Ever wonder how to use Twitter in your business?

I will be speaking and teaching this topic on Monday June 15th 2009 at the Round Table Pizza on the corner of Thurstan and Vancouver Mall Blvd.   I will be at a Networking meeting that meets there every Monday at noon.  The meeting is over at 1:00.  If you have ever wondered how to use Twitter in your business effectively then come and learn about some tools and ideas that will make it work for you.  Here is a Twitter story  taken from an article called Conversational Marketing with Twitter by Kalena Jordan

In February 2009, Utah-based Mexican restaurant chain Costa Vida sent a one-day-only offer for a free burrito to its 80 Twitter followers.  As part of the promotion, Costa Vida required customers to have an electronic coupon on their mobile phone.

The burrito was designed to test the effectiveness of leveraging social media websites like Twitter and FaceBook in brand building and driving restaurant traffic.  However, Costa Vida customers tweeted about the promotion and forwarded the offer to friends via mobile phone.  Their followers told their own followers and so on, until more than 2500 people inundated one of Costa Vida’s stores looking for their free burrito.

Want to learn how to do this for your business?

See you Monday
Dotty

Networking Groups: Do They Work?

I attend different Networking Groups (Leads Groups) each week – roughly 80% of my business comes from Word-Of-Mouth referrals generated from Networking.  Would you like to know how to “work” a Networking Group?

This Monday (June 8th 2009) from noon-1:00 pm we will be having an open meeting with a Special Guest Speaker – Ronnie Noize The Marketing Coach – everyone is welcome to attend and check out our group.  We meet at Round Table Pizza  near the Vancouver Mall – on the corner of Thurstan and Van Mall Blvd.  There is no cost to attend – if you want lunch just order from the menu.  Here is an excerpt from Ronnie’s website -

Hi, I’m Ronnie Noize, the Marketing Coach. I help small office/home office (SoHo) businesses attract more clients. And not just any clients — more GREAT clients (the kind that pay with a smile, stay as long as you have products or services they want, and refer their friends, neighbors, relatives, and colleagues until you’re so busy you raise your prices, add more staff, and start actually going on those quarterly vacations you’ve always wanted to take).

If you’re looking for help attracting more clients, and better clients, building your business, and earning more money, you’ve come to the right place.

Dotty

LinkedIn Applications make the Professional Social Network Even More Valuable

LinkedIn has added Applications to help your profile stand out in the crowd – why not use them? I am taking advantage of them on my profile – Dotty Scott

When you are signed into your LinkedIn Profile there is a navigation box on the left hand side. The bottom option says “Applications”. Clicking it will take you to a page that lists the available applications you can add to your profile.

I am using the WordPress App to link my blog to my LinkedIn Profile. This pulls the last 5 blog posts into my LinkedIn profile so people can read excerpts from my posts then click to go to my blog for more of the post. LinkedIN supports WordPress through the WordPress Application and TypePad, Movable Type, Vox, Wordpress.com, Wordpress.org, Blogger, LiveJournal and more through the BlogLink Application.

Do you have a professional PowerPoint presentation for your business? Are you an Artist that would like to display a portfolio? There is an App for embedding a PowerPoint Presentation, Word Documant, or PDF file into your Profile. It is called SlideShare Presentations.

Google Presentation is another Application that will like any Google App presentation you have for your business into your LinkedIN Profile. It can:

• Showcase a recent talk or presentation.
• Display a visual portfolio of your professional accomplishments.
• Introduce yourself to recruiters and professional contacts viewing your profile

Are you reading any really great business books? Share them with Reading List by Amazon.

Would you like to create a Poll to gather data for a business presentation? Add the application called Polls.

There are 10 different business related applications that LinkedIN provides to create a really professional and very unique profile that can greatly benefit the exposure your business gets from the Internet. By not taking advantage of these free tools you are letting your competition get ahead of your business. Who wants to do that?

Dotty

Networking Groups

I have built my business from nothing to extremely busy by using Networking Groups.  It took more than 60 days (kudos to your Ronnie!) but it is very doable for anyone with persistence. The main local group I use is i Take The Lead – I also attend many free groups and events.  My group is having a guest speaker tomorrow – Abigail from Straight Edge Solutions – she has many innovative marketing ideas.  I always take something helpful for my business away when I listen to Abigail.

For my local readers – I invite you to come and hear Abigail as well as check out the possibility of advancing your business through Networking Groups tomorrow morning.  We meet at Sheri’s near Vancouver Mall – It is next to Azteca.  The meeting is from 7:30 to 8:30 am – take an hour out of your morning and learn how to build your customers and client base.  80% of my business comes form groups like this one.

Testing how Flock will post from the Flock editor

Niche Marketing Really Works

There are 6 easy steps to market online to a specific niche.

1. Define your niche and their needs
2. Talk the language of your niche
3. “Hang out” where your niche is on the Internet
4. Create content targeted towards your niche
5. Post content on the Internet and link it to your services, products, website
6. Be consistent and as your content grows so will your traffic

Let’s look at each of these  steps a little closer.

