5 Tips to Improve Your Social Media Marketing

5 Tips to Improve Your Social Media Marketing

Social media tools can be a wonderful way to increase your business’ visibility while also improving communication with existing customers. However it is not a “magic bullet,” and relying on social media exclusively to build your business is usually a mistake. That said, there are ways to improve the effectiveness of your social media marketing efforts, in order to increase your overall bottom line. Here are 5 tips to improve your social media marketing:

Focus. Instead of jumping onto Facebook or Pinterest and getting swept away with posts from your friends, force yourself to focus on business objectives and goals for the time you’ve allotted for social media marketing for your business. Of course, this means that you need to HAVE some goals for your time. Think about what you’d like social media to do for your business, and write it down. Things like increasing reorders from existing customers, encouraging team members to reach their goals, etc. Then, when you go online, work on activities that are directly related to those goals.
Find the Locals. Yes, social media tools can be great for reaching people far away. But it can be even more effective in helping you build deeper relationships with the people you know casually in your own community. So figure out where the locals hang out online. Is it a Facebook Page or Group for your church or town? A website set up for town issues? Find out where the people you know spend their time, and become actively involved. It’s a great way to build relationships which can ultimately help to increase your business’ visibility.
Do One Thing Well. Rather than trying to have a presence EVERYWHERE online, determine the social site where you’ll both enjoy spending time, and get the most social media “bang for your buck.” Two sites that seem to be doing good things for those in sales right now are Facebook and Pinterest. But whichever site you choose, pick one and really learn it. Invest the time in becoming part of the community, have conversations, and avoid the temptation to just blast your advertisement and move on. This will bring you much greater success than a “finger in every social media pot.”
Time Yourself. How long do you typically spend on social media tools? How does that translate into dollars? If you’re spending a lot of time on social media tools and it’s not translating into sales the way, say, meeting new clients face to face does, then maybe you should reevaluate how much time you’re spending online.
Measure Your Results. One of the biggest mistakes business owners make when using social media is the failure to measure. Setting up a Facebook Page is not enough. You MUST know how it’s working for you, and if the activities on your page are bringing you closer to your goal. So start by defining a goal for your online efforts, and then look at the analytics of each tool, along with the sales you produce, to determine whether the activities you’re engaging in are worth the time you’re investing. At the end of the day, you’re in business to make money. Make sure the work you’re doing brings results.

By making slight adjustments to the way you “do” social media marketing, you can enjoy big improvements which impact your bottom line positively.

What have we missed? What tips do you have to improve social media marketing for small business owners? We would love to read your thoughts and comments below.

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DSEF & FTC: Getting Your Free Annual Credit Report

Today’s highlighted blog post from FTC/NCPW:

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Getting Your Free Annual Credit Report

July 5th, 2011 by Carol

Are you looking for a job? Thinking about buying a car or a home? Applying for credit? Before you do, get – and review – a copy of your credit report. The information in your credit report can affect whether you get a job, a loan, or the terms or cost of a loan. You want to be sure the information about you is correct, complete and up-to-date.

For 13 years, the DSEF has been proud to partner with the FTC and other organizations to offer a wide array of education events and resources that encourage consumers nationwide to take full advantage of their rights and make better-informed decisions.

You’ll find a wealth of resources at www.ncpw.g ov that will help you protect your privacy, manage your money, learn more about credit and debt, decipher advertising messages, and steer clear of fraud and scams.

Please take a moment to share the resources on this Web site with others in your communities and companies and, together, we’ll help build a nation of better-informed and educated consumers.

Charles. L. Orr
Executive Director

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Gamification To Increase Business

Gamification To Increase Business

Gamification is a relatively new term that refers to the integration of game dynamics into any aspect of business. Its main objectives are to drive participation, increase awareness of the business, and draw in new customers. Here a few ways to get started.

