Category: Social Media For Biz

If you have a business of your own, or you are just interested in making money online, then you need to advertise online. Perhaps you have been online searching for information on how to do just that, and you are overwhelmed by all of the choices. All of those options can be a good thing, or a bad thing. They’re bad if they make you confused and keep you from taking action. They’re good because they can fit in with virtually any business. Here are some things to keep in mind about internet advertising.

What a lot of new marketers don’t understand is that traditional advertising can be quite expensive. So, when they are confronted with something that costs $20 or so, and can reach 1,000s of targeted customers, they balk at the price. Perhaps this is because they believe that all online marketing should be free. But the truth is that it isn’t.

Don’t get me wrong, you can certainly get started with internet advertising for little to no cost. But the price you pay will be in the form of time. It’s up to you if you would rather spend money or time, but the general rule of thumb is that the more you spend, the less time it will take, and vice-versa.

Internet advertising is flexible enough to fit into any budget, and you don’t need to invest a lot of time either, though there are always trade offs between the two. With so many choices, it can be hard to decide where to start. Guess what? It doesn’t really matter! Nope. It’s far better to get started and try your hand at it, than it is to wait around until you “learn everything”.

That being said, it’s still important to take your online marketing efforts seriously. Sure, it doesn’t cost much, and is relatively easy, but you are trying to run a successful business. Therefore, you need to treat all aspects of what you do as if they will have an impact on your bottom line, and internet advertising is no exception.

You need to be careful about which methods you try, especially when you are just starting out. There really aren’t any bad methods, but not all of them work well for all businesses. So, before you dive in head first, think about who your target market is, what makes your offer unique, and the best way to present your offer to your market. Doing these three things are just the start, but they will put you way ahead of all of the people who don’t do them.

Regardless of which internet advertising methods you decide to go with, the key is to get started as soon as possible. Start now if you can. The sooner you get in, the sooner you will be able to reap the rewards of your efforts. If you ask those who are successful online, they will tell you one of the biggest differences between failure and success is taking action. What you do now will determine the future of your business.

Social networking is when people connect with other people on specific social websites. Social networking sites may be for specific interests like art, knitting or music, or they can be general social networking sites where anyone can join. With social networking websites you can connect with friends, family, business acquaintances and even with people you have never met before. You can actually connect with people from anywhere in the world and you can meet new people that share the same interest as you. There are millions of people on the internet that use social networking sites to connect with other people and develop relationships either as friendships or as business relationships.

There are quite a lot of different social networking sites that you can choose from to join and many of them are for specific niches or interests. There are niche specific sites like Library Think and Ravelry which are targeted to connect people that have the same interests. Then there are some small scale general social networking sites like Adult Friend Finder and Orkut and then there are the very large social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook.

Social networking websites are like huge online communities where people from all over the world can connect and communicate with one another on the internet. Social networking is basically as the name states – networking socially with people that you have things in common with. When you join a social networking website you create a profile where you list your personal details including your interests. When other members view your profile they will see what you are interested in and if they share the same interest then they will contact you.

Making new friends and acquaintances is just one of the many benefits of social networking websites. When you can meet people that live on the other side of the world it is amazing to share stories and experiences with these people. You can live in Australia and can communicate with people in the United States or United Kingdom. You can develop friendships with people worldwide and you can also develop business relationships with people worldwide, including Japan, Spain, Italy, Germany and many more countries.

If you have a specific hobby, interest or religion it is easy to meet and communicate with people that share these interests or have similar characteristics as you. You can meet people that are in the same business as you or you can even meet potential customers and develop a large customer base of people that you can sell your products to. When you meet people from all over the world you can learn new languages, new cultures and even new hobbies. There is no limit to what you can do when you join a social networking community.

Whether you want to make new friends or learn about a certain culture or country you can do it with social networking. Whether you want to pursue a new hobby or build business relationships and find new customers you can do it with social networking. If you want to further your own knowledge or just have a bit of fun you can do it with social networking, so why not join a social networking website today and start taking advantage of the many benefits that they offer.

