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Posts Tagged ‘Tweets’

Think there’s no power in Social Media Marketing? Think again! The blog “5 Minutes for Mom” is in their fourth year of hosting the Ultimate Blog Party UBP#10 and do they know how to drive traffic. Their “party” started last Friday April 9th and runs for 1 week until April 16th. As of today, they are reporting that the hashtag #UBP10 stream has had 15,704 tweets from 1,204 attendees, with combined reach 1,159,469 followers, and 29,397,282 unique messages! That’s some powerful stuff!

What’s an online blog party?
For @5minutesformom, hosted by @susancarraretto and @janicecroze, it’s a way to drive traffic to your blog, and the best part is that it’s for FREE. There are two ways to participate in #UBP10.

1. Give away a prize on their site.
2. Giveaway a prize on your own blog.

And, of course you can do both! It’s simple to fill out their online form with the prize you are offering (which had to be completed before the launch date) and once you have posted your “party” on your own blog, you just visit their McLinky page where you add your blog party URL (and your Facebook Fan page and Twitter URL as well if you like) and you have the ability from there to get tons of free exposure to your site.

The latest stats show they have over 2000 bloggers participating, and this is just half way through the party week! How’s that for activity on a free online marketing promotion?

What does this mean to you?
Social media is hot, it’s viral and it’s spreading like wildfire. If you’re not using twitter, facebook and a blog to drive traffic to your web site, you are missing out on a huge opportunity to not only generate new leads, but also make strong business partnerships that can further your reach into your target market.

My Party Blog Giveaway
If you are visiting me from 5 Minutes for Mom, thanks for coming to my party! I hope you’ll take a few minutes to explore my web site and blog and leave me a comment below telling me what you LOVE about social media. I will be giving away 1 FREE Hour of Social Media Training.

Want extra entries into the contest? Do one or all of the following!

• Follow me on Twitter and send me an @howdoimarketbiz message there telling me what you love about Twitter.
• Become a Facebook Fan and post on my wall what your favorite thing is about Facebook.

Make sure I have a way to reach you, by either enabling your email through wordpress, or leaving your email in the comment. One winner will be chosen at random by using random.org. The contest ends April 16th at 11:59 Pacific Time. I will announce the winner Monday April 19th. The winner has 72 hours to contact me, or another winner will be chosen.

And, don’t forget to head over to the Ultimate Blog Party (#UBP10) on the 5 Minutes for Mom web site! Besides having links to lots of great blogs, they are also having giveaways. If I were to win, my top three picks would be:

1. Tupperware Prize Pack – the winner will receive a box filled with fun Tupperware goodies.
   Provided by: Heather @ Marine Corps Nomads
2. 1 Month Subscription to Netflix. 2 DVDs out at a time and instant viewing to your computer.
   Provided by: 1stopmom
3. A $25 e-gift certificate to the Disney Store.
   Provided by: Kristin @ Couponing to Disney

Prizes 95, 83 and 71 would also be great! Enjoy the party!

There are a lot of social media marketing companies popping up all over the internet these days. You are probably seeing a lot of their ads IN the social media spaces, like Twitter and Facebook. “Get thousands of Twitter followers….”, “Automate All Your Social Spaces!” But, the bottom line with these types of companies is this, You Get What You Pay For.

Social Media is all about networking, relationship building and connecting – one human to another. Too much automation will not give your business the “real time” and human presence you want. Now, I’m not saying some pre-scheduled tweets and Facebook posts aren’t helpful, since we can’t be online 24/7 and there are great free online tools such as SocialOomph and HootSuite for that. But, I would strongly caution against using those companies that are offering dirt cheap pricing for social media marketing assistance. You want the person (not a spambot) managing your social media spaces so that you can not only find, but connect with targeted, quality Facebook Fans and Twitter Followers. An automated service cannot provide the human element so critical for social media business success.

All businesses need a social media marketing presence in today’s world. Your customer is looking for it on your web site, catalog and email they receive from you. They want to be the first to know about your specials and coupons and are looking to you for your knowledge in the industry or just the right tidbit of information about the product or service you provide to get them to buy. Though social media is very important, it should be just one element of your marketing strategy. Traditional marketing is still necessary and the smart business owner would choose a social media marketing firm that is solidly rooted in traditional marketing basics, such as direct mail, email and press releases to ensure that a well unified campaign is executed.

Again, with social media, you get what you pay for and if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. If you’re ready to launch your social media presence for your business and want to make sure the person who manages that effort also has over 15 years of experience in direct marketing, brand building, and designing targeted marketing plans, give me a call. I can help!

This is the first in a series of blogs I’m calling, “Search Engine Marketing 101” or How To Get Your Business Found Online. Today, my specific topic regarding getting yourself found online is about Keywords and their power to help you come up in natural search results. Think of you own activity. When you want to find something, you Google it, right? And, that word, or series of words, you are type into the search box is called “Keywords”.

If you don’t know what keywords your customer is using to find you, you are in trouble. Keywords are of the utmost importance in all your marketing efforts. They need to be everywhere, including the following places:

• Your Web Site for Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
• Tagged in Images on Your Web Site
• Your Blog
• The Titles of your Blogs
• Your Social Media Posts in Facebook
• Your Tweets in Twitter
• Your Headlines on Your YouTube Videos
• Your Summary Section on LinkedIn
• Your Online Press Releases

Keywords can be just one word, or a series of two to even eight words. When they get that long we call that the “long tail”. Think about how you search for something…. When you want to buy shoes, what do you type into the search box? “Running shoes”, “Supreme comfort jogging shoes”, “Nike cross training shoes”, “Brand name athletic shoes at a discount”… and the list can go on and on.

You need to conduct research and know exactly what keywords your customers are using to find you, and in a variety of short and long tailed combinations. Once you have this, it is imperative that you use them in all your online marketing efforts. Knowing what your keywords are and using them often and everywhere will improve your natural search results.

Social Media Marketing is such a dynamic environment to reach people and get the word out about your business, and it’s really hot right now! If your business does not have a presence in the social spaces, like Facebook and Twitter, you are leaving potential new customers behind and missing the chance to build on your existing relationship with current clients. When your business is using Twitter and Facebook, it can also help you find other businesses and networking connections to help your business grow. Plus it also serves as a way your existing customers can communicate with you. The stronger the relationship you can build with a client, the better because everyone knows it’s much harder to get a new customer than to keep one and when the ones you have are loyal, they will provide repeat business and referrals.

Just the other day, I was working in Twitter for my client, UGLeepen.com. I was searching keywords in Twitter related to ergonomics, because he has an ergonomic, comfort pen. I found a business who sells ergonomic products and furniture but not pens. Through just a few messages (known as “tweets”) in Twitter, I found a great lead for my client and they are in discussion to have his pen sold in their store. This is just one example of the dynamic and exciting environment Twitter can provide for your business.

I was also in Twitter for my client, Scripps Ranch Dermatology & Cosmetic Center. She has a brick and mortar business and is looking to connect with people locally in San Diego, so, I conduct keyword searches for her based on the city. As I found San Diego locals, I saw that one the people I “follow” for her repeated (or as it’s called in Twitter “retweeted”) one of our messages. Her tweet also added “this is my dermatologist”. Now I can have conversations with this client directly in Twitter. This builds the relationship and keeps the Dermatology Center top of mind so she can refer a friend or stop in for additional services herself.

Are you using Twitter or Facebook for your business yet? Contact me for a free consultation.