Use a service designed to track your customers’ loyalty. A great place to begin is Badgeville, a “social loyalty platform” that gives businesses the “power to drive and measure user behavior with social game mechanics.” Badgeville provides a step by step process to help you set an objective, choose which behaviors to track, and create real-time user rewards. This is similar to the way FourSquare works, except you get to create your own system. The advantage here is that you can truly tailor your game to the needs and wants of your customer base.
Gamify your team’s professional development. Big businesses, such as Google, are using this with increasing frequency. In order to motivate employees to spend less than they were allotted for business trips, they created a game in which employees could save up unused amounts to receive cash back, donate to charity, or save up towards a future trip. (Source) Small business owners and direct sellers can use this same concept to motivate teams and increase sales.
Take to Twitter and Facebook. Many companies are using gamification to increase awareness of themselves to prospective clients. A simple way to do this would be to give away a free small sample. For every 20 new Twitter “retweets” or every Facebook “like”, you draw a name from the new likes or people who retweeted for the give-away. Doing so will keep customers coming back to your site, encourage them to seek out what’s new with your business, and drive them to recommend you to their friends. Think of it as 21^st century word of mouth.
Invite participation in your blog. The fast-food chain Wendy’s recently created a short-lived game show on Twitter to promote a series of new items on its menu. The game show gained a cult following for several reasons, including the mystery surrounding who was hosting it, but also because prizes were being given away for participating in various tasks. Fellow tweeters were asked to post pictures of themselves in their funniest pair of socks, for example. Consider using this method in your blog by creating a task and giving each participant one entry into a small giveaway. Getting creative here will also draw more people to your blog and of course, your business.
Other game formats to explore. A scavenger hunt, Motto/Jingle contest, Wheel of fortune like – fill in the blank, and an old fashion riddle of the day contest. As you continue to explore using games and contests to generate engagement please check your social media site’s terms of service before installing a game. Most social media sites have rules you must follow or risk being removed from the site. For example, Facebook requires that you use a third party service like Wildfire to administer any contest on its platform.

When integrating games into your business, keep in mind your objective, audience, and reward systems. You need not spend exorbitant amounts of money to gamify; start simple with the plethora of free resources found all around the internet and build out from there. And most importantly, have fun! That is what gaming is about, after all. What ideas do you have for gamification? Share them with us in the comments section below!

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DSEF & CBBB: The Worst Fees of 2011

Today’s highlighted blog post from the Council on Better Business Bureaus (CBBB):

The Worst Fees of 2011

BY GREG HUDSON – DECEMBER 27, 2011

It was the year of fees, reports MSN’s Money Matters. As businesses scrambled to make up lost revenue, they tacked on charges for everything from paying a bill (online and offline) to printing out your concert tickets at home. With so many fees frustrating consumers in 2011, narrowing down the list was a daunting task, writes Liz Weston. But here are her top five stupidest fees of the year:

Debit card fees: After Congress limited how much banks could charge merchants for each debit card transaction, banks started making customers pay instead. Fortunately, the backlash was “immediate and fierce.” Banks that had begun charging monthly $4 and $5 fees, quickly pulled the programs.

Boarding pass fees: First, airlines started charging for checked baggage and onboard meals. But this year, Spirit Airlines, which markets itself as a low cost airline, out did the fee-crazy industry by charging a $5 fee for having your boarding pass printed out at the airport counter, rather than a kiosk or on your home computer.

Early-termination fees for TV service: Be sure to read the fine print when you sign up for new a television service. Pay TV providers, such a Verizon Fios and DirecTV, are taking a pay from cellphone carriers and hitting consumers with high charges (from $200 up) for early termination of services.

See the full article and the rest of MSN’s list here.

DSEF and Council on Better Business Bureaus (CBBB) fosters honest and responsive relationships between businesses and consumers—instilling consumer confidence and advancing a trustworthy marketplace for all.

About the Better Business Bureaus
As the leader in advancing marketplace trust, Better Business Bureau is an unbiased non-profit organization that sets and upholds high standards for fair and honest business behavior. Every year, more than 87 million consumers rely on BBB Business Reviews® and BBB Wise Giving Reports® to help them find trustworthy businesses and charities across North America. Visitwww.bbb.org/us for more information.

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DSEF & FTC: Is Losing Weight Really this Easy?

