Friday, February 27, 2015

Twitter Marketing, Pro’s and Con’s


As Twitter continues to increase in popularity, it's the ideal choice to use as an online marketing tool for virtually anyone who needs and wants to promote their brand or business, but Twitter marketing strategies do come with a few drawbacks as well. Many times, marketing experts fail to see these inadequacies and therefore only focus on the benefits of advertising in Twitter. Here are some pros and cons to determine if using Twitter for business is right for you and your brand. 

Twitter Marketing Pros

•Reach Every Corner of the World:
No need to worry about reaching the foreign market on Twitter, since most of the world is there anyway. Your advertising message will reach literally millions of people without spending a lot time to do so when advertising on Twitter. 

• Historical and Statistical Usage Data:
Use popular tools for tracking your Twitter marketing strategies and campaigns as well as take advantage of the available online software in order to analyze your account. Discover a wealth of information, including important topics and high searched-on hashtags, whereby you can easily view information by the hour as well as helpful graphs based on popular hashtags. 

• Advanced User Searches:
You can use Twitter for business by using their advanced search page to find clients or customers in your area to effectively reach your target audience in your particular industry. Or, you can use tweetups, which are offline meetings of users on Twitter or simply follow them to start building a network. 

• URL Shortener:
You can instantly share any link you wish without the need to go through any URL shortening annoyances to save as many characters as you can in order to publish your tweet. Twitter will automatically shorten your link as much as possible and account for this into the tweet by simply updating the character count with the shorter URL rather than the full one. 

• Automation:
Various tools will allow you to publish automated tweets when you need to be elsewhere like on vacation and still generate tweets. However, it's not wise to solely rely on automated tweets since you'll miss out on many important interactions. 

Twitter Marketing Cons
• Addiction and Distraction:
Like many other business marketing tools, advertising in Twitter can become addictive over time. Before you realize it, you'll start obsessively checking your @-replies and retweets throughout the day as well as checking your smartphone every couple of minutes to see if there are any new and interesting alerts. And so, rather than working on certain aspects of your business, you'll keep getting distracted by the news, debates, and Twitter trends. 

• Wasting Too Much Time:
If you're using Twitter for business, you need to respond to potential clients who are trying to communicate with you if you want to build a good business and solid brand. People love to interact with one another whether it's business or social. 

• Spam
It takes a bit of practice to ensure you're interacting adequately enough on Twitter and not missing any key marketing opportunities without coming off like a spammer. If you're new to Twitter, your behavior could make others shun you without you even realizing it. 

Marketing on Twitter definitely has its advantages, but you must be aware of the cons as well. Overall, Twitter is a very effective tool for any online marketer who's willing to take the time to honestly interact, listen, and engage with other users that they could potentially benefit from. 

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Pro's and Con's of Pinterest Marketing in 2015


What is Pinterest?

In today’s Internet world, social marketing sites have become more and more popular. These social networking sites allow people to connect through words, pictures, sounds and even videos. People can connect anytime and anywhere. Pinterest is a major player in social media with over 13 million users and they have caught the attention of marketers. It is a social-sharing photo website allowing you to “Pin” images to virtual pin boards in order to get your pins noticed and share them with your followers. Users organize, share and store pictures uploaded. Currently, Pinterest is popular among consumer marketers, but should B2B marketers use the platform in their social media strategies? Let’s consider the Pro’s and Con’s of Pinterest marketing. 

Pro’s of Pinterest Marketing

• Easy to Use -- The Pinterest site is easy to both use and to navigate. The best Pinterest marketing strategy for newcomers to the site is the making of files accessible with just a click on a pin and allowing users to share the pins they like on the marketer’s business profile.
• Generates Referral Traffic – More referral traffic is generated by Pinterest than many major social networking sites.

• Content is Visual – Since Pinterest is based on photo-sharing, the best Pinterest marketing strategy for sellers is to upload an outstanding picture of their product or service. They should also add their store’s information to the picture’s caption and promote the pin to other boards. Pinterest pinning tips include the suggestion of being organized with your brand by your creating a design that will categorize your products into the boards. This will eliminate difficulty of clients to browse what you are offering.

• Market Research – Pinterest will not only give you opportunities for market exposure, but it will also provide a platform for market research to improve your advertising strategies. It allows you to interact with regular Pinterest members. By seeing their pins and comments, you will learn the kinds of things they are interested in. This knowledge will help you to develop a marketing campaign that will target the correct demographics.

