TechPatio » Marketing

5 Ways to Improve Your Social Networking

Guest Author — Wed, 02 May 2012 09:03:31 +0000

These below mentioned tricks and tips are useful in making use of strategy thinking competence along with time-savvy tools over the Internet to expand your effectiveness. Following are 5 ways via which you can easily improve your social networking.

1. Have an Additional Ear Reserved For Your Visitors Words

The most imperative figure for your Web presence is the visitors you are actually related with. The segment of people connected with your social networking portal should be carefully observed and fully examined. You should be applying most of your energy listening to what your visitors are demanding for? For this reason, you should have a conversation monitoring or RSS feeder tools such as Seesmic, Social Mention and TweetDeck.

2. Participation & Collaboration are Imperative

Let your skies be thoroughly defined before you get started with your social networking practice. The engagement of your visitors and contacts on your activities are useful in defining the success of your social networking. In this regard, you can make use of KLOUT, which is a great tool utilized to track your impact on various social media portals.

3. Follow Different Networks

This is a fact that every one of us has something available over the World Wide Web. It mainly depends on your passion and as a result there are some social networking platforms that you can make use of to enhance your reach. Make sure you are able to find those which suit your needs and requirements. For instance, if you love music, you can follow deviantart.com or Last.fm for artists. Moreover, you can easily find your requirements by opting for Google Search.

4. Opting for Social Media Managers

You can easily save your time by making use of some extremely popular tools that are available for social media network management. For instance, Hoot Suite is a great tool which is useful in managing all your activities over various social networking portals. Let it be Twitter, WordPress, Facebook or any others, this tool will enable you to read through your messages, keep all your posts ready, timers for certain messages and a lot more. It is a tool which is worth making use of.

5. Use Mobile Applications For Social Networking Portals

You must be having a Smartphone with you, this greatly simplifies your reach and you need to switch to various easily available mobile phone applications so that you can access your social contacts in a better way. Your cell phone being a portal gadget happens to be one of the most effective approaches to stay connected for a longer period of time and that also through the day. One of the most commonly and popularly used app is Instagram which enables users to be in contact with your social networks very portably. you can easily share photos, update your status and a lot more on different social media networking portals such as Twitter, Facebook and many more. You will be able to find various other social media networking tools for your smart phones.

Guest article written by: I am Susan Hannan from Exams key Looking for Exams key exam assistance? Let’s take benefit of Exams key self-paced Microsoft Certifications training material and clear your IT certification on first try.

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Tips for Using Coupons in Online Marketing

Guest Author — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 08:11:55 +0000

Coupons are becoming increasingly popular with people who are looking to get discounts for their purchases. All it takes to get a discount is typing or pasting a code on a site, or clipping a coupon from a magazine or paper. Offering discounts of as little as $5 off can easily influence a person’s decision to make a purchase. Coupons are therefore very powerful marketing tools for increasing product sales both offline and online. The main advantage of coupons is that they are relatively inexpensive and are easy to implement. They are most effective when they are focused on a specific coupon, such as world soccer or london pass discounts.

The following are some tips for using coupons effectively for online marketing.

Have some limitations

You need to mention a specific period of time within which the e-coupon is valid. This means that shoppers can only use it within that duration.

State the discount

The e-coupon should offer users a kind of discount, either as a percentage of the buying price or as a cash amount. It can also be used to offer free bonus items or free shipping. Whatever the type of discount, make sure it is mentioned clearly so as to avoid confusion.

Coupon delivery

Here are some of the most effective ways of delivering your coupon offers.

