I recently returned from attending Ali Brown’s Online Success Blueprint Workshop in LA (which was fantastic to say the least!) and whilst there we also heard from Mari Smith who is a leading expert in Facebook marketing. Below you will find some of the facts and tips I gathered from Mari’s presentation. I also highly recommend you visit this link to get Mari’s Facebook Tips Report which goes into even more depth!

Here are a few of the facts about Facebook;

• 125 million active members (Wow!!!)
• It is estimated there will be 500 million members by 2011 (this is massive growth!!)
• Facebook is the 4th most trafficked website in the world
• Facebook is the most used photo-sharing platform online, it is even beating Flickr
• 30 million photos every day!!!
• Members on Facebook have an average age of 35
• There are more members with degrees, they are more mature and have more money (compared to other sites like MySpace)

 Four Tips to get more attention on Facebook

1. Connect with leaders in your industry. Search them out on Facebook and send a friend request with a personal note. A personal note gets you more attention and shows you are not just sending friend requests to everyone possible!
2. Get your photo taken with famous people and/or experts in your industry and tag them in your photos. This will then show up on their profile and in the activities feed (list of recent activities in your network). Mari calls this ‘Viral Visibility’.
3. Add a Facebook page to your profile - go to the ‘Advertising’ link at the bottom the screen when logged in to Facebook and click on ‘Advertising’.
4. Join relevant groups that cover your topic and/or industry and make regular comments and post content. Great for visibility.

by Belinda Jackson

© 2008. Web Chameleon Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Want to use this article on your website or include it in your email newsletter? No problem! But you also MUST include the following:

Belinda Jackson, Online Marketing Mentor, is founder of Web Chameleon, Chameleon Mail and The Business Blogging Program.  To learn how to attract and retain your perfect clients using Online Marketing, and increase sales & income then sign up for your free Online Marketing Report and Marketing Newsletter by visiting www.WebChameleon.com.au/.

These Online Publicity methods are all non traditional forms of generating publicity and interest in both you and your business. All are free and highly effective, so why not give them a try….

1. ARTICLE MARKETING
Article marketing refers to writing articles on your area of expertise or industry and then publishing those articles wherever possible as a way of promoting you and your business. Online this means submitting your articles at sites such as www.ezinearticles.com and relevant websites that accept articles for publication.

Don’t forget this can also be used offline, in fact the same articles can often be used with perhaps some minor editing to submit to magazines, papers and other offline media. For example I recently slightly tweaked one of my popular Email Marketing articles for a Real Estate publication.

2. BLOGGING
Blogging is a way to gain ongoing exposure online for you and your business. Ideally this is in the form of you publishing articles (which can also be used in Publicity option 1 above), news, events, press releases and industry updates on your blog which allows your readers (both prospects and clients) to learn more about you, as well as provide another way for media to find you. It is becoming more and more common for media channels such as TV, magazines and radios to source information and opinions from Bloggers and to contact Blog authors for interviews and further comments on their area of expertise.

3. SOCIAL NETWORKING
You may have read my article recently about Facebook (if not you can read it here), where I mentioned how popular this online social networking community has become. Facebook is a great way to get free publicity, although how far your message reaches may depend on how many friends you have! Simply by updating your status on Facebook you can let your network know about new projects that you are working on and generate interest.

You can also do this with Twitter which is a service that allows you to keep others up to date on what you are doing at any time. To learn more about using Twitter for marketing and exposure I suggest reading this great article at http://www.toprankblog.com/2007/11/twitter-guide/

by Belinda Jackson

© 2008. Web Chameleon Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Want to use this article on your website or include it in your email newsletter? No problem! But you also MUST include the following:

Belinda Jackson, Online Marketing Mentor, is founder of Web Chameleon, Chameleon Mail and The Business Blogging Program.  To learn how to attract and retain your perfect clients using Online Marketing, and increase sales & income then sign up for your free Online Marketing Report and Marketing Newsletter by visiting www.WebChameleon.com.au/.

If you are a small business owner and you are struggling to attract and retain clients then you must read on. If you are spending a small fortune on advertising in newspapers, magazines, radio or even TV, then it’s time to consider some new ways of marketing your business.I believe that the internet offers huge opportunity to small business, service professionals and large corporates alike.

The online world in many ways is no different to the offline marketing world. On and offline, it’s all about people. In fact, if you think about it, every dollar that is spent online must come from an individual choosing to spend their money with a particular website.

Creating an effective website that brings you new customers and makes you money will be more likely to happen if you successfully build relationships. This means building a geniune relationship with visitors to your website so that they come to like and trust you enough to give you their money!

This is relationship marketing. Next step is leveraging yourself as an expert so that clients come chasing you. Online Marketing provides the opportunity to simplify both of these strategies.

Selling as was used in the past is gone. Every day we are overwhelmed with marketing and sales messages and it’s impossible to take it all in - even if we wanted to - and I’m sure you, like me, don’t particularly want to be sold to.

What you want is to have clients choose to want to buy your products and/or services, because they have come to see you as an expert AND they have formed a relationship with you built on trust, knowledge and authenticity!

Having an Effective Website and/or Blog and using your web presence to attract and build a database allows you to form the beginnings of a relationship with prospects. Allowing your prospects to get to know, like and trust you through an Email Newsletter over time gives you the opportunity to leverage yourself as an expert and convert prospects into clients.

No hard selling allowed or required.

