Remember the carnival game where you had three darts to throw at a wall full of balloons to win the giant stuffed panda? Most of the darts would hit the wall, or skim by the balloon, and if you did manage to pop a balloon it would typically be for a rather unexciting small plastic whistle and definitely NOT the giant stuffed panda. The problem with this game is that you don’t know where the panda prize card is pinned, and you may not have the greatest aim. But you know it’s there somewhere so you just keep on paying …
How to select a compelling blog topic
Blogging is a lot about trial and error. You might start with one idea, think of another, and write two or three blog posts on the topic before realizing it’s not doing well. One way to avoid this is to choose the topics you write about ahead of time – if you know in advance what your next article will be about, it’s much easier to plan out what you need to research and get started! You need to consider whether it is of general interest and your subject matter expertise and passion for the topic. For example, if …
How Your Small B2B Business Can Rock Social Media
The questions we typically hear most often from small businesses about social media are: Which social media networks should I consider? What type of content should I post? These are great questions and we have certainly seen a lot of boring Business-To-Business (B2B) content on social media. It often seems that only Business-To-Consumer (B2C) businesses know how to sell the sizzle in the steak, so to speak. What business owners seem to forget when delivering their message to other businesses is that those businesses are run by people. And people still like to have their attention grabbed, even if it …
Linked In Best Practices For Small Business
There are some social media channels that are an absolute “must” for your small business, in particular Facebook, Google+ (mostly because Google loves it, and also because your clients are probably already reviewing your performance there) and Twitter. I would add Instagram if you can portray your business visually (and most of us can), and YouTube for your testimonial and other business and experiential videos, even if they aren’t professionally shot in a studio. But if your business sells to other businesses, or targets the professional crowd, then you simply MUST be on Linked In. You really should be on …
How Often Should A Small Business Blog?
The simple answer is, it depends upon how much impact you want. Let’s start by reviewing some of the reasons a small business owner would want to blog: To demonstrate expertise in their line of work To get the word out about something new To share a frequently asked question with a broader audience, allowing the opportunity to share a link and shorten a future operational task To improve their search engine ranking (each blog brings new traffic when linked from social media and Google loves fresh content) To connect with new people To have something original to share in …
Online Reviews Best Practices
From Vocus You probably need more. When choosing a business to buy from, customers search for reviews by other customers. If you haven’t got any, you’re in danger of being overlooked. Don’t fear the added attention of online reviews. While you can’t control what consumers say about your brand, there are ways to foster positive reviews among your customers. Here are four steps to achieving them: Expand your social horizons.We know who the heavy hitters are when it comes to social networks: Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. When it comes to referrals, though, several other networks are worth your attention. Yelp!, …
Social Media Blurred Personal & Professional Lines
Historically in social media people had a distinct personal and professional profile, now blurring into a single profile. Assume that how you are online is how you would behave in a professional setting. Relative anonymity of feedback can make it more bold and blunt For younger generations (Millennials) are becoming more aware of privacy online and what they do online having an impact on their professional lines. However, they also recognize that people have a life outside of work so there may be more acceptance of that. Recommendation for small business: owner personality is so tied to the business that …
Video Marketing Musts
Video Marketing Musts Video Marketing is often underrated and overlooked. But the video content you post is a crucial part of your brand’s strategy. Video is a powerful tool to use to tell your company’s story and to drive calls to action. Did we mention that YouTube is the number-2-ranked search engine? But you can’t just throw up any ole video and expect to have positive results. In order to successfully market via video and YouTube, your videos must be meaningful. How can they be meaningful? Here are a few things to keep in mind when creating your video. …
How to: Pinterest Marketing
How to: Pinterest Marketing Pinterest marketing is something often overlooked. Pinterest can be used for more than DIY birthday gifts and nifty holiday desserts. If you’ve been using the site already for pinning ideas you think are interesting, you might be surprised to know that marketing with Pinterest doesn’t take much extra. Like other social networks—Facebook, Twitter, Instagram—Pinterest gives you the ability to share things you like. And for a business, it allows for free exposure. Pinterest is all about networking, sharing things, and linking to content, which makes it ideal for driving new customers to your product or service. …
Should I “Like” My Own Facebook Posts?
Answer: YES!!!! The Facebook algorithm is designed to show the most relevant and interesting posts to followers. The rationale is that there is so much content being posted, it would be overwhelming to show us everything. True, this is quite a “big brother” philosophy, but alas something over which none of us has control. So are some of the characteristics that Facebook determines make an interesting post: Number of likes a post receives (and how quickly it receives them) Multi-media content (video, images) Number of comments a post receives (and how quickly) Facebook also runs a test to see how …