Posts tagged marketing

Which social network should I use for business?

By Bob Toovey on October 6, 2011

Which social network you focus on depends on the message you are trying to put across and who you intend it for. So lets take a quick look at the top 3 networks and see what they can do for you.

Twitter

According to research (Just how many active Twitter users are there?)…

… there are 56 million accounts on Twitter following 8 or more accounts. There are only 38 million following 16, and just 12 million following 64.

That’s against the claim by Twitter that there are 175 million registered users (from the above article). That’s still a lot of people.

While it’s good to use Twitter for announcing business activity, messages just fly by. Trying following 50 people or more and it can be hard to keep track. That’s why many use it for topics that are immediate, competitions, discounts, new products etc etc.

One trick bloggers use is to send out automatic tweets from their archive as well as new posts. By keeping a trickle of new tweets on the go, you can try and maintain a healthy profile.

The main use for Twitter? For all things that are immediate; real time events, discussions, questions and answers and maintaining a profile.

Facebook

According to Facebook, there are

More than 800 million active users

More than 50% of our active users log on to Facebook in any given day

Average user has 130 friends

Facebook is indeed a social place, it started off for students then on to friends and family. With the amount of interaction going on, business caught on and did very well out of it.

With business pages and groups, a business can keep their future customers, clients and fans updated and hooked. It also encourages interaction so ‘fans’ feel they are a part of whats going on.

The main use of Facebook? Community building around products and brands. Building trust and the feel of a one to one relationship. Brand loyalty can be maintained and increased.

Google Plus

While Google has been around for about 12 years, this is the first real foray in to proper social networking. This brand new service has 25 million users, according to the Search Engine Journal.

Business pages are not yet available so it is filled with individuals trying to get around and finding out how they can make the best use of it. New features are still being added and bugs are being squashed.

So while it seems Google Plus is limited, now is the time to get used to it and be around when the business pages are added. Ever thought to yourself, wish I had used Facebook and Twitter ages ago? Well now’s your chance to be at the begging of Google’s new venture in to social networking.

The main use of Google Plus? Great for individuals networking with each other and sharing interesting stuff. Until the business pages turn up, it’s yet to be proved what it can do for brands, products and services.

This entry is filed under Uncategorized and tagged business, facebook, Google Plus, marketing, twitter.

Products not selling? How to promote them with a blog post

By Bob Toovey on June 16, 2011

I am ‘blog coaching’ some one who manufactures quality aromatherapy soaps. The blog is going well and will help to promote the products. Especially the ones with low page views.

Keeping track with analytics

We are using Google Analytics to keep track of the online shop, which is built with the excellent Prestashop. We can see which pages are popular and also the ones with the least page views. We can also see where visitors are coming from and which pages they start browsing on. In fact there is a rather a lot of information but right now, I’m interested in which pages are viewed the least.

Using the Blog to promote products

The blog that is attached to the online shop will allow the promotion of the least viewed products. To give an example, We look at the shop page with the least page views. Ensure there is nothing wrong or needs changing, like a better picture or description. Make sure the picture is clear and shows the product at it’s best.

We then create a blog post BUT NOT USING the existing description. The post must describe why the product is good for you. For soap, why is the product good for your skin. What is it made from and explain the natural ingredients used in making it. It must contain unique text that is different from the shops product description.

Always remember…

“Don’t sell the product, sell the lifestyle”

…in the case of soaps, how that product will change your life style and enhance it. Far too many products have extensive lists of sizes and colours etc and don’t mention just how it will personally help you.

The big blog bonus

When the time is right and there are enough blog posts, we will plug the blog in to Twitter and Facebook. A quick 20 minute blog post about the least visited product page will increase page views for it and hopefully increase orders as well.

This entry is filed under Blogging and tagged google analytics, marketing, products, promotion. | 2 Comments

3 quick tips on using images

By Bob Toovey on June 15, 2011

I read this brief article that Niki Pilkington tweeted a few days ago, ‘Small business must use lawful images‘. In my mind, this applies weather you are blogging, producing advertising material, a static web site or any other activity involving pictures and publicity for commercial use.

Your product supplier has a catalog of products

If you intend to use pictures that your supplier has used in a product catalog, check that you are allowed to use them. If there is no statement that says you can’t, don’t take that as a yes. Get written permission, email or otherwise.

Taking your own pictures

You can take pictures of products but companies can be very protective over brand names, again get permission. Always better to be on the safe side.

Pictures to illustrate blog posts

There are several options here that you can follow.

Go to a picture library site like Stock Xchng
Find a suitable picture on Flickr but don’t forget to credit the creator (check the licence and Yahoo’s/Flickr’s policy on fair use and gaining permission)
Create your own

Word of Warning

Just because you found an image you want to use on an image search, it does not mean you can use it. Even if every one else seems to using it, it does not make it right.

