Friday 29 November 2013

How to Use Facebook in Internet Marketing

Social networks have proven themselves to be an important part of any internet marketing campaign for entrepreneurs looking to make money. One well known social networking site is making headway in being a "place to be" for local businesses that want to reach out to potential customers.
It is impossible to be a business that people are going to take seriously if you don't have a website. Your website is your storefront to the world. It doesn't really matter what your niche is or if you are providing products or services. That doesn't mean that a website guarantees your success, you have to know how to promote it. The best and most effective time honored way is through internet marketing, specifically SEO. Today, that SEO needs to be done through the social networking sites like Facebook.
There are few "gurus" on the net that will tell you the best way to use Facebook is to tap into your local market, meaning that you are reaching out to your friends, and their friends and other people that live in the same general area as your business. Brick and mortar businesses are fine, but there are more and more virtual businesses out there that aren't limited to a local environment.
The first thing you need to do is create a business page on Facebook. There are a number of businesses that have even gone as far as creating "Facebook Pages" that are basically simple templates that you can use to promote your business. Once your page is created you want to network with other businesses but you also want to network with people. The best part of this is that Google is indexing these pages now which are driving more traffic to Facebook, which means that there will be more target traffic to your site.
The first thing you are going to need to do to get Facebook to work for is set up a blog on your website. Once you have created that blog you want to go to your business Facebook page and click on "Edit Page" and then click on "More Applications" and look for the RSS feed application. Once you find it you want to add that application to your Facebook page but you want to use the url for your blog from your website. This will allow your blog to show up on your Facebook page and they will not have a "no follow" tag associated with the feed. This is important because it will allow you to pass page rank from Facebook to your website.
Now optimizing your blog is essential. Make sure that the posts to your blog are regular, relevant and targeted. Do the research to make sure you are using the keywords that people are searching for. Then you can start networking your Business Facebook page with gusto. The more profile pages that you can link to your page the more your page will get crawled and the better your page rank will be.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/2427979

How To Use Facebook For Business

There are 3 main ways people can utilize the power of Facebook for their business. Before teaching you those three ways I would like to disclose that it's a very UNIQUE and often misunderstood platform to communicate to your prospective customers or clients. Facebook is unique because of what it is...and if you saw the recent film "Social Network," Mark Zukerberg stated a few times during the film, "We don't even know what it is yet." This statement still holds some truth nearly 7 years after face books introduction.
The most important concept to remember is that you are in a place where people just want to communicate and get to know one another. It's about building relationships and understanding what people want, and face book has given everyone in the world a place to hang out and "meet" one another. Personally I have met some extremely great people through face book, and because of meeting these people my business has grown.
Always remember that face book wants genuine communication. If you promote your product or pitch your sales ad every time you post, then you might as well not even waste the time.
#1 Way To Use Facebook For Business.
Create a fan page. If you don't know how or are unfamiliar with creating a fan page, either hire someone to do it for you or simply follow the instructions that face book provides and they will help you create your business page. I do recommend to at least consult with someone before creating your own page because setting up a fan page is similar to building a house. You've got to lay the foundation properly or else the rest of the house just wont be right.
#2. Through your personal profile you can scroll to the bottom of the page and you will see an ADVERTISING link, click on that link and you will be taken to a page to begin setting up ads (that show up on the right hand side of your profile) to promote your business or service. This can be done with some patience and a light learning curve, but consulting with a professional is a great idea.
#3. Communicate! Place flyers and banners in your storefront, face book logos on your business cards, on your current newspaper and phonebook ads. By doing these you will actually signal to your customers that you are "up with the times" and encourage them to join your fan page!
If you have a fan page and use it for business please make sure to always post informative and relevant content for your fan base to read. Funny, inspirational, great news, and making sure to respond and communicate with your fans is paramount to use face book for business successfully.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5519984

The Facebook Business Strategies - How To Use Facebook As A Business

Now-a-days people are concentrating more on spreading their business through social networking sites and Facebook is among the top ranked ones on the internet. Facebook business can be adopted but it has to be done very cautiously as if the administrator realizes that the account you are using does not belong to a certain person, the account would be automatically deleted.
Some of the ways that can prove helpful in Facebook business building have been mentioned here:
Social marketing is enhanced by pin pointing the particular kind of group one is targeting in your niche. One should understand the customer base in your Facebook business and match the area or industry accordingly and emphasize on the technologies that are of importance to the particular business or Facebook business.
Once the group has been identified one should find the leader of it and the important people in there, friend requests may be forwarded with crafty personal messages attached to increase chances of them accepting. Keeping a record of the people the new friends engage with, what they talk about, the content of their status messages, the topics of their preference and aversion etc is useful. Become a part of a wider conversation and once a message thread becomes popular be a responder with natural frequency.
Keeping a friendly, personable message to be attached to the friend requests can come very handy in a Facebook business Now approach those who are the friends of your Facebook friends but not everyone. A selected few and then move to the rest gradually.
Take the source of topics in Facebook trace them to your website blog and eventually become the leader once you gain the acceptance of others as a regular. Don't get into arguments as this may put your Facebook business at risk.
Get creative, hold contests, tell them about new things etc.
Now finally make a subtle hype for your Facebook business never directly. Make your work appear very cool. Never use a sales tone if you are going to sell your product. The whole point in Facebook marketing strategy is in being subtle.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5096310

