Oops: Watch What You Tweet</h1> <article> <h1>Oops: Watch What You Tweet</h1> <p>Thu, 23 May 2013 12:10:00 GMT</p> <p><strong>[Guest Blogger: Megan Totka]</strong></p> <p><a href="http://www.chamberofcommerce.com/business-advice/internet/twitter-unraveled-2802/">Twitter is a great platform for so many things</a>. We have seen so many breaking news stories, funny videos, and political actions go viral with Twitter, it’s really pretty amazing. I think many people are wising up to the fact that Twitter, along with several other social networks, is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to sharing information. Social media has opened up a world of instant communication that has proven to be beneficial for a great many people.</p> <p>But (there’s always a but, right?) there’s danger in that instant communication, also. Whether you <a href="http://www.grmwebsite.com/blog/bid/82791/How-to-Market-Yourself-Using-Social-Media-and-the-Internet">use Twitter to market yourself</a> or for business, it’s vital to filter what you post just the slightest bit. While social networks are designed to give you the ability to share pretty much whatever you want, whenever you want, it can still be dangerous if you’re not careful.</p> <p>We’ve seen many stories in recent years about unwanted information posted on Facebook, unflattering or raunchy videos posted on YouTube, and Tweets that were shot off without the user considering what the consequences might be. A relatively recent story sparked my interest when it comes to this topic.</p> <p>A <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/03/25/adria-richards-fired-donglegate_n_2948161.html">tech employee named Adria Richards</a> was irritated by a few men behind her making what she considered sexist and vulgar comments during the PyCon developer’s conference that she was attending. Richards did what a lot of us who are active in the social media world would do – she called them out over Twitter. She took their picture and tweeted the topic of their conversation out to her followers. No big deal, right?</p> <p>Wrong. Richards was fired from her company for her comments. While it may not seem offensive to many people, the company that she worked for, SendGrid, didn’t approve of how she reported what she saw as misconduct from her fellow conference-goers.</p> <p>So is the lesson here that you need to censor yourself when it comes to posting on social networks? I think the answer is yes, sometimes you do. Richards might have been better off confronting the men herself and letting them know that she didn’t appreciate their comments. Or simply ignored it, assuming that the developers making the comments were jealous of her success, or even just choosing to be childish because they were bored.</p> <p>One thing is clear though; with the ever-growing popularity of social networking, it is important to remember that anything that you put out there is likely to be seen by many people, and you can’t control who those people are. Perhaps we need a slogan – “Think before you Tweet.” Has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?</p> <p><a href="http://venturebeat.com/2011/08/01/topify-twitter-api/">(Photo Source)</a></p> <p><em>Megan Totka is the Chief Editor for </em><a href="http://www.chamberofcommerce.com/"><em>ChamberofCommerce.com</em></a><em>. She specializes on the topic of small business tips and resources. ChamberofCommerce.com helps small businesses grow their business on the web and facilitates connectivity between local businesses and more than 7,000 Chambers of Commerce worldwide. </em></p> </article> <article> <h1>#ThrowbackThursday: VHS Tapes, and other Miscellaneous Antiques</h1> <p>Thu, 16 May 2013 17:35:00 GMT</p> <p><strong>[By Emily Carter] </strong></p> <p> </p> <p><a href="http://www.grmwebsite.com/inbound-marketing/" title="Marketing" target="_self">Marketing</a> tactics mimic real life in that as time goes on, certain items are sent into obsoletion. Pick an industry - any industry! - and this is proven to be true. Today we'll focus on the film industry.</p> <p>The <a href="http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/historyonline/film_chron.cfm" title="history of the film industry" target="_blank">history of the film industry</a> is detailed, as you can imagine. Why such a tapestry of history? Because things change, and they change quickly. Every few years, there is another innovation that changed the face of entertainment. Moving pictures at one point were groundbreaking. Fast forward through the years, and we see VHS tapes, DVDs, Blu Ray, 3D films and more. Twenty years ago, I doubt we would have predicted that we'd one day be able to stream a full length movie over the internet. </p> <p>It's important to stay current, in real life and in your marketing efforts. Don't waste your time trying to make a strategy that worked ten years ago effective in 2013. Like the film industry, the marketing industry has changed and will continue to evolve as new innovations are introduced to us. Yesterday, at <a href="http://techland.time.com/2013/05/15/google-io-2013-cleaning-up-the-mess-filling-in-the-gaps/" title="Google's I/O conference" target="_blank">Google's I/O conference</a>, the company announced even more innovation in the tech industry. As these changes happen, marketing will be changing too. Stay tuned - we at <a href="http://www.grmwebsite.com/about-us/our-process/" title="Grass Roots Marketing" target="_self">Grass Roots Marketing</a> will make it our priority to help you learn about everything that comes down the pike! </p> <p></p> </article> <article> <h1>#ThrowbackThursday: Radio Advertising</h1> <p>Thu, 09 May 2013 20:29:00 GMT</p> <p><b>[By Emily Carter] </b></p> <p> </p> <p>According to <a href="http://cdn2.hubspot.net/hub/53/blog/docs/ebooks/120-marketing-stats-charts-and-graphs.pdf" title="HubSpot" target="_blank">HubSpot</a>, the average consumer is now skipping over advertisements, and they have the means to do it. Outbound marketing efforts like radio ads are so shouty and annoying, don't you think? I mean, I barely listen to them at all anymore. Between my CD Player, iPod, Sirius radio and Pandora, I can totally avoid ads.</p> <p>Not only that, but the Internet makes it so much easier to totally customize the music I want to hear. I frequent Spotify at work because of the playlists I've assembled, and in my car and at home, Pandora is my go-to. I can't remember the last time I actually heard a radio advertisement. I automatically flip through my presets when commercials come on, when I actually do listen to traditional radio. </p> <p>If you pay for radio ads, where's the proof that anyone is hearing what you're announcing? Sending your nice little ads out over the airwaves can be like sending your message into a black hole. An expensive black hole. After awhile you get a little...<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jySUpMqmzd4" title="comfortably numb" target="_blank">comfortably numb</a>, don'tcha think? </p> <p></p> </article> <article> <h1>Grass Roots Continues to Bloom with April Staff Additions</h1> <p>Wed, 08 May 2013 17:06:00 GMT</p>  <pre style="text-align: left;"><strong><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE </span></strong></pre> <pre class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><strong><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">Date: May 8, 2013</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';"></span></strong></pre> <pre class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><strong><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">Contact: Tony Popowski, Manager of Public Relations</span></strong></pre> <pre style="text-align: left;"><strong><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">Email: <a href="mailto:tony@grootsmarketing.com">tony@grootsmarketing.com</a> </span></strong></pre> <pre class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><strong><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">Office: 732-380-8400<br><br></span></strong></pre> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">Grass Roots Marketing Adds Two New Members,</span></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><b><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">Creates Business Divisions in Response to Growth</span></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; color: black;">SHREWSBURY, NJ </span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">– <a href="http://www.grmwebsite.com/">Grass Roots Marketing, Inc. (GRM)</a>, an inbound marketing company based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, announces the addition of new staff members Rachel Sharkey and Kelly Shepsko. Sharkey will serve as a Graphic Designer for GRM and Shepsko as Social Media Manager. The professionals have more than 12 years of collective marketing experience. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">Sharkey and Shepsko were hired in response to GRM’s continued growth.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';"> “As companies look for new ways to enhance brand awareness, increase leads and <a href="http://www.grmwebsite.com/services/" title="drive new sales" target="_self">drive new sales</a>, businesses are rapidly embracing the inbound marketing philosophy. The recognized results and cost-effectiveness of an inbound marketing approach has led to numerous new clients for our company and expanded contracts from our current clients. The addition of Rachel and Kelly will helps us be better equipped to address the specific needs of our clients,” says Frank Wyckoff, President of GRM. