Week# 12 Coupon Deal

Since I don’t sell any products, I feel I could offer a discounted coupon deal.  Something like 20% off your first hour of service, or 20% off your first computer maintenance service.  Make it an introductory offer so they don’t think that they will always get their service discounted on anything that you do.  It’s a way for a new client to try your services and see if they like you.  It’s a onetime only offer.  That isn't to say that you couldn't give an existing client a special offer for referring a new client to you.  Sort of a referral fee.  Everyone like coupons, I think they are good if used judiciously. 

Week #12 Using Other Social Media Tools

What four additional online marketing tools do you believe could be important to the growth of your business?

Google+  I think Google + is similar to Facebook, however, I think there is a different group that follows it.  So I think if you are on Facebook you also need to have a presence on Google+.  Google pulse had a bad rap when it first launched but that seems to be changing.  It’s now the second largest social network with over 340 million users.

Yelp  If you are a relatively new business trying to get yourself noticed, yelp offers a great place to start.  A lot of people look to yelp for help in deciding what business they should use for a service that maybe they haven’t used before.  People want to hear what others have to say about their experiences with a particular business.  I use Yelp all of the time.  Be careful, it can backfire on you if you aren't good at what you do or you don’t get along with people.  A bad Yelp rating can put you out of business in a hurry.

LinkedIn  LinkedIn is really a social media site for businesses to connect.  If you want to do business with other businesses and professionals, it’s the place to be.  They have also developed marketing tools to help in marketing to other users on the site.  One complaint I hear about LinkedIn is the amount of email that you get.  That can be minimized by changing the frequency of emails.  All in all, you get a lot of bang for little dinero.

YouTube  YouTube is a great way to get your message in front of a lot of people.  If you watch something that’s engaging, you’re likely to share it with a friend.  In today’s world, many people would rather watch a video than to have to read a large chunk of material.  It will also help people stay on your website longer.  However, it does take some effort to create a video.  I think it really depends on whether the content is engaging.

I think that all four of these social media tools would be worthwhile for me to use.  It really comes down to how much time you have to devote to them.   I think that you need to set limits on how much time you work on them each week.

Week #11 Social Media Marketing Without Spending Money

My social media success will depend on me, my business, how I run my campaigns and execute my strategy.  It can be done without spending money, but it does take time.  It won’t be done overnight.  You need to be in it for the long haul.  It all starts with building relationships, lasting relationships.  To build these you have to be real and authentic.  Share your stories, both successful and disappointing.  You will need to develop social media partners.  In order to grow through social media, you need the help of others.  If you forge relationships with people, they will refer you to others.  This will become a snowball effect and help you get plenty of attention, the right way.

Don’t just focus on the numbers; likes, followers, subscribers, visits, number of sales, etc.  It needs to be on the growth of the numbers.  For instance, look instead at the growth of fans during a certain time, instead of just how many fans you have, and look at how those fans are engaging with your content.  100 highly engaged fans directly involved with your conversation are much better for your business than 1000 fans that are ignoring your content and your business.

Most importantly, you need a strategy, for any success.  Your strategy and your goals will be different for every business.  Maybe you want 10 new clients or $10,000 in new sales.  Maybe you want to just focus on Facebook or maybe Twitter.  Even if you did use paid ads, you would still need a strategy.

Give away free stuff.  Everyone loves free stuff!  Posts for free stuff get shared – a lot.  That will get you exposure and reach that you can’t get on your own.  By giving away free things you can also build your list.  You own your list.  Almost as much as free stuff, people love discounts.  Offering discounts to your followers is a really good way to reward your fans and grow your business.  People are also more apt to share content that offers a discount.  They want their friends to get the same good deals they are getting.  So not only do you reach your current audience, you can reach new audiences and grow your fan base that will drive sales.

Another great idea is to run contests.  But your “prize” should never be a free iPad, (unless you sell Mac stuff).  Your prize should be something from your business.  Maybe a free service or product, but never something you need to pay for.  It should be something that doesn't cost you to give away.

Let’s remember though that “time is money”, and you will be spending a lot of time working on your social media sites.  So in the true sense of the word, nothing you do on social media is free.

A few calls to action;

Sign up for my free webinar on how to protect your PC!

Having issues with pc maintenance? Send me an email so I can help right away

If your PC has blue screened (Oh No) call me now!

Don’t wait till it too late, let’s fix the little things now before they become big things

Week #11 Class Comments

http://socialmediause.blogspot.com
http://seanphillips760.blogspot.com
http://turmanblog.blogspot.com

Week # 11 Online Advertising

At this early point in starting my business, I need to be as frugal as possible, and only spend money where it will do the most good.  I do need to increase my client base, but I don’t have an advertising budget to do that.  Thus, I won’t be spending any money on advertising right now.  So I need to find creative ways to get my name out there.  Facebook seems to be the best way to do that from a social media perspective.  I also think Yelp is a great tool to get people to call you for services they are looking for that others have used and are very satisfied with.  I always look at Yelp now when I need a service that I haven’t used before.  I want to see how other people have responded about different businesses.  I often base my choice on what I have read there.

