5 Things Small Business Owners Should Do Today Online

1. Start a blog – I can’t think of any simpler website technology to start and master, and there are cheap and free platforms readily available. Why a blog? Because they’re easy to create, because they’re easy to update, because they encourage repeat visits, and because you can use them in many flexible ways.

2. Start listening – People are talking about you. Find out where they are and who they are. When you’re done with that, start finding new business opportunities. People tweeting or blogging about being in your neck of the woods? Reach out, if it makes sense. Free advice on how to grow bigger ears.

3. Try Twitter OR Facebook – Let’s not rush things. Facebook has many more users, but it’s a bit harder to find customers, prospects, partners and colleagues. Twitter is easier to use and faster to connect with people, but there are far fewer users on there today.  If you go with Facebook, make a personal account under your own name, and then start a fan page for your business.

4. Get the word out – If you’re going to spend time building these social sites, let’s presume that you want more people to contact you and interact with you through them. Print business cards with the company name, and/or the request for people to join your fan page or follow you on Twitter. Extra points if you give them a social-media-tool-only discount of some kind.

5. Try moving the needle – now lets really get crazy. See if you can fill the place up with social-media minded folks. Okay, this won’t work for every business, but don’t be too quick to count out the idea. Let’s try inviting them to a store-only special event, or let’s give them a discount code. You know, the stuff you already know how to do. Any difference in the results? See if you can do some kind of really special one-day-only push, and what that brings to you.

DO NOT:

1. Provide your home address or home phone # online
2. Upload pictures that you do not want EVERYONE to see
3. Tell everything (TMI) about yourself
4. Add people you do not know
5. Accept requests from strangers
6. Write negative things about people
7. Write negative things about yourself
8. Write things you would not say to a person’s face
9. Air your dirty laundry
10. Act like a drama queen
11. Oversell yourself
12. Allow your friends to post inappropriate comments

Mashable.com reported: Blogging isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon. Your blog won’t be an overnight success, and for the first few months it might feel like you’re writing for no one. It can take time to build up your readership and have a regular community of people who participate on your blog. Don’t expect immediate returns from your blog and do expect to put in a lot of hard work.

How to Avoid: Set attainable goals and realize that you’re in it for the long haul. Don’t cancel your blogging efforts after three months — give it at least a year of regularly putting out quality, original content. And make sure that your blog is easy to find, and that your readers are able to easily comment and share posts with others.

]]> http://superiorvirtualservices.com/social-media-marketing/what-should-you-expect-with-blogging/feed/ 1 http://superiorvirtualservices.com/social-media-marketing/keyword-research-and-tools/ http://superiorvirtualservices.com/social-media-marketing/keyword-research-and-tools/#comments Thu, 05 Aug 2010 20:33:50 +0000 admin http://superiorvirtualservices.com/?p=692 According to copyblogger.com, keyword research is a fundamental part of online marketing of all kinds, and that definitely includes blogging. Blogs are famous for ranking well in search engines thanks to their structure and frequently-updated content, but if you don’t use the words people are actually interested in and actively searching for, you’re missing a lot of traffic.

Copyblogger.com continues by stating, keyword research, at its essence, is market research. It tells you what people are interested in, and in what relative numbers. Better yet, it reveals the actual language people are using when they think about those topics, which provides you with insight on how to converse with them via your blog.

Are you looking for keyword ideas?  Use these free tools:

• https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal
• http://freekeywords.wordtracker.com/
• http://www.keyworddiscovery.com/search.html
• http://www.google.com/sktool/#

I talk to business owners every week who are using social media as an additional tool for marketing.  These business owners are experiencing a dramatic increase in brand awareness and buzz about their company.  In addition,  they are providing an additional way for their customers to contact them.

These companies are online right now, wooing customers, creating relationships, providing help… and obtaining the sale.

There is no time like the present to get started.  If you do not know how to use online programs, then you should hire someone to train you.  If you do not have the time to keep up with social media, then you should hire a company to assist you with your online presence.

