5 Ways Social Media Can Make your Business Look Bigger
Big businesses have always had an advantage when it comes to reaching customers. This was because of their big marketing budgets and their ability to utilise large long-term contracts. Whilst these advantages have not disappeared, they do not matter as much anymore and there is a simple reason for this: Social Media. Social Media has enabled the smallest of companies to compete with the largest of companies and it is all free. This article will consider how you can make your business look bigger and more prosperous than it actually is through the use of clever network management and free social media.
1. Become a Trusted Field Expert
Blogging will allow you to establish yourself as an expert in your field. By providing free and accurate advice you will create an ideal relationship with your customers and trigger an increase in email opt-in communications. This method will help to generate leads for your sales team and demonstrate that you are capable in your field.
Additional benefits come through the promotion of your site through Search Engine Optimisation. Google and other search engines provide great website ranking benefits to those who write blogs.
2. Build a Custom Facebook Page
Facebook provides a huge potential market but it is important that you approach this area correctly. Your Facebook page will need to offer the customer something which will make them want to return to it. Include interesting discussions, engaging materials and relevant information about your business. By including an email communications opt-in on the page, you will be able to generate a greater customer contact list.
3. Professional Videos
Video marketing is easy. What was once out of reach for most small businesses is something which can be produced at a very low cost now. The advent of Youtube allows you to present your business to the world through the medium of video. Video hosting is free, so all that you need to do is create the material to place online. Website visitors who watch an online product video are 85% more likely to make a purchase than those who don’t, so it is wise to seriously consider this option.
4. Give It Up For Free
By providing e-books, tips, guides, and other methods of free help, you will be able to demonstrate your expertise and convince potential customers that your business is the right place to go. Customers are far more likely to utilise a business which has offered them a high quality free trial than they are to trust in an unknown and untrusted source. Providing free services is a great way to generate custom.
5. Dominate the Search Engines
Part of your business’ IT service should focus heavily on Search Engine Optimisation. Social media channels will enable you to optimise your SEO ranking. The number of times that a link or video that you have created has been shared will directly impact on the prominence of your company in search engines. If you can make it so that your business is the first result for your industry keywords then you will be able to easily and effectively get a step ahead of the competition.
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Why Improving Your Business Signage Is a Must (As Explained By An Award-Winning Orange County Signs Maker)
Having an attention-getting sign is critical for your local businesses – no matter the industry. Your business signage identifies your business and location and it establishes your business image. Your business signage is the core of your brand identity strategy, whether it is proudly mounted on the building, on your booth or display at a trade show, or on your company vehicles.
It’s also the most cost-effective advertising you can do. The Small Business Administration says, “…signs are the most effective, yet least expensive form of advertising for the small business.” Building signage is often taken for granted, but signs are always on the job, advertising 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
How Improved Business Signage Will Help You Brand Your Company, Communicate with a Highly-Mobile Society & Leverage Your Advertising Efforts
1 Your business signage is the only indicator that you exist and would like your prospect’s patronage.
2 A frequently-noticed business sign sends your message to more people per dollar invested than any other form of advertising. For example, if you display a $200 sign for one year at a location where 10,000 cars pass every day, you’ve reached over 3.5 million people (not counting passengers), at a cost per person of less than $.000057. (Less than six hundred-thousandths of a dollar.) Even a high-end, lighted or monument sign that costs $5000, still reaches those people at a cost of $.0014, or a little over a tenth of a cent each.
3 95% of retail business is location-based. As consumers pass by your place of business, an attractive and effective on-premise sign will leave a positive impression. When the time comes to make a decision or purchase, consumers will be attracted to you.
4 About 40 million Americans move annually to a new home, all needing to buy goods and services, and looking for brands that stand out.
5 Enhanced sign technology allows sign faces to be easily changed to match evolving marketing circumstances. New developments in lighting, plastics, digital printing resolution, and color profiling mean signs can now achieve the same visual effect as four-color magazine advertising.
6 Your company does not need to be a national franchise with a major advertising budget to “brand” your site with effective signage. If appropriately designed and placed, your sign can develop top-of-mind awareness of your products and services, no matter the size of your business.
7 Many communities and cities have strict sign codes requiring that signage remains attractive and in harmony with the look and feel of the community, while encouraging business activities. Advances in sign design and technology means that via signage, your company can communicate more effectively to potential customers in a way that enhances both your site and the community at large.
8 Purchase habits can be influenced with effective signage. Pricing or product information can influence a purchase decision or prompt an unplanned stop, which is critical, since nearly all businesses rely in part on impulse visits.
9 A well-designed sign can provide a positive perception of quality and service and create the image of a leader, even for the smaller business. For the national franchise or chain, on-premise signage reinforces all other media advertising, and maximizes advertising effectiveness at a low cost.
10 By adding your business signage to your car and “wrapping” your company vehicles with striking vinyl, you can generate over 600 visual impressions for every mile driven At about $0.35 per thousand impressions for a typical vehicle wrap, the cost is almost trivial compared to $3.56 for outdoor advertising or over $20.00 for typical magazine advertising.
About the Author: Orange County Business Signs Specialist Martin Neil contributes value to businesses and non-profit organizations across the United States by increasing their brand awareness with the very best sign solutions. He specializes in custom requirements for commercial building signage, vehicle wraps, office inside signage, trade show displays, promotional banners & flags, and large-size wall graphics. Improve your business signage by going to: http://www.Calibersi.com/Building-Signage.html
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Mobile Marketing: Seven Tips, Tricks and Techniques for Small Business Owners in 2012
You’ve heard all the stats and read all the news: smartphones are a big deal, right? But with all that noise out there, how can a small business owner actually get customers and make money from those smartphone junkies? Here are seven tips, tricks and techniques to help any small business owner go mobile without busting the bank.
