Marketing through Social sites is a great way for customers
to meet you and learn about your business in a casual
environment.
Sites such as MySpace and Friendster let you add pictures
and information about your business in a non obtrusive way
because people choose to connect with you.
Below are a few things you can use Social Media Sites for.
Post
about your business, events, sales and updates in your
profile blog.
Add pictures of
your merchandise and of Happy Customers.
Add Testimonials,
if you don't have any, ask your customers to write a
short testimonial.
Send updates to
other members about what's new with your business.
Meet other
business owners and work together to grow your
businesses.
Join Groups that
have interests in your product and groups that have your
targeted demographic
Use the Discussion
areas to talk about your business, but don't ever have
your first post be an advertisement for your business.
Introduce yourself first and talk about your business
later, after you have been on for a while.
Visit your
social sites at least once a week to see if there is
anything of interest to you and join in the discussion.
Visit Friends
pages and leave comments. Send Messages when applicable.
When scouting advertisers it is important that they
offer what your target audience is interested in.
Then you can send an introductory email or call to
those businesses to see if they are interested.
I suggest the first people you contact would be
those in your network already, people you know in
person, and on social sites such as Linked In,
Beauties on the Go, etc.
If you own a social network, you can contact members
from your site who own businesses and offer them a
special price for advertising.
Make sure you have an advertising plan with rates,
site traffic, your target audience included, and
what your site is about.
A lot of advertisers look for at least 10,000
monthly hits. If you don’t have those numbers, try
approaching other small businesses who usually can't
afford to advertise on a larger site.
Offer more than just banner ads if possible, think
of new ways that advertisers can get the most from
your site.
Have at least 2 prices for advertising
on your site, a price for short term or new
advertisers and a bargain price for long term
advertisers.
Videos-
You can post videos of your products, services, or
testimonials. On YouTube, you can create your own
channel, add videos, and make friends.
Then you can
link the videos to MySpace, Facebook,Digg, Orkut, Live
Spaces, Bebo, Hi5 and Mixx and of course your own site.
Articles/
News/ Interview- Do you have a Press Release, an
Article you or an employer wrote for the site, an
interview or interesting blog post?
If so you can
submit to several social news sites where members can
read, and vote on their favorite news. Check out Digg,
Stumble upon, del.icio.us and Sphinn.
You can have a professional design
your site, design your own site and use a hosting company or
use a free service that includes DIY (do it yourself) design
and includes hosting at low prices.
What you need to add to your
website:
A contact page. Include your email,
phone, fax, address and if applicable add directions to your
storefront.
An About Us page that explains when
you started your business, why you are passionate about it,
your experience and a Mission Statement.
Product Photos. Add descriptions,
prices, ingredients whatever information a customer needs to
know before making a purchase. If you offer a Service, you
can use clip art that represents your industry.
Recommendations & Testimonials are a
great marketing tool. Even if your only testimonials
are from family or friends Add those!
Keywords. These are words that
people enter into search engines when searching for
products. These need to go in the HTML or code area of your
website. Your home page should have keywords that are
relevant to everything you offer. Each individual page also
need to have keywords that are specific for that page.
The following are optional
but highly recommended:
A Links page or section to other websites.
Incoming links will improve your page rank and can bring in
new customers. When adding links it is important to
add "relevant" links. Search engines rate pages with
links that are similar to your business.
News feed. This can come from your
blogs RSS feed or from a service such as Feedzilla.
Subscription buttons or forms so
visitors can sign up to your newsletter.
A Press Page highlights any good
media your business receives. If your business was featured
in a newspaper, magazine, blog, even a newsletter, add that
information to your Press page. *This will also be
relevant if you choose to sell advertising on your site in
the future.
Ready
to start online Networking? Follow these steps below to get
yourself out there to new customers.
1) If
you don't have a website, get one! We are living in a
digital age where more and more people use the internet on a
regular basis for shopping, recreation, networking, keeping
in touch with Friends and Relatives and so much more.
Can't
afford your own site? Try a free web design/hosting service
like Webs.com and set up a free site. You can get by with
one page, just add a bio with a few pictures and your
contact information.
2)
Join at least one social media site, set up your profile
with company information, pictures, and links to your site.
3)
Check the social media for relevant groups to join and check
those at least once a week to see what new topics have been
posted. Join in, but wait until you have wrote a few posts
to talk about your company.
4)
Join a Business Networking Group online. Learn valuable
advice from other business owners. Start discussions and
ask questions. Check the old/ archived posts for relevant
information.
Using
Linked In
Sending Recommendations
1. Go to their profile. On the upper
right side, click on >Recommend this person.
