Social media marketing – the life blood of small businesses

Social media marketing – the life blood of small businesses

Social media marketing is a more humane, fun and creative method of marketing. It is savvy, sensitive and therefore immensely popular. Through social media marketing campaigns, companies can expect to build the right marketing buzz, boost their online business and win complete customer loyalty – while making use of low or no cost marketing tools. It is the explosive combination of low cost and high effectiveness that attract businesses, big and small, to social media marketing.

Top 3 ways in which small businesses can use and benefit from social media marketing:

Win targeted traffic: Marketing, effective marketing that is, has always been about effective communication. If you communicate the right messages that appeal to the client, a business deal is struck and you make money. It’s as simple as that. However, up until social media came to the scene, businesses did not really have the tools to communicate with their clients on a personal, one-on-one level. It could not explain how the company can answer the changing needs of clients. With social media, companies had tools to communicate personally with the world. Thus, the company began to acquire a character and warmth that it could not otherwise enjoy. Clients started to know, like and trust the companies they do business with. Blogs and microblogs allowed clients to contact CEOs and Sales teams directly. The company also had the means to feel the pulse of their customers and respond according to the needs of clients. Thus, communication becomes two-way and mutually beneficial. No wonder more sales are made through Facebook, Twitter, linkedIn, YouTube and Wikipedia than through traditional marketing strategies.
Quick results: If you manage to send out a powerful message that hits internet front pages, you can experience the result almost instantly in the form of huge volumes of traffic. Many businesses and entrepreneurs have experienced the effect of viral marketing, where a single message spreads with the speed of a virus and attracts unbelievable amounts of traffic. Imagine what this traffic can do for your online business! Your search engine listing climbs up as more and more people visit your website. And the traffic you attract will be targeted, pre-sold traffic. These are the people who are most likely to buy from you.
Fun and creative: One of the reasons people enjoy participating in social media marketing is the fun factor. For instance, a popular blender brand asked people to send in their video suggestions for blending the most surprising foods. Creative juices started flowing and thousands of people sent in their videos. There were discussions and conversations taking place all over the net, and at the center of it all was the blender! Business went up and the brand made social media marketing history! Small businesses can make use of the entertainment factor that is inherent in social media to attract huge volumes of traffic.

Thus, social media marketing focuses on building positive relationships. By building relationships, business expands automatically. Thus, social media marketing opens the floodgates of business – effectively and with panache!

More Social Media Optimization Articles

5 Web Design Tips for Small Businesses

5 Web Design Tips for Small Businesses

Do not get your website designed if you do not know the ins and outs of this field. Your website will be your online shop and you certainly don’t want to make your shop look bad. So, you need to know all the vital elements that can make your business website look really professional. Without these vital elements, you will create a website but it won’t be professional or effective. Plus, you will also be able to guide your designer that how your business site should be in terms of layout and formatting. So, let’s discuss these vital elements now to help you create a better site than your competitors.

First, Study Your Competitors:

You need to check and see how your competitors have created their websites. Check out their web designs and share them with your designer to help him or her understand what sort of design will be suitable for your business website. Research is a crucial part of every business. Hence, you shouldn’t take it lightly. Spend some time, go through their sites, study their website layout, see their colors and then determine how you should create your website to stand-out from the competitors and beat them in the race.

Form a Strategy:

After studying your competitors, the next thing you should do is to create a plan. Write down all the important factors that you want to incorporate in your website. It should be a detailed plan that will discuss the layout of your website, color scheme, content formatting, navigation style and so on. Once done, send it to your designer and arrange a meeting to go over all the factors.

Always Take Your Industry Into Consideration:

Make sure your website correctly represents your industry and business. An irrelevant web design will only annoy your visitors and you will end up sending them away from your website. So, this is a very important point that you must discuss with your designer. A website that sells surgical instruments should not have the pictures of clowns and flowers. The design should accurately depict the theme of the business. Otherwise, your web design will look totally unprofessional.