1. Claim Your Business and Your Location
With smartphones, a consumer searching for a hardware store will automatically be shown the nearest hardware stores relative to their device’s GPS signal. That means you want to be sure your physical facility shows up (even if your office is just the location for people to call).
So what can you do to be “found?” It’s pretty simple really – just be sure that you visit each site such as Yelp, Bing, Yahoo Local, Google Places, Foursquare, and Facebook and “claim” your business and its location.
Cost: Free
2. Mobilize Your Website
Mobile searches have grown 400 percent since 2010, according to Google. And when they find you on their phone – consumers visit (59%) or they call you (61%).
So, be sure you can be found. This means making sure the website you initially launched back in 2000 is accessible by mobile phones, or “mobile-optimized.” There are a number of new and reasonably priced tools to help make your site mobile-optimized. But, before you plunk down any money, check out Google’s “GoMo” site that has a testing tool and resources to help businesses with their websites.
Cost: Free (depending on your site)
3. Make Your Coupons Mobile
Have you ever been in line at a store and watched a clerk refuse to honor a coupon on someone’s phone. Claiming “no, you need to print that before I can accept it” just sets the consumer off even more.
Don’t be that business. The days of clipping coupons has come and gone. Now, most consumers would simply prefer to open an email or webpage with your coupon, flash it to you on their smart phone and get the discount. Make it clear that showing the coupon on your phone is sufficient and consumers will thank you for being mobile-friendly. Plus, you’ll avoid an awkward confrontation with your store clerks.
Cost: Free (other than the cost of your coupons)
4. Monitor Your Reviews
Did you know that 81 percent of consumers say they read reviews before making a purchase and 51 percent of consumers say they’ve used the Internet IN SHOPS before making a purchase? If you have a bevy of negative reviews or poor feedback, that consumer may decide to shop, eat, drink or pay somewhere else.
The first step to keep tabs on your reviews is to set a Google Alert for the name of your business. Watch for any reviews, postings or other news that you might need to address. Then, find out the review-focused sites people use regularly to review your business, like Google Places, Yelp, and Angie’s List. For a more detailed tracking service, try Reputation.com for Business that monitors and provides real-time alerts for your business.
Cost: Free (for Google Alerts); Starting at $34.99/mo. (for Reputation.com)
5. Talk to Your Customers
Guess what? Consumers want to talk with, and hear from, brands they like. In fact, 43 percent of consumers “like” at least one brand on Facebook and 53 percent of individuals with a Twitter account recommend products or services in their tweets. And, more and more consumers are using social media on the go.
Both Facebook and Twitter are free to setup and utilize – so schedule time daily to engage. Put links to your accounts on your website and in your facility (if you have a physical location) and talk to your customers: respond to questions or concerns, and consider offering deals for fans or followers. The most important lesson? Talk like a human not a brand. Remember, as consumers are out and about, they are talking to you, about you and with you – so be a part of the conversation.
You can manage most of these conversations using the standard Facebook or Twitter platforms. If you want something more advanced, try Hootsuite.com which can help you manage your efforts, schedule messages and track conversations from a single interface.
Cost: Free (Hootsuite provides free basic social media plans)
6. Be Able to Take Money Wherever you Are
Quick, how much cash do you have in your wallet? Enough to buy something over $100? Over $50? Over $20? People are becoming more reliant on credit cards for all of their transactions, so rather than force someone to run to the nearest ATM (and pay the enormous fee for withdrawing from a non-bank ATM), consider taking payment right on your mobile device.
With services like Square or Intuit GoPayment, providing a device that plugs into most smartphones to take a credit card on the spot is actually quite simple. Plus, new technologies are coming along to allow you to pay without needing any hardware at all.
Cost: Free (other than the credit card processing fees)
7. Tried Text Messages?
According to the Pew Foundation, 73 percent of cell phone users utilize the text messaging function on their phones. And, 44 percent of Americans have opted into at least one text messaging marketing campaign. So, why not share deals, information and updates with your customers via text.
To get started, check out Tatango’s Beginner’s Guide to SMS Marketing.
Cost: Varies depending on the SMS Marketing Software partner
Conclusion
This year, with more people expected to be using mobile than ever before, business owners must think about how they can interact with these potential customers. With the simple actions and activities listed above, any business can go mobile to create a positive environment for their customers, leads and partners.
About the Author: Eric Koester is the founder and COO of Zaarly, a mobile, real-time marketplace. Eric is a former securities lawyer who has testified before Congress on matters of startup and small business financing, immigration reform and business taxation. Zaarly provides tools for small-businesses and consumers to transact right from their mobile devices. For more information or to sign-up for mobile alerts, visit www.zaarly.com/business.
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4 Free Online Marketing Tools Every Small Business Owner Should Use
As the Flying Lizards once sang, “the best things in life are free, but you can give them to the birds and bees – I want money. “ And really, who doesn’t? Small business owners all have paper chasing on the brain, but what many of them don’t realize is that some of the best online marketing tools are free – and they can help you get sales.
Here are four free online marketing tools that will help boost your bottom line:
1. HARO and Reporter Connection
Ever wish you could be quoted as an industry expert in a major media outlet? Now you can – but you’ll have to sign up for HARO and Reporter Connection emails first. These will put you in contact with reporters looking for quotes and information, and if you can type up a decent response email you’ll get placed (and linked to) in a variety of different outlets. If you’re not using HARO and RC, you and your business are missing out.
2. Social Media Management Software
First and foremost, you should have social media accounts set up on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+. Once you have that all finished, you’re going to need something to manage your updates – and Hootsuite, Cotweet and TweetAdder are all free. It seems like most pros prefer Hootsuite, but if you only have one person managing the accounts you can’t go wrong with any of them. Use the keyword streams to find people tweeting about needing your products/services, and don’t be shy about reaching out (preferably with a coupon code). Hashtracking will tell you which hashtags to target for maximum visibility.