Where ever possible, if you intend to use an image for commercial use, make sure you have permission in a written format.

This entry is filed under Marketing and tagged images, marketing, photos.

Book review: Purple Cow by Seth Godin

By Bob Toovey on May 26, 2011

Purple Cow by Seth Godin

One of the best books I have ever bought from Amazon is ‘Purple Cow’ by Seth Godin. I keep it with me at all times because it is such inspiration. When I get stuck for ideas, trying to think of a way to help a client to use the Internet and real life marketing better, I dig out the book.

While the title may sound strange, ‘Purple Cow’, there is a good reason. Imagine that you are travelling down a road and you see a field full of cows. They all look the same, nothing special to mark them out or any good reason to remember them. But what happens if one of them was a different colour, like purple? Not only would that cow stand out but you are going to tell all your friends of what you saw.

Seth Godin applies this to business, what makes you stand out from all the rest? What makes you special? Companies spend fortunes on advertising for products that are no different from the rest. But what happens if you treat your product or service as a ‘purple cow’? In the age of advertising where the amount of money spent is the only gauge (and most of it fails), this book shows you what you can do.

The book has examples of how the principle has been applied and the successes that have followed. How companies have managed to stand out from the rest.

It may seem like a small book at only 144 pages but the information inside is golden.

If you are looking to do something different with your marketing then this book is essential reading. Stop marketing and innovate, be remarkable – be brave and you too can succeed.

Buy this book from Amazon UK, Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkableor get it for your Kindle Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable

This entry is filed under Book review and tagged innovation, marketing, purple cow, seth godin.

Take control of your marketing message

By Bob Toovey on May 14, 2011

It has never been easier to market your products or services. Actually, I should say, it has never been easier for YOU to market your products or services. It used to take specialists (PR companies) to create the message, hours or days learning your products or services, create adverts, research the best places in print (newspapers or magazines) and then charge you a heck of a lot of money.

Now you are in control, after all you know your products or services better than anyone.

Make your business blog your media channel. The place where you communicate with your customers.

Direct them there from Facebook (source: Facebook)…

More than 500 million active users

50% of our active users log on to Facebook in any given day

Average user has 130 friends

People spend over 700 billion minutes per month on Facebook

How much does it cost to access 500 million active users? Nothing…

Send them to your site from YouTube (source: Flip me – the new world of video is here)…

“…there is 100 hours of video loaded onto YouTube every five minutes…and YouTube is the second most used search engine in the world…”

How easy it is to make your own video? Got a smartphone or a video enabled camera? Virtually nothing or spend around €200 for a decent HD video camera.

Get on to Twitter and spread the word (source: How Many Users Does Twitter Have TODAY)…

I believe that Twitter has 277,559,946 amount of users, which will change tomorrow or even as you are reading this, since Twitter has 460,000 accounts created per day…

Cost to access that vast number of people? Nothing, Twitter is free.

This entry is filed under Marketing and tagged blogging, business, marketing.

Google Places makes it easier for customers to find you

By Bob Toovey on April 8, 2011

Recently I have been looking at Google Places as a way to attract more visitors to a company website. If you are not already aware, when a search is conducted on a place name a map may be shown with local businesses marked on it. Here for example, is a search for “Bergerac bed and Breakfast“.

As you can see, the map is labelled to tie in with the search results.When a user searches for accommodation, they are more likely to use the results within the map as it gives a much clearer idea of where these places are located, there is more relevant information than a straight listing. This leads on to two major benefits…

You stand out from the rest

As your business is shown on the map at the top of the page, you stand out from the rest. Searchers are more likely to start clicking the map because it is as the top, it is above the countless pages of listings that follow.

Page one results?

It seems to me that anyone who has their business listed on a map, will show up on page one on geographical searches. If your business relies on customers coming to you, like the above example of ‘bed and breakfast’ then this is something you must be looking at.

Overall benefit

The use of Google Places is going to make it easier for customers to find you. It is also a free service that should take little time to do. Could this be the easiest SEO trick for a page one listing?

This entry is filed under Business ideas, Marketing, websites and tagged google places, marketing, seach results, seo.

Let your personality shine through your site and win over new customers

By Bob Toovey on April 7, 2011

The Internet created a level playing field. The website for a one man business could be made to look and behave just like the one for the biggest corporation. Businesses can hide behind these big brand websites to hide how small or large they are.

However, small businesses can be more flexible to their clients, reacting faster to their needs. Instead of providing a complex and never ending list of services, they can offer just a few and do them really well. So why not show that with your website?