Thursday 28 November 2013

How to Use Facebook for Business - Facts You Ought to Know

How to use Facebook for business. Facebook offers many features and benefits for businesses and that is why it is growing at an accelerated rate. Interestingly,it is now generating more traffic than Google, and is reflecting the fact that social media marketing is here to stay, and would only get stronger. It is now an effective platform for increased brand exposure, traffic and revenue generation.
So, how to use Facebook for business to meet your business goals. This requires that we explore facts about it and some of it's key benefits.
They are:
  • A platform that has about 500 million active users
  • 20 million visit Pages daily
  • The typical Facebooker has 130 friends
  • It is responsible for creating 5.3 billion connections
  • A platform for lead generation
  • Access to demographic data
  • Applications for enhanced engagement
  • A platform for increased engagement with clients, leads and prospects
  • Comprehensive and detailed feedback on the interactions with leads, prospects and clients
  • Creating a presence is easy and free
From the above you can see some of the ways how to use Facebook for business success. Two of it's most popular offerings are:Profiles and Pages. As a business, you'll need Pages to promote your brand, but having Profiles is a pre-requisite for using Pages. This is because the owner of the Pages, requires a Profile on Facebook to be able to administer it.
The Pages should be a vehicle for sharing highly interesting information with the targeted audience. If there are good writers in-house, then the task of creating content, that will promote the brand rests on them. Alternatively, the work can be outsourced, and of course, supervised.
This is a task that needs to be done on a daily basis, this is because most users of the network, expects it. They visit the site several times a day, especially in the mornings (based on research). They are also generating content on a regular basis, so,they will not waste time visiting businesses with out-dated information. The business gets to interact in real-time with its market.
Advertising on the network is effective, because of the wealth of demographic data available. Ads can be targeted based on specific profiles.
When learning how to use Facebook for business you need to consider the return on investment. How does one measure the value of one's investment in this network? This can be easily tracked by leveraging it's feedback feature:Insights. Insights provides vital comprehensive and granular information about how a business is using Facebook.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5447783

How To Use Facebook In Your Business - 7 Vital Questions To Ask Yourself

It's all very well using Facebook as part of your marketing campaign, but there are many ideas on how to use Facebook as part of a campaign. If you start off on the wrong foot and start spamming or just promoting products, then people will be turned off you very quickly.
Here's 7 questions you should ask yourself and take note of the answers, to ensure you learn how to use Facebook in your business the correct way.
1. How Do I Get Friends?
Just be yourself. Friends are very important and you need to find friends targeted to your product or service, or friends that have the same interest in the information you seek or promote. Just search for friends who you think would be interested in what you have to offer, using keywords in a similar way to searching on Google. The worst thing you can do is trying to sell to friends before you've built a relationship with them. Concentrate on relationship building first and then the occasional sales message. Just don't overdo it.
2. Can I Use My Blog And Facebook Together?
You should have your blog as the primary focus for your online business. Make sure you've got plenty of content on it like posts, pictures and video. The you can integrate your blog with Facebook. If you have a wordpress blog, which is the most popular blogging platform, there are hundreds of plugins you can use to automatically post new pictures, videos and posts directly to Facebook.
3. What Kind Of Picture Should I Use On My Profile?
When people start learning how to use Facebook, one of the things that's often overlooked is your profile picture. Use a picture that represents you and your business. To build credibility, you don't want a picture on your profile of you on a night out with your friends. It should be something that makes people identify with you and feel as if they want to get to know you better. It's advisable to get a professional photo, because then you can use it consistently across all your social media platforms, on your blog, on forums and when you post or comment on other peoples blogs.
4. How Else Can I Make My Profile Page Give Me Credibility?
Write about yourself on your profile. Have a positive message in your basic information/about you section. Concentrate on getting the message out about your product, but don't be spammy about it. Just list links to your websites, say what you're main goals are with your page and make it interesting to attract people and build your credibility. No one likes a dull profile so fill it out with as much relevant information as possible.
5. What Can I Use To Further Enhance My Profile?
Interact with people. Use the like button - it's so easy to click and like someones post and people appreciate it. They will reciprocate and it's a great way to start getting to know some of your friends. Also leave comments on other peoples posts (make them positive!) The more you do the more people will begin to notice you.
6. Whats Sort Of Content Should I Post On Facebook?
It's all very well learning how to use Facebook, but what do you use for content. The best sort is the stuff you write yourself. You can talk about your product or industry, just don't make it sales oriented. Talk about news in your industry, how to approach a particular problem that people may have, or give them a different perspective on something that's current in your niche. Try and arouse curiosity in your posts to compel people to read them. Also post other content from blogs and news sites about your niche or industry. If you post plenty of good content you will increase your credibility and people will start to seek you oout.
7. How Can I Increase My Popularity On Facebook?
Start a fan page and give away a free gift. Search for pages on Facebook and check out the sort of things people are giving away. It could be an ebook, or some video training or whatever you think your followers would like to receive. When you have a fan page you can also recommend it to your friends so they can like it, therefore increasing your fan pages popularity.
That's how to use Facebook in your business the correct way. Always remember there are hundreds of people starting to use Facebook every day. Once you've built up your credibility you'll find that people will start sending you friend requests and you will build a large following. Just take note of the seven questions raised above and build your friends slowly and always offer valuable content.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5804921

How to Use Facebook to Become Successful in Business

You can learn some interesting techniques to know how to use Facebook in order to make money.
The growing popularity of social media is one of the exciting ways of building your business. If you spend some time to learn how to use Facebook, you are able to gain profits from the procedures. Times have changed. To be clear, times are changing very fast nowadays. It is up to you whether you are going to take advantage of the modern fashionable paths to change drastically your business. For the better, of course. It depends on you whether you take into your heart the new models of developing businesses.
Social media... you can be put aside and just see from far away how others take advantage of them. Or you can stand in the middle of something extraordinary to put yourself in a position to be aware of how to use Facebook to become rich.
The Direct Selling Education Foundation has prepared an interesting article where it gives you some useful tips about how to use Facebook in order to become a successful entrepreneur.
It is not strange to anybody anymore that with nearly a billion people using the social network internationally, it's a great tool to connect with existing customers and prospects. In addition, you may just decide to know how to use Facebook to find new partners for your business. The trick is Facebook is a social tool. It is not very wise of you to advertise your business indiscriminately on the service. That is a golden rule of the knowledge of how to use Facebook in order to become successful.
According to the Direct Selling Education Foundation, when you start considering the possibilities of how to use Facebook for business purposes, it is extremely important for you to be sure what you want to gain as a result of those actions.
Depending on your decision, you may choose different strategies of promoting your business in social media platforms. Spend some time to think about it. Do you want to find new prospects for your business opportunity? Or maybe you are willing to get customer feedback. By having in mind what results you want, you will be much more efficient in your business activities.
You must always remember that Facebook is a social network. Keep your eyes on the word social in the previous sentence. Try to focus your strengths on the habit to be engaged with your Facebook friends on a regular basis. You should show up daily, ask and answer questions, comment on photos and status updates, listen to what others have to say or share interesting content that the people you're connected with may enjoy. As you can see, the point is to be social and not just post an update and move on to the next thing.
If you really want to be good at how to use Facebook to make money, you ought to take into consideration the possibility to set up a Facebook Page.
It is the convenient place where you are allowed to publish business posts.
When it comes to taking full advantage of how to use Facebook to get rich, you need to thing of advertising. It can be really a great way to generate additional awareness of your business.
How to use Facebook to create the possibility of becoming successful in your business? Focus on providing great content, listening to and connecting with others and making relevant offers that are interesting to your community.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7707986