3. WordPress Plugins
You do have a blog, right? If not, that should top your to-do list. They’re crucial for SEO, and the fresh content also gives you a good excuse to link back to your site on your social media accounts. Plugins help optimize your blog, and there are a variety of free ones you can benefit from. WordPress SEO by Yoast is a good place to start, as it’s widely regarded as THE SEO plugin to use these days. SexyBookmarks is also a favorite, since it gives cute little buttons that make your content ridiculously easy to share. Just remember: the more plugins you have, the slower your pages will load.
4. MediaBistro Forums and Quora
Have questions? There’s no need to guess when you can ask an expert and know the answer for sure. The MediaBistro forums are crawling with PR pros, copywriters and all-around marketing mavens who are usually happy to share their expertise. Quora is like a useful version of Yahoo! Answers, sans the spam and poor advice.
As with all things, there’s a learning curve to online marketing. If you don’t get discouraged and keep at it, though, you’ll hone your skills and see serious results over time. It may take you three months of responding to HAROs and Reporter Connection emails before you get placement, but if that placement is in Entrepreneur Magazine or Good Morning America the effort is totally worth it.
About the Author: Kari DePhillips is the owner of The Content Factory, an online PR company that specializes in web content writing and social media marketing. Give her a shoutout on Twitter (@ContentFac) or become a fan of TCF on Facebook.
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Three cost-effective ways to market your start-up in 2012
Friends sneered at you when you said that you are going the entrepreneurial way. You quit your job in that MNC to build this dream product. Now the product is finally out in the open but how do you find takers for your product.
Needless to say, being a startup you always have this financial question mark staring blankly at your face. Keeping in mind the limitations, startups can easily use these three tools to market their product. It is working for us and if you do it right, it will work for you too.
Social Networking might be passé but networking is not :
Start by using your own personal contacts and their contacts. Ask your friends to try and use your product. Talk about your product when you meet each other during social gatherings. You somehow have to ensure that the optimism you have for your product, gets communicated around. And all said and done, Facebook and Twitter are still one of the best ways to talk about your brand online.
Data Visualizations:
A picture is worth a thousand words. People might not be interested in your 1000 words article but they would love to see a nice graphic communicating the same idea. Try exploring infographics to market what your product stands for, what problem it seeks to solve, industry trends in your market, etc.
Blogging:
This is an effective way to make yourself heard online. Post articles that you think your target market would be interested in. Try and establish yourself as the thought leader in your industry. Encourage the idea of blogging within your organization. Ask employees to contribute their own take on things.
All the best and have a rocking year!
About the Author: Shilpi Choudhury is an Inbound Marketing Specialist and Business Blogger based out of Bangalore, India. She is currently working for DiscountPandit, Bangalore, which is a deal search engine that provides users a faster, simpler and a comprehensive deal search experience.
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What New Tools Does the Twitter Redesign Bring to Social Marketers?
Twitter has a new look, and some observers are calling it the single biggest overhaul the site has received at once in its five year history. The update is one that aims to unify both the presentation and functionality of the microblogging service across all platforms, essentially simplifying the experience for the user. This latest move has kept the internet community busy discussing the implications, so lets take a look at the new tools the redesign offers social marketers.??
Enhanced Toolbar
The change you will probably notice first lies in the toolbar. You will now see the following section categories at the top of the interface:??Home – Shows you the tweets posted by the people you follow on Twitter. This category keeps you up to date with the information that matters most to you.??Connect – This new section keeps you connected with the conversation. Through Connect, you can see who is following or mentioning your brand, endorsing your posts, or retweeting and sharing with friends.??Discover – Hence the name, the Discover section helps you find relevant and useful information via Twitter. The results you see are tailored to your location, network, and other areas that match your interests.??Me – This section the “Profile” section found in the old Twitter design. Here you can introduce yourself to the world of Twitter and even communicate with others through tweets and direct messages.??
Embedded Tweets??
One of the most interesting tools to accompany the Twitter redesign is the embedded tweets feature. This option can be accessed directly from the new interface. The actual process is pretty much like embedding a YouTube clip, meaning you copy a snippet of HTML code and paste it into the web page where you want the tweet displayed. Perhaps the best thing about embedded tweets is its seamless integration with Twitter’s new partners Posterous and WordPress. If you use either of these services, you can have your tweets automatically embedded by simply copying the code and dropping it into your web page – no cut and paste required. ??
Brand Pages??
Following in the footsteps of rivals Facebook and Google, Twitter has decided to introduce its very own brand pages. Similar to the feature offered by other networks, these pages will give social marketers the ability to promote their brand on the platform. You can have a promotional tweet on display at the top of your page, and even choose which tweets the user sees upon visiting your page. This is one of the most exciting new tools to accompany the redesign for obvious reasons. Twitter is currently testing the new brand pages with a select few brands, including Chevrolet and Coca Cola.??The redesigned Twitter is slowly being rolled out to the user base. For now, the update is only available to mobile users, though the company says all users will be able to experience the new and improved service over the coming weeks. Adapting to change can often be difficult, but in the case of Twitter, this looks like change both users and social marketers will come to embrace.
About the Author: Aidan Hijleh is a freelance copywriter and serves as the Non-Profit Partnership Liaison for Benchmark Email. Aidan advocates free email marketing services to assist with the flourishing of grassroots organizations.
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How Your Business Will Benefit From A Loyalty Card Program
It seems like almost every business has jumped on the loyalty card program bandwagon. From grocery stores to pharmacies and restaurants, retailers everywhere are launching customer rewards programs.
Have you ever wondered why?
Sure, customers stand to benefit from participating in loyalty card programs. They get discounts, special offers and cash-back opportunities. But the benefits for retailers are just as great, if not better. Even with the cost of a loyalty gift card program, you still end up being a winner in the end.