People love reviews. One of the reasons why Amazon.com became so popular (and there’s a list the length of the Nile regarding why that site became one of the biggest deals on the Internet since Al Gore) is due to its extensive review system. Customers like to read about those who have bought the product or visited the store before they have done so themselves. Most people these days are savvy enough to realize the point of advertising– they know that commercials are out there for a reason, namely, to make the place of business or the product look good. Reviews, on the other hand, are ostensibly written by those who are not being paid cash to promote the product in a positive light, making potential customers trust them more.

We’re assuming here that you’re running a steady operation that customers like to visit and return to. If you have a business that you’re proud of and you feel as though people would review it positively, then it’s a good idea to put your business in a position where it can garner those positive reviews.

Two great sites to start off with when it comes to getting your place of business reviewed by customers are Yelp and Google Maps. Once you put your site up on these sites, customers can submit reviews – both positive and negative – regarding your offline business and what they thought of it. Both of these sites see a lot of traffic per day, and if you are confident that the masses would review your small business positively, this is a great tool to convince others to stop by your place of business. After all, all businesses know that the best advertising available is the golden word of mouth recommendation – and if you can get positive reviews on a social review site, it’s essentially the same thing. Just virtual.

It’s a good idea to advertise the fact that your business is up on Yelp or Google Maps at your place of business. This will encourage your visitors to write a review on your business, particularly if they’ve had an excellent time. Yelp in particular even allows the business owner to respond to comments left on their business by those who leave reviews. This is a great way to thank customers for their reviews if they’re positive, defend yourself if there is a bad review, or offer your condolences and suggest ways that both you and the customer can ensure a better visit next time if the review is less than glowing.

Social review sites can literally be a way to strike gold when it comes to an offline business’ foray into social media advertising. Even better, assuming that you’re running a legit place of business that the customer is pleased with, you don’t even have to do that much work. Just sign up for a profile and let the positive reviews roll in!

There are all kinds of different ways that you can market your business online, and one of the best is ezine advertising. For the sake of this article we will define an ezine as any publication that is delivered to the subscriber’s computer on a regular basis. The success of your promotion in an ezine will depend on a number of factors. Here are some things that will help you to make the most of your marketing efforts.

The first thing you need to do is some research. This is broken down into two steps. Step one is to find as many ezines as you can that are related to whatever it is you are promoting. Remember to include publications that may be ideal for cross promotion, too. For example, if you sell accessories for recreational vehicles, then you would want to look at any RV newsletters, as well as those that are related to domestic travel, retirement, and campgrounds. The bigger your initial list, the better.

The second step in researching is to find out what you can about each of the ezines on your list. At the bare minimum you should know the number of subscribers, typical open and click-through rate, and what all of their advertising options are. If you can’t find any contact information, or you don’t get a response from them, then move on to other ezines that are more willing to work directly with advertisers.

Once you have all of this information, you should be able to start narrowing your list down to the ones that look best for you. However, you are not ready to purchase any ad space quite yet. At this point you should subscribe to any of the ezines you’re interested in. This will give you an idea of how often they send their ezine, and how often they send other promotional messages. If they publish once a month, but send out “special offers” two times a day, then your message will only get lost in the shuffle. Subscribing will also give you a better feel for what the ezine is really about. You can also look over any archived copies of the ezine that are available.

Remember that your reputation will be tied in directly to that of the ezine, and vice-versa. Therefore you need to choose wisely. At the same time, be aware that many publications will take some time before approving your ad. If this happens, you should take it as a positive sign as it shows they care about the content they send to their subscribers.

By now you should have a good idea of where you want to start your ezine advertising campaign. You will have to decide which type of ad is the best for you. Generally speaking, a solo ad will give you the highest return. A solo ad is a special mailing that contains nothing but your ad. After that, the best option is typically an ad spot nearest the top in a regular issue of the newsletter.

No matter how big or small your business is, you can benefit from the exposure you’ll get from marketing it online. However, all too many business owners are not aware of the latest internet advertising trends. While the principles of marketing will always stay the same, there are always new strategies for applying those principles, and things are moving faster than ever in the age of the internet.

