This show was originally taped at www.talkshoe.com on January 5, 2009 before my quadruple by pass heart surgery, thus my absence from the blog. I am doing great and resuming the show on March 16, 2009 to tell you about getting your e-mails opened with the First Two Words of your subject line—OR NOT!
This show can be heard archived at: http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/tscmd/tc/33960
Or on the MondayMorningMarketeer unique radio channel at:
www.positivelypittsburghlivemagazine.com
Free Advertising for Your Business
So you hear me say often that in this current economic downturn you must not put your head in the sand like an ostrich and hide but spread those beautiful ostrich plumes and let the world know just how wonder a product or service you have. So here in 2009 are some free ways to stay in the eye of your prospects and suspects and additional ways to turn suspects into prospects.
1. Craigslist
Craigslist has gotten a bit of a bad rap because it does not really monitor its ads and you may be placing your ad beside a bogus or misleading one. However, a well written ad linked to a great website that is reputable can help consultants and service professionals to get the word out about their businesses. Even larger businesses are beginning to use Craigslist even though sometimes just to post want ads for employees.
2. Local Online Directories
Google Local and Local.Yahoo.com
If I have said it once, I have said it several dozen times. When you put in your business name, your town or city, does your business come up? If it does not you have not gotten your local Google on or yelled out on Yahoo about your business.
You can’t go wrong with free business listings from the two biggest websites on the internet. They will show your ad to people who search from your community automatically. Yahoo has an option to upgrade to a paid premium listing as well.
Ever searched for heating or air conditioning locally and used the first people that popped up in your area, then you have been influenced by Yahoo or Google.
3. MerchantCircle.com
Circle is a combination of a business listing site with business reviews. Even if you don’ t have a website you can take advantage of their free listing which will have a good chance of showing up in the first page or two. The free package also allows businesses to upload photos, coupons, and create a business blog (wow!). You can actually design a mini website, then you can ask your satisfied customers to review your business. There is nothing like third party endorsement and a good testimonial.
Barter Advertising
4. Mom Packs
A group of moms in business who work together to build our businesses for each other. Their mission is: To Support Our Mutual Goals of Success through an Innovative Free Advertising Partnership.
The Mom Pack includes sharing all kinds of advertising opportunities, both on and offline, through information swaps, link exchanges, or quite literally a packet of advertising pieces enclosed into an order shipment. Although the Members’ Agreement with Mom Pack is that you do not charge a fee for an actual Mom Pack, you can charge exact shipping fees to mail a single Mom Pack to someone that requests one from you. Generally, Mom Packs are not shipped out, but passed out at events, craft fairs, expos, doctors offices, markets, hair salons, with orders and many more places.
For businesses that target moms and are run by moms, the Mom Pack ‘community’ is a great way to help moms promote other moms. http://www.mompack.com/
5. AdGridWork
AdGridWork is a brand new contextual advertising service that is 100% free. All that is required is that if you place an ad on their network, you must place ads on your own site for someone else in the network. Since it is ‘contextual’ they will monitor and only serve relevant ads on your site and only display your ads on relevant websites.
• It's 100% free. Thats right folks: Free Advertising. No payments. Ever.
• Increase your traffic. We have thousands of sites on our network all ready and waiting to freely advertise your website or product.
• We have attractive advertisement blocks AND text links. Most people are blind to the traditional AdSense ads. Our free ads are fresh, simple and appealing to the eye.
• Promote to a targeted audience. You can define exactly what types of sites you want your free advertisement to appear on.
• Registration and setup is a snap. Our service is completely user-friendly.
http://www.adgridwork.com
6. AdLeaf—Another barter advertising site:Adleaf Free Advertising
An Adleaf is a text advertisement that shows the advertisement placed by members in the Adleaf network. In exchange, your advertisement will appear in the websites of members who also participate in the Adleaf network. In this way, the Adleaf community help each other promote their website or blogs. An Adleaf is very similar to the text advertisement that Google AdWords or Yahoo Overture network offers. The difference is that you don't have to pay to advertise! You are simply converting your existing web traffic to free advertising impressions.
7. Wikipedia
Visitors do not need specialized qualifications to contribute, since their primary role is to write articles that cover existing knowledge. This means that people of all ages and cultural and social backgrounds can write Wikipedia articles. Most of the articles can be edited by anyone with access to the Internet, simply by clicking the edit this page link. Anyone is welcome to add information, cross-references, or citations, as long as they do so within Wikipedia's editing policies and to an appropriate standard. Substandard or disputed information is subject to removal. Users need not worry about accidentally damaging Wikipedia when adding or improving information, as other editors are always around to advise or correct obvious errors, and Wikipedia's software is carefully designed to allow easy reversal of editorial mistakes.
8. Linked In—Set up a LinkedIn Profile for Your Business and Join Some Groups
Very often when prospective clients google a person or business, their LinkedInProfile is on the first page of the Google Results, so make sure your profile is a good one. Please listen to Developing Your On Line Profile right on MondayMorningMarketeer.
