Archive for Marketing Basics
Start February off with a Taste from The Blogging Boomers Carnival
Posted by: | CommentsRecently I was watching the movie Julie & Julia, the dual stories about the life of Julia Child and of a young woman who decides to cook every recipe in Child’s classic book and blog about the experience.
This woman didn’t just talk about cooking and she didn’t just talk about her successes. She blogged about her struggles, her failures as well as her own life. The background story, the stuff that makes her a person, was what made readers resonate with her, just as much as the cooking.
That’s what the Blogging Boomers Carnival is about; a collection of baby boomers blogging about their passions as well as themselves. Each week, one of us plays host to the rest and posts summaries plus links to the best articles.
It’s a fine line between sharing information and sharing yourself. It’s a line that many people struggle with. Baby boomers in particular have a hard time getting personal online. The Blogging Boomers Carnival members have learned to dance on that line, sharing their collective knowledge and experiences while letting their personalities show through.
If you take a moment to visit each post and maybe leave a comment or two, I know you’ll be richer for the experience. Here goes:
When traveling outside of the U.S., iPhone users can easily incur charges in the thousands of dollars. Barbara Weibel at Hole In The Donut Travels reveals the “secret settings” that ensure you can use your iPhone while traveling internationally without breaking the bank.
Do you ever wonder if you are settling for less than you deserve? The Midlife Crisis Queen knows that feeling! Here’s what she learned from HER midlife crisis.
With the New Year, could there be a new economic optimism emerging? SoBabyBoomer wonders why this optimism might surface when the U.S. stock market just finished its first decade of negative returns since the Great Depression.
January getting you down? Anne at It’s All About Aging has tips for getting though till spring.
Over at Contemporary Retirement, Ann has all the excuse-busting tips you need to get started on slashing your stroke risk by up to 80 percent.
At the Writing Without Periods blog Mary talks about the sense of freedom that comes with cleaning out closets and drawers, and the good feeling that comes with donating those items you no longer want to others who need them.
Janet at Gen Plus heads over to the VerdExchange conference on green energy and innovation in Los Angeles. Great timing in view of President Obaman’s State of the Union address.
The Boomer Chronicles wants to know: if money were no object, what would you do for work?
Contrary to conventional wisdom, LifeTwo.com reports that college educated women are less likely to be divorced.
If you’ve been ever caught dashing into the grocery store in a frumpy track suit and dirty hair, you know how embarrassing it can be, and that’s exactly why The Glam Gals say every woman needs a “going to the grocery store outfit.” Catherine Zeta Jones understands what they mean. Get the whole story at Fabulous after 40.
Vaboomer.com takes a look at 1960s fashion. Remember the Mini-Skirt?
And finally, from The Baby Boomer Entrepreneur, if you’ve been wondering what good Twitter’s list feature is, read The Top 8 Ways to Use Twitter lists.
Happy reading.
Andrea J. Stenberg
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Using Twitter to Find People You Don’t Know
Posted by: | CommentsTwitter can be great tool to get to know people. As you follow them and read their tweets you’ll start getting a handle on who they are. Over time, you’ll have an idea of their personality, their business and their interests.
But if you’re new to Twitter, how do you find people to follow?
First, look for people you already know. You can go to their website and see if they have links to their Twitter profile. If so, just click on the link and start following.
If you don’t know their website, you can type their name into the “find people” box on Twitter. Even if they’re not using their name as their Twitter handle, if they’ve included their name in their profile, they should turn up.
Once you’re following people you already know, it’s time to start connecting with people you don’t know yet. One of the easiest ways to find these people is to go to the Twitter profile of someone you are following who is interesting and engaging. Then look at the list of people they are following. Odds are, the people they are following will also be interesting.
Don’t worry about Read More→
My 9 Favorite (and free) Business Software downloads
Posted by: | CommentsIf you read my previous post you know I’ve been busy reinstalling software onto my new computer. And while I have many purchase software programs, much of what I use is free (or nearly free) software I download from the internet. I’ve been busy relocating old favourites but I’ve also had a chance to discover some new things that I suspect will quickly become faves.
Since I’ve been immersed in software, I thought I’d share my list of must have programs.
TweetDeck
Although Twitter has added some cool features that make it more interesting to use Twitter from Twitter.com, I’m still a big user of TweetDeck. It allows me to manage my Twitter feed much easier. I can have several columns open at once; one for everyone I’m following, two for groups I want to follow more closely, @replies people have sent me and direct messages. Thanks to my new monitor, I can see all those columns at once. There’s also a column for Facebook news feed. I can even comment or “like” people’s Facebook comments from within TweetDeck.
Skype
Skype is an instant messaging, video chat and voice phone. Calls are free to other Skype users, no matter where they are in the world. What’s handy about it is Read More→
Using Google to Market Your Business Part 4: Google Keyword tool
Posted by: | CommentsTable of contents for Using Google to Market Your Business
- Using Google to Market Your Business
- Using Google to Market Your Business Part 2: Google Analytics
- Using Google to Market Your Business Part 4: Google Keyword tool
- Using Google to Market Your Business Part 3: YouTube
When it comes to marketing your business, there’s no better way than turning up in the top search results on Google. Since more and more people are using search engines rather than the phone book to locate business (even local businesses) you’d better make sure people can find you.
To get found, you need a plan to optimize your website so the search engines bring your website up first. This process is known as search engine optimization (SEO). Some of the basics of SEO include:
- Having search engine friendly URLs. For example: www.mywebsite.com/rosesforsale instead of www.mywebsite.com/index.php?forumid�%. Not only are these URLs more search engine friendly, they’re more people friendly.
- Using appropriate keywords in the friendly URLs, as well as in the header of your page and within the body copy.
- Getting incoming links, particularly from relevant websites. For example a florist would do better getting links from a wedding planner or interior designer than from a mechanic.
- Having a sitemap
However, if you are a small business competing against hundreds or thousands of other businesses Read More→
Using Google to Market Your Business Part 3: YouTube
Posted by: | CommentsTable of contents for Using Google to Market Your Business
- Using Google to Market Your Business
- Using Google to Market Your Business Part 2: Google Analytics
- Using Google to Market Your Business Part 4: Google Keyword tool
- Using Google to Market Your Business Part 3: YouTube
YouTube is now owned by Google so this is yet another way to use Google as a marketing vehicle. With over 100 million U.S. viewers of YouTube (never mind the rest of the world) as of January 2009, clearly YouTube is a way to reach a large number of people.
Why should you add YouTube videos to your marketing plan?
SEO
First, search engines are starting to rank video higher than longer articles and blog posts. If you’ve used good keywords in your title and meta tags, your video is more likely to get found by Google and other search engines. Additionally, since you can include a link to your own website, you can further increase the ranking of your site by adding videos to YouTube.
More Clicks
Our eyes naturally go to photos. If your video shows up in a search someone does on Google, the thumbnail of your video is more likely to catch their eye and get clicked than a text only result. This means more traffic for you.
Link Bait
Good videos are “link bait”. YouTube automatically includes a link for views to use to add to their website. If you provide interesting or useful content it is more likely someone will add your video to their website, increasing the number of people who see and hear your message.
You’ll be cutting edge
Even though people are moving to YouTube in droves, the majority of small businesses haven’t tried it yet. If you start using video online today, there’s a good chance you’ll be one of the first ones in your industry to do so. You’ll be seen as cutting edge or just reach people your non-YouTube competitors don’t.
Works well with other social media sites
Social media sites like Facebook are designed to work with YouTube. You can easily and quickly import your YouTube videos and get double duty. Even if someone has never used YouTube before, they can still watch your content.
The rule of seven
YouTube was made for the Rule of Seven. I’ve said it before: people like to do business with those they know, like and trust. And getting to know, like and trust you takes time – at least seven contacts with your marketing message. Video is a great way to let people get to know you: they can see your face and hear your voice. You’re no longer an anonymous entity online but a living, breathing person. If you combine that with interesting and helpful information, video can speed up the process of getting people to feel comfortable enough with you to be willing to open their wallets and purchase your products or services.
Tips for creating a good video
I’m not a videographer so I’m not going to give you tips on how to actually use a video camera. If you need help there, hire someone or find a teenager who knows what she’s doing.
However, there are some tips I can give you to get better results.
- It doesn’t have to be perfect. While you don’t what to look completely unprofessional, if your video is too polished viewers may feel like they’re viewing a commercial. Sometimes a slightly homemade quality to the video can make your message more authentic.
- The average YouTube viewer spends 2.5 to 3 minutes per video. Keep your video in that range and you’ll likely get more viewers.
- Dress professionally. I know I said a homemade quality may sound authentic but that doesn’t mean I think you should create your videos in your pajamas. Unless your personal and business brand is very quirky, dress how you would if you were meeting clients. Clean up your office – if that’s where you’re shooting.
- Provide good, useful content. People don’t want a sales pitch. The best format is to talk about a problem your customers have and give them tips on how to solve it.
- Don’t forget a subtle sales pitch. If you’ve given useful information, end your video with a soft sell. Include your website address and some sort of call to action – what do you want the viewer to do next. An ideal call to action is send them to a place on your website where they can get more information.
If you haven’t started using video yet, now might be the time to give it a try. Go to YouTube, see how others are viewing the site, get out your video camera and give it a try.
Andrea J. Stenberg
Are you using video and YouTube to market your business? Let us know how it works by leaving a comment. Also, if you know of businesses that are doing a good job with video, leave us links to the best online videos.
