Motivated To Learn

While Twitter is my favourite social marketing tool, it works even better when coupled with Facebook. Not the personal Facebook site that you may share with your family and close friends. For your business, it’s best to create a Facebook Fan page that isn’t linked to any private Facebook account.

To accomplish that, go to the Facebook main page and at the bottom “Create a Page”.  Your Fan Page title should contain the keywords that potential customers are looking for when they search for your product or service. By using some of the additional Facebook apps, you can supply contact information, articles you’ve written, and a questions and answers page. Include an opt-in form to add people to a mailing list in return for some  valuable free information on your topic .

Once you’ve set up the Fan Page, it can be linked to your Twitter account. That way, you build a following on both social sites with minimal work on your part. Facebook and Twitter, along with your photo and links back to your website, provide a way for people to Know, Like, and Trust you – all crucial factors before a potential client spends their hard earned money.

Technorati Tags: Facebook Fan pages, social marketing, Twitter

I’m often asked “what is the point of Twitter? Why would it be useful for my business?”

My answer: I love Twitter! Yes, it can be a time waster, as can email or any part of the Internet. I try to limit myself to 2 or 3 times a day, no more than five minutes at a time. I like to check in to Twitter both morning and evening, because some of my Twitter friends are in other time zones.

My routine generally consists of scanning tweets (twitter comments) and reading any of interest. If I find an interesting comment that others might like to read, I click a button to retweet it and share. If I can add a helpful response to a comment, I do so.

Any tweets that mention me, or are addressed to me – publicly or privately, show up in separate folders so can be easily checked and answered if needed.

As people follow me, I look at a number of things before deciding to follow them back. Those include: a profile photo so I know who I’m interacting with, a general location, some background information that shows they share some of my interests, tweets written in English, without profanity, and not just sales pitches. These are my criteria, yours can be whatever you decide.

Twitter is fantastic for customer support. I purchased some software and had trouble using it. A support ticket to the company wasn’t answered as quickly as I needed, but I knew their spokesperson used Twitter. One tweet to them about the problem and within a half hour I was a super satisfied customer.

I use Twitter to arrange meetings with people as well. I could send mutiple emails and wait for each response, but since Twitter requires short messages, I can simply say “Such and Such Cafe on Main Street at 1 pm. tomorrow. Who can come?” In no time, I have my answers and everything has been arranged.

Often, I’ll see tweets asking for product or service recommendations, mentioning a job opening or educational opportunity. Contests are announced, movie and book reviews are discussed, people are genuine.

Know, Like, and Trust – these are the qualities people look for when dealing with others. And Twitter allows that interaction to become a reality, no matter where you live.

If you haven’t already, I encourage you to join the many businesses that have found Twitter to be one of the best ways to interact with their customers and keep a pulse on their target market. If you’d like to follow me, I can be found at twitter.com/torontocarol. I look forward to getting to know you online.

Technorati Tags: using Twitter for business, Twitter use, customer service with Twitter

As marketers, we should always be looking for new ways to promote ourselves and our businesses, both online and off. Have you ever thought about recording your own radio show? People are interested in your expertise and experience and they want to hear about it.

Thanks to the Internet, broadcasting a radio show is no more difficult than dialing a phone number and talking to your guests, either live or as a recorded segment. Services such as Blog Talk Radio allow you to get your message out quickly and easily. Whether it’s a one time episode or a regular show, you’ll enjoy interacting with your market and promoting yourself and your company.

Added bonuses – your show can easily be placed on your website and added to Itunes so your fans can listen at their leisure, and you’ll get new traffic to your site as listeners find your show.

Have a listen to my first attempt at Internet radio and let us know when you try it yourself. You’ll wonder why you waited so long to start.

Technorati Tags: Blog Talk Radio, Internet radio, record a radio show

You may or may not have heard of  Hub pages. They were new to me, but are another great way of driving traffic to your website or blog. Hubs also help you become known online as an expert in your niche.

Although they each use different terms, Hub pages are similar to Squidoo lenses as far as content. Each hub contains information on just one area of the niche, for instance “conducting an interview” would be a complete Hub topic.

I recently enjoyed reading a short report by Melanie Bremner called “Hubbing with Hubpages for Fun and Profit”.  Melanie covers a number of concepts in her report, including how to:

• set up a profile on Hubpages
• create a hub
• understand the rating system used for hubpages
• socialize and become known as a quality writer and expert in your field
• promote a product or service without creating a commercial hub
• build traffic to your hub
• properly utilize and set up SEO tags and keywords for the best results

At 22 pages complete with screenshots, this detailed report left me eager to set up my own Hubpage. The tips on getting traffic to your Hub can readily be adapted to any website or blog.  And at only $5, it’s a great investment in your Internet learning.

Technorati Tags: Hub Pages, Hubs, creating a Hub

Part blog, part social networking, a Squidoo lens will help you to gain traffic to your main website and establish you as an expert in your field.

Simple to create and fun to build, with plenty of helpful tutorials and forums. Start your Squidoo lens at squidoo.com and make sure you link back to your main site.