9. Twitter—Set up a Twitter Account and Develop Followers
This is a much overlooked advertising phenomena. It’s like mini doses of avertisment that are like silver bullets that get into the armor before most prospects that follow you even know they are there. It’s a great way to keep your customers updated on new deals, new products, new services, new successes.
10. Facebook—Set up Facebook and Invite Friend
Every major company out there has a Face Book account, Ellen just recently announced that she has 80,000 followers. That’s Ellen Degeneres by the way. Just be careful to decide, do you want all your nieces and nephews on Facebook as your friends or do you want to use it for business. If you are using it for business, keep it uncluttered with wild stuff. Some of your friends who are not in business may write less than professional things on Your Wall.
So here are ten ways to get some free advertisement for your business but not one of them will work unless you actually use and pursue them. So what are you waiting for,? Pick a couple and get busy.
This blog post can be reproduced in its entirety with the following information:
© Joanne Quinn-Smith, Monday Morning Marketeer™ 412-628-5048
Listen at: http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/tscmd/tc/33960
Blog: www.marketingmondaymorning.blogspot.com
Or on its unique radio channel at:
www.positivelypittsburghlivemgazine.com
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Friday, January 2, 2009
Monday Morning Marketeer, Web 2.0 Series, Using Twitter to Keep in Touch with Customers
This show was originally taped on December 29, 2009 at www.talkshoe.com and is available at: http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/tscmd/tc/33960 or at: http://www.positivelypittsburghlivemagazine.com on its own unique radio channel.
What’s the Twitter about Twitter and what is it? It’s a social media tool which enables people to post via instant message. Originally designed to help people stay connected it’s quickly becoming a tool used by businesses around the world. So how do you make twitter interesting and something to get your target audience to respond.
Some ideas to Tweak Your Twitter and get more tweets:
1. Drive traffic to your blog. Post a question on Twitter and include a link to your blog. For example. I would love to find out what marketing ideas people would like me to talk about on this show, so I am posting those questions on twitter and linking it to a blog post where respondees can post comments.
2. How about driving traffic to your blog or webinar or talkcast or with a twitter post using some of the more interesting or unique comments to blog posts you’ve written or testimonials. These can start very interesting conversations and drive traffic to your blog and company website.
3. Announce contests – with a link to your website where the contest details are offered OR post a question and challenge someone to be the first response, give a prize for the first and the tenth respondee just like the radio stations or better yet direct them to a landing page with a free gift. Give them something related to your business for answering the question correctly first. If you own a restaurant you could give a gift certificate to the first person who answers the question correctly.
4. Share personal adventures which relate to your business. If You have a contest, event or promotion, post a funny picture of that event, this is a great branding tool and if it’s funny enough it can go viral.
5. Post interesting or thought provoking statistics, quotes, or headlines and start a conversation. Remember no hard sell but during the conversation, when appropriate, it may be possible to link to your company website.
6. Make an announcement. Have a new wonderful product or service to share with the world? Use twitter to make an announcement – amplify the power of the announcement and post a code to give the first 5,10, or 50 customers. Make it an event.
N.B. Remember to be subtle, don’t use overkill, make it interesting, no one likes to be blogged to, podcasted to or twittered to with nothing but advertisements about your business. Like any social marketing tool the key is to market subtly. No one wants to read an advertisement for your business – however it can still be a valuable marketing tool. Be creative, think outside the box. There are a wide variety of ways to make Twitter more than just a fun social tool, use it to build your business.
Now that I have got your interest how do you get started?
1. Build an account and immediate start using Twitter Search to listen for your name, your competitor’s names, words that relate to your space. (Listening always comes first.)
2. Add a picture. People want to see you.
3. People love to talk about themselves so don’t forget to talk to people about their interests.
4. Share links about other things besides yourself, interesting things in your community, books to read, blogs to check out, favorite web sites, tools people can use.
5. Chris Brogan Community and Social Media says, Instead of answering the question, “What are you doing?”, answer the question, “What has your attention?”
6. Announce New Products Twitter is an excellent tool for letting hundreds (or even thousands) of people know about new products you've made available for sale. Depending on the people who are following you, an unlimited number of consumers will instantly have access not only to a brief product description, but also to a link that takes them directly to the product page on your web site. Direct marketing is one of the best ways you can use Twitter to market your business. But you do need to build your list of followers, make friends, follow them and ask them to follow you on Twitter.
7. Advertise Discounts Microblogging doesn't make advertising discounts much easier except that Twitter offers the ability to include a link with every post. If you've decided to offer a discount on the products or services of your business, make a quick announcement via Twitter and watch the hits roll in. This means you never have to waste another opportunity to gain new clients.
8. Spread Ideas One of the easiest ways to use Twitter to market your business is to plan new seeds in the minds of your readers. