Showing posts with label HEENA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label HEENA. Show all posts
Tuesday, 25 September 2012
5 Rules of Social Media Optimization
5 Rules of Social Media Optimization
For years now, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for websites has been honed into a fine art with entire companies devoting considerable effort to defining best practices and touting the value of SEO for raising a site's performance on organic search listings. While I believe in the power of SEO, there is a new offering we have started providing to clients which we call Social Media Optimization (SMO). The concept behind SMO is simple: implement changes to optimize a site so that it is more easily linked to, more highly visible in social media searches on custom search engines (such as Technorati), and more frequently included in relevant posts on blogs, podcasts and vlogs. Here are 5 rules we use to help guide our thinking with conducting an SMO for a client's website:
- Increase your linkability – This is the first and most important priority for websites. Many sites are "static" – meaning they are rarely updated and used simply for a storefront. To optimize a site for social media, we need to increase the linkability of the content. Adding a blog is a great step, however there are many other ways such as creating white papers and thought pieces, or even simply aggregating content that exists elsewhere into a useful format.
- Make tagging and bookmarking easy – Adding content features like quick buttons to "add to del.icio.us" are one way to make the process of tagging pages easier, but we go beyond this, making sure pages include a list of relevant tags, suggested notes for a link (which come up automatically when you go to tag a site), and making sure to tag our pages first on popular social bookmarking sites (including more than just the homepage).
- Reward inbound links – Often used as a barometer for success of a blog (as well as a website), inbound links are paramount to rising in search results and overall rankings. To encourage more of them, we need to make it easy and provide clear rewards. From using Permalinks to recreating Similarly, listing recent linking blogs on your site provides the reward of visibility for those who link to you
- Help your content travel - Unlike much of SEO, SMO is not just about making changes to a site. When you have content that can be portable (such as PDFs, video files and audio files), submitting them to relevant sites will help your content travel further, and ultimately drive links back to your site.
- Encourage the mashup – In a world of co-creation, it pays to be more open about letting others use your content (within reason). YouTube's idea of providing code to cut and paste so you can imbed videos from their site has fueled their growth. Syndicating your content through RSS also makes it easy for others to create mashups that can drive traffic or augment your content.
There are many other "rules" and techniques that we are starting to uncover as this idea gets more sophisticated. In the meantime we are always on the lookout for new ideas in Social Media Optimization to encourage even better thinking. Perhaps we may even see the rise of entire groups or agencies devoted to SMO in the future …
Social Media Marketing
Why Talking Will Always Beat Shouting in Social
Media...
There's been a lot of debate on the value of social media. After all, it's easy to argue about the potential of social media as a powerful sales channel. The ability to communicate with so many people instantly is like catnip to marketers and business owners alike—driving a gold rush that has spawned innumerable "social media experts."
Despite this excitement, there remains much controversy about the proper way to sellwithin the social landscape. Even the gatekeepers themselves (the major social networks), struggle to properly monetize their communities. So the debate of social media's efficacy wages on.
Initial excitement is often followed by frustrated divestment, leading to false conclusions about the potential for marketing in the social sphere. These initial assessments are based on a fundamental misunderstanding of social audiences. False conclusions about the value of social media are not telling of social media's true potential, but illustrate instead how ineffective it can be to apply traditional marketing initiatives within non-traditional environments.
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Initial excitement is often followed by frustrated divestment, leading to false conclusions about the potential for marketing in the social sphere. These initial assessments are based on a fundamental misunderstanding of social audiences. False conclusions about the value of social media are not telling of social media's true potential, but illustrate instead how ineffective it can be to apply traditional marketing initiatives within non-traditional environments.
Put simply, the social landscape is not typically an effective direct sales channel. It's an opportunity to engage with potential customers. In order to be successful within social media, a paradigm shift is required— a deliberate change in mindset to understand one very simple fact: People buy from those they know and trust.
By teaching your audience, entertaining them, or providing a resource to share with their friends, you create value. Even more powerfully, through consistency, you build trust.
Content then becomes your most powerful tool for forging relationships and building a loyal following. The most basic goal of marketing with content is to nourish visitors — to give them what your competitors can't or won't, to educate them, inspire them, excite them. Creating content gives audiences an opportunity to engage with your business, to interact with it, and give feedback. It's the impetus for the conversations and dialogues that can build trust in a brand over the long term.
