Social Media Blog | Internet Marketing Blog

Who Can Make The Keys When You Are Away?

June 9, 2011 By Terri Leave a Comment

What’s that have to do with growing your business? Well quite a bit after you hear my little story.

I was in need of an extra key for our house, so I went to the local hardware in my little town. Now let me paint you a picture, I live in a “mayberry” town without Floyd the Barber. It’s just a small little place, but we love it here and most folks are either related or go to church with you. So it’s one big family. But back to the story…

I walked into the hardware and spoke to the sales person at the counter whom I have chatted with many times. I said, “I need a key made.” She told me that the owner was the only person that could make keys and he wouldn’t be in until the afternoon, but to try down at the drug store.

So I got back into my car and drove less than a quarter of a mile to the drug store, where I was greeted by a cute little blond girl and I said to her, “I would like to get a key made please.” She smiled sweetly and said, “The lady that makes the keys is on vacation for the summer.” The Summer!!!

So I just started laughing and got back in my car and went to the local Wal-mart to have the key made.

This is a very funny story, but not so funny if it is happening to your business. When you are away, who is making the keys? Do you have an assistant that can take care of “anything” that comes along? Or are you the type of business owner that must do everything themselves? Do you realize how much business you are loosing when you are away and nobody else is trained to make the keys?

Whether you are a brick and mortar business or an online business owner, you must build a team of trusted and trained individuals that will be there when you can’t be to keep the company going. You can use a virtual assistant, an online business manager or a social media manager to help run your business. Or you can use part-time interns from the local college to make sure all the keys are made in your shop and not at the nearest big giant shopping center.

Isn’t it time to evaluate your business and focus on its growth instead of keeping all the trade secrets to yourself? But without a trained key-maker, you will be just another stop on the way to getting a key made.

Can you Tweet without a Link?

May 31, 2011 By Terri 2 Comments

I know that social media is all about sharing great information and finding links that are relevant to your industry and tweeting them out to the masses. I believe in that…I really do.

But, it seems that everyone has a link attached to their twitter posts these days. I search my various Twitter lists for interesting comments and posts so that I can re-tweet it to my followers and offer different perspectives than my own. As I was searching recently, I noticed that only 1 in about 500 posts were just a comment without a link. I’m sure people have some profound statements to make that are not attached to a blog post or a video, or an affiliate link.

Now don’t get me wrong, I do all of the above and I think it’s a great way to promote your online business or service. But surely we can occasionally post on Twitter just a regular message, a favorite quote or a random thought.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this topic. Am I expecting too much or have we become a society that can’t tweet without a bit.ly, ow.ly or tiny.ur link attached?

What do you think?

How to Get Started Online

May 17, 2011 By Terri 2 Comments

At the beginning, of course!!

Seriously, nearly everyone starts at the same place – the beginning. So, why is it that some people get to the finish line faster than others?

There’s several reasons, but one is that they get really good help from really experienced instructors from the beginning. But finding those really experienced instructors that you can trust is always tough and a little risky.

Until now! GREAT instructors – ones you can trust – will be gathered in one room in Atlanta, GA and they will be working with you to build your affiliate marketing empire.

The Niche Affiliate Marketing System workshop is like no other out there.

For three days, two dozen of the top Internet Marketers will teach nuts and bolts results – no theory! This is a teaching workshop where students implement what they learn on the spot by following the leadership of instructors who have been through the internet marketing trials before you. Each instructor will deliver 60 to 90 minutes of instruction about their area of expertise. And the best part is that they are available to you after the session is over. You can have lunch or dinner with them and pick their brains even more. Plus you make lasting connections and great friendships.

You can select which experience level track you enroll in. There are four:

Beginner 1 – starting from scratch
Beginner 2 – maybe you’ve got a blog already, but not making money
Intermediate – making money, but not enough
Advanced – making plenty of money, but want more time and a sustainable business

Their goal at NAMS is that you accomplish your goals. By joining the forum and working with accountability groups, you should have firm goals established and partner teams aligned by the time you to come to the workshop.

Brainstorming and some Chick-Fil-A

I have first-hand experience because I was lucky enough to attend two of the NAMS workshops in 2010. I went not really knowing anyone or anything about affiliate marketing, but left with a binder full notes and a ton of new ideas on how to make more money online and the contacts to help me make it happen!

So, yes – you should bring a computer, lots of notepads, your smart phone and your contact list. Then be ready to roll up your sleeves and get to work.

No matter what your experience level is, this workshop is created specifically to help build your businesses. And the price is definitely right at only $397. But Wait! (isn’t that what they say on the TV infomercials?) LOL

You can get a $100 discount during the month of May by simply using this code: 100special.

I hope you can make it to NAMS in August. If you have any questions, post them in the comment section below. I’ll be happy to tell you what I know or find the answers for you. And be sure to register in May to get the discount!

