SLAN-TRESS (noun) [‘slan-tris): a woman with a viewpoint & vision, and the heart to follow it.

They encourage networking through sharing, supporting and learning from each other. They are “Change Agents” who have opened their minds to infuse the vital focus required to uplift every Black woman…one sister at a time!

SLANTRESS, as the magazine is titled is the creation of Founder and CEO, Deborah J. Billips. SLAN-TRESS (noun) [‘slan-tris): a woman with a viewpoint & vision, and the heart to follow it.

The magazine features will span seven main headings: Health, History, Business, Relationships, Finance, Fashion & Beauty, and Entertainment. “We are intentionally avoiding lightening rod topics such as Politics and Religion,” Billips said. The initial circulation will be within the Baltimore, D.C., and Northern Virginia corridor.

Check out the new website design at www.slantress.com!

It is always challenging for small businesses to transition to the social media-marketing world to promote people to follow their online presence and use their products and services. It is possible to overcome this challenge. Here are just a few ways your small business can succeed in the virtual world and gain a loyal, strong following:

Talk About Local Issues

A great way to get locals to follow your small business online presence and support your products and services is to talk about local topics that interest them. People are most likely to engage with companies and brands that discuss topics they care about in their daily lives. A great way to start discussion is on a company blog and discussion forums on social media networks.

Tell Local People About Your Business

Be seen. Be heard. Promote your business wherever you go. Talk to the locals. Hold online chats or hangouts on social networks such as Google+.  Pass out your business cards with your blog and social media network information. Give this to anyone willing to take it. You never know, they may know your future clients.

Invite Locals to Participate

Ask locals to guest post on your company blog. Quote locals in featured stories. Discuss how your company helps the local community. Be friendly and be helpful.

To really make your business have a positive and profitable online presence that gains online followers, hire Adventure Web Productions.

Here at Adventure Web Productions, we provide full-service Internet development, hosting and web marketing.  We also provide traffic to your website and increase your profits by truly utilizing all the crucial social media networks. We can help get your company notice online and offline.

For professional full-service Internet development, hosting, and web marketing needs, contact Adventure Web Productions by calling (410)-788-7007 or by clicking here today!

Check us out on Facebook and Twitter as well!

Source: 3 Ways to Get Locals to Follow You Online

Social marketing is more than just having a presence on the internet. You need to be interactive to increase your business returns. Here are three ways you can do it:

Have Live Events on Your Social Media

Consumers love connecting with companies and people they find interesting. With social media company fan pages, you can get to know your consumers well. Create chat sessions, seminars, and webinars on your fan pages and company profiles. Social media users love videos and power-points. These presentations can help improve your company’s credibility.

Start Small, Aim Big

Hire a professional service to collect data on your consumers and potential consumers’ preferences. Find out how long they stay on your website and fan pages. The more leads you get, the better chance of a strong return on investment you will have for your company.

Find Out What Your Customers Are Saying About You

Social media websites provide a space for consumers to express their honest opinions of services and products. See the reviews your consumers are making and sharing with potential consumers. Do not worry if you see good and bad comments. For the bad comments, find ways to improve your customer service and your products. For good comments, find ways to do these actions more often or better.

These tips will bring you social media success and boost your company’s returns. So what are you waiting for? Start today.

Here at Adventure Web Productions, we provide full-service Internet development, hosting and web marketing.  We also provide traffic to your website and increase your profits by truly utilizing all the crucial social media networks. We can help get your company notice online and offline.

For professional full-service Internet development, hosting, and web marketing needs, contact Adventure Web Productions by calling (410)-788-7007 or by clicking here today!

Check us out on Facebook and Twitter as well!

Source: Social Media Tips for the Beginners-Boost Your Returns By Leveraging Social Marketing

Why run a promotion on Facebook?

When you run a promotion on Facebook it can help you create a positive buzz for your business, increase fan (customer) engagement, and increase your leads and business’ profits.

The Facebook general rules are under Statement of Rights and Responsibilities on Facebook’s general terms.

It is important that you know that Facebook does not want explicit involvement on any contests held on its social network platform. Any business page that violates Facebook rules can be disabled permanently.

What is identified as a promotion on Facebook?

A promotion can be a sweepstake that gives a prize to a Facebook user based on chance. A promotion can be in a form of a contest or competition that gives a prize away to a winner who has won based on a skill of some sort. During a contest or competition, a judge or a group of judges vote on a winner.