This I believe is the way that small businesses should be. If you are a ‘one man band’ then don’t hide behind a big site and use ‘We’ when it should me ‘I’ or ‘Me’. It can be very attractive to future clients that they are dealing with the same person in real life as the person on the website. You are effectively the business and part of your branding.

Let me give you an example, something a friend told me about a few months back…

My friend runs a blog and shares his knowledge of the property market on his blog. He find expensive places to live in France for people with a lot of money, he is also a one man band. Sometimes he slips in a post about his life, writes about his favourite band or book. Initially he was worried that he was ‘off topic’ and not totally focused on his business activities.

However, he found that prospective clients were more willing to deal with him because they already felt as if they knew him. I suppose you could say the ‘ice was broken’ and half the sales battle was over. They felt more comfortable getting in contact because of the occasional personal posting.

Most expat businesses in France are one man bands. A single person with an expertise trying to make money. Your unique selling point is you! There are alot of builders, carpenters, plumbers, translators, website builders etc etc etc. What can make you stand out from the crowd is that your personality and ability can show through your site. Before they pick up the phone and make that important call to you, they have already decided to trust you. You have already convinced them you can solve their problem.

This entry is filed under Blogging, Business ideas, Marketing, Trust, websites and tagged blogging, business, expat, marketing, trust. | 3 Comments

Use Flash Codes to link traditional media to the Internet

By Bob Toovey on April 5, 2011

Pick up anything you have bought from a supermarket and you see it has a bar code. It’s used for price and stock control. However, have you checked your France Telecom bill and seen box full of random black and white squares? That is a Flash code, a three dimensional bar code.

It was created by France Telecom as a way to make links between traditional media (magazines, posters etc) and the Internet.

The Flash code can be scanned with a mobile phone, many Orange phones come with an application to enable this. The code itself can contain a web address amongst other things and the application can launch the phones web browser to visit that site.

Though it is seen mainly on utility bills and some advertising posters, Flash Code has great potential.

Put it on your business card
On your own invoices, leaflets and marketing material
Outside wrappings of your products
Inside a newspaper advert
Address labels etc

The Orange website has a tool so that you can create your own Flash Code images. The Contact option creates a code that should update the mobile phones address book. There is a code for voice calls and another for SMS.

The official Flash Code site also has a tool that can create codes for links to websites. However, the Flash code reader that came with my Nokia XpressMusic reports it as an invalid tag. It may be because the application needs updating.

Try out Flash Codes for yourself and let me know if you can think of other uses for it.

This entry is filed under Business ideas, Marketing and tagged barcodes, flash codes, marketing, mobile phone, orange.

Blog tip: Add a Facebook like button

By Bob Toovey on March 26, 2011

Depending on your blogging software, adding a ‘Facebook like button’ on each blog post should be fairly easy. I run WordPress with the Jenny theme and adding the ‘like’ button meant I had to modify the code on ‘single.php’. Not complicated but a matter of knowing where to insert the Facebook code.

Information on this can be found on Facebook and also on this site, WPBeginner.

Why put a ‘like’ button on you site? It is not a matter of doing what the other blogs are doing but there is a very sound reason.

When the ‘like’ button is clicked by a site visitor, it will be mentioned in their Facebook news stream and available for everyone to read. So if they have 400 friends and they all see what they liked, they may go and read it too. If they then click ‘like’ then it will be in their news stream and all their friends will see it. If they have 400 friends then even more people will know about your blog post. One line of code added to you blog site has created 800 or more people knowing about your blog post and thats just two Facebook friends!

The potential of Facebook for creating a huge stream of traffic is too big to ignore. You may find you get more visitors from Facebook then you do from search engines. For relatively new blogs and websites that it a brilliant way to get started!

This entry is filed under Blogging, Marketing, Social Networking, websites and tagged blogging, facebook, like button, marketing.

Say hello to Google with Likes and Tweets

By Bob Toovey on March 22, 2011

If you are still doubting the worth of Facebook or Twitter for your business then perhaps I can change your mind? I came across this blog post by Marcus Taylor of SEOptimise (Can You Get a New Domain Ranking Using Just Facebook Likes & Tweets?)

To summarise his experiment, he created a new website and tested to see how long it would take for Google to find and rank it. The site had no ‘back links’, that is no other site on the Internet had a link to it. The only methods he used to promote the site was with Facebook likes and Tweets.

Within 3 hours of the first batch of Facebook likes, the site was indexed and given an initial ranking. Read the article by Marcus and do go through the comments as well.

What this proves is that Google IS TAKING NOTICE of Facebook and Twitter to help decide on rankings. Ranking are not everything these days but if you are a brand new site and want Google to take notice of you then this seems to be an excellent method.