Looking for Social Media’s Impact on ROI

May 12, 2011 By Terri Leave a Comment

Second article in a three-part series on Social Media ROI

Social media has become a driving force in American society, and the greater human society as a whole. Almost everyone under the age of 30 is aware of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and a variety of other social media outlets. As people increasingly turn away from face to face engagements and toward online networking, businesses are trying to adapt their practices to take advantage of the opportunities provided by social media and online networking sites.

Businesses always think in terms of money; how much money is going out and how much money is coming in? When economic times get tough businesses always look first at where their money is going out before worrying about where money is coming in from. Return on Investment, or ROI, is a very big term in business. With the evolution of social media, businesses are increasingly turning to this new media outlet for marketing. As such, many businesses are trying to determine the ROI of their social media practices.

Determining how social media initiatives impact a business’s ROI is difficult because the results will not jump out on a spreadsheet revealing their impact in plain sight. Instead, businesses looking for social media’s impact on ROI need to go beyond cash flow, costs, and stats on paper. A better approach to measure ROI from social media should include the following:

Providing a face for your business
Get input from customers
Join the discussion
Encourage involvement
Build business relationships

Most employees at any given company have passions related to their company, and passions that are unrelated to the business. Keying in on a passion an employee has that relates to your business, and then allowing that individual to run a social media program puts a human face on your company’s online profile. For example, if a moving companies’ provider has an employee who considers themselves an amateur photographer they should be encouraged to create an online presence where employees and customers can share photos from their travels.

Social media’s biggest impact might be in providing customers with a louder voice for the company to hear. Allowing marketing and sales departments to run social media programs will allow them a direct link to the customer base. This not only allows them to focus in on exact customer bases, but also receive feedback from those customers.

Word of mouth has taken on a greater impact in our social media age than it ever could have before. The internet allows information about your business to reach every corner of the world. Engaging in discussion and discourse with customers in a positive manner creates good word of mouth about your company that can reach much farther than just around the block or in the next town.

Lastly, the ROI of a company’s social media efforts can be seen by encouraging involvement and building business relationships. Companies from different industries can come together through social media connections to support projects that benefit the greater good, and even encourage their customers to get involved as well. Travel insurance companies, for instance, can encourage their customers to support community development projects in a region they routinely visit. It can be as simple as a donation, or as involved as volunteering time to the cause.

Social media’s impact on a company’s ROI is definitely there, but it won’t jump off the page of a spreadsheet. Rather, businesses need to dig deep for ways to make social media work for them.

Social Media’s Impact on ROI

May 6, 2011 By Terri 2 Comments

It is difficult to escape the reach of social media giants like Facebook and Twitter these days. Just six years ago Facebook was only open to college students and Twitter didn’t even exist. Fast forward to 2011 and you will be hard pressed to find an individual not using one or both of these social media outlets.

Now businesses are jumping on board with social media in an attempt to advertise their products and services, and generally get their face out there for the public to see. Businesses of all kinds, from professional sports teams to health insurance providers seem to at least have a Facebook page these days. In fact, few television commercials end without the company asking viewers to check them out on Facebook or follow them on Twitter.

The major factor behind businesses turning so heavily to social media is an argument that doing so improves a business’s Return on Investment (ROI). Unlike television, radio, and print ads that cost money to run, Facebook and Twitter are free to join. Even better for many businesses, Facebook pages and Twitter feeds can be constantly changed and updated without starting a whole new marketing campaign. Those companies with deeper pockets can pay a little extra money to advertise themselves across Facebook and Twitter, but in general the services are free arenas in which to market themselves.

Social media can be a tricky venue for many businesses though. Health insurance providers for instance must follow strict government regulations that govern the messages that can be passed from insurance companies to the public. All messages must pass an approval process that can often take weeks, which runs contradictory to the instant gratification of status updates and Tweets.

The big question for every company is whether or not all this social media effort is worth it. With every company looking to spend less and bring in more these days, social media outlets appear to be a great place to advertise without sinking thousands of dollars into the effort. To date, the results for social media ROI efforts are mixed, but pointing towards positive outcomes.

Internet analyst firm ForeSee Results recently conducted a survey of nearly 300,000 consumers who visited over 180 private and public sector websites. The findings initially suggest that social media ROI is non-existent with less than one percent of website visits coming as the result of direct links placed on social media pages.

However, ForeSee did note that there is a significant indirect impact on ROI from social media. The study noted that around 18 percent of website visitors reported being influenced to visit the site based upon social media outlets.

Marketing through social media outlets remains in its infancy, but it appears that the future is bright for companies looking to improve their ROI with the help of social media.

Is Direct Mail A Thing Of The Past?

April 14, 2011 By Rob W. Leave a Comment

In years gone by, direct mailers were the premier form of business to business and business to consumer advertising. Direct mail consists of flyers, newsletters featuring advertisements, and coupons mailed directly to the consumer’s home. This required businesses to investigate all kinds of shipping services, gather quotes, and compare shipping companies. While this is still a valuable resource for targeted markets, people seem far more interested in exploring online technology and viral marketing and advertising options.