2. Choose your relationship, Colleague, Service Provider,
Business Partner or Student. Choose only one!
3. You will be asked details about your relationship, such
as where you worked with that person and what your title
is/was when you worked together, etc. You have to enter this
info.
4. After you fill those out, you can write your
recommendation in the box provided.
5. Push send, and the page should refresh.
Sending Invites
On the upper right side, you will see
a box that says "Search People".
1.You can search by People or Company by clicking on that
and choosing either one.
2. Enter a name or company and click "Search"
3. A new page will come up. You can scroll over a name and
it will be highlighted in blue. On the right side of the
name you will have 2 blue options. Send Message or Add to
Network.
4. If you click Add to Network, the page will refresh and
you will need to fill in how you know the person. Only pick
one option, such as colleague, classmate, etc. You can
click on Friend or Other, if you know their email address.
5. You can then change the message in the box "I'd like to
add you to my professional network on LinkedIn." to make it
more personal, or send as is. Changing the message is
optional, you do not have to change the message. Click
"Send Invitation" and you are done.
Using Facebook
Sending
Invites
1. Type their
name in the search box. This box is on the upper right side
of your screen.
2.After you find that person, you will see a photo and
name. Over to the right of the name will be 3 blue choices:
Add as a Friend, Send Message and View Friends.
3.Click on Add as a Friend to send them an invite.
4.When you click on Add as a Friend, you will be given a
choice to "send a message". I recommend sending a
personalized message,
but you don't have
to.
Setting up a Fan Page
Facebook fan pages are
a great way to market your business and teach new customers
about your business. It's free and easy to set up. All you
need is to add quality relevant content to your fan page on
a regular basis.
1.Go
to the bottom of your profile page and click "Advertising",
it is in small blue print.
2.On the top of the new page you will see 4 choices, click
on "Pages". It has a flag next to it.
3.There are 4 tabs you can view for information on fan
pages. This will be helpful to know. I suggest reading these
first.
* Overview
* Prepare
* Step By Step
* Find New Fans
4.Once you have gone through that, you can click on a green
button near the top of the page "Create a Page".
After
you have set up your fan page, you will have the option to
connect with Twitter. This app will show every item you post
on your fan page wall on your Twitter page. You may or may
not want to do this. If you are unsure, you can always
connect at a later time.
Go to
http://www.facebook.com/notes.php and on the upper right
side you will see "Note Settings". Click on "Import A Blog".
A new page or window will pop up. There will be a box to
enter your blogs URL address. Check the small box
below stating you have the right to import this blog. Then
click the "Start Importing" button.
Your blog notes will appear and
you will also see feed from your friends notes.
Using an Advanced Search App for
Networking and Target Marketing
There is no shortage
of places to network and people to meet. On Facebook you can
use an "advanced search" application, or app as it is often
called. Using this app you can find people by age, gender,
relationship status, astrological sign, city, county,
region, interests and more. It can also be used to find
groups and fan pages.
Want to grow your Business?
Become a Member and see the benefits you will receive.
What to do With A
Blog
If you don't have a blog, now is the
time to start one. A blog will allow you to connect
with customers and increase sales. There are several blog hosts
available. We recommend using Wordpress or Blogger.
They are 2 of the most popular and have been around for
years.
If you're not ready to start your own
blog, share a blog with another business owner or start a
local blog where members can submit articles.
You can add the following to
your blog:
Product pictures, Logo or a
Profile picture
Website
Links
Widgets such as Maps
with directions to your store or event,
Calendars, News/RSS Feeds and Weather.
Badges for Social Networking Sites
such as Linked In, Ning, Facebook and Twitter.
Start Writing
Posts are entries you add to
your blog. Start off with an introduction to
your business, include your products, services,
contact information and all details that you would
like to know about a new business.
It is important to add posts
on a regular basis. Once a week is best, but the
more often you can post something useful, the more
response you will receive.
If you can't think of a
topic, consider writing reciprocal posts with
another entrepreneur. This is a great way to
broaden your audience and can result in sales.
You can write about your own business or write about
the other persons business.
Sign up for Google Alerts.
You can receive a free subscription to news stories
with specific keywords. If you are posting
about Jewelry, you can receive jewelry related news,
if you are in marketing, sign up for marketing
related news.
Promote Your Blog
Host a Contest or Raffle
and use your products as the prize.
Add your blog URL to your
email signature, to your Linked In and Facebook
profiles.
Create a Twitter account
and add tweets that link to your blog posts.
Add it as a link in the News section
of a group on Linked In.
Join the IIW PR co-op and find other
bloggers to swap posts with.
For the latest updates and free
offers on IIW. Sign up for the Monthly
Newsletter.
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