Professional Website Design » twitter http://webvantix.com Tips and Ideas for Marketing Your Business in an Online World Wed, 02 Nov 2011 15:30:36 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= Monday Morning Quick Tip: How Your Local Business Can Whip this Economy! http://webvantix.com/2010/09/20/monday-morning-quick-tip-how-your-local-business-can-whip-this-economy/ http://webvantix.com/2010/09/20/monday-morning-quick-tip-how-your-local-business-can-whip-this-economy/#comments Mon, 20 Sep 2010 14:32:18 +0000 Preston Ehrler http://webvantix.com/?p=1272 Because of this terrible economy most of us have had to make major changes to our expenditures.  One aspect of the personal side that I have cut back probably 80-90% is restaurants. The fact is, I love great restaurants, so, with such a deep cut, one might think that it’s a bad thing, yet not at all. I’ve learned to cook and to take meals that I love at certain restaurants and replicate them at home, pair them with a great wine and viola, wonderful meal at a true fraction of the original cost.

That’s how we have to start looking at the current economy. Yes, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. If business is slow and continues to be slow, I’ve got one word for you, INNOVATE!  Get out of that daily routine and try new things! Do something different and the gauge the results.

Here are 7 ideas that are quick and painless.

Blog Set up a blog on your website and start creating content and keep creating it. All kinds of good things can come of it, and at the very least, you have new content on your site, and Google LOVES new content!

Volunteer your expertise Are you really good at something?  Why not offer your expertise.

Create A Coupon Set up a Coupon on your website that requires a visitor to submit their e-mail and start building an e-mail opt in list.

Sell on your Website Got a few unique products that you sell?  Why not add them to your site and the whole world can become your customer base!

Create a YouTube Page Want to get people’s attention?  Create quick 2 to 3 minute videos, upload them to YT, then add them to your blog.  Learn more HERE.

Follow People on Twitter from Your Local Area Don’t listen to what other people say about Twitter, people use it and love it.  Reach out to people locally and it will help drive more traffic to your site.  Think of it this way, people see you are a local business, they check you out via Twitter, clip your coupon and come in and spend money–see how it falls together!

BONUS IDEA: Spend some money on your business Everyone ‘s got spend-a-phobia right now.  But, let’s remember, spending money drives revenue growth (it’s called investing).  Here’s an idea:  if you have a Facebook page for your business take $50 and earmark it for ‘Advertising on Facebook.’  If you set up the pay per click program for radius around your business and at $1 per click 50 people click onto your ad, and then land on your site.  Ten of those people clip your coupon and then spend $500 at your business.  Wow, not a bad investment.  Learn more here about creating business locally with Facebook here.

Do you have any additional ideas?  Please share them with us.

Preston Ehrler, Webvantix

This post was written by Preston Ehrler

Preston Ehrler is the president of Webvantix website design. Webvantix designs and produces professional quality WordPress websites and iPhone applications for businesses seeking greater online exposure. Preston and the group at Webvantix also author the blog "Help for the Online Novice, Tips and Ideas for Marketing Your Business in an Online World." You are welcome to follow Preston on Twitter @prestonehrler


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]]> http://webvantix.com/2010/09/20/monday-morning-quick-tip-how-your-local-business-can-whip-this-economy/feed/ 1 How to Use Facebook to Find Local Customers http://webvantix.com/2010/09/10/how-to-use-facebook-to-find-local-customers/ http://webvantix.com/2010/09/10/how-to-use-facebook-to-find-local-customers/#comments Fri, 10 Sep 2010 17:07:41 +0000 Preston Ehrler http://webvantix.com/?p=1113 I speak to a lot of local business owners throughout the country and one thing they are very interested in is finding local customers through Facebook.

Here is a quick tutorial on how you can use geographically centered Facebook advertising to attract customers to your local business–great for restaurants, and shops.

