So, have you heard of Google Buzz? Some say that it has “completely changed the game (of social media) as a tool and as an industry”.
On Tuesday, February 9th, Google launched Buzz for Gmail – a service for sharing thoughts, multimedia, and your social media feeds with your friends utilizing Gmail as the conduit. The result: over 160,000 Google Buzz posts and comments per hour.
Among some of the most common reasons why people cite using Google Buzz are that it’s easy to use, accessible, convenient, has a closer social circle, moves in real-time, engaging…
On the flip side, there have also been some concerns about privacy issues associated with this new social media tool. Since it’s linked directly into Gmail, people can potentially figure out your email address. (Note, however, that Google is responding with lightning speed, and many predict that users will soon forget about the initial privacy concerns and that Google Buzz will continue to grow exponentially.)
It will be interesting to see how this growth changes social media as we know it. In particular, stay tuned to see just how the social media kingpins, Facebook and Twitter, will be affected by this changing landscape.
Too many people, when asked for their opinion, dissemble. Instead of giving an opinion, they push back.
You’re an expert. If nothing else, you’re an expert on life, on your opinion, on being a consumer. When I ask you for your opinion I’m not asking you for the right answer. I’m asking you for your opinion.
Sales. Â One of the most rewarding and frustrating jobs in the world.
One of the keys to successful sales is developing relationships and implementing effective communication skills when sitting in front of a potential customer.
Another important key is your drive for success:
the drive to make a phone call to set an appointment;
the drive to stop by without prior notice;
the drive to call on business owners you know;
the drive to learn everything about what you are selling.
Maybe you have the right skill set. Â It just needs to be honed in a different direction than you have been accustomed to in the past.
Oh yeah, excitement sells. Â Another major key to successful salespeople: excitement… believing in what they are selling.
One of the keys to successful sales is developing relationships and implementing effective communication skills when sitting in front of a potential customer.
Another important key is your drive for success:
the drive to learn everything about what you are selling;
the drive to make a phone call to set an appointment; the drive to call on business owners you don’t know;
the drive to call on business owners you already know;
the drive to increase your income bracket.
Yes… make your ‘drive for income’ the last reason on your list to be sitting in front of a potential customer and your success rate will sky rocket.
One last key to success in sales: excitement. Â Believe in what you are selling. Â Your excitement (or lack of), will be obvious.
Search engine marketing is a strategic form of Internet marketing that promotes a website’s visibility in search engines. This can be done using a variety of methods and tools, but the overall idea is to help a website get in front of customers searching for it.
There are different ways to market your website and a campaign that works well for one client may not work well for yours.
At YourAdTeam, your website is developed using a multi-dimensional strategy uniquely tailored to your needs and specifically crafted to speak to your target market.
Joe Pulizzi nicely sums up the keys to success and failure in content marketing.
The keys to success in content marketing:
1. Understanding the informational needs of your customers
2. Knowing how those informational needs mix with your marketing goals and objectives
3. Developing a content program around those needs
4. Being consistent (content marketing is a marathon, not a sprint)
5. Listen and continually evolve the program
Failure in content marketing:
1. Selling, rather than informing
2. Not being consistent with your content promise
3. Not listening, thus not evolving the content program
4. Waiting for perfection to come before you send out the content.
Social media is definitely one of the areas in marketing where money doesn’t always win. Take advantage of two of the most powerful ingredients in social media: creativity and personality.
These two elements are the keys to having a practical message and being a trusted source. They are also essential to discovering new and exciting strategies and tactics. Don’t be afraid to try something new or go a different direction than the crowd.
When building community in social media, it’s important to note that it’s not about the platform, it’s about the relationships that you build there.
With that being said, here is a list of first steps to help you get started:
Listen – find them where they are.
Determine what they want – it’s probably not what you think.
Decide if you are going to join their community or make one, or both.
Introduce yourself – invite them.
Ask them about their goals and hopes.
Share yours.
Begin the journey. Repeat, repeat, …..
The key is to equip people to be more successful, instead of selling! Give them more and more success, not more and more of the product you need to sell. And, remember, listening and acknowledging people’s participation (i.e., “Thanks for that opinion!” or “We value your idea/suggestion!”) is the most important part!
How many great ideas did you have during 2009 that you did nothing with? Creating a business from an idea is like eating an elephant. You eat an elephant one bite at a time.
The first ‘bite’ of creating a new business is making sure the business name is available as a domain name.
So, 2010 is here in a few hours.
Take your first bite and grab your domain name. It’s a $10 investment.
Here are a few domain names we grabbed this year:
www.SalesTaxPaid.com
www.HungerMagnet.com
www.bentonVSbryant.com
www.SocialMediaShepherd.com
What are you waiting for? Go get your domain name for your next big idea before somebody else does!
Throughout history, there has been a gradual shift in what determines one’s wealth and stature:
Early on, those who held possession of land were the ones with wealth.
Then, during the Industrial Age, the wealthy were those who owned factories.
Today, information is often the key determinant in one’s wealth and position. As the old saying goes, knowledge is power!!! So, the more you know, the farther you can go in life!
The same is true for your business success!
Ready to apply this principle to every area of your business, from advertising to social media to web design?
