Small Business Marketing, Small Business Marketing, Small Business Marketing
Or How to Help Search Engines Find You without Boring Your Readers!
As a writer and person, I have many interests. However, as a blogger, wishing to cultivate an audience, I need to narrow those interests and focus on a few topics to help search engines and readers find me.
So, I write about small business marketing and business planning. But some times I get tired of the same thing. I feel as if I have written it before ( and sometimes when I update a theme, I have!) This creates a challenge because I want to keep the content fresh and interesting, but consistent.
I have studied a number of bloggers to see how they find the balance. And some do it better then others. One of the best is Louis Grey. Primarily tech focused, he gives us an inside view of what is going on in Silicon Valley, human explainations of new technology ( instead of GEEK SPEAK) and the occasoinal look inside his personal life, and the challenges of raising twins. His recent topics have included :
- Hard But Smart Decisions: Blogger Tackles The .5% Problem
- EdgeTheory Conversations: Twitter’s New Suggestions
- Apple & Google are Primary Enemies? At What Cost?
In contrast, local Social Media Expert, Kyle Lacy has moved in a different direction. A year ago, his blog covered a wide range of topics. Today, as his business has become more and more focused on Social Media exclusively, so have have his posts.
- Social Media from a Generation Y Perspective
- Empower Your Employees to Win with Social Media
- Marketing Through Social Media is Not Easy. Plan Accordingly
While I miss some of his customer service rants, and general musings, when I am looking for social media content, he is my first stop. And his strategy is helping him win search. Just type “social media Indianapolis” into your search bar and see who tops the list!
Some writers have found the balance by creating multiple blogs. ( I have no idea how they get anything else done). For me, the balance seems to be, writing primarily about small business marketing, but allowing myself, from time to time, to ramble off in different directions and hope my readers enjoy the detour.
Twitter is to Marketing What Microwaves are to Cooking
Thirty years ago, my mother-in-law, a gourmet cook, she didn’t think she would ever use a microwave. Raised in an era of slow cooking, taking all afternoon to prepare a meal she couldn’t imagine ever using a microwave to cook a roast or bake a cake. And she was right, the microwave was not the right tool for that type of cooking. However, as she began to experiment with it she did discover, there are things the Microwave did extremely well.
Today, at 81 years old, the microwave is the most used device in her very active kitchen. She still bakes and roasts in the traditional oven, but she defrosts, boils water, parboils vegetables, reheats and steams vegetables in the microwave.
There is a lesson there for small business owners! Tools become mainstream, when we figure out how to use them as part of things we already do. For example, Twitter. I wouldn’t use it to replace a press release, or sales brochure, but it has a place in my marketing mix. It is great for the quick hit, and little extra juice to my overall marketing plan.
So if you are still sitting on the fence, unsure about Twitter and other social media, take a lesson from my mother-in-law and try it out! Boil a little water and see the results!
What Makes Someone Attractive?
No today’s post is not about makeovers or dating advice. It is about being attractive on line!
About a year ago, I read a post by Jim Connolly. In it he talked about Equality and Attraction. Essentially he was talking about what makes people attractive. While he was focused on internet marketing, I think his comments are relevant in many areas of marketing. He said:
You attract sales, leads and referrals by being attractive. In the online world, this means making your site or blog as valuable to your ideal profile of client / customer as possible. You do this by focusing on delivering quality and quantity.
What do you think? I think many of the same qualities which make people attractive off line make them attractive on line as well. For example -When you go to a cocktail party or networking event, take a minute and look around the room. The interesting, confident people are usually the center of attention. How does this translate to your on-line? Write interesting content and share it with confidence. – A simple post on Twitter or FriendFeed to let your followers know you have something new, then let your readers find you.
In addition to really dynamic and interesting people, the other very popular folks at any party are the good listeners. So spend some time listening as well by asking good questions if you want to be more attractive on line!
Who Owns Social Media?
When I was in corporate there was an ongoing battle between marketing and IT for control of the web site. The technology was relatively new, and while we saw tremendous potential to connect with customers, the IT department simply saw it as more technology.
Today, most companies understand the website is an extension of their marketing, but a new battle has begun. The question now, is who owns social media. Is it a PR, marketing, or HR function?
In a recent article for the Harvard Business Review David Amano suggests that we are asking the wrong question. It is not a matter of who owns social media, but whether or not a company is ready to “live social”. More than an advertising campaign, David says social media is
a way of thinking and approaching business that requires passion and commitment and, above all, willingness to participate in social spaces honestly and freely and by the rules of the social network itself.
So as you are mapping out your 2010 marketing strategy. Ask yourself the important questions. Are you ready for the challenges of being a truly social company in the year, and decade to come?
Where Email Fits in a Social Media World
Contrary to popular belief, email is not dead. It still works if you use it well. The problem, so few people use it well. I stumbled across an old post by Seth Godin in which he compares good vs bad email strategy. Read the article, then tell me which is closer to your email model?
Do you treat people as individuals, sending relevant content to small groups of people who have expressed an interest in hearing from you. Or are you still using a one-size-fits all appraoch where you send the same generic email to everyone you meet, and hope someone will buy from you?
