Archive for Marketing Basics
Yes Virginia, you do need a website.
Posted by: | CommentsAccording to Statistics Canada, 64 percent of Canadians who “window shopped” online, later went to a “bricks and mortar” location to purchase that product. That statistic doesn’t surprise me. What does surprise me is that less than half of small business owners have a website for their business.
If you’re one of that half who doesn’t have a website (or know someone who falls into that category) here’s a video I created about why you must get moving and create a website.
Enjoy!
Andrea J. Stenberg
I’m doing the ultimate blog challenge
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In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve been a little lax in my blogging lately. I’m busy with a joint venture project, client work, teaching and [insert favorite excuse here].
Since I know blogging is important to my business – it drives traffic, gives me SEO, helps me focus my thoughts – I knew it was time to get back on track.
That’s why I joined the Ultimate Blog Challenge. People who join commit to writing 30 blog posts in 30 days. Each blog post must be a minimum of 100 words, and rated PG. You can tweet your post with the #blogboost tag. You are also encouraged to visit other blogs in the challenge and participate by leaving comments.
Throughout the month, blog challenge hosts Michele Scism and Michelle Shaeffer send e-mails with topic suggestions and encouragement.
Why would someone who’s been blogging for 3 1/2 years join the challenge? It doesn’t matter how much you love what you do, every once in a while you get stale or stuck. I thought the blog challenge would be a fun way to get me back into the groove of providing what I hope is great and informative content for my readers.
So hold on tight; I think April is going to be a fun month. Wish me luck!
Andrea J Stenberg
The Family Day Edition of The Blogging Boomers Carnival
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This is the Canadian holiday Family Day – the government’s response to people whining about the long stretch between New Year’s and Easter. I am very happy with their choice of family day. The very first one was on my birthday and it means I always have a long weekend somewhere near my birthday.
Today I’m the proud host of The Blogging Boomers Carnival – the longest-running blog carnival by and for baby boomers. Please visit this week’s posts and join the conversation by leaving a comment or two.
Enjoy!
Laura Lee the Midlife Crisis Queen says, “Lots of amazingly positive reviews of my new book! Check them out!”
Millions of Americans know all too painfully that alcoholism runs in families. Children of alcoholic parents are four times as likely to develop drinking problems as the general population….and….SoBabyBoomer tells us that sons of alcoholic fathers face up to nine times the usual risk.
Have you heard of Charcutepalooza? It’s a yearlong charcuterie challenge, with the winner getting a trip to France! For the February, make your own bacon challenge, the Accidental Locavore makes two different flavors of bacon. See how hard it was, and more importantly what did it taste like?
Vaboomer tells us about Maine’s most loved comfort food, the Whoopie Pie.
When it comes to retirement planning, are you a Snoozer, a Wood-knocker, a Plan B-er or a Stewer and Brewer? Find out over at Contemporary Retirement.
And finally, don’t miss my Three Quick Tips for Making a Better Twitter Profile.
Andrea J. Stenberg
A Sustainable Identity: 5 Tips on How to Brand Yourself Green
Posted by: | CommentsThis post is written by guest blogger Brendan Cruickshank. And while he has written about how to find green jobs, his advice works equally well for business owners and freelancers who want to find green clients.
In an information age, one critical factor stands out – the likelihood that potential employers will investigate you anonymously is very high. The ease with which your
online presence can be pulled up and examined makes this the norm.
And potential employers believe what they find – for good or ill, this represents your brand. We’ve all heard stories of how a Facebook rant lost someone their job. What is less known is that sophisticated HR departments are using the Internet to ferret out information about possible new hires. The sophisticated job search now has to include an Internet presence that “brands” them as the right person for the job or career of interest. This branding can either help or hurt you.
With these considerations in mind, here are five ways to meet the challenge and brand yourself green:
- Start by creating two clues. The first will be your name. If you have a common name (or your name is already “polluted” by things on the net) consider using a middle initial or even your full middle name. You can invent one if you like. The second is a catch email address. You’d like something that “says green” like, SolarRocks@hotmail.com or GreenEngineer@yahoo.com. This will then appear as your reply-to email address and in your signature line for forum posts. You should also use it as the signon name for forums. The reason is that searches will be conducted on whatever your email nick happens to be. You want those searches to point to forums and blogs where you have made relevant comments. The same set of information should appear across the net – in LinkedIn, Facebook and wherever you have a footprint. Use the same spelling for your name and the same nick as your email. Read More→
Marketing Is Not a Task, It’s a Way of Doing Business
Posted by: | CommentsRecently I was reading Unmarketing by Scott Stratton. In the introduction he says:
Marketing is not a task.
Marketing is not a department.
Marketing is not a job.
Marketing happens every time you engage (or not) with your past, present, and potential customers.
Just like branding is not your logo, marketing is not something you do only when you need to get more customers. Marketing is about building relationships with people. It’s about giving them a chance to get to know, like, and trust you so that when the time comes for them to purchase what you sell, you’re the only person they think of.
So when you post a link to your sales page on Twitter and Facebook that’s marketing. But even better marketing is when you reply to somebody based on what they’ve said. Having a professional looking website is marketing, but so is taking the time to congratulate a past customer on winning an award. Returning phone calls promptly is marketing. Replying to e-mails is marketing. Giving great customer service is marketing.
I live in a small town where people like to do business with people they know. Word-of-mouth is key, and reputation is everything. Tools like Facebook and Twitter turn the online world into a small town. So we need to remember to act like it.
If you own a small business, particularly a service-based businesses, then in all likelihood you and your business are pretty interchangeable; it’s hard to tell where one stops and the other starts. In that case marketing is every interaction you have with a customer or potential customer. Treat them all like they’re your best customer.