If you’re considering launching a loyalty card program, here are some of the many benefits you’ll pick up along the way:
1. Better Data Tracking
Every time a customer swipes a rewards card, you’ll get a clearer picture of who is buying what. The data will allow you to examine shopping patterns and use the information to make better business decisions. For example, use the information to make better choices about product selections and inventory supply.
2. Improved Marketing
Armed with all the data you’ll collect from customers who fill out a rewards program application, you’ll be able to develop marketing campaigns tailored to specific groups. Offer customers special, personalized deals based on their age, interests or previous purchases.
3. Better Customer Retention
A few incentives go a long way in creating loyal customers. If your customers believe there’s something to gain from giving you their repeat business, they’ll come back time and time again. Simply by offering a coupon for $2 off the next purchase, you’re dramatically increasingly the likelihood that a customer will come back.
4. More Frequent Business
With a loyalty program, the more often a customer shops, the faster they can start claiming rewards. A customer who’s just $5 away from earning a $25 gift certificate might find an excuse to stop by your store. Customers who used to come in once a month might start coming twice a month or once a week.
5. Increased Product Awareness
Do you offer a valuable product that – for one reason or another – is simply sitting on the shelves? Maybe you’re a retail shop that specializes in handmade goods, but the greeting cards in the back of the store just aren’t selling. By offering items like these as incentives, you can promote items customers may not know you have.
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Are you Wasting Your Money on Mobile Emails that Don’t Work?
Email marketing is one of the most lucrative online channels. And it looks like the combination of mobile is a powerful team.
According to a recent report from HubSpot, “43% of people on mobile devices check their email over four times per day”.
That presents a huge opportunity to reach people instantly at any time, and any place. But the problem is that an email that looks great on your laptop will look terrible on a mobile device.
So you need to improve your email marketing, and make sure that what you’re sending will perform on any device. Otherwise, you’ll be wasting your time (and money).
1. Write a Killer Headline
The headline is the most important element of any email marketing campaign.
How important?
According to a recent study from MailChimp, average open rates are only around 10 – 30%.
That means that 70 – 90% of the people didn’t care enough about your headline to even open the email.
People today don’t have time. So they don’t read everything. They scan and only open things that look interesting. If your headline doesn’t grab their attention, then they’ll never open it. And the the first step to making more money with an email marketing campaign is by improving the open rate.
Start with Copyblogger’s guide if you need help.
2. Focus on One Goal
The screen on a mobile device is really small. You literally only have an inch or two to get your point across. So keep it really simple. Pick one goal for each email you send, and focus only on that. This will drastically improve your Click-Through-Rate (CTR) for that one element.
Most people try and put several calls-to-action in one email. They want people to click a link to their website, become their Facebook friend, and buy something all in one email. That doesn’t work on a tiny screen. And the goal of your email isn’t to sell. You just want to pique your reader’s interest enough so they click through to a landing page.
Once you have them on your mobile site, then you can worry about converting them.
About the Author: Brad Smith is the founder of FixCourse.com, a blog about online customer acqusition and how to grow your traffic, generate leads, and make more sales.
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Why You Should Use Free eMail Marketing to Keep Sales Going Beyond the Holiday Season
Businesses of all kinds are giving free email marketing a try for first time. Many have decided to give it a go with the goal of cashing in on the shopping frenzy that accompanies the holiday season. This is easy to understand when seeing how it is great for keeping in touch with customers, enticing them with offers, and providing stellar after-sales service as well. If you are thinking about abandoning this tool once all the shopping is done, get it out of your head. This article will explain why free email marketing has value that goes beyond the holiday season.
It Fits in the Budget
Some businesses will give email marketing a whirl for the holiday season. Several will throw in the towel and go back to what they were doing previously. Why? Because they can’t fit the extra expense into the budget. Even though email marketing is very cost effective, it is another expense, one that some businesses cannot justify in this economy. If a strained budget is what attracted you to free email marketing in the first place, then you should definitely keep at it when the holiday season wraps up. You can use this tool to support a sizable portion of your overall marketing needs, and invest in other critical areas with the money you save.
It Still Drive Sales
Although many of the big sales end once Christmas comes to a close, the shopping continues for some time after. In fact, some retailers enjoy even more sales once the holiday season officially ends by cleaning up on the leftover traffic. During the months of January and February, stores are often packed full of people who are redeeming gift cards and taking advantage strategically timed sales offers. Free email marketing can keep you in touch with these ambitious consumers. Whether you are trying to get rid of your last bit of inventory from the holiday, or move a line of entirely new products, it can keep them connected with whatever you’re selling.
It’s a Great Learning Tool
What were the results of your holiday email program? Was it an overwhelming success, or did you come out of it feeling like your strategy was in need of some fine tuning? If you thought the results could have been better, sticking with free email marketing is probably the best thing you can do. The more you continue to use it, the more familiar you will become with aspects such as campaign creation, list management, and tracking. By the time the next holiday season rolls around, you could potentially be a seasoned email marketer with the savvy to take on the world, or at least your target audience.
Who Needs Free Email Marketing?
Free email marketing does not discriminate. It can be an ideal solution for a small business, a large enterprise, a non-profit organization, or an entrepreneur with only a handful of clients. Find the right service provider, and it could be the solution that enables you to thrive year-round.
About the Author: Aidan Hijleh is a freelance copywriter and serves as the Non-Profit Partnership Liaison for Benchmark Email. Aidan advocates free email marketing services to assist with the flourishing of grassroots organizations.
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5 Ways To Ruin Your Business Rep With Email Marketing
As a small business owner, you know what it means to have to fight for your share of the market. Competition is everywhere and you only have a few chances to set yourself apart to show that you are the company that deserves attention.