• Ideal for Artistic Exposure – If you are a business such as architecture, interior design, fashion design or other similar industries, you will find Pinterest the ideal site to exhibit your work online. The best way for you to get your pins noticed is to keep your content and posts eye-catching, original and high in quality. 

• SEO – A Pinterest pinning tips includes an awarness that Pinterest builds a stored link for every user post. The stored links are inbound links to your site. Furthermore, the inbound links will raise your search engine ranking.

• Women Users – It has been said that 65% of Pinterest users are women and 85% of Pinterest traffic is driven by women. Therefore, if your business clients are women, Pinterest could be an excellent way to reach your potential customers.

Con's of Pinterest Marketing

• Copyright Issues – There can be copyright issues caused by many users pinning and re-pinning images owned by others. Some legal bloggers have conveyed concerns for these possible copyright issues.

• Large Number of Women Users – If your interests are guy interests such as power tools or football, you probably won’t find many images to your liking on Pinterest. If your demographic target isn't women, you may not be successful with Pinterest marketing.

• Not Business Oriented – Being repeatedly pinned may not help your business marketing even if the pin goes viral. The link to your site can be lost through the repeated re-pinning process and more traffic will not be drawn to your business site. Also, the focus on Pinterest is often on lifestyle content with items such as recipes, home decor and fashion.

What is your opinion? Do the pro’s outweigh the con’s for Pinterest marketing of business? 

Monday, February 23, 2015

Instagram Marketing, Pro’s and Con’s


When looking to bring in more clients, people turn to social media. While true, a lot of website and business owner forget about Instagram as it's a smaller operation when compared with other sites. However, this is a mistake, and a smart entrepreneur needs to use Instagram if he or she wants to find more clients. With this in mind, there are some drawbacks. Here are three pros and three cons of using Instagram.

Pros:

A picture is valuable: As is often said, a picture is worth a thousand words. Think about it, when running a company, one will want to use images to show off their product or service. This is especially important when selling food, weight loss products or any other items that people love to look at and enjoy. However, one can take it further and show off travel destinations or any number of things. Simply put, this is one of the best tips for using Instagram for business as a picture will really show visitors the true value of a product or service.

Viral: Without a doubt, when using the Internet to market a product, service or idea, one will want it to go viral. If a site or idea goes viral, one will make a lot of money and find plenty of new and excited visitors. For this reason, when using Instagram, one needs to make sure they provide true value to a visitor. Then, and only then, one can see the photo go viral, which will result in a lot of new visitors to the site.

They do the work for the company: Finally, as mentioned, when one shares a photo with their friends and so on, it can go viral. Not only that, when using Instagram, the followers will do most of the work. Provided a company offers an interesting photo, it will likely go viral. In the end, one should follow the best tips for using Instagram for business. That way, the followers will do the legwork.

Cons:

Younger crowd: Now, when looking to find new clients, one will usually want to go after an older crowd. Yes, while a lot of teenagers and young adults use Instagram, not all of them have the cash to spend. However, there are chances to get them hooked and coming back when they are older. Either way, when looking for the best strategy for Instagram, one must remember that not all people can lay out any cash.

Not business-minded: When following their favorite celebrity online, a lot of people are not interested in anything but wasting idle time. Meaning, while on Instagram, a lot of people are simply looking to pass some time on the train and have no intention of spending any money.

Not household name: While the likes of Facebook and Twitter are famous, a lot of people don’t even know about Instagram. This is changing, but not quickly, and a smart entrepreneur should realize that he or she needs to follow the best strategy for Instagram if they want to find success as it’s not as easy as using other social media sites.

When running a website or business, one needs to use Instagram. While not the best game in town, it’s beneficial to use this social media site to find new clients from all over the world.

Friday, February 20, 2015

Live Events: Why You Should Go to Them


With the increasing presence of the internet in all types of day-to-day affairs, many individuals are forgetting the importance of actually attending in-person events. They might feel as though they can obtain the same experience through a webcast. While internet tools are effective at building bridges among communities and individuals, live events provide offers that the internet cannot.

Testing Products and Services
Depending upon the nature of the event, the company might have products or services that the attendees can test out. Certain features are available for testing on the web, or the company can provide a detailed description of what these products and services can do, but the only way for a person to really know if something works for him or her is to test it out. Individuals may have the opportunity to find a new tool that works for their businesses, or they may be able to see the features of a new device that they could not from viewing it on the web.