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">Inbound marketing is a methodology based on attracting qualified leads to a company’s engaging and content-rich <a href="http://www.grmwebsite.com/website/">website</a>. An inbound program uses <a href="http://www.grmwebsite.com/seo/">search engine optimization</a> (SEO) techniques, <a href="http://www.grmwebsite.com/social-media/">social media</a>, <a href="http://www.grmwebsite.com/blog">blogging</a>, <a href="http://www.grmwebsite.com/email-marketing/">email marketing</a> and <a href="http://www.grmwebsite.com/public-relations/">public relations</a> to collectively support a company’s website which is designed to nurture leads and convert visitors into customers. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">In today’s te</span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">chnology-dominant economy, studies show that more than 70 percent of the sales process now occurs online. 85 percent of online users cite a company’s website as a factor in their purchasing decision.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">Sharkey comes to the GRM team after serving as a Graphic Designer in the non-profit sector. With GRM, she will be responsible for <a href="http://www.grmwebsite.com/websitesamples/" title="website design" target="_self">website design</a>, social media platforms, sales collateral and various marketing materials for GRM’s small business accounts. Sharkey also has professional photography and video experience and will provide these services as new offerings for GRM’s clients.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">Shepsko joins GRM </span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">after a role as Social Media & Public Relations Specialist with a New Jersey-based social media marketing company. As GRM’s Social Media Manager, she will oversee the <a href="http://www.grmwebsite.com/socialmediasamples/" title="social media strategy" target="_self">social media strategy</a> and implementation of GRM’s small business accounts. Shepsko will also support copy writing projects and SEO initiatives.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">“We are very excited to add Rachel and Kelly. They are experts in their fields and are great for our company’s culture. We are very confident they are going to be a terrific addition to our team and help us bring tremendous value to our clients,” adds Koleen Singerline, Senior Vice President of GRM.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">For more informa</span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">tion about GRM and inbound marketing, please visit <a href="http://www.grmwebsite.com">www.grmwebsite.com</a> or call 732-380-8400.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-no-proof: yes;"></span></b><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';"></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><em><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">Ra</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">chel Sha</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">rkey, </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">pictured a</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">bove</span></em></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-no-proof: yes;"><br></span></b><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';"></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><em><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">Kelly Shepsko, pictured above</span></em></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><em><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';"></span></em></p> <p class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="text-indent: 0in; line-height: normal; text-align: center;" align="center"><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">About Grass Roots Marketing, Inc. (GRM)</span></span></em></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><em><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">GRM consists of HubSpot Certified professionals and provides inbound marketing programs for Manufacturing Extension Partnerships (MEPs), manufacturers, consultants, non-profits, environmental services agencies, staffing firms and organizations from numerous fields. Enhance brand awareness and drive sales by attracting qualified leads to your website through search engine optimization (SEO) techniques, e-mail marketing, public relations, social media and blogging. For more information about GRM, please visit <a href="http://www.grmwebsite.com/">www.grmwebsite.com</a> or call 732-380-8400.</span></em></p> <p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><em><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-weight: normal;"> </span></em></p> <p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-weight: normal;">###</span></em></p> <b><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; color: black;"></span></b><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; color: black;"></span> </article> <article> <h1>A Facebook Fan is Worth What??</h1> <p>Fri, 03 May 2013 14:30:00 GMT</p> <p><strong>[Guest Blogger: Megan Totka]</strong></p> <p><strong></strong>As business people, we all know that the number of Facebook fans we have can absolutely influence brand popularity and sales. Many businesses choose to focus a majority of their social media marketing efforts on the ever-growing social giant. Facebook has made a huge impact on our business landscape, it’s undeniable. If you’re not using Facebook, then you’re falling behind and you should refer to these <a href="http://www.grmwebsite.com/blog/bid/69637/10-Tips-for-Marketing-Your-Company-Facebook-Page">10 tips for marketing your company Facebook page</a>. </p> <p>But until now, I had never seen the worth of a Facebook fan presented in a quantifiable way. Most of the time, we just talk about more fans equaling more people seeing our brands. But <a href="http://mashable.com/2013/04/17/facebook-fan-value-researcher/">an article published by Mashable</a> presents a study that actually gives a dollar amount to each Facebook fan that a business has.</p> <p>Syncapse, a social media marketing firm, teamed up with research company Hotspex to collect data from 2,000 U.S. citizens in January/February. The survey and corresponding results covered things such as whether or not they were the fan of a particular brand on Facebook, what their spending on that brand was, how likely they were to recommend the brand, cost of fan acquisition, and a few others.</p> <p>The average value of a Facebook fan is $174. While that may not seem like a huge number, it really is quite significant when it comes to a fan vs. a non-fan. Considering that becoming a Facebook fan is free and easy, this jump in spending when someone joins a fan page is quite impressive. The $174 number is merely an average, an article published on Mashable shows a bar graph of the study results for 20 brands. For some of them, the number is much higher, with the highest value fan being one for the BMW Corporation. A BMW Facebook fan is valued at $1613 over a non-fan. That’s huge.</p> <p>My only question about the study is if the researchers thought about all of the ways that people become fans of pages for businesses that they like. I’m not sure the numbers would always be accurate, if they only consider people who fan the business page and subsequently become customers. I actually went to a small, locally owned grocery store today that I frequent about once a week. I also just noticed today that they have a Facebook fan page, so when I got home from the store, I became a fan of the page. Would a study like this allow for people who are already customers and then become fans? Because I am not going to spend more money than I did previously at this particular store, just because I became a fan.</p> <p>Overall, this study does show, to me at least, that having social media fans/followers is going to help your business, period, end of story. Businesses should <a href="http://www.chamberofcommerce.com/business-advice/marketing/5-ways-to-help-your-small-business-get-the-most-out-of-facebook-5083/">make the most out of their Facebook pages</a> – if they do, they’ll see good results. Yes, some negativity may present itself on your page (happens to us all) but the increased worth of people who are fans of your page will make any headaches that appear worthwhile.</p> <p><em>Megan Totka is the Chief Editor for </em><a href="http://www.chamberofcommerce.com/"><em>ChamberofCommerce.com</em></a><em>. She specializes on the topic of small business tips and resources. ChamberofCommerce.com helps small businesses grow their business on the web and facilitates connectivity between local businesses and more than 7,000 Chambers of Commerce worldwide. </em></p> <p> </p> </article> <article> <h1>#ThrowbackThursday: The Trusty Road Map</h1> <p>Thu, 02 May 2013 22:14:00 GMT</p> <p><strong>[By Emily Carter]</strong></p> <p> </p> <p><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_ILDFp5DGA" title="Hello" target="_blank">Hello</a>...Is it [my business] you're looking for?