Define Your Niche and Their Needs

Many business owners fail to completely define their niche.  Some fail to recognise they even have a niche.  Marketing to everyone that breaths will get your company to broke very fast.  Look at your top clients, what do they have in common?  Analyse your business and determine what type of client you really want to work with – then define the niche a little more.  Choose from the “cream of the crop” and go after more of your very best clients.  While you are defining who your niche are, remember to note their needs and be sure your business is offering services or products that these people are actually looking for.  A prime example is a supplement distributor deciding that everyone needs their products.  While everyone could improve their health – not everyone cares to try.  Finding people that are already thinking healthy is a step in the right direction.  Then narrow it down to people that are actively seeking advice or are searching for an answer to a problem.  Forget about everyone else – they will come to you when the time is right for them.

Talk the Language of Your Niche

Don’t talk over peoples heads.  Use the language that people in your target market are already using – even if you have to “dummy down” and speak to them directly.  People are comfortable in their own little worlds – don’t make them feel they have to get out a dictionary to understand what you are saying.  If your niche are technical people then use the vocabulary that works for them.

Hang Out Where Your Niche Is On the Internet

Discover where your niche hangs out on the Internet, then join those Social Sites.  My niche is Small Business Owners and the leading site I use is LinkedIn.  There are so many different Social Sites on the Internet and every industry seems to have sites that cater to them specifically.  Search Google until you find where your target market is socializing and hanging out;  then join that site and get to know people and let people get to know you.  Do not go in spamming or pushing your services.  Social Networking online is just like social networking offline.  I would never go into a crowded room of people and start to sell my products to everyone.  It is rude and a very easy way to get banned from the site.

Create Content Targeted Towards Your Niche and Post it on the Internet

This is the most important step.  Find out what your target market is searching for then create content with those keywords.  Flood the Internet with your content so when a potential client searches, your content comes up high in Google and they get the answer to their question from you.  Make sure all your content is linked to more of your content and to your blog/website.  If you are selling something then link your content to the exact page where the potential customer will find the product or service that will solve their problem.  Do not make them hunt it down – they will just go to somewhere easier.  If your niche likes to watch video and listen via podcasts then make sure you are offering them a content format that they want and are used to.  Not everyone like to read!

Be Consistent and as Your Content Grows So Will Your Traffic

Don’t feel like you need to spend hours on this every day.  Do what you can do and be consistent.  I know people that block out 1 hour per week to work on Internet Marketing.  I know others that do something every day.  Find what works for you and then commit to doing it on schedule.  Over time your content will grow and links to your site will grow.  This will make your traffic grow and sales increase.  This is not an overnight success plan – it is a slow and proven plan to get traffic to your site.  The more you can commit to content the faster you will get results.

I often get asked by business owners about Online marketing strategies. Many of my customers find information about MLM or Network Marketing when searching in Google for Online Marketing Strategies, and then ask me what a “real” business needs to be doing to drive Online traffic.

I am here to tell you – the 2 business models have no difference when it comes to Online marketing.
Here is a marketing strategy that I use in my business.

• Write a Blog post
• Create an article
• Go to www.Hellotxt.com and make an update
• Bookmark your blog post
• Create a Squidoo and Hubpage on a similar topic

When you create your Blog post keep in mind that people generally skim blogs and remember to keep the post brief. Be sure to include lists and headings to make the post easier to read / skim. This also gives you an outline for a more in depth article for either EzineArticles, Squidoo, and Hubpages. After completing your post/articles go to HelloTxt.com and make an update referencing your post. This will send your message throughout the social sites that you participate in. Bookmarking your posts is best accomplished by participating in a Digg or Del.i.ous group so that you are not bookmarking (spamming) your own content. Bookmarking sites frown upon listing your own content and you risk the site deleting you account if you get caught bookmarking your own content.

All of these steps will help to drive traffic to your website or blog and it will also get more of your content listed in Google when people are searching for your topic. Be sure to do some deep linking to more of your content as well as relevant content produced by friends/colleagues.

Dotty

Why do I want to Advertise on the Internet?

I often get business owners asking, “Why should I have my business on the Internet?” There are many reasons but the most important reason is your bottom line. Weigh the cost of Phone Book Advertising, Magazine, TV or Radio Advertising against the cost of having a website. The Return on Investment is mush higher with a website and Internet Advertising.

More and more people are turning to the Internet to find services instead of having bulky phone books. According to Internet World Stats  73% of all North American citizens use the Internet. ABC News conducted a survey of online users – 47% of Internet users make purchases online. If 73% of your customers are using the Internet to get information and make purchasing decisions, and 47% are actually making purchases, then you need to be represented on the Internet.

Companies that do well with local search results are service based industries. With people moving into metro areas they need to find new service providers and are turning to the Internet to find and compare services that are available in their new location.

Two Types of Internet Advertising

The first type is paid advertising through a company like Google. Google’s paid advertising is called AdWords and is known as Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising. The concept is simple – you define your best keywords (through keyword research) then bid on the keyword phrase. When someone types in your chosen keyword phrase then your website will come up in the listings for that customer to click on and go to your site. The cost of this type of advertising is industry specific meaning that is varies by industry.  Keywords can sell for pennies or well over $50.00 per click.  For business targeting the local market it is possible to take a costly keyword like “Web Design” and put a city or area behind it and get a much better price on the keyword. 