Exclusive page – One of the best ways of delivering coupon codes is to publish them directly on your site, complete with all the limitations such as expiry dates. If you decide to have an exclusive page for coupon codes, make sure you have links to the page in your site navigation. Alternatively, you could configure your site so that a notification about the code automatically appears whenever an item is placed in the cart.
Log-in - You could use the login screen to present offers to your regular shoppers. The best thing about this technique is that it is easy to implement and is relatively affordable. The disadvantage is that it will only be accessible to regular, return customers.
Email - Email can be used to send coupons to registered customers. This method is effective for keeping customers informed about coupon offers even before they visit your store. However, the limitation of this tactic is that it only reaches customers who have subscribed to receive emails.
Strategic placement - You can offer shoppers coupons at strategic places in your site, such as when displaying an item’s description, completing a purchase or placing an item in the product cart. This way, the offer appears in a way that motivates shoppers to complete the purchase. The disadvantage of this is that the coupon will only be seen by shoppers who are browsing your site. In addition, some shoppers might not appreciate having their activities monitored.

There are several other alternatives for coupon implementation. These include promoting coupons using paid advertising methods such as pay-per-click advertising and banner ads.

Guest post written by: Charles often writes about internet marketing and blogging tips. Currently, he is writing for YouLoveCoupons, a discount blog that offers world soccer shop promo code and london pass coupon code. He also writes about exclusive coupon and discount offers such as london pass coupons and world soccer discounts.

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What to Look for in a Marketing Agency

Emily — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 10:50:12 +0000

As an SME, or even a large business, it can often be difficult to stretch your resources far enough to cover the costs of an inhouse marketing team. And if you already have one, more often than not, they will be completely overrun with projects and tasks, so new campaigns and urgent marketing work can’t be undertaken as urgently as it needs to be.

If this is the case in your business, likely you are considering outsourcing to a marketing agency – whether just on a project basis, or retaining their ongoing services so they become almost an extension of your business. The difficulty is – how do you select the right one for you? Ideally, you want to get your selection right the first time so you can build an ongoing relationship with the agency, and save time later re-briefing company details and other general information for future projects.

So what should you consider?

Size and spend

First and foremost, try to match the size of your business with the size of the agency you are commissioning – this is especially essential for small businesses in order to build stronger relationships. Unless you’re just after some business cards and letterheads, it is vitally important the agency grows to understand your business, aims and objectives and also the culture.

Similarly, the size of the agency will often have some bearing on the cost. If you’re inclined to go with a big, top five agency, you need to be aware your marketing costs will reflect this. In contrast, a boutique agency may be more affordable.

Strong pitch, thorough understanding

When the agency pitches to you, it should be evident not only that they’ve done their homework, but that they’ve taken the time to analyse what they have found in order to build a thorough understanding of your business. Look for a pitch that resonates with you, and that speaks to the ideals, goals and values you see represented in the business. The more your agency understands you, the less time and money you will waste.

New media specialisation

Of more importance than ever, is making sure your selected agency is up-to-date with current trends. You will want them to have digital experts on their team so they can advise you of the best and latest technologies and channels you can use to communicate. You will need an agency not only with web experience, but now perhaps more significantly, one that knows its stuff when it comes to social media as well as SEO.

Previous clients and work

While many of us generally skip over the testimonials page, take the time to have a look at it. First, read all the testimonials so you can get an idea of what work the agency undertook and how satisfactory it was. Next, get more in depth – ask the agency if you can possibly speak to previous clients they have worked with so you can gain and honest and open understanding of how the agency works with its clients of all sectors.
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7 Reasons why your Website Sucks and Why People Avoid It

Guest Author — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 19:39:58 +0000

Perhaps you have decided to create a website many times but have always seen your efforts end up in a failure.

Experiencing trouble with your website?

It is important for the ranking of your website with the SEOs that the visitors stay on your website and see what you have displayed for them. It is possible that many times your visitors leave your website more quickly and do not go through the content that you have made available for them. If you want to know the reasons for it and also learn about some common things to avoid having on your website to make it a success then hang on and read further ahead.

Reasons behind why this happens?

