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Adam Urbanski Asked, Denise Wakeman Asked, and You Should Ask, Too!

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If you haven’t been spending much time on your Facebook home page, I’d get over there – Pronto!

Some of the foremost experts in online marketing, visibility, and social media are hanging out on Facebook. The benefits of connecting and interacting with these folks are too numerous to count and they can teach you a lot about how to “engage” your community.

So what are the quintessential business-building professionals up to these days?

In addition to generously giving you the opportunity to strut your stuff, they’re looking for ideas and asking questions.

Adam Urbanski had yet another spark of genius this week and started “Marketing Monday” on Facebook.  Every Monday he’s giving you the opportunity to post a link (okay, a shameless plug) to one of your offers.

And on Tuesdays, he’s calling his Facebook thread, “Cool Tool Tuesday” where people can post their favorite free or low-cost biz tool.

Ya can’t beat that deal!

Adam also comes up with some awesome (and thought-provoking) questions like the one he asked today: “What excites you the most about your business?”

If you want to engage your social media community, your group members, your fans, your blog readers, and your target audience, start asking questions.

Interaction is the key. We humans LOVE to answer questions and LOVE to share our knowledge and expertise.

Denise Wakeman posed a great question on Facebook today asking people how they’ve been using their Facebook business page to engage their fans.  Denise is one savvy and smart cookie.

What happened next? [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blogging, Building relationships online, Buzz, Creativity, Internet Marketing Tools, Online Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Social Networking Tagged With: , , , , , ,

A Confused Audience Won’t Take Action and You Won’t Make Sales

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Today’s post is a sequel to “Twitter update – What Are You Cooking for Dinner Tonight?”

Consistent and Clear messaging across social media venues is what you want to aim for in your communications with your target audience.

Nothing breaks down trust and destroys credibility faster than being all over the map with messages that confuse your target market.  And once they get confused, they disappear!

To keep your prospects, clients, and customers from doing the disappearing act, you need to strike a “balance” of sharing relationship-building messages and messages that are promotional in nature.

Be a savvy social media marketer and use the 80/20 rule (or even the 90/10 rule!) when posting your messages.  The majority of what you share should be focused on relationship-building.

Thanks to my awesome mentor and colleague, Jessica Swanson, I’ve learned buckets full of tips and strategies to build lasting relationships with mompreneurs and moms who want to ditch the 9-5 and work from home.

Now it’s my turn to share them with you.

The best way to begin building a relationship with your target audience is to offer them your tantalizing freebie!

Here are 50 “free offer” ideas from my mentor to me to YOU: [Read more...]

Filed Under: Brand yourself online, Building relationships online, List Building, Online Marketing, Small business owners, Social Media Marketing, Social Networking Tagged With: , , , ,

Twitter Update – What Are You Cooking For Dinner Tonight?

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If your small business is in a culinary niche, then posting a Tweet like “What’s for dinner tonight?” is totally appropriate.  It’s directly related to your business and what you have to offer.

But if you’re NOT in a food-related industry, then what?

Most likely you’ll just “confuse” your audience and we all know what happens when they get confused, right?

They don’t take action.

As online marketers, we sometimes get mixed messages about the most effective ways to use social media to build our businesses.

I’m sure you’ve heard, by now, it’s never socially acceptable to send out a boatload of sales pitches on social media sites.

So if we’re trying to build a business and make sales and we’re not supposed to try to sell anybody anything, then what in the world are we supposed to be sharing with our target audience on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media venues?!

Certainly not what we’re cooking for dinner – once again, unless the information is related to your niche.

Your social media updates need to be a delicate balance of messages in these two categories:

1.)   Relationship-building messages

2.)   Promotional messages

My next post will go into detail and give some specific examples.  Stay tuned.

In the meantime, please give me some of your ideas of what a “relationship-building message” would look like and one that is “promotional” in nature.

Are you sending out both?

Thanks and I’m looking forward to reading your comments.

Filed Under: Blogging, Brand yourself online, Building relationships online, Online Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Social Networking Tagged With: , , , ,

Buzz-worthy to Bucks-worthy

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I’m convinced.

You won’t start bringin’ home the bacon with your online marketing efforts till you work on creating some “buzz” around you, your brand, and your business.