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This post was written by Preston Ehrler

Preston Ehrler is the president of Webvantix website design. Webvantix designs and produces professional quality WordPress websites and iPhone applications for businesses seeking greater online exposure. Preston and the group at Webvantix also author the blog "Help for the Online Novice, Tips and Ideas for Marketing Your Business in an Online World." You are welcome to follow Preston on Twitter @prestonehrler


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]]> http://webvantix.com/2010/09/10/how-to-use-facebook-to-find-local-customers/feed/ 0 Twitter Etiquette http://webvantix.com/2010/08/13/twitter-etiquette/ http://webvantix.com/2010/08/13/twitter-etiquette/#comments Fri, 13 Aug 2010 19:45:29 +0000 Preston Ehrler http://webvantix.com/?p=1008 There are several key Do’s and Don’ts when using Twitter.  The Do’s are really Do’s and the Don’ts are REALLY Don’ts.

Don’t—

SPAM or attempt to directly sell someone on Twitter, even if you know them.  It’s in bad taste, and could get you reported as a Spammer and/or Blocked.  If someone becomes interested in what you offer, they will reach out to you.

Send out the same Tweet over and over , Spammers do this.  If you want to schedule tweets to repeat, my advice is only repeat something twice in a day (every twelve hours).

Be negative to other people

Ignore those with less clout or influence than you…engage those that engage you and be honored that they sought you out.

Auto DM new followers–this has ruined DMs and made them almost worthless.  Don’t even consider it.  Auto DMs are impersonal, and mean absolutely nothing

Do—

Listen, listen, listen.  By using a platform such as Tweet Deck or Seesmic you can import your lists into columns and watch what everyone is discussing.

Re-Tweet what you find interesting, therefore giving credit where credit is due

Thank people when they re-tweet you.

Post links to interesting and compelling material that is relevant to what’s trending and what people are discussing.

Engage people and develop REAL relationships.  I’ve made some great friends on Twitter!

And finally, enjoy!  Twitter is old fashioned networking, but done over the Internet, and can bring a great sense of belonging.

Did I leave anything out?

Preston Ehrler, Webvantix

This post was written by Preston Ehrler

Preston Ehrler is the president of Webvantix website design. Webvantix designs and produces professional quality WordPress websites and iPhone applications for businesses seeking greater online exposure. Preston and the group at Webvantix also author the blog "Help for the Online Novice, Tips and Ideas for Marketing Your Business in an Online World." You are welcome to follow Preston on Twitter @prestonehrler


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]]> http://webvantix.com/2010/08/13/twitter-etiquette/feed/ 0 How to Grow Your Business with Twitter, Part 2 http://webvantix.com/2010/03/03/how-to-grow-your-business-with-twitter-part-2/ http://webvantix.com/2010/03/03/how-to-grow-your-business-with-twitter-part-2/#comments Wed, 03 Mar 2010 22:33:46 +0000 Preston Ehrler http://webvantix.com/?p=903 In the first post of this series we discussed how important it is not to look at Twitter as a way to step onto the platform and begin to market your product or service.  At the heart of Twitter are the same aspects of any sale:  Relationships.  The focus one must concentrate on is the building of great relationships on Twitter–and the benefits can be stunning in several aspects.  At Webvantix we never looked at Twitter as a way to market our web design/re-design business, and therefore only accessed Twitter on an individual basis, not even using our logo or our name, other than in our link and bio.  So, what did that mean?  We wanted to develop friendships with people we encountered on Twitter and if they ultimately became interested in what we did, that was fine, but the relationships came first.  One aspect of focus was to use the ‘favorite’ tool on Tweet Deck (before Twitter rolled out its ‘List’ function).  Through the favorite tool, and now through our Lists, we developed a number of different groups, but most important was our ‘Local’ list that enabled us to talk to people in our area, on a grass-roots level.  We were Twittering with other local business owners and they were Twittering with us.  Combine this with our seminars and webinars and a natural interest in our work began to bloom.  No sales pitch, no pressure, just a natural progression of a relationship.  Ultimately we encountered @lisasmith a business owner in desperate need of a professional website design.

