1. Know your intent. You would be surprised how many organizations kick off a website without knowing why they are doing so. It is essential you understand how your web presence will fit into your overall business model; after all, your online presence is just another channel of communication between you and your target audience.
2. Know what your competition is doing. Let’s face it; sometimes our competition is doing something right. By reviewing your competitions web presence, you can farm up creative ideas that you can embed into your online presence.
3. Determine where you want to deploy your presence online. Are you going to kick off a website and leave it at that? Do you want to embrace social media? Maybe a YouTube channel and a video series would fit your business model! Whatever the case is, you need to determine where you want to deploy your web presence and do some back ground research on these various mediums to ensure these mediums are a fit for your business.
4. Decide who will be managing your online presence. In today’s fast pace economy, people expect your web presence to be active. It is Important that the person managing your web presence has as much passion for your organization as you. If the person engaging your target audience is active but not engaged it will show through.
5. Hire a web developer and listen. Let’s face it, you can’t do everything on your own. Find a web developer your feel you can connect with and trust and listen to what they have to say. Telling the web developer what you want and not listing to what they have to say is one of the biggest mistakes many organizations make. Unlike you, the web developer understands how to leverage the web in a manner that is effective for you. Sometimes listening and letting them do what they do best will pay off tenfold in the end.

So when you go to deploy your online presence, give these five tips a thought. Please add to our list with your comments below!

It seems today that everyone is rushing into social media. Facebook pages and Twitter accounts are a must and LinkedIn is the professional network that everyone working on. If you do a Google search for “social media marketing” there is no shortage of information; but there seems to be one question that is left out, where does social media fit into your online strategy?

If you ask any good marketer what is Facebook, Twitter or any other social media network, they will reply and say it is a social media channel. The keyword to pick up here is channel. A marketing channel is a line of communication between your organization and target audience. If you are going to utilize any social media channel it is imperative that you know where it fits into in the big picture.

So what is the big picture comprised of? I think there are 3 essential elements that have to be considered when adopting a new social media channel.

1. Online Intent. Why you are online and what do you want to accomplish through the use of online mediums?
2. Online Makeup. These are the elements that comprise your online presence. For example, your website, blog and presence throughout various social networks.
3. Rationalization. How will the adoption of this new channel benefit my overall online strategy and enhance any current gaps that are currently being overlooked?

Let’s say that you are a business consultant offering organizations strategic advice towards their overall organizational design. At the present time you have embraced the internet through the use of a blog and Facebook profile, with the intent to generate industry awareness. To date you have not been getting the results you had envisioned and you are considering the adoption of a new social media channel, what channel should you focus towards?

Before embracing a new social media channel, it is important to take a few minutes out to truly understand why you are embracing the new channel and how it ties into your overall online strategy. Based on the above example, placing a focus towards Twitter and LinkedIn together may get you closer to your target audience. As you have a blog in place, it would make since to tie in Twitter and focus direct selling efforts through LinkedIn. In addition you can tie your established blog into your LinkedIn account allowing professional contacts to experience your skills and abilities first hand.

Consistency and cross-platform connection is essential to successful adoption of any new social media channel. Before we look at adopting a new social media channel for the example above, we focused on how the mediums could tie into the existing web presence and enhance the overall experience. Simply adopting a social media channel without truly understanding its benefit will not pay off.

What social media channels would you suggest for the business consultant in the example above? Please leave your comments below!

Tittle

Within the tittle introduction it is important to remember that you have about 8 seconds to get the reader’s attention and keep them engaged to read your article. The tittle should be something that engages the reader in such a way that make them feel compelled to read on or question the context of the title.

Example:

Stay up to date with Social Media!

What’s official? That can be!

Introduction

After you have caped the reader’s attention with the tittle it is important to build upon the height of interest with an action or attention grabbing statement. This is a statement that sets the tone and voice for the article to follow. It may be only be a quick statement such as “So you want to know the secret behind social media? …read on to find out!

After you have engaged the reader into the article it’s time to introduce the topic at hand. This should be done in a clear, concise statement that fits with the flow of the article.

After you have added the topic to the discussion, you may add a value statement that lets the reader know what kind of value the article will give them. This element is not a requirement but can be a nioce touch in an informative article.

