING THE COMMUNITY TOGETHER

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING WORLD: CORONAVIRUS DIDN’T CANCEL THIS EVENT

KATHERINE JOHNSON: A HERO FOR WOMEN IN STEM CAREERS

CAN FACEBOOK ADS INFLUENCE THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION?

Why is a sales funnel necessary?

Have you ever noticed that people come to your website, but they don't take action in the direction you want them to? It may be because you are presenting too much information to them that does not lead them down a well-curated path. That path is called a sales funnel, but it doesn't just involve signing up for your email list. There are several aspects to sales funnels.

• Web pages
• Emails
• Intermittent advertising

If you need help framing your entire sales funnel or checking to make sure you are including all the important elements, get started today on The Sales Funnel Generator.