One such trend is the use of the web for targeting your market locally, nationally, or internationally. This can be achieved through pay per click advertising (also known as PPC). There is a myth that PPC is risky and expensive. While that can be true for those who don’t understand how it works, the truth is that PPC can be a great way to increase your profits. The best part is that you don’t need a big budget to get started. You can simply start small, then ramp up your efforts as you generate more revenue with your PPC efforts.

PPC really comes down to selecting the right keywords. In basic terms, keywords are those terms your potential customers will be entering into the search engines for more information. Therefore, you need to give careful thought to which keywords and phrases you want to be associated with. That means you shouldn’t be looking only at the cost to you per click. Sure, you may be able to find a great deal on a low-competition keyword, but if it’s not a good match for your business, then you are only throwing your money away.

The good news is that you can find out what the top keywords being searched for are. Again, don’t just select a keyword because a lot of people are using it. You need to also consider your specific needs, and what your customers are looking for. For example, if you are selling custom-made, luxury yachts, then you wouldn’t want to select “used boats”, “cheap boats” or “second hand yachts” for your keywords–even if they get a ton of searches and have a low per-click cost–because they aren’t what your ideal customer would be searching for.

Pay per click is one of the internet advertising trends that is too effective to pass up, but it isn’t the only trend you should be plugging into. Another one of the big ones is the use of social networking sites. While most people are familiar with sites like Facebook for staying in touch with family and friends, such sites also provide enormous benefits for marketing your business. Make it easy for people to add you to their contact lists.

However, don’t think you can just keep blasting them with your marketing message. Instead, try to foster relationships with the people who have added you. Also, anything you can do to get them to interact will help you establish yourself as the go-to source in their eyes.

We have only covered two examples of internet advertising trends, but there are more, and who knows what the future has in store. Do your best to stay informed of any new opportunities that come along, and be ready to take advantage of them if they’re a good fit for your business.

Video: Facebook Action Plan

Social networking sites are the big buzz around the internet and not only are they great for socializing with friends, but there are hundreds of Internet Marketers that use these sites to promote their businesses.

There are a lot of different social networking sites around the internet that you can use to market your business and the more of them that you join and use the more potential customers you can connect with.

Let’s take a look at some of the Social Networking websites that are very effective at driving targeted traffic to your own business website.

1. Facebook – Facebook would have to be the most popular social network site on the internet and has millions of members from all over the world. With Facebook you can request people to be your friend and so you can search for people that are interested in the niche of your business and send them a friend request.

You can also set up group pages with Facebook so you can set up a group for your business and your friends and other members can join your group.

The most effective way to market your business is to get to know your potential customers on a personal basis before promoting any offers to them. So you will want to connect with them on a social level as well as a business level.

2. Twitter – Twitter is a website where you can ‘follow’ people. You can follow friends, family and people that you share similar interests with. To use Twitter for your business you will want to follow people that have interests in the niche of your business. When you follow people there is a good chance they will follow you too.

Whenever you make an update on Twitter, the people that are following you will see your update. If used correctly Twitter can be a very powerful marketing tool for your business.

3. Squidoo – Squidoo is another popular social networking site where you create ‘lenses’ where you can write and share information on any topic you choose. Squidoo lenses tend to rank very well in the search engines so if you create a lens for your business it can rank highly resulting in a lot of targeted traffic coming through to your own website.

You can even promote products as an affiliate using Squidoo although you don’t want to abuse the system and be too salesy. As long as your lenses are subtle and offer good quality content then Squidoo can be a very effective tool to market products as an affiliate.

4. Hubpages – Hubpages is a social networking site that is very similar to Squidoo but instead of creating a ‘lens’ you create a ‘hub’. You can share lots of information on your interests or your business as long as you offer good quality content. Hubpages is a very effective method for building backlinks to your own website and driving targeted traffic to your site.

5. Tumblr – Tumblr is another site where you create a type of blog that you can post content to on a regular basis and share your information with the other members of the Tumblr community. With your Tumblr blog you can add video and audio and you can also chat with other members. You can also follow other members and if you are active within the community you will soon have other members following you. The more members you have that follow you then the bigger customer base you are building.

