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New Year Marketing: 9-Step Plan to Market Like a Pro
The New Year is fast upon us, and it is not too late to organize your thoughts and create an action plan for marketing your business for success in 2012! A new year brings new beginnings, a chance to clean house, refresh dreams and put all your efforts into focus.
Because time is precious to everyone, we want you to make every minute you spend promoting your business pay off! It’s a great time to plan for success.
- The most important step: Set Aside Time for Marketing. Even if you have not yet identified your end results and incremental goals (below), it is vitally important that you set aside time strictly for working on your marketing strategy. We recommend a minimum of two hours per week dedicated only to marketing. Tasks to complete during this time include creating and posting content (pictures, blogs, posts, website updates), networking and following up on leads, and other action items resulting from the work you do in Steps 2 and 3. Later, it will also include reviewing marketing results (see Step 5). If you use a calendar tool like Google Calendar, block out weekly times for marketing work. Block minimum half-hour chunks so that you can complete something significant every time you engage in this work. Read more
Social Media Mistakes: What NOT To Do
Social media has rapidly become an integral part of the way we do business. Channels like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Google+ are great tools to engage customers, market your product and build brand loyalty – when used the right way. But too many companies are behind the curve on social media and fail to treat it as a true face of their business. Here are some hints to help you avoid making common mistakes in your social media efforts.
- Don’t forget strategy. Aimless chatter on sites like Facebook and Twitter is just that: chatter. Know what your goal is with your social media outreach and keep that goal in mind. Read more
Sharpen Your Press Release: Four Insider Tips on Using This Powerful Tool as Part of an Overall Public Relations Strategy
“Public Relations” encompasses a wide array of activities designed to promote a certain outcome for your business, activity or newsworthy item. Generally, the desired outcome is awareness of your business, resulting in increased brand awareness and name recognition. Think of an overall Public Relations strategy as a toolbox full of many devices: websites, social media, advertising, blogging, events, in-person networking, and so on. Included in this toolbox are press releases, also known as news releases, or media releases. As tools, news releases help you execute your strategy, which is your overall game plan for achieving predetermined PR goals. Read more
8 Practical PR Tips
Effective public relations campaigns require careful consideration. You can do more damage than good by sending out a poorly-planned newsletter or contacting a reporter without being prepared. Here are a few guidelines to keep you on the right path!
Big Tools for Small Businesses
The Internet is rife with dedicated tools – many of them free – that make it easier than ever for small businesses to compete in a global marketplace. Whether you need tools to help with social media management, communication or marketing, there’s something out there to make your job easier. Here are a few of my favorites:
Twilert
With Twilert you can be notified by email of Twitter activity for any term (or set of terms) you specify. Similar to Google Alerts, Twilert is especially helpful for keeping track of what’s happening on Twitter without having to spend all day monitoring your feed. The filtering options help keep the results pertinent to your business. Read more