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Posts in category Marketing
5/17/2012
For many years now, Fortune magazine has published its annual survey of the 100 best places to work and CNNMoney publishes it for us to view on the web. There are some companies who have consistently made the list. How do they do it year after year? Many of the companies don’t necessarily have the highest pay or job growth, so what is it about these companies that make such an impact on a worker’s happiness on the job? Let’s take a look at some of the most recognizable. They are not all at the top of the list;...Read more...
5/15/2012
Web analytics by technical definition is the measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of Internet data for purposes of understanding and optimizing web usage. But what does that really mean? In a nutshell, analytics are tools that measure your web traffic – from how visitors get to your website, to what they do once they are there. Analytics can determine how well a marketing campaign, whether it is a traditional marketing piece or email or Internet marketing, is doing to generate traffic and action on your website. Not tracking your marketing efforts is like throwing money out the...Read more...
5/14/2012
Your business is up-and-running and things are going pretty well. Congratulations! Now, it’s time to get your name out and really grow. It is the perfect time to kick your marketing into high-gear. Good marketing is the key to growth. You can have an amazing product or service and, with little to no marketing, you may not get very far compared to a mediocre product with a great marketing strategy. Don’t think you need a lot of money to kick-off an effective growth campaign either. The great thing about marketing is that it can be done with $50...Read more...
5/11/2012
Public relations is an essential part of any complete marketing plan, however most small businesses are overwhelmed by the thought of it. Why is that? Well, most business owners assume that PR is costly and time consuming. It certainly can be, but you can also manage a powerful PR plan on a tight budget. They also may think that you have to have to hire a large PR firm or employ several extra people dedicated to the task. Not true! While, all of those things would be nice to have, they are not necessary. The key to PR...Read more...
5/9/2012
If you have a Facebook page, you’ve now come face-to-face with the new Timeline. But it’s more than just a pretty new facelift. Timeline is an opportunity for companies, small and large, to showcase their brand and utilize the new features to gain more exposure. So, what are the changes and how do you leverage them? 1. The cover image. The cover image is prime real estate to showcase your business, product, special features, promotions, and events. The new horizontal banner size, 851 pixels x 315 pixels, allows for your to make a significant impact to fans and...Read more...
5/8/2012
Approximately 1.2 billion people access the web on mobile devices! Those numbers continue to grow, fueled by new smartphone and tablet technology, among other things. This increased usage has sparked many companies to create mobile apps for their product, service, or website. An app is a software application designed to run on mobile devices. Originally created to increase productivity, the app has now expanded to include email, games, GPS, online shopping, and more. People love apps because they are instant ways to get information or communicate with a brand, without having to go to a computer. Each person downloads...Read more...
5/4/2012
What is a mentor to you? For me, finding a mentor was one of the best things I could ever do for myself. If I had not realized the value in what a mentor could do for me, I would not be where I am today. Yes, of course everything I have accomplished has made me who I am when you look at the large picture, but my mentor was a key piece of the puzzle just as my schooling was, along with my experience and knowledge gained from the real world. So that is the easy answer...Read more...
5/3/2012
Facebook, the social behemoth, is a great place to advertise. Consider that it now has more than 900 million active users and the average person spends an average of between 7 and 8 hours on Facebook per month. Now with its new Timeline Apps, Facebook has given its users more reason to spend even more time there. Your business is probably already taking advantage of all these eyeballs with its own Facebook page. From your business page platform you are able to take advantage of targeted ads to reach new customers, sponsored stories to highlight business interaction with...Read more...
5/1/2012
First things first, does your company have a Facebook page? A page, different from a personal Facebook profile, is a free way for businesses to connect with customers through Facebook networking. If you don’t have one, what are you waiting for? Get set-up today, then revisit this blog for information on how you can get the “behind-the-scenes” stats about your page and followers. For the rest of you that already have a page, are you using Insights? Facebook Insights provides Facebook Page admins and app developers with metrics on the performance of their Page or app. Like all...Read more...