Engaging All the Senses
Human beings were provided with five senses, and while some sense of virtual reality might be close, people are still unable to use all of their senses when they are experiencing something online. Sight and sound are the two predominating features. Therefore, if the event has to do with food, people need to actually attend it to taste what the business has to offer. Additionally, while individuals can ask questions online, it is generally quicker and more efficient to ask a number of questions in person.

Researching the Product or Service
Going to live events, therefore, provides individuals with the opportunity to learn more about the project. Engaging in a conversation with a live individual is easier than submitting a series of questions to an online message board or sending an email. All of the questions can be asked in the same conversation without having to wait hours or days for a reply. An advantage of attending live events is also the fact that people can avoid having chats with robots online or computers that are programmed to answer only a certain set of questions. 

Building a Sense of Rapport
Not all people are used to conducting business online, and such conversations may be stilted and awkward for them. As a result, they are not able to build the same level of rapport that they could in an in-person meeting. Going to live events means that two or more individuals actually have the chance to build a relationship with one another. Determining if a relationship is mutually agreeable and amicable is difficult to do when one or both parties are sitting behind the screen and the keyboard. 

Seeing the Full Picture
Some people have started to rely on the internet so much that they forget it is able to full them. For example, an advantage of attending live events means that flaws cannot be so easily hidden. If a band is not playing well, but the music is screaming online, the sounds might be manipulated. However, if a person goes to see the band live, then he or she will know what they sound like in-person.

As wonderful as the internet is, some human experiences simply cannot be replaced by a robot.

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Hosting a Live Event, Things You Should Know Before You Do.


Hosting a live event can be a tough process, especially when you don't have the knowledge you need to pull one of these off ahead of times. Thankfully, though, this doesn't have to be the case. As long as you are fully prepared, hosting a live event can be a piece of cake.

For starters, when organizing live events, you must know the right time to market your live event. In other words, you never want to host your live event too soon because if you do no one will end up showing up. You need to give your event and business enough time to grow and develop so that an audience wants to attend what you've put together. Similar to this, you don't want to market your event too late because then you could lose your audience to another organization. You need to reach your audience before they have the opportunity to look elsewhere for what you are offering.

Besides this, you should know your budget before hosting a live event. The last thing you want is to spend too much or too little money because this could ruin your event before it even starts. Remember, you don't want to end up in debt, but at the same time you don't want your event to be lackluster. Outline your budget ahead of time so that you get everything you need to make your even stand out without cutting into your finances more than you should.

Of course when you are live event hosting, you must know exactly how big or small you want your event to be. You never want to go with the flow and be surprised by the guest list. That's because you have to be prepared with how many materials to purchase, the amount of refreshments to order and any other items that you plan on lining up for your guests. If you end up having too many a live event that is too large, you may end up completely overwhelmed. If your event is too small, you may not reach the ultimate goal you were hoping to achieve.

Other than these event hosting strategies, you should also look into some marketing techniques you can use to gain the attention of your target audience. The hosting part of the event is definitely the payoff, but to get that you have to make sure that you have the proper attendees in place. Getting people to show up to your live event and actually have vested interest in what you are talking about and offering can be difficult. However, if you use the right marketing tactics, you will be getting everyone to take notice of what you have set in motion.

Lastly, before you participate in live event hosting, you must know exactly what topic you want to cover. That's because you are only allotted a certain amount of time during this live event so you want to make the most of it. After all, picking the wrong topic to focus on can be the difference between a success live event and one that ends up as a huge failure.

Organizing live events can be an exciting time for individuals but it can also be very stressful. However, if the person planning the live event keeps these event hosting strategies in mind, they are truly setting themselves up for a smooth and successful time.

Monday, February 16, 2015

Internet Marketing, What Does This Mean to You?


Creating a successful business and brand today requires more effort than a few advertising campaigns that are visibly local. Understanding how to reach your potential customers or clients online with the use of internet marketing is key. Whether you are starting online business of your own for the first time or if you are seeking out an internet marketing expert/guru, learning more about why internet marketing is a must is essential.

What is Internet Marketing?

