Number thirty-one of our weekly interviews in which we discover how real businesses are making Social Media work for them. Please meet Livvie Matthews from the US.
Who are you and what do you do?
Hello Mary and thank you for the opportunity to share with your viewers here at Concise Training! You and I share a passion for social media, Mary, so it’s exciting to be here sharing with you and your viewers.
I’m a Client Attraction Coach specialising in Social Media and Online Marketing. I have a strong 30 year background in the world of dentistry and patient relations.
During my dental years, I placed a strong emphasis on patient relations… put out many fires… I’ve worn many hats… resolved many issues and problems… and calmed many fears… while welcoming new patients into “the family” and… I’ve loved every minute of it!
Then social media came on the scene. My background in patient relations and my love for internet marketing… made client/patient attraction with social media and online marketing my ideal arena!
I’m passionate about helping small business owners learn how to become magnets and draw more clients and patients into their space using the incredible power of Social Media and Online Marketing.
Since 2006 I have provided solutions for self-employed service professionals, small business owners and entrepreneurs, just like your viewers, Mary, who struggle with knowing how to market more effectively,… how to increase their income… and would like to get more clients and patients consistently. I originally started working with dental practices because of my background, now what sets me apart is I only work with small self-employed business professionals and I only coach on Client Attraction using Social Media and Online Marketing for drawing clients to you and growing your business.
How do you use Social Media?
I love using social media as a magnet for drawing my market and connecting with ideal clients but more importantly I use social media as a way my market can connect with me.
Mary as you and I know, social media has made a huge difference in how we market and it’s levelled the playing field for the big guys and the little guys.
I like to put tips and strategy posts out that help my viewers market their business and helps them get new clients…
But I also love using social media for asking questions business and personal to draw viewers into conversations so we can get to know one another and build a relationship.
Relationships are what social media is all about.
I spend a few hours each day on Social Media. I schedule posts on each of the tools, but make sure I go in 3 or 4 times a day to make connections and engage in real time. The main tools I use are
- Facebook
I post 5 or 6 times a day on my Page, not so much from my personal profile. I realised that when I was posting business updates from my personal profile, I was actually spamming my friends and family – some of whom may have got fed up and hidden my posts. So now I only do 1 or 2 updates a day from my personal profile and every so often remind people to follow my business page. - Twitter
Twitter is so fast paced. You can post now and repost in 4 or 5 hours and reach a totally different audience. I also like the links that you can use in Twitter posts. - Instagram
I love Instagram for quotes and personal pictures – it allows people to see more about me as a person - LinkedIn
I find LinkedIn good for B2B but use Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for B2C.
Can you share a Personal Success Story?
Well, Mary, as some of you know, due to an allergic reaction to his blood pressure medication my husband was diagnosed with end-stage renal disease –ESRD (kidney disease) resulting in his becoming a dialysis patient plus the reaction to the medication caused severe eye problems resulting in limited vision as well.
Add to that I had recently been let go from my job at the dental practice I was working in which created a real shock. All these situations brought about many changes and adjustments in our lives.
As a result of all this, I don’t travel to attend live meetings and therefore I’m not in the “networking” scene. So everything I’ve been able to accomplish with my business has been though the use of online marketing and social media. I’ve met many people online… and can even call them friends, like you Mary… that I would never have met…even if I had been at a live meeting, through the use of social media.
On the financial side. I was very excited when I helped a client of mine, a dentist in California, get his social profiles into place and helped him create his business and personal pages on Facebook.
Then I received an email from him about 3 weeks after his page had gone live that he’d had a new patient come into his practice because of finding him on Facebook, she liked what she read and saw on his Facebook page, became a new patient, and as a results… entered into a rather large cosmetic makeover case.
These are just a couple of reasons why and how social media is so powerful.
No matter where you are with your business, just starting out… established… or going to the next level….social media can help ramp it up and take you where you want to go!
Can you give our readers a top tip?
OH, that’s a good one!
- Make it a priority to always be marketing your business… do at least 1 item to market your business every day. It might be a follow up phone call, handing out business cards wherever you go, post your opt-in offer for building your subscriber list…. 1 marketing item every day.
- ALWAYS acknowledge your viewers…. Comment and reply to anyone who has connected with you on your social sites. Even if you just simply click the little hyperlinked Like underneath their post….
- Be consistent with your profiles/bio, and picture on all your social platforms.
- Get out there in a BIG way… Be seen all over the social networks
- AND LAST…. TAKE ACTION!! Don’t wait until everything it perfect, because it won’t ever be exactly the way you want it.
Mary, I can’t tell you how many opportunities I missed out on because I wanted to analysis this.. then analysis that, then… I wanted to analysis my analysis!!! By that time the opportunity had passed.
Take action… it’s OK to make mistakes, …. you can always tweak it later.
Contact Information
You can contact Livvie on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook Page, Facebook Personal Profile, Instagram, Simple Social Media