Body

The body of the article is where you make or break everything. Within the body you need to remember a few key things including the following:

• The tone and voice that you have set in your opening. You need to match these metrics and ensure that you carry it through the entire article.
• Your audience. When you are writing to your audience it is important to talk in their language. If you’re talking to a group of marketers regarding social media and based on your interactions they use words such as cool and fascinating (I don’t think they do! This is for example purposes only) then you too can integrate these words into the article to make sure it fits. In addition your grammar choice and style of writing should fit the bill.
• When writing a blog you need to be fun! Dice it up, be creative and most importantly DO YOURSELF, do not copy what is out there.

Conclusion

After you have developed the body and informed the reader what they came to get you should always recap you’re thoughts to remind the reader of things they may have forgotten. This recap should be light and engaging leaving the reader with the feeling that they are happy you “mentioned that”.

In every good article there should be a call to action. The call to action may not be a call to connect with you; it might be a push to try your suggestions or to connect with a person that you have mentioned in the article. When you mention others or push people in someone else’s direction it looks good on you and will usually get you positive feedback from these sources. If the source is a lead in the industry this leverage could prove to be beneficial.

As mentioned above your call to action does not have to include connect with us statement; however, it is always a good idea to state that your open and willing to hear back from your readers, you want them to comment, tweet, Facebook it or just engage you in any way possible.

Key Points

At the end of the day it is important to remember that you’re human and so are they! You’re blogs should reflect your interest and your passion for the work and topics that you are blogging. When this comes through in your blog you are able to create an engaging article that catches the reader’s attention and creates a connection that the audience can feel.

The problem that we see with many small and medium businesses (SMBs) today is that they understand that they should have a web presence but they are not quite sure why they should have one or how to leverage it correctly. This is what we will look at today!

So why should you have an online web presence? The simple answer is because it is where people go to look for products, services and solutions before they head out to purchase them. In today’s digital economy over 58% of consumers participate in online e-commerce. Within Canada alone, over 39% of consumers participated in online e-commerce last year. With these new trends on the rise and growing, you want to ensure that you pop up where your target audience is looking.

Using your online presence effectively is where the creativity comes into play! The strategies you implement depend on the business you are in; however, there are a few things that you should always keep in mind when you are developing your online presence:

• Define your target audience. Before you can plan how your content should be written, what keywords you should consistently use to ensure good organic search engine utilization or what layout and functionality your site should have, you need to know who it is you are trying to reach.
• Locate your target audience. Once you know who it is you are targeting then you need to find them. If a new Fast and the Furious movie were to come out and the developer decided to setup a new site aside from the current site where a community has developed, do you think they will get much attention? Always remember you do not need to try and create a community, you need to know were the community is and see what you can offer up.
• Listen. Too many times do we forget to listen. If we don’t listen to what our audience is saying how will we know what we are going to offer? What lingo they are using? And the big one, what are they saying about use? Listen and then dig into the development of your site
• This may be a stage where you want to bring in a professional development firm if you feel this project is too large to take on with your current staff. Also remember that if you decide to do your research from within, analysis paralysis can become a key symptom.
• Dig in! Now that you have an understanding of your core following, who they are, were they are to, what they have to say and more importantly what you can offer up to their community, you’re ready to dig in. Start the brainstorm!
• Throughout your process to hit the web you may want to reach out to an online presence firm such as ours or a friend that knows a bit about the net. If you can get some free consultation advice to get the ball rolling and you invest a little up front to get your project research going, you can get an online presence that will deliver results up and running in no time.

We want to know what tips and tricks you may have to offer! Leave your comments below.

In today’s digital world consumers rely on the internet to provide them with the information they need for just about anything. Whether it is information regarding the latest and greatest consumer goods or a how-to on patching a hole in the wall, the internet has you covered. The trick to the internet is it’s free and accessible when you need it and it can be accessed on just about any smart phone, tablet PC or computer. This is about where marketers kick in and say “that’s why you as an organization need to have a web presence, it’s where the people are”. Although this is correct, what many organizations do not know is why the people are there, what they are looking for and why they might come across your web presence.

Why are people on the web?

When people are looking for information on patching a wall, they are looking for an accurate how-to guide that they can rely on to help them get the job done. If someone has a question they do not know the answer to they go to Google and locate an answer. Why are people on the web? They are there to locate information quickly and for free.