With the advancement of technology, the Internet has given small and large businesses alike a nearly equal playing field. Though not completely dead and forgotten, direct mailers as advertisement has taken a backseat to the more popular and effective advertisement forms the Internet has made available.

Businesses today all have the opportunity to use the web and social media to promote their services. High tech or ecommerce businesses, for example, would benefit more from using the Internet opposed to using direct mail due to its global potential of customers. Blog articles, appealing websites offering online discounts, Internet printable coupons, and savings offered on social media sites have allowed businesses to reach out to a broader base of consumers.

Due to the rapid advertising the Internet provides, businesses no longer have to wait for consumers to receive direct mailers and then wait for them to respond. The Internet has given businesses a prime opportunity to reach out to customers through social media sites and email advertisements the same day the company is having a special sale or savings offer.

Business owners additionally have a chance to email, share, or tweet to thousands of potential customers and essentially recruit new customers or encourage them to look at and contact your company.

Long term success for any business in today’s world generally means participating in some sort of Internet advertisement and campaigning. Inexpensive advertisement can be readily had through the Internet and creative and optimized websites. A company that is diligent about advertising on the Internet as well as knowing when to use direct mailers will have far more success than a company who relies on only one method for their primary form of marketing and advertising to the public.

Every Business Needs a Social Media Policy

March 15, 2011 By Scott S 2 Comments

Guest post by Scott Spjut

It doesn’t matter if you’re a huge, international corporation or a local small business; in this day and age, each and every business should have a social media policy. This helps protect the company, employees, and customers, and set a standard for behavior both in and out of the office.

When developing a social media policy, there are several things you consider. First of all, you’ll need to do your research. There are plenty of general policies available online that can work as a good starting point, but you need to be sure you tailor it to your own company’s needs. Take the time to adapt what you need to better align with your company’s mission and needs. You’ll also want to put the policy in writing; this isn’t something you just bring up casually and hope people remember.

As you develop your policy, you need to keep in mind what you hope to accomplish not only with the policy but with social media in general. Your policy isn’t just for protection, but also to help you grow your business and your brand. It’s there to benefit employees. It should help you add value to the online marketplace. It should allow you interact with your community and connect with your customers.

But even after you’ve developed and established a working social media policy, you’ll need to update it occasionally. Hand-in-hand with these updates should be ongoing training for employees. Social media evolves and will continue to evolve, so as you react to changes in the industry, you’ll need to inform everyone of the changes and allow them to ask questions.

As you delve into the social media world, you need to understand that everything you put online has the potential to be there forever. Because of this, you should never ever post any private or confidential information through your social media networks. As a matter of good business, you also need to know what to do if and when something goes wrong. Put damage control policies and procedures in place beforehand so you’re not scrambling for a solution.

All in all, you should use social media to add value to the conversation and build your business, but you also need to make sure it’s a controlled effort by putting an effective social media policy into place.

Scott Spjut is a writer and editor who has been featured in various magazines, newspapers and websites, including Newsweek, the Washington Post, CBS News and the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Scott currently works with Professional Marketing International helping people change their lives.

Social vs. Social

March 8, 2011 By Terri Leave a Comment

Guest Post by Rob W. – a 23 year old young professional with a passion for life.

If it is used correctly, social media and online relationships can actually work to strengthen your real life relationships and your social life. This has been seen often in recent times in a number of different ways, and I have experienced it personally to a large degree. There is the danger, of course, that you could become dependent on social media, or addicted to it, and would then stop having an actual social life in favor of a virtual one. If you are wise about the way that you use the online tools at your disposal, however, you will find that social media sites can strengthen friendships and even help them move into something deeper, something romantic.

Back when I was in college studying trademark infringement, I saw a girl on the bus and thought that she was rather attractive. I was not in any position to talk to her because the bus was packed and I was at the very back of it while she was stuck at the very front. In the days before the internet, this would have been the end of our relationship. I would have just watched her stand in the center aisle until we got to her stop and then she would have walked out of my life. Thanks to the internet, however, this is not what happened.

Instead of giving up, I went online to look for her. I had seen where she got off the bus on campus, so I knew what kind of classes she was taking. I went onto a social media site and looked for people who attended my school who had interests in the kinds of things that would be taught in those classes. She had been carrying a lot of books, so I knew she was serious about school. It didn’t take me long to find her. I added her to my group of friends and found out that we actually had a class together. This was a huge relief, because it didn’t seem like I was adding her as a friend out of nowhere.

I asked her a question about the homework we had, and she assumed I had randomly found her through the class. She answered my question and I thanked her. Then I let it drop.

This was not the end, though; it was the point when social media began impacting my real life. She sat next to me in class the next day and we talked about the assignment before we had to turn it in. Then she began sitting next to me in every class. I talked to her online when we were not at school, and eventually asked her if she wanted to go get some coffee and study for an exam. She said that she did, and we have now been dating for three years. If I had not used social media in this way, I never would have met her in real life. Thank god for social media!