4/27/2012
Regardless of your industry, webinars are a great way for internal training, or external marketing of your products and services. Webinars, or web-based seminars, are cost-effective tools for expanding your business by getting your message, or product information, out to the masses in numerous locations. With webinars, customers can attend your seminars or trainings from the comfort of their own office or home, often at no cost to them! Convenience, efficiency, and affordability are helping webinars grow in popularity. Did I mention that it’s pretty easy too? There are a host of other benefits for your business. Check them...Read more...
4/26/2012
Blogging is a critical part of any businesses marketing plan. Yes, even for informational technology (IT) companies. So, if you aren’t blogging, now’s the time to join 65 percent of companies — and growing — that are already up and running. Why? Here are a few quick reasons: Search Engine Optimization (SEO), to be seen as an industry leader, to boost your credibility with clients, to reach new customers, and to increase customer involvement. Blogging can be more effective than Facebook, when done correctly. Here are some do’s and don’ts so that you get your blog started on...Read more...
4/23/2012
Positive thinking begets a positive attitude, which is contagious and uplifting. Everyone wants to be associated with positive people, because no one likes to be around a “Negative Nancy.” Positive thinking is a mental attitude that can make an amazing difference in the workplace. Displaying an “I am able, willing and ready” attitude in the workplace will benefit you and all that surrounds you. Positive thinking enables you to get the positive results you are looking for in the workplace. For instance... Career advancement: Who is more likely to get promoted? Those that think positively and get...Read more...
4/20/2012
The recent economic downturn has not really increased the amount of start-up businesses out there. In fact, fewer people are taking risks which have slowed down job creation. Even though we are officially out of the recession, the unemployment rate hasn’t gotten any lower and that is because existing companies are not hiring and very few businesses are forming. If you are part of this vicious cycle, it may be time to take a risk to bring your brighter future to fruition. Are you ready to take some risks? If you are not working right now anyway, you don’t...Read more...
4/19/2012
In today’s professional world, technology really is a necessity to keep you in check. There are so many devices and computer software these days that can help you to organize your life that is it can be hard to choose the best technology for your busy schedule. The use of technology that is available today is really a must, or you will not be considered as on trend as everyone else in your field. It helps you to stay on top of almost everything all the time and if you are unable to adapt to it, you might be...Read more...
4/16/2012
There is a new marketing venue Twitter has made available to companies through the use of hashtags. And it may take some time to acclimate to this and figure out the best approach since it is a new form of advertising. Companies that advertise are not used to getting pushback for all to see right on their advertisement and they are now coming face to face with everything that hashtag marketing brings with it. It is also a great opportunity to show how they can handle such a problem if it arises with enough grace and dignity to save...Read more...
4/13/2012
Your website is the face of your business to the entire world and works 27/7 for your company. When it comes to making a great website, you will want to make sure it is user friendly and appealing to your market. Choosing the right web design company is a key component in how your end product will look and feel to the end user so you will want to choose a web design company that can convey your brand image the best. There are countless companies out there that do web design and so it very important to look...Read more...
4/12/2012
Word of mouth marketing (WOMM) influences purchasers more than any other advertising medium. These days, there are many venues to do this with online forums for just about everything. If we break down the driving force behind purchase decisions, we see that 54 percent of purchases are word of mouth, 47 percent are from reviewing the product website, 42 percent are emails from friends, and 31 percent are online reviews of products. People love to talk and many times, they talk about their experiences with buying products. They rave about what they love and are very verbal about what...Read more...
4/11/2012
With more than 25 million users, if you have an iPhone or are on Facebook, you’ve heard of Instragram. Instagram, an app, is available exclusively to iPhone users and coming soon to Android, allows you to take photos and instantly upload them to sites like Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter. The fun part comes in with the various filters that you can apply to your photos. While I’m sure you are already sold on this for personal use, you can utilize Instagram for business too. Not sure why you should use a photo app to promote your company? Instagram...Read more...