</p> <p>Today we rely on geotagging for everything. Our phones can find our location and help us out of a sticky situation. Google places pinpoints to the tenth of a mile the location of a business or home you are looking for. But it wasn't always like that - remember paper maps? </p> <p>In my family, we had a road atlas in each of our family cars. All 50 states, nicely laid out in a Rand McNally book that we could flip to quickly to try to find ourselves. My brother was the navigator - a job given to the person in the front seat, and he was especially good at figuring out where we were and what direction we were headed. Me? I was never very concerned with how lost I was. Luckily for me, GPS now exists. </p> <p>Today, the Internet and geotagging makes it so easy to get found. We can recycle those old Rand McNally pages - for good.</p> <p></p> </article> <article> <h1>#ThrowbackThursday: I Heard It On My Telegraph! Said No One Ever.</h1> <p>Thu, 25 Apr 2013 20:44:00 GMT</p> <p><strong>[By Emily Carter] </strong></p> <p>In 1836, Morse code was developed to be the pulse of communication. The system sent pulses of electric current through wires which controlled an electromagnet. That electromagnet was located at the receiving end of a telegraph and would leave marks on a piece of moving tape as electric current pulsed through it. Morse Code was meant to translate the indentations in the tape into actual text.</p> <p>Morse code was used extensively in the 1890s for radio communication, before transmitted voice was possible. When the first airplane flight from California to Australia was made in the 1930s, the crew communicaed with ground stations by radio telegraph and Morse code. Iceberg warnings were sent to (and ignored by) the Titanic. Civilian and military pilots relied on Morse code in the early 1900s, and Morse code was vital during World War II. It was used as an international standard for maritime communication until 1999. If there was important news to be told in the 1900s, it was probably transmitted through dots and dashes. </p> <p>Whew. Thank you <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morse_code#Development_and_history" title="Wikipedia" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a> for that history lesson. </p> <p>Ask yourself this question: How did you learn about the most important events that have happened in the past 2 years? I first learned of the Boston Bombings, Osama Bin Laden's death and the blackout at this year's Superbowl all from Twitter (among other important news stories). Depending on your level of social media investment, you may answer this question with a variety of answers, including but not limited to: online news, television, Facebook, a text message, phone call or word of mouth. I can bet you probably weren't notified of these types of events by a printed source - information travels faster than printers do these days. </p> <p>-... . - / -.-- --- ..- / -.. --- -. .----. - / -.- -. --- .-- / .-- .... .- - / - .... .. ... / ... .- -.-- ...</p> <p>How do you hear your news? Leave us a comment and let us know. </p> <p></p> </article> <article> <h1>#ThrowbackThursday: Snail Mail as a Marketing Communications Channel</h1> <p>Thu, 18 Apr 2013 17:17:00 GMT</p> <p><strong>[By Emily Carter] </strong></p> <p>Communication used to happen at a snail's pace before the Internet. Relaying your message to others was different when email didn't exist. I had a few pen pals when I was little. I thought getting mail was the best thing ever. I'd write something on a Sunday, and knew that the person I was writing to would get the message in about four days and <strong>maybe just maybe </strong>I'd hear a reply in two weeks or so. The same applies to business - before the Internet, businesses had to communicate through broadcast channels. This included direct mail and advertising through media like television, radio and fax.</p> <p>Now, society is all about instant gratification. If I send an email and don't hear back within an hour or two, it's unusual. Why would we write out a message and mail it or fax it to people when one creative email blast can effectively reach thousands of people within minutes?</p> <p>Besides the speed and ease of email, Email Marketing is effective because of its ability to interact with the reader. Knowing that the person we are communicating with can click to news, stories, downloadables, social media accounts and more creates an interactive platform for communication. </p> <p>Walter still hasn't really gotten the memo about snail mail. Someone care to fill him in? </p> <p></p> </article> <article> <h1>Know Your Brand's Unique Marketing Message</h1> <p>Fri, 12 Apr 2013 20:59:00 GMT</p> <p><strong>[By Emily Carter] </strong></p> <p>Last weekend, my friends and I went on a long weekend trip to Las Vegas. It was a great trip full of awesome food and perfect 80+ degree weather (And to all of the tri-state area who got to enjoy 80 degree weather this past Tuesday, YOU'RE WELCOME for bringing that weather back with me). There are so many quintessential pictures in my mind of "Vegas" things - Elvis, showgirls and gambling are just a few. There's also the one we all know and have probably said before - "What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas." Prince Harry of course, learned the hard way that this doesn't always happen. </p> <p>On the way home from Vegas, I realized that the marketing message that the city of Las Vegas broadcasts to the world is much different than most brands. Instead of wanting the goings-on of Vegas splattered across the world, they entice people to come to their city by saying that anything goes, and no one will talk about it. I mean, who actually markets themselves by saying "don't tell anyone what happens here or you'll be a big jerk"? <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vweh-bYiTMs" title="See this commercial" target="_blank">See this commercial</a> for further explanation. </p> <p>This message wouldn't work for everyone, but it definitely works for Sin City. Finding their unique brand message has paid off well for Las Vegas, and it will for your brand too.</p> <p>Rather than mimicking the marketing tactics of most businesses, develop a marketing plan that will speak to the people you are talking to. For example, don't create an account for every Social Media platform that exists in this world. Really stop to take the time to think about where your customers are socializing, and develop a presence there. Are they crafty people? Create a Pinterest account. Do they speak frequently about hot topics? Head over to Twitter. </p> <p>Las Vegas' marketing message is also effective because it's enticing. Their slogan isn't "Las Vegas! Where a bunch of sin and gambling and drinking and shopping and eating happens!" They don't shout at you all of the things they can do for you. Think of how to portray your marketing message in an inbound way. Draw your customers into you, and be available to answer their questions. </p> <p>If you're wondering where to start in developing an inbound marketing plan of your own, Grass Roots Marketing can help. Use our free <a href="http://www.grmwebsite.com/marketinggrader/" title="Marketing Grader" target="_self">Marketing Grader</a> and let us know where you're stuck.</p> </article> <article> <h1>#ThrowbackThursday: In Remembrance of "That Guy"</h1> <p>Thu, 11 Apr 2013 19:32:00 GMT</p> <p><strong>[By Emily Carter] </strong></p> <p>Door-to-door salesmen are the semi-relative of Cold Callers. Their jobs are to stalk your life and convince you to buy their fancy widgets. Door-to-door'ers are also affectionately known for "hawking", "canvasing", "peddling", "begging" and "solicitation" - words that <strong>I'm sure</strong> bring up a positive connotation. In fact, some communities in the U.S. attempted to ban door-to-door salesmen altogether. Nowadays, it's rare to have one appear on your doorstep. Why the extinction?</p> <p>Door-to-door sales is a form of <strong><a href="http://www.grmwebsite.com/sales-then-vs-now/" title="outbound marketing" target="_self">outbound marketing</a>. </strong>People just aren't open and willing anymore to listen to you talk about yourself. If they want to purchase your widgets, you better believe they will be using the Internet to find it on their own. While they're at it, they will be reading reviews online and consulting with their friends, probably on Social Media, about which widget to buy. The flow of information has definitely changed, my friend. Door-to-door salesmen don't exist anymore because they are "that guy" that no one wants to talk to. </p> <p> Door-to-door salesmen are like the Andy Dick of the marketing world. No one wants to be around Andy Dick. </p> </article> <article> <h1>#ThrowbackThursday: Direct Mail...Before It Was Garbage</h1> <p>Thu, 04 Apr 2013 17:38:00 GMT</p> <p><strong>[By Emily Carter] </strong></p> <p>There was a time in my faint memory (back before it was prudent to recycle, before the Internet was the easiest form of communication and when the Postal Service couldn't fathom a day where they weren't needed on a Saturday) when I actually read the direct mail I received. Coupons?! SCORE. </p> <p>Today we use direct mail for a number of things, but the last thing we usually do is read them. We use them to start our fires, we shred them, we throw them out or let our hamsters use them as toilet paper. Sometimes I use them as scrap paper (if there's any white space on them) or just send them straight into the recycling bin. </p> <p>Not only is direct mail an outbound marketing technique (something <a href="http://www.grmwebsite.com/sales-then-vs-now/" title="we're sure we've convinced you" target="_self">we're sure we've convinced you</a> is outdated), but it's expensive. Think about all those wasted marketing dollars, sitting underneath MC Hamster's feet. </p> <p>Now, there are so many marketing programs that are <strong>better. </strong>Take your pick - <a href="http://www.grmwebsite.com/socialmediasamples/" title="Social Media" target="_self">Social Media</a> accounts, EBooks, White Papers, Infographics, a sweet <a href="http://www.grmwebsite.com/website/" title="Website" target="_self">Website</a>, <a href="http://www.grmwebsite.com/email-marketing/" title="Email Marketing" target="_self">Email Marketing</a> - all of these marketing techniques are much more successful in 2013. </p> <p>Please, we're begging you - give your mailman a break. He's hurting!