Tag Archive for Google

A Crash Course on Social Media

 

I am thrilled to have my friend and colleague Lara Wellman guest-blog for me this week. Lara is an expert in using social media to build your business online. As a relative newcomer to social media last year, I can say that it accounts for over 70% of my new business! In the following post Lara highlights the basics for those of you still struggling to wrap your head around this whole social media thing. Enjoy!

A Crash Course on Social Media

by Lara Wellman

Twitter. Facebook. Blogging.  People keep saying, “you NEED to be involved in social media for your business”, but you don’t really understand why or – even more importantly – how.

What is social media?

We get bogged down in the term “social media” a lot. Social media is simply a way of grouping together a set of new tools, just like the terms publicity, print advertising, and public relations.

Social media, and the use of it in business, is about using the tools out there to create a presence online for your business. It’s also a great tool for building and maintaining relationships with your clients and potential clients.

Ultimately, it helps to think of social media as some of the tools to incorporate into your overall communications and marketing plans. These tools are termed “social media” because they allow your audience to interact and be social with you, unlike more traditional channels which are all about pushing out the message with no easy way to respond or reach out.

Why use social media?

The way people seek out information is very different than it was ten years ago. People first go to Google or ask friends on Facebook for recommendations and references when trying to find new companies to deal with.

In addition, fewer people are spending time with traditional media like television and newspapers. If you want to catch your audience where they are spending their time, being online is very likely the place to be. Spend your time and money where your audience is.

Where do I start?

There are so many tools and they all have different purposes.  Here are descriptions of four of the big ones. Start by figuring out what your goals are and where they fit best, and then start there.

Blogging: 

A blog allows you to create content on a regular basis on your own web site.  This gives people a reason to continue visiting your site; when your content never changes people have no reason to come back unless they are specifically looking for your service.  If you entice them to your space with interesting content then you can regularly remind them about your services and establish yourself as an expert in your field.

Blogs are also great tools for search engine optimization. The more often you have new content on your site the higher search engines rank your site.

Facebook

Facebook Pages are a great place to regularly engage with your clients in their own space.

Think of your Facebook Page as a storefront.  You’ve already convinced people they like you enough to care what you have to say, now you have to provide them with the kind of content they want.

People want value for liking a Page, so this is your opportunity to share Facebook-only specials, to give tips and tricks that help your audience, and give them reasons to keep visiting your web site with regular links.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a the place to establish your professional presence.  People will often search a person on LinkedIn before attending a meeting with them, considering them as an employee or a service provider.  An easy start with LinkedIn is to create your profile, keep it up-to-date with a recent photo of yourself, and regularly connect to the new people you meet in your business dealings.

Within LinkedIn there are also opportunities to connect with people in similar areas through groups and discussion groups. LinkedIn is the channel that requires the least amount of regular updates to still have value.

Twitter

Twitter is like a 24-hours-a-day networking event. Being active on Twitter is an opportunity to reach people in your target market and convince them that they want to know more about you.

However, just like a networking event you can’t position your content as marketing.  You would never walk up to someone at an event who you have never met and loudly exclaim “25% off carpet cleaning this week only!” You would instead introduce yourself and converse in some light chit chat before moving on to what you do and how you could potentially be of service to each other.

Twitter can have a lot of value, but it does require time and commitment to engagement to get the most value out of the tool.

Take the leap

Social media isn’t going away.  Take some time in 2012 to figure out how you’re going to get involved.  Take a course or read one of the endless books or blog posts that help you figure out where to start. It takes some time to feel comfortable and build a following, but it’s well worth the time!

Lara Wellman - www.larawellman.com

 

 

Increasing Your Online Marketing ROI

 

One of the main challenges small and medium sized businesses face is how to market their products/services on a limited budget. You know you need to get your message out there, but how do you do that in a way that is both cost-effective and still gets results?

When I launched BreakthroughCoach, I focused my efforts on internet marketing and social media. Nearly 70% of my clients have come from these sources! I am more convinced than ever that if you’re in business but you’re not on the internet, then you’re not in business!

This week I am pleased to introduce you to Nathan Richer, a friend and colleague of mine. As the owner of Virtual Alchemy, a company devoted to helping you maximize your online marketing, he possesses a wealth of information on the subject. I hope you enjoy his post!

Over to you Nathan!

Eric Deschamps – Business Coach Ottawa

 

Why Does My Business Need to Be Found Online?

Do you have a website?
Can your website be found via Google?
Would you like more customers?

With over 1.9 billion internet users worldwide, you shouldn’t be asking yourself if your business needs to be found online. Instead, you should be asking yourself what you can do to tap into this vast resource of potential customers!

If you have a professionally designed website, you may think that you have already done what you can to market your business on the Internet. However, that is just the tip of iceberg. The key to being found online is so much more than a well designed website; it’s what is hidden beneath the surface that determines your results and returns!

Dominate Google and Get More Leads!

When you want to find a service or a product, where do you go? Most people head straight to Google to find a business that meets their needs. Is your website showing up on the first page of the Google search results? If it isn’t, you are missing out on a TON of potential customers. Statistics show that 95% of people never make it past the first page of the search results!

Although there are some website designers that will optimize your website (for an additional cost), this isn’t always the case. For instance, think about the person you had build and design your brick and mortar store. They decorated the office and made sure the chairs, desks and computers were ergonomic; however, they probably didn’t stand outside with a sandwich board and pass out flyers to attract customers to your business.

The same applies to the virtual world. A website designer will design your virtual “office”, but unless it was specified in their contract, you should not expect them to market it in Google and other popular search engines. This is a separate – and very crucial – job!

The great news is that it is not too late to get your business on the first page of Google. There are certain things you can do that will get your business’s website found online by people looking for – and ready to – buy your product or service. This includes, amongst others, tactics such as using appropriate titles, keywords and back-links.

Grow Your Business with Social Media

In addition to getting your business found via search engines, you should also be using social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn.

Why?

• If Facebook were a country, it would be the 3rd largest on the planet.
• There are more than 101 million users on LinkedIn.
• More than 200 million tweets are sent each day.

These three statistics all say the same thing – Social Media is a great way to get in front of a large crowd. The key with Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and any other social sites is to utilize them properly.

If you sign up for Twitter and do nothing but blast out sales pitches all day, you aren’t going to have many followers. Social media is all about building relationships with potential customers. It’s about carrying on conversations, sharing posts or tweets and being responsive on a regular basis.

Not only will this make your Social Media experience more enjoyable but you will build trust with those in your network. And, what is something that buyers need to have before they invest in a service or product? Trust.

While it may sound like a lot of work, it can be quite fun and rewarding, both on a personal and professional level. The more you put into social media, the more you will get from it.

There are many other forms of internet marketing, such as mobile marketing, reputation management and video marketing, that will help you attract and convert more customers. However, if you start by getting your business found online through popular search engines and by building relationships using Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, you will be well on your way to a more prosperous business.

If you have been trying to find a way to get more customers and make more money, you must invest the time and resources to develop a sound internet marketing campaign. It is simple.

Get found Online… Increase your bottom line!

Nathan Richer
Virtual Alchemy
www.virtualalchemy.ca
[email protected]