Did you know that you can list your business in the Google Local Results for free? You simply create a Google account (free – just set up a username and password) and then go in to enter your business information. Every business with a public address should be doing it! www.google.com/local/add
We’re getting more people clicking in through our Linked In account. Not totally sold on this site yet – because Linked In only wants you to connect with the same people that you already know well. In fact, if you connect with people you don’t know well, and someone says they don’t know you well, then they’ll make you insert their email address from your own records to prove you know them. So, it’s probably just as easy to connect offline or through email. The question is, does displaying a list of some of the people with whom you associate out in the public domain help you? I would think this could be used for competitive intelligence – which may or may not be a good thing, depending on what side of the fence you are on. Anyone out there gotten business through Linked In yet? Let me know!
I’ve been having a bit of fun on Linked In. Discovered you can ask and answer questions of all sorts. I haven’t asked any yet, but I’ve been having fun answering a few. It’s a good challenge because people rate your answers, and that inspires you to try really hard to give a good accurate answer. Although it’s a little odd…sometimes you can try really hard to give a big, complete answer full of lots of ideas and people don’t really notice it. Other times, you go out on a limb with a short, opinionated answer and the person loves it! Go figure – maybe the shorter the better!
Unsure about using social networking sites for business? Many businesspeople still believe it is largely a nuisance and waste of time….but this is way off the mark. Why?
- Creating and using profiles for your business on sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube can plug you into thousands of potential customers, and potential employees. For example, join LinkedIn – and then search groups relating to your field. You’ll be surprised at the vast numbers of people involved in these discussion groups – and many of them have job search categories where you can post opportunities.
- Linking these social profiles back to your website drives traffic, and raises your search rankings.
- You can join into interest groups and access communities of experts who will help you become better in your field. Imagine being able to ask questions freely of the best people whenever you get stuck on an issue – and that the answers you seek are saved in an accessible database where you can get at them later – a precious resource of knowledge!
- You can also protect your reputation online. An unfortunate case happened to Domino’s pizza where a couple of employees posted videos on YouTube of themselves pulling disgusting tricks on the job to soil the food they appeared to be serving. It badly tarnished Domino’s reputation – especially because Domino’s wasn’t on top of their online brand. And many of you have seen the video the musician Dave Carroll made – “United Breaks Guitars!” which he cleverly used as revenge against the corporate airline who refused to compensate him for breaking his Taylor guitar. There are several “Reputation Management Tools” online you can use to automate searching for bad press about you – then you can get in on the discussion early – before it balloons out of control. Check out the list here: http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog/2008/03/03/34-online-reputation-management-tools/
- Social media marketing allows your customers to get to know you better as a company. And it is a painfully honest tool. If you’re a good company with honestly good products, social marketing will enhance your brand. If you’re faking something, it’ll rat you out.
So, it’s time to look out at the social marketing ether – and use it to START Marketing!
It’s funny, but we still get lots of calls from business who ask what our pricing is. Did you know that we actually have almost all of our pricing on this website? Check out the fees sections. There are set fees set for initial consultations, and fees to create a marketing plan (which always vary based on the complexity of your business – so we can only give a range until we meet with you and determine your needs) and then fees for implementing your marketing plan….such as costs for logos, ad creation, website development, sales training, etc. Within this website, it even tells you how much you “should” spend on marketing. We really aimed to make things open and honest – as we’ve nothing to hide – and we like our prospects to know what to expect. Let us know what you think anytime!