</p> </article> <article> <h1>#ThrowbackThursday: Before Google, There Was the Dewey Decimal System</h1> <p>Thu, 28 Mar 2013 14:03:00 GMT</p> <p><strong>[By Emily Carter] </strong></p> <p>Before Search Engines like Google, Yahoo! and Bing became a way of life for the everyday person, it was a lot more difficult to research things. As someone who graduated from college not too long ago, my research techniques for projects in school drastically shifted from middle school through high school and college. I bet that most of you remember looking up topics in encyclopedias or dictionaries. There was no "fast answer" to tricky questions - a person usually consulted a card catalog or a librarian to assist in uncovering the truth about ancient civilizations or metric conversions. </p> <p>In the days of old (you know, pre-Internet), ideas were organized a by topic, title and author...in books...in libraries. The Dewey Decimal System categorized topics to assist in quickly finding what you were searching for. Of course, these still exist today - but is it your first stop to finding answers? The earliest "Search Engines" were probably your favorite librarians bustling down the aisles to help you find something. The way that we look for information has <strong>definitely </strong>changed.</p> <p>How do you find information now? Chances are, you type your question into Google and your answer will pop up within .5 seconds. Reference books are now reference websites (<a href="http://dictionary.reference.com/" title="Dictionary.com" target="_blank">Dictionary.com</a> & <a href="http://www.britannica.com/" title="Britannica.com" target="_blank">Britannica.com</a>), and students now include websites in their works cited more often than an actual book. </p> <p>My friends and I like to play a game where we take a screenshot of our most recent Google searches and send it to each other. It's hilarious to see the random things that you searched in a day. Thank you, search engines, for making it possible for me to find answers to the really impossible questions in life. These were on my search history from last week: </p> <ul> <li> <p>How is the date for Easter chosen? </p> </li> <li> <p><span style="font-size: 1em;">What's the 10-day forecast for Las Vegas? </span></p> </li> <li> <p><span style="font-size: 1em;">When does the 2014 Kia Forte come out? </span></p> </li> <li> <p>Who was on the cast of the Real World Chicago? </p> </li> <li> <p>What were the winning powerball numbers? </p> </li> </ul> <p>My main girl Siri always has my back when it comes to information search. </p> <p>Are you being found online? <a href="http://www.grmwebsite.com/seo/" title="You should be" target="_self">You should be</a>. </p> </article> <article> <h1>First Quarter Marketing Check-In</h1> <p>Fri, 22 Mar 2013 15:32:00 GMT</p> <p><strong>[Guest Blog: Megan Totka]</strong></p> <p>At the end of last year, Grass Roots Marketing posted a blog detailing several <a href="http://www.grmwebsite.com/blog/bid/81270/Set-Your-Marketing-Resolutions-For-2013">marketing goals for 2013</a>. Now that it’s getting close to April (where does the time go?) it’s a good idea to take the opportunity to evaluate where you stand on the goals that you set for your business at the beginning of the year. Typically the 1<sup>st</sup> quarter for businesses ends on March 31<sup>st</sup>, so we are already nearly ¼ through 2013.</p> <p>Setting business goals can help you to strive for bigger and better things; in this case, we’re talking about marketing reach, better SEO, and website improvements. But you can also consider setting goals for sales figures, employee productivity, or social media followers. Goals, big or small, are a great way to help your business grow. Many of us have an inherent drive for competition; goals certainly play right into that drive.</p> <p>Evaluating your progress through quarterly, or even <a href="http://www.chamberofcommerce.com/business-advice/sales/mid-quarter-reality-check-4591/">mid quarter reality checks</a>, can help businesses discover if they are going to meet their goals. Here are some ways you can evaluate your progress towards your goals for the first quarter of 2013:</p> <p><b>Check in with your social media followers</b> – ask how your fans think you are doing! While numbers are of course, a concrete way to measure your progress, positive feedback from your followers or fans is a great way to measure success as well. Consider posting a specific question regarding how your ideas are resonating with your fans. Asking a broad question like “how are we doing?” probably isn’t going to get as much response as you might hope. However, asking “what do you like about X marketing campaign?” probably will garner some honest feedback.</p> <p><b>Check your analytics</b> – the numbers don’t lie. See if you are able to check your analytics for the past few months and compare them to this time last year, or the last quarter of 2012. If one of your goals was to write more content, even something as simple as counting the posts that you have written this quarter versus how many you wrote the prior quarter will show you how well you have done.</p> <p>You can also evaluate your progress in order to set further goals for the rest of the year. If your goal was to increase the amount of social media followers you have by 25%, now is the time to figure out how close you have come to that goal so far this year. This way, you will be able to set up a plan for how you will continue to meet your goals for the rest of the year.</p> <p>So, let us know, have you been able to meet or exceed any of your yearly goals for your business in the first quarter?</p> <p><em>Megan Totka is the Chief Editor for </em><a href="http://www.chamberofcommerce.com/"><em>ChamberofCommerce.com</em></a><em>. She specializes on the topic of small business tips and resources. ChamberofCommerce.com helps small businesses grow their business on the web and facilitates connectivity between local businesses and more than 7,000 Chambers of Commerce worldwide. </em></p> </article> <article> <h1>#ThrowbackThursday: What Tools Do You Use For Research?</h1> <p>Thu, 21 Mar 2013 19:09:00 GMT</p> <p><b>[By Emily Carter]</b></p> <p>Ask that question in 1938, and they probably would have said: <em>My Farmer’s Almanac, but of course!</em></p> <p>But in the present day, that might sound more like this: <em>Google, duh. What kind of question is that?</em></p> <p>A couple of weeks ago our SVP Koleen Singerline returned home from her parents’ house with a neato relic – an almanac from 1938. It had information on sunrise and sunset times, and even a section on a new operation system that made it possible for people to call each other on the phone across the country. It made me think of the many times I wonder to myself “What did people DO before the Internet? How did we survive?”</p> <p>Throughout the past few decades, the way that we find information has changed dramatically. Everyone uses the Internet now to find answers to the difficult questions in life (you know, like “What is a Hoya?” “Where is St. Tropez?” and “Why are you supposed to pee on a jellyfish sting?”). Our devices even have changed to revolve around the Internet – I can’t tell you how many times I’ve asked Siri to look something up for me on the web.</p> <p>How many times per day do you use the Internet as a source of information? </p> <p>Because of the ways that information search has changed, business and marketing have changed too. Wanna learn more? <a href="http://www.grmwebsite.com/inbound-marketing/" title="Check it" target="_self">Check it</a>. </p> </article> <article> <h1>#ThrowbackThursday: A Disconnected Society</h1> <p>Thu, 14 Mar 2013 17:51:00 GMT</p> <p><b>[By Emily Carter]</b></p> <p>Think of what it would be like if we never moved past dial-up Internet. In the morning, you’d have to arrive at work earlier than normal just to give your computer time to connect to the Internet. You would have to buy a separate phone line for your company, or else you wouldn’t be able to use the phone while connected to the Internet.</p> <p>During the 1990’s, the main way that the everyday Joe accessed the Internet was through their phone line. This required disabling your phone while you peruse this newfangled thing called the Internet – and let me remind you how <b>slow </b>it was. Reminisce with Walter and I for a minute….