Social Networks bigger than Email?

This article is a little old as it was from March, but I just find it amazing. The article below was written by Dave Kaminski. He talks about the use of social networking and social media. Social Networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter are used more than email is. It is important to consider though that most social network platforms have a message component built in. So this could be replacing regualr email.

The stat that was shocking though, is that 1 out of every 11 minutes one spends online is on Facebook. WOW! This is starting to prove what many others have known all along that social networks are being used by consumers, and they need to be paid attention to my companies, organizations, or anyone who wants to reach out to individuals.

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How Take Back Your Startup

TechCrunch today takes a look at the saga of social bookmarking site StumbleUpon, a fortuitous startup that launched with $1.5 million in venture capital and eventually sold to eBay for $75 million.

But wait, there's more: While most entrepreneurs would have walked away with the cash and wrecked a Ferrari or two, the founders of the technology, Garrett Camp, Geoff Smith and Justin LeFrance, kept their hearts attached to the company they gave birth to.

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Making the best of the worst of times…

Recently, I’ve heard two series of local radio ads that I found refreshing.

One is for a siding company and another for an HVAC firm. They send a similar message: “We’re trying to keep our business going until things get better. Call us now for special deals and even better customer service. We want to keep our guys working.”

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Twitter For Business

I have been getting a lot of questions about Twitter and how to use it to further your business. People are even curious if Twitter even has a place in the marketing mix. So to answer like the true consultant that I am... IT DEPENDS!!!

In my opinion, it works better in the B-to-B format where a company can mention what they are doing and the followers (if potential customers) can think, I could use that too. I have not seen it as effective when marketing to consumers but that does not mean that it could not work.

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Drat! Another Paradox of Marketing

Last week marked the end of the first quarter of 2009. If you are an economist, the year is off to a pretty horrible start. But if you are a small business owner, you have a bit more control than just riding the ups and downs of the market. In our world, even if it is bad, at least we have a choice of how to fix our individual circumstance.

But this is not a blog entry about the recession. (Of course, we did a whole course on that! If you have not taken it, you can register for it at http://www.famee.org/small-business-marketing/recession-marketing.html).

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Intentions vs. reality — what are your customers telling you?

One of the most interesting dynamics we have discovered in working with and educating entrepreneurs is that what they say they need or want — and what they actually use or attend — are often two different things. For instance, many tell us that they want to attend sessions on human resources, but we have difficulty filling the room when we offer that instruction.

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Brochures can do a lot for businesses if used correctly

Developing a company brochure can be a time-consuming, laborious and often frustrating event. After the first brochure is developed, the memory of the pain and anguish causes many to keep on using that first effort, despite the fact that it may be out-of-date, incomplete, unfocused or simply just flat out bad. And then they are handed out like Monopoly money — willy nilly and sometimes without thought to the return-on-investment that is expected.

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Use the 3 C's of Communication

There's a tendency, particularly in a tough economy, to try to be all things to all people. So some businesses that do X advertise that they also do Y and Z. They cast a wider net in hopes of bringing back whatever business they can get.

You actually stand a better chance of getting and keeping customers if you focus on what you do best and how it benefits them. Consumers are pickier than ever about whom they do business with, so you need to communicate your benefits if you want to stand out in the crowd. The way to do that is through the three C's of effective communication. Take a look at your recent marketing efforts and see whether they pass the test of the 3 C's:

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Think about what makes business worthy of a story

Often the local media (newspapers, radio, magazines) will do feature stories on local businesses. The question I am often asked is, "How do I get them to feature my business?"

So, I ask the question, "What is unique about your business?" What is the "Aha!"?

If the response is, "Well, nothing," therein lies a good reason for the media NOT featuring your business.

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Low Cost Marketing Ideas

When a business owner today is considering different marketing options, their two biggest concerns seem to be low cost and quick to implement and with good reason in uncertain times. Below are a few suggestions of some marketing options for small business owners that fit both those categories.

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4 Ways to Re-Energize Your Sales Force

For most of you, selling is the key to your business. And I want your business to succeed. So, here are 4 ways to increase your sales force's drive:

• Hire differently. Assessment tests may help you figure out which type of person to hire. Give them a shot!
• Remember that every employee sells! Customers are willing to pay more to buy the same product if they are treated well. Make sure everyone on your team is aware of this. And compensate them accordingly.

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How to (and how not to) Pitch the Media

We know you all have amazing stories to tell--it's the reason we exist in the first place. And we want to help you tell them, but you have to help us by learning the art of the pitch. Because most of you out there are serving as your own PR machines, learning to pitch your business to the media is a vital part of your marketing strategy.

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Stretch Your Marketing Budget To Create Return

A post from the Marketing Blog on how to stretch your marketing budget. This is good information even if we were not stretching our dollars.

Enjoy!

With marketing budgets under scrutiny, doing more with less is essential for creating a positive return on your investment. The fact is that marketing budgets are shrinking in today's difficult economic climate. This is the precise opposite of what should actually happen. When times are tough, its time to start marketing.

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How to Rebrand Your Business

Last week, AIG CEO Edward Liddy told Capitol Hill, "I think the AIG name is so thoroughly wounded and disgraced that we're probably going to have to change it." Rep. Paul Hodes (D-N.H.) added that AIG now stands for "arrogance, incompetence and greed."

There's an important branding lesson to be learned here--namely, if you've screwed up royally, changing your name and rebranding your business is a good idea. Just make sure you can back up your new name with a better business strategy. In the current crisis, business owners are changing the way they run their businesses. But many after revamping their strategy, forget to translate that into their marketing materials.

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The Small Business Marketing Guide

The Small Business Marketing Guide is a one-stop, do-it-yourself resource here to help you grow your business. This guide is your source for tips, inspirational real-world examples and how-to articles by small business marketing experts as well as helpful resources for designing your brand identity, creating marketing materials, launching direct marketing promotions and building an online presence.

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Why is Market Research Useful? The Importance of Market Research

What Is Marketing?

Marketing is a necessary activity that encompasses the entire business and is vitally important to sound business health. It is viewing the entire business from the customer's viewpoint takes into account every aspect of the marketing mix from the product to price, distribution channels and marketing communications. All these factors affect the customer's response to a product or service.

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Marketing in a Recession: 5 Ideas to Win Sales

Given below are 5 effective and affordable marketing ideas that will help you win sales during a recession.

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Understanding networks and today’s marketing environment

By Russ Altman

The most expensive marketing expenditures for any organization usually comes in educating your market, in placing your message into the targeted group of consumers you have chosen, and yet your customers have already self-organized themselves into networks at the micro level, so by tapping into these self-organized networks you can inject your message directly into the bloodstream of your targeted market.

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Marketing Mistakes Your Business Should Avoid

Great marketing is what allows someone to sell a 50-cent cup of coffee for $5.00 and have people lined up around the corner to buy it. On the other hand, poor marketing efforts can stall the growth of your business even if you have the best product or service around.

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Marketing by Example, Part 6

Here's the new brand--same as the old brand.

It might sound like a crazy way to start off the last blog in a series about the rebranding of a company, but at the end of the day, it was less about how Pete Wiltjer would change his brand and more about how he changed the way he presented it. He's got a new website, complete with new copy, integrated social networking tools and a new logo. But he's still sending the same message, as illustrated by the photo here: "I help you find the right people."

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