I’m not an advertising exec so I really don’t know what good design is for a banner ad.  I also think they would be way too expensive for my business, so I won’t be using them.  The same goes for Twitter advertising.  I don’t want to pay $2.50 – 4.00 per follower, which seems to be the going rate.  There are over 15 Facebook ads ranging from a Page Post Text Ad down to a Domain Ad.  If I were to do some advertising on Facebook, I would use a Page Post Ad and maybe a Page Like ad. 

Page Post Ads are the most social types of ads, which will in turn generate greater engagement with your page.

A Page Post Ad is basically a status update on your wall that has been turned into an ad. The ad will automatically display the ‘like’, ‘share’ and ‘comment,’ buttons within the ad, which will make it easy for users to engage. If someone clicks ‘like,’ that action will show in their news-feed for their friends to see. Page Post Ads can be highly targeted by audience, and they can reach beyond just your fans and friends of fans.

When to use Page Post Ads;

- To promote something of value to your business, such as an opt-in for a free report or sign-up for a webinar.

- To generate maximum social engagement via the like, comment, and share buttons

- To reach beyond fans and friends of fans

- To target your ads precisely

Page Like ads are also called Engagement Ads.  Engagement Ads will typically say “Click ‘Like’ To/If…” or something similar and are a great way to increase your fan base quickly. Engagement Ads will also display friends who have already ‘liked’ your page; this social proof is a powerful motivator in encouraging their friends to also ‘like’ your page.

When To Use Engagement Ads

- To get ‘likes’ for your page

- To send traffic to an Opt-In page within Facebook

- To have the ‘like’ button integrated within the ad

- To include social proof of displaying friends who have already liked your page

This is the point in the homework where I say “HELP”, because I don’t have a clue as to creating an ad.  So, I’m kind of stuck.  Needless to say I won’t be doing any ads for quite a while anyway because of funds, so I would definitely get some help before embarking into that great unknown.

Week #10 Classmate Comments

The classmates' Blogs that I commented on are;

http://jillchang47.blogspot.com
http://socialmediause.blogspot.com
http://briangilb.blogspot.com

Week #10 Email Marketing

Email marketing is useful, but to a point.  If I get a lot of emails from a business, like daily or even weekly, I tend to not read them.  I will look at the title/subject line and usually just delete them.  After a while, I will unsubscribe from that account if I’m not seeing anything I find interesting or useful.  On the other hand, the emails that I receive monthly or quarterly, I always read.  I find that they have more content that is useful.  Most emails that come out daily are just marketing tools to get you to buy something, or try to get you to impulse buy.  When I want to buy something, I will go shop for it.  The more pressure emails that I receive, the less likely I am to buy from that company.  So, my rule of thumb is less is more.  For my business, I would send out my newsletter monthly.  The only reason I would break from that schedule is if there was major virus threat alert that I would want to send to my clients for their protection.

Content ideas for my newsletter would range from new virus threats, a tip or trick for a software program or added security for their pc, maybe a free diagnostic tool of the month for my clients to load on their pc, a get to know section where I would highlight a clients’ business and offer some testimonials for them, maybe a special discounted service offer for the month, maybe some links to informative articles I’ve read over the past month, etc.  I would have these articles link to either my website or Facebook page with a read more.  I would want my newsletter to focus on how they can make their business more efficient and secure, and give them some things to think about.  If they can sense that I’m there to help them grow their business, and that I want to build a relationship with them and not just sell them something, they are more likely to trust me with their business.

Week #9 Blogging Categories

The categories that I have chosen for my blog posts are Tips and Tricks, Best Practices, and Alerts!.  These would all relate to my business of computer repair and technical support.  By helping to educate and warn my clients of possible trouble with their systems, I feel they would become more loyal to my business.  I also think they would tell their friends about these, and help to grow my business.

The names of the other blogs that I have commented on are;

http://wahineblog.blogspot.com

http://commonsenseflooring.blogspot.com

http://sdownssm.blogspot.com

Week #9 Extra Credit

Week #9 Blogging for Business

My feeling is that if the blog that you are writing is your own, like for your business, or just for fun, then you need to make it personal.  For the people that read your blog, you need to find that hook or bond, and one way to do that is by adding your personal touch.  If your reader feels that they know you or something about you, they are more likely to continue reading your blog.  This doesn’t mean to spill every little personal thing about you, but to give it your own spin on things.  If the subject matter can be related to something in your personal life or if you have a personal example to share, it makes the blog more believable and the reader feels like they are closer to you by knowing something personal about you.

Conversely, if you are writing a blog for a large company, it may be harder to infuse anything personal about you.  I think it does depend on what you are writing about, and the company may have some guidelines for you to follow.  If the blog is about your own personal experiences within the company then by all means you should be able to get more personal.  If, however, it’s about the company’s products or services, then it may be harder to get personal within the blog and they might not want you to.  It really depends on the subject matter.