</p> <p> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/grootsmarketing" target="_blank"></a><br><br></p> <p>Luckily, this is a thing of the past. Being connected to the Internet is a way of life nowadays. Have Google at your fingertips is often something that we take for granted. Businesses (like Grass Roots Marketing, for example) rely on having a fast and reliable Internet connection to operate. Our patience and day-to-day lives were put to the test when GRM lost power for 10 days after Hurricane Sandy. Living life with slow or no Internet is ancient history. In 2013, we can do it all: I frequently check email on my phone while working on my computer and answering the phone – all at the same time. </p> <p>Dial-up Internet….what a throwback.</p> </article> <article> <h1>New Facebook Update Survival Guide</h1> <p>Wed, 13 Mar 2013 16:32:00 GMT</p> <p></p> <p><strong>[By Fred Strahl]</strong></p> <p>After conducting some statistical research, Facebook decided to make changes to the layout of the News Feed. They found that 50% of all content posted on Facebook was visual. This includes pictures, albums, videos, etc. Facebook has decided to take advantage of the statistic and update their News Feed accordingly. However, changes in your social media strategy must come with the change of the News Feed in Facebook. Here is what you should do to prepare for the update.</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Pictures, Pictures, and Pictures (Oh and did we mention pictures?)</strong></span></p> <p>90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual and visuals are processed 60,000 times faster in the brain than text. Facebook took these statistics into consideration when deciding to update the News Feed. What this means for your <a href="http://www.grmwebsite.com/socialmediachecklist/" title="social media strategy" target="_self">social media strategy</a> is that the content you produce must involve many visuals – pictures, graphics, charts, diagrams, etc. Whether you sell a good or service, make certain that you post many images of your product or service at work. While it may be easier to post a picture of a good; the advantage that service industries have is the ability to present “before and after” images that resulted from your service. If you do repair work, show the before and after shots. Even if you are a marketing agency you can show screen shots of a client’s new website or their improved ROI through an analytics program you are using. However, if your product can’t be captured in an image, you can turn text into an image.</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Turn Your Text Posts Into Images</strong></span></p> <p>A quick text update with a link won’t cut it anymore in the new newsfeed. You will have to save them for Twitter. Turn your text updates into images in order to get them seen more prominent on the News Feed. Here is an example;</p> <p><a href="http://www.grmwebsite.com/what-we-offer/" target="_self"></a></p> <p>It is not difficult to create an image like this. In fact, this image was created in 5 minutes with Microsoft Word and saved as an image. The extra time you put into developing images like this will expand your reach on the updated News Feed drastically. </p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Share Pinterest Posts on Facebook</strong></span></p> <p>Using Pinterest consistently will help you optimize your new Facebook Strategy. Pinterest is an image heavy social media site and it connects with Facebook. If you regularly post photos to Pinterest and share the content onto Facebook, it will help you promote your company in the new News Feed. In addition, Pinterest has been proven to increase sales. In fact, 21% of people who use Pinterest said that they purchased a product after seeing images of the product on the social media site. By sharing your posts on Facebook from the already proven selling machine, you will increase your reach and chances of gaining business through <a href="http://www.grmwebsite.com/social-media/" title="social media. " target="_self">social media. </a></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Optimize Your Profile’s Cover Photo in Facebook</strong></span></p> <p>When someone likes your page on Facebook, all of their friends will see it in their News Feed. It will show your cover photo and logo as it appears at the top of your company page. Make sure that it is a great representation of your company and what your company does. You will have a great looking billboard that will appear on hundreds of other Facebook News Feeds.</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Create Engaging Images and Promote Sharing</strong></span></p> <p>Your content will be ranked in the new Facebook News Feed based on how many other people shared your content. It is similar to how many other news sources rank their content. Post things that will compel the people that “like” you to share your posts. </p> <p> </p> <p><a href="http://www.grmwebsite.com/contact/" title="Contact Us" target="_self">Contact Us</a> to discuss how you can optimize your entire social media strategy.</p> </article> <article> <h1>#ThrowbackThursday: Marketing Edition</h1> <p>Thu, 07 Mar 2013 16:05:00 GMT</p> <p><b>[By Emily Carter]</b></p> <p>If you are like me, you probably find yourself thinking of “the good old days” from time to time – you know, when you were 9 years old playing <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pogs" title="Pogs" target="_blank">Pogs</a> on the sidewalk with your neighbors, after watching a solid episode of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unW4GOJw4ro">Zoom</a>? Regardless of whether you grew up in the 1990’s (like I did) or not, you probably have some crazy-vintage memories of things that are totally outdated today. </p> <p>What do you get when you combine equal parts Social Media and throwback memories? <b>Throwback Thursday</b> (otherwise known as #tbt or #throwbackthursday). Most commonly seen on Instagram, the trend of posting an old photo on Thursdays has caught on as a popular way to relive old memories through social media.</p> <p>Like most of our lives, the marketing industry also has some old school aspects to it. The landscape of businesses and marketing has changed so much in the past 20 years. Remember what life was like before Google?</p> <p><a href="http://www.grmwebsite.com/about-us/" title="Grass Roots Marketing" target="_self">Grass Roots Marketing</a>’s throwback Thursday series presents several <a href="http://www.grmwebsite.com/about-us/our-process/" title="marketing techniques" target="_self">marketing techniques</a> or lifestyle changes that have shifted the way we live our daily lives. Take a minute with us each week to relive (and laugh at) some of the things that <strong>used</strong> to be normal.</p> <p>Remember when <b>Cold Calling Was Effective</b>?</p> <p>There was a time when reaching out to prospects via telephone to attempt to sell to them was effective. The term “cold calling” refers to the fact that the person on the receiving end of this call was not expecting it. Telemarketing centers specifically aim to acquire customers using this method of outbound marketing. Not only that, but some call centers are located overseas, which means that you could be speaking to someone both literally AND figuratively foreign to you. My brother used to love messing with the telemarketers who called our house. It was a downright hobby to reverse prank call these people.</p> <p>Now that we’ve learned better, we at home screen our calls using Caller ID and answering machines, and companies have taught their administrative professionals to become gatekeepers for the organization. We make the conscious effort to weed out these solicitations, which means that they are unable to give us their pitch at all. Customers have more power today to regulate how they are marketed to, which is why cold calling is a thing of the past.</p> <p>To follow <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23throwbackthursday%20&src=typd">#throwbackthursday</a> with us, like GRM on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/grootsmarketing">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/grassrootsinc">Twitter</a> and <a href="http://pinterest.com/grassrootsinc/">Pinterest</a>. What outdated marketing techniques are you leaving in the dust? Let us know by commenting below! </p> </article> <article> <h1>How to Market Yourself Using Social Media and the Internet</h1> <p>Mon, 04 Mar 2013 18:47:00 GMT</p> <p>We talk a lot about <a href="http://www.grmwebsite.com/blog/bid/79205/Inbound-Marketing-Social-Media-Ideas-for-Small-Businesses">how to market your company via social media</a> and the internet. But how about marketing yourself? I would argue that with the advent of social media, every person has the opportunity to become their own brand. Whether you are looking for a job, keeping your resume current, or a business owner, building your brand online is equally important.</p> <p>In order to be visible to others, you should be a part of at least a few social media networks. Some of the most popular for professionals are of course Facebook, and also LinkedIn and Twitter. Having a personal website or blog is a great idea as well, depending on what you are trying to market yourself for.