4/10/2012
Most companies have seen the immense power of Facebook in its ability to reach past, present, and future customers. As simple as a Facebook page may seem, there is so much that can be done with it. You don’t have to be a huge corporation with lots of money and resources to make a splash with your Facebook page. Sure, companies like Zappos and L.L. Bean, are bound to have amazing Facebook pages because of the available dedicated resources, but so many smaller companies have really made an impact too. According to Social Media Examiner, here are five of...Read more...
4/9/2012
I’m not going to lie, I had not heard of Quora until very recently … maybe yesterday. Have you heard of it? Well, we are going to get out from under our rock together and check it out. What is Quora? According to Quora.com, when you want to know more about something, Quora delivers you answers and content from people who share your interests and people who have first-hand knowledge — like real doctors, economists, screenwriters, police officers, and military veterans. On Quora, you create a personalized homepage of everything you want to know about by following...Read more...
4/4/2012
Pinterest is currently the fastest growing social network and is driving more traffic to brands than even Twitter or LinkedIn. Even though Pinterest wasn’t originally designed as a business tool, many companies are jumping on board quickly! Just to show you how quickly, Pinterest now beats YouTube, Reddit, Google+, LinkedIn, and MySpace for percentage of total referral traffic in January 2012, according to a Shareaholic study. Then, Pinterest’s traffic rose fifty-two percent from January 2012 to February 2012, up to 17.8 million unique visitors! Those numbers are staggering and certainly deserves a look. For those that are unfamiliar...Read more...
4/3/2012
What is Tumblr? Tumblr is a blogging and social network site that allows users to post text, photos, quotes, links, music, and videos, from a browser, phone, desktop, email, or really anywhere, to a “tumblog,” or short-form blog. Users can follow other blogs, or make their pages private. Tumblr recently reached 15 billion monthly page views, up from 2 billion this time last year. With more than 42 million blogs, Tumblr is gaining momentum and becoming more of a force in the Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest dominated social media world. The reason for the newfound notoriety? Tumblr combines easy social...Read more...
3/28/2012
Digital marketing is quickly gaining popularity due to its outreach and affordability. There are now some very low cost effective strategies out there that you need to be aware of because it involves being very aware of the ever changing digital market with the newest devices always offering some new way to reach your consumers. Let’s look at these latest trends that you should be using right now for your business. 1. Geolocation Services. Social apps such as Foursquare, Ban.jo and Path as well as others are forms of geolocation services and are a great way to get...Read more...
3/27/2012
It’s no secret that Facebook is the top social media site today for its enormous reach through personal interaction and immediate engagement at all levels. Currently, 845 million monthly active users create 2.7 billion “likes” every day and that number is expected to increase exponentially by this summer. Chances are good that you’ve come in contact with Facebook’s “like” button at some point, or even more likely, daily. If you haven’t, you are probably wondering what the “like” button is. Here’s a little Facebook 101 for you. The “like” button is a small tab with a “thumbs up”...Read more...
3/26/2012
It is important as a business professional to be able to communicate effectively with overseas business partners. Effective communication is the key to success. No matter how strong your selling techniques are, or how good your marketing proposal is, poor communication skills will inevitably destroy all your efforts. So how do you keep that communication open and productive? Language First, learn the language of the country you are dealing with, or have someone on staff who does know it. Don’t assume that English is the language used throughout the world. Your direct contacts in another country may...Read more...
3/23/2012
Traditional marketing has always called for a multi-media approach utilizing radio, TV, newspaper advertising, etc, to build a complete marketing strategy. With the introduction of Internet marketing, multi-media began to include online elements like websites, email, and banners ads. Then, social media came on the scene and completely changed the game with networking sites, blogs, and video websites like YouTube. Today’s complete marketing strategy is more complex than ever before and requires all of the components mentioned above to build a successful strategy and campaign. Most businesses are becoming increasingly comfortable and active on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter,...Read more...
3/22/2012
Hashtags — #hashtags — have been used, and supported, on Twitter since 2009. Prior to that, Twitter was just a 140-character way for people to express themselves. Hashtags changed that and made Twitter a marketing power tool. Users tag their tweets, give context to their thoughts, or get a topic trending just by adding a (#) in front of a word or phrase. When you add that “#,” a link is created that anyone on Twitter can search for. Just by clicking on that link, users can see all of the tweets relating to that subject or tag. Hashtags...Read more...