Today’s highlighted blog post from FTC/NCPW:

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Is Losing Weight Really this Easy?

It’s some pitch — lose lots of weight quickly with products you can try for free. Even better — the products seem to be endorsed by trusted news sites, and satisfied “reporters” attest to all the unwanted pounds they’ve dropped.

Those were the kinds of claims behind a recent complaint filed by the FTC and State of Connecticut against Boris Mizhen and his companies, who allegedly used fake news websites to promote weight loss products. Featuring stories like “Acai Berry Diet Exposed: Miracle Diet or Scam?,” the sites often displayed the logos of major news sources, including CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News, and featured fake reporters claiming to have lost lots of weight quickly without any special diet or real exercise. Many people who followed the links and signed up for a free trial, rather than paying a small shipping handling fee, ended up paying $79.99 for the trial, and for recurring monthly shipments of products that were hard to cancel, the FTC alleged.

Please take a moment to share the resources on this Web site with others in your communities and companies and, together, we’ll help build a nation of better-informed and educated consumers.

Charles. L. Orr
Executive Director

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DSEF & CBBB: Names Top Ten Scams of 2011

Today’s highlighted blog post from the Council on Better Business Bureaus (CBBB)

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BBB Names Top Ten Scams of 2011

Better Business Bureau investigates thousands of scams every year, from the latest gimmicks to schemes as old as the hills. Our new Scam Source (www.bbb.org/scam) is a comprehensive resource on scam investigations from BBBs around the country, with tips from BBB, law enforcement and others. You can sign up to receive our Scam Alerts by email, and you can also be a scam detective yourself by reporting scams you’ve discovered.

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Seven Ways to Increase Friends and Build Your Network

In this digital age, it is now easier than ever to interact with people all around the globe, so a solid network is within your reach. Increasing your friends and building your network is a cost-effective marketing strategy that can lead to sales opportunities in a variety of ways. Read on for seven ways to get started.

1. Don’t just attend events, be an active participant. Deciding to attend workshops, conventions, and the like is a great start to meeting new people in your field. However, you should make the most of your time there. Speak up, be helpful and get involved. Set a goal for how many new people you will meet at an event, and be consistent. The more you do it, the easier it will become.

2. Hold off on the sales pitch. When introducing yourself to potential contacts, DO share your name, business, and other relevant information. DO NOT break into a prepared commercial in hopes of selling yourself then and there. The relationship you want to build must be based on common interests and shared goals. Save the sales pitch for a follow-up meeting or phone call.

3. Ask good questions. When talking to people you’ve just met, asking questions shows that you are interested in what they have to say and that you are truly listening. Take this strategy to the next level by asking the right types of questions that facilitate a worthwhile conversation. For example, “So how do you like the food here?” will doom you to several minutes of small talk and get you nowhere. On the other hand, “So what is your role in your business?” and “What are you hoping to get out of this convention that will help you in your business?” are more effective questions that get people talking about themselves. Not only are you learning more about them, but you are building the foundation for a professional relationship. As you perfect your conversations skills you may want start with and develop a script to help you with this process.

4. Follow up. So you’ve met several potential contacts; now what? Don’t be lax about initiating the first phone call or email. Remind the person where you met him or her, mention that it was a pleasure to meet, and set a time to discuss what you talked about earlier. Furthermore, don’t wait more than a day or two after meeting the person to make contact. Make this a weekly habit to meet with new people.

5. Incorporate your online presence with your offline presence. When you meet people at a networking event, be sure to give them what they need to find you online (your website URL, Twitter handle, etc.). It’s also a good idea to arrange for face-to-face meet-ups with some of your online business contacts. By integrating your networks, you enhance those relationships and build your business.

6. Ask friends to make introductions. When you’re at a social gathering or event, don’t be shy to ask your friends to introduce you to other people. Just like in tip one, set a goal for how many new people you want to meet.

7. Do something new. Don’t sit around and wait to be invited to a party or event. Make it happen. Find something new that peaks your interest or something that you have no concept of. Once you get there have fun, engage in conversation with others, and tag along with individuals you like. Again, set a goal for how many new people you would like to meet.