</p> <p>Here are some reasons that you should have a presence on social media and build your personal brand:</p> <p><b>Facebook </b>– Facebook offers a unique opportunity in that you can promote yourself and your business in several different ways. In order to build your personal brand, you should have your personal page up to date. Include what you do for work. Keep your page work-appropriate – now is the time to delete any unflattering photos from college where you may or may not be holding a red plastic cup and/or doing something that you wouldn’t want your professional connections to see. Some people choose to make a second Facebook page just for professional connections, but beware, this violates the terms of service for the site and can cause both of your pages to be shut down.</p> <p><b>LinkedIn</b> – I recently wrote a post <a href="http://geeklesstech.com/how-to-make-your-linkedin-profile-stand-out/">detailing how to keep your LinkedIn profile current</a>. It’s important for your profile to be complete if you want potential employers to consider you. Many employers are turning to LinkedIn to check out an applicant’s job history. LinkedIn also gives you the opportunity to be a bit more creative. When building a personal brand, it’s great to show your personality. While you definitely want to showcase your professional accomplishments, people should be able to see that you are a human, and an interesting one, on the other side of the computer.</p> <p><b>Twitter</b> – since Twitter only allows for short, 140 character posts, it’s a great place to post interesting links, articles, photos, or infographics that you find. These can be related to your personal interests or your profession. This way, people can see that you take the time to be knowledgeable about what is going on in the world. You can also use Twitter to communicate with professional connections as well as companies that you might be interested in working for.</p> <p><b>A website or blog</b> – having a website or blog can help you build your personal brand by <a href="http://www.chamberofcommerce.com/business-advice/business/who-are-you-writing-as-2862/">letting people learn more about you</a> in a broader way. Your website can include samples of your work, places you’ve been published, even personal anecdotes or recipes. Anything to build your web presence. A blog has similar uses; even a personal blog helps to expand your online repertoire.</p> <p>It’s a good idea to work on building your personal brand even if you are not currently seeking employment. You never know what opportunities may come your way through this different form of networking. It’s nice to be able to refer people to your online pages without having to worry about cleaning them up or updating them before they are seen. By keeping everything up to date, you will be in a great position to show off your talents.</p> <p><a href="http://authenticpersonalbranding.com/about/">(Image Source)</a></p> <p><em>Megan Totka is the Chief Editor for </em><a href="http://www.chamberofcommerce.com/"><em>ChamberofCommerce.com</em></a><em>. She specializes on the topic of small business tips and resources. ChamberofCommerce.com helps small businesses grow their business on the web and facilitates connectivity between local businesses and more than 7,000 Chambers of Commerce worldwide. </em></p> </article> <article> <h1>How To Use Social Media in a Crisis</h1> <p>Fri, 22 Feb 2013 21:47:00 GMT</p> <p><b>[By Emily Carter]</b></p> <p><br>Many businesses struggle to grasp the many ways that they can and will use social media. What good is a <a href="http://www.facebook.com/grootsmarketing?fref=ts" title="Facebook" target="_blank">Facebook</a> page when you’re trying to <a href="http://www.grmwebsite.com/drive-sales-with-inbound-marketing-methods/" title="boost sales" target="_self">boost sales</a>? There are a plethora of reasons why social media accounts are beneficial to both small and large businesses, including <a href="http://www.grmwebsite.com/seo/" title="SEO" target="_self">SEO</a>, content generation, inbound links, customer service and brand awareness. The early adoption stage of social media for business is over – by now many of you should know and understand the value of having an account. However, when moving forward with a social media strategy, it’s important to know the power that social media has.</p> <p>In a crisis, social media can be super handy. I have a couple of honest-to-goodness examples of the ways that I’ve seen social media help or seriously hurt a business in a crisis.</p> <p><b>The Good</b></p> <p>This week, I have been spending most of my days geeking out over the awesome lineup at the <a href="http://fireflyfestival.com/">Firefly Music Festival</a> coming up this June in Dover, Delaware. It didn’t take me long to know that I simply <b>had</b> to go to this summer festival. Early bird tickets went on sale Thursday at noon. A tantalizingly few tickets would be sold at a cheaper price for those lucky 5,000 patrons who bought their ticket RIGHT when they went on sale. Guess where I was? </p> <p>12:00 rolled around, and the website crashed. <em>No biggie</em>, I told myself, <em>it’s just overloaded and will refresh properly in a few minutes</em>. However, two and a half hours later, I and all of my friends were still having trouble accessing the website. It was hard to tell if we’d be able to buy tickets at all, let alone at the early bird price.</p> <p>Then we began to notice that the <a href="http://www.facebook.com/FireflyMusicFestival">Firefly Music Festival Facebook page</a> was posting updates the entire time that their website was down. Their posts ranged from “hey everyone, we’re here and we’re working hard,” to a flat out apology once the website fiasco was resolved. We were able to receive real-time information on what was going wrong and what would be fixed soon. While many customers were undoubtedly angry, having those regular updates kept my friends content to buy the next available tickets. We knew that despite their website issues, they were on their game.</p> <p><b>The Bad (& The Ugly)</b><b> </b></p> <p>Last week was the day of love, Valentine’s Day. One of the most common gifts given on V-Day, as we all know, are flowers. 1-800 Flowers is one of the more well-known flower companies, and unfortunately last week they became well-known on Facebook too. About halfway through the day, I noticed that many of the friends on my news feed were talking about the many negative comments on the <a href="http://www.facebook.com/1800flowers">1-800 Flowers Facebook page</a>. Curious, I checked it out.</p> <p>All I saw were angry customers. Everywhere. At the time (about 5:00PM on Valentine’s Day) I didn’t see any responses from 1-800 Flowers. The complaints rolled in, and the high volume of negative posts by users became a bit of a joke. Here’s an example:</p> <p><em>Keep deleting my complaint. go ahead. I can and will keep posting it all night long. DO NOT ORDER ANYTHING FROM 1-800 FLOWERS!!!!! The roses I sent my girlfriend today were dead. They offered her some crappy rainbow bouquet of flowers cause the roses that I ordered are no longer available plus some pathetic 30 dollar credit. She was on hold for over an hour. Now I’ve just been on hold for over an hour and they just hung up on me. SUPER HEATED!!!! And to top it off I‘m freakin deaf from the extremely loud hold music they had playing. Tomorrows phone call is gonna be a bad one. Please pass this on to everyone you know. See how they like it when social media works its magic. DISLIKE! DISLIKE! DISLIKE!</em></p> <p>Ouch. Checking back on their page today, it looks like the company has since been reaching out to respond. As someone wise once said, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fm0T7_SGee4">it’s too late to apologize</a>. </p> <p>The lesson learned here is that social media can be a godsend in a crisis. Be sure that you have a plan for when that happens, and you will end up bolstering your consumer base once you’ve cleaned up the mess. If you’re lost when it comes to Social Media Management, download our <a href="http://www.grmwebsite.com/socialmediachecklist/">Social Media Checklist</a> to take care of the basics. Need help developing a Social Media plan? <a href="http://www.grmwebsite.com/contact/" title="Contact GRM" target="_self">Contact GRM</a> to learn more. </p> <p><em>Image Credit:<span> Sarah Klockars-Clauser 2010</span></em></p> </article> <article> <h1>How Inbound Marketing Will Boost Your Sales in 2013</h1> <p>Fri, 01 Feb 2013 14:05:00 GMT</p> <p><strong>[By Fred Strahl]</strong></p> <p>We are almost a full month into the new year and some companies still don‘t have an internet marketing plan. Internet marketing has become extremely vital to generating leads and sales. Here are some basic questions that you need to ask yourself, as a business, if you are preparing to exceed all of your sales goals! </p> <p><strong>Do you have an internet marketing strategy?</strong></p> <p>Most likely you have a <a href="http://www.grmwebsite.com/website/" title="website" target="_self">website</a> at this point (You do, right? Good.) However, the days are gone when just having a website was sufficient. Every day you don’t make updates to your site, add new content, write a blog, or increase your social media presence; your competitors do. According to HubSpot, 89% of marketers are maintaining or increasing their inbound marketing budgets.