Motivated To Learn

In this past week’s paper, I was pleased to read that one of our local real estate companies has gone all out to promote themselves on the Internet. They have entertaining videos of the team, video testimonials, and interviews with homeowners wanting to sell their homes.  Their Facebook business page has over 300 members who are notified about real estate news, current listings of homes, even contests for the family.

The members of the Cody ReMax team use Twitter and a blog as well, with all of the social networks connected through their corporate website at CodyTeam.com. This main website is filled with useful information and is quite attractive. The only thing I didn’t see on the site was a form to sign up for their newsletter. And as I’ve mentioned before, collecting a mailing list of interested people is one of the most important functions of your website.

I hope some of the other businesses in our area are taking notice of the advances that are being made by the Cody team, thanks to proper use of Internet strategies. Congratulations Paul T. Cody on your efforts to dominate the Internet!

Technorati Tags: Paul T Cody team, using social media in real estate

I often take it for granted that every local business has a website. The reality is that a large percentage still don’t have an online presence. Last week’s Cambridge Times carried a column written by the advisor of the Waterloo Region Small Business Centre.  The title, “Website a Must for Business”. Roy Weber, the author, likens not having a basic website today to being without a telephone.

That’s a powerful example. Would you ever try to run a business without a phone? Even the companies that are too busy to provide personal customer service at least have an automated system that answers some of their client questions. But many consumers today go straight to the Internet when they want to find a local business or service. Without a website, you don’t exist to those people.

A basic website can provide information regarding hours of operation, location, answers to frequently asked questions. Add topic related content and a way to collect the names and email addresses of potential customers. Now your website becomes a means to interact and keep in touch with those people. Your target market has given you permission to ask what they would like from you, to send them announcements, even to sell to them. All for less than the price of a coffee a day. Include social media in your marketing plan and your customers become your tribe and look to you as the expert in your field.

Ask yourself the following questions: Read more…

Hootsuite is an application that allows you to monitor your Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn accounts all from one dashboard. It saves me loads of time and so far I love it. There are also extra features such as the ability to send your messages now or later, stats to show how many readers clicked on links that you mentioned, and one click to shorten a URL or upload a file or photo.

One feature I need to start using more is the Hootlet. I dragged it unto my Internet toolbar, where it sits waiting patiently. Then whenever I come across a website that would be of interest to others in my social network, I simply click the Hootlet. That action opens my Hootsuite account and automatically sends the site information out. I can choose to notify one or all of my networks, depending on the subject of the website.

I try to log in to Hootsuite at least twice a day, morning and evening. That way I’m able to interact with people in different time zones. I re-tweet interesting comments, reply to questions, and share information that may benefit others. Rarely do I mention what I had for lunch. Unless I had something unusual or found a great new restaurant or recipe.

The popularity of social media hasn’t diminished and thanks to services like Hootsuite, I can keep up without spending all of my time tied to the computer.

Technorati Tags: Hootsuite, Hootlet, using social media

As a business owner, how do you keep up with the many little tasks that threaten to eat up all of your time? One way is by outsourcing. Hire a Virtual Assistant and use her as your executive secretary. When I get behind with my writing or I don’t have time to learn the technical aspects of a task, I call my V.A.  She can get a sales page uploaded and a payment method installed while I’m still wondering what to do first. And when you find a good Virtual Assistant, hold on to her. There is no better person to have on your team.

There are other methods to help your productivity, some free and others paid services. The key is to automate as much as possible. Use a service such as Hootsuite to quickly keep track of your Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn profiles all in one place. Set your autoresponder to send out update notices to Twitter and to your mailing list whenever you update your blog. Use a small address book to quickly retrieve your passwords. Set up folders in your email account to quickly sort your mail if you can’t act on it right away. And keep gathering productivity tips from others – there’s always room for improvement.

Technorati Tags: productivity tips, outsourcing, virtual assistant

When a potential client visits your website or your place of business, what do you want them to do? Buy something, sign up for your mailing list, give you an order? Without a clear idea of what you want to happen, it isn’t easy to give a clear call to action.

Even when the desired outcome is clear to you, do your customers know exactly what you want them to do and how to do it?  Ask yourself  “If someone walks through my physical or virtual doors, are they guided along the marketing path I want for them?”

Silly question maybe. But the other day I went to Chucky Cheese with my family and wasn’t clear what to do there. It’s a restaurant, so we sit down and order food, right? Not so easy. It was a Saturday and the place was packed. Children and their parents at all of the activities. We expected that, I’d been there once before.

What I didn’t expect was the reserved sign on every empty table. There were eight of us and we were planning to buy food, drinks, and tokens for the games. After walking through the whole place a few times, we could not find an unreserved table. Was the place booked with birthday parties that hadn’t arrived yet? We asked one of the employees if there were any empty tables. “We’re really busy today” she responded. “You might find one near the back”.

After twenty minutes or more of trying to find a spot to sit, we decided to leave. After all, more people kept coming and there were no tables. Or so we thought.

Once back at home, we told the rest of the family that Chucky Cheese had been too crowded. Not one table without a reserved sign. That’s when my son told me what we should have done. Apparently, once you order your food, the reserved sign is removed from one of the tables and you are seated. I guess that keeps people who don’t order food from taking all the seats. Even though those same people are paying for game tokens.

Sorry Chucky Cheese, your call to action wasn’t very clear. If a hostess had mentioned the seating policy when she greeted us, it would have made a big difference. Or even when we left, if she’d asked whether we enjoyed our time. But now my experience has left me less than eager to visit again. Too bad, you missed out on a big order and we would have loved to be your customers.

Put yourself in your customer’s shoes and walk through the steps. How can you make sure there is a clear call to action?

Technorati Tags: Chucky Cheese, call to action, customer needs