What are your ideas for building your network? Please share them with us in the comments section below.

Free e-book “Business Owner’s Road Map to Success.” It has over 50 pages of techniques for everything a small business owner needs to master, from business planning and ethical selling to a success mindset. It’s all there and it’s free for you. To get it, just “Like” our Facebook Page here: http://on.fb.me/KsIN6P Pass it on!

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DSEF & FTC: Payday Mayday: Seek Alternatives to Costly Loans that Can Sink You

Today’s highlighted blog post from FTC/NCPW:

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Payday Mayday: Seek Alternatives to costly Loans that Can Sink You

The ads are everywhere — on the radio, television, the Internet, even in the mail. They refer to payday loans, cash advance loans, check advance loans, post-dated check loans, or deferred deposit loans. And their promises of quick cash to get out of a financial bind can be tempting to many.

Please take a moment to share the resources on this Web site with others in your communities and companies and, together, we’ll help build a nation of better-informed and educated consumers.

Charles. L. Orr
Executive Director

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A Sales Pitch that Doesn’t Sound Like a Sales Pitch

In the past, sales pitches were intrusive and created to reach a wide population. Now, with the dominance of the internet, effective sales pitches cater to individual customers’ needs. They are not canned or contrived because the modern consumer can see right through it and has a wide variety of alternatives right at his or her fingertips. Here are a few ways to frame your sales pitches in such a way that it allows you to promote your products/services without sounding like a pushy sales pitch, and even encourage others to market your products/services for you.

Scavenger Hunt – This can be used to draw in new customers. Use promotional items (electronic or paper) to start a scavenger hunt for a special first-time customer gift. As an added convenience, you can create one totally online by taking your prospective clients on a guided tour of some relevant websites. Start by creating a theme that works with your business, like food, jewelry, or health & beauty products. Make sure the questions are easy to answer and that each item only takes a short time to find. At the end of the hunt, your would-be customer is rewarded with a special gift! You’ve now drawn them in to try your product, made it fun for them to share it with their friends, and you’ve promoted your business without the traditional sales pitch.
Giveaways – Many businesses offer free products or services for first-time customers, but usually some sort of purchase is necessary. Consider a giveaway that stands out from the rest: one that literally gives something away totally for free. Offer it for free for first-timers, and wow them with your quality and customer service. By doing so, you create a risk-free situation and promote your products/services through the giveaway without sounding like a sales pitch. You have now started a relationship and given them a reason to share it with their friends.
Referrals & Rewards – Not only do you want to draw in new customers, but you want to reward your loyal ones as well. Create and use a reward system for referrals that promotes your products/services. Whenever a new customer makes a purchase, all they have to do is mention the name of the person who referred them. That referrer then gets a special discount or promotional item. Word of mouth is an effective method for bringing in new customers, so motivate your current ones by showing them how much you appreciate their patronage and recommendations.

When creating a non-sales pitch sales pitch, remember to frame it in such a way that the promotion includes marketing your products/services. If done correctly, people should feel like you are talking about the promotion and not delivering a sales pitch. Make them simple and direct, but most importantly, be genuine in your interactions with prospective clients. They will appreciate your sincerity and your creative approach.

Please share your own ideas for a creative sales pitch in the comments below!

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DSEF & CBBB: Helping Small Business Owners Manage Credit Wisely

Today’s highlighted blog post from the Council on Better Business Bureaus (CBBB)

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Helping Small Business Owners Manage Credit Wisely

BBB and Capital One Managing Credit – Made Simpler Partnership to offer businesses tailored advice and easy-to-follow tips online for free

“Faced with the realities of the economic downturn, millions of small businesses have been forced to take a second look at their finances, including examining their spending habits and how they use credit,” said Stephen A. Cox, President and CEO, Council of Better Business Bureaus. “Regularly examining your business’s finances, including how and why you use credit, is important. BBB’s Managing Credit – Made Simpler provides easy-to-follow tips, checklists, and advice compiled to help small businesses better handle and successfully build their business’s credit record.”