Where is YOUR website? When someone searches online for the product or service you offer, will they find you or your competition? Watch a free video here Thanks for visiting!
My 4 week internet marketing course is now ready. I’m running a 20% off special for a limited time. Check it out HERE.
When you are attempting to do business online, it’s VERY important to read and follow directions. I’ve seen the following happen MANY times over the past few years and I am baffled by it. I have an online calendar that I send people to. They can see my available times for appointments at the site. I tell them “look at my calendar and pick a time that works best for you from my available times”. Most people reply with “Anytime works fine for me”. I answer. “OK – I’ve scheduled you for 9:15 am EST on Tuesday”. They answer back “That doesn’t work for me. I’m getting the kids off to school at that time”. HELLO?? Why not just pick a time that works for you?
You will NEVER – NEVER be successful if you can not follow simple directions. You will NEVER be successful if you cause the person you want help from to get caught up in an endless email loop trying to schedule a time to talk to you. When I run across people like this, I don’t even bother replying. I don’t need to beg for business and I don’t need to chase you down and make you work with me.
Why would I do that? Why would I turn away business? It’s really very simple. You can’t pay me enough money to help you have success. No matter what I do, you will never be successful because you can’t follow directions. I’m really doing you a favor by not taking your money until there comes a time when you can do a simple task. If you want help from someone, read every email they send you. Make sure you understand what is being asked of you. DO THAT. Don’t do something different. My business works because I have set boundaries and I have a set way of doing things. If everyone schedules appointments with me in a different way, my business would not work and appointments would be missed. Learn from that.
Bottom line – if you want to be successful in business, learn to do simple things that are asked of you.
I am putting together a series of webinars on internet marketing. These will be focused on blogs, social spaces and getting traffic.
Your input is appreciated. What would you like to see? Is there anything in particular you would like to learn?
Please leave your comments below.
Would you walk into a party, yell “Hey everyone – I’m here” and then strip naked?
You wouldn’t? Why not?
This is exactly what a lot of people do every day on social spaces online. They request your friendship and then start slamming their offer all over the place. They don’t take the time to get to know you first or let you get to know them. When you look at their updates, there’s not many attempts to get to know anyone or to interact on a social level, but there are mostly posts saying how wonderful they and/or their “deal” is.
They call this “internet marketing” however, it’s just plain rude.
Treat social spaces like a party. You are there to get to know people. If people are interested in what you do, they will ask. Talk to them. Get to know them. Ask about them. They may want to find out more and ask about you. Then again, they may not. Either way, that’s OK. Not everyone is going to be interested in doing business with you. Just like not everyone at a party will be interested in dating you.
So…what can you do? Well…think of it this way…if you were going to a party and you wanted people to find you approachable, you would probably shower and dress nicely. You may be sure to brush your teeth so your breath doesn’t chase people away. You would probably even put deodorant on so you smell good. Maybe you would even put on some jewelry. If you’re a lady, you might wear makeup. All of these things make you look good and make you more appealing to others.
Your social spaces profile is a representation of who you are. It is your profile. Put your business links on there. Start the relationship building process by commenting on other people’s updates and giving out good information. Be nice, talk to people and act just as you would act in a social setting in person.
Don’t post updates about your business constantly. This is like screaming at everyone at the party. You can occasionally say something to pique curiosity and get others to come look at your profile or website. Notice I said occasionally. The majority of your interactions with others should be non-business related. Post about your day. Let others get to know you. Reply to comments that others leave. Be nice and kind. If others are interested in finding out more about you, they can come to your profile where you will have links to more information.
Be cautious when posting updates. Contrary to the popular belief of most business people trying to use social media, your updates are NOT to be considered part of your profile. They are to be considered part the the community. These are like statements you would make at a party to someone you are just meeting. You wouldn’t walk up to someone and say “Hi, my name is Suzie and I have the greatest deal since sliced bread over here. You MUST come with me so I can tell you about it”. You might get a few desperate people who are willing to follow you and listen, but these types of relationships don’t generally last. You want a relationship built on mutual interests. Whether it be a friendship, a business partnership or a love relationship. It doesn’t matter. They each need to be built on solid ground in order for them to work.
Now…some may say “Come on Roxanne…we all know that strip clubs are very popular. A lot of people like that scene. What do you say about that?” Think about the stripper, patron relationship. How many good, solid relationships have you ever heard of that began between a stripper and the people patronizing the strip club? Not counting soap operas, I haven’t heard of many. There’s nothing wrong with strippers. I know quite a few. There’s nothing wrong with people who patronize strip clubs. I know quite a few of those as well. However, for the majority of people, they do not go to places like that looking for a serious relationship.
Bottom line, if you are serious about building a business online, simply be yourself, be nice and be helpful. If others WANT to find out more about you they will ask. Make yourself appealing and approachable and you’ll have plenty of people wanting to get to know you. Walk into the room and strip naked and you’re going to offend a much larger percentage than not.
Bottom line – remember – don’t strip naked at the party. Save that for later in the relationship.
What is a social marketing consultant / manager and how can one help your business?
According to Inc. Magazine, 91% of all businesses they surveyed are attempting to promote their businesses using social media. Social media includes blogs, facebook, twitter, linked in, myspace, youtube, the list goes on. Social spaces include anywhere where you can interact directly with your potential customers / clients / business partners.
Why does the study say the 91% are attempting to use social media to build their business? Because, for the majority of them, what they are doing is NOT working. Businesses come onto social media platforms and quickly find out that traditional marketing methods do not work. They end up frustrated, throwing up their hands and exclaiming “Social marketing does not work!!”
A social marketing consultant / manager knows the ins and outs of social marketing. she knows how to get the most benefit from these types of sites. She will show you how to interact on social media sites and how to set up your profiles. She will clean up and modify your social spaces profiles. If you don’t have profiles yet, she can set them up for you. She can also go in and do weekly maintenance on these sites so you don’t have to wade through all of the mess in order to interact with your potential customers or business partners.
To sum up – a social marketing consultant or manager makes your job a lot easier and less stressful.
Fill out the form on the right for a free consultation to see how I can help you.
WHAT ARE YOUR INTERNET MARKETING NEEDS?