So what sets you apart from the next guy? I would say that the two things a business should be judged on are it’s products, of course, and it’s level of customer service. That’s always important!
But take a step back and think, what do you get when you combine those two elements? What do your consumers really consider before they choose who to do their business with?
Reputation. That’s what it all boils down to.
If your company has a good reputation, any number of small sins can be forgiven, and you can be sure that you’re in good standing with most, if not all, of your customers. On the same hand, if your company has a rep that’s the equivalent to an Atlantic City loan shark, well, odds are, you aren’t going to be in business very much longer.
So, what does this have to do with email marketing?
Well, people can tell a lot about a company by how they market themselves, and with email marketing being one of the most effective options for small businesses these days, it’s important for you as a small business owner to make sure your email marketing campaign isn’t hurting you when it should be helping.
Here are a few examples of what NOT to do. Avoid these hazardous practices, and you’ll be on your way to not only a successful marketing campaign, but a successful business.
Start Fresh
An email marketing campaign needs one thing to get off the ground – emails. Now, gathering emails can be a tricky business, and, of course, while everyone wants to get their marketing campaign up and running as soon as possible, buying a pre-gathered email list is pretty much not allowed.
Think of it this way: you will be sending emails to people who never asked for them. I’m sure part of that sounds great, I mean, who wouldn’t want a crack at roping in new customers, but what it looks like on the customers’ side of the street, is SPAM, and nobody trusts a SPAMmer.
Double Opt-In
I hate to sound like a broken record, but this helpful little hint is very closely related to the last one, and will go a long way when it comes to separating you from the SPAMmers out there.
Always use the double opt-in method when gathering email addresses. Basically, all the double opt-in method entails is sending everyone who subscribes to your mailing list a confirmation email, making sure that they signed up on purpose. If you don’t use double opt-in, you are opening yourself up to SPAM complaints which, like I mentioned above, are one of the quickest ways to lose your customers trust and ruin your rep.
If You Love Them, Set Them Free
People get antsy when they don’t have options. Just because someone signed up for your email a year ago, doesn’t necessarily mean that they want to keep getting it this year. Make sure that each and every email that you send has an easy to see “opt-out” link (usually at the top or bottom of the email). Again, if you don’t give your subscribers this option, you are treading dangerously close to SPAM territory.
Tell The Truth
Another way to ruin your business’s rep is to go back on promises that you’ve made to your subscribers. Anything that you tell your readers, from the length of a warranty to a product description to the amount of times they will be receiving an email from you, is a form of promise. Once you start breaking those promises, you may as well say goodbye to whatever reputation you had.
Keep It Fresh
The very first thing you learn when you enter the world of email marketing is: Content is King.
Everyone knows it. Some version of that phrase is in pretty much in every email marketing guide and article that has ever been written.
Why?
Because it’s true. The minute you start sending out sub par content is the minute your readers begin to lose interest in you, and your business will become stagnant, stale, and out of date. If you want to keep your reputation strong, deliver the fresh content every time.
About the Author: Daniel Cassady is an experienced freelancer, guest blogger, and frequent contributor to a blog hosted by Benchmark Email, one of theworld’s global email marketing company.
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Photo Credit: chintermeyer
8 Video Marketing Strategies for Small Business
There are umpteen ways to use video for business, ranging from stylish, high-priced ad campaign commercials to complex landing page pieces fashioned to pull someone into a sale. What are the best types of video for Small Business owners that can be created cost-effectively and published rapidly and produce leads? Here are the Top Eight.
Intro Advert
Well-known and regularly underused, the video Intro to the Business is a short, 5 minute or less (2-3 works well) homepage introduction that tells who you are, what you do and why customers should care. This can be done using a description in a commercial packed with lots of movement shots of the shop floor, the office, and products; a talking head of the CEO to a blank camera; or use the 3rd party point of view of a genuine Video interview (see below) Business FAQ. Development fees can vary from FREE (CEO riffing into a webcam) through a few hundred dollars to thousands for a videographer shot commercial. Google doesn’t care; either will index well given the suitable keyword tags. The question you have to answer is, what is going to be quickly informational, interesting, and referable (as in Re-tweeted).
The Demo
Specific to demonstrable merchandise, especially ones that move, like machines, toys, electronic devices, and, considering the medium, software. These again should not run on too long but can be lengthier than an introductory commercial. A software-based demonstration may take up to 8 minutes, but you should be able to say it in less time than that. When it comes to demos, in some cases less is more. Most often either a narrative led demo showing only products or a spokesperson paced demo (think QVC or Home Shopping Channel) works the best. Just be sure to show the BEST features of your product and lay out consistently (3x) how this solves an issue for your customers.
Professional Abilities
This is very similar to a product demonstration and works best for suppliers, especially those in developed countries, trying to demonstrate their remarkable technology will in reality cost less money or offer better quality product for a customer engaging them with a contract for recurring services. Machine shops and laser houses prefer this stuff, showing automated machinery cutting steel while a dude with a hardhat and safety goggles oversees the process. This can run 5-10 minutes max. The key here is, make sure that your capability really is something special (as in a True Competitive Advantage that others don’t have) and that your video captures its uniqueness.
Company Spotlights
This is more of a tug on the heartstrings video that features either what your company has achieved that is remarkable or what your employees have done for your company. If it’s about the company, it MUST be validated by 3rd party reference, as in an accolade won from a prominent registrar (Best in Class, Malcolm Baldridge quality), a status attained (ISO 9001 certification, etc.) or a cat saved from a tree on the news. When talking about employees, the old Employee of the Month style headline adds a nice human factor and speaks to what your company values in its people, and that can make a big difference to customers with the same value system. For these types of videos, keep them short (2-4 minutes) and keep them current, specifically for the employee notoriety videos. An Employee of the Month presupposes that next month, we’ll see another.