Which social networking sites should you use?

The sites above are just some of the social networking sites available that you can use to promote your business. There are other sites such as YouTube, Stumbleupon and more. It is sometimes a matter of personal choice as to which one you use so why not try them and see what works for you. The more social networking sites that you are a member of the more customers you can connect with.

A social media outlet that people often overlook is the forum. While sites like Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and LinkedIn get a lot of attention when people are focusing on social media, many people forget about the saliency of forums when it comes to making a reputation for your business online.

The great thing about a forum is that it’s an easy place to establish a reputation of expertise. What you should absolutely not do is join a forum and start spamming it with ads for your business. This will only annoy the other users of the forum, and could possibly end up getting your account deleted by the moderators of the forum itself.

The best way to use a forum is to join one that is specifically related to your area of interest and product sales and start offering advice. For example, if you own a car dealership, you should look for dealership-related forums that pertain to the kinds of autos you sell. Then, you put in the address of your website or social media profile in the “signature” area of your profile and start answering questions. Giving out advice for free sounds like it might not be the best way to end up producing revenue, but once you can establish yourself as an expert on the forums, you can start drawing people into being curious about your products and services. After all, if you’re so helpful on the forum, you might have something useful to offer in the realm of sales, as well.

Another way to drum up trust in your business area using forums is to create your own forum. Of course, you’ll need to go through proper advertising channels in order to make people aware of your forum, but this is a great thing to announce on your Twitter feeds and Facebook profiles! If you can get a lively forum going that is directly attached to the website you have for your offline business, it’s a great way to get traffic to your site and a lot more customers, since you’ll have daily traffic to the forum. A successful forum might even have thousands of hits per day!

Establishing a reputation of excellence and expertise is the lifeblood of any small business. As it’s likely that you’re competing with a big box store of some sort, your bread and butter is the personal touch that you can add to your customer’s experience. When the business is online, or when you’re advertising your offline business online, a great place to show that you actually do possess both excellence and expertise is by engaging people on forums. In this way, you start building relationships of trust with the online contingent, and draw them further into your store and products.

Video: Brad explains what RSS feeds are and how to generate traffic using RSS.

Another social media outlet that is often looked over in terms of the biggies of Facebook and LinkedIn fame is the humble blog. While the word “blog” might make you think of a teenager with an axe to grind and Comic Sans font or a geek writing about the latest coding language, blogs can also be used by responsible adults in order to connect with others and promote their offline – or online – businesses.

Undoubtedly there are blogs in your area that follow local events. Simply do a Google search on blogs in your area to see what pops up. As a local business with an actual physical storefront, you’ll be able to network with these blogs and maybe even get a link to your site. If, for example, you own a car dealership and you can find a local blog that’s dedicated toward cars, see if you can arrange to get an entry on that blog featuring your place of business. That way, every person who frequents that blog will look at – or even read – an article dedicated to who you are and what you do. Even better, many of these local blogs operate free, so you won’t even have to pay for this kind of exposure!

In return for the cooperation of local bloggers, don’t forget to keep your networking constant. Comment on their blog posts and reference them on your own blog – because you do have your own blog for your business, right? – in order to keep the networking relationship fresh.

Another great place to look for blog connections are the more traditional sources of media – namely, television, radio, and newspapers. Many journalists are asked to keep a blog as part of their job, particularly when it comes to local publications. Making contact with these journalists and establishing blog relationships with them is not only a great way to increase the social media standing of your business as a whole, but also a great way to make connections with people in your area. Journalists are valuable people to keep in contact with, as they’ll often know about big events where you can advertise, and if you start making friends they can even put in a good word for your in a potential customer’s ear.

Remember to keep in mind that you have a powerful advantage over an online business by having a physical storefront. Use this advantage to win over local social media contacts through mediums like blogs and then you’ll be able to fight the social media war on both fronts. Even better, if you can make face to face contact with the people who write the blogs and the people who publish the news, you can even get some of that personal interaction that’s so crucial while publicizing yourself. Not only can journalists write a blog about your business, they can refer a friend, as well!