After doing some videos I realized that I was NOT posting them to my blog! I cannot believe I did not do that. So I wanted to share with you a few videos that I have done to help you with your Internet Marketing. If you need help in any of these areas or have questions please feel free to contact me. Enjoy!
This is a great article I found by Frank Barry http://socialmediatoday.com/frankbarry/328381/social-media-best-practices-12-tips-making-best-facebook-twitter-google-or-any-oth?utm_source=smt_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter
Do you know how many of your supporters use popular social networks like Google+, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube?
Twitter has more than 16 million users, and 42.3 percent of the entire American population is on Facebook. YouTube is the second most used search engine in the world. Google recently made a big social medial play by introducing Google+ which saw 20 million users within the first three weeks.
With usage stats like that it’s probably safe to assume that a large portion of your supporters, customers and/or prospects use at least one of these sites on a regular basis, right?
Which means you need to get laser focused on figuring out how to best utilize sites like Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and YouTube.
But as with anything, it can be challenging to figure out where to start or how to ensure your efforts are going to be effective.
With that in mind, here are 12 tips that will help you succeed no matter what social-networking site you apply them to.
1. CLAIM YOUR LAND
As you get more and more involved in using social media, be sure to claim your land by creating your organization’s Facebook page, Twitter account, YouTube channel, LinkedIn profile, Google+ profile, etc.
Think about it like when the Internet became popular — you wanted to secure your domain even if you didn’t plan on using it right away so others wouldn’t register it.
2. FILL OUT YOUR PROFILE COMPLETELY
The social Web is essentially a place where relationships are built, maintained and enhanced in a digital space.
It’s really no different than real life in that people want to get to know who you are, what you stand for, how you’re changing the world and what they can get by connecting with you. So make sure to take advantage of all the profile space you have by adding a picture, putting up information about your organization, providing links back to your website and so on. This way others know you’re a real nonprofit doing real things.
3. SPEND SOME TIME OBSERVING (AKA LISTENING)
An easy way to understand this concept is to think about attending a party where you don’t know many people.
It’s doubtful that you’d go barging in to conversations or groups of people without first getting the lay of the land by observing the room, looking for others who you may know or know of, and thinking about what you could talk about with those attending. The social Web is no different. It requires that you learn the culture, people and way to interact on each specific site. Twitter is different than Facebook, and Facebook is different than LinkedIn.
Spend some time observing how others interact, speak, share and communicate before you dive in. Creating a social-media listening dashboard helps as you get started. You can get one up and running in 30 minutes or less for free.
4. LOCATE YOUR PEEPS
Once you’ve begun to get acclimated with the culture and overall way to interact on each social site, start to look for those who are talking about or interested in things you find interesting.
For example: If you’re a nonprofit that focuses on disaster-relief efforts in places like New Zealand, then you may want to connect with the Red Cross and begin building a relationship with it. Or you may want to find individuals who are talking about the events around the world where disaster relief is needed.
This allows you to engage with people who are interested in the things you do and who might become supporters of yours one day. You should also get familiar with using search features like Twitter Search to help you find the right people to engage with.
Here are 13 simple twitter search examples to get you started.
5. ENGAGE, BUT DON’T YELL (OR ASK FOR DONATIONS)
After you’ve been observing for a while and locating like-minded organizations and individuals, you want to begin building relationships with them.
The key point to remember here is that you should not start by selling your wares or promoting your programs or asking for donations. Even though Social Fundraising is a great way to empower your supporters it shouldn’t be the first thing you focus on. Start by getting to know the individuals who run the social-media accounts you interact with — offer your help, assistance and support to them. Be the initiator and giver.
Spend some time in chitchat-type conversations to build real connections and relationships with others — it will pay off in the long run.
6. BUILD YOUR FAN BASE (JUST LIKE BUILDING YOUR HOUSE FILE)
As you start to engage with the right individuals and organizations, you naturally begin to build your fan base — it’s the organic way of doing things on the social Web.
In addition to that, once you’ve developed a solid presence, part of your fan-, friend- and follower-growth strategy should include promoting your presence on social-media sites to your current supporter base. You can do this by putting social-media links on your main website and sending e-mail communications to your housefile, letting all your supporters know where to find you on the various social-networking sites you participate on.
This helps build your social-network fan base in two ways.
First, it gets all those who you have e-mails addresses for to connect with you on Facebook, Twitter and so on.
Second, it gives you exposure to your fans’ networks and provides the opportunity for many more to find out about you.
7. CREATE MEANINGFUL RELATIONSHIPS
Now that you’re building a nice-sized following and engaging with the right crowd, you should focus on building relationships that are useful to others.