No matter the type of promotion you set out to do, you will need a third party to administrate it because Facebook can not administrate any promotion for you.

Here are some do’s and don’ts of Facebook Promotions:

• You cannot select a fan at random to give away a prize because you are using Facebook to collect entries(this is illegal). You cannot contact users on Facebok in any shape or form…this includes email, chat or posting on their wall. You can not post winners on your Facebook fanpage wall.
• You can have a random winner selected and feature him or her on photo on your fanpage naming him or her the winner.
• Your fans can not directly upload photos for a contest on Facebook. A third party must have an app where fans can upload pictures. The app must not be one created by Facebook.
• You can restrict your promotions to only people that like or fan your page but the promotion must be administrated by a third party.
• Yes, you can run a promotion for a contest held on your blog but Facebook can not have any part in the contest. You can safely do this by posting a link from your blog to Facebook.

To properly and successfully conduct your Facebook Promotions, hire Adventure Web Productions.

Here at Adventure Web Productions, we provide full-service Internet development, hosting and web marketing.  We also provide traffic to your website and increase your profits by truly utilizing all the crucial social media networks. We can help get your company notice online and offline.

For professional full-service Internet development, hosting, and web marketing needs, contact Adventure Web Productions by calling (410)-788-7007 or by clicking here today!

Check us out on Facebook and Twitter as well!

Source: Facebook Promotions: What You Need To Know

You should outsource your web design, marketing and software development because these sections of your business are the lifelines of your company. To maximize your online marketing and bring in great leads, you need a good website design and your website software must effectively function.

A web design and software development firm will use expert employees to improve your business, give you more sales, and raise your return on investment. Read the following reasons why you should hire a web design and software development firm to build up your small business or Fortune 500 online and offline presence:

Leverage Your Internet Marketing

The Internet gives your company the ability to reach a large audience of potential customers and also the ability to learn what these customers are looking for in Internet marketing. Using the Internet to market your company is very cost effective based on its ability to make your website a salesperson for your company. Your website is a salesperson that is always ready to sell, if organized and arranged for top optimization. When you have a well optimized website, your business will successfully be promoted and you will increase your sales.

Expertise

When you outsource a web design and software development firm, you increase your potential to maximize your results and investment. A web design and software development firm will get the job done right the first time you ask and you do not have to be technically savvy to know your company is in the right hands. This will save you money in the long-term when you hire an expert firm to create and manage your website, as well as market your company properly on the Internet.

Focus on Your business

By outsourcing a web design and software development firm, you make more time to focus on your business development. When you have more time to focus on your business development, your company becomes more efficient because your website will give your business results. You will not need to experiment, learn, test, or manage your website. The main purpose of a web design and software development firm is to give your business the best return on investment (ROI). As long as your website is online and marketed by experts, your company will gain large returns and produce ongoing sales.

Hire a web design and software development firm today.

Here at Adventure Web Productions, we provide full-service Internet development, hosting and web marketing.  We also provide traffic to your website and increase your profits by truly utilizing all the crucial social media networks. We can help get your company notice online and offline.

The Baltimore Business Journal ranks Adventure Web Productions number 20 in the Largest Software Development Firms in Baltimore area and number 16 for Largest Web Design Firms in the Baltimore Area in The Baltimore Business Journal Book of List in 2012. The Baltimore Business Journal surveyed over 100 companies in both surveys.

For professional full-service Internet development, hosting, and web marketing needs, contact Adventure Web Productions by calling (410)-788-7007 or by clicking here today!

Check us out on Facebook and Twitter as well!

Source: 5 Reasons To Hire A Web Design Company

Make Available Tangible Corporate Literature

Be sure your business literature handed to clients, potential clients and customers mention your website address and social media accounts such as Facebook and Twitter.

Here are some great literature pieces you can insert your website and social media accounts on:

Ø Business Cards

Ø Letterhead

Ø Envelopes

Ø Faxes

Ø Invoices

Ø Emails

Insert Your Social Media Pages on Marketing Materials

Your website and your social media platforms will become the first place your customers look for information about your company, products and services. To make sure the news about your website and social media platforms are widely known, include your contact information on the following marketing materials:

Ø Brochures

Ø Newsletters

Ø Flyers

Send Out Promotional Items and Have Giveaways

Many social media users enjoy receiving free gifts. Your company can use promotional material to promote your website and brand. Here are examples of inexpensive promotional items:

ØPens

Ø Mugs

Ø Calendars

You can give these items out offline and online on your social media platforms.