Video Landing Page Combo
I could write pages on this and to be truthful, I’m not a professional at it, but I am sure you’ve experienced pages that have these videos. These are designed to be hands-free on the part of the vendor of a product or service, meaning, don’t call me, take the steps explained on the video. That means enter your email address to get something for FREE in exchange for authorization to advertise to you, or register for the thing (whatever it is) right now! Just like text-only sales landing pages, these are long-form videos, with Squeeze Pages (get the email address) videos varying from 3-7 minutes, and Sales Pages running all the way up to 30 minutes (that is too long in my opinion, with 10-12 being adequate). The most important stuff here: curb options to only this with no other on-page interferences and make multiple calls to action to the viewer.
Vlogs
All about providing information this one is. It comes in the form of a training video, which is easily done for things like software applications using screen capture software, or talking head explaining something she knows, and typically is the Expert Interview (I’ve done a bunch of these in my blog, see sample). The objective is expert positioning for your company while giving real value for the view. These videos can run from 5-30 minutes or longer (think of a book author interview), but I prefer to keep them between 7 and 15 minutes (Youtube has a 15 minute max until you are a recurring video poster). Keys to success are to set the subject matter to avoid rambling, don’t provide fluff with a sales pitch to get more, and include some written text fore and aft of the video to set it up and summarize.
Testimonies and Personal Examples
Very self-explanatory here, this is 3rd party Reliability Building 101. Take the same things that marketers value about written examples and testimonials and put them on steroids. This definitely MUST be a person unrelated to the business telling about what the company did for him or her, and it can NOT be anonymous (just like those absurd made up reviews you see, “JL from Tampa says …”). Use discretion if the person doing the talking is not good on camera. It shouldn’t make a difference but it does. He doesn’t need to be Ben Affleck, but he can’t be a stiff either. These run no more than 3 minutes in length and follow my rules for great reviews. Quality can’t be second-rate, but a webcam with acceptable quality can be used properly, as the subject matter of the person’s referral is the crucial piece.
Video Interview
I saved this one for last and, as you surely know by now, Smart Company Growth does these in bundles for the right type of clients. Video dialogues work well for any business that wants to put a human face on its product, so consider if that is you. They work incredibly well when your organization has these three qualities:
- No physical merchandise– That’s right consultants, lawyers, accountants, financial advisors, IT people and anyone else offering professional services, I’m talking to you. You sell intellectual property and that is hard to show by showing a video shot of your report (although you can show results charts, but the people who can use this method the most, financial advisors, usually have rules preventing it).
- Trust is the key to business– Same group, right? If you’re an attorney, how can you start to break the trust hurdle down without ever meeting someone? Show some face time with the 3rd party credibility that comes from being interviewed.
- Sameness in Brand– If you look at your rivals’ websites and they look like yours does– competent yet non-distinguishable– you’re a good candidate for a video interview to set yourself apart. Again, this is why professional service firms fall so nicely into video interview candidates.
For advertising purposes the longest video interview (we call them SmartVu) we do is about 12 minutes. That’s pretty thorough. The shortest you can reasonably do with any bona fide dialog is about 2-3 minutes. The crucial success variables here are that the interviewer is good and that the structure of the content is planned beforehand. An unconvincing interviewer will lead to a lame interview and weak video. A sound interviewer with planned content will create genuine questions that represent you in the very best light. Although I cannot convince all of my clients of this, DO NOT READ FROM A SCRIPT! If you’re a subject matter specialist on your product or topic, a good interviewer’s questions will lead to natural responses with you looking right into the camera. Script readers have their eyes averted to wherever the script is located and come across as wooden, with only the skilled few able to fool people into believing they are responding ad hoc.
There is a time and place to use any of the 8 best types of video promotion for your small business video. The information here should serve to generate ideas on what type of video you can produce for your own video marketing and video SEO crusade to turnout excellent results.
About the Author: Karl Walinskas is the CEO of Smart Company Growth, a business development firm that helps small to mid-size professional service firms build competitive advantage in an online world of sameness. He is author of numerous articles and the Smart Blog on leadership, business communication, sales & service, public speaking and virtual business, and Getting Connected Through Exceptional Leadership, available in the SmartShop. Get your FREE LinkedIn Profile Optimization eBook & Video Course, Video Marketing video and course, or Mastermind Groups e-course & video now.
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Photo Credit: Denim Dave
Forget About SEO…But Don’t Forget About SEO
You’ve heard all about SEO and how important it is. Now forget about it!
That’s right, your eyes aren’t playing tricks on you and there aren’t any typos in that sentence. I just told you to forget about SEO. However, just make sure you don’t forget about SEO.
While initially building an internet presence, website owners frequently get caught up in trying to check all of the little tick boxes on their SEO checklist. By doing so, they often forget that it’s not the search engines they are creating their website for.
How many times have you read an article on a website and felt that it was awkwardly worded or the flow of the sentences just seemed a little off?
Some of those instances could be attributed to someone focusing more on search engine optimization by trying to fit the right amount of keywords into their article. They do this by focusing less on the people that are reading their website.
Forget About SEO
It’s true that search engines are going to send a lot of traffic to your website. The problem is that search engines are never going to leave comments or share your posts on Facebook, Twitter or Google+. Additionally, a search engine will never spend a single cent with you. People will. Not search engines, people.
The instant you start focusing on search engines more than on the visitors to your website, will be the same instant you will notice your bounce rate increase. Your bounce rate increases every time someone comes to your website and leaves without spending time on your site.
Don’t Forget About SEO
With all that said, there are few considerations that you should still make while setting up your website for the first time. These considerations are specifically related to website configuration and structure since this is hard to go back and correct later on.
Let’s take a look at one of these typical SEO faux pas. A website owner suddenly finds out that their permalink structure isn’t “SEO friendly” and decides to make a change.
