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Posts Tagged ‘online business’
Sunday, October 24th, 2010
If you’re new to social media marketing then you might be wondering whether you should seek to prospect for new clients through Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter. I mean, you’ve heard of them all, had them all recommended, but you aren’t sure where to start. Need some help?
First, let’s cover the basics. What are they? What is social media marketing? And why are these three websites getting most of the attention?
- Facebook – Let’s deal with Facebook first. Of the three, it is the most trafficked website. In fact, it is the most trafficked website online. So you should be on it, right? Not necessarily.
Don’t go to Facebook because it is popular. Really. Go there because it offers a great marketing opportunity. And for most businesses, it does.
If you are a business that caters to the general public, you’ll likely do well at Facebook if you learn how to maneuver through the maze.
- LinkedIn – The problem with Facebook is it is just a little bit too laid back for some people. It’s like a college frat party. But LinkedIn is more like a corporate meet and greet. You really can meet some interesting people on LinkedIn who need your services. It’s a great place if you are a business seeking to do business with other business people.
- Twitter – Twitter gets a lot of hype. But don’t write that off as a negative. As far as online tools go, Twitter is unique. It allows you to communicate with many people with one short, 140 character message. And you can publish as many of those as you want as often as you want.
Some people have described Twitter as a fancy opt-in list. You can see it that way. But it’s also a broadcast medium. Some people are using it for publishing. I’d say the real benefit of Twitter is that it is so flexible you can use it for almost anything you want to use it for. Some people are using it to field customer service issues.
Personally, I think if you can make use of all three websites then you should. Just spend a few minutes each day on each one, not several hours. And if you are going to engage in social media at all, learn how to do so effectively. Don’t just rush in with guns loaded and shouting out marketing messages left and right. Develop relationships, treat people with respect, and keep your ear to the ground.
Tags: online business, social media marketing
Posted in Social Media | 4 Comments »
Friday, July 2nd, 2010
If you own a brick and mortar business and you’ve done some Internet marketing then you’ve likely discovered that there are some great ways to promote yourself online – some for free and some for a fee. But can an online business promote itself off line?
First, let’s define an online business. If you do business online, even if you have a website that promotes a brick and mortar business off line, then you are an online business. The way I see it, your online presence is pretty much a business of its own. It may be a reflection of your brick and mortar business and be branded under the same image, but your virtual business has its own drive as well.
So for the sake of this blog post, consider your website and online business presence a separate entity from your brick and mortar store. Can you promote it off line?
Not only can you, but you should. There are some online business models, of course, that would not do well with off line promotion, but if you are a local small business with an online presence then off line promotion should be one of your major initiatives. When you run your TV and radio commercials, mention your website. Add your URL to your newspaper ads and billboards. When you give speaking engagements, mention your website. These are all legitimate ways to promote that website of yours and the payback is tremendous.
Tags: off line promotion, online business
Posted in Traditional Marketing for Small Business | 1 Comment »
Saturday, March 13th, 2010
According to the Kelsey Group, 97% of consumers research products and services online. Here’s the break down (as presented by Matt McGee):
- 90% use search engines
- 48% use Internet Yellow Pages
- 42% use comparison shopping sites
- 24% use vertical sites
And I love the conclusion Matt draws later:
That speaks to the importance of being visible on a number of channels — your own site, your blog, Google Maps, Citysearch, important industry sites, and so forth. Diversity of presence makes a big difference.
This is not only important now, but it will become more important in the future. Don’t let organic SEO be your only targeted marketing. Pursue other avenues as well. If searchers find you through a Google search then find you again in the online yellow pages then on two or three social networks and finally are recommended by a friend, chances are they’ll do business with you if you have what they need – and if you are local.
Tags: local business, online business, search
Posted in Local Internet Marketing | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 9th, 2010
Reading the day’s headlines, one may get the impression that succeeding online means being the biggest company in your industry. Or the one with the most recognizable name. But neither of those is true.
The key to succeeding online is to develop a niche. It doesn’t need to be a huge niche. It can be a narrowly targeted niche. But it has to be a niche that you can develop and capitalize on. It also has to be large enough to sustain a business model around.
Preferably, your niche will have no competition. It would be nice to get into a niche with no competition and with lots of potential for profit. But even if there is competition, it has to be a niche where you have some skill and expertise and that you can turn into a reputation for yourself.
You don’t have to be big. You just have to be good.
Tags: competition, niche, online business
Posted in Small Business Internet Marketing | 4 Comments »
Saturday, May 16th, 2009
Whether you have an existing online business or a traditional storefront with an online presence, you will likely find yourself in situations in the real world where you’ll discuss your online business with people in the real world. Off line, that is. How do you take advantage of those situations?
There are a variety of ways to take advantage of off line promotions. One of the most powerful and effective ways is to simply put your web address on your business cards. People do read those and they keep them for future reference.
But I’d consider the business card a starting place, not a stopping place.
You’ll also want to utilize other ways of self promotion. You can use car magnets, which usually work while driving around town (and if you do a lot of driving a car magnet can increase your visibility tremendously), T-shirts, pens and pencils, banners at trade shows and such, and even billboards. If you have the budget for it, you might even try T and radio advertising.
The idea is to use off line methods of promotion to drive traffic to your website. This is perhaps the best way to get new traffic to a new local website since you are active in your community and doing business with local people. Become a master of off line promotion and you’ll see your online business survive and thrive.
Tags: off line promotion, online business
Posted in Traditional Marketing for Small Business | 5 Comments »
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