Category Archives: online marketing

Is It Dangerous To Depend Solely On Social Media?

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Posted by admin on August 20, 2009 – 8:33 am
Filed under Marketing Tip, SEO copywriter, Twitter, online marketing, social networking

Although popular social media sites are some of the greatest tools to use to market and promote your website, they’re not the ONLY tools you should be using. The above video illustrates how Twitter, as well as Facebook, were the recent victims of a hacker. When these systems were down, Tweets and Facebook updates could not be passed through.

This event should inspire you to use other online channels to market and promote your business. Other channels include discussion forums, blogs, and email.

Were you affected by the Twitter and Facebook catastrophe?

If you enjoyed this post we’d love to hear from you in the comment section or share this post on Stumbleupon or Digg.

The Power of Twitter Unleashed

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Posted by admin on August 13, 2009 – 10:47 am
Filed under Marketing Tip, SEO copywriter, Twitter, attract clients, increase online sales, increase site traffic, online marketing, social networking

 

The above video taken from WebProNews is a fantastic illustration of just how powerful Twitter is in real-time news. In this video, Brett Tabke founder of WebmasterWorld, shares his expert insight into the world of social media and Twitter, and provides useful Twitter statistics that support the rise in social media marketing.

 
 

 

The Baby Steps to Marketing Your Business Online

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Posted by admin on August 11, 2009 – 9:09 am
Filed under Marketing Strategy, SEO copywriter, attract clients, blogging for business, increase online sales, increase site traffic, online marketing, social networking

second sumer sg

You know you need to change the way you market your business online, but where on earth do you start? Don’t try to take on the Internet as a whole. The key is to take baby steps.

Begin by analyzing how your company is currently marketing. If you’re using print and word of mouth as your main means for marketing your company, it’s time to consider the web as a primary marketing tool. Marketing online is one of the greatest ways to attract thousands of potential customers, increase brand exposure, and interact immediately with your target market. And it can be less expensive than print.

So, where do you begin?

After reviewing your company budget, you may find you’re not ready to give your website a complete facelift just yet. If so, Sūmèr’s Life after Launch services are the perfect fit for you. Life after Launch is primarily for those looking to increase online exposure, ramp up online marketing campaigns, and boost brand presence on the web—without spending a ton of money.

Whether you’re using Life after Launch services for blog marketing, social media networking, or social media marketing, you’ll see immediate results thanks to excellent online analytic tools and Sūmèr’s highly experienced online marketing gurus. These analytic tools show you direct results from our online marketing efforts, allowing you to track your progress. Also, you can track the percentage of increased website visitors and determine the exact websites visitors come from.

For example, if you use Life after Launch services to ramp up your exposure on Facebook, you can see how many people visit your business website from inbound links on Facebook. We make this possible through our analytic tools and provide you with a comprehensive breakdown of important analytics.

Once your social media marketing efforts rise, you can use Life after Launch services to maintain your accounts and keep a steady flow of visitors coming to your website from social media sites.

What’s the next step after implementing Life after Launch services?

After increasing your website traffic dramatically with Sūmèr’s Life after Launch services, consider hiring a professional web copywriter to rewrite and optimize your web copy for search engine purposes. The right web content writer can write result-driven and optimized web copy that speaks clearly and effectively to your target market, while projecting an accurate brand image and company message.

Remember, you don’t have to spend a ton of money to get amazing marketing results on the web. Begin with social media marketing and work your way up to having your web copy rewritten and optimized. A steady increase in online marketing efforts over the course of several months will have amazing results and sky-rocket your sales and company exposure online.

Are You Going About Social Media The Wrong Way?

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Posted by admin on August 6, 2009 – 10:59 am
Filed under Gain Brand Loyalty, Marketing Tip, SEO copywriter, attract clients, blogging for business, increase site traffic, online marketing, social networking

 

In the above video, web public relations expert Brian Solis shares his expertise on how to effectively build relationships on social media sites. You might be surprised to find out the truth behind building solid connections . . .

Are You Using Your Blog To Its Fullest Potential?

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Posted by admin on July 23, 2009 – 6:39 am
Filed under Marketing Tip, RSS Feed, SEO copywriter, attract clients, blogging, blogging for business, increase site traffic, online marketing

Blogs are an excellent online platform to provide valuable industry news and tips to your target market, but they are also an integral part of marketing and promoting your business online. Blog posts that provide value to your readers help position you as an expert in your field and a credible source for viable information.