These are simple Online Marketing strategies you can implement almost immediately to begin leveraging yourself as an expert in your industry and begin fostering an ongoing relationship with prospects.

By now, you are most likely familiar with the popular social networking website called Facebook, even if perhaps you have not ventured into its network yet. I say yet, because chances are…..you will!Facebook launched in 2004, and according to Wikipedia, has more than 80 million active users worldwide. There is nothing else like it online. And it is not the domain of teenagers only. Whilst teenagers are most certainly on there and loving it, the average user age on Facebook is estimated at 39.

I Was Very Skeptical At First

Actually it has taken me a long time to get on board with Facebook. Admittedly the same was true for me and Blogging and I am quickly becoming as keen on Facebook as I am on Blogging.

I feel like I was pushed into discovering Facebook. Many of my friends, colleagues and clients kept asking for my opinion on it, and asking if I was on there yet? I had registered several months ago on the urging of a good friend of mine in New Zealand, but I never really could figure out what all the fuss was about.

I wanted to discover why Facebook is so popular. I wanted to know how they managed to gain millions of members so quickly? And why so many people are talking about it? I had to know!

So, finally 2 weeks ago I logged back in and spent my Saturday exploring and discovering the potential that exists in Facebook. Today I have reached 100 “friends” and look forward to growing my Facebook network more (why not join me - see below).

How Did Facebook Become So Popular, So Fast? Read the rest of this entry »

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I’m sure I’m not the first to tell you that your web site should be on any customer communication material you pass on to prospects & clients - your letterheads, emails, business cards, brochures etc. Basically plaster it on any and all Marketing Materials you have in your business.

And yet sometimes there are other places right under our very noses that we overlook. Most people don’t even give this place a second thought. Well it’s your phone answering machine or Voice Mail!!

When a prospect calls you and you’re not able to take the call give them the opportunity to go directly to your web site for more information. Maybe they will not leave a message but this way the have another means to learn more straight away so YOU don’t lose the opportunity.

The following article is written by my friend Sharon Tieman of Madame Marketing, who is co-creator and presenter of Recession Proof Marketing - www.recessionproofmarketing.com.au …………………….

Make no Mistake …Recession Proof Marketing strategies do exist. There are marketing techniques that will get you through the toughest of economies.I’m not going to debate whether we are in a recession or not. What I will say is this…

• A recession like economy happens every 7-9 years.

• Hundreds of thousands of businesses world-wide went broke in the last recession.

• In the last recession, the World Wide Web was not nearly advanced as it is now. Now we have a lot more affordable marketing opportunities.

• There will be less of your traditional style customers. But you now have a bigger market place, thanks to the web.

All it means is that you can’t do business today the same way you did a year ago … or five years ago … or ten years ago …This time it will be different!

What does this mean for traditional style business:-

• A recession will weed out the bad competitors, leaving more business for you.

• A recession will weed out those businesses not keeping up with the times.

• Many competitors will “trim their so called, marketing fat” which in reality is ‘trimming their muscle”

TWO WAYS TO GO BROKE IN A RECESSION.

You see, I believe there are two ways to go broke in a Recession.

Bad Maths or Bad Marketing. You can either be great at Maths, but not marketing. You know what I mean, good profit margins, everything perfectly costed out, books perfectly balance - but no customers.

Or you can be great at Marketing, and not Maths. Loads of customers, always busy and popular, but making no money because you haven’t costed anything out. Both are a false economy.

Most recessions only last for 12-18months. If you adapt and use Recession Proof Marketing strategies, and have your maths right, you will become leaner and stronger, with more market share than before.

Let’s get one thing clear….

The world is NOT going to stop! People will still need to eat out, they will still have gift to buy people, they will need to replace broken worn out goods. They will still need to celebrate, they will still need to maintain what they have, to move on, move up, move out. Let’s get real!

The knee jerk reaction for most businesses will be to cut advertising and marketing immediately. The opportunities here are:-

• Your marketing will stand out more, as there will be less clutter around.

• You will be able to keep your customers loyal, and grab some of the customers that are not being looked after or contacted.

Recession Proof Marketing Strategies:

The 7 Basics.

1. Only do the Marketing that is measurable and works. This is no time for experimental advertising.

2. You will get 5 times better response with your advertising dollar if contact the customers you already have, rather than trying to get new customers. Yes, 5 times better response!

3. Focus on gaining customers and keeping customers. When the hard times clear, you will have a larger market share, and a leaner operating business.

4. The fastest way to grow your customer list, with the least amount of money is through Strategic Alliances and Joint Venture Partnerships. Many of these arrangements cost no money, but can rapidly increase your customer database.

5. Find the hungry crowds. What are they buying? Who is buying it? Don’t try and sell ice-cream during winter and heaters during summer. Promote and market what is popular and profitable to the customers that are around at the time.

6. Always, Always, Always have an offer in your advertising. If you are going to spend money on marketing, give the customer a great offer to contact you. Branding or flag waving might get your friends and family talking, but it does not put money in the register during tough times.

7. Negotiate on everything - especially advertising. During recession and tough times, these advertising guys are really hungry for business. Don’t be afraid to negotiate or make an offer.

Remember Tough Times, don’t last, tough people do.

Article by my good friend Sharon Tieman of Madame Marketing, Australia

Madame Marketing.
http://www.madamemarketing.com
http://www.recessionproofmarketing.com.au