Google Goes High Tech with Google Glass

Posted on April 18, 2012 by getsocial101

Have you seen the latest from Google? They’re still in beta testing, but this is pretty hi tech. Right out of Star Trek. I can imagine all sorts of issues with multi taskers adding this on top of what already seems like overload. Call me old fashioned, but I have enough trouble with talking and walking at the same time.

What do you think?

Google Glass

Not only are they working on glasses, but contact lenses as well! I guess I’d better get used to the idea. Pretty soon we’re all going to be so hooked up to each other we won’t even need devices. We’ll just project our thoughts and wishes and Boom! Done.

Facebook’s Timeline and Fan Pages

Posted on March 6, 2012 by getsocial101

A lot of people are upset about the new changes coming into effect over at Facebook with timeline being forced upon us with our fan pages. I have to admit I was a bit put out at first too. So many people have spent countless hours and money setting up their business pages just the way they want them. Too bad, so sad.

Now that I’ve had a chance to take a look at what is happening, I see there are some cool new things, among them:

–You can put hot links in the images running across the top of your home page so your people can click through to your current offers.

–You can “pin” a status update to the top of your page. How cool is that? Remember to repin after a week if you want it to remain there

–If you have applications running, let’s say for a contest as an example, when someone joins it is posted to their wall. Very powerful stuff that!

The cover photo is also great for branding yourself. Get creative. It’s a huge space. Be careful though as you cannot put any direct advertising there, no calls to action, pricing or coupons. A phone number or contact information is okay. At first I didn’t really like the idea, but it really fits with what Facebook is. It is a place for all of us to share with one another, not one with big come ons to sell, sell sell. That’s my opinion. Of course there is one heck of a lot of revenue generated from all those ads running along the side of your page! Whatever. It still is free for us to use. Gotta respect that. And be sure to play by the rules. No doubt they will be policing and if you’re in violation of their terms of service, they can shut you down without warning or reprieve.

Also, if you’re still using “Like Bait” or locked until Liked features, that was deemed illegal almost a year ago. Maybe that’s one of the reasons they are forcing the timeline on us? Who knows?

Still love Facebook. Gotta say I hated it at first, but it has provided quite the play ground for small businesses to leverage their marketing dollars. Another thing is Facebook gets more traffic than Google and their search engine will most likely challenge Google’s dominance in the near future. Even with that said, Google loves Facebook fan pages and ranks them highly.

Me too!

Google Places

Posted on February 2, 2012 by getsocial101

Do you have your business set up yet?

This is an easy and free way to get your business more exposure whether you’re online or not. Do you want to be on page one of Google? For free?

Here’s how. First do some keyword research to see what terms people are searching on in your particular niche. Then go to Google Places and either claim your business or set it up. Under the categories section you can add the keyword phrases you just found that people are searching on.

Of course if you’re a roofer and there are already 10 businesses listed under “Minneapolis Roofer” on page one it’s not going to get you much Google love. If that’s the case, be creative. Drill down and think of another term or specialty you want to be known for.

Be sure to add pictures and even better, a video if you have it. On a screen full of text this is total eye candy and people are naturally drawn to these listings first.

Once you get this set up Google will send you a postcard in 2-3 weeks so you can validate your listing, and voila, you’re on page one. How simple is that?

If you’re overworked, don’t have the time or patience to set it up yourself, give us a shout and we’ll do it for you.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Posted on January 2, 2012 by getsocial101

Where are my people? If you want to stay relevant, you have to target marketing that is appropriate to your customers’ needs. First you need to know where to find them. Try to get in their heads. Who is your perfect customer? If they were looking for you, where would they begin?

Their search might begin on one of the search engines. If that is the case, you need to position your business so it can be found on page one of the results. Most people never go beyond page one so it’s important your site ranks in the Top Ten. SEO or search engine optimization can be a very beneficial tool, but if you’re in a highly competitive field you have to be vigilant to stay on top.

Is your demographic on Facebook? Then set up a custom fan page and engage with your audience. This is relationship marketing at its best and the sky is the limit as to how you can attract more people to your product or store because of its viral nature. If done the right way, you can get more customers to your store or website, promote a webinar or event, or build an email list that you can blast out your promotions to. Super powerful stuff.

Maybe they’re on Linked In. This is where the professionals tend to hang out so if your product or service is something that appeals to teenagers you won’t be finding them here. On the other hand if your demographic includes professionals, set up an account, join groups and interact to increase your visibility.

