Engagement can seem hard, especially when it comes to social media. How do you engage and build relationships with large numbers of people you will never REALLY know? Well, let me say that the hard part is not the engagement. A few tips from me and you can become great at engaging your fans and followers. The hard part is finding time and motivation to do so. 

My goal with this tip from the tip jar is to help you shrink your social media marketing tasks down to a few minutes each day. You might even save time and do it all over a few days. Whatever you choose to do, I intend on helping you make it a little easier. You do, however, have to do some work upfront that may require an hour or so...​

I'm often asked, "Rubina, what is the one thing I can do to get clients." Or "What is the one thing I can do to get people to donate to our organization." My answer is always, "There's no ONE thing." Many people don't want to hear this, but it's true. 

We are all regularly and constantly consuming massive amounts of information from a variety of sources. Rarely do we run out and buy something or get compelled to give right when we consume that information. It's when we are ready to buy something or ready to give to a cause or organization. One or two brands or messages will actually stand out. 

We can recall these specific brands or images more easily. Why? Because we saw the brand and/or message enough times through various channels and they stuck with us. This is called accomplishing top of mind status. If you did just one thing it would be very hard to achieve this status. Therefore, a variety of methods are recommended, even if you are a small business or organization...​

Today's tip from the tip jar might not seem like much to some, but small tips are part of a greater whole. I run into people all the time as I'm teaching workshops and networking and find that they do not have websites! Yes...it's true. Now, in their defense, many of them have either held successful careers and never needed one because they relied so heavily on word of mouth, or some just couldn't even fathom developing a website because it seemed too cumbersome for them. 

There are several reasons why having a website is a good idea... ​

Today's tip from the jar is about messaging. In marketing and communications work, you'll hear over and over again, "You must have messaging that speaks to your target market." This is spot on. 

I'm going to add another element to this. There is an integral and extremely important someone that plays into this equation. And that person cannot be put aside when your message is created. That somebody is you! 

Your message is your story. You gotta tell it if you want people to connect with you and your product or service. More and more, people are making decisions based on how much they like, connect, and trust that someone. Whether they are buying a pair of earrings or buying a house, customers make their purchasing decisions based on how much they resonate with the individual they are purchasing from. 

SO, that brings me to...​