3/21/2012
Facebook made a change. The new Facebook timeline had a lot of people and businesses worried about how they would maintain their marketing capabilities and the look and feel they liked with the old Facebook look. Now that people are getting more comfortable with it though, they are seeing what types of innovative techniques that they can do to make their Facebook profile unique. How can your company do this? Let’s take a look at what is available to you now with the new Facebook timeline. Use imagery to pull your customers in. With the new...Read more...
3/16/2012
There are so many ways that companies can look bad these days with their online profiles and especially employees of companies with their questionable personal profiles. In fact, there has been quite a bit of unnerving hype lately about what people see when they visit social media profiles and such and the only thing you can really do about that is research how to form the online persona that you want professional contacts to see. According to a Mashable infographic, 91 percent of recruiters check social networking profiles to screen candidates and 76 percent of those searches are on...Read more...
3/14/2012
Cloud computing or “the cloud” is one of the hottest buzz phrases lately. But, what is it really? Cloud computing allows end users to access data or applications through a web browser, light weight desktop, or mobile app while the business software and data are stored on servers at a remote location. Cloud application providers strive to give the same or better service and performance as if the software programs were installed locally on end-user computers. Interestingly, you may be using cloud-based businesses already and not even realize it. Some examples are customer self-scheduling, online payments, data storage...Read more...
3/13/2012
Social media management can be extremely time-consuming and challenging, but it really doesn’t have to be. Many small businesses operate on a limited staff — and even more limited budget — with many different priorities. You want a strong and effective social media strategy but are afraid you don’t have to manpower to dedicate to such an effort. You are not alone! Many businesses have turned to automation to help them maintain and even increase their presence across social networks. What is automation and how can it help your business? Automation is the utilization of a program...Read more...
3/12/2012
LinkedIn is the social media networking site for business. With more than 120 million members, in over 200 countries, and growing, LinkedIn connects you to your trusted contacts to collaborate, connect, and converse. Need more reasons to get involved? These numbers almost guarantee that your competitors are already on LinkedIn. Instead of keeping up with the Joneses, you need to stay one step ahead. Actively participating in LinkedIn, as a member and group organizer, positions you, and your company, as thought leaders. It builds your personal network and helps generate leads for your business. First things first, if...Read more...
3/9/2012
Are you ready to improve your search rankings for 2012 and beyond? SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is a critical part of getting your website better organic rankings on the top search engines. According to SEObesttips.com, SEO has changed considerably just in the past year. Some of the changes cited include: - Social media signals are much stronger and have greater affect on search results - Freshness algorithm influences 35 percent of keyword search results - Regular content updates help improve rankings - Facebook and blog comments are being detected with Googlebots new APIs - Link farms devalued...Read more...
3/8/2012
Effective marketing techniques are like scientific experiments. You have to get it just right to get the outcome you want. The most important thing in reaching a target market for your product is to figure out who influences them. It starts with the proper branding but ultimately lies in the hands of the purchasers. If you can influence the purchase to buy your product, then you have a winner! Let’s look at how to do this. Who is your target market? It will start with some market research. Your product may have been intended for a certain...Read more...
3/7/2012
Do you stand or sit at work? There has been a recent trend in the business world. Individuals at companies are starting to stand at their desks. The results appear to be positive. Standing isn’t new of course. Some of the most successful individuals in history have used standing desks while they work including Ernest Hemingway and Thomas Jefferson. The standing desk appears to have a few key benefits for those that work in office settings. Let’s take a deeper look at some of the pros and cons of standing and sitting in the office. Standing...Read more...
3/6/2012
Search engine optimization, or SEO, is the process of improving a website’s visibility, or ranking, by organic or unpaid means. Typically, the higher a website appears in the search results, the better the website traffic. Why do you need SEO? The major search engines, Google, Yahoo, and Bing drive most of the website traffic. If they can’t find your site, your content will not make their databases and you won’t be found by searches, and potential clients. Not optimizing your site is more than just a missed opportunity, it is lost revenue. After all, SEO success is measured...Read more...