Website Navigation:

Your website navigation allows you to retain your visitors on your site. See, if people are able to find information on your site quickly and easily then they will like to spend more time on your site. If your site has a confusing navigation, then people will first scratch their head that where to go and what to do and then they will finally leave. This way your bounce rate will increase dramatically and your retention rate will decrease.

Similar Layout throughout the Site:

Don’t make the mistake of creating different designs for different pages. All the pages should have the same layout and design. Otherwise, your visitors might think that they have been transferred to a different website. This will distract your visitors and you will most likely end up losing them. So, keep it the same and consistent thorough out the site.

Small Business Internet Marketing

Small Business Internet Marketing

Small Business Internet Marketing

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Small Business Internet Marketing

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Small Business Internet Marketing

By: Chadisa

About the Author

If you would like to learn more about small business internet marketing visit http://www.deboltinteractive.com.

(ArticlesBase SC #979890)

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/ – Small Business Internet Marketing

So you are running a small business. If you want it to reign in its field and allow it to dominate its target market, simply follow simple small business internet marketing strategies and ideas. You should understand that a small business is a system that needs excellent marketing ideas to succeed. It is not something to be neglected. Many entrepreneurs and business owners fall prey to seemingly effective marketing techniques that never delivered results. Therefore, it is a must that you implement proven small business internet marketing techniques that will surely yield results. By employing small business internet marketing methods, expect your business soar high in World Wide Web.

Most internet marketers would lure their customers and make them believe that small business internet marketing is expensive and complicated. This is actually false since online marketing doesn’t really need to be costly and complicated. The basic goal of small business internet marketing is to attract qualified leads, encourage them to buy, and keep them as repeat customers. This principle is fundamental and also applies to offline marketing. The advantage however of small business internet marketing is that, some of the marketing methods are free and one can even invest minimal finance while getting good results.

Another advantage of small business internet marketing is that, you can double your profits if you just know how to market your small business effectively. Once this is achieved, expect to get greater returns and see how huge the impact on the profitability and growth prospects of your business. There are various small business internet marketing strategies that you can apply and here are some of the most effective:

PPC Advertising – This is one of the fastest ways to fuel up your small business and see great returns on your online spend.  The key in succeeding on this small business internet marketing strategy is to choose powerful and appropriate keywords. By doing do, you can attract massive consumers that are interested in what you are offering. This idea of this small business internet marketing technique is to maximize your online visibility and increasing your accessibility in the internet. Online Networking – This is the best small business internet marketing strategy to build your network or contacts. You can join networking websites or you can participate in blogs and forums to gain massive interested users. Keep in mind however that when using this small business internet marketing strategy, don’t make it obvious that you intention is to promote your business. SEO (Search Engine Optimization) – Almost everyone in the internet marketing world knows the power of SEO. This is a powerful small business internet marketing strategy that you should invest on. With good SEO, you can see a difference in your small business website. This small business internet marketing technique can rank your business on top of search engines, bring your site more traffic, and give you financial freedom.

More than these basic small business internet marketing strategies, there are also plenty of free options out there that you can try. Yes, there are various free ways to build traffic with no financial investment in advertising at all. However, this can take time and knowledge.

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If you would like to learn more about small business internet marketing visit http://www.deboltinteractive.com.

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Professional Website Design for Small Business Enterprises

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Copywriting Tips To Market Your Small Business

Copywriting Tips To Market Your Small Business

Most people don’t realize that every small business uses copywriting to sell their product or service.

Those catchy phrases on that brochure are copywriting.

The content of that sales letterare copywriting.

The direct-mail packet you received in the mail with discounts to area businesses- Yep. You got it that’s copywriting.

And while you may appreciate the value in hiring a professional to write an effective sales letter, benefit-laden brochure, or have-to-have-it internet ad, professional copywriting services may be out of the price range of your small business.

It’s impossible to gain the expertise in a short amount of time that a professional copywriter has earned through years of training and experience. That said, there are a number of quick and easy things you can do to make your content stand out – and more importantly, to sell your product or service for immediate revenue.