Auto sound: this is something that makes people leave your website quickly. It is possible that at time when you visit a website a sound or a video starts playing automatically. This distracts the visitors to the website and they avoid it altogether the next time they log in. many people also have background music of their choice playing on their website and they think it might please the visitors however this is not the case. The background music might annoy your visitors and they might leave it before viewing the content. Therefore auto sound or background music on your website is one major reason for its failure.
Complex or bad navigation: if the visitors find the navigation system on your website complex or bad they might leave your website within seconds. It is important therefore to make your navigation system as simple and as effective as possible.
Slow loading: slow loading of your website even on a high speed network connection might make people leave your website or not visit it altogether.
Too many pop-ups: if your site has too many pop-ups, it will be responsible for the less visitors you get on it. Pop-ups distract the visitors and they try to avoid sites which have too many of them
Lack of relevant information or useless content: the main reason somebody will stick to your website despite everything else will be its content. If your website does not contain relevant content then there is a big chance that people will avoid it altogether.
Outdated information: if your site contains outdated information, people will stop referring or getting back to it in the future. You need to make sure your website remains up to-date all the time.
Boring: your content might be boring or the appearance of your website might just be plain dull. Make sure you make your website colorful, in an accepted manner and try to add only relevant yet interesting content.

What should be done to avoid it?

You can always try to avoid the points mentioned above for a better traffic to your website and its success. Make your content interesting and not too over bright so that everything else remains balanced on it.

Guest article written by: Crystal J. Briscoe is from Self Test Engine. Looking for 642-481 exam help? Let’s take advantage of Self test engine self paced 642-591 training and pass your IT exams on first try.
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4 Reasons a Business Should Invest in Social Media

Emily — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 21:08:56 +0000

Social media is proliferating across all walks of life and is increasingly infiltrating everything we do. Business owners should realise this as they stand to gain many benefits from engaging in social media marketing and utilising methods such as facebook marketing to increase online profitability as well as drive traffic to their retail store fronts. This article explores how to do this and why it is so crucial.

To build your online presence

Spread the word of your business through social media because it is free, unlike traditional advertising forms. The internet represents a dynamic marketplace which businesses use as a platform to attract the attention of vying customers and prospective buyers.

If utilised correctly, it can result in numerous new visitors on a daily basis. Social media is all about social networking so use it as a medium to promote your business to new people.

Allows you to monitor public discourse

Having a public Facebook fanpage for your customers will allow you to observe the conversations that people are having about your brand and business. In turn, you will develop a better understanding of how customers perceive your brand and this will result in deeper insight into your target market.

Apart from helping you amend potential problems with your current product and drive their sales upwards, you will be able to identify what your target market wants and execute new product or service opportunities. Social media is the easiest way to reach out to your customers in this era of technology.

Increases exposure and drives sales

For bricks-and-mortar businesses, social media such as Facebook and FourSquare is an ideal opportunity to increase exposure and drive sales from the online sphere to the retail front. Customers visiting businesses can now ‘check in’ or ‘rate and review’ a particular business and share their experience with their established network of friends.

As a business owner, you should check to see if your business is listed. Once you have done that, it will appear on a smartphone whenever people in the radius click the ‘check-in’ button. Once the listing has been created, you can even manipulate the information that appears under the listing.

Facebook now allows business owners to merge their check-in listing with their business Facebook page whilst FourSquare allows business owners to create check-in rewards and set up loyalty campaigns. It’s free advertising and statistical evidence shows customers trust word-of-mouth more than advertisements! The more people who check into your place, the more publicity you receive and the more sales you generate.

To command a presence and build authority

These days, it is as important to have a Facebook fanpage or a Twitter personality as it is to have a website. Existing and prospective customers will look for a Facebook fanpage or a Twitter presence to learn more about your company.

They want to know what other people think of you, they want to conduct research into what product you are selling, and they want to learn more about how the company works and how it portrays itself to its customers.

Your Facebook fanpage or Twitter personality can be a one-stop-shop for customers to learn everything they can about you. Greater visibility of a business will contribute to greater feelings of trust between customer and business.
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Social Media Tips for Small Businesses

Guest Author — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 10:44:39 +0000

If you haven’t heard of social media, odds are you don’t own a business. Still, some small business owners are hesitant to adapt to the new medium. Some feel that it isn’t relevant to their business, others are afraid of screwing things up, and still others don’t think that they can compete with the big brands.