Instead of seeing social media users as a faceless mass for you to hawk your wares, they instead become potential fans of your brand, people you can give to, and learn from. Finding ways to become valuable to these audiences becomes the focus. When this becomes the crux of each marketing initiative, you begin to innovate in ways that are helpful and valuable.
By shifting your point of view, it's easy to see social media as a place rife with opportunity once again. It's an incredibly deep space from which savvy businesses can mine their perfect audience. Over time, social media marketing can only be successful if audiences can be created and sustained that exist outside of the social networks. Great content has the power to bring social audiences to your website—but this traffic becomes meaningless if user engagement ends here. Long-term success happens if, and only if, you are able to entice visitors into future interactions with your business.
As Director of Marketing at a digital agency, I see first hand the impact of internal marketing strategies that revolve around content creation. In order to achieve results, we're committed to the consistent production of remarkable content and spend a great deal of our time finding ways to bring new audiences closer to our brand. In particular, we focus specifically on:
We rely on social media as a primary point of interaction, and count on social users to help spread our message and the content we create. We’ve built our business on these inbound strategies, which are currently responsible for 90% of our lead flow.
Most businesses put the cart before the horse. They see a huge market and assume that market is eager to buy. This is the wrong approach for most businesses in most situations. To find long-term, sustainable success online, build an engaged and loyal audience first. Refine and build this audience through social media. Use content to entice them, engage with them, and build their trust. Continue to cultivate this audience and cater to this audience, and you’ll create an asset with enormous long-term value.
By teaching your audience, entertaining them, or providing a resource to share with their friends, you create value. Even more powerfully, through consistency, you build trust.
Content then becomes your most powerful tool for forging relationships and building a loyal following. The most basic goal of marketing with content is to nourish visitors — to give them what your competitors can't or won't, to educate them, inspire them, excite them. Creating content gives audiences an opportunity to engage with your business, to interact with it, and give feedback. It's the impetus for the conversations and dialogues that can build trust in a brand over the long term.
Instead of seeing social media users as a faceless mass for you to hawk your wares, they instead become potential fans of your brand, people you can give to, and learn from. Finding ways to become valuable to these audiences becomes the focus. When this becomes the crux of each marketing initiative, you begin to innovate in ways that are helpful and valuable.
By shifting your point of view, it's easy to see social media as a place rife with opportunity once again. It's an incredibly deep space from which savvy businesses can mine their perfect audience. Over time, social media marketing can only be successful if audiences can be created and sustained that exist outside of the social networks. Great content has the power to bring social audiences to your website—but this traffic becomes meaningless if user engagement ends here. Long-term success happens if, and only if, you are able to entice visitors into future interactions with your business.
As Director of Marketing at a digital agency, I see first hand the impact of internal marketing strategies that revolve around content creation. In order to achieve results, we're committed to the consistent production of remarkable content and spend a great deal of our time finding ways to bring new audiences closer to our brand. In particular, we focus specifically on:
- Social Audience Growth (Twitter followers and Facebook fans)
- Encouraging On-site Interaction with Content (commenting and sharing)
- Newsletter Subscriber Growth (email subscribers)
We rely on social media as a primary point of interaction, and count on social users to help spread our message and the content we create. We’ve built our business on these inbound strategies, which are currently responsible for 90% of our lead flow.
Most businesses put the cart before the horse. They see a huge market and assume that market is eager to buy. This is the wrong approach for most businesses in most situations. To find long-term, sustainable success online, build an engaged and loyal audience first. Refine and build this audience through social media. Use content to entice them, engage with them, and build their trust. Continue to cultivate this audience and cater to this audience, and you’ll create an asset with enormous long-term value.
Thursday, 20 September 2012
Monday, 3 September 2012
Let Your Survey Write Your Business Plan
Let Your Survey Write Your Business Plan
Most entrepreneurs first write their business plan and then
develop their services or products. This causes them to
generate and fulfill a marketing plan that requires them to
swim upstream using the backstroke. To save the stress,
consider placing the business plan on hold until first
completing a few customer surveys. Okay, some of you are
saying, "Catherine, how can you do a survey before you know
who your market is?" Yes, this is one challenging double
edge sword, that is, if you're mindset is set there.
Over the years, I've found that everyone I've worked with
generally knew what he or she wanted to sell. I don't
believe you are any different. This is the perfect place to
start. You have a clean slate to write on. You might be at
a place of seeing it in nonspecific terms with measurable
doubts as well. That is okay, doubts will always be there,
thus, allow them to be your friend instead of a foe. It’s
easy to start with a gender preference -- choosing either
women or men as having a higher purchasing balance for what
you are selling. If you don't have a majority gender in
mind, choose the one you feel most comfortable talking with
or asking questions to.
Let’s dive in a little deeper, its time to start thinking
about your surveys and what to ask. Okay, don't fade out on
me now. Generally, when people think of surveys, they
visualize or experience the sensations of long drawn out
processes that cost more money then they can afford or time
that they don't have the patience for. Boy, do I remember
those days of thinking.
Let’s play together on this concept of taking surveys before
writing your business plan. At least, allow the old
perceptions to sit outside your door until you've finished
reading this article and learning of a new possible
alternative perspective. The perspective that surveys come
first and don't need to be time-consuming, money-hungry,
must be done by professionals, mongrels.
Take the area you want to focus on, combine with your gender
preference, and begin there. For instance, if your area is
life coaching and you feel more comfortable with working
with women you have a starting point. This doesn't mean you
will never coach men, set those thoughts aside; they will
block your progress and keep you stuck.
From knowing just this basic information, you can now create
a few simple surveys in no time at all that don't require
any money. Even if you know more specifics about your
buyers, you might want to back it up to this point if you
are stuck in generating questions. To generate this survey
plan you don't need to know whether your focus is for a
product or service, or even if its for electronic,
telephone, or in-person delivery, at this time.
The first question you want to generate and ask is what your
gender wants to buy next. If asked in narrow terms, they
will answer. If asked too broadly, they will respond with
"don't know." If the latter, rewrite the question more
specifically, then ask again. Whenever I start, I sometimes
have to revamp my questions five or six times. Just an FYI,
to help you understand that even the experts refine as they
go. Surveying is an evolutionary process.
A second survey question is for people who have purchased
from you in the past. What are looking for next? What do
they want to accomplish in the next few months or whatever
future terms they desire to talk about?
If you don't have any customer history, then substitute.
Open the scope to what is the gender buying? What is the
cross between what you offer and what they want? What do
they want to do next (short-term) that falls within your
scope?
Continuing with the life coach illustration, what type of
women, what age areas, what type of self-development or
improvement topics are they purchasing now? What is the
regular step past this? What "new" hot topics in the
marketplace that meshes with your area? If you attend a
workshop, conference or seminar, examine the topic, and take
notes on the type of women attending. Record or ask their
age group. Ask a few to complete a survey while they are
there.
Ask one way, then another, and create a list of no more than
six multiple choice, yes or no, questions to ask. Then
continue to ask with whomever you meet, wherever you go.
Talk with the workshop leader or conference marketing people
and find out who they were targeting and why. If the event
is a match for you, collect copies of all their marketing
materials for language learning.
Ask friends, family members, or colleagues. Even if they
don't think these groups fit within your current focus.
Just remember not to stay off focus when doing so. If you
attend a coaching school, ask other coaches that do what you
want to do. What are their clients into, what are they
selling them or what ideas have their clients told them that
they are looking for?
Your survey method you use is up to you. To ease into it,
you will want to ask in the form most comfortable for you at
the time. However, caution, most everyone chooses written
form first in order to avoid any negative responses. In a
B2B survey, negative responses never occur. Everyone knows
why a survey is important. In B2C (business to consumers)
be careful not to cross the line of interrogation or too
personal. Ask politely, with respect, and share why you
want to know.
The number one rule of getting survey responses -- is
KISSing the questions -- "keep them short, simple and as
specific as you can at the time." Special note: Don't use
the contraction and in your sentences. The contraction
"and" creates a multiple question, stacks questions, which
confuses readers and listeners on what you really asking.
As you go through the experience of completing your surveys,
new clarity will flower. The gender equation gets more
specific, the age group narrows, and the rest unfold. One
industry category might begin to show you where there is
greater revenue generation. Allow the data to drive you
towards the right direction. Don't try to control or drive
it yourself. That struggle will cost you dearly.
If you're survey request is in the form of writing, you can
offer something in return for an exchange of their time.
Usually saved for longer surveys, you can create a reward
for short surveys too. It’s its too early in your survey
process to know what prospects want, offer something
generic. Match the gift with the amount of time it takes
them to complete the survey. If this is the case, offer
something generic. Offer a $5 gift certificate from
Amazon.com. If local, ask you're favorite restaurant if you
can offer a discount coupon that they will honor. There is
some fr*ee portion to the amount donated on the restaurant’s
part because it increases their clientele list.
It’s time to survey. Allow patience, time, and you will
want to schedule this as a regular routine in your business.
