Using Facebook to Grow Your Business

Like most small business owners, I'm always looking for new ways to promote my business and make people more aware of what I do. And like many of you who are "social media savvy", I've had a personal profile on Facebook for awhile now as one more avenue meant to promote my business. However, I found myself becoming increasingly frustrated with it, as it really IS much more of a "social-oriented" medium and that's not what I was looking to gain from it. So, I took a couple of basic steps – first, I started another Profile under my company name (http://profile.to/strategicgrowthconcepts), and then I also started a Group under my company name (http://groups.to/strategicgrowthconcepts). Both of these have given me additional opportunity to provide more focus on the business, though not quite yet to the extent that I wanted. The "wall" page is still very "social-oriented" because that's what it's designed to be, and what most people use it for. The "group" has allowed me to do a better job of "controlling content" in order to insure that it stays business-focused. But, I still wasn't happy with it.

So, I did as I normally do, and I started conducting research; in this case on the ways other companies are utilizing FaceBook – and I found the answer I was seeking. It turns out that FaceBook is currently in the midst of implementing some changes that are designed to solve exactly the problem I was having. They have developed a "Page" concept that is meant to focus on different categories of businesses. Each category comes with a specific template of included sections that you can then customize as you like. The "Pages" allow you to include a lot more detailed information about your company, as well as any events you want to promote, discussions you would like to initiate, various applications that you would like to attach, as well as uploading files you want to share, video, photos, etc. It allows you to customize the Tabs included on the page so they are best suited to your company's purposes.

I just set up my company's page today so I still have some work to do to it, but I thought the concept was so great that I wanted to share it with all of you. Check out my "page" at: http://companies.to//strategicgrowthconcepts. Also, to help you learn about this new offering from Facebook, I was able to track down a Facebook location that takes you thru the process as well as providing additional information and resources; see this at: http://www.facebook.com/advertising/?pages .

The New Basics of Marketing

What you need to know about: websites, email, mobile phones, social networks, viral video, and blogging.

By: Leigh Buchanan, Max Chafkin, and Ryan McCarthy

Inc. Online, February 2008

The world of marketing is radically different than it was only a few short years ago. From viral video to text-message campaigns and avatar sales reps, marketing tools that only recently seemed rare and futuristic are quickly becoming commonplace.

They're the New Basics.

Mainstream marketing was invented by big companies to convey simple messages to the masses. New marketing, in contrast, is about complexity and individuality. There are, for example, 100 million blogs worldwide. No matter how small the market for your products or services, one of those blogs probably serves it.

But though today's marketers have more choices in terms of the tools they use to reach customers, their jobs aren't getting any easier. With an explosion of new offerings, it's hard to know when and how best to spend your marketing dollars. In compiling this report, Inc. looked for developments that are new and creative but also effective and affordable--and, of course, well suited to nimble, entrepreneurial companies. Use them creatively, and you just might transform your business.

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The Value of Social Networking – An Example at Work – and a Challenge for Social Network Members

Since joining the LinkedIN community I have often made note of postings in many groups I belong to about the members' frustration with the "self-serving" type of postings that don't appear to meet the criteria of networking. As someone who has been a strong in-person networker throughout my career, I acknowledge that my opinion has been in agreement with this frustration. However, I found myself absent of an idea that could serve to change things – and then came along a posting by J. Michael Warner of Genesee Crest Ltd.

Michael has started a small business in which he provides online marketing services to help his clients build their brand on the Internet. Because his company is fairly new, Michael put his marketing skills to work and developed a promotional idea he posted on LinkedIN. His promotion involved offering his skills at auction for LinkedIN members – even if the bids were nominal; his thinking being that he could use the auction winner's marketing campaign as a high-profile way to prove the value of his services, thereby serving as a marketing campaign for himself as well.

SOCIAL NETWORKING AT WORK

When I saw Michael's posting I was immediately struck with the thought that this was an opportunity for the type of networking I'm used to seeing – networking that can benefit both parties involved in a very useful way. I responded to Michael's posting with a proposal of my own – if he would select me as the winner of his auction and use his expertise to help me build my company's brand, I would also use my tools (my website, my blog, my LinkedIN postings, my webinars, and my clients) to help promote his services.

I'm happy to report that Michael has accepted my proposal and we will begin immediately helping each other grow our respective firms – all this being done without any exchange of cash in an effort to help each other, and thereby, help our own businesses - the ultimate in effective networking, and the essence of small business in America, in my opinion.

THE CHALLENGE

In today's economy it is critical for small business to take up challenge of creating jobs to help, in the words of our new President, "pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin the work of re-building America". Given that the largest percentage of small businesses are started on a shoestring, networking plays a vital role in that revitalization. Therefore, I'm issuing a challenge to the members of LinkedIN – and every other social network – I challenge you to come up with a way to utilize these social networks to develop a means by which you can help another small business that then results in helping your own business grow. If each of us does this just once, think of the tremendous impact this could have on our U.S. economy and that of our global community!
Will you meet this challenge? If you decide to take up the challenge, please send me your stories so I can share them with others in the online community. I look forward to seeing the impact of small business and social networks on re-building our nation's economy and hope that the members of LinkedIN will play a pivotal role in this endeavor! Let's see the REAL power of small business and social networks!

eMarketer’s Predictions for 2009 Online Spending

I read a very interesting article today from eMarketer regarding their predictions for 2009 online spending. The article examines trends in various online advertising strategies such as search, video, display, lead generation, and email. It also examines the viability of targeting demographic segments by age and cultural diversity in online advertising. Lastly, it examines online purchasing trends in retail, and expected trends in eCommerce on social networks. Some of the information contained within the reports may surprise you.

For those that are working on final revisions of their 2009 marketing plans, this article can be helpful in guiding you in your decisions regarding your online strategies and budget allocations. For those that have either concluded your planning for 2009 or don't yet have extensive knowledge on web strategies, this article can serve as a good overview to insure that you have basic knowledge on trends in this channel.

The link to the article follows: http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?id=1006813

After reading the article, I would be interested in seeing comments from you which identify your thoughts regarding the article's content and/or any resulting changes you may initiate in your 2009 Marketing Plans as a result of this information.