May 18th, 2010

I have a friend wanting to start a small, home based tutoring business in the suburbs of Phoenix, Arizona.  He wants to serve the surrounding neighborhoods only and isn’t really interested in becoming the next Sylvan Learning Center.  He has tri-fold flyers ready, has mentioned it to neighbors and friends.  I suggested getting a Facebook page for his new venture.  “Facebook’s not for me,” he replied.

Facebook may not be for you, no problem.  But for a small business like my friend’s, it’s a marketing “must”.  Here are two reasons why (and if these don’t convince you, then read on!):  1. Facebook is free, and 2.) Everyone is on Facebook – even your competition.  What marketing method would any business turn down that didn’t cost anything (except time, and not much of that) and was already used by just about everyone?  Exactly.

Every business should be on Facebook.  OK, so that’s my opinion.  But for a small, local business I can’t imagine not having this in your marketing mix.  Yes you have to have a personal profile (I think this is where people get caught up), but you can adjust the privacy setting so high that no ex-girlfriend/boyfriend from high school will ever be able to find you.  From a personal profile you can set up business Page – and Facebookers won’t be able to see the personal profile that “owns” that page.

You newly created Facebook Page can serve as your website if you don’t have one (my friend doesn’t) and you can add the URL of the Page to all of your other marketing to gather “Fans” (or “Likes” as they are now called).  Use your Page to post news about your business, promotions, sales, specials; post photos of your business or products and for my friend, create discussions or link your blog (whoa Nelly, we’ll get to feeding blogs to Facebook in a future post) so you can inform and interact with your Fans (who are your customers!).

It’s a simple tool that’s easy and it works.  Subscribe to this blog for more tips and ideas on online marketing!

Follow me on Twitter @marthomson and join my Group, Arran Connect on Facebook.  And as always, have a great day!

Tags: facebook, online marketing, small business, Social Media
Posted in facbook, marketing, online marketing | 2 Comments »

May 17th, 2010

I love social media.  I really do.  This phenomenon has changed my life.  OK, I know that sound a bit dramatic, but it’s true.

For some social media is a waste of time and they don’t get it.  For others, they truly do waste their time – and I would suggest that they don’t get it!  But for me, I’m pretty sure I get it and it’s not a waste of my time.  On the contrary it’s saves me a lot of time.  But more than, I reconnected with dozens of people I really thought I would never see again.

See, I went to an international university in Germany (at the time, West Germany).  During my undergraduate years, the school was represented by at least 40-50 nations all over the world.  It was a small school so the student body became a large group of friends that shared a unique time in our lives:  a time where we put our difference aside and simply had fun together.  In fact, I remember a small group of us were enjoying an at-home party when someone suddenly said, “Religion check!”  The seven of us called out the religion of our upbringing – there were seven different religions!  And to this, we all raised our beer steins and chanted, “Prosit!” or “Cheers!” in German.

I studied International Relations and Diplomacy and can honestly say that, while the academic studies taught me a lot, the experiences I had with the student body and amazing group of friends I had taught me more than any book, journal or class could.  Simply put, it was a time in my life I can say defined me more than any other time has.

But that was the early 90s.  So when we graduated and went “home”, we went home to our home countries.  With nothing like social media, much less the internet (!), and telephoning still extremely expensive it was nearly impossible to stay in touch with people.  I tried writing letters and postcards but a couple of moves and we all eventually lost touch with each other.

Until Facebook.  Within a few months I reconnected with friends I hadn’t seen nor heard from in 13, 14, sometimes 19 or 20 years (OK so I’m sort of revealing my age!).  It was incredible to “see” everyone again.  It was like a virtual reunion – and almost all of us continually commented on how our university years were some of the best in our lives and how happy we were to be in touch with everyone again.

A part of my life – a very large and important part of my life – I thought was a only a wonderful memory came back to me through Facebook.  And with a few killer international fares on United (love you United Airlines!) I was able to visit many of these people who are the people of my life.

Follow me on Twitter @marthomson and join my Group, Arran Connect on Facebook.  And as always, have a great day!

Tags: facebook, Social Media
Posted in Social Media, facbook | 1 Comment »

May 16th, 2010

So you have a Twitter account, what now?  Admittedly I was a bit perplexed after creating my personal profile with Twitter.  Yes, it’s the exchange of short messages to and from people who you follow and are following … wait, say what?!

What I have found with Twitter is that yes, you can get lost in the barrage of followers, followings, Tweets and Direct Messages, but with a little attention upfront you can manage this tool and quickly learn to use it to your advantage.  And organizing is easier with a few tools and programs out there designed specifically for Twitter.  And good news:  Most of them don’t cost a penny!

The Twitter interface:  This is your home page on Twitter and the first tool you should get set up.  Set up your profile with a good bio, a more info URL (if you don’t have a blog or website, think about linking to your Facebook profile – especially if you are a business) and an image.   Do a search (Find People on the tool bar) for people, companies, blogs, etc. that you are interested in, and follow them.