How To Use Facebook's New Timeline in 2013


Wednesday 27 November 2013

How to Use Facebook to Promote Your MLM Business

Social Networking Sites, right now, are some of the best places to build your Network Marketing business, if you know how. The advertising is completely free, and it is often many times more effective than some of the paid advertising methods. I've had between 5-10 people a day coming to my website, or contacting me about my business, from Facebook alone. How to use Facebook to Promote Your Business? Revealed for the first time, here is the list of my TOP TEN FACEBOOK STRATEGIES.
1)    GET A LIST: Get a list of 100 or more Network Marketing companies. Why? This tutorial on how to use Facebook to promote your MLM business is to short to cover the entire theory on this topic, but suffice it to say that current network marketers will be your absolute best target market. Yes, they already have a biz op. But if you can help other network marketers reach their goals, you will often be the only person in the industry who has, and, if you follow my guidelines, a percentage of them will come to you asking to join your business. That's right, no more chasing leads, they will ask to join you! Your next best target market will be people actively seeking business opportunities. You can find them in Facebook groups with more general topics like "entrepreneur," or "work from home," and big names in the industry like "Robert Kiyosaki," or "Donald Trump." If you don't know where to get a list, myself or my company and I'll send you one.
2)    JOIN GROUPS: Search for six Facebook groups a day related to each company, or name, on the list. Join them and check them off as you go. Don't join to many a day, or do to much of anything in the same day, on Facebook. That is important advice on how to use Facebook to promote your business. They have much stricter rules than sites like Myspace had.
3)    POST: Post a short advertisement on the Wall of each group you joined. You can be creative here, but follow these guidelines: a) don't market your business opportunity at first, b) provide useful information, c) don't be to salesy, and d) keep it short. You can market your biz op after you build a relationship with them. Trust me on this, if you want to learn how to use Facebook to promote your business, don't lead with your biz op, you will be completely wasting your time. I explain the reason for this in greater detail in some of my other trainings. Add a link at the end of the post that sends them to your website. Don't use your MLM company's website for this. You need a personal site, with a lead capture page to get their contact information, that promotes yourself as a leader. If you don't have a website to send them to, contact Kevin Thomas Marketing, about our totally customizable, self-branding website, complete with auto responders and pre-written follow up e-mails, that you can use to market your business on autopilot.
4)    ADD FRIENDS: Pick one of the groups each day and add between 10-30 new friends a day. Write out a short message ahead of time that says a) that you found them on that group, and b) that you are trying to connect with people in the industry. Notice I said "Industry" and not the name of the company. You are letting them know that you are a network marketer, not that you are in their company, although they will often assume that you are. Copy and past the message to your clip board and add it to each friend request. If you want to type in their name each time that is helpful, but takes a bit more time. Warning: don't go to fast, take short breaks, and never do more than 30 a day. If you get a warning from Facebook, quit for the day, and scale down your promotion the next time. A few too many warnings and Facebook will disable your account.
5)    START A GROUP: Create your own Facebook Group. This is the best way how to use Facebook to promote your business. The group should NOT be about your network marketing company. It should be about a useful marketing or networking strategy that can be of benefit to all network marketers. "Twitter users group," "How to get free leads for your MLM," "How to use Facebook to promote your MLM business," and "MLM networking group," are some good examples.
6)    INVITE: After you have 200+ friends who are all in the Network Marketing industry, send them all an invitation to join your group. Repeat this every 200 friends.
7)    NEWSLETER AND TIPS: Once or twice a week send the entire group an e-mail of some of your top strategies for marketing an MLM, and for how to use Facebook to promote your MLM business. If you don't know any advanced strategies yet, at Kevin Thomas Marketing we have the most current and in depth Internet Marketing training for Network Marketers on the planet.
8)     INTRODUCE: Go to the Friends tab, then to Recently Added, each day. Create a list with the date (left hand side). Select the new friends one-by-one (by clicking on the right) and add them to the day's list. Go to the Inbox tab, then to Compose. Use the list as the address; it will insert all the newly added friends. Send them a message introducing yourself as a mentor, MLM coach, entrepreneur, or any title you like that positions you as an expert in the industry. Don't worry, if you're not an expert yet, all you have to do is know one or two more things than they do about how to use Facebook to promote your business, and you are instantly an expert on that topic. And, of course, follow my training, and you will not only become an expert, but a top earner in the industry. And lastly, in your message to them, invite them to join your Facebook group.
 9)    ADVISE: You will soon start receiving e-mails from other Network Marketers asking for advice and help about how to use Facebook to promote your MLM business, and on various other topics. Continue to educate yourself as you go, and help everyone you can.
10)    PROSPECT: At this point you will have developed a whole new warm market of the best possible prospects you could ever have. Current Network. They don't need to be convinced that this is not a pyramid scheme or a scam, they already see the value in buying a biz op, and they have experience as home-based business owners. Just one of these prospects will be worth a hundred friends or family members who often quite a month after they join anyway. Now for the exciting part. Two things can happen at this point. One, many people will begin asking about your primary business. Some didn't know there was any other type of product available in network marketing than the one that their company sells. Some will like yours better. Also, many never had the guidance from their own company that you have recently provided for them on how to use Facebook to promote your business, and they would much rather work with someone like you. Or Two, you can introduce your business at this point. You are not a sleazy salesman now, you have become a trusted advisor. Let them know that you could spend more time training them directly if they were in your primary business.
Bonus Tip: Update your "What's on your mind" status frequently with MLM tips and links to your other sites to promote yourself as an expert and to draw traffic to your websites and other social media sites.
This is the exact method that I used to generate between 5-10 leads a day from Facebook alone, for free, and to get many sign ups into my primary MLM. This is how to use Facebook to promote your MLM business. Once you get used to the strategy it will take about 45 minute to an hour a day to conduct your Facebook marketing. Is this work? Yes, but it is a whole lot better than prospecting strangers at shopping malls, the reps you sign up will be high quality business builders, and on the Internet, you will never run out of leads.
Imagine implementing five or ten other Internet Marketing Strategies like this one. You will soon be getting 50-100 leads a day. And that is the substance of a multimillion-dollar business.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/2474358