Today, a large number of people in every demographic is using social media. People who like spreading the word about something are using it even more. You don’t need to compete with big brands to succeed. And if you do screw things up, social networks are very forgiving once you “get it.”

To help you get past your hesitation, or improve your social media skills, here are some tips to get some momentum going.

It’s Not About You

The biggest mistake that businesses make when they try to use social media is thinking that it is all about them. They confuse social media with traditional advertising. Remember, people only see traditional ads because they are there to see something else. You have to think of yourself more like a media outlet than a marketer. It’s about your audience, not yourself.

It’s Not One Way Communication

The difference between a traditional media outlet and social media is the ability of the customer to talk back. Since you can “hear” what they have to say, they expect you to react rather than just promote. Listening can be just as important as talking, not just because of the image it provides. It can also be a valuable source of feedback and new ideas.

It’s Not Fast

Social media takes time. You need to build a following before you can sell anything. Don’t expect instant gratification.

Don’t Spread Yourself Thin

You achieve the best results from social media if you dive all the way into a single community rather than mass publishing to a large number of communities. If you aren’t spending enough time on a social network to understand what appeals to the users, how to start a conversation in it, or how to build a following, you won’t achieve the success you are looking for. This is why you should spend some time deciding which networks are the best fit for you, so that you can focus your efforts where they will be most helpful.

It’s Not a Numbers Game

Instead of going after quantity, sift for quality. Instead of looking for a big audience, build connections with real people who have influence in your niche. Go out of your way to help these people and be genuine. It’s best to go into it without thinking about any particular reward you might receive. Just keep giving. They will give back. Earning the acceptance of experts in your niche is the best way to earn the reputation of an expert yourself.

Don’t assume that you should only help influential people, either. While this is where you should be putting about half of your effort, the other half should be put toward everyday people that are looking for help. This helps build your reputation as a reliable source, something that money can’t buy.

Be An Expert

To be an expert in your niche you simply need to be more willing to find information than most people are. You don’t need to know everything about your niche, you just need to know where to look or who to call. Spend some time talking to people in your niche and find out what they want to know. Give them the answers and they will be grateful.

Emulate Success

No need to start from scratch. Look for people who have achieved success because of social media and study what they did right. Don’t copy them; originality is an extremely important part of social media success. Learn from them. Study the experts and look for patterns.

Conclusion

Success in social media is about connecting with your audience, finding out what they want, and giving it to them. The more you go out of your way, the more success you will find. Involve yourself in the online community and distance yourself from the idea of making money right off the bat. Instead, focus on building a solid reputation and build a business from there.

Guest article written by: Jeff has been blogging since 2007 & contributing on many websites since that time. He is a professional internet marketing and blogging consultant. Jeff is also a consultant and content contributor for Queens homes NY community.

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Basic Internet Marketing Tools for Online Businesses

Emily — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 16:54:28 +0000

With businesses popping up anytime and anywhere, making a living in any business venture today surely is a very tough challenge. Whether your business is big or small, in the age of the Internet, you need to establish your business’ exposure online. Fortunately, there are many Internet marketing tools and techniques that can be used for any type of business. It just goes down to learning what they are, and knowing which ones to use for a particular purpose.Below are some basic Internet marketing tools for online businesses:

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – is a very efficient Internet marketing tool for improving the quality and volume of traffic going into your website. It involves a combination of “off-page” and “on-page” strategies that are designed to carry out your business goals. Hiring a reputable SEO company can help provide you effective strategies regarding SEO.
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PPC Management – is considered to be a very crucial part of any Internet marketing plan. Pay per click is when an advertising company (such as Google and Yahoo!) charges a fee to the company being advertised every time somebody clicks on their advertisements. A good PPC management implementation can enable websites to maintain a good page ranking. Since PPC management is a continuous process that involves regular testing and tweaking, it is highly recommended for companies to hire an experienced and reputable SEO company to manage their campaigns to achieve desired results.
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Free SEO Software – Many individuals and companies use many free SEO software solutions aside from the other Internet marketing tools and techniques because they see that they provide some significant value. Just like many software products, it typically depends on the user’s implementation and the nature of the website. Free SEO software can do many things for your site such as provide you with your website statistics, check for broken links, help with market research, etc.