</p> <p><strong>Are you familiar with inbound marketing?</strong></p> <p>Inbound marketing is the philosophy to have leads come to you. Cold calling, direct mailers, mass emails, and other outbound methods are out of date and no longer efficient in time or investment. The ROI just isn’t there. Here’s a fun <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-lGe5MnBlY">video</a> that explains the ineffectiveness of outbound marketing. (I think fans of Alanis Morissette will enjoy it) Read our free <a href="http://www.grmwebsite.com/drive-sales-with-inbound-marketing-methods/">white paper</a> to learn more about the topic and keep an eye out for live webinars in the near future. </p> <p><strong>Do you have a keyword strategy in place?</strong></p> <p>This is the first step in developing an inbound marketing plan for many reasons. Even the most efficient keyword strategies are going to take time to develop traction with Google. However, some argue this point just like the chicken and the egg. Should you develop your keyword strategy first to generate traffic as soon as possible or develop a great site first for when the traffic arrives? My opinion is this, due to the fact the keywords take time to gain traction, you should develop your keyword strategy first. You will have time to improve your website while the keyword list begins to gain traction. To learn more about developing a keyword strategy, <a href="http://www.grmwebsite.com/contact/">contact us!</a></p> <p><strong>Are you present on social media pages?</strong></p> <p>Did you know that United States internet users spend 3 times more time on social media and blogs than email? Just like a website, it is no longer sufficient to just create social media pages. You must be consistently updating the pages and interacting with your audience. According to Aberdeen Research, the top 20% of B2B marketers in social media lead generation have increased revenue by 20% in 2011. These results don’t come by simply creating a page. A lot of work must be happening on your end which includes consistent posts, engaging content, and interaction with the visitors of your page. In addition, having a great presence on social media with boost your rankings in Google. The Google algorithm has recently been updated to analyze social presence as well. TIP: Some <a href="http://www.pamorama.net/2012/05/12/how-social-media-impacts-google-search-rankings-google-wins-infographic/#.UQfmaWdBR8F">studies</a> have shown that companies with a Google+ page get a great boost in SEO…surprised? </p> <p><strong>Are you able to blog consistently?</strong></p> <p>My favorite quote about blogging is from Freelance Journalist Kevin Anderson;</p> <p>“The bottom line is that blogging is like sex. You can’t fake it. You can’t fake passion. You can’t fake wanting to engage with the public. If you do, it will ultimately be an unsatisfying experience for both the blogger and their readers.”</p> <p>This quote is spot on. Similar to social media, blogging is all about engagement. You have to create engaging articles that will spark interest and discussion. At the very least you have to ensure that people are reading them. If you have a low amount of hits and subscribers to your blog you have to rethink your strategy and content.</p> <p>I hope you were able to answer yes to all of these questions. If not, there are many things you can do to improve yourself! You may be behind now but don’t continue to fall behind. As General Erik Shineski said “If you don’t like change, you are going to like irrelevance even less.”</p> <p><em>Image Source: Carolyn Frith</em></p> </article> <article> <h1>Mobile Apps for Marketing and Sales</h1> <p>Wed, 23 Jan 2013 13:38:00 GMT</p> <p><strong>[By Megan Totka]</strong></p> <p>Many companies are turning to the world of mobile apps to try and drive their sales and marketing campaigns to success. With hundreds of thousands of apps available in the Apple App Store and the Google Play store, companies are wise to try and <a href="http://www.grmwebsite.com/blog/bid/71330/Mobile-Marketing-Why-It-Has-Become-a-Necessity-for-Your-Company">take advantage of mobile marketing, which has become a necessity</a>.</p> <p>More and more people are replacing more traditional computers, such as laptops or desktops, with mobile devices. There are so many different types of mobile devices available – smart phones, tablets, and hybrid tablet/phone combinations. Companies must target these users specifically and be <a href="http://www.chamberofcommerce.com/business-advice/technology/is-your-business-part-of-the-mobile-revolution-2607/">a part of the mobile revolution</a> to stay current. A traditional website is perhaps not the best way to go, as some sites are distorted on mobile devices, and in Apple’s case, Flash is not supported.</p> <p>One way to capture these primarily mobile users is to have an app. Many large stores and companies have apps where customers are able to buy merchandise right from the app. These companies include Target and Amazon. Many deal of the day type sites also have mobile apps. Groupon and Living Social are popular examples of these sites. Lots of smaller companies have their own apps as well. Consider creating an app with a purpose, even if you don’t use it for direct sales. Getting company information and/or signing up for emails is a good way to engage a mobile user with your app.</p> <p>Apps are also being used more and more as a physical selling device, as well. Apps like Square and its competitors allow users to download their app and order a small credit card reader for free. Then, the app charges a certain percentage per transaction, every time that the app is used as a card reader. This is a huge development for small businesses who can’t afford to pay what are sometimes exorbitant credit card fees. These apps are used by businesses such as food trucks, independent hair stylists, and so many more. You could even get a reader in order to take credit cards at a garage sale, that’s how easy it is.</p> <p>You can also use mobile apps to help your company’s sales force be prepared at all times. <a href="http://www.chamberofcommerce.com/business-advice/internet/google-docs-026/">Storage apps like Google Drive</a> or Dropbox can hold presentations, sales materials, and contact information. This way, everything can be easily shared on the go. Anyone who asks for more information about your company can have it, instantly, rather than having to wait to go home and check a website (at which point they have probably forgotten all about it).</p> <p>The use of mobile apps for sales purposes will only continue to grow. As we all know, hundreds of new apps are created every day. Many of these apps will help to improve sales, lead generation, and information sharing. If you have a business, it’s critical to keep up with the newest apps that are released. Who knows, an app that is created tomorrow may be the perfect sales tool for your business.</p> <p><em>Megan Totka is the Chief Editor for ChamberofCommerce.com, </em><a href="http://www.chamberofcommerce.com/business-directory/"><em>an online business directory</em></a><em> that offers small business solutions. Megan also specializes on writing small business tips across the web.</em></p> </article> <article> <h1>Set Your Marketing Resolutions For 2013</h1> <p>Fri, 28 Dec 2012 21:56:00 GMT</p> <p><strong>[By Emily Carter] </strong></p> <p>Happy New Year, inbound marketers! To celebrate the last Friday of 2012, we wanted to share with you some of the marketing resolutions that we have set for ourselves in the coming year. These are just a few of our collective thoughts on our goals and plans for the coming months. Part of growing is learning about yourself and where you can improve. 2012 was a stellar year for us, and we want to continue the greatness! Here are Grass Roots Marketing's New Year's Resolutions: </p> <ol> <li><strong>Increase social media reach by 50%.</strong></li> <li><strong>Commit to a blog writing schedule.</strong></li> <li><strong>Spread knowledge, not cold calls. </strong></li> <li><strong>Get Found through search engines...even more than now.</strong></li> <li><strong>Simplify our website navigation and layout.</strong></li> <li><strong>Offer more resources about Inbound Marketing Techniques. </strong></li> <li><strong>Write even more content. </strong></li> <li><strong>Learn about a niche and capture lead information from that niche. </strong></li> <li><strong>Network more, through face to face interactions and online networking sites. </strong></li> <li><strong>Focus on collaboration and communication. </strong></li> </ol> <div><br>Are any of your resolutions the same as ours? If you are wondering what your marketing resolutions should be in 2013 or want help achieving your goals, we'd love to hear from you! Leave a comment below and let us know your thoughts. </div> </article> <article> <h1>Does Your Website Make a Great First Impression?</h1> <p>Wed, 26 Dec 2012 21:47:00 GMT</p> <p><strong>[Guest Blogger: Megan Totka] </strong></p> <p>I recently came across a very interesting article that discussed ways to make your website landing page more appealing and efficient. In the article from unbounce.com, the author made a <a href="http://unbounce.com/landing-pages/checklist/">checklist of 50 ways to make your landing page better</a>. The idea is that website admins or owners should go through the list and make sure that they cover all 50 topics. I found a few of the suggestions to be the most important and wanted to address them further.</p> <p></p> <p><b>Could someone who has never seen your site or heard of your business before, understand what you are all about within the first 5-10 seconds of landing on your page?</b></p> <p>This is a pretty critical question. Visitors to your site should not have to click around before understanding the purpose of your site. Your home page should have enough information on it that even those who are unfamiliar with your business should be able to very quickly figure out what it is all about. If they can’t, then it’s time to <a href="http://www.grmwebsite.com/blog/bid/73788/Should-I-Redesign-My-Website">redesign your website</a>. Make sure to include:</p> <ul> <li>Your business name in a large, clear font</li> <li>A blurb about what kind of company you are</li> <li>Photos of inventory or services</li> </ul> <p><b>Does your website homepage set your company apart from others that are similar? </b></p> <p>Your website should make a point to differentiate your business from others that are offer the same types of goods or services. While I’m not saying that it is necessary to make a list of why you are better and post it on your homepage, it is good to advertise why it is that your company offers something superior. Another way to achieve this is to make some kind of offer to your customers.</p> <p><b>Are your site visitors able to easily locate several ways to contact you? </b></p> <p>This is critical for all types of businesses. <a href="http://www.chamberofcommerce.com/business-advice/sales/three-tips-for-making-your-website-your-best-salesperson-3024/">Your website should be one of your best salespeople</a>. Many of the most successful companies do not try to hide their contact information; in fact they make it crystal clear. It’s great to offer your website visitors multiple forms of contact. Phone is of course the most obvious, but having a readily available email address is important as well. If your company is big enough to warrant a chat option, that is extremely useful to customers. Most phones and emails are answered during traditional business hours, when most people are at work. Having a chat available makes customer service more accessible to many people.</p> <p><b>Do you have a sign-up page? How easy is it to sign-up? </b></p> <p>Ever feel misled when a company entices you to sign-up for something? Lots of websites pop up a place to put in an email address in order to be sent updates, as soon as their site loads. While this can be a good tactic, make sure that you don’t mislead customers. If they have to do something further than just entering an email, it’s a great idea to give an estimate of how much time or how many steps will be involved. That way they can make an educated decision about whether or not that is something they can do.</p> <p>Having your website make a positive first impression can make or break many aspects of your business. As silly as it may sound, a website that is not functional or pretty may turn some customers off to the point that they no longer choose to do business with you. This is why website design and usability are so important. The 50-point checklist and choosing a good <a href="http://www.chamberofcommerce.com/website-design/">website design business</a> can be a big help when it comes to optimizing your page.</p> <p><em>Megan Totka is the Chief Editor for ChamberofCommerce.com. ChamberofCommerce.com has the most up-to-date info for each </em><a href="http://www.chamberofcommerce.com/chambers/"><em>Chamber of Commerce</em></a><em>.</em></p> </article> <article> <h1>Happy Holidays from Grass Roots Marketing!</h1> <p>Fri, 21 Dec 2012 21:40:00 GMT</p> <p>We hope that you have a safe and happy holiday! We will be closed on Monday, 12/24, Tuesday 12/25 and Tuesday 1/1. </p> <p> </p> <p></p> </article> <article> <h1>Small Business Budget Challenges and How to Overcome Them</h1> <p>Thu, 06 Dec 2012 18:08:00 GMT</p> <p><strong>[Guest Blogger: Megan Totka] </strong></p> <p>The weight of the current economic crisis in the United States is felt by businesses and consumers alike. While the country as a whole is beginning to look towards a brighter future, many businesses are still feeling the effects of a very slow recovery. In particular, <a href="http://www.chamberofcommerce.com/business-advice/business/small-business-owners-the-good-news-and-the-bad-news-1397/">small business owners are dealing with the good and bad news</a> that comes from this economic crisis. Many businesses have even been forced to make budget cuts.</p> <p>According to a recent study, mid-sized banks and credit unions are tightening their lending restrictions and are becoming less likely to lend money to small businesses. Large banks are seeing a slight upswing in loan approvals, but historically larger banks are not the ones who provide a needed influx of cash to small businesses. Large banks are also still seeing fluctuations in approvals. In study done by Trepp, LLC., approval rates had again declined, while in the two months prior, rates had improved. <a href="http://www.paydaycashadvanceloans.biz/articles_why_small_businesses_are_in_a_cash_crunch.asp">Companies are wise to be careful with their cash in an economy that is still proving to be unstable</a>. Marketing budgets are often one of the first places that businesses make cuts.</p> <p><b>“Super-Users” </b></p> <p>There are many ways to market a small business on a tight or <a href="http://mashable.com/2010/05/19/market-business-no-budget/">non-existent marketing budget</a>. One way to do this is to cultivate business “super-users”. A super user is someone who is already a fan of a brand or can easily be swayed to become one. This person is already inclined to like a particular type of business. A great place to find these super-users is the blog world. Bloggers write about topics that they are interested in. Finding one or several bloggers who write about products or hobbies that are similar to those offered by a small business is not difficult. For example, a company that sells kitchen gadgets might want to target a blogger who writes about recipes and kitchen adventures. Discounts or offers are a good way to turn interested parties into customers who in turn draw in more customers.</p> <p><b>Use Customer Referrals to Generate New Customers</b></p> <p>A great way to <a href="http://www.inc.com/vanessa-nornberg/three-ways-to-grow-your-business-on-a-budget.html">gain new customers without spending much money</a> is to ask current satisfied customers to help spread the word. In the age of websites such as <a href="http://www.yelp.com/">Yelp</a> or <a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/">Urbanspoon</a>, writing a review of a business is unbelievably easy. The same goes for leaving comments or ratings on product listings. If a customer leaves a review that is helpful to others, companies can consider offering a discount or credit towards a future order. This makes the customer more likely to return to make another purchase, as well as helps others to discover the business.</p> <p><b>Present an Expert Point of View</b></p> <p>Internet marketing campaigns don’t have to be costly. Painting a business as the expert on a particular industry can bring in new customers. This can be accomplished with little to no budget. A blog is probably the most obvious outlet for expert content to be posted. Current business bloggers can post on new, relevant topics about the industry that their business falls into. Inviting guest bloggers to post on topics that are related is another way to present an expert point of view. Becoming an expert in a particular industry can also help to draw in new blog readers who can then potentially be turned into customers. Expert blogs do not typically have a sales feel, but if a post is interesting to a reader, they are more likely to click around to other portions of a website in order to learn more about the company.</p> <p>Small businesses are at an advantage when it comes to making the most of a small or non-existent marketing budget. Larger brands come with higher expectations, while small businesses are expected to utilize more creative strategies. This is particularly important in an economy where it is tough for small businesses to raise capital and expand their budgets. Creativity in marketing, <a href="http://www.grmwebsite.com/press-releases/marketing-in-a-recession/">like these ten ways to promote your brand without emptying your wallet</a>, can take a small business a long way, especially now that the Internet is used as a primary marketing medium.</p> <p><em>Megan Totka is </em><a href="http://www.chamberofcommerce.com/"><em>the Chief Editor for ChamberofCommerce.com</em></a><em>, which helps small businesses grow their business on the web and facilitates connectivity between </em><a href="http://www.chamberofcommerce.com/business-directory/"><em>local businesses</em></a><em> and more than 7,000 </em><a href="http://www.chamberofcommerce.com/chambers/"><em>Chambers of Commerce worldwide</em></a><em>. She specializes on the topic of small business tips and </em><a href="http://www.chamberofcommerce.com/business-advice/"><em>business news</em></a><em>.</em></p> </article> </main></body></html>