Sticking with the disaster-relief example, if you were engaged in helping those affected by a natural disaster in New Zealand, then you could help others by providing them up-to-the-minute news, pointing them to resources that would allow them to help or participate in the relief efforts, and creating conversations with others that help draw attention to the cause.
By being a resource to your community and helping others, you quickly build a great reputation online.
8. IDENTIFY AND INTERACT WITH INFLUENCERS
A key part of any social-media strategy involves identifying influencers — those who have nice-sized online networks can effectively spread your message and are able to activate others.
These individuals can help you reach more people because of the trusted relationships they’ve already built. As you build relationships with people online, look for the influencers and be thoughtful about how you engage and build relationships with them.
It’s very possible they can help amplify your message like you’ve never been able to do.
9. CONNECT THE DOTS
The social Web is very much a game of relationships and a place where those who are genuinely using the tools for good want to connect with other like-minded individuals.
As you build your network of fans, help them to get to know each other by connecting them. Make introductions on Facebook. Share something that one of your fans has done with another on Twitter. Help build a tight-knit network by being a connector who’s always looking for ways to build beneficial relationships between others.
10. PUMP OUT USEFUL INFO. AND CONTENT
Think of participating on the social Web like you think about your website.
Would people come back if you failed to update your website with useful information on a regular basis? Doubtful. The same holds true on the social Web, so make sure to consistently share great content that’s relevant and useful to your fan base. Keep in mind that it doesn’t have to be content that you wrote or created. It can be news stories, resources from other websites, information from a partner organization, etc.
The key is that you become valuable by sharing useful content.
11. ACTIVATE YOUR NETWORK
At the end of the day, doing the steps outlined above have a purpose.
That purpose is to build a community of people who are supporters of your organization and willing to take action in support of your cause.
Your online network will respond when you ask if you’ve built real relationships, engaged with people, proved to be a useful resource, connected others and had an overall positive impact on your online community.
12. SAY THANK YOU
Good manners apply in any social setting, and the Web is no different.
Make sure to continually show appreciation when you’re fans support you by donating, volunteering, sharing your content, retweeting a tweet, liking a Facebook status update, attending an event or any other action you’ve requested them to take. It shows that you’re paying attention and that you’re grateful for every bit of support.
And that keeps people coming back to support you every time you need them.
What one tip would you add? There’s plenty more out there that you’re doing a great job at, I’m sure!
What is a niche? A niche is a portion of the market that is not being addressed adequately. You must identify the niche that you are targeting so that you are able to focus your work properly. There are a few reasons why niche marketing is important that you must understand before you get started. The main thing about marketing online is to be prepared before you get going. Preparation is vital because it can take you from your dream to a reality.
1. If you get started with internet marketing and do not select a specific niche then you will likely lose your goal along the way. It is like going into something blindly and that just does not turn out well. You must know who you are targeting and what portion of the market is not being targeted already. If you go after a segment of the market that has a lot of competition then your likelihood of making a lot of money is very low.
2. Niche marketing is also important for your search engine optimization needs. SEO is a very important process and you must know what niche you are targeting so that you can use the proper keywords and carry out the process correctly. If search engine optimization is not carried out appropriately then your goals will not be fulfilled. Take some time to put some thought into this before you get started.
3. The best thing about niche marketing is that it provides you with a direction along your internet marketing process. It feels so much better when you have a direction. For some, niche marketing seems like such a simple part of the plan but it may not always be so obvious for everyone. No matter who you are, it is always helpful to have a direction and in this case, if you do not have a direction with your niche then you will fall off your path very easily.
Niche marketing is vital for many reasons. Take a look at a few of these reasons and learn to implement the ideas throughout your own internet marketing process.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5567855
I found this article very interesting, when you click on Facebook for Business it takes you to the page that Facebook has already had in
Article by Todd Wasserman Found on http://www.linkedin.com/news?actionBar=&articleID=660728748&ids=0Oe3gTejoMdzoIdPkTcPAOc3oSb3kVc3AUej4SdyMOd3kQcjgMdzoIe3gTe38Tc3oS&aag=true&freq=weekly&trk=eml-tod-b-ttle-80
As businesses clamor to join Google+, it may be no coincidence that Facebook has introduced a new site walking potential advertisers through the process of advertising and marketing on the social network.
The site, Facebook for Business, “provides step-by-step guidance for how to best use Facebook’s marketing tools,” a company rep says. Such tools include Pages, Ads, Deals, social plugins and Sponsored Stories.