Unbeknownst to them, changing all of the URLs on their website now breaks all of the inbound links to their site. (Inbound links are when other sites link to your site) This, in turn, causes their site to disappear from Google. This is all due to there no longer being any inbound links to the site.
So much for making the site more “SEO Friendly.”
It’s not hard to find horror stories across the web about a site administrator that has decided to change their permalink structure a month or two after their website had been created. This also goes for a lot of other SEO tweaks recommended on various websites.
The best way for a new website owner to go about SEO is to install one of the many SEO WordPress plugins out there. Granted, some are better than others but most will serve you well. Which SEO plugin to choose can come down to a bit of a religious war at times but I prefer a free plugin called WordPress SEO by Yoast. Install the plugin, learn to set it up and then forget about it.
Some WordPress themes have built in SEO features which means that you won’t even need to add a third party plugin.
Forget About SEO
Even though it’s important to forget about SEO and just focus on the content, it’s also important to make sure your website is configured the right way to begin with. Then forget all about SEO until much later on.
SEO is an important way to attract new visitors to your website but you have to be careful about how you go about it. Remember to lay a solid ground work but don’t let SEO take control of your site.
About The Author: Matthew Hooper helps individuals, small businesses and organizations build an internet presence. Don’t forget to get his free report on building an internet presence. You can also check out his WordPress Course full of step-by-step videos so that you can learn WordPress in a single weekend.
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Is Your Marketing Department Faced With Reality?
According to a recent study from MarketTools, nearly one-fourth (23 percent) of companies provide customer service and assistance to clients via Facebook, while 12 percent turn to Twitter for such activities.
The study goes on to note that while 34 percent of the executives polled reported they were aware of customers utilizing social media to discuss their business and its products and services, fewer than 25 percent of these executives claimed that their businesses “always” get back to these customers.
According to a spokesperson for the company, “Companies are increasingly embracing social media as a way to interact with their customers, though they are missing an opportunity to incorporate this feedback into a voice of the customer program. Organizations that use enterprise feedback management solutions are able to analyze feedback gathered through social media channels, along with feedback gathered through more traditional channels, to uncover insights to help improve business processes that lead to higher overall customer satisfaction.”
Some other numbers from the study note:
- Thirty-three percent of executives report that their businesses have a better focus on utilizing social media as a channel to obtain customer feedback when compared to the same time a year ago;
- As for what parts of their company are using social media, 44 percent cited public relations, 42 percent noted corporate marketing, while 34 percent stated product marketing and customer service/support;
- For the nearly 70 percent of companies sporting an active presence through social media, 48 percent are active on Facebook, 24 percent on Twitter, and 17 percent through their own business blog;
- Twenty-two percent reported that their company’s CEO oftentimes participates in social media on behalf of the business. Facebook is the social media channel of choice, used by 68 percent of the CEO’s, followed by 44 percent that participate through the company blog, and 35 percent who are active via Twitter.
If your company has been slow to the switch when it comes to using social media through your marketing efforts to interact with customers, keep a few things in mind:
- Active usage of social media allows you to interact with customers and potential customers in real-time. Whether it is a product/service question, a concern, or even a complaint, there is no replacing the immediacy by which social media venues provide;
- More and more consumers are using social media to obtain information on products and services, purchase items online and talk about their experiences. It only makes sense to have a social media presence so that your business can stay one step ahead of the competition;
- While some business leaders feel that social media is a fad, all signs point to it being around for the foreseeable future. To disregard SM now is only allowing your company the opportunity to fall further behind the competition, competition that in many cases are using social media on a daily basis to reach out for more business.
Whether it is to promote products and/or services online, respond to questions and concerns about your business or just follow the industry tides to see where you need to be, using social media in your company’s marketing efforts is more important than ever.
Are you a social or anti-social marketer?
About the Author: Dave Thomas, who covers among other subjects’ background checks, writes extensively for Business.com, an online resource destination for businesses of all sizes to research, find, and compare the products and services they need to run their businesses.
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How to Not Lose Money on Groupon
Groupon is not some scam. The deals, which they present on their site, are legitimately discounted. This issue, however, is not for consumers who take advantage of the service, but for businesses who see Groupon as a viable way to advertise their business.
In order to be featured on Groupon, businesses have to discount their services by 50%. In addition to that, they have to give Groupon another 50% off of whatever is left over. This means that a product normally selling for $100 will be sold for $50 on Groupon, leaving an extra $25 for Groupon and $25 for the business owner. In other words, to be featured on Groupon, you have to be willing to discount your products by 75%! If you sell hundreds or thousands of your product or service, your business stands to lose a lot of money! As such, if you plan on using Groupon, you have to think of the following before taking advantage of their service…
Return Rate
Groupon users are looking for bargain discounts and have very little brand loyalty. As such, if want your Groupon campaign to be profitable, you have to do something that makes the discount users wanting to come back. For example, you can upsell your Groupon customers by offering an additional product or service that you can actually make money off of. You can also form long term relationships with customers by collecting their contact information, asking them to follow you on social networks such as Facebook, and offering them a future incentive (in the form of a coupon) to come back without having to pay Groupon 25% of the discounted price.
Variable Costs
If you’re, say, the owner of a massage parlor that sells $30 massages, losing $5 on a redeemed Groupon is not that big of a deal. If, however, you offer $500 helicopter tours, your business simply cannot afford to take a 75% cut off the original price. A third of businesses who’ve used Groupon say that they’ve lost money, meaning that many business owners are too lazy to do the math before accepting a Groupon promotion. Groupon’s promise of charging you for guaranteed revenue may seem appealing, but that revenue may very well come at a heavy loss to your business.