Lisa had quickly developed a website for her business that had recently been launched, but as she indicated to me, she needed a professional deployment to be competed before her company was in full sales mode in early Spring.

Concrete Form Rentals BEFORE Webvantix

We worked closely with Lisa to determine who would be visiting her site and what her main products were.  We developed a proof that enabled her to silo her site’s visitors onto the appropriate landing pages.

Now you may think this is the end of the story, but actually it’s just beginning.  As we discussed, we developed and grew the relationship with Lisa through our ‘Local’ list.  While discussing Christmas trees with Lisa one afternoon, I indicated that instead of spending $65 on a tree, that she and her family were welcome to stop by my small farm a cut a tree.  She and her sons visited one Saturday before Christmas and we had a great time hiking through the woods to find the right tree.

Concrete Form Rental AFTER Webvantix (with Slio buttons at the bottom)

Now, every relationship you develop on Twitter may not blossom into a great client/vendor friendship, that becomes and actual friendship, but it’s substantially more satisfying from a business and personal standpoint than just trying to peddle you wares.

We continue to encounter new and intriguing people and companies from a local as well as national and international standpoint.  Our attempt is to continue  interact with people as individuals and not as prospects.  If you have a paradigm shift and begin to look at Twitter as a relationships tool, you may find yourself surprised and pleased by the results, and you may find yourself defending Twitter the next time someone tells you that Twitter is a waste of time and is for egocentric people with nothing better to do–my guess is they’ve not had a bunch of kids to their house for a Christmas tree hunt on a snowy Saturday in December, all thanks to Twitter!

Do you have a story about Twitter bringing you together with a new friend or customer?  Please share it with us.

Preston Ehrler, Webvantix @prestonehrler

This post was written by Preston Ehrler

Preston Ehrler is the president of Webvantix website design. Webvantix designs and produces professional quality WordPress websites and iPhone applications for businesses seeking greater online exposure. Preston and the group at Webvantix also author the blog "Help for the Online Novice, Tips and Ideas for Marketing Your Business in an Online World." You are welcome to follow Preston on Twitter @prestonehrler


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]]> http://webvantix.com/2010/03/03/how-to-grow-your-business-with-twitter-part-2/feed/ 0 How To Grow Your Business With Twitter, Part 1 http://webvantix.com/2010/02/22/how-to-grow-your-business-with-twitter-part-1/ http://webvantix.com/2010/02/22/how-to-grow-your-business-with-twitter-part-1/#comments Mon, 22 Feb 2010 22:33:14 +0000 Preston Ehrler http://webvantix.com/?p=893 Describing how to grow your business with Twitter is a dicey and difficult issue, and I’ve been thinking about this post for a long time.  It actually been weighing on my mind and has inhibited my ability to move forward with other posts, simply because I was not sure how to approach this important topic.  So, let’s start with the negatives and move into the positives.

What are the negatives?  Well, much the opposite of what many think, you cannot jump onto Twitter and start talking about what you sell or how you consult or how what you have or do is going to greatly enhance someone else’s business–or life.  Quite simply, it’s not that simple.  Unfortunately many who have set up a Twitter account, followed a few people, and have had a few follow them back, posted about what they do and how good they are at it, or listed information on a house they are selling, or that they are a Social Media Marketing expert, find it all for nothing.  Then what do they say?  “Twitter is a waste of time.”  Well, if approached in this fashion yes, it is.  Remember the movie “The Graduate” and the cocktail party where the guys says “I want to say one word to you, just one word:  Plastics.”  I love that quote!  So here’s the Twitter version of it:  “I want to say one word to you, just one word:  Relationships.”