It is important to understand what your target audience is looking for when they are surfing the internet. If you sell plaster for instance and your website does not have any information on how to fix many of the small repairs that your average customer is going to have, then when they search online for “how to fix a hole in the wall” they are less likely to locate you.

What are people looking for?

As mentioned above, people are on the web to locate information. In the example we used the person was looking for a how-to on patching a hole in the wall. This is what they are looking for; they are looking for information to utilize your product or service.  This is a very important question to answer before your start your journey to the web.

How do people locate your website?

This is often one of the most overlooked questions when SMBs setup a web presence. They assume that just because their website is out there, their target audience will find it. In the example above we used Google as the means to locate your website. Without the proper search engine optimization (SEO) strategies integrated into your website the less likely they are to locate your website when they perform their Google search.

In addition to standard search engines, social search engines are starting to gain popularity as people search for related information on social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Google + and LinkedIn. Without knowing where your target audience is coming from, how can you ensure your target audience will find you?

Key Points & Conclusion

The key point to take away from this blog is know your target audience. If you don’t know why your target audience is on the web, what they are looking for in relation to your product or service or how they are going to land on your door step, then get your team going and see what they have to say. Never get discouraged, you’re not alone trust me.

Stay tuned, next week we will take a look at your standard website and some tips and tricks to get your target audience landing at your door!

We want to know your thoughts, leave your comments below.

Over the next few weeks we will be releasing a weekly blog that will shine light on where to start your online presence, how to operate within your new environment, how to embrace social media and end with some tips and tricks to help you manage your new and ever growing online web presence!

Throughout the week, we want to know your thoughts and questions so we can help add some meaning to our weekly blog releases. Whether you tweet at us, comment on our blog or shoot us an email, we want to know what are your biggest fears and questions are when it comes to taking the first big step to your online presence.

Stay tuned, the first weekly release will be coming soon!

PS: Don’t forget to leave your thoughts below.

With many platforms to develop an e-commerce web presence on, choosing the right solution can be difficult. Among the many options the top three e-commerce platforms used among SMBs today, consist of WordPress, Magento, OpenCart and other open-source shopping cart plugins. You will notice that Flash is not included in this list.

Flash, also known as Macromedia Flash or Adobe Flash, is a programing language that is featured on many sites today to display product showcases or product advertising movies. Flash is a multimedia language that is designed to bring movement to interactive objects such as 360 degree product tour or a movie style introduction to a website. Although Flash has evolved greatly over the years and has the capabilities to be used when developing a complete web presence, it falls short of the alternatives used for developing an e-commerce portal in many ways.

Unlike HTML and PHP (popular web programing languages used today), where you can develop many different elements into a single page, Flash is designed to develop one single interactive element. This loss in page segregation cuts down on the functionally of Flash within the e-commerce world.

As an e-commerce merchant, you want to make your web presence as interactive as possible, while maintaining a level of functionally that allows the end user to view your products in visual detail, review a brief description of the item and check feedback left behind by other end users. Flash can be used to showcase your items in a 360 degree interactive model, as mentioned above; however, without being integrated into a HTML/PHP or eCommerce portal, the remaining elements as outlined above are very difficult and time consuming to build into each product display page.

As a small or medium sized firm this can be very important, as cutting costs and creating a simple purchase experience that allows the end user to go from point A (looking for merchandise) to point B (purchasing the merchandise) without a hassle is an important goal as this can ensure repeat business and strong work of mount advertising.

With the right choice of an e-commerce portal and right mix of interactive elements such as a shopping cart, wish list, interactive product showcase and website compatibility across both computer and tablet devices, you can implement a strong web presence that will help you and your firm leverage online e-commerce successfully.

By now, everyone has heard that Google is introducing a social network of their own named Google+ (Google Plus), and if you are like me you have a few questions you would like answered, for instance,  what is it like? Is it worth the time to checking out? Can I access it on my mobile device? Keep reading to find out!

Google+ has launched what they call a field trial period. A field trial period is when a company gives access to their product/site for a small number of select users to test the product/site out. Additionally, they give these users the ability to invite people, much like what Google did when they released Gmail. We got lucky and managed to get an invite!