3/5/2012
You hear it everywhere you go. At the office, on the soccer field, in the locker room at the gym – Pinterest. “I got the recipe from Pinterest.” “Those cute Valentines I helped my daughter make? – Pinterest!” “I didn’t want to work out today but Pinterest inspired me!” If you have not already succumbed to its’ charms you may be wondering, just what the heck IS Pinterest? According to the Pinterest website, “Pinterest is a Virtual Pinboard. Pinterest lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards...Read more...
3/2/2012
Let’s face it, social media, whether for work or pleasure, can easily become a complete and total “time suck” if you let it. How often have you logged onto Facebook in the morning to update your status and, before you know it, its noon? How many hours upon hours have you spent trying to come up with new and fresh content to post on your blog or share with the Twitterverse? A study by eMarketer noted that more than 73 percent of marketers struggle with creating new content to share. Are you one of them? There are so many tips...Read more...
3/1/2012
If you want to use Twitter for your business, then welcome to the new age of business and an outreach to 50 million active users each day! Many businesses use Twitter as a way a form as permission based marketing because people choose to follow you and you should use that to promote your business in any way you can. You have 140 characters to do this and they must have liked something they saw for them to follow you in the first place, so keep giving them what they want! 5 Tips for Getting More Twitter Followers...Read more...
2/29/2012
The world is consumed by social media. In fact, that’s where we collectively spend 110 billion hours! As individuals, and as businesses, we are expected to get in the game. Seventy percent of companies are increasing social media presence, frequency, and processes according to a survey by Awareness for 2012. Seventy percent of those survey respondents said they are focusing on increasing their presence across social marketing platforms. Fifty-nine percent are increasing the frequency of content publishing, and 50 percent and 45 percent are focusing on a more robust social marketing management and monitoring, respectively. Before your company...Read more...
2/28/2012
Many CEOs and Marketing VPs have questions about SEO. If your business has an online presence with a website there is a good chance that SEO drives at least some level of revenue. When seeing this number most wonder how they can make it larger. This is where the idea of improving SEO comes into play. Search engine optimization (SEO) is about optimizing your website to ensure that you rank well for various keyword queries on the popular search engines such as Google. Ranking well for common keywords in your industry can be lucrative. This is why...Read more...
2/27/2012
Product reviews are important for all businesses. Reviews have even been called undeniably influential for consumers. People even seem to trust their peers more than family and friends. People are looking to read reviews from people that are like them. Consumers don’t necessarily want to know the person behind the review. They are reading the reviews and looking for details that are relevant to them. These details cannot be faked. Consumers speak their own language when it comes to reviews. People tell their own stories when they share reviews. The best reviews contain details that a product expert...Read more...
2/24/2012
Local businesses have the most to gain from text marketing. Texting appears to be on the rise in popularity especially among the teen demographic. But even adults are texting more. The number of texts is growing each year among all age groups. Now, businesses are trying to figure out how texting can be used as a marketing channel. Some companies are already asking their customers for permission to send them texts or push notifications. Some companies are experimenting with text marketing programs, but most strategies are still in the experimenting phase. It seems, though, that local...Read more...
2/23/2012
A buzzword phrase these days is “social media”. Social media has been around for about a decade now, but most folks are still trying to figure out what it means in terms of business. In the early days of the Internet, social media involved blogging and even email. Today, social media consists of Twitter, Facebook, and countless other online destinations and applications. Trying to keep up with the latest social media tool and channel can be confusing. Here is a basic guiding principle you can use to understand what social media should mean for your company...Read more...
2/21/2012
Facebook is everywhere. The social utility has been in the headlines continuously for the last 5+ years. The company has grown from a dorm room startup into possibly the largest initial public offering in history. Despite all the success, there still appears to be some frustration among business owners and marketers. These folks have been trying to figure out how to use Facebook as a value added marketing channel for their companies, but many are still struggling. There are a few reasons for the frustration and once you analyze your business there is even opportunity to realign...Read more...
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