Headlines

In almost every case, headlines are a quick and effective way to grab your reader’s attention. However exciting the information that follows, it’s not going to do you any good unless you can pull your prospective client in immediately by making them want to read more.

In the age of email, IM-ing and video conferencing, people want information fast. If you bore them they’ll move onto something else, and you’ll lose an opportunity to tell them why your product or service will change their life for the better.

The headline is usually in a larger and/or bolder font than the text directly below it. This enables your promise to stand out more and to get the readers attention. The idea is to make your prospective client want to keep reading.

You may have seen headlines like these

“Lose 20 pounds in Two Weeks – And Eat all You Want!”

“Make ,000 – with Nothing More than a Computer and 5 hours a Week!”

“Save Thousands on Heating Oil This Winter!” (an ad for a woodstove)

In virtually every business, even those often deemed “professional”, your message will be more urgent and compelling with a headline. Consider the following example for a technology consulting company:

“Finish Your Projects On Time and Under Budget – Without Hiring a Single New Employee!”

See what I mean? Headlines work. Start by defining your company’s promise. Every small business has one – all you have to do is tell your customer what it is.

Bullets and Fonts

Especially with a very technical subject matter, or with a product or service that requires a lot of information, bulleting out the finer points of your small business benefits can break down large blocks of information into an easy-to-read format.

When faced with a page full of text, the eye tends to drift to areas of interest – things that stand out from the rest of the text. For this reason, varying your font style and size just a tiny bit can make a real difference.

If I bold this sentence, you will likely pay special attention to it.

If I use italics to make my point here, it will be the rare individual who doesn’t notice – not the italics, but what’s been written in them.

The key here is not to go overboard. You don’t want to make your letter or brochure look like an advertisement for the circus (well, unless your small business is a circus). Just create enough interest to keep them reading and keep them invested in learning more about your small business.

Do-It-Yourself?

You’d probably prefer to contract out your copywriting services. Hiring someone else means you get a professional and can move onto matters that fall more clearly within your area of expertise.

But the reality is that many small businesses simply do not have money in the budget to hire a professional copywriter – at least not in the beginning.

In this case, try coming up with some material of your own using these tips. Who knows? You might even discover a talent you didn’t know you had.

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Stop, Collaborate and Engage: Small Business Communication Tools for Entrepreneurs to Navigate the Social Media Seas

Stop, Collaborate and Engage: Small Business Communication Tools for Entrepreneurs to Navigate the Social Media Seas

From smoke signals and carrier pigeons to smartphones and their ubiquitous apps, the way people interact across distances has drastically evolved. With each passing year, innovation appoints a new form of communication as revolutionary while decrying another form as passé.

During the past six months, you’ve probably learned what a “tweet” is and what it means to “friend” someone. Though both are interesting new forms of interaction, their applications to small business communication are less clear.

Twitter and Facebook are, at their most basic levels, additional channels aiding in small business communication. Like print or broadcast advertising, these social media initiatives allow a company to directly communicate with consumers. Though unlike advertising, these services allow for two-way communication where your audience – which includes customers, prospects, advocates, government entities and the general public – can respond. It is this engagement where many companies fall flat.

Kicking Off Your Social Media Initiatives

Simply setting up a Twitter handle and Facebook page does not plug you into the social media ether. Managing these accounts and consistently updating them is vital, so much so that many large companies are hiring full-time employees to man their social media initiatives. For entrepreneurs with limited time, there are many applications that can help you manage content for both services in one place, like Digsby (which has instant messaging integration as well), Brizzly or TweetDeck.

For entrepreneurs new to Twitter or other social media initiatives, the best approach is to do a few searches on words that are relevant to your business and try to find a handful of experts in your field to follow. Then, spend your first few days just “listening” to the conversation from these experts, resisting the urge to start singing the praises of your product or broadcasting your message. Once you get a feel for the kinds of things people talk about and how they do it on Twitter, start with the 2, 2, 2 rule. Post 2 original things, re-tweet two posts you find interesting or useful, and reply to two people about something they tweeted. This is a good way to be a valuable participant and to increase your “followers” number as people find the things you have to say to be useful.