How about Twitter? If that’s where your people are, it’s in your best interest to start tweeting! And your tweets don’t have to be inane like “I just finished loading the dishwasher, am going to buy some groceries now for dinner.” Talk about things that interest you. Be funny. Controversial. Ask questions. Engage. You will soon find that people will start following you.

Whichever path or paths you choose to take, marketing is crucial to the health of your business. Remember the story of the guy who couldn’t afford to advertise or promote his business? He’s got “Going out of Business” signs up all over the place. He is advertising now.

If you need help getting started or need a shot of adrenaline to increase sales, let us know. We’re here to help you increase your business from where you are right now, wherever that may be.

Use Facebook to Increase your Customer Base

Posted on December 7, 2011 by getsocial101

Many businesses both small and large alike spend many hundreds and thousands of dollars on marketing. And many are finding that the ways that used to work are no longer as effective. As always, the return on your investment is key. If you’re putting thousands of dollars into direct mail, yellow pages, adwords, pay per click or radio, stop and take a look at what Facebook has to offer.

At this writing, Facebook has about one billion hits each month! They have 300 million users who log in to their accounts every day. Talk about a captive audience!
You can market to a precise demographic.by location, gender, interests and age. If you don’t know who your ideal client is, you can also find out who that ideal client is. Just imagine the power of marketing directly to people who are actually interested in your business, service or product.
Facebook is viral. Word of mouth spreads like wildfire especially when you’re offering something of value.

To be effective on Facebook it’s important that the personality behind the business shines through. Give, give, give. People on Facebook are there to be social. Offer value. Engage. Be social. That’s what it’s all about. Be prepared to have hordes of people creating a buzz all about you, your business and your offer. And finally, be sure you can fulfill any offer you make.

Is Your Website Listed in the Online Directories?

Posted on October 12, 2011 by getsocial101

This is a sure-fire way to get your site found by more people. Get listed in the online directories. This will take some time to do, but you only have to do it once. It’s pretty rare for people to pick up a paper directory to look something up, but they DO check on line. Here are some resources.

Online Directories:

LocalPages – www.localpages.com
Yellow Pages – www.yellowpages.com
ThinkLocal – www.thinklocal.com

Social Media Listings:

Yelp – www.yelp.com
Foursquare – www.foursquare.com
Gowalla – www.gowalla.com
Facebook Places – www.facebook.com/places
Loopt.com – www.loopt.com

Online Listings with the Major Search Engines:

Google Places – www.google.com/places
Yahoo! Local – local.yahoo.com
Local Listing Center – www.bing.com/businessportal

For help getting all of this taken care of and to get your business listed in the Top Ten of the search engines, contact Jackie at 612-749-7577, the marketing maven, or visit our services page.

Do You Need a Social Media Manager?

Posted on October 3, 2011 by getsocial101

Take this short quiz to determine if a Social Media Manager is something that will help you or if it is indeed something that is a “must have”. There are no incorrect answers.

Do you ever get overwhelmed with the day to day tasks involved with your business?
Do you check your messages often and reply in a timely manner?
Do you ever feel disorganized?
Do important messages on your various accounts sometimes get overlooked because of the sheer volume you receive or a lack of time to deal with it?
Ever wish you had more time to spend on your pet projects instead of devoting your precious time on the mundane?

If you answered yes to 3 or more of these questions, explore what a Social Media Manager can do for you:

Our clean up crew will do just that! Remove the junk from your accounts so you can focus on the important tasks at hand. If you have ever tried automating this process with software, you may have not received messages from viable prospects because they were mislabeled as spam. A human eye works better than a gadget for this.
We will interview you to determine your specific needs and help develop the systems that will work best for you to bring about the best outcome. Whether you are looking to expand your audience, sell a product/service or wish to become known as The Expert in your field, we have solutions for you.
We are available to research content and will post your articles and comments to your blog and other media. No blog? We will set it up for you in a way that is extremely user friendly for you and optimized to have the greatest search engine appeal.

Our goal is to assist you in making your life easier and to take your business to the next level. We will never take liberties when acting on your behalf and will always seek pre-approval before posting comments or responses.

For more information, take a look at our services options. If none of these fits exactly right, no worries. We’ll sit down and tailor an offering to suit your specific needs.

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