Online Reviews
A massive amount of new Groupon customers will also bring in a massive amount of reviews to your business on sites such as Yelp.com. Although the amount of reviews may help your business in the search engines, a study claims that Groupon reviewers often leave negative comments about your business, which may negatively influence purchase decisions of future prospects.
Your business may also suffer negative publicity from your current customers, who may get agitated if they see you discounting your products. Long term, this may harm your brand.
Like with any form of advertising, you, as a business owner, have to do your homework. If you feel that you can get a high return rate, sell products or services whose variable cost is low, and can please your Groupon customers so that they write favorably of your business, Groupon is a viable option. Otherwise, you stand to lose a lot of money if your business uses Groupon.
About the Author: Nickolay Lamm protects individuals from invention promotion company fraud at InventHelp.
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The 5 Dirty Secrets to Writing a Great Review
We’ve all come across awful product or service reviews online. There’s just so many ways that a review can end up being useless – poor writing, no real advice, biased opinions, overly “salesy” content, no accountability, etc. But sometimes, even a well-written review that offers a clear opinion of the product’s usefulness isn’t enough. Product reviews are incredibly important – Bloomberg Businessweek reported in 2009 that 70% of Americans consult product reviews or consumer ratings before buying. Also, in 2011, Cone Communications released a study claiming that 87 percent of consumers confirmed their decision to purchase after reading a favorable review.
It also showed that 80% of consumers have changed their mind based on negative information found online. So, good product reviewing skills can make or break your sales and affect the amount of money you’re getting from your affiliates. Luckily, there are some common-sense ways to take your reviews to the next level.
#1 – Take a Unique Angle
People can get reviews almost anywhere. Sites like Amazon, ConsumerReports, Yelp, ConsumerSearch, Epinions, Trip Advisor, and Customer Lobby all provide reviews of products and services. The quality of these reviews vary wildly, but the sheer amount of them means one thing – you need to stand out. Why should somebody read your review as opposed to 1,000 others? Using an interesting angle can garner some attention. Humor is always good, as long as your review still provides real information that a reader can use. Check out some of Amazon’s funniest user reviews for inspiration. You can also try formatting the review in a unique way, such as creating a fake interview, a top 10 list, or an FAQ.
To put it simply, it’s good to provide more than just product specs and your opinions. Talk specifically about how you used the product in different situations and how it performed. Rather than saying, “The iPad 2′s battery life is indeed an improvement,” it would be more interesting for a visitor to read that “the new iPad’s battery lasted for my whole 9-hour flight from Detroit to Amsterdam.”
#2 – Involve Your Readers
Make sure that you have a comments section at the end of your reviews. Getting a large discussion going can be good for SEO and can increase your accountability. How exactly do you get a discussion going? Well, the first trick is to ask questions. For example, you could end a review of a wireless Internet provider by asking something like, “What would you choose? Is slower speed acceptable if the price is right?” Also, try encouraging your readers to leave comments within the review. For example, you could write, “The modem and router I received took me an hour to set up. (Please comment to let me know if you had the same problem or if I was just doing something wrong.)”
Another way to involve your readers would be to ask for their opinions before you write your review. This way, you can compare what you found to what some of your readers have been saying. For example, you could reach out to UserName2011 through email to ask if he or she has ever used a certain wireless provider. Then, in your review, you could write something like “Reader UserName2011 had similar problems,” or “Although I didn’t like this feature, reader UserName2011 absolutely loved it.” This will help establish a community, which is always helpful for building a site and maintaing credibility.
Getting your readers to post reviews of their own can also help you provide excellent information on a larger scale. For example, you could ask your readers to review a certain wireless provider while mentioning their location. Then you could compile that information into a large article called “wireless Internet by zip code.” This would be extremely helpful to anyone considering using that provider.
#3 – Actually Review the Product
This shouldn’t be a “dirty secret,” but unfortunately, it is. Too many unhelpful or downright fake reviews flood the Internet – remember when Belkin was paying people 65 cents per review to leave positive feedback on their routers being sold at Amazon, Buy.com, and NewEgg regardless of whether or not they actually used them? It’s very easy to hide behind Internet anonymity and claim that you’ve reviewed a product when you haven’t. Of course, you’ll never gain credibility or long-term success this way. (Not to mention, researchers are starting to develop software that spots fake reviews.)
The other problem in this category involves using a product or service but not being an authority on the subject. For example, I could get my hands on the newest Fox oboe model. I could write an eloquent, SEO-friendly review discussing its appearance, dimensions, and materials used for manufacture; however, this wouldn’t change the fact that I know nothing about oboes. A review of this type isn’t really a review, it’s basically just a regurgitation of product information. Don’t attempt to review something you’re completely clueless about – write about things in which you can provide an informed opinion.
#4 – Make Comparisons
Think about some recent purchases you made – you probably had to decide between more than one option. This is the case for everyone, and readers love to see reviews that compare two similar products. For example, which title sounds more interesting – “iPhone 5 Review” or “iPhone 5 vs. Blackberry Bold 9900: Which is right for you?” Other examples include:
- Blogger vs. WordPress
- Southwest Airlines or American Airlines?
- Spotify vs. Grooveshark
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#5 – Add Your Own Images or Videos
Adding an image of you holding a product or using a service adds instant credibility to your review. It shows the reader that you actually used the product. Even better, a video can allow your readers to specifically see what you’re talking about while you opine. Not to mention, video allows you to add more interesting and possibly humorous details to your review. Photos and videos constitute unique media that’s only available on your site. You can then distribute videos on sites like YouTube and Facebook for promotional purposes. So, don’t just find a stock photo of the iPad 2, create a video showing yourself actually using it. Your readers will be getting a high-quality, insightful and informative review that will keep them coming back to your site.
About the Author: Mitch O’Conner is an online marketer and writer. When he’s not busy testing sites, generating traffic or writing content, he enjoys spending time with his wife and kids, watching TV, playing games or going camping.
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