Next, plan your services and products to meet those needs
and then generate your business plan around them.
develop their services or products. This causes them to
generate and fulfill a marketing plan that requires them to
swim upstream using the backstroke. To save the stress,
consider placing the business plan on hold until first
completing a few customer surveys. Okay, some of you are
saying, "Catherine, how can you do a survey before you know
who your market is?" Yes, this is one challenging double
edge sword, that is, if you're mindset is set there.
Over the years, I've found that everyone I've worked with
generally knew what he or she wanted to sell. I don't
believe you are any different. This is the perfect place to
start. You have a clean slate to write on. You might be at
a place of seeing it in nonspecific terms with measurable
doubts as well. That is okay, doubts will always be there,
thus, allow them to be your friend instead of a foe. It’s
easy to start with a gender preference -- choosing either
women or men as having a higher purchasing balance for what
you are selling. If you don't have a majority gender in
mind, choose the one you feel most comfortable talking with
or asking questions to.
Let’s dive in a little deeper, its time to start thinking
about your surveys and what to ask. Okay, don't fade out on
me now. Generally, when people think of surveys, they
visualize or experience the sensations of long drawn out
processes that cost more money then they can afford or time
that they don't have the patience for. Boy, do I remember
those days of thinking.
Let’s play together on this concept of taking surveys before
writing your business plan. At least, allow the old
perceptions to sit outside your door until you've finished
reading this article and learning of a new possible
alternative perspective. The perspective that surveys come
first and don't need to be time-consuming, money-hungry,
must be done by professionals, mongrels.
Take the area you want to focus on, combine with your gender
preference, and begin there. For instance, if your area is
life coaching and you feel more comfortable with working
with women you have a starting point. This doesn't mean you
will never coach men, set those thoughts aside; they will
block your progress and keep you stuck.
From knowing just this basic information, you can now create
a few simple surveys in no time at all that don't require
any money. Even if you know more specifics about your
buyers, you might want to back it up to this point if you
are stuck in generating questions. To generate this survey
plan you don't need to know whether your focus is for a
product or service, or even if its for electronic,
telephone, or in-person delivery, at this time.
The first question you want to generate and ask is what your
gender wants to buy next. If asked in narrow terms, they
will answer. If asked too broadly, they will respond with
"don't know." If the latter, rewrite the question more
specifically, then ask again. Whenever I start, I sometimes
have to revamp my questions five or six times. Just an FYI,
to help you understand that even the experts refine as they
go. Surveying is an evolutionary process.
A second survey question is for people who have purchased
from you in the past. What are looking for next? What do
they want to accomplish in the next few months or whatever
future terms they desire to talk about?
If you don't have any customer history, then substitute.
Open the scope to what is the gender buying? What is the
cross between what you offer and what they want? What do
they want to do next (short-term) that falls within your
scope?
Continuing with the life coach illustration, what type of
women, what age areas, what type of self-development or
improvement topics are they purchasing now? What is the
regular step past this? What "new" hot topics in the
marketplace that meshes with your area? If you attend a
workshop, conference or seminar, examine the topic, and take
notes on the type of women attending. Record or ask their
age group. Ask a few to complete a survey while they are
there.
Ask one way, then another, and create a list of no more than
six multiple choice, yes or no, questions to ask. Then
continue to ask with whomever you meet, wherever you go.
Talk with the workshop leader or conference marketing people
and find out who they were targeting and why. If the event
is a match for you, collect copies of all their marketing
materials for language learning.
Ask friends, family members, or colleagues. Even if they
don't think these groups fit within your current focus.
Just remember not to stay off focus when doing so. If you
attend a coaching school, ask other coaches that do what you
want to do. What are their clients into, what are they
selling them or what ideas have their clients told them that
they are looking for?
Your survey method you use is up to you. To ease into it,
you will want to ask in the form most comfortable for you at
the time. However, caution, most everyone chooses written
form first in order to avoid any negative responses. In a
B2B survey, negative responses never occur. Everyone knows
why a survey is important. In B2C (business to consumers)
be careful not to cross the line of interrogation or too
personal. Ask politely, with respect, and share why you
want to know.
The number one rule of getting survey responses -- is
KISSing the questions -- "keep them short, simple and as
specific as you can at the time." Special note: Don't use
the contraction and in your sentences. The contraction
"and" creates a multiple question, stacks questions, which
confuses readers and listeners on what you really asking.