How Businesses Use Facebook

This feature is present at the right side bar of pages and is visible to visitors who are located near the business. It permits visitors to mention their recommendations, which are then displayed in the news feed. These recommendations are assessed by their friends who visit this page.
This article will clearly explain how businesses use Facebook and this new feature called "Recommend This Place", and its advantages to businesses and companies.
How businesses use Facebook- "Recommend This Place":
Recommendations which come from this feature have two very important benefits:
· News feed exposure: The recommendations made by an author are also accessible to their friends via News Feed.
· Like Conversation Improvements: This feature also allows the authors friends to like the recommended page.
The only way to invite new visitors to your page is by encouraging them to mention or link to your page through updates, tags, or comments. This practice is hardly used by people. "Recommend This Place" helps businesses gain popularity without a single post.
The use of this feature will end once your target audience lands at your page. Then, the complete scenario depends on the quality of your content to bring repeated customers.
How this new feature works:
"Recommend This Place" is present at the top right corner of the sidebar. Only visitors who are in a close proximity of the recommended business can view this feature, i.e. within roughly 12 miles. Each recommendation appears in its author's page, which is accessible to his friends. Pages popularity depends on the number of likes, which in turn develops the corresponding business.
How businesses use Facebook- the pros:
· Facebook for Networking: Networking plays a very important role in the success of any business, irrespective of its magnitude. Almost 70% of the online business happens here. This social media networking giant, Facebook, has immensely helped in the success of many businesses, and is still continuing to do so.
· Facebook for Brand Building: Facebook has also helped many businesses in their Brand Building by continuously improving its popularity. Customers are also allowed to freely share their comments about a business which in turn helps in its betterment. Any quality product or service can attain instant popularity through Facebook.
· Facebook as a Business Voice: Facebook also allows a business to directly interact with their customers. Therefore, businesses can easily develop their customers satisfaction.
How businesses use Facebook- the cons:
Facebook has been the root cause for the successful running of many businesses, but still has its negatives, such as:
· Developing a business via Facebook consumes huge amounts of time and energy.
· There are many requirements for a business to succeed via Facebook, which then requires thorough research. Without much research, this will result in failure.
If businesses use Facebook in the right way, they certainly can be immensely benefitted, thus resulting in their success.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6985922

How to Use Facebook for Business - Facts You Ought to Know

How to use Facebook for business. Facebook offers many features and benefits for businesses and that is why it is growing at an accelerated rate. Interestingly,it is now generating more traffic than Google, and is reflecting the fact that social media marketing is here to stay, and would only get stronger. It is now an effective platform for increased brand exposure, traffic and revenue generation.
So, how to use Facebook for business to meet your business goals. This requires that we explore facts about it and some of it's key benefits.
They are:
  • A platform that has about 500 million active users
  • 20 million visit Pages daily
  • The typical Facebooker has 130 friends
  • It is responsible for creating 5.3 billion connections
  • A platform for lead generation
  • Access to demographic data
  • Applications for enhanced engagement
  • A platform for increased engagement with clients, leads and prospects
  • Comprehensive and detailed feedback on the interactions with leads, prospects and clients
  • Creating a presence is easy and free
From the above you can see some of the ways how to use Facebook for business success. Two of it's most popular offerings are:Profiles and Pages. As a business, you'll need Pages to promote your brand, but having Profiles is a pre-requisite for using Pages. This is because the owner of the Pages, requires a Profile on Facebook to be able to administer it.
The Pages should be a vehicle for sharing highly interesting information with the targeted audience. If there are good writers in-house, then the task of creating content, that will promote the brand rests on them. Alternatively, the work can be outsourced, and of course, supervised.
This is a task that needs to be done on a daily basis, this is because most users of the network, expects it. They visit the site several times a day, especially in the mornings (based on research). They are also generating content on a regular basis, so,they will not waste time visiting businesses with out-dated information. The business gets to interact in real-time with its market.
Advertising on the network is effective, because of the wealth of demographic data available. Ads can be targeted based on specific profiles.
When learning how to use Facebook for business you need to consider the return on investment. How does one measure the value of one's investment in this network? This can be easily tracked by leveraging it's feedback feature:Insights. Insights provides vital comprehensive and granular information about how a business is using Facebook.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5447783