If you want a successful blog–one with a large readership and one that brings you customers–simply posting regularly isn’t enough. You need to market and promote your business blog. Setting aside an hour or two each week to market your blog will help increase readership, position you as an expert, and grow your client base. If you’re not using your blog properly and to its full potential, you are missing out on increasing website traffic and boosting sales.

Below are 9 steps to effectively market and promote your blog:

Step 1: Attach the RSS feed widget to your blog: RSS feed stands for Really Simple Syndication, which is a file containing a brief amount of information–a headline and synopsis–and a link to the full content on the blog. Voluntary subscribers to specific blog RSS feed will receive this information through their RSS readers. Search engines can detect if your blog is high quality based on how many people subscribe to your blog’s RSS feed. In addition, search engines can detect how many people visit your blog from their RSS readers and how many times they click through to your blog.

Step 2: Import blog posts into your social media sites: With a large concentration of companies and individuals using social media sites to communicate, it’s important to import your blog into social media sites. Nearly all social media sites allow you to import your blog into your profile, including some of the most popular social media sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Importing your blog allows your target market to post comments and share posts with friends. Whenever a comment is posted on your blog from a reader via Facebook, the comment is visible on the reader’s minifeed, which can be seen by all of the reader’s friends.

Step 3: Create a blog marketing and promotion schedule: Creating a strict marketing and promotion schedule ensures you will stay organized and current with its promotion. Each week, set aside time to comment on like-minded blogs, ask other bloggers if you can be a guest blogger, or ask others to guest blog for you, and request to be on like-minded blogrolls. Don’t forget to set aside time to track your blog posts and recycle posts into articles.

Step 4: Comment on like-minded blogs: One thing many bloggers don’t realize is the importance of commenting on other blogs. Commenting on like-minded blogs is a powerful networking tool and works to increase inbound links to your own blog. Your comments should be relevant to the blog topic, add value and your expertise to what is being said in the blog, give positive feedback, peak the interest of the author and other viewers, provide links to similar pieces you may have written about the subject, and have a link to your email and website below each comment.

Step 5: Approach popular, like-minded bloggers, and ask if you could be a guest blogger: Search engines look highly upon blogs mentioned on other blogs because it illustrates that your blog provides intellectual material that ignites curiosity and discussion in the online community. Aside from other blogs, if search engines find your blog’s URL on social media sites and social bookmarking sites, these social media sites consider this a positive indicator that your blog is high quality.

Step 6: Approach popular, like-minded bloggers, and ask if they would be a guest blogger on your blog: Requesting like-minded bloggers to be guest bloggers is the perfect way to build relationships online and increase exposure. The more people you can touch and build working relationships with, the more likely you are to successfully market and promote your blog. Having guest bloggers also shows you are interested in what others have to say and are striving to find the best possible industry information available.

Step 7: Request to be on popular, like-minded bloggers’ blogrolls: After commenting on other blogs and requesting to be a guest blogger–and vice versa–it’s time to request to be on those bloggers’ blogrolls. Since you have a basis of a relationship with most of these bloggers now, you are more likely to receive a yes to be on their blogroll. Being present on other blogrolls helps increase inbound links and drive targeted traffic to your blog and website.

Step 8: Track blog posts: Tracking the popularity of specific posts helps you see what topics are of interest to your readers. Regularly tracking your blog also helps you track key phrases people use to find your blog and the amount of click-throughs you receive.

Step 9: Recycle posts into articles: Recycling past blog posts into online articles helps to increase inbound links, position you as an expert in your field, and reach thousands of potential customers. Articles are the perfect way to recycle important and valuable information and share it with thousands of individuals who have never visited your blog before.

Three Ways to Market Your Business Transparently

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Posted by admin on July 16, 2009 – 10:02 am
Filed under Business Communication, Marketing Strategy, SEO copywriter, attract clients, increase online sales, increase site traffic, online marketing

Building a successful business online requires effectively reaching potential clients through strategic and authentic marketing practices. And companies that utilize transparent practices are more successful than companies that shy away from expressing their brand personality and business practices.

Transparent practices are crucial if you want to build trust between potential clients and your brand. If you hide your brand personality, if your message is inflated or muddled in industry jargon, or if the message is too focused on the company, it will be difficult to reach a large range of potential clients and strategic partners.

The key is to get real. Take some time and evaluate your business mission and what your company stands for. Take a look at where you aren’t being as authentic as you could be, then rework your message to reflect the personality and the message you want to communicate.