For most entrepreneurs, a significant investment of time and resources strictly for social media initiatives is not feasible. Depending on a company’s level of commitment to increasing its small business communication efforts, social media may not be the right channel, right now. But, for those companies that can invest resources to examine the social media landscape, determine if it is right for their business and actively engage in dialogue, Twitter and Facebook can be powerful tools to grow their small business communication strategy.

Though Twitter and Facebook are good starting points, if these social media darlings are where your social media knowledge ends, you need to know about the many other small business communication technologies that allow entrepreneurs to interact with customers and engage prospects.

Oldies but goodies…

The social media landscape has significantly changed the face of small business communication, but it does not mean previous technologies have been rendered useless. “Old” technologies, such as e-mail newsletters, instant messaging and message boards are still active and can still increase productivity (and sales!). Many entrepreneurs already have a strong understanding of these technologies and have probably used them in the past. Consider dusting off that old e-mail newsletter you belong to – you know, the one you haven’t read in 2 years – or do a quick search of what message boards are out there. You may be reminded of and surprised at how useful these seemingly out-of-date services can be.

Some you’ve probably heard of, but may not know the full power of…

LinkedIn

LinkedIn has become the platform for business-focused social networking. By setting up a LinkedIn profile, users are able to post their work history and professional profiles for others to see. This tool presents opportunities for generating new business, reconnecting with old colleagues, and finding a job.

While many business users may have a LinkedIn profile, they may overlook the other small business communication tools LinkedIn provides. For example, LinkedIn Groups are a simple way to create an online forum where customers, prospects and industry insiders can exchange ideas. Similar to an e-mail newsletter, the Group allows invited LinkedIn users to interact with one another and for a company to communicate key messages. With some simple work on the front-end to get the group moving, an entrepreneur can then take a back-seat to let the patients run the asylum – while still maintaining his or her position as the group leader.

Wiki

A wiki (rhymes with tricky) is a website that allows users to edit the content that is posted on the page; the trick to wikis is ensuring the edits are accurate. Wikipedia, for example, is an editable online encyclopedia in which users can edit the content. The reason the information remains accurate is Wikipedia has designated individuals to monitor updates.

From a business perspective, a wiki is a great small business communication tool for companies with geographically distributed offices or teams. Users can post a document or other materials on an internal wiki and allow a group to review and edit the material in one place. Beyond the team collaboration, the wiki also helps with “version control,” a problem that occurs when some users do not have the most up-to-date version of a document. Microsoft’s SharePoint offers companies the ability to make internal wikis, as well as discussion boards.

Some small business communication tools you may not have heard of…

Yammer

Yammer is an enterprise microblogging service – think of it as Twitter for internal business communication. The service allows businesses to create their own internal communication channel and limit use to those who have a valid company e-mail address.

Yammer allows users to post questions, share news, ideas and documents, and post status updates to the entire group. This service allows short messages to be sent and for users to filter the messages they receive so they aren’t bombarded with information that is not relevant to them. Much like a wiki, Yammer allows distributed companies to communicate in a private community, only in shorter bursts.

Ning

Ning lets users create social networks around topics about which they are passionate. Do you love cheese? If so, you can create a cheese lovers community. Do you fear bunnies? Then you can connect with others who share your phobia. With Ning, you create the network that matches your life.

Why should an entrepreneur care about all these different social media initiatives? If your company produces gourmet cheese, that cheese lovers group is a new business goldmine. Are you a psychiatrist just out of med school looking to build a client base? The bunny-phobic network is a breeding ground for potential patients. Whether setting up a targeted social network or joining one already in existence, Ning can connect your business with others that share your unique passions.

What’s more, Ning has one of the more quantifiable ROI models of all social media. Ning’s premium service allows the administrator to run ads on its network (this service does require a fee, though). Not only could you run your own ads, you could potentially run ads from other members of your community, creating a quantifiable revenue stream from your network.