Though Facebook is sought after by marketers, many have found the process of buying ads on the network complex, which has spawned a network of third-party agencies that specialize in placing ads on the network. With the site, Facebook hopes to offer more of a helping hand. “We want to inspire small businesses by seeing how other businesses have found success on Facebook by sharing their stories,” the rep says.
The new site is the latest effort by Facebook to court advertisers. In April, the company launched Facebook Studio, which showcases successful Facebook campaigns and gives awards for the best work.
This is an awesome article I wanted to share:
It was just a matter of time before Google created some real competition for Facebook. My prediction for Google Plus is that the technically more savvy and early adopters will flock to it, while the majority of people will continue with Facebook. However, there is much to be said about an early mover advantage yet! And, since Google rules the search engines, it may well be in your interest to setup a home on Google Plus. Here are 10 ways you can market using Google Plus. Keep in mind that Google Plus profiles do NOT yet exist for brands and businesses. They will add this in time, but for now, you, as an individual, can make the most of it.
1. Setup a solid profile. Your entire Google Plus experience starts with the profile. Just like on Facebook, your profile is key, so spend some time building it correctly. Start with a good headshot. And, if you think the advice is commonplace, just look at some of the pictures on Google Plus now. When you show up in people’s steams, all they will see is a thumbnail. So, choose something where you really stand out. Craft your introduction well. Make it so that people would want to add you to their circles. And, Google Plus allows for live links in the introduction itself, so make the most of it. Add links to your website, blog, LinkedIn profile, etc.
2. Add relevant and remarkable images. My hunch is that Google will index the pictures you share (unless you’ve kept them private). So, use images you want found in the search engines. If you are a speaker, add pictures of you speaking. An author? Add pictures of you at your book signing. The idea is to convey the right brand image.
3. Make sure your profile is OPEN to search. This is key, since Google reigns supreme in the search world, the chances are that your profiles will be indexed VERY quickly. When you hit edit profile, the very last item on your profile is “Search Visibility.” Make sure you have checked the box that says “Help others find my profile in Search Results.”
4. Optimize the links to the right of the profile using keywords. Again, a great SEO feature. What are the chances that Google will value these links highly? Pretty good, I’d say. If only to encourage people to use Google plus. On the right hand side of your profile, you can add links and the text that goes with it. Make sure you use the RIGHT keywords to connect to your website. For example, our link to the Marketing Zen homepage uses the phrase “online marketing.”
5. Use “Circles” to communicate with clients, prospects, media, etc. This is perhaps Google Plus’ greatest selling point. Most people’s lives have layers – professional, personal, acquaintances, etc. And, Google Circles allow you to make the most of the layers. For example, you can create a circle for prospective clients. And, then cater specifically to them with industry news, a solid case study, etc. (Tip: While Google will inform a person that you have added them to a circle, it won’t tell them which circle.)
6. Use +, Comments, and Share to boost relationships. At the heart of all good social media marketing and networking lies the power of relationships. As you interact with others, show support for their ideas. The +1 on Google is akin to “Like” on Facebook. You can also +1 and comment when you see fit, and you can also SHARE within your own stream.
7. Add videos to your profile. If only from an SEO perspective, the chances of your videos being indexed into Google’s search is higher. So, if you have online video, share it. If you are still missing the online video boat, go to Dave for some amazing web video help.
8. Add your industry or business name as a “Spark.” Sparks is a new Google Plus feature, and still in development. But, something tells me that this will also tie into search results or effect them in some way. For now, use it like you would a Google alert, and setup SPARKS for your name, company name, and industry terms. You can also always follow industry news using SPARKS. For example, I have technology and business as my SPARKS, and I follow the top articles in those areas.
9. Market research –ask questions and use Hangouts as needed. Google Plus is a hot bed for market research right now. People are a LOT more engaged there right now because it is a new playground. It reminds me of Twitter in the early days. Google hangouts incorporates video chat with circles. Want to invite all your sales people for a quick Monday morning meeting? How about a Hangout?
10. Get a custom URL to share your Google Plus profile. Just like the early days of all social networks, there will be a huge rise initially as people try to fill up their circles. And, as time goes on, this will slow. Make it easy for people to follow you, get a custom URL. You can do so at http://www.gplus.to.
Bonus Tip: Follow me on Google Plus at http://www.gplus.com/Shama for more Google Plus tips to come!
Article Source http://www.marketingzen.com/10-ways-to-use-google-plus-for-marketing/
If you have stepped into the world of internet marketing even slightly, you have probably heard the term search engine optimization before. This is an essential process that you will need to take on throughout your journey as an online marketer. A question you may ask yourself is why this process is so important. There really are a few reasons that this process is both important and beneficial for your business both short term and long term. Once you understand these benefits you will be eager to get started.