When you are asking what is internet marketing it is important to first consider the audience or demographic you want to reach. Understanding the audience you want to appeal to with your brand is a way to create an outline of how to go about reaching them socially and with the use of connecting directly online.

Internet marketing is advertising with the use of SEO or search engine optimization, online ads and graphics along with social media sharing. Using social media, SEO and various advertising methods is a way to not only expand your brand within local stores and outlets, but it is also effective for reaching thousands or millions of individuals worldwide with the proper marketing campaigns.

Optimize Your Website

In order to remain as one of the websites that appears within the top search engine results of Google, Yahoo! and Bing it is important to consider having your website entirely optimized for SEO, or search engine optimization. SEO is imperative whether you are creating a mobile app, selling a product or simply covering the latest news on a particular subject or topic. When a website is properly optimized it is much easier for individuals who are unaware of your brand to find your website and information about the products, content or services you have to offer.

Create an Online Presence

When you want to be taken seriously as a business or new brand in any market, building and creating an online presence is necessary. Having an official website for your business and brand is a way to not only communicate with your readers, but it also lends an additional platform for social sharing and selling the products or services you have to offer your users. Official websites are imperative to help businesses grow to the next level of success.

Getting Social

Getting social is essential for new entrepreneurs looking to expand into the online world and market. Creating social media accounts for your brand is possible with the use of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest and even Tumblr, giving you access to potentially millions of online users and followers who want to know more about your products and brand.

Consistency is key when building a name and reputation for yourself as a new business or brand, regardless of the industry you are representing. Updating users and keeping in touch with loyal fans and customers helps to create additional viral sharing and more room for potential revenue and income.

Finding the Right Internet Marketing Expert/Guru


When you are starting online business and seeking an internet marketing expert/guru, it is important to have a clear vision of the future and direction of your brand and company. Searching for the right marketing expert is possible with the use of local services as well as by comparing prospects and various skill levels with online portfolios and official websites.

Friday, February 13, 2015

Affiliate Marketing, Pro’s and Con’s


When looking to do well online, it’s wise to come up with a viable and strong marketing campaign. Without coming up with a viable plan, one will struggle to find clients. However, with a little hard work and dedication, one can find what they need to succeed. With this in mind, here are the pros and cons of using an affiliate marketing program.


Pros:

Cheaper: When looking for clients, it’s wise to try to save money doing so. For example, when a company owner can receive site traffic with little to no cost, he or she will do well. For this reason, when looking for a cheaper way to get clients, it’s wise to consider affiliate marketing as most plans do not require a person to spend any money until they convert a person into a customer.

Let business owner handle other things: Sadly, when working on a business, many will spend their days and nights looking for clients. This is a time-consuming and often difficult task for the average business person who doesn’t know the ins and outs of marketing. For this reason, when outsourcing this, one can, essentially, not worry about finding the easiest way to find clients. Instead, with the best affiliate marketing strategy, one will not have to worry about looking for clients.

Multiple people” Finally, when looking at trends in affiliate marketing, one will see that it’s wise to use multiple people to find clients. Yes, when running a business, one can have dozens of marketers working for them. Simply put, this is the best affiliate marketing strategy as one can bring in new clients while the others do the work.

Cons:

Out of hands: Sadly, when using an affiliate marketing program, some people will see the wrong type of customers come to their site or store. This is not a big deal, but it’s often wasteful and not productive. One way to control for this is to monitor the affiliate marketers, but this takes some time. With that being said, when using goo affiliate marketers, one will not have this problem as they can just let the clients roll in from all areas of the Internet.

Watch them like a hawk: Without watching the marketers, one may end up in a world of hurt when the affiliate marketing experts do a poor job. Yes, sometimes, in an effort to get more clients, a marketing person will lie and change he story, which makes it hard for one to please customers.

Stay on top of trends: Finally, it’s not always easy to follow the trends in affiliate marketing as they often change. In fact, the best affiliate marketing strategy is to watch it all and continue onward. While not too time-consuming, it will cost a lot of business owners valuable time if they are not careful. Simply put, when running a company, it’s wise to stay on top of trends. Sadly, this can take some time, which causes many company owners to lose out on other valuable opportunities to find new clients and develop the company.

When working with an affiliate marketing company, one can make more money in the short and long run. In the end, it’s wise to use one, but a person must manage their accounts and makes sure things go well.

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Pro's and Con's of Pinterest Marketing in 2015


What is Pinterest?