Above all, you need to move forward and get started.

According to Mark Killian, as posted in The Florida Bar News:

Lawyers using social networking and video sharing Web sites for commercial purposes must adhere to the lawyer advertising rules, according to the Bar’s Standing Committee on Advertising. But they won’t have to file those pages with the Bar for review.

Mark continues by writing:

Pages appearing on networking sites that are used to promote the lawyer or law firm’s practice are subject to the lawyer advertising rules. “These pages must therefore comply with all of the general regulations set forth in Rule 4-7.2,”

For the full article in The Florida Bar News, see this link

Brian Solis writes:    An overnight success ten years in the making, social media is as transformative as it is evolutionary. At last, 2010 is expected to be the year that social media goes mainstream for business. In speaking with many executives and entrepreneurs, I’ve noticed that the path towards new media enlightenment often hinges on corporate culture and specific marketplace conditions. Full social media integration often happens in stages — it’s an evolutionary process for companies and consumers alike.

Here are the most common stages that businesses experience as they travel the road to full social media integration.

Stage 1: Observe and Report

This is the entry point for businesses to better understand the behavior of an interactive marketplace.

Listening: Employ listening devices such as Google Alerts, Twitter Search, Radian6 and  PR Newswire’s Social Media Metrics to track conversations and instances associated with key words.

Reporting: Distill existing social media conversations into an executive report. This early form of reporting is merely designed to provide decision makers with the information they’ll need for continued exploration of social media and its potential impact on business.

Stage 2: Setting the Stage + Dress Rehearsal

Once the initial intelligence is gathered, businesses will set the stage for social media participation. This is an interesting phase, as it often joins Stage 1 as a more comprehensive first step. Instead of researching the best ways to engage, many businesses create accounts across multiple social networks and publish content without a plan or purpose.

However, those businesses that conduct research will find a rewarding array of options and opportunities to target.

Stage 3: Socializing Media

The next stage in the evolution of a new media business is the proverbial step towards “joining the conversation.”

As companies take the stage, they will eventually pay attention to the reaction of the audience in order to respond and improve content, define future engagements, and humanize communication.

Conversation: Representative of an early form of participation, this stage usually evokes reactive engagement based on the nature of existing dialogue or mentions and also incorporates the proactive broadcasting of activity, events and announcements.

Social Media Marketing is the use of social media sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blogs and Bookmarking to promote your business.  These sites are free to use and are available to everyone who has an internet connection.

Email Marketing can be done through electronic Newsletters.  Programs such as Constant Contact and iContact facilitate digital marketing pieces that are delivered to your database.  The cost of these programs will run you $15 to $50/month.

How to Avoid: Obviously the first thing you need to do is enable commenting on your business blog. But beyond that, you need to remember that the conversation is two-way. Get in there and respond to the comments readers leave on your blog and you’ll be more likely to develop a community around your writing that can help turn your customers into fans who will evangelize your products and services and provide you with quality feedback. You should also participate in the conversation on other blogs in your industry by leaving comments on posts elsewhere around the blogosphere. That will help you to establish your “blogging brand” and bring new readers your way.

]]> http://superiorvirtualservices.com/social-media-marketing/is-blogging-a-conversation/feed/ 0 http://superiorvirtualservices.com/social-media-marketing/social-media-icons/ http://superiorvirtualservices.com/social-media-marketing/social-media-icons/#comments Thu, 15 Jul 2010 14:01:47 +0000 admin http://superiorvirtualservices.com/?p=813 Have you been wondering what those  symbols are on many websites,  blogs and emails?  They are called social media icons and they are your friend!

Social media icons allow for people to find your social media sites and bookmark you on their favorite bookmarking sites.  These icons are easily recognizable and will assist in driving people to other sites you participate in.

from Jon Bishop's site

Are you looking for free social media icons or “share” icons?  Try this link:

http://www.jonbishop.com/2009/06/27-excellent-free-social-media-icons-sets/