Social Media
Incorporate Facebook into Your Communication Plan
Facebook in no longer just a place for college kids to socialize. In the past year, many businesses have utilized the popularity of Facebook to grow their client base and use the application to facilitate greater communication with their customers. Facebook offers companies the opportunity to connect with it’s 350 million users at no cost. If a business can leverage just a tiny percentage of those users to become brand evangelists, the potential for growth can be enormous. Entrepreneur Magazine has developed an excellent resource that provide companies with the basics of how to create Fan Pages. A Fan Page is like. Read More.
Is Your Smartphone on Vacation?
As technology becomes more ubiquitous both at work and at home, the line between work life and personal life has become blurred. This can become especially problematic while on vacation. To combat this unfortunate and growing problem, the Wall Street Journal has put together some helpful tips to ensure a well-balanced vacation.
How to Avoid Common Sales Mistakes During a Recession
Successful businesses know how to keep a steady stream of sales through prosperous economic times and the weak economic times that we’re experiencing right now as a nation. In either economic climate, it is critical that businesses maintain a solid sales strategy and avoid certain pitfalls during a sales approach. In their article entitled “ Five Common, Avoidable Sales Mistakes ,” Bnet.com lists five traps that salespeople can fall into if they do not keep a consistent, customer focused approach: Mistake #1: Valuing new customers over existing ones. In most cases, the easiest sales are to existing, happy customers. However, many sales pros get so obsessed. Read More.
Entrepreneurs Can Benefit from One Other as Much as Referrals
Small Business owners are all too familiar with the process of delivering elevator speeches to build a network of referrals. A recent opinion piece from BizSense examines the shortfalls of this model, and calls for a new sense of community among business owners. Recently I’ve had conversations with other entrepreneurs who say referral-based networking isn’t where it’s at. While we are all out to ensure we gain new business (how else would our companies succeed?), we are focusing beyond how many referrals are passed our way. I think we seek a community where we can learn and grow as entrepreneurs, not. Read More.
Businesses Using Facebook to Connect with Customers/Market to “Fans”
With 300 million users and climbing, Facebook offers business owners a unique way to build brand awareness and connect with their customers. But perhaps the biggest challenge remains — Where to begin? The New York Times recently outlined a couple of key Facebook strategies with Clara Shih, CEO of Hearsay Labs and author of “The Facebook Era” : Facebook offers an array of tools and networks, and it’s easy to wander down too many paths. Ms. Shih recommends that newcomers start by asking themselves a simple question: What is your basic objective? Is it getting more customers in the door? Building brand awareness? Creating a venue for customer support? Once you have set your goal, you can. Read More.
Getting LinkedIn May Not Be as Harmless as You Think
Sure, social media sites are helping many businesses reach out to new markets, strengthen their brand image, and create new opportunities. But blurring the line between our social and work lives can invite some unintended consequences. As reported yesterday in The Richmond Times-Dispatch , business executives should consider some of these potential pitfalls when crafting their company’s social media policy: Say you’re an executive whose connections consist mostly of clients. If a client or colleague recommends someone and you accept them into your network, you could unintentionally grant a competitor access to an unofficial client list, said Terry Gudaitis, vice president of cyber intelligence with the. Read More.