1. Once you have a website set up for your business, your next step will be to complete the SEO for it. Before you can carry out this important step of your plan you need to fully understand it. SEO is a process by which you design the internal structure of your site appropriately so that it can be found easier by search engines and site visitors.
2. Some things to pay attention to when you are designing the internal structure of your site are keywords and phrases. This is how sites are ranked among search results so when you structure your keywords and phrases appropriately, you raise your likelihood of being found by search engine spiders much higher. Also, when you are creating your site you need to be sure your content is both relevant and of high quality. This is important because it sets you apart from the competition and builds credibility with site visitors.
3. A part of your plan will always be niche marketing. When focusing on your search engine optimization you must be targeting your specified niche market. This will become relevant because the people that want your goods and services will find you much quicker when you are focused on a specific part of the market.
If you have ever wondered about search engine optimization, it is a good thing that you took some time to read up about it. The more you understand about SEO the better off you will be with your business goals. In the long term, your financial success will soar like it never has before.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5575421
Video marketing is nothing new when it comes to effective internet marketing tools. The internet is always changing and if you want to stay ahead of the game, you need to know how to effectively use videos the right way. In other words, you cannot create a video, place it on your website and expect to get results. Video training is a must and I can tell you from personal experience that creating short videos and uploading them to the internet without effective strategies will not get you very far.
Your message needs to capture the attention of your audience. Let’s face it… the internet marketing game has definitely changed. Consider the fact that just several years ago, no one was talking about video to promote businesses. Nowadays, I think it is fair to say that most business owners realize just how important video is to their income.
Benefits That Video Brings To Your Business
•Videos equate to a great response (Everyone loves to watch videos)
•Excellent conversion rates
•The ability to create a captive audience
•Videos build trust!
•Builds relationships with potential customers
•Better online SEO (Google loves videos!)
•Videos are more personal giving you and your business that “personal touch”
Videos are fast becoming the way that people do business. Whether you are an online or an offline business, it does not matter. What matters most is that you get the business exposure and videos will give you the edge over your competition.
5 Tips When Marketing With Video
•Tell your personal story with an interesting video… the more compelling, the better
•Introduce YOU and your company with a testimonial from one of your customers because this will show your credibility
•Integrate video with social media by offering people something for free when they “like” you
•Creating videos will help you stay in touch and maintain relationships… following up is a must when marketing online
•Create videos as a way to automate your business using campaigns… doing so will allow your videos to work on autopilot!
The idea is not just to simply create business videos and then upload them on the internet. Instead, you need to do the following…
Separate Yourself From Your Competitors!
You can easily do this by creating videos to attract people to you and your business but again, knowing how to effectively do just that is essential to getting exceptional results. I believe that the majority of marketers understand how videos are playing a major role with marketing their business, especially over the last couple of years. My personal belief is that those who effectively use it with a compelling video will not only get noticed, but make a significant amount of money because of the power that this has on ones business results.
Just think about how many people are online marketing to others for just a moment. Think about when you go to a marketing event. Chances are you meet a lot of people but do you really remember everyone’s name, let alone what company they are with? Unless you have met the person before or have seen them in a video, it can be downright difficult to remember everyone. Videos can be a great tool to help build a relationship that truly lasts and they have the great potential of getting the results that equal more profit!
Sure, business cards, newsletters, brochures, flyers, postcards can be effective with your marketing efforts but I do believe that when given a choice, most people are more likely to watch a video which is why more and more online and offline business owners are taking massive action using videos to promote their business.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Josephine_Monty
Social Media can be a little overwhelming sometimes and time consuming. When you started your business or got into the industry you are in, did you start it to do Social Media? Probably not! Social Media has become so popular over the past couple years that every type of business is doing it. Now, there are companies like mine you can outsource your Social Media campaign to, but not everyone has the budget to do that yet.
Today I am going to share with you a couple tools you can use to make your life much simpler. With Social Media you need to have a plan behind your efforts or you WILL be sucked into the black hole of Facebook, you know what I’m talking about.
Here is a schedule you can go by:
Monday– Schedule your posts (using Hootsuite and Onlywire, read further down in blog for link)
Tuesday – Follow 50 people on Twitter using www.Twellow.com and add 10 new friends on Facebook (add them to your business list to suggest your business page to them)
Wednesday – Follow 50 people on Twitter using www.Twellow.com and add 20 connections on LinkedIn
Thursday – Follow 50 people on Twitter using www.Twellow.com and add 10 10 new friends on Facebook (add them to your business list to suggest your business page to them)
Friday – Add 20 connections and LinkedIn and 10 new friends on Facebook (add them to your business list to suggest your business page to them) Suggest your business page to your new friends
There are two tools I like to use that allows me to schedule my posts out to my networks weeks in advance and one that allows you to post to 40 different profiles.