How to Use Facebook - Video 1 - Introduction


How to Use Facebook - Video 1 - Introduction


Thursday 21 November 2013

6 Strategies for Developing Your Social Media Tactical Plan

You should engage in conversations and add value in conversations. I would also recommend creating and sharing your company's social media policy publicly. Learn how to use social media to shift brand perceptions and increase online sales. Consider these strategies as you develop you own social media strategy.
1. Listen Before You Speak
Listening in social media channels and researching your market are well-known prerequisites to entering into social media marketing channels. However, you should keep your ears open. Listening, more than you speak is a great way to hear what is really being said about your brand or product.
2. Don't Be Intrusive
Knowing when to refrain from joining in on a conversation is just as important as knowing when to add input in a conversation. When dealing with one-on-one conversations (a conversation between two people) - such as on Facebook- is not necessarily a good place to add your company's point of view. Doing so would be intrusive and could upset the consumers chatting online. Places such as public forums and blog posts are much more appropriate to add your comments.
Avoid pitching promotions in social media at random because barging in on conversations with offers does not fit with a strategy of listening and adding value and can be perceived as pushy and hard selling.
3. When Joining in on Conversations - Add Value
Look for opportunities to add your input to relevant conversations online. It is relevant to discuss related topics to your brand, especially when participating in group discussions. When you find a group of people online discussing a related topic, add your point of view and share a link to your online resources. People often compare products in blogs and forums, or discuss in social channels which product they should buy. In these cases, respond with third-party reviews and sample videos or photos about your products. The key is to provide information to help the consumer decide - not to barge in and offer a discount.
If you hear complaints about your brand, respond with a link to potential solutions. For example, if you hear a person complaining about your product, try sending a link to the manual of that product along with customer service contact information. Some of the most powerful words you can say in social media are "How can I answer your questions?" or "How can I help you?"
When you hear misinformation being discussed online about your company brand or product, be quick to dispel myths. When you find this misinformation, respond as quickly as possible. Using tools such as Google alerts, Twitter alerts and many others available help you monitor real-time conversations for a quick response.
4. Put Real People Behind Your Brand
Strike a balance between having social media participants speak about your brand and having them show their personality. Establishing and showing real people behind your brand is important since no one really wants to talk to a logo icon. They want to speak with a real person. Also, if someone is angry, they're more likely to tone down their language when dealing with a real person versus an online presence.
5. Treat Business Customers and Consumers Differently
Have a different message that goes out to your business customers that is different than the generic message that goes out to consumers. Interact differently with business customers. Strive to raise awareness and establish thought leadership by creating relevant content, such as blog posts, frequently asked questions or white papers that contribute to relevant conversations online. Refer commentators to educational content, as it provides a deeper engagement in terms of the types of information you share. Remember, it is not about a generic Facebook wall post that speaks to everyone in your community.
6. Transparency is Paramount
When engaging in social media; make it easy for others to identify who is speaking. This transparency establishes trust for people to know and like you on line. Try creating a formal social media policy for all employees to follow if you have them speak on behalf of your company. This takes transparency a step further by publicly releasing a social media tips book which contains your social media policy. Some of your guidelines may include (1) uphold your company's values; (2) be transparent and be yourself; (3) protect confidential information; (4) avoid unsubstantiated product claims; (5) be aware that linking to another site may imply endorsement of its content. Publishing this information shows consumers that you have nothing to hide in the social media space.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5358702

How NOT to Promote Your Business With Social Media

Unless you've been living under a rock for the last few years then you're probably familiar with social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and others. The purpose of technology is to help make our lives better, and social media makes it much easier to connect with everyone from old friends to distant family members. Many people now use social media instead of email to keep in touch with old friends. This ability to connect us with people all over the world is why many businesses are rushing to leverage the power of social media to help build their business. However, not all that glitters is marketing gold. If done correctly, social media can be a big boost to your bottom line. If done badly, it can actually work against you. So let's take a look at four tips on how NOT to use social media to promote our business.
Don't Ignore Your Social Media
A lot of people make the mistake in thinking that their businesses social media presence is like buying a house cat. You just leave out some food and it'll pretty much take care of itself. You wish that it were so easy. Being consistent with your social media is very important. What would you think if you visited a businesses Facebook page to discover that their last post was from Christmas, 2005? You wouldn't be very impressed and might even think they're out of business. It certainly wouldn't create a very positive impression. It basically tells you how they do business. You should try to post something at minimum once a week.
Say No To Spam
When it comes to your social media posts, quality counts. This is sort of a golden rule of online marketing. Whether you're talking about blogging, tweeting, Facebook post or whatever, it's very important to put out high-quality content. Why? That's because to make your message effective, you want people to actually read it. Also, you want people to like what you post so much that they re-post, re-tweet, and share it. This is what's called going viral.
No one likes spam so avoid doing post or send it. You'll get much better results putting out interesting, quality content that people actually want to read. Here's a great example. Let's say that you own a boutique that sells high-end sunglasses. You'll get much better results posting a funny photo of a cat wearing a pair of your sunglasses (with a catchy tagline of course) then you will from something like "Huge sunglass sale. Everything must go. Buy now". The former is interesting and fun. The latter is just spammy and annoying. In fact, a good rule for this is try to release 3 interesting / fun posts / tweets for every one that is highly commercial.
Keep Things Professional
This one is really important. Whatever you do, keep things friendly and professional. Leave your politics at the door. Before you post anything ask yourself if it might offend someone. Obviously there are some people who are basically offended by everything. However, try to use some common sense. You're goal in using social media to build your business is to reach as many people as possible. That means you should try not to alienate anyone. This doesn't mean that you have to be boring. You'll just need to be a little more creative. Politics are a classic example of a danger zone that you should probably steer clear off. This can be such a powerful flash-point for so many people and you can quickly annoy a lot of potential customers very quickly. Let's say you post something about one political party or the other. It's highly likely that you just offended, (or at least alienated) half of your audience. At the very least, you will leave some people wondering if they really want to give their money to someone who supports a completely opposing viewpoint.
Here's a quick side note about not offending people. I've encountered some business owners who have the philosophy of, "well if they get offended by what I write then they're not the kind of people I want to do business with anyways". Wow, it must be nice to have such a massive tsunami of customers that you can afford to chase away huge swaths of them. If you're serious about building your business, then it's a really good idea to keep things professional.
Do Not Retaliate Against Negative Comments
If someone writes a review or comment about your business, it's a great idea to respond to back. This builds a connection and creates loyalty. However, it's important to always take the high road. Let's say you have a bakery and someone posts something negative about their last visit. Do not retaliate. You'll just end up in an online verbal battle in front of hundreds - if not thousands - of other prospective customers. Instead, consider responding with something along the lines of, "Sorry to hear you had a bad experience. We'd love to make it up to you. Come back in and your next order is on the house".
These are just a few social media tips you can use right away to help promote your business. Social media is a great way to find new customers and build a connection with existing ones. However, if done poorly, it can really hurt your business.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8066585