Not quite sure how to do that?

Begin by reading my post entitled, Create Something Buzzworthy.

Your success and bank account will be a direct reflection of how much persistent and consistent energy and hours you put into becoming a remarkable entrepreneur and online marketer.

Being “remarkable” doesn’t mean performing business-building activities that are wondrous, miraculous, or spectacular – let’s leave those to the magicians!

Instead, you need to concentrate on engaging your target audience in ways that will compel them to “remark” about you to others.

Once your list of subscribers, blog readers, social media fans, friends, and followers begin to spread the word about you and your business …

You’ll go from buzz-worthy to bucks-worthy!

Filed Under: Brand yourself online, Building relationships online, Buzz, Making money on the internet, Online Marketing, Social Media Marketing Tagged With: , ,

It’s Viral – for Better or for Worse

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There is nothing new about networking as a savvy strategy to grow your business.

This is precisely why people attend meet-ups and join the Chamber of Commerce.

But the fact the practice is becoming so popular on the web is why it’s important you take the leap into social networking online so you can take advantage of this shift.

Because social media venues are easy to use and understand, even for people who are not technically talented, people are joining social networks in super large numbers – a trend that isn’t going away and gaining momentum!

Great.

Nice to know but …

Have you overcome the big challenge of developing a tactical plan of action for using social media effectively?

Took me a while to figure this out so let me see if I can help to shorten your learning curve.

Guiding principles for social media marketing – A tactical plan

It’s transparent – be who you are: No pseudonyms allowed and write in your own words.  Don’t be afraid to show a bit of your personal self and let your uniqueness shine through.  Being totally genuine will greatly increase your believability and earn you mounds of credibility.

It’s a conversation – join it: Only by joining in conversations can you hope to be influential in the hearts and minds of your prospects, customers, and clients.  Your brand is what “they” say it is, NOT what you say it is.

It’s personal – focus on the individual: Participation in social media venues, blogging communities, and other social sites is for the individual, by the individual.  Build your brand but don’t author your posts in the name of “Your Company”.  Social media is not the place for mass communications.

It’s viral – for better or for worse: One of the most attractive and effective elements of social media for online marketing is the viral effect.  Everyone is creating social campaigns hoping they will go “viral”.  But this can also work against you – just ask the executive caught bad-mouthing his company on a YouTube video!

Ouch.



Filed Under: Blogging, Brand yourself online, Online Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Social Networking Tagged With: , , ,

Marketing Strengths of Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn

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Even though volumes of information has been published and shared about social media marketing, are you still wondering “why” you should have a presence on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn?

And more importantly …

Are you still a bit fuzzy about the core marketing strengths of the Big 3?

Today’s post is going to be concise (My thought is that you already have a PLENTIFUL collection of tips, reports, e-courses, and e-books about social media).

Who doesn’t?! Unless you’ve been residing under a cabbage leaf, your inbox and your hard drive is over-stuffed with social media basics and marketing strategies.

Maybe I should hold a contest to see who’s storing up the MOST social media stuff! Would you be the winner? :-)

Marketing Strengths

Facebook:

  • One of the fastest growing social networks
  • Find people from every industry, age group, and demographic area
  • Great way to brand yourself and your products and/or services
  • Allows you to further relationships with prospects, customers, and potential customers or clients
  • Ideal place to start if you are new to social media

Twitter:

  • Fast and easy to use
  • Search feature allows you to find, not only people, but you can also search by subject to find your target audience
  • Can be used to drive traffic to your blog or website
  • Twitter profile is the easiest to create

LinkedIn:

  • Known for its use by professionals (business-to-business networking)
  • Great place to demonstrate your expertise
  • Join groups formed around specific ideas or industries (you can join up to 50 groups)
  • Allows you to connect with people in your niche both in your geographical location and from all over the world
  • Excellent venue for building your community and finding potential customers

Which list of strengths would best serve you and your online marketing business?


Filed Under: Brand yourself online, Building relationships online, Online Marketing, Small business owners, Social Media Marketing, Social Networking Tagged With: , , , , ,

Straight Talk On Why You Should Use Social Media To Market Your Business

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The new way of marketing with social media is not just a different set of rules; it’s a whole new game.  Marketing is being totally transformed and the internet is a game changer.

