Expecting a good-natured hoax or joke this April Fool’s Day? Substituting pepper in the salt shaker or arranging a visit from a fake IRS auditor may be humorous – for a moment – but you’re sure to feel egg on your face if one day you discover you’re guilty of any of these image-tarnishing gaffes.
Web site blunders: When was the last time you read through your entire site, page by page? A writer friend recently discovered long-standing typos and syntax errors in a section of her home page, an area she thought she could “set and forget.”
Simple things can blemish your credibility, particularly when your business is based on paying attention to detail. When you write your own content, it’s best to have one or two other people read through it before it goes live. Others may catch grammatical problems you might overlook. They can also represent your typical site visitor and point out when part of your message is unclear.
Twitter bullhorn: If you’re active on Twitter, then you’re familiar with some of the common recommendations like the 70/30 rule (70% of your tweets should promote others, 30% can be self-promotion). If you’re diligently promoting good, useful content that fits your followers (those in the insurance field will attract different followers than organization consultants, for example), then it’ll get retweeted and shared. Conversely, tweeting only your own material will get stale and be a turn-off to others. Leave the bullhorn at home.
Analytics ignorance: Are you tracking how well your content gets distributed? If you use a custom URL shortener (bit.ly is a good one) then you’ll know how many RT’s (retweets) your links get. A custom shortener can improve shareability (the platform trims down long links to better fit Twitter’s 140 character limit) and introduce you to Twitter users outside of your network. You may just discover a new potential client or networking partner, simply by tracking what you’re already sharing. Plus, you’ll curry favor when you reach out to thank the user for the RT. We all like to be recognized, and a simple “Thanks for sharing my link!” can open doors you didn’t know you needed.
Chances are, you’re already doing many of the right things online to build your business. Our goal is to help you refine your efforts to get the most out of your time and energy.
What are you doing still reading? Don’t you have a prank to pull somewhere? Happy April Fool’s Day!