In today’s Internet world, social marketing sites have become more and more popular. These social networking sites allow people to connect through words, pictures, sounds and even videos. People can connect anytime and anywhere. Pinterest is a major player in social media with over 13 million users and they have caught the attention of marketers. It is a social-sharing photo website allowing you to “Pin” images to virtual pin boards in order to get your pins noticed and share them with your followers. Users organize, share and store pictures uploaded. Currently, Pinterest is popular among consumer marketers, but should B2B marketers use the platform in their social media strategies? Let’s consider the Pro’s and Con’s of Pinterest marketing.

Pro’s of Pinterest Marketing

Easy to Use -- The Pinterest site is easy to both use and to navigate. The best Pinterest marketing strategy for newcomers to the site is the making of files accessible with just a click on a pin and allowing users to share the pins they like on the marketer’s business profile.

Generates Referral Traffic – More referral traffic is generated by Pinterest than many major social networking sites.

Content is Visual – Since Pinterest is based on photo-sharing, the best Pinterest marketing strategy for sellers is to upload an outstanding picture of their product or service. They should also add their store’s information to the picture’s caption and promote the pin to other boards. Pinterest pinning tips include the suggestion of being organized with your brand by your creating a design that will categorize your products into the boards. This will eliminate difficulty of clients to browse what you are offering.

Market Research – Pinterest will not only give you opportunities for market exposure, but it will also provide a platform for market research to improve your advertising strategies. It allows you to interact with regular Pinterest members. By seeing their pins and comments, you will learn the kinds of things they are interested in. This knowledge will help you to develop a marketing campaign that will target the correct demographics.

Ideal for Artistic Exposure – If you are a business such as architecture, interior design, fashion design or other similar industries, you will find Pinterest the ideal site to exhibit your work online. The best way for you to get your pins noticed is to keep your content and posts eye-catching, original and high in quality.

SEO – A Pinterest pinning tips includes an awarness that Pinterest builds a stored link for every user post. The stored links are inbound links to your site. Furthermore, the inbound links will raise your search engine ranking.

Women Users – It has been said that 65% of Pinterest users are women and 85% of Pinterest traffic is driven by women. Therefore, if your business clients are women, Pinterest could be an excellent way to reach your potential customers.

Con's of Pinterest Marketing

Copyright Issues – There can be copyright issues caused by many users pinning and re-pinning images owned by others. Some legal bloggers have conveyed concerns for these possible copyright issues.

Large Number of Women Users – If your interests are guy interests such as power tools or football, you probably won’t find many images to your liking on Pinterest. If your demographic target isn’t women, you may not be successful with Pinterest marketing.

Not Business Oriented – Being repeatedly pinned may not help your business marketing even if the pin goes viral. The link to your site can be lost through the repeated re-pinning process and more traffic will not be drawn to your business site. Also, the focus on Pinterest is often on lifestyle content with items such as recipes, home décor and fashion.

What is your opinion? Do the pro’s outweigh the con’s for Pinterest marketing of business?

Monday, February 9, 2015

Selling Online: A Physical Product Vs. A Downloadable One


For people who want to start an online business, one of the first decisions that must be made is whether to sell a physical or downloadable product. There are advantages and disadvantages to either approach. What is important is to find either the best physical product or the best downloadable product for the business. 

Physical Products: The Pros and Cons

Physical products have obviously been around for a lot longer than digital products. While the internet has brought about many drastic changes, it has not made physical products obsolete. The success of companies such as Amazon, Zappos and many others is proof of this. People still spend many millions of dollars on items that require shipping and this will continue. 

One advantage to focusing on physical products is trustworthiness. Even in the digital age, there is still some suspicion about products that must be downloaded. While this is becoming less true each year, there is still greater trust regarding physical products. People who sell them are less likely to be viewed as potentially shady “internet marketers” and simply as businesses that sell traditional products online.

Selling physical products also gives you a wide variety of choices. There will always be essential and practical physical products, such as food, healthcare products, exercise equipment, clothing, jewelry and lots of other items. These are all necessary or desirable items that cannot be downloaded -at least not yet!

There are, however, several disadvantages to selling physical products. They must be manufactured. They take up space and must be shipped. This creates expenses for both sellers and buyers. Businesses must either have space for storing items or arrange for drop shipping. Perhaps the biggest overall downside to physical products, however, is the relatively low profit margin created by production costs.