When it comes to social media initiatives, there is no magic bullet to grow your business. But there is a unique combination that is right for every entrepreneur. By balancing time and resources, and examining the social media habits of its customers and prospects, a business can develop a small business communication strategy that will accelerate growth.

Internet Marketing Powering Small Business

Internet Marketing Powering Small Business

The Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO) has just published current statistics for internet marketing. The group reports that Search Engine Marketing spending, including paid placement, paid inclusion SEO and purchase of technology platforms, is expected to double by 2011. The aggregate spending total will be .6bn.

This will have a dramatic effect on how small business does business on the Internet. More companies are enhancing services to make it easier for small businesses to access consumers.

Google has released its voice service, along with Adobe, to improve web conferencing. Combining this with the stick released recently for VOIP services, has enabled small businesses to expand their markets content wide.

The improvement in technology, and the flexibility, has increased the amount of money spent on search engine advertising.

Organic SEO is still the strongest marketing tool. Three quarters of all advertisers use it. A close second is paid placement 86% of the total advertising dollar, at bn.

The market is still driven by companies trying to generate direct sales, however, brand awareness is growing as advertisers learn to use the net to improve PR and customer relations.

No surprise is MSN’s gain on Google. It has now captured 68% of the market, up from 29% in 2005. The surprise came last fall when random reports claimed that myspace had surpassed the number of hits sent to websites.

The increase in use of MSN is no surprised as online shopping increases. MSN still leads the way with ‘decision to buy’ or ‘impulse buy’ visitors, resulting in a lower Cost Per Click (CPC) than the other search engines.

Despite this, Google still dominates the field in 2007, with 95% of all respondents advertising on AdWords, followed by 86% on Yahoo.

One fifth of all respondents claimed they were shifting money from print magazine advertising, while this is a bold move, only time will tell whether it is a smart move. Currently, trade and regional magazines top all other media in dollar value when considering ‘decision to buy.’

Magazines now have a higher retention rate, even than television, on a single view. It is not sure if this will transfer to the web, but if it does, then it will level the playing field for small businesses that lack the marketing budget to advertise in national magazines.

Myspace is showing itself to be a powerful branding tool, so much so that many companies, including Pepsi, McDonalds, and Nike are trying to force Myspace to discontinue profiles and hubs with URLs that use those trademarks.

Many business owners are using the Myspace option in the same way that YouTube is, creating channels that allow business owners to improve Internet Marketing by ‘riding the coat tails’ of the large companies – for a price.

Either way, the release of Web 2.0 this spring, set to coincide with the release of MS Vista, will have hard hitting repercussions which will change the internet forever. Smart webmasters are already taking advantage of Social Networking, by creating Myspace.com, Squidoo.com, Youtube.com and other hubs, as well as optimizing for Web 2.0 to gain the advantage when the web changes.

This foresight is not optimistic thinking, but a learned behavior. Any change in the Internet’s SEO algorithms shatters the SEO marketing objectives of the best sites and brings small business sites to the forefront, at least for a few months. Not bad, when taking into consideration that a few months on the top of Google can equal hundreds of thousands, or even millions, in extra profits.

Selecting Keywords for Your Small Business Website

Selecting Keywords for Your Small Business Website

One of the most important aspects of search engine optimization (SEO) is the proper selection of keywords or key phrases. Keywords are the terms that searchers enter when using search engines like Google or Yahoo. For instance, a user looking for someone to help them build a small business website might enter terms like website design or small business website into the search box. The search engines use those terms to find relevant web pages.

What makes a page relevant to any particular search is the topic of another discussion, but it is clear that the presence of related keywords on a webpage create a high degree of relevance. So in the search for help building a small business website, search engines will be looking for web pages that contain the specific search terms as well as other information that is relevant to the same term.