The first one is called Hootsuite http://hootsuite.com/p_1748 this is a FREE service and an amazing tool. You can add you Twitter, Facebook, Business Page, LinkedIn, FourSquare, Mixi, and WordPress to this service. Once you have all your profiles set up you can schedule your messages to go out.
The second one I like to use is OnlyWire http://www.OnlyWire.com now with this account you don’t need to post to Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn but you can post to Delicious, StumbleUpon, Reddit, FriendFeed, and much more. This is a great tool to reach out to all of those other Social Media profiles that Hootsuite does not post to.
I hope these are helpful tips, if you need help on how to use these tools please check out my YouTube videos http://www.YouTube.com/YourMarketingVoice
Facebook use to have an awesome tool where people can suggest fan pages to their friends, it was easy, fun, and it worked! Well back around November the button was missing, then a few weeks later it was back but only the admin of that page could suggest it to their friends. This became a little difficult and I feel it broke some of the online communities that were being created. It was very simple to use, you would click onto suggest to friends, and then choose the list of people you wanted to send it to, click select all and hit send! What a great concept. Once a page was suggested to you then you would get an alert once you logged into Facebook on the right hand side and you could choose to like or fan at that point the pages that were suggested to you. It was such a great tool and really helped the small businesses increase their fans. Now the button is still there on the pages and you can click it and still select all the people you want to invite to like your page but now there is a catch . . . IT DOESN’T WORK! Once you hit send it says a message was sent out but nowhere to be found is a message in your email or on Facebook that a page was suggested to you. Now where is the building community in that?
Us as small business owners need to increase our fans so we can build that relationship through our businesses. Here are a few ways to still grow your fans:
1) Talk about your page on your personal profile using @ (then type your page name) this way people that are your friends can see your post and go directly to your page and “Like” it.
2) Create list of friends up to 200 and send a message to them asking for their support to grow your online community and give the link to your business page.
3) Put your Facebook business page link in all email signatures, newsletters, marketing materials, voicemails, videos, blog, and website.
4) Post to your Twitter account to “like” your page
This can seem a little irritating and frustrating, trust me I am right there with you, but until Facebook figures out how to manage themselves and page we have to follow their rules. Because so many companies were and still are creating fake people on there, Facebook is trying to control the SPAM. One person can ruin it for all of us. With that being said stay away from buying “Likes” they are mostly fake people! I hope this information is useful, if you have any questions please feel free to contact us.
QR codes are a new, mobile marketing technology that is quickly gaining in popularity and with good reason. Their potential is limitless. Today, it would be difficult to find someone who doesn’t own a cell phone. Most cell phone owners keep them close at hand, taking them with them wherever they go. Savvy companies are taking advantage of this, reaching out to both prospective and actual customers, via their mobile phones. They are one of the many methods companies are using to do so.
For those unaware of what a QR (Quick Response) Code is, it is a 2-D visual code that can be read by QR scanners, cell phones with cameras and Smartphones. QR codes can be encoded with all types of information, including, text, phone numbers and URLs.
When individuals come across a Quick Response code, they can scan it with their phone and instantly be taken to whatever website a company has encoded the QR code to. An increasing number of companies are utilizing these codes and with great success. They are a unique form of advertising which is cutting-edge and taking off in a big way. QR codes connect online and offline media in a way that has never been done before. Now individuals are able to go from offline to online adverts or web pages with a quick and easy scan of their phone.
Quick Response codes have taken off for a variety of reasons, one of the primary being that consumers seem to be responding to them. They are a bit mysterious. The codes are black and white modules in a square pattern. There is no definite rhyme or reason to them, at least visually. It is only after scanning the code, that individual can determine what message the company is relaying.
QRs are akin to a live website link or URL. Until now, the only way a person could go directly to a website with a simple click was if they were online. Now, this can be done even when the link is not online. QR codes are embedded with URL links and functionally, act as such. Individuals are automatically transferred to whatever URL the QR Code is embedded with when they use their mobile phone to scan the code.
Companies committed to staying abreast of the latest technologies and then using them to maintain and grow their business should look into QR codes. They are one of the latest technological developments available to businesses interested in entering the enormous and potentially lucrative, mobile phone market.
This article may be freely reprinted or distributed in its entirety in any e-zine, newsletter, blog, or website. The author’s name, bio and website links must remain intact and be included with every reproduction.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6229457