For small business owners, especially in a slow economy, email is tempting. It is relatively simple to create and inexpensive to deliver. So what is the harm of sending one more email? The harm can be seen in the increases in your opt out rate, and the decreases in your open rate. I started using email, six years ago. At the time, my open rates were routinely around 50% – 65%, and sometimes as high as 70% . Today, my lists are larger, but I am reaching fewer and fewer people with my mass emails. Why? Over time people unsubscribe, opt-out, or simply stop opening the email I send.
While my general email’s are experiencing a falling open rate, there is an exceptoin. My 10 Week Biz plan emails typically run around 70% open rate? How is this possible? This group is much smaller, only 150 people, but each of them has specifically requested they be added to the list. The key is permission!! These subcribers have all joined the list as a result of a post on my blog. That is the second piece of the puzzle. Your email needs to be tied to your website, and your website to your email to create a perfect loop for prospects.
Social Media will not replace email, but it does challenge us to be more creative and more interesting in our communications.
Everyone’s Predictions for 2010
Have you noticed everyone has a list of predictions for the year to come? It seems everyone is jumping into the conversation with titles like this:
- eMarketer Weighs in on 2010 Trends and compiles a 2010 Roundup of Predictions
- Chris Brogan looks notes that 2010 Will See Consolidations and Fold-ups
- Forrester predicts 2010: The Year Marketing Dies
- Read Write Web tell us about 10 Ways Social Media Will Change in 2010
- MediaPost says that 2010 Is the Year Social Media Gets Serious
- Scott Monty has his Social Media Predictions for 2010
- Forester Twitter gets serious or Twitter gets Bought
There are lots of similar views, with Twitter finally becoming profitable, and companies embracing social media as part of their overall strategy . But what do you think? What will the year ahead look like?
And, as a small business owner, which of these trends will be most relevant for you?
New Niche Marketing Tools
I have finally arrived as a blogger! I am now receiving press releases to share on my site.
I received this one from Wordstream. After I got over the initial shock and residual feeling of being flattered, I actually read the release. I decided to share it with my readers because I think the tools will be valuable to small business owners trying to manage their SEO and PPC campaigns.
WordStream Launches Two Free Niche Marketing Tools for SEO and PPC
WordStream adds to their suite of free search marketing tools, introducing two new products to help search marketers better identify profitable keyword opportunities
BOSTON, MA – December 16, 2009 – WordStream, Inc., a provider of keyword tools for pay-per-click (PPC) and search engine optimization (SEO) efforts involving large numbers of keywords, today launched a pair of tools designed to help businesses identify and optimize highly profitable keyword niches.
How Much Time for Social Media?
Small business owners often complain about the time required to jump into social media. But these same “busy” business owners will spend hours at networking events and in pointless one on one conversations.
Now don’t get me wrong. Good networking is valuable! And smart one-on-ones will fuel your business. Unfortunately, many business owners confuse activity with productivity. They assume if they simply show up enough times, something will happen. While this is fine in the early days of your business, as you get clients and projects, you need to manage your time, choosing the events, meetings and conversations which will make the most sense for your business.
The same approach works for social media and social networking. In the beginning, register for a lot of sites. Try out different tools. Then start narrowing your focus, concentrating on the tools and sites which make the most sense for you. Read more
Episode 9: Are You LinkedIN with Chris Reed
Chris Reed asks the question, Are YOU Linked IN? The owner of Creed Improvements he is also extremely knowledgeable about how to use LinkedIn as part of your business strategy.
We sat down recently to talk about how he uses this tool to complement his own networking activities.
Chris suggests using LinkedIn to learn more about people you meet at networking events. Who are they? Who do they know?
He also suggests you use it to introduce people, and make referrals just as you would in face to face networking events.
Click here to listen to the rest of the interview.
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And to learn more about using LinkedIn check out Chris’ class on December 16 through Rainmaker University.
Do You Have a Suggestion Box?
Do you have all the answers?
If you think the correct answer to that question is yes, you are either incredibly smart, incredibly naive, or you are a small business owner. The need to know all the answers seems to come with the job.
Unfortunately, there is no “rule” book for the job of small business owner. Every day, your employees, customers, and partners look to you for answers, so you have to have all of them, right? .. Wrong!
The key to success often lies in learning to ask questions, admit you don’t know, and occasionally following someone else’s advice. It turns out, asking for help can also be a great web traffic building strategy. In an article entitled, Three Instantly Effective Social Media Ideas, Alexandra Samuel, describes the Suggestion Box.
What is the Suggestion Box?
It is an invitation to your customers, supporters or employees to submit their ideas and suggestions for new products, services or improvements. More then just a place to post comments and ideas, an interactive suggestion box allows community members rate submissions so the best ideas rise to the top.
The challenge, is if you do this, you actually have to implement some of the ideas suggested. Giving up control can be scary, but rewarding. We have actually done this with a few design projects indcluding the redesign of both the Roundpeg and Indy-Biz websites.
In both of those cases, we have a basic concept, and asked for feedback. (Sometimes we got more than we wanted). The input from our readers helped shape the final project. After reading Alexandra’s article, I am going to look for a more open ended project to try this on.
What do you think? Have you had good results with suggestion boxes of your own?