TweetDeck:  This desktop application allows you to monitor multiple Twitter accounts (as well as one Facebook, one MySpace and one LinkedIn account) from a single interface.  It’s sort of “command central” for your social media efforts.  After downloading and installing the program, go to Settings (the wrench icon)  in the upper right corner and set up your accounts.  You add columns of your social media accounts by click on the “+” icon in the upper left corner.

TwitterFeed.com:  Is there a blog you like to read?  You can “feed” that blog into your Twitter tweets.  Simply create an account with TwitterFeed, add the URL of your favorite blog feed and new blog posts show up automatically to your Twitter feed.  To read those posts, go to your Twitter account, click on Profile and you’ll see the blog tweets – along with any tweets you’ve added.

Depending on your purpose for a Twitter account – I’ve described the very basics of a personal Twitter account – there are more programs to use and check out.  Future blog posts will give some ideas and thoughts on other programs for business Twitter accounts, so stay tuned!

Follow me on Twitter @marthomson and join my Group, Arran Connect on Facebook.  And as always, have a great day!

Tags: followers, following, online marketing, social media marketing, tweetdeck, twitter, twitterfeed
Posted in Social Media, online marketing, twitter | 1 Comment »

April 28th, 2010

Everyone is on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and more.  And not only that, everyone says you have to be on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and a whole host of other social networking, community sharing, video, bookmarking sites.  Where do you begin?  How do you start connecting with people?  What do you say?  How often should you say it?  And, maybe even What does it all mean.

Here’s where the rubber hits the road:  everyone IS on Facebook and all the rest.  But here’s the good news:  These sites are free.  The only thing they cost is time to set up and manage.  You don’t have to pay for to set up a profile and connect with friends, interested people, industry gurus and more.  You only have to spend the time to do it.

And you don’t have to spend much time.  I set up and started a client’s social media profiles, got the conversation started, sent out regular messages and promotions and it all took about 2 hours a week for the first 4 months.  What about the next 4 months?  The client has since doubled the budget to 4 hours a week since they had an increase in conversions from social media marketing.  (Their conversions are internet sales and affiliate sign ups.)

But what is most important is that you get on the top 4 social media sites – whether you get it or not.  Start a profile, spend a little time and be consistent with managing it.  Remember, you only need about 4 hours a week to start with.  But you must be consistent.

Alternatively you can hire a social media manager (ok, gratuitous plug for my services!) to handle this for you.  You can either have them set up your profiles, get the conversation started and transition the management to you; -or- you can simply have the social media manager handle it all for you.

You can follow me on Twitter for more info!  Have a great day!

Tags: facebook profiles, linked in contact, networking sites, online marketing, social media marketing, twitter followers, why should I be on twitter, youtube video site sharing
Posted in Social Media, facbook, linkedin, twitter, youtube | 2 Comments »

January 10th, 2010

Twitter is just about the simplest online marketing tool out there.  Simple, but not easy to get or to get the most out of.  There are a few but very important tricks to the trade.  First and most importantly, get on Twitter.

Go to www.Twitter.com and sign up – it’s very short and easy.  Use the email address you use the most and no worries, people can’t see it.  I strongly suggest changing your profile picture, but you can do that later on.

Next tweet something.  Anything.  Tweet that you just got started on Twitter.  But keep Tweeting.  Tweet whatever.  It doesn’t matter, though the more targeted your tweets are to what you are trying to promote the better.

Next follow people.  You can follow anyone you want, but again the more targeted you can be the better.  Follow as many relevant profiles as you can.  Your goal is to have them follow you back.

How do you find followers on Twitter?  The easiest and most basic way to do this is to conduct a People search right on Twitter.  Your Home page features an option on the right that says “Search”.  This is where you search keywords or phrases associated with your business.  The top tool bar shows a link to “Find People“.  This is where you search for specific names or Twitter profiles.

You can follow me at www.Twitter.com/arran_connect for more info!  Have a great day!

Tags: internet advertising, online marketing, Social Media, twitter
Posted in Social Media, online marketing, twitter | 1 Comment »

January 3rd, 2010

OK, so you’re on Facebook and after stumbling around for a few days you are getting the hang of it.  You might have even mastered creating a Facebook Group and/or Facebook Page for your business.  But what about Twitter?  What the heck is Twitter?  If you are asking that question, chances are you are also wondering:  If I don’t use Twitter, why would I ever want to be on Twitter?

The basic and most direct answer to that question is, because everyone – even your competition – is on Twitter.  Twitter is a micro-blogging site and though it may seem like a lot of unnecessary noise on the internet, it’s a great communication tool if it’s used the right way.  And what is the right way?

The right way depends on your type of business.  For example if you are a local retail store, you can send Tweets (the 140 or less character updates posted to your Twitter profile) to your followers about upcoming sales or promotions.  If you are a restaurant, you can send out Tweets to followers promoting your Happy Hour, events or even send out a promotion to attract people on nights your don’t have full reservations.  If you are a band, send out Tweets for your next gig … massage therapists send out Tweets to fill empty appointment slots … real estate agents send Tweets for open houses … and so on.