Social Media Marketing - SMM Tips For Using Social Media Effectively

Social networks have made a huge splash in the way people market their sites nowadays. These networks provide a large pool of people to talk to, opening the gates for advertisement. It isn't enough to just get on these networks though. You have to know how to sue them to your advantage. There is a lot of money to be made through social marketing if you know what you're doing, but most people who try end up giving up early on. Here are some tips to help you get started until you figure out exactly what it will take to get people to see your business.
One of the first things you want to do is make yourself seem like a person online, not a business. Use a real picture of yourself on your profile, and mention actual information about your life. In the midst of this, you also want to come across as an expert in the field. If you have a certification in what you do or a strong reputation, mention that on your profile. Just make sure that you still seem personable so people don't think you're just another advertiser online.
Once you have a personality online, you have to start getting people to see it. Be active on the network, and take the initiative to make friends. Look for other experts in your field to be associated with so you can mutually benefit from any followers you get. Also try to be friends with people who are in obvious need of your services. If someone contacts you, be sure to reply as soon as you can. If you seem like you genuinely care, people will want to work with you even more. They will also begin to trust you, which is crucial for your business.
Never rely on one social network to get your business going. Try to be active on as many as you can, and interlink them so people see that you are active. Put a link you your profiles on your website so people can go there and follow you. Their friends may see you on their list, and they may decide to follow you as well. Networks grow very quickly after that, especially if you have a viral business to provide people. Be a part of community groups and discussions, and people will start listening to you. Then all you have to do is keep up a good reputation.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/4263149

Tuesday 19 November 2013

Top Five Social Media Sites

Social media websites have transformed the web in recent years; understanding how to use them and their inherent value as a marketing platform is truly valuable to growing businesses today. Below, five popular social media sites are examined in further detail in terms of how they work and the best way to utilize them for search engine optimization purposes.
Facebook: Facebook can readily be considered as a progenitor of the many social media sites that have materialized in recent years; it is one of the largest, most popular social media networks. Facebook's constantly changing look and broadening reach has kept it on the top of the social media food chain. New technologies just keep on coming, from applications to fan clubs, status updates, streaming YouTube videos, and page requests, keeping users tuned in and engaged. Perhaps their constantly expanding content is the reason behind Facebook's over 250,000 million member population. If you are looking for free viral marketing opportunities, this may be as good as it gets. Use Facebook to insert incoming links to your site to support search engine optimization; this can especially impact your SEO ranking if you develop fans of your brand, and drive traffic to your site to grow your online presence.
LinkedIn: A prominent professional networking site, LinkedIn is the virtual space for employees and employers to network, job search, recruit new hires, and just generally maintain business communication and exchanges. LinkedIn allows users to create a profile listing their job history and information regarding educational background and specified skills. An advantage of this site for search engine optimization is that it allows you to insert a followed link in your profile, enhancing to your SEO visibility. LinkedIn also allows you to create profiles for your brand; users can also write testimonials on this page, which contributes to your presence on this social media site and on the web in general.
StumbleUpon: A social media bookmarking site, StumbleUpon is a network where users rate websites according to their interests using a thumbs up or thumbs down icon. A stumble button added to your browser will then suggest new websites according to users' previously recorded preferences. To enter your site into StumbleUpon's index, simply go to your home page and rate it with a thumbs up. These preference-based social bookmarking sites are beneficial in terms of search engine optimization; upon indexing your site, StumbleUpon allows users to select what categories their site will be indexed under, as well as create tags to maximize traffic to their site. Since the individuals that view your site are already interested in that subject matter, StumbleUpon is inherently showing your site to a refined target audience. These viewers will be more likely to enjoy your site, and provide incoming links to it off their own personal site or blog; this is a search engine optimization-friendly cycle. Moreover, if you manage to get a large number of high ratings, your site will appear on StumbleUpon's homepage, which will really optimize your search engine ranking.
Twitter: This social media site allows users to post status updates about their current endeavors. Unfortunately, Twitter has no follow tags so posting the URL to your site on a tweet will not increase your search engine visibility. But Twitter is not altogether useless in terms of search engine optimization; if you insert a hyperlink in your tweet and users click on it, it will still drive up your site traffic -- another SEO strategy. Since there are so many Twitter users, the likelihood of increasing the number of hits you get is good, especially if you have a lot of friends.
Wikipedia: Wikipedia is a social media site that allows users to view, add, and edit content on any word or term, a mutable encyclopedia of sorts, made by and for the masses. Wikipedia entries are constantly listed at the top of search engine results; the nature of their site lends itself to constant content updates and additions, which is a practice that contributes to search engine optimization. Though Wikipedia has no follow tags on any incoming links inserted on their site, using three way links can overcome this roadblock. If nothing else, Wikipedia is a quick fix in terms of disturbing competitors' high SEO rank, since it is always favored by search engines. Since anyone can erase or change your entry at anytime, though, it may not be the most effective SEO strategy.
Another way that you can increase your visibility is by narrowing the hyperlinked text on any of these social media sites to geo-specific areas to appear more relevant to search engines; for example, a site offering search engine optimization services will be more readily optimized if its hyperlinked text is "Boston search engine optimization" opposed to a more generic and less relevant hyperlink. Overall, however, social media sites can be a great way to drive traffic to your webpage, distribute incoming links, and grow your overall web presence. Link building on social media sites can increase your sites relevancy according to search engines and ultimately increase your keyword ranking.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/3076569

