Posted by Jody Raines
Wow. One more inch and we'll have a new record! After 27 inches of snow on Saturday, why is Mother Nature adding another snow/rain mix for us?
So, what's a snowed in business owner to do? Bemoan the weather or be proactive? Here's a list of 5 things you can do to promote your business while snowed in!
1. Sign up for Twitter. Connect with people you've not had a chance to connect with. Yes, it's frightful out side, but you are not the only person who is snowed in! Plus there is a whole part of our nation where the weather may be sunny and warm. If you haven't started, try downloading my podcast- How To Tweet Like A Master. It's full of ideas for managing your Twitter account as well as how to develop a Twitter following, how to connect with others, what to say on Twitter, how to say it, and how to create a custom background for your Twitter profile.
2. Create a Facebook Page for your Business. It's not a difficult thing to do, but it can be confusing. Today is the day that you can take the time to work through your Facebook Page setup. If you already have one - post some comments. Your Facebook page should be informative and helpful.
3. Use YouTube. It's the 2nd most popular search engine. Take a video of your snowfall and post it on YouTube. It's not difficult. If you have a video record function on your mobile phone, you can take the video on the go... Today's a great day to learn how to use it! For a fun exercise, try uploading pictures to animoto.com and select from their music to create a custom thirty second video. Then upload the video to YouTube. Here's an example of one that I did.
4. Explore Live Streaming video. I love UStream and it has some neat functionality. One of the best users of this technology is Adam Sokoloff and the team at Sunrise Signs. They took live streaming video of a vehicle wrap, and they are adding new content on an ongoing basis. Check their stream out: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/sunrise-signs-live
5. Set up your blog. A blog is a great way to add new content to your website. As a Hubspot Certified Partner, we are always looking for methods to improve conversion and generate leads. A recent Hubspot study shared the following:
"A study of 2,168 HubSpot customers shows that businesses that published at least 5 blog articles in the last 7 days draw 6.9 times more organic search traffic and 1.12 times more referral traffic than those who don't blog at all."
So after you've done your first round of shoveling, take a few moments and enjoy exploring Social Media Marketing and Inbound Marketing with some of these neat programs. As always, please add comments or thoughts, and start today, while you are snowed in, to take your business to the next level...
Posted by Jody Raines
Argh. Are you tired of Cold Calling? Another week of rejection on the phone?
Recently, when I attended the Voorhees Business Association lunch, one of my business acquaintances was sharing his frustration with making fruitless calls. It occurred to me, something is wrong with that picture...
Wouldn't it be a wonderful world if the leads came to you instead of doggedly pursuing them? Imagine a business where potential clients volunteer their contact information and even request you call them when they are ready to buy! Even more exciting, imagine that there are so many of these leads coming in that you barely have time to respond to them.
What's a sales person to do?
If your company is smart, they'll get on the band wagon of a new wave of Internet Strategy called inbound marketing. Inbound marketing in a nutshell, is positioning your website in a way that it becomes a lead magnet... But let me explain...
As an "Internet Strategist" my role is to help businesses take advantage of the power of the Internet to get found. How? The method I use is not really a secret, and I'm happy to share this with you.
Formula for inbound success on the Internet:
1. Develop your website with correct architecture. If your links are broken or your code is 'funky', you risk Google or Bing or Yahoo spidering your site and penalizing it. Make sure that your website is constructed correctly, and if you are not sure, try using our website grader. You can find this at www.websitegrader.com
2. SEO is important, but content is KING. Do you have a blog? Are your pages optimized? Is someone checking to be sure that you are being found in searches? What terms would your customers be using?
3. Are you posting comments and articles? Using Social Media? When did you post on Facebook last? How is your Linked In account holding up. Has your business created a Linked In business profile? Are you Tweeting on Twitter and if so, are you tracking the clicks on the shortened URLs?
4. Once you've been found, do you have a call-to-action that is compelling? Are potential customers sharing their contact info with you?
5. Who does your lead nurturing? What is the system you are using to follow up when someone submits their info?
SO much to do, so little time.. but if you consider that most people will search the Internet before making that large purchase, it makes sense to be found, and it makes sense to connect.
In closing, keep us in mind if you'd like a plan to help put an Internet marketing and strategy program together for your business. In the meantime, put your rap hat on and enjoy the video...
Posted by Jody Raines
The age of social media and viral video has changed the complexion of business communications.
Your employees are Twittering, posting on Facebook and "connecting" through Linked In. Should you condone this behavior or censure it? How does social media in New Jersey and Pennsylvania impact the way businesses go-to-market? And should it?
Many sharp business leaders are struggling with this question.
At a recent breakfast meeting, when Bob Earl, President of VBA (Voorhees Business Association) and owner of Express Personnel asked me to think about a good topic for the VBA to present, it sparked a passionate rant about the public relations nightmares that social media could foster. Imagine workers complaints about quality virally expanding through the Twittersphere. Or a disgruntled employee's criticism being re-tweeted with geometric progression. It's terrifying how vulnerable a company is these days.
So, what's a CEO to do?
Cut off the Internet? Hmm. That doesn't seem right. The Internet is full of good information and represents a valuable way to reach potential clients.
And hence an idea was born: To put together a panel of experts to discuss their perceptions of how to legally deal with Social Media from an HR perspective.