The Internet marketing tools mentioned above are just some of the invaluable ones that you need to know in order to establish an effective business plan. These tools will significantly help you stay ahead of your competition online.

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How to Use Facebook Tools to Market Your Business

Guest Author — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 14:22:27 +0000

Facebook offers a wide range of tools which can be used for business promotion. In addition, there are several apps that are available. Facebook is great for generating buzz and keeping in touch with your customers. The following are some of the tools available on Facebook.

Profile Page

This is where business profiles are created. Based on what you are promoting, use information which will make it easy for people to find you. Make sure you select the right category. Make sure profile page is interesting so as to generate many page views.

Facebook Pages

This is where you will post all kinds of things to be seen by people – news, photos, messages, videos, and any other content. Use your page to establish brand presence. Make sure you customize it with apps, Flash and relevant content. Your page will enable you to relay updates in real time to your fans.

Facebook Groups

After your profile has been created, you can then build groups which will involve people with similar interests. This will help you create awareness of your brand and business through interactions and conversations. Though this feature does not allow users to be fans, it enables you to communicate with members in a more intimate way. Facebook Groups have played a key role in creating awareness about my blog which promotes register.com discounts and webhostingpad coupons.

Facebook Events

This is an application which is useful for promoting events like contests, parties, product launches and upcoming sales. Each event has its own page which allows fans to sign up for notifications and request invitations. This feature is ideal for building up a group of people who want to get involved in an event.

Notes and photos

These applications are great for sharing pictures and blog posts. However, make sure you avoid too much sales talk, and don’t flood people with too much company logos or information. To maintain your credibility, focus on photos and text that are educational. Photos and notes can be brought to the attention of specific people by tagging them.

Marketplace

This is like an ad section or a classified. If you want to offer goods and services to your members and fans, you can have your ads posted here. This feature can generate sales and leads by targeting individual who may be interested.

Guest article by: Charles Mburugu often writes about social media and technology. He also blogs about special coupon and discount offers such as webhostingpad discounts and register.com coupons. He is currently writing for a coupon blog that offers webhostingpad voucher codes and register.com discount codes.

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5 Steps To Promote Your Blog Using Social Media Marketing

Guest Author — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 09:22:02 +0000

Social media marketing has evolved in this new age, and promoting your business with this powerful system has become necessary, if not mandatory. A lot of people shy away from social media marketing, because they don’t know how to to it. It all boils down to your knowledge of the web, and how people react to new developments.

Every blog owner should be using social media tools. There are a lot of mobile applications that can boost your productivity, without all the hassles associated with online marketing. As a matter of fact, social media can elevate your blog’s popularity and quicken your relationship building.

1. Understand How Social Media Works

There is a way you should approach social media like Facebook and Twitter, as well as Linkedin. These sites have all it takes to turn your small business blog into a go-to for quality information. Getting your web pages found requires more than content, you need to market your content properly and hence the term “content marketing.”

2. Content Marketing Concept

Content marketing doesn’t stop at writing articles and getting them syndicated. It entails understanding what makes people read, what their ultimate goal is and how to help them achieve it. Content marketing works so well in the areas of social media, because there is a lot of interactivity, like sharing, uploading and chatting.

There is a kind of behavior that’s obvious with social media users. For instance, Those who use twitter are much more aligned to business, marketing and selling. Whereas, Facebook is primarily viewed from the friendship aspect. Although, quite a bunch of marketers are benefitting from Facebook, it’s still easier to convert social networkers into customers via the former.