Create Company Apparel

A great way to promote your company is to get yourself and other people to wear your brand. Here are promotional apparels you can use:

Ø T-Shirts

Ø Polos

Ø Hats

You can insert your company’s web address and social media platforms on the apparel. You can also have a company motto on the apparel as well.

Advertise

Be sure to place advertisement on the radio, television and online. Using these channels can be a great way to broadcast your social media presence and website to your target market.

Signage

If you provide a service that will naturally use signage, then use your signage to display your social media accounts and website. Make sure you use large lettering on the signage when displaying your social media venues. When you use signage, you give potential customers and clients the opportunity to see what type of service and products you provide. This will make them more inclined to be interested in your business and to visit your website and social media platforms to learn more about your business.

Talk that Talk

Make sure you do social networking both online and offline. Word mouth is crucial for business success. Talk about your business and website with anyone that will listen – friends, family and customers.

Spread Around Your Blog Post

Having a company blog is a great promotional tool. When you consistently make your blog informative, you will grow your reputation as being a reliable expert in your field to potential clients and customers. Be sure all postings include your website address at the end of each article. You can also send by email or print your blog post for friends.

Send Out Press Releases

When sending out press releases, be sure that your website address and social media accounts are included in the section about your company. The about the company section should be on every press release for potential customers and a resource for the media.

Include Your Online Presence on your Products

If you are a product-based company, make sure you promote your web address and social media platforms on your products. It can be on the packaging of your products or the actual product.

Start promoting your business, website and social media platforms today. With this mix of online and offline promotions, your business is on its way to reaching the full potential of your target marketing and business profitability.

Here at Adventure Web Productions, we provide traffic to your website and increase your profits by truly utilizing all the crucial social media networks!  We can help get your company notice on all the main social media platforms.

For professional full-service Internet development, hosting, and web marketing needs, contact Adventure Web Productions by calling (410)-788-7007 or by clicking here today!

Check us out on Facebook and Twitter as well!

Recent research suggests that blogging is here to stay in the business world and beyond. Just like the powerful tools of social media, blogging is steadily increasing in numbers and influence. As of December 2011 BlogPulse has discovered that there are over 178 million active blogs. In 2004, there were only 3 million blogs.

Here are the most actively used types of blogging:

Hobbyist

The hobbyist is a blogger that blogs for fun and makes no income off of blogging. This is the average consumer.

Professional Part-time

This type of blogger uses a blog to bring in extra personal income. The blogger discusses personal beliefs and talks about technology.

Professional Full-time

This is a blogger who makes a living solely from blogging. They accomplish this by doing freelance writing.

Corporate

Companies use this type of blogging to promote products and services, while assisting blog readers with tips, steps or advice.

Most bloggers are between the ages 25 to 44 years of age. They are often highly educated and self-driven individuals.

To be successful in the blogging industry you must be current and innovative. Blogs should be posted on a weekly basis to increase the potential of having a loyal following. When you do not have a blog or you do not post on a weekly basis, you are losing out on valuable search engine optimization.

What Can Blogging do for You?

A blog can help your company increase its brand value to consumers. When you blog about why your products and services are the best in your industry, bloggers will pay attention to your business. If they really enjoy your products and services, bloggers will help you promote your products and services simply because they like what you offer. It is a known fact that more than 65% of bloggers follow brands on social media and they are very loyal in support to those brands.

Blogs Build Trust

Another great reason to start a blog is that consumers trust blogs more than advertisements. Why do consumers trust blog? They trust blogs because blogs are recommended information by friends and family. In fact, consumers will trust a blog more than anything else when it comes to social networks.

Where are blogs most likely to be shared?

Most people that read blogs will predominately share the information from blogs on email and on social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.

Blogging is a great investment for your company. Start today. Adventure Web Productions is here to help you not only create a professional company blog but manage it for you.

Here at Adventure Web Productions, we provide traffic to your website and increase your profits by truly utilizing all the crucial social media networks!  We can help get your company notice on all the main social media platforms.

For professional full-service Internet development, hosting, and web marketing needs, contact Adventure Web Productions by calling (410)-788-7007 or by clicking here today!   Check us out on Facebook and Twitter as well!

Source: 7 Reasons to Rethink Your Blogging Strategy: New Research

The Power Of Social Media

Did you know that the social network Facebook was the most searched term of 2011? It is true according to a study by Experian Hitwise. See the findings of the study here .