The Google+ home page is simple and clean as you have come to expect from Google. At this stage in the game there are no ads lighting up the sides which is a welcome change! On your home page, your stream is in the middle pane and shows you what is new within your Circles much like the Facebook news feed (more of this in a minute). On the right pane are your contacts, followed by suggested users to add as friends, Hangouts (which we explain later in this post), a link for your mobile device and a link to invite users. The left pane displays categories to refine what is displayed in your stream, followed by sparks and, as always, Google chat.

It is now a minute later so let’s talk about Circles. Circles are how Google lets you categorize your friends and contacts. You can have a friends Circle, a family Circle, or any other Circle you want to create. After creating a Circle you can add contacts to the Circle and jump into a Hangout with everyone in the Circle, hit up a chat group with the Circle or filter your stream to only show you the news from within that Circle. It really is a great way to keep in contact with your friends, business associates, and  teammates!

SPARKS! Everyone has something that “sparks” their interests. With Sparks you can add your interest to your “sparks list” and, with the click of a button, get up to date news on these interests! To test it out we added ASUS to our Sparks list. Within moments we were pages deep in rich content that kept our attention for longer than intended.

Now that you have your social Circles created, your interests Sparked and you are chatting with a few people over Google chat, you might just want to hangout and chill on Google+ for a while. So why not? Google has introduced an interactive online conferencing/chat room they call “Hangouts”. Hangouts allow you to invite a complete social circle (or only a few friends) to an online video conference, where everyone can relax, chat and do whatever they do when they Hangout! It’s a pretty cool tool for just relaxing or conducting an informal business meeting.

Oh yes, you can access Google+ on your mobile device. We tested it out on a Blackberry Bold and the Blackberry Playbook to see what that mobile version was like. Although it was pretty fun on our BlackBerries, if you have an Android phone LOOK OUT you are in for a new addiction.

Overall we think Google+ has a ton of potential that will keep you connected with your social peers online. Maybe it has what it takes to shake Facebook from their lofty perch! If you want to give it a try leave your email address below and well do what we can to share the Google+ experience!

As always we appreciate your feedback and would love to hear what you think about our new style! Please leave your comments below or email / tweet us your thoughts.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Robert Anthony & Adrian Barnes

So first things first, we all know that analytics can be tough and boring but with the right tools for the job you can harness your organizations full potential and benefit both your audience and yourself. Without further ado we present four great tools that can help you refine your social media efforts and gain success within your social media efforts!

Sprout Social

Unlike most analytical tools that bog you down with facts and figures, Sprout Social provides with the just the right refinement of information. Within Sprout Social you can monitor your Twitter feed, Facebook Fan Page, LinkedIn accounts and your Google Analytics as they relate to your social media efforts. With this great, simple to use tool at the heart of your analytical tool kit you can check how well your engaging with your audience, how well your content is getting people’s attention, an up to date social scorecard that will keep you on track, your connections made to date and much much more.

Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a powerful tool that allows you to keep track of who is really viewing your site, were they are going, were they are coming from, what content catches their attention and just about every other detail you could possibly dream up. With this great free tool you can stay connected across a variety of platforms including mobile devices. As I mentioned above, you can also tie your Google Analytics account up with Sprout Social to gain insight on how well your social media efforts are bringing people back to your website/blog.

14 Blocks

Simple, clan and powerful is the only way to sum up 14 Blocks. 14 Blocks helps you monitor when your followers are online and what time is best to blast your tweets. In addition, you can schedule your tweets in advance and let 14 Blocks determine when the best time to broadcast them is. With this great tool you can be sure to catch your audience when they are online.

Bit.ly

Bit.ly is one of the most used URL shortness on the market today. Not only can you shorten your URLs to enhance your tweets but you can track, in detail, how many people have clicked on your link, how many clicks were from you, and were people are clicking your links from. With this insight you can focus on placing your content in areas that are more likely to get noticed, creating an opportunity for you to stand out in the crowd.

With these four analytical tools, you can stay up to date with your social media efforts and follow along how successful they have been. As well you can monitor what content is catching people’s attention and follow up on any trends that start to emerge. We encourage you to check out these great analytical tools. Their support teams have been great to us over the past few months and are always eager to help in any way they can!

Feel free to contact us or comment below with anything questions or insight you may have, we are always interested in hearing from you!