June 2010

What Is Social Media Marketing?

by admin on June 18, 2010

If you fall into any one of the following categories, like:
the ones who don’t know much or anything about social media,the ones who are interested but don’t know how to use it andthose who don’t believe in the value that a social media strategy can bring to any site or business
you must read this article to know how big a deal is social media and the enormous benefits of social media marketing.
Social media is information content created by people using highly accessible and scalable publishing technologies that is intended to facilitate communications, influence and interaction with peers and with public audiences. This is typically done via the Internet and mobile communications networks. Today this practice is being enjoyed by executives and professionals for brand exposure and marketing.
Do you make these mistakes to market your brand or services?
Use Yellow page ads that cost thousands of dollars, yet bring in little new business? Spend money on direct mailers that also have limited results. How about money spent on print advertising. How effective is it? Are you spending lots of money optimizing your website but still have little traffic. Spend money on Pay Per Click Advertising Campaigns, with limited results.
Can you improve your business if you know:
What is being said about you. What your customers think about your product or service. What your customers really want. What your competitors are doing. How to stay up to date with the latest trends and developments. How to make your business more profitable.
Nothing provides a better return on investment than having a network of people raving about you and it doesn’t matter what product or service you sell. So let’s have a look onto the benefits of social media viral marketing.
The value of Marketing through Social Media Channels
Social media marketing is the process of promoting your site or business through social media channels and it is a powerful strategy that will get you links, attention and massive amounts of traffic.Social media marketing is an engagement with online communities to generate exposure, opportunity and sales. The number-one advantage is generating exposure for the business, followed by increasing traffic and building new business partnerships. It is a powerful strategy that will get you links, attention and massive amounts of traffic.
What are the benefits?
It’s natural. No doubt you get natural links, your website is exposed to a large number of people. This differs from paid advertising which has overt commercial overtones.
It’s defensible. Social communities can be a great source of web traffic on top of any traffic you are already receiving from search engines. While you can’t easily increase your search engine traffic, social media traffic can be very easily controlled through strategic marketing.
It’s low-cost/high returns. Costs are limited to only time and perhaps the expenses involved in hiring a freelance programmer/designer. The benefits will often exceed the cost. It would take you thousands of dollars to buy many links; social media has the ability to give you that for free.
It complements other efforts. Social media optimization and marketing is usually community-specific. It doesn’t interfere with any other methods of getting traffic to your website. It can and will fit perfectly with an advertising campaign targeting other websites or search engines.
There is no other low-cost promotional method out there that will easily give you large numbers of visitors, some of whom may come back to your website again and again. If you are selling products/services or just publishing content for ad revenue, social media marketing is a potent method that will make your site profitable over time.

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Malaysia

by admin on June 18, 2010

I am currently in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia, one of my favourite places on the planet. At this time I am assisting my great friend Dick Tan with the forthcoming Malaysia Hifi show, enjoying good hospitality and excellent food.
Therefore the posts over the next few weeks will be few and far between.

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Why Staff Are Your Most Important Customers In Small-Medium Business. If You Disagree, Do The Math

by admin on June 6, 2010

Introduction.There are many definitions of “customer”. But, however you define them, customers are vital to your business. But there’s a group of customers you may forget.
Those “Other” Customers. We all try desperately to retain good customers. We talk about “lifetime value” and their worth to us. If necessary, we try to “serve ‘em to death”, as the old sales trainers used to say.
But there are people who you pay to do that. They are in your business, day in and day out. You pay them day in and day out, and they are your most important customers.
You call them staff, your “other” customers. If they don’t provide the essential service levels for your external customers your whole organization may be in jeopardy.
Disgruntled Customers. How do you treat disgruntled external customers? Calm them? Apologize? Try to find out what’s upset them? Try to restore their confidence in you? Offer restitution or compensation?
Do you treat unhappy staff differently? Do you show them the same courtesy as the disgruntled external customer? Or do you counsel them about inappropriate behaviour, remind them of their obligations and threaten dire consequences if they continue to show their feelings?
A Matter of Money. The disgruntled external customer can damage you by taking their business elsewhere and telling others to do the same. That’s about all.
But you have to continue to pay the salary and taxes for the disgruntled staff. They can damage you far more than an angry external customer. If you can’t stop the damage, you can fire them. By then the damage will be done.
In Australia salary service costs average about 40%. These are the taxes and charges plus statutory costs such as leave and pension entitlements you must pay in addition to actual wages. They mean that it costs you a total of $70,000 p.a. to retain an employee whom you pay $50,000 p.a. Whether you pay 15% or 50%, they’re part of the cost of having staff – “other” customers.
Perception. You see it’s all a matter of perception. See staff as a difficult burden you must carry to be in business and that’s probably what you’ll get. See them as valuable collaborators in your business success and you’ll understand why they’re also customers.
Warm and Fuzzy? Let me make one thing clear. I’m not suggesting you try to turn your workplace into a “love-in”. I’m not suggesting you tolerate incompetent and unco-operative employees. I am suggesting that you look at what staff cost you.
Conclusion. Staff constitute a huge investment. Regard your staff as you would a major client. By doing so, you’re far more likely to retain the external customers. Do the math!

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