Here are three result-driven ways to authentically market your business:

Share your brand story and your company’s personality on your website. Don’t make your potential customers feel out of the loop or intimidated when they visit your website. A website that lacks a clear, authentic message and unique company personality will weaken the connection between the visitor and your brand image. A site with a transparent About Us page is a powerful tool that facilitates a strong connection. Not only do potential clients like to see whom they’re doing business with, they also like to see an authentic brand story and the personality of the company.

Become transparent on social media sites. Social media sites are the perfect places to reach a high concentration of potential customers and strategic partners and to integrate your company into the online community. They are an informal way to market your business and places where you can truly let your personality and brand image shine through in a fun and interactive way.Offering behind-the-scenes information, sneak peeks, photos, videos, and recent news about your business on these social media sites provides potential customers with a clear understanding of your brand image and your practices. It also gives prospects a sense of the personalities behind the business.

Share yourself and your company at networking events. A networking event is the perfect place to meet referral partners, strategic partners, and potential clients. Your goal at a networking event is to be remembered–in a positive way—by a handful of people with whom you speak. Don’t be afraid to let your personality shine through when discussing business. This transparency is the key to showing others that your business practices and brand image are authentic. Allow potential customers and strategic partners to build a strong connection between you as a person and your brand name. When you are remembered, your business will be remembered.

Are You Reallly Connecting with Your Target Audience?

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Posted by admin on July 14, 2009 – 9:28 am
Filed under Business Communication, attract clients, online marketing, small business marketing, target market

In order to attract prospects and turn them into paying customers, you must connect with your target audience in the most clear, concise, and effective way. Before you put pen to paper (or fingers to the keyboard), consider the 4 common mistakes businesses make, and take action to create a clear message.

Mistake 1: The #1 mistake companies make is not deciding or knowing what your website needs to do (its purpose) or where it falls in the sales process.

Action Steps to Avoid This Mistake:

  • Write down the purpose of the website. What action do you want visitors to take? Do you want them to call you, order online, or set up a free demo? Be as specific as possible.
  • Write down the purpose of each webpage. Remember, not all pages need to have the same purpose.
  • When you are clear about what action you want visitors to take, write clear calls to action for each webpage.

Mistake 2: The #2 mistake companies make is they focus their website message on what they think is important and not what the target needs and wants to see. You will not connect with your prospects or communicate effectively if you don’t know whom you are speaking to.

Action Steps to Avoid This Mistake:

  • Narrow down your target, and be as specific as you can. You want to know and understand your prospects. Not only do you need to know the demographics but also the psychographics.
  • Create a list of characteristics of your ideal client.
  • Know what keeps them up at night. If you don’t know, ask current clients or send them a survey.
  • Study your target audience, and speak specifically to them.

Mistake 3: The #3 mistake companies make in their online message is they don’t clearly describe their product or service and focus on the benefits. As obvious as it seems, many companies do not clearly state what their product / service is and what it does for customers.

Action Steps to Avoid This Mistake:

  • Start by listing what your service or product does. Then, list the correlating benefit. Do this for each service or product you sell. Don’t forget, there may be more than one benefit.
  • If you get stuck, interview yourself, or have someone close to you interview you. Doing so, you will get clear on what problem the product / service solves, how long will it take for benefits to occur, and what makes your service / product different from the others?
  • When writing your marketing copy, focus the message on the benefit to the customer.

Mistake 4: The #4 mistake is not updating your message. How many times have you been to a website and you can tell from a glance that it’s been neglected or it’s outdated?

Action Steps to Avoid This Mistake:

  • Frequently reevaluate your website copy and your marketing copy to see if it is current. Your web copy should to be up-to-date and well written.
  • Your message must be relevant to the target market – good copy will suck them in. Bad copy will bore them and drive them away.
  • Know your client, and always stay focused on the benefit or the outcome. What does the prospect get once they use your product, take your class, or hire you?

Getting More from the Internet: Harnessing Technology to Grow Your Business.

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Posted by admin on July 10, 2009 – 3:55 pm
Filed under Business Communication, Marketing Tip, blogging for business, marketing in bad economy, online marketing, small business marketing, video marketing

For those of you in the Charleston area, you’ll want to come to this month’s Mount Pleasant Business & Professional Association meeting. Michelle Salater is  joining Christopher Cisneros, owner of Zafari, Inc., to discuss Getting More from the Internet: Harnessing Technology to Grow Your Business.

Don’t miss this exciting chance to learn about the latest in web technologies that can enhance your existing marketing efforts. You’ll learn about the importance of using website marketing techniques to drive traffic to your website:

  • Video [how it's valuable, why it makes sense]
  • Blogging
  • Social networking
  • PR [driving traffic, submitting online]

You’ll also learn about how to get your website on the first few pages of Google. Search engine optimization is a whole complex science but you can improve your website’s position by:

  • Ensuring your site is built in a way that’s friendly for the search engines
  • Making sure your content is not only meaningful and provides a strong message but is also seo-friendly

For more information or to register, please visit www.mpbpa.com/ .

HobNobCharleston.com: Charleston’s Premier Community Portal

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Posted by admin on July 9, 2009 – 9:45 am
Filed under Business Communication, SEO copywriter, online marketing

Rising to the top since their debut online in October 2008, HobNobCharleston.com is the perfect online portal for locals and visitors alike to meet all their Charleston, SC, needs. This includes videos, pictures, blogs, news stories, directories, and an extensive calendar of events.

In a nutshell, HobNobCharleston.com is a community website that provides viewers with an extensive business directory, an all-embracing calendar of community events, a wide spectrum of community blogs, videos, and so much more. With sister websites in 800 other cities nationwide, HobNobCharleston.com offers its online visitors a plethora of information to choose from.

Referred to as the “virtual Mayor of Charleston,” owner of HobNobCharleston.com, Becky Smith, serves the overall community, business community, and nonprofit community.

“We love to highlight events and businesses that are special and that are making a splash in the city,” says Smith. “We have a great business directory that we offer to all the businesses where they can list their business for free.”
HobNobCharleston.com also offers great deals on ad space for those businesses looking to get front row and center on this premier Charleston, SC, community portal. HobNobCharleston.com also has a page for real estate agents to post their listings at no charge. The great benefit to real estate agents: Their listings don’t just show up on the

HobNobCharleston.com site; they show up on all 800 HobNobCharleston.com sister sites. Smith also encourages HobNobCharleston.com visitors to upload important community events on the HobNobCharleston.com calendar.

“We want it to be the biggest community calendar in Charleston, so everyone knows where to go,” says Smith. “It’s a one-stop shop for them.”

In this exclusive interview, Smith breaks down HobNobCharleston.com’s role in the community:

What makes HobNob unique compared to other community sites?

Well, what we like to focus on is interacting with the community. We don’t like to just spit information out there and let it sit. We like to update it—keep you informed. We want you to interact with us by communicating anything going on in the Charleston area. Also, we are always running contests that not only highlight our businesses but are also a lot of fun for the community to get involved with. We do trivia, giveaways, and raffles.

Can you provide us with an example of one of your contests?

We started our first contest with the Women of Business. We had hundreds of women sign up for a Pamper Yourself in Charleston package of almost $1000 worth of prizes—all donated from local businesses. The winner was Tiffany O’Neil, and she was very excited to get her huge package! She received a free teeth whitening, free wine tasting for five people at Wine Awhile in Mount Pleasant, beauty control products, $50 spa giveaway, and more.

If I were going to visit Charleston, how would I benefit from visiting HobNobCharleston.com?

You can definitely visit our local business directory and find local restaurants, local music events, shopping centers, hotel listings, art galleries, sporting events, real estate, transportation companies, and so much more. All the things you would need in Charleston are on our business directory, and you don’t have to filter through all the other things on the Internet. You can go straight to HobNobCharleston.com, and the site will tell you exactly where to go. Also, our events calendar lets visitors know all the exciting things that are happening around town. We have a lot of people uploading events, including local businesses, HobNobCharleston.com, and community members—so it’s a very extensive list of events.

Mostly, visitors can get a real feel for what Charleston is all about by visiting HobNobCharleston.com because we highlight much of our local events and businesses with video and pictures. Basically, visitors can see what the community does and how this is a small town and a big town.

Interview with LinkedIn CEO Reid Hoffman

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Posted by admin on May 6, 2009 – 1:38 pm
Filed under Business Communication, Marketing Tip, attract clients, increase site traffic, online marketing, social networking

The above video is an interview with LinkedIn CEO Reid  Hoffman. View this video for some excellent information on LinkedIn and how it can help your company increase online exposure, rank high in search engines, and drive targeted traffic to your website.