Selecting the proper keywords for your website is crucial to making sure your pages are returned when searchers are looking for the products, services or information you are providing. While there is certainly a lot of information available about how to select keywords, in reality, keyword selection is as much art as it is science. It is a mix of ratios, search probabilities and good detective work to figure out what searches will be looking for, and how the search engines will relate you webpage to their searches.

In general, you can think of keywords as mini ads for your website. Make you ads to generic and searches, and search engines, may overlook the specific thing they are searching for. You can think of keywords as falling into three basic categories: Niche, Primary and Secondary.

Niche keywords are very specific and may result in a low volume of searches but a higher listing in search results. For instance, a site that sells SEO services may focus on the keyword phrase increase Exact Seek page rank. For searchers who are knowledgeable enough to understand this term and are targeting the Exact Seek search engine there is a high chance your site will show up in a search for Increase my page rank on Exact Seek. However, there will be less people searching for this phrase then say, get better search engine rankings or get better search results on Yahoo. The up side with niche keywords is that there is less competition for the keyword.

Primary keywords are those that appear to be a good balance between volume of search and competitive use. These are the words you should consider focusing your SEO efforts on. These words have good amounts of search volume because they are relatively generic, however they are a good match for your website’s content. These keywords do have competitors, but there is likely enough search volume to generate traffic for your site. A page optimized on the keyword non-profit website design would be relevant to a good number of related searches but would have less competition than a page optimized for website design.

Secondary keywords provide a good volume of searches but have a higher level of competitors. An example is website design. While there are lots of people searching for website design there are millions and millions of competitors. Secondary keywords should not be ignored because of the potential volume, however, trying to optimize for such a generic term without other primary or niche keywords will likely not lead to much traffic.

In summary, ideal keywords receive a reasonable number of searches in major or niche search engines, are relevant to your site’s content and are not heavily used by competitors. Keywords that have below average search volumes still may be excellent choices because they may be very relevant to your specific content and have limited competitors. Select multiple keywords for your site and consider using unique keywords for each page if the content is different.

Aubrey Jones is President and founder of Riverbank Consulting, Inc. Through Webs 4 Small Business he is able to bring SEO and other internet services to Small Business owners. He has been in the technology and internet industry for over 10 years building and managing large commercial internet services.

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Blackberry 8100 Pearl : It’s Remarkably Small, Incredibly Powerful

Blackberry 8100 Pearl : It’s Remarkably Small, Incredibly Powerful

Conceived and developed by Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM), BlackBerry business phones and wireless handhelds are designed to boost work and enterprise on the move. Email access and web browsing capabilities have ensured the popularity of BlackBerry smartphones among business entrepreneurs.

The BlackBerry Pearl 8100 is the first in the series to integrate a digital camera, MP3 player, video player and an expandable memory slot and signals RIM’s entry into the consumer market. Slightly larger than an I-pod nano, a thin and light (3.1 ounces) form factor and a very solid, high-quality feel – the BlackBerry Pearl is one of the lightest and smallest smartphones.

RIM has reduced the number to keys by approximately 50 percent to give the Pearl an all new look. The user interface gets an intuitive makeover with the integration of a trackball navigation and the trackball itself resembles a dazzling pearl! A large, ultra-bright, high-resolution LCD colour screen with light sensing technology displays vivid visuals.

The keypad is the SureType hybrid QWERTY with dedicated send, end, convenience, power and mute keys. This easy-to-use smartphone is equipped with call management features such as smart dialing, conference calling, speed dialing and call forwarding. Add to it features such as wireless push delivery of email and data, secure access to Internet and intranet-based applications, single mailbox integration, attachment viewing of popular file formats and you have an application powerhouse in your palms.

The quad-band BlackBerry Pearl also provides seamless connectivity through Bluetooth, wireless modem, EDGE and GPRS. What makes the Pearl standout from other handsets in the BlackBerry series is its multimedia kit. The 1.3 mega pixel digital camera, MP3 and video players on the Pearl might not be very impressive but nonetheless they serve to break the monotony and provide some much needed entertainment.

Blackberry Pearl