Downloadable Products: Pros and Cons

Like physical products, there are vast numbers of products that can be downloaded. Many of these fall into the category of information products. Entertainment, whether in the form of books, music or movies is another huge category. Because digital products do not need to be stored or physically built, there is no need for manufacturing or storage facilities. In some cases, however, producers may need to invest in technology to produce high quality digital products. 

One of the major advantages of digital products is the high profit margins sellers can reap. The cost of producing a hundred or even a million digital files is not significantly higher than producing only one. Finally, there are no shipping costs. Customers like the fact that they can instantly download their purchase. Neither the customer nor the seller has to worry about shipping.

On the downside, some people simply prefer objects they can handle, even when there is a downloadable version. There has been a certain backlash against digital products, which can be seen in the resurgence of old fashioned LP records. Furthermore, certain categories of products, such as food, clothing, jewelry, healthcare products and many others cannot be turned into digital products. A business that wants to sell such items has no choice but to sell physical products.

What Type of Products Are Best to Sell?

There is no one right answer when it comes to the choice between selling a physical or downloadable product. It’s more a question of which products are right for a particular business. All of the above factors are relevant, but it really comes down to a company’s specific objectives. Many businesses have achieved success with either model -or with a hybrid model that includes both. What really matters is choosing the most appropriate products for the market. The best physical product or the best downloadable product for a business is one that meets the needs of the customers. 

Friday, February 6, 2015

Social Media Marketing, Is It Right For You?





Social media. It’s everywhere: Twitter, FaceBook, Pinterest, GooglePlus, Flickr, YouTube, LinkedIn, Vimeo, Disqus, Quora, Tumblr, Yelp… the list could go on and on. You may feel that it is non-essential for the success of your business to invest in social media platforms. After all, they did not always exist… but neither did the computer. In today’s digital age, it is especially critical that you stay in tune with the times and invest in tools that can help your business prosper. Is social media marketing for you? Can you do use these social media tools to the benefit of your business? Read on to find out.


Don’t Overextend Yourself 
What with all the different social media platforms available, you may be tempted to try to establish an active presence on as many as you can. After all, the more prolific your image is, the better your chances of winning customers and increasing revenue, right? Not necessarily. If you attempt to influence every single social media network on the Internet, you will run yourself ragged trying to maintain each unique platform. You will also be unable to focus your attention sufficiently to provide quality content for each site. When determining which social media marketing tools to use, keep in mind the two or three places with platforms that dovetail best with your business objectives and become a master at social media optimization with them.

Facebook is Your Friend
Many companies use Facebook as a platform to advertise, list upcoming events and keep their consumers updated on the latest news regarding their products. “Like us on Facebook” is a common phrase used by companies across America. While the above is a start toward building a relationship with your consumers, have you ever thought of liking your consumers? Facebook is a great social media optimization tool that can deepen relations between consumers and companies more effectively than traditional advertising. 

Social Media Marketing for Business Objectives is Not the Be All and End All of Success
A spectacular Twitter or Facebook presence with horrible customer service is not a good sign for the longevity of your company. Likewise, a vibrant blog does not cancel out the effects of inefficient business practices. Keep in mind that social media tools are designed to enhance your business, not to cover up defective business strategies or poor communication practices. Social media marketing for business success is there to help you take off from the carefully-built launch pad of tried-and-true business planning. 

Listen, Listen, Listen… And Listen Again
The key to having a successful relationship with anyone is to always be listening. The same is true for a business-consumer relationship. A business that fails to be responsive to customer feedback risks losing sales and receiving bad ratings (think the Better Business Bureau). If you take the time to listen to what your customers are saying, you can gain valuable insights on how to improve your products and reach a wider field of customers. That’s why customer feedback is so highly sought after by companies around the world. Harness the world of social media to give yourself the leverage necessary for effective listening. Don’t take your customers’ ideas, thoughts or even their complaints lightly. Having a listening attitude could mean the difference between a solvent business and a bankrupt business. 

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

The Pros and Cons of Facebook Marketing



Facebook has the potential to be a powerful tool for corporations and businesses. Advertising and building a reputable brand are two key ways that businesses reach more customers and create more profit in the long run. However, advertising is expensive and there are many mediums to choose from. Print and web publications are common places for businesses to reach out to individuals. Facebook advertising is a relatively inexpensive way to expand a firm's marketing strategy. Creating a Facebook business page has its pros and cons.

