Websites

10 Ways to Improve Visibility in 2011

Here is a list of suggestions to increase community around your business or brand in 2011.  This is based on lessons I’ve learned in 2010:

1. Create a Facebook Page
2. Create a Twitter Page and or add a custom Twitter background
3. Add FBML tabs (custom tabs, much like a “webpage”) to your Facebook Page
4. Consider short video clips for your business, add to website, FB Page Tab, YouTube
5. Evaluate and update your website
6. Add a blog section to your website
7. Create an online marketing plan & schedule
8. Update your business plan, or create one if you haven’t already!
9. Update your LinkedIn profile
10. Engage, engage, engage through all of these channels!

Websites

Relationships:  The New Marketing

On her business’ Facebook Page, my business coach, Christy Strauch, recently quoted Margaret Wheatley, who said that “Relationships are all there is. Everything in the universe only exists because it is in relationship to everything else. Nothing exists in isolation. We have to stop pretending we are individuals that can go it alone.”

Relationships are at the top of my list of values as a business owner. Through helping other business’ to enhance and improve their marketing efforts, I have made new connections with interesting people, long-term friendships and a new partnership.

The year 2010 was a big year for developing relationships in business.  The Facebook Page quickly settled in to being standard practice for building community around your business, and is perhaps becoming the new website. 

With Twitter you can see what the whole world is doing –– right now!  More small business owners will see the value of the Tweet, and Twitter lingo will become more of a common shorthand language across platforms.

Video will be even more approachable as YouTube continues to make it easier to post clips to reach more and more of your audience online.
Everything is real time, localized, mobilized.  The gap between business and consumer has closed greatly.  It’s more personable, it’s more sociable.  It’s more fun.  Marketing has become less about the hard-sell, and more about building relationships and community around business.

In the new year, new marketing will continue to grow and offer exciting, fun ways to engage with the community around your business. 

Websites

5 Reasons It May Be Time To Update Your Site

These days, new colors, graphics and layout is not the only reason to get your website up to date.  For all the objectives that a website can fulfill for your business, the look and feel is really the icing on the cake.  Here are 5 other ingredients for a successful web presence:

1. Is your website fulfilling your objectives?
When you set up your website, did you know what you wanted to achieve? If you’ve never formalized your goals, take time to create a list of specific objectives that you want to achieve with your website.

2. Are you keeping visitors coming back with fresh content?
Basic internet marketing strategy is all about offering value through interesting content and information. Is your site active with regular updated content?
3. Are you using Google Analytics?
Google Analytics is a free tool that is easily integrated into your site. No matter how small of a brand or business you are, can give you endless insight into the visits and activity of your site. 

4. Are you set up on a conent management system?
Using static html pages that need to be changed individually, and with knowledge of code.  Content management systems streamline your site and offer many dynamic functions under one roof.

5. Is your site optimized for search?
Make sure your site’s meta data is up-to-date and that you are employing current techniques to make your site visible to more people.

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