Professional Vs. Personal Social Media Accounts

When it comes to managing both a professional and personal social media presence, it is extremely important to try and be aware of how you are representing yourself. You don't want to put off any potential clients by acting in a manner that might be misconstrued as unprofessional.
There are two rules of thought when it comes to your personal and professional social media presence. You can keep the two completely separate: using personal to stay in touch with family and friends, and then using a professional account to appeal to colleagues and patients. Or you can have one social media account that does both. This all boils down to your own personal preference, but it is a big decision to make.
Separate Social Media Accounts
The big appeal of having separate accounts is obvious. Some people want to have personal social media accounts where they can socialize freely with friends and family, and then have professional accounts so their colleagues and patients can engage in conversations with them as well.
For those who want separate personal and professional social media accounts, the big thing you need to concern yourself with is not mixing the two up. There are countless stories about employees who accidentally post something to their company's social media account when they actually intended it to be a private post on their personal account. This can land some companies into some hot water.
Take, for example, the recent news story of a Microsoft employee who was helping to manage the network's Twitter account. At the time, Microsoft had roughly 300,000 Twitter followers. The employee accidentally sent out a tweet bashing political pundit Ann Coulter, believing that he had been sending the message from his personal account. The employee quickly deleted the tweet, but not before the mistake brought the company some severe backlash.
Also, even if you keep the two separated, that doesn't mean that your colleagues and patients can't look up your personal accounts. Privacy settings can help you to a certain extent, but you should still be somewhat mindful of what you are posting to your personal account.
Joint Social Media Accounts
Having joint social media accounts in which you combine both your personal and professional lives is appealing because everything is consolidated. You don't have to worry about accidentally posting something to the wrong account, nor do you have to remember two usernames and passwords for each account. It is, in a way, somewhat simpler to have joint social media accounts, but there are definitely some downfalls.
Keep in mind, though, that you will have to walk a very fine line. Should you or should you not post 50 pictures of your cat napping? This might be cute to your Aunt Sally who just adores felines, but a referring dentist in your area might think it is, well, weird.
Another downfall of having joint accounts is what others might post to your accounts. You may have a friend who is heavy into politics and decides to share his/her feelings with you via Twitter. Even though you had nothing to do with the post yourself, it still could turn off a lot of your colleagues and patients.
Using social media can be a great (and, some would say, necessary) way of taking a business or career to the next level. Social media sites allow us to reach more people than ever and connect with customers, colleagues, and employers on a more personal level. Ultimately, it is up to you whether you want to have joint or separate accounts. Keep in mind, though, that you are not only representing yourself online, but also your practice.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7393290

Tapping Into The Power Of Social Media To Build A Successful Business

Social media has quickly become the most powerful and effective business building tools available. Whether you are building an online business, or promoting your offline business, Social Media, if used correctly, will enable you to bridge and cement your relationships with potential customers and business associates.
Is It Possible To Build A Successful Business Simply With Social Media?
Absolutely. People do business with people they like, trust and can connect with. Social media tools such as Facebook, Twitter, Linked-in, Blogging and You-Tube are superior relationship building tools. Relationships build businesses, not products.
I recently had a young man slam me with an exercise book he was trying to promote. The book was only $10....however, he went about trying to market it in the wrong way. He posted his link on my Facebook wall. At the time, he didn't realize the mistake he had made. Basically what he had done was just like walking into my home, without even saying "hello" and insisting (and begging) I do business with him. A bit skewed in my opinion. If this young man had built a relationship with me first, I would have definitely bought his book, whether I needed it or not.
Relationships Are The Heart And Soul Of Any Business
As I mentioned earlier, relationships build businesses, not products. At one point the product will definitely come into play, but on the forefront most folks will do business with someone they can connect with. This is one of the reasons Blogging about your specialty is extremely important. Blogging is a remarkable platform allowing you to position yourself as a leader in your specific niche. Whether you have an online business or offline business, blogging is a cost effective way to promote and to expose yourself. Blogging allows you to provide valuable information about your specialty and your business to an endless number of potential customers.
Social Media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Linked-in and You-Tube are also exceptional relationship building tools...but only if used correctly. Setting up your profiles correctly on these sites it of the utmost importance. Set it up, review it and then ask yourself..."Would I want to do business with me if I were reading this?"
Don't allow yourself to get hustled, misguided and fooled by all of the gurus trying to promote crappy and wallet draining courses on PPC, Traffic Generation or Google AdWords. You do not need these courses. The only thing you need is relationship building tools and a backpack full of people skills.
In A Nutshell
If utilized properly, Social Media is a wonderful arena to expose yourself and your business expertise through relationship building. Your Social Media reputation can thrust your business to levels of success you never deemed possible.
Mess it up and you'll ruin your reputation and blow the biggest opportunity available for traffic, branding and wealth creation for your online or offline business.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5687182

Social Media Quick Tip (with out takes)


Friday 15 November 2013

Social Media Newbie to Expert - One Tweet at a Time

Many businesses are using social media sites and tools today for purposes they actually were never meant for. Although, through the ingenious use of these sites and tools, the savvy marketer sees dollar signs.
Companies who are preparing a new product launch have seen dramatic results with sites like Facebook and Twitter. They step into the social media world when they set up a Facebook account geared around a launch party, and it seems to perform successfully. Leading up to the event, they are able to communicate with friends on Facebook very easily.
After seeing the success of large organizations in utilizing Twitter, many dip their newbie toes in the Twitter waters. They quickly find it will be beneficial for the clients and customers they serve. Especially since Twitter is becoming more recognized as a customer service tool as well as a terrific source for news and information.
Incorporating a portfolio of sites like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, YouTube, Flicker, etc as business tool quickly return results that boggle the mind. It does not take long before to open the eyes to how these social networks can and do generate more than just ' chit chat amongst friends' but actually 'revenue amongst professionals'!
The day quickly comes when they can say that they now have 'tweets' that generate income, many more visitors company blogs, and sale items directly to a public that are not random hits but expressly directed to their website by mutual interest of the blog topics.
For this reason, social media is the new proving grounds for newbies to quickly become experts and brush elbows with the big boys.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/3378569