Pros to Facebook Advertising

The biggest advantage to Facebook is that it's free. All someone needs to do is set up a Facebook business page, get a base of family, friends, and customers to follow and share the page, and gradually build a community of supporters. The firm's address and contact information could be listed, as well as the company's website if applicable. More Facebook marketing tips include posting pictures of the business, some happy customers, and the firm's participation in local community events.

Facebook pages are also easy to maintain. The page manager can schedule posts to reach an optimal number of Facebook users. Posts themselves can include links and images. In addition, Facebook has nearly one billion active users around the world. Facebook is used by people of all ages and backgrounds. No matter the industry, a lot of every company's clients almost certainly use Facebook.

One final benefit to Facebook is that a page is very easy to set up. All a user needs is an email address. Creating a business page on Facebook takes less than five minutes and the page manager can begin customizing the page and posting statuses immediately.

Cons to Facebook Advertising

While Facebook pages are easy to set up, using a business page as a marketing tool involves maintaining a consistent connection to users who have chosen to follow the page. Many of these users follow thousands of friends, family members, organizations, businesses, and celebrities on Facebook. As a result, a business's page can get buried under the rest of the user's news feed. Facebook allows company and organization pages to boost their posts by paying a small fee, but page managers need to decide whether these extra fees are worth it and how much they will help.

In connection with these issues, many business pages face over- and under-posting problems. If a page manager posts too often, then users could feel like they re getting spammed. In this scenario, users could choose to stop following the business's page. Other pages don't post enough. The page doesn't accomplish anything if it isn't used consistently. Users may follow the page but forget they did and no relationship is developed or strengthened between the user and the business. These Facebook marketing tips recommend that a business page have a few posts every week, with a maximum of five and a minimum of two.

A Facebook business page helps companies strengthen relationships with current customers and even create new relationships with other users who may have never heard of the company before. But just like with any other tool, it needs to be used wisely.

Monday, February 2, 2015

Google + Marketing, Pro’s and Con’s


When looking to make money online and market to clients, one must thing of every venue. Yes, a lot of people use Facebook and Twitter and think they have done it all. This is far from the truth, and a serious and wise business owner should check out Google+. With that being said, here are three pros and three cons of using Google+ marketing.

Pro:

Every last customer: As mentioned, when online, most people think of the big companies offering social media services. While Google is obviously huge, its social media campaigns are not as popular as others. However, when one knows the ins and outs of Promoting Google +, they can bring in new clients. Think about it, when online and using Google+, one will not see as many advertisements, which bodes well for a person fighting for new clients.

Well-known: While not as popular, everyone knows and trusts Google as most people use the leading search engine to do a lot of things during the day. For this reason, when using Google+ and following a few basic Google + marketing tips, one can find out that Google+ converts at a higher rate than others as it’s a well-known and loved brand across the Internet.

Easy to us: Finally, when using Google+, one will not have any problems setting things up or running their campaign. While there are many Strengths and Weaknesses, this is one of the biggest ones as it’s hard to say no when it’s easy to get started. Not only that, when running the campaign, one will not struggle as Google has made it easy on current clients to use the site. Furthermore, when promoting Google+, one will see it work even better if they do so wisely.

Cons:

Not as popular: Without a doubt, when looking to find thousands of clients, one will want to use the biggest social media sites. Sadly, mots people don’t log in to their Google+ account all the time. This is in stark contrast to Facebook, which is heavily used by people of all ages and backgrounds.

Not really growing: When looking at Google+, it’s easy to see that it’s not growing in popularity as people aren’t getting excited about the product. While this should change in the future, it may take time as many Web users are set in their ways and love to use other products and offerings.

Not on mobile enough: People don’t really check their Google+ while on their smartphones. This is a huge downfall as many people rely on their phones to check in and communicate with friends. While there are plenty of Google + marketing tips to help with this, one will struggle if people simply don’t use the application to access Google+ on a phone. Remember, Promoting Google + is hard if a person does not have a big audience on their phones all the time. This is one of the many weaknesses of Google+. While that is true, there are other Strengths and Weaknesses to consider when using Google+.

When looking to find new clients, one should consider Google+. While not the most popular, one must not forget this social media outlet as it’s easy to reach out to people from all over the world with Google+.