The second type of Internet advertising is called Organic placement – these are the sites that are listed in the main area of the search results page. The goal is to get placed in the top half of the first page. There are many variables that come into play for the search engine to decide who gets prime placement. It is all based upon relevancy of the phrase typed in by the searcher to the websites listed. Some factors are:

• Keywords in the title of the website
• Keywords in header tags
• Keywords listed in the text of the page
• Keywords in the URL
• Keywords bolded or emphasized on the page
• The Keywords in the text of inbound links
• How many inbound links
• The PageRank of sites that are linking to your site

That is a short list of considerations made by the search algorithms – but all of those items are in control of the owner of the website.  They should all be taken into consideration when optimizing your site for organic placement in the search engines.  This is called SEO (Search Engine Optimization).

Dotty

To bad people don’t treat their businesses like Bailey treats the snow. There are many lessons to be learned from this wonderful video.

Here’s to a new year  – attack your marketing head first and take a leap of faith that all will work out fine!

Dotty

     To Participate or Not To Participate?

The average business owner is very confused when it comes to Online Marketing. Many see no purpose for Social Sites as they relate to business. I am here to dispel several myths about Social Networking. Here is a list of what people have told me –

• What is the purpose?
• They are too hard to set up
• They are overwhelming
• Social Sites waste my time and fill up my email

I am an avid believer in Networking – both in person and Online. Networking (and sales) is all about building a relationship with your potential clients or power partners. The purpose of Online networking is to build trust and to become the authority in your area of expertise. It also builds links pointing back to your website (if you don’t have a website then you need to get one). People buy from people they know and trust. How would anybody that finds your website on the Internet ever know and trust you? By participating in Social Sites people do get to know you and understand your business philosophy.

Social Sites are not hard to set up or maintain.

Here is how I do it. I created a new email address – you could use Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo, or a different business email. Create a Word document that has your biographical information – everything from your name to a bio on yourself and a paragraph or two about your business. Have a current photo of yourself (or your logo) stored in an easily accessible file on your computer. When you set up a new profile just copy and paste from the Word document and upload your photo. It is that easy!All correspondence will go to your Social Networking email address that you can check on YOUR schedule – once a day or once a week or once a month – it is up to you. By managing your activity through a different email there is no “wasting” of time or weeding through emails to get to your business email. These steps will take away the feeling of being overwhelmed.

There are a few Social Sites that I recommend every business owner uses. They are:

• LinkedIn.com
• FaceBook.com
• Twitter.com
• BetterNetworker.com

Every industry will have a Social Site that is unique to them. These sites are important to use to keep up to date on all the changes in your industry. The ones listed above are important for every industry. I will give a brief overview of each of these sites.

1. LinkedIn– This is a Networking site of Professionals. It is like an online resume (if you fill out the entire profile). They also have applications you can add to your profile that will turn LinkedIn into an interactive site. You can post PowerPoint presentations, share files with your network or training group. By activating the different applications you can turn your profile into a training area, an online portfolio, or an up-to-date place to find stocks, current news, etc.
2. FaceBookis a great place to start special interest groups in your niche market. FaceBook also allows you to pull other content you might have on the Internet into one place. For example if you have videos posted on YouTube you can embed them into your FaceBook account. PowerPoint presentations, HubPages, Squidoo Lens, and just about any other content that is in your business market can be added to your FaceBook account. This truly can be a one-stop shop for your business if you set it up correctly.
3. Twittercan be used to draw people to your website. It can also be interactive with your Blog and FaceBook account. By updating your Twitter status you can update your Blog and FaceBook status at the same time – a great time saver. I use Twitter to post links to new Blog posts or new content I have put up on the Internet. I also use it to pass along positive messages or business related messages to anyone “following” me or in my other Social Networks.
4. BetterNetworkeris a relatively new Social Networking site. Its main focus is the Network Marketing Industry. It is a business training site for Network Marketers. One might ask why I joined since I am not in Network Marketing and I do not have an MLM business. The skill set needed to be successful in business is the same for a brick and mortar type business or an MLM type business. BetterNetworker.com has many awesome training articles and some very thought provoking ideas for your business. If you are one that likes to “give back” to the business community this is a great place to post training articles, videos, and participate in the community.

What Good things have come from my Social Networking efforts?

I have gained new clients, gained Power Partners, and I know people that have landed a dream job from participating in Social Sites. I get traffic to my main website from all my Social Marketing efforts. Just this week I received a phone call from someone in California that wanted to talk with me about my business after reading a response I posted to a forum topic he was reading. This person gave me the opportunity to help him with a problem he had with his business and I gained a new client. It took me 3 min to post the comment and I gained $500.00 profit. This is a client that I would have never met if I did not participate in BetterNetworker.com.

If you are already participating in an Online community then congratulations and keep up the good work. If you are not then you need to start. More and more of my business is coming to me from Internet Marketing – every business owner needs to move into the 21^st century and get Online – it is the future of marketing.

Own the Day

Dotty