Yes, Twitter is about building relationships, and unfortunately that can be easily overlooked.  Yet, it’s not about “Let me know how I can help your business.”  The idea is to be MUCH more sincere.  How?  Easy, interact with people that are on Twitter, but do it sincerely.  That means interacting with people who Twitter about things that interest you!  Don’t ever look at a person as a ‘mark’ or ‘prospect,’ and you will actually develop more than relationships, you will develop friendships, as I have.  When you find yourself looking forward to seeing your friends pop up on Tweet Deck or Seesmic, you will have gotten it–until you’ve reached that point, you haven’t.

In Part 2, I’ll talk about a specific experiences we’ve had developing relationships and actual friendships!

Tell me about your Twitter experiences, have you developed any great friendships as well?

Preston Ehrler, Webvantix

This post was written by Preston Ehrler

Preston Ehrler is the president of Webvantix website design. Webvantix designs and produces professional quality WordPress websites and iPhone applications for businesses seeking greater online exposure. Preston and the group at Webvantix also author the blog "Help for the Online Novice, Tips and Ideas for Marketing Your Business in an Online World." You are welcome to follow Preston on Twitter @prestonehrler


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]]> http://webvantix.com/2010/02/22/how-to-grow-your-business-with-twitter-part-1/feed/ 0 5 Reasons Your Business Should NOT use Social Media Marketing http://webvantix.com/2009/12/14/5-reasons-your-business-should-not-use-social-media-marketing/ http://webvantix.com/2009/12/14/5-reasons-your-business-should-not-use-social-media-marketing/#comments Mon, 14 Dec 2009 16:24:02 +0000 Preston Ehrler http://webvantix.com/?p=663 FBAs a web development company working with businesses throughout the country, we get a great deal of questions regarding driving traffic to a website.  Almost always the customer leads the discussion to SEO, and while we think a proper, yet basic, SEO setup is warranted, our belief is that fresh content drives both traffic and indexing.

Participation in blogging, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter are far less expensive than both ongoing SEO work and traditional advertising and have the potential to quickly reach exponentially more people, yet we still hear the following reasoning NOT to participate:

1.  ”We are too busy.”

(Response:  That’s great, especially in this economy, but if you’re busy, yourTwitter competition has taken notice, and is doing EVERYTHING they can to take business away from you, EVERYTHING.)

2.  ”We don’t know anything about computers.”

(Response:  Business is dynamic.  It is no longer sufficient to open a local brick and mortar business, and hope for the best.  Be proactive, learn what to do–blog about the passion you feel for your business.  If you have an antique store, blog and video blog about your passion for the pieces in your shop.  If you own a restaurant blog and Twitter about your specials and anything going on such as live music–I promise you, your customers want to know!)

Yelp13.  ”Our customers are not online.”

(Response:  If your customers are seniors, they are the fastest growing demographic online, and, as they move into retirement, their children and those taking their positions at companies that may be your clients, are online.)

4.  ”I tried Twitter and had only 8 people following me.”

(Response:  Social Media Marketing is a long-term investment.  You cannot be online for a couple of weeks and expect major changes, yet time invested will have a lasting effect.)

5.  ”I don’t like Facebook.”

(Response:  Facebook recently crossed the 350 million person threshold.  Your customers are there, if you don’t connect to them there–someone else will, that’s for sure!  And while you are considering spending a few thousand dollars to create one of those awful local cable TV advertisements, you could spend a fraction of that money to advertise via pay-per-click on Facebook in only your geographic area, and reach far more people.)

As a reader of this blog, what are your thoughts about businesses using Social Media to market themselves?  Do you have questions about getting started, or have you had some specific success or failures?

Your input and thoughts are welcome.

JPECropped2Preston Ehrler, Webvantix

This post was written by Preston Ehrler

Preston Ehrler is the president of Webvantix website design. Webvantix designs and produces professional quality WordPress websites and iPhone applications for businesses seeking greater online exposure. Preston and the group at Webvantix also author the blog "Help for the Online Novice, Tips and Ideas for Marketing Your Business in an Online World." You are welcome to follow Preston on Twitter @prestonehrler


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