Since more social medias are becoming the most used searched terms, this has a potential to increase your company’s leads and profits. Use the following tips below to benefit from the power of social media:

Be Yourself

When we say be yourself, we do not mean the image you only put out to the public but some of your personal side. Facebook is a great space to share some of your personal interest, hobbies and personality to potential clients, clients and customers. People on social media really like the thought of “getting to know you better”. Post business tips from your specialization to be seen as an expert in your industry. Not only will people like you for who you are as a person but they will like you for products and services that can help them resolve personal and business issues.

Put Out Your Best Work

Make sure you use your social media platforms productively and wisely. You do not want to get lost in the communication world. Make sure you well balance out your social media efforts. To do this find out where your target audience mainly interacts on, when it comes to social media platforms. When you find out the social network you have the most potential to be most successful on, create a focus on that network and put out your best work.

Make Your Facebook Fan Page A Place To Gain Leads

Facebook is an excellent place to gain leads for your company because there is a good chance your target audience will regularly interact  with you and their friends alike. A friend’s influence goes a long way.   For more social media tips that can increase your leads and profits, read this article from SocialMediaExaminer.com.

Here at Adventure Web Productions, we provide traffic to your website and increase your profits by truly utilizing all the crucial social media networks!  We can help get your company notice on all the main social media platforms.

For professional full-service Internet development, hosting, and web marketing needs, contact Adventure Web Productions by calling (410)-788-7007 or by clicking here today!   Check us out on Facebook and Twitter as well!

Friend Retweet

Retweet your friends and they will retweet(RT) your articles and advertisement. Most friends will retweet (RT) your tweets because you are a friend. Make sure the person you request to retweet (RT) your tweets is not someone you never interact with online or offline. People will also not retweet (RT) you unless they like or agree with your content. Make sure your content is not copied or unoriginal.

Retweet Button Retweets

Many Twitter users enjoy retweeting using the retweet (RT) button on Twitter. This is a great button to use because it prevents tweets from being too long and it keeps Twitter handles intact. The retweet button (RT) goes a long way because you can add comments to it to keep discussions going.

People Retweet Because the Title Sounds Cool or Informative

Make sure the titles to your content sound good and interesting. Most Twitter users tweet from their mobile devices. They are scrolling their timelines for something informative or entertaining. This is when they have the potential to retweet (RT) a tweet or more without reading the actual post. This action can spread awareness about your business because people will eventually read the content.

To learn more of the six types of retweets on Twitter that can get you discovered on Twitter, read this article from TheNickyBlog.com.

Here at Adventure Web Productions, we provide traffic to your website and increase your profits by truly utilizing all the crucial social media networks!  We can help get your company notice on Twitter and beyond!

For professional full-service Internet development, hosting, and web marketing needs, contact Adventure Web Productions by calling (410)-788-7007 or by clicking here today!

Check us out on Facebook and Twitter as well!

Having a blog can benefit you beyond search engine optimization (SEO).  Having a company blog can help increase your company’s brand reputation and consumer loyalty to your brand.

The Power of Blog Content

A blog can allow you to be known as an expert in your industry by producing content on a weekly basis. If you provide customers and potential customers with new ideas and solutions to problems, they will build loyalty and trust in your brand. It does not matter if you are a small business or a Fortune 500 company. Providing informative and engaging content is tremendously powerful tool. It is constantly seen and can be sent to anyone in the world at any time. You can display links from your blog on every social platform you have for your company.

Useful tool for Sales Presentations

A blog is a wonderful platform to use for your business development and growth because it can make your sales presentation improve. Creating one to three articles a week for a blog allows you to stay informed on new technology and trends in your industry. This gives you the opportunity to be ahead of your competition. Since you are up to date on happenings in your industry, you gain the ability to explain why your products and services are the best in the industry to provide to clients and potential clients.

You Build Genuine Trust with Consumers

When you put helpful content on your company’s blog you build trust. Once you have trust with clients and potential clients, word of mouth will travel about how great your company services and products are for customers. These leads will convert to sales. Be sure that your content is easy to understand and teaches your readers useful facts.

To learn what are the two other reasons for creating a company blog as well as how to attract both price shoppers and value shoppers read this article from SocialMediaExaminer.com.

Here at Adventure Web Productions, we provide traffic to your website and increase your profits by truly utilizing all the crucial social media networks!  We can do your company blogging for you!

For professional full-service Internet development, hosting, and web marketing needs, contact Adventure Web Productions by calling (410)-788-7007 or by clicking here today!

Check us out on Facebook and Twitter as well!