Social Media and Small Business

In my former public relations career one of the jobs I was tasked with was setting up the company's social media efforts and obtaining buy-in from senior management. Like winning a football game if you're the Detroit Lions, engaging in social media is easier said than done.
First, my colleague and I working on the project quickly discovered that most senior management had only a hazy idea of what social media even was. Worse, they were ignorant of its rapidly rising influence - and this from a BIG company! Add to the stew the fact that the attorney's knew next to nothing about it; the top two people in public affairs had only a passing knowledge of it; and you can guess how tough it was to convince anyone of the necessity to utilize this new tool.
We finally dove into the social media foray only after a volunteer firefighter tweeted about a coal fire at one of the company's power plants. The tweet gave an impression there was a raging fire in one of the coal piles. The reality was that there was some smoke, no flames and it wasn't much of a story. Really! But the media picked up on that one tweet and pretty soon we were fending off calls on this so-called fire which was so minor that none of us in public affairs had known about before the calls started to roll in!
That illustrates an all too familiar problem in the world of public relations and marketing. What you don't know CAN hurt you.
Most small businesses think getting social means slapping up a Facebook page and getting a Twitter account and presto, they have a social media for small business strategy. But, that's only the beginning. They often don't realize that social media is just that - a two way conversation with customers. And, you have to give your customers something of value so they keep coming back or your Facebook page and Twitter account will be like that mid-summer flower that suddenly didn't get watered. Here are some tips for those interested in social media for small business.
What is Your Strategy?
Step one, monitor what your customers are saying and discussing. Pick a very relevant keyword that allows you to be found.
Determine Your Objectives
What do you want your social media to do. Bring more traffic to your business? Give yourself a higher visibility in the community? Improve your ROI on advertising?
Determine a Platform(s) to Meet Your Needs
Will it be Facebook, Digg, YouTube, a blog, your website with a blog, Twitter.
Find Someone Who Knows What They Are Doing
Look, there are a LOT of people who participate in the social mediums and know it. In my experience there are far fewer who know how to use it. Most ad agencies pick a young person and let them handle it. The fact is, your blog, website and the rest of your social media should always reflect your brand image, though perhaps mixed with a bit of offbeat when talking about social media. Don't ask your neighbor's kid to do it.
Monitor It
Once you begin, you need to monitor it, engage in conversations with your customers and most importantly, USE your platforms to engage your customers in a value-added meaningful way. And, most importantly, don't be too corporate or overdo it! Social media is very un-corporate and informal.
Evaluate It
Social media for small business is no different than any other media in terms of ROI. Evaluating social media ROI is easier said than done. There's no single criteria based on which you can determine the success/ failure of your social media strategy. Jot down your current numbers and your goals. It is equally important to know where you stand now as it is to know where you want to get. No ROI calculation is complete without a concrete baseline.
From a SM perspective, a baseline may involve the following numbers
* Twitter Followers
* Facebook Fans
* Retweets
* Unique Impressions from Twitter & Facebook etc.
Do You Only Consider Revenue?
While in financial terms, ROI usually relates to revenue and profits, it's a different proposition when it comes to social media for small business. The gains from Twitter, Facebook and any other social network may not always be measurable in financial terms. They may help boost traffic on your business website or simply spread brand awareness or improve your goodwill in the customer community. Of course, one of social media's ROI contributors to boosting ROI is the enormous amount of savings. A well-planned SM strategy can help a business drastically reduce its advertising and marketing budgets.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6392562

Social Media and Small Business

In my former public relations career one of the jobs I was tasked with was setting up the company's social media efforts and obtaining buy-in from senior management. Like winning a football game if you're the Detroit Lions, engaging in social media is easier said than done.
First, my colleague and I working on the project quickly discovered that most senior management had only a hazy idea of what social media even was. Worse, they were ignorant of its rapidly rising influence - and this from a BIG company! Add to the stew the fact that the attorney's knew next to nothing about it; the top two people in public affairs had only a passing knowledge of it; and you can guess how tough it was to convince anyone of the necessity to utilize this new tool.
We finally dove into the social media foray only after a volunteer firefighter tweeted about a coal fire at one of the company's power plants. The tweet gave an impression there was a raging fire in one of the coal piles. The reality was that there was some smoke, no flames and it wasn't much of a story. Really! But the media picked up on that one tweet and pretty soon we were fending off calls on this so-called fire which was so minor that none of us in public affairs had known about before the calls started to roll in!
That illustrates an all too familiar problem in the world of public relations and marketing. What you don't know CAN hurt you.
Most small businesses think getting social means slapping up a Facebook page and getting a Twitter account and presto, they have a social media for small business strategy. But, that's only the beginning. They often don't realize that social media is just that - a two way conversation with customers. And, you have to give your customers something of value so they keep coming back or your Facebook page and Twitter account will be like that mid-summer flower that suddenly didn't get watered. Here are some tips for those interested in social media for small business.
What is Your Strategy?
Step one, monitor what your customers are saying and discussing. Pick a very relevant keyword that allows you to be found.
Determine Your Objectives
What do you want your social media to do. Bring more traffic to your business? Give yourself a higher visibility in the community? Improve your ROI on advertising?
Determine a Platform(s) to Meet Your Needs
Will it be Facebook, Digg, YouTube, a blog, your website with a blog, Twitter.
Find Someone Who Knows What They Are Doing
Look, there are a LOT of people who participate in the social mediums and know it. In my experience there are far fewer who know how to use it. Most ad agencies pick a young person and let them handle it. The fact is, your blog, website and the rest of your social media should always reflect your brand image, though perhaps mixed with a bit of offbeat when talking about social media. Don't ask your neighbor's kid to do it.
Monitor It
Once you begin, you need to monitor it, engage in conversations with your customers and most importantly, USE your platforms to engage your customers in a value-added meaningful way. And, most importantly, don't be too corporate or overdo it! Social media is very un-corporate and informal.
Evaluate It
Social media for small business is no different than any other media in terms of ROI. Evaluating social media ROI is easier said than done. There's no single criteria based on which you can determine the success/ failure of your social media strategy. Jot down your current numbers and your goals. It is equally important to know where you stand now as it is to know where you want to get. No ROI calculation is complete without a concrete baseline.
From a SM perspective, a baseline may involve the following numbers
* Twitter Followers
* Facebook Fans
* Retweets
* Unique Impressions from Twitter & Facebook etc.
Do You Only Consider Revenue?
While in financial terms, ROI usually relates to revenue and profits, it's a different proposition when it comes to social media for small business. The gains from Twitter, Facebook and any other social network may not always be measurable in financial terms. They may help boost traffic on your business website or simply spread brand awareness or improve your goodwill in the customer community. Of course, one of social media's ROI contributors to boosting ROI is the enormous amount of savings. A well-planned SM strategy can help a business drastically reduce its advertising and marketing budgets.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6392562