On February 10, at 8 am, I'll be moderating a panel which will focus on this issue. Our keynote speaker is Chris Blackman, VP of News for NBC 10 in Philadelphia. Chris is a true luminary and intellectual. Nonetheless, he faces an incredible challenge the likes of which would cause many HR professionals to cringe. Imagine if every employee on your staff had a following of thousands who truly pay attention to their every post or tweet. As VP of news, part of Chris's job is making the tough decisions that teeter at the edge of personal expressive freedom and the company's best interests.
In addition to Chris, our panel includes Alex Nemiroff of Archer Greiner. Alex specializes in Labor Law and he deals with issues surrounding social media on a daily basis. He'll share the state of the law as it exists and has evolved with regard to rights and ownership and usage.
We'll also hear from Deb Myerson, Licensed PI and paralegal for Intelysis. Deb uses the Internet, among other tools, to screen candidates for positions to report back to the employer. Deb will point out the wealth of information that can be found out about anyone, from ebay purchases to Amazon reviews, you'd be surprised how much you can learn.
Gary Finger, former Voorhees Mayor and former member of the Voorhees Township Committee is also an expert with pre-hire screening. Gary will highlight the strategies and legalities of investigating your employees.
The event starts at 8 am with a full breakfast (yep, including eggs!) at Elite Caterers, located at 333 Preston Ave in Voorhees, NJ. Cost to attend is $20.
If you have a business, or have employees, this is one event you won't want to miss.
More info at www.voorheesbusinessassociation.com
Posted by Jody Raines
In the spirit of keeping my resolutions, my last blog post promised that there would be more! And, being a person who intends to do what I resolve, I kept promising to sit down and write this blog post.
Time was passing and while I had these resolutions and blog media tips in my head, the process of committing to paper (or screen) means time. Plus, of course, the mere posting of articles means more opportunities for keywords, for optimizing my site (yes, links to your blog do help with Google ranking if your blog is part of your website), for adding content (another SEO tactic), and also for sharing my resolutions!
Therefore, I think you'll get a chuckle out of these next resolutions.
6. Time Management - Always important to make a list and prioritize. If you are like me, I start on one project and especially when it comes to the Internet, I can be sidetracked to others. Which leads me to our next resolution, but I'll explain: For example one of my tactics to improve SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is to post comments on articles in the blogs of others. This helps me two ways - first, it helps me connect with the writer of the blog - everyone wants to think that their post is being read, it's a compliment to see that it is. Second - when I post a comment, it typically asks me for my email address and my website. If my comments are well thought out and someone who reads that blog wants to know more about me, then they can click on my name and find my site. This also means that I've generated an inbound link to my site. (Again, very important for SEO. Incidentally, this is also know as Search Engine Marketing or SEM.)
7. Inbound links - As mentioned in number 6, it's a goal to produce inbound links. I'd like to say that I'll do this every day, but reality is that I'm committing to at least once a week. My goal is to do this more. I find that by grouping my contacts on Twitter by their interests helps me to find great articles to comment on. Using Tweetdeck or Seesmic to follow Tweeps by their interests enables me to quickly read the most recent posts and see which I want to dive into the links to read the articles. It's great Social Networking and also a great way to use (SMM) Social Media Marketing.
8. LinkedIn - I truly think LinkedIn is one of the neatest social media sites. I like to think of it as a business community and living contact directory. When one of my connections winds up changing companies, I know about it and can send a congratulatory note. I can keep in touch with former co-workers and share with them what is going on with my business. I can join groups (such as the Cherry Hill Regional Chamber of Commerce, or Voorhees Business Association) and be appraised of upcoming networking events. I can find new groups and meet new people. I can comment on my business and "crow" about upcoming events that I'll be speaking at. I can post questions or responses to questions to position myself as a "thought-leader". Bottom line, my resolution is to use LinkedIn more as a tool to establish my business. At least once a week, I will post or answer a question. At least once a week, I will update my status. (This helps with inbound links too, by the way). Also, here's where I share my shameless advertisement that I am available to Speak on "How To Use LinkedIN to Build Your Business". Which leads to resolution 9, but that's coming soon...
Well, it looks like we will have resolutions part three coming soon! Stay tuned.
Posted by Jody Raines
The
Voorhees Business Association (VBA) hosted its monthly luncheon and network
meeting on Wednesday, November 18th at Elite Catering located at The
Coliseum on Preston Avenue
in Voorhees.
Guest
speaker Jody Raines, President of newly formed WebMarCom.net, discussed the
benefits of “Social Networking” for business professionals. Strategies for
Linked In, Face Book and Twitter were highlighted. Over 70 guests were in
attendance. The VBA Board of Director election also took place, with Robert
Earl from Express Pros Staffing being re-elected as Board Chairman for
2010-2011. Jay Levenson from SSTi Software Development was also newly elected
to the Board (see attached photo of – L to R - Jay Levenson, Jody Raines and Robert Earl). 
The
VBA luncheon on December 16th will feature entertainment from the Eastern High School Chorale. To register, please
contact the VBA at (856) 489-8511
or register on-line at www.voorheesbusinessassociation.com.
Luncheon fee $18 in advance or $20 at the door. Businesses may also join the
VBA for $95 per year.