Social media marketing has expenses like any other marketing. A lot of people like to say it’s free. Well, while many parts of social media marketing doesn’t cost an initial fee, it does cost time. And time costs money – whether you’re doing it or you’re outsourcing it to someone else. There are always expenses that must be considered. First, to determine your real business ROI you need to understand what your goals are. It’s important when you make your social marketing goals that you are very specific about what you want to accomplish overall, as well as what you want to accomplish with each individual social marketing campaign. There…

Content marketing consists of creating a lot of different types of content, then promoting it on all your online real estate via many means such as social sharing, pay-per-click marketing, search engine optimization (SEO) and more. Content marketing is a really great way to get the word out about your products and services in a natural, organic way. But, it’s important to figure out what your point of view is so that you can create a coherent and professional voice for your content marketing. Figure Out Your Core Values What is it that you want to say to the world? What is it that you feel is important? Do you…

Facebook is a great way to promote your business as it allows you the opportunity to reach billions of people with the click of a button. The goal of any business is to make money but to do that you have to convert your fans into customers. This isn’t as difficult as it sounds, though. Here are nine different ways to maximize the potential of your social media following. 1. Offer a Free Product If They Like Your Page Everyone likes free stuff and this is a common practice when it comes to Facebook. Offer your customers something free if they like your page, such as promotional material like a…

Guest blogging is a great way to drive traffic to your website and blog. It’s also a great way to build authority within your niche. In addition it is a way to earn links back to your website from authoritative and relevant websites, which will help to increase your page rank. But, for guest blogging to work it has to be strategic. Blog Only on Relevant Blogs It’s important to only blog on relevant blogs that your audience would read. You are trying to attract a very specific audience and if a particular blog doesn’t market to your audience you’re just wasting your time and effort. You can do a…

Online seminars, also called webinars, are very popular for all kinds of businesses today. Online seminars are convenient, inexpensive, and most importantly they are effective. They are a great way to teach others something of value, in person, without having to travel or make room in your calendar. You can host a seminar in your spare time, and your attendees can also attend without worrying too much about the cost or missing work. Build Business Awareness An online seminar is a great way to get the word out about your business. It’s a great way to build brand awareness. You can host a seminar alone, or with others. You can…

Social media marketing is an effective means of getting the word out about your products and/or services. But, many times it’s clear that a small business is not doing all that it can do when it comes to using social media marketing to its full advantage. You might think social media marketing ends at sharing a few posts each day, but nothing could be further from the truth. Create Consistent and Complete Profiles No matter which social media you’ve determined is important to use for your niche, it’s imperative that you create consistent and complete social media profiles. Include a professional headshot, and keep the text of your profiles very…

With the advent of Kindle Direct Publishing, becoming a published author is a lot simpler today than it used to be. While it is much harder to become an overnight success, making six-figures publishing books, it’s not difficult to use Kindle Direct Publishing as a way to gain authority within your niche. Get Your Own Amazon Author Page When you become a Kindle author you can fill out an Amazon Author’s profile and page. On the page you will get a short biography space, a place for a headshot, a link to your blog, an area to share videos, photos, social media and more. You can automatically feed your blog…

There is no getting around it – Pinterest is here to stay. And no matter what type of business you have, figuring out how to use it to promote your business is essential. You don’t have to have a fashion merchandising business to build your business on Pinterest either. Just start looking at your business in a whole new colorful way. Use Creative Imagery If you’ve not been adding images to your blog posts, now’s the time to do it. Make the image relevant to your post. In fact, the image can also have words in it such as a quote from the content or a motivational quote. It helps…

The old ways of marketing where you place an advertisement, attract consumers and make sales that easily are over. Today, marketing is all about, as Seth Godin says, “attraction and connections.” But, what tactics create the attraction and connections that get the results that you want (more sales)? Create Responsive Websites This is almost a beginner’s tip at this point, but just in case you have been around awhile and haven’t made the move, it’s time. It’s way past time. Your website needs to be mobile and it needs to be mobile now. People are using mobile technology more than they are using PCs today to access online information. Social…

Once you start engaging in email marketing (that is, marketing your products and/or services through sending customers or potential customers information via email), it’s important that you understand and comply with the laws that have been created to protect you and the consumer. Remember that these laws protect both the business and the consumer. When you look at it that way it doesn’t seem as bad that there are laws regarding email marketing. Educate Yourself and Your Affiliates Read and get to understand the CAN-SPAM Act on the Bureau of Consumer Protection Business Center. This will help you enormously when you are creating your email marketing campaigns. The law isn’t…