For the minimal cost of internet service, it’s possible to reach the entire world from your computer.

The days of old fashioned (traditional) advertising are numbered.  Have you noticed how many newspapers and magazines are either closing or moving online?

Even television commercials (yuck) are slowly becoming less and less effective.  Why?  Because more people are spending their valuable time online and much less time sitting in front of the television.

The game changer, the internet, has created lots of different venues for reaching prospective customers and clients.  Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Blogging, just to name four, are all effective platforms for engaging your target audience and making valuable and lasting connections that can lead to sales.

Social media venues are ideal places small business owners can go to interact with their target market and with other business builders.  The days of shouting out sales messages are over!  Entrepreneurs can now create their own communities based on their passion, products, or services.

Know what’s really cool? [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blogging, Building relationships online, Customer Care, Online Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Social Networking Tagged With: , , , , ,

Cobweb-covered, Unknown, Unread, Unvisited Blogs

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Blog marketing gives your business a voice.

If you are creative with that voice, you will also enjoy the undivided attention of a captive target audience (which, as you know, can lead to long term relationships and sales).

Using your voice to introduce and promote your products or services is a cost effective manner of advertising and building your business brand.  Blogging is one of the best, most widely-used, and simplest shoestring marketing platforms you can use to grow your business.

However, a cobweb-covered, unknown, unvisited blog is as good as NO blog at all.

Is your blog hiding in the shadows?  Gathering moss instead of gathering steam?  Looking more like a ghost town than a landmark destination? [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blogging, Brand yourself online, Building relationships online, Internet Marketing Tools, Online Marketing, Search Engine Optimization Tagged With: , , , , ,

How To Reach Desperate Buyers

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Before becoming an online marketer, the word, “Desperate”, would leave a bitter taste in my mouth.

It reminded me of moments in my life when I was …

Desperate for clear skin!

Or …

Desperate for money!

Or …

Desperate for a date to the prom!

(Never did get that date, by the way) :)

Now that I have some years of online marketing experience under my belt and a clear understanding of what it takes to be successful, “Desperate” has taken on a new meaning and stands in a much more positive and flattering light.

What it really means is “highly anxious”. People with throbbing problems, pressing issues, and insane drives (impulse buyers) are who you should target.

Marketing information to people who live with these types of problems is easy because the problem is clear, obvious, bothersome, and quite possibly embarrassing to the person who has the problem.

As long as you’re selling information to help people solve a desperate problem, they’re going to buy it.

If it seems like nobody wants to wait for results anymore, it’s because nobody wants to wait for results anymore.

When you’re trying to sell how-to information, you’ve got to jump through a bunch of fiery hoops.

How to plant tulip bulbs, how to polish your car, or how to craft your own Christmas ornaments, etc., aren’t “pressing” issues.

No one lays awake at night or paces the floor wondering or worrying about how to do any of these kinds of things.

Would you like to come up with a topic to write about (in most cases, in less than an hour) and learn how to reach desperate buyers?

Ordinary to us can be extraordinary to someone else who desperately needs the information.

Give Me Desperate Buyers Only was recommended to me by a well-respected professional copywriter I met about four years ago and this 174-page, power-packed e-book has earned my highest recommendation.

This is one e-book that won’t be forgotten or tossed aside!

Filed Under: Brand yourself online, Copywriting, Making money on the internet, Online Marketing, Small business owners Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Email Marketing: Unhappy With Your Open Rate?

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Have you felt the disappointment (sting) of sending out a broadcast to your list and having only a handful of subscribers … or maybe even no one … open your email?

Ouch.

If you’re anything like me, you go back to your contact management system and re-read your message about a hundred times, hoping to figure out what went wrong.

You may have sent out a very special announcement, a super duper freebie offer, a biz tips video, an invitation to a teleclass, a survey, or an inspirational story – or something else you felt your list would find valuable.

And yet they’re not responsive.

Hardly anyone opens your emails and you’re left, puzzled, as to what you should do to improve your open rate. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Building relationships online, Email Marketing, Email Marketing Campaign, Internet Marketing Tools, Online Marketing Tagged With: , , ,
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