But keeping the conversation going is what Twitter is all about.  Keep your followers informed with relevant, interesting information and you will see results.  It’s a free service so a few minutes here and there throughout the day will help keep your brand, business or product in front of potential clients.

Tags: facebook, online marketing, Social Media, twitter
Posted in Social Media, facbook, online marketing, twitter | 1 Comment »

June 30th, 2009

Hotmail, Yahoo mail, Gmail … not to mention your work email and the email service you probably have with your internet service.  Which is the best to use?  I’m sure there are many pros and cons to each service, but for me the one I like the best is Gmail.

Google’s email service is a little bit different than the email services that we’ve been used to for years, but like Google – the search engine and the company itself – the email service is built with the end user in mind.

The best part of Gmail is the Labels function.  This function allows you to create different labels for the different types of emails you receive.  For your online business, this makes organization of your emails extremely simple and easy.  What makes labels different from the traditional folders that Hotmail, Yahoo mail and other email services is that you can assign mulitple labels for a single email.  With the other email services, an email can only go into one folder.  But what if your email needs to be in a different folder?  You’re stuck.

For example, for emails from GoDaddy (where I host everything) would need to have a Hosting label, perhaps a Receipt label and depending on the nature of the email a Client label as well.  With Gmail this is simple.  With the other services that one email could only go into one folder.

Follow me on Twitter @marthomson and join my Group, Arran Connect on Facebook.  As always, have a great day!

Tags: beginning online, business online, email, email service review, email services, gmail, google, hotmail, yahoo mail
Posted in online marketing | 1 Comment »

June 29th, 2009

There are 2 different ways you can promote your business on Facebook – I suggest using both ways.  The first is to create a Group, and the second is to create a Page for your business.

What is the difference between Groups and Pages?  As far as I can see (and please comment if you know something I haven’t discovered yet …), a Group allows you to invite people whether they are your friends or not, to send messages through Facebook’s email and to post updates on the Group’s homepage.  A Page for your business not only allows you to do what Groups allow you do to, but also allows whatever status updates, photo posts, note posts and so on to so up on the “Wall” of all it’s “Fans”.

Groups have Members, Pages have Fans.

I am only assuming that because it’s not entirely clear for me the intricate differences between the two, I am assuming that for most people these differences are, at best, subtle as well.  Hence, I suggest covering all your bases (something I try to do in all aspects of business …) and having both a Group and a Page for your business on Facebook.

To create a Group on Facebook, go to your Profile (it’s always on the top of your screen).  On the bottom left of the page you will see an icon for Groups (hover your cursor over the icons and click on the one that says “Groups”).  Click on “Create a New Group”, fill out the information, click “Create Group”.  And you have your Group!

On your Group page you can invite members, send messages to members, post links- texts- photos- whatever!  Invite members to join the Group and keep in touch with them through messages.  This is a great – and free! – way to promote your business or whatever Group you have on Facebook!

Follow me on Twitter @marthomson and join my Group, Arran Connect on Facebook.  As always, have a great day!

Tags: beginning online, facebook, groups, How do I create a Group on Facebook, online beginners guide, online business tips, pages
Posted in online marketing | 2 Comments »

June 25th, 2009

So you want to put your business online.   I am going to offer you some tips and general directions on how to get started.

By offering some advice, I might preface this entire blog idea thing with the declaration:  I am by no means an expert.  But in not being an expert, perhaps I am like you.  Just an ordinary, every-day person who is keen on online presence, marketing, search and so on.

In starting this blog, I am very interested in hearing from people – hopefully all over the world – who share and collaborate on ideas, thoughts, suggestions and so on.  What I am not interested in is getting into arguments, debates or “one-upping” others.  (Ain’t there enough fightin’ going on anyway?)

My first suggestion for anyone going online is to create a Facebook profile, and a personal one.  Even if you are not wanting to get into the whole Facebook, Twitter, social media wave, no problem.  But creating a personal profile will allow you to create a page for your business.  And this is what you want to do.  Even if your are not into social media, a ton of people are.

And it’s pretty simple.  Go to www.Facebook.com and fill out your information.  Facebook will send you an email to whatever email you enter; go to your email inbox, find that email from Facebook and click the validation link to active your Facebook profile.  Voila!  You’re officially on Facebook!

After clicking the validation link, you should be at your Facebook Home.  Facebook sometimes changes some of the placement of things on your Home and Profile pages, so for me the easiest is to always click Profile (at the top).  That will always take you to your Profile page no matter where in Facebook your are.

To start off with, I suggest uploading a photo and entering some of your info on the Info tab.  Then start connecting with people!  (BTW, if you ignore a Friend Request, the other person doesn’t know it, so it’s not like you’re dissing them.  More on that in a future post!)

Follow me on Twitter at marthomson.  As always, have a great day!

Tags: beginning online, online beginners guide, online business tips
Posted in online marketing | No Comments »