3. People Optimized Content

Knowing that people are real, with blood running in their veins, you can only make success with social media when you optimize your content for them.

Don’t be like those who stuff their content with with keywords, with the hope of ranking on Google top 10. Well, even though some poeple have benefitted from it, it doesn’t make it legal and good. People read informative content, not necessarily articles that have keywords here and there. I’m not saying you should forget about keywords, but in using them, make sure it appears natural. This way, you would be able to entice people to link back to you.

4. Link Juice Content

What is the secret of link juice content? By this I mean content that gets a lot of social sharing, link backs and natural backlinks.

The secret is in the content style. It’s not necessarily the topic that matters. Even in competitive markets like blogging, you can still write contents that appeals to human. It’s all about catching the concept behind the words. How does the word present impact lives and persuade readers to take action. These are some of the questions you need to answer when writing your content.

It’s much easier to share and link back to an interesting post, than an informative post. But when combined, your traffic and web credibility would go on steroids.

5. Earn Your Reader Trust

When your blog readers trust you, it become easier to share your content on social media sites. Trust is contagious and magnetic. That is why, every effort you put online must be geared towards improving and strengthening your trust.

No matter the niche you’re in, earn the trust of your visitors, and they would naturally link back to you. Sharing becomes fun and rewarding when they like and enjoy you as a person. For instance, when creating my review blog that features sittercity coupons and 6pm discounts, my ultimate goal is to help online shoppers save money. This has earned me a degree of trust and so, getting these people to share my content with friends and family is as simple as your next meal.

Marketing Takeaway

By following the above steps, that is somewhat simple, you would be able to drive quality traffic from social media sites, engage these visitors and willingly persuade them to share your content naturally. I’m sure every blogger knows about these tips, but only a few are doing it. Go take action today and reap the rewards.

Guest article written by: Michael Chibuzor is a Freelance Writer and often writes about discount deals at coupon blogs that sitterciy Coupon and 6pm discount codes. He is currently contributing to a coupon site that offers a free sittercity.com coupons and 6pm coupons codes.

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Tools to Building a Better Website for Your Business

Klaus — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 13:43:02 +0000

Gone are the days of business websites hosted by Geocities and other easy to use web based site creation services. If you want to make a real impact with your customers, you need to have a well built and effective website. Most people are going to discover your company by searching for it online before anything else, and it is a good investment to make sure your site leaves a strong impression.

Create a Simple Layout

The average amount of time a user spends on a website is less than 60 seconds. When searching a website for information, people tend to look for the information they need and quickly leave. By creating a site that conveys information in a creative and engaging way, you are more likely to communicate your message. According to psychiatrist Pam Briggs of Nottingham University in the UK, your website needs to have an element of “stickiness” or your customers will simply click on a competitor’s link.

To create an engaging website that maintains a good level of “stickiness” there are two options. If you have abundant resources, you can hire a graphic/web designer to create a professional looking page for a nominal fee. If you are a small business owner, you can create a website of your own by using a free web editor such as CoffeeCup or Komodo Edit

Hosting

Based on the needs and resources of your company, there are two types of hosting plans available:

Managed Server Hosting

When you choose to use a managed server hosting service, you are guaranteed the best maintenance of your server and the fastest speeds for the services you provide. If your website relies on rich media presentations, has a wide selection of e-commerce products, or you are a large national company, this is the most advisable option. Your servers will be stored in a data center and be maintained by a secure staff of professionals.

Shared Hosting

If you are running a small business that just needs a basic presence on the web, you can purchase a shared hosting. This type of plan provides similar benefits as a managed server, but your data is stored on a shared server with several other websites.

Marketing

It is important for your business to stand out amongst the rest. Purchasing a domain name that is easy to remember and not loaded with backslashes and extra words is an effective strategy. You can also build a presence on Twitter and Facebook gaining fans and providing interesting content for them that is related to your company.

With some patience and a little bit of creativity, your business can stand out from the competition on the World Wide Web.
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