As you go through the experience of completing your surveys,
new clarity will flower. The gender equation gets more
specific, the age group narrows, and the rest unfold. One
industry category might begin to show you where there is
greater revenue generation. Allow the data to drive you
towards the right direction. Don't try to control or drive
it yourself. That struggle will cost you dearly.
If you're survey request is in the form of writing, you can
offer something in return for an exchange of their time.
Usually saved for longer surveys, you can create a reward
for short surveys too. It’s its too early in your survey
process to know what prospects want, offer something
generic. Match the gift with the amount of time it takes
them to complete the survey. If this is the case, offer
something generic. Offer a $5 gift certificate from
Amazon.com. If local, ask you're favorite restaurant if you
can offer a discount coupon that they will honor. There is
some fr*ee portion to the amount donated on the restaurant’s
part because it increases their clientele list.
It’s time to survey. Allow patience, time, and you will
want to schedule this as a regular routine in your business.
Next, plan your services and products to meet those needs
and then generate your business plan around them.
KEEP SALES SIMPLE
Keep Sales Simple
For those of us working in the exciting world of sales, we are all too familiar with the pressures of meeting our daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly goals. This pressure can sometimes cause us to loose focus on the simple things that made us successful to begin with.
When we make a sales presentation, it is all too essential to look and sound the part. A professional appearance and product knowledge are to very important ingredients involved in sales.
But don’t ever loose sight of the fact that sales is supposed to be fun!
A personal story . . . Jay Conners
I can remember a time a few years back, when I was managing a bank branch inside a supermarket, otherwise known as In-Store banking.
At that time, we had daily goals that we were required to meet, and those goals were unit and dollar driven. It was a fast paced environment and every technique we could think of was incorporated into our sales. Nothing was taken for granted.
Including the simple stuff.
One particular afternoon I received a phone call from a woman who informed me that she was new to the area, and she was shopping around for a bank.
We had a pleasant conversation, and I explained to her all of our products starting with our free checking, and ending with our more exclusive products.
Once the conversation was over, she thanked me and told me she would consider us.
I thanked her as well, and ended by telling her my name again, and that she could ask for me, if she decided to come in.
The next day, that same woman walked into my branch and asked for me, she reminded me of the conversation we had the day before, and than proceeded to tell me that she came in because I was so nice on the telephone.
The fact is, I was really nice on the telephone, I knew I had a potential customer on the phone and I killed her with kindness. Not because I was being slick, but because it was easy, it was simple, and I had fun doing it. And it worked.
There was no selling involved in that conversation. I was just being a nice person.
Salesmanship is important, but people want kindness to.
My point is, take some of the pressure off of yourself and start having fun! Be nice, smile. It is not always necessary to act and speak so professionally, it can come off fake, and worst of all boring.
So starting tomorrow, take a load off, roll up your sleeves, smile, laugh out loud, and most of all have fun and keep it simple!
When we make a sales presentation, it is all too essential to look and sound the part. A professional appearance and product knowledge are to very important ingredients involved in sales.
But don’t ever loose sight of the fact that sales is supposed to be fun!
A personal story . . . Jay Conners
I can remember a time a few years back, when I was managing a bank branch inside a supermarket, otherwise known as In-Store banking.
At that time, we had daily goals that we were required to meet, and those goals were unit and dollar driven. It was a fast paced environment and every technique we could think of was incorporated into our sales. Nothing was taken for granted.
Including the simple stuff.
One particular afternoon I received a phone call from a woman who informed me that she was new to the area, and she was shopping around for a bank.
We had a pleasant conversation, and I explained to her all of our products starting with our free checking, and ending with our more exclusive products.
Once the conversation was over, she thanked me and told me she would consider us.
I thanked her as well, and ended by telling her my name again, and that she could ask for me, if she decided to come in.
The next day, that same woman walked into my branch and asked for me, she reminded me of the conversation we had the day before, and than proceeded to tell me that she came in because I was so nice on the telephone.
The fact is, I was really nice on the telephone, I knew I had a potential customer on the phone and I killed her with kindness. Not because I was being slick, but because it was easy, it was simple, and I had fun doing it. And it worked.
There was no selling involved in that conversation. I was just being a nice person.
Salesmanship is important, but people want kindness to.
My point is, take some of the pressure off of yourself and start having fun! Be nice, smile. It is not always necessary to act and speak so professionally, it can come off fake, and worst of all boring.
So starting tomorrow, take a load off, roll up your sleeves, smile, laugh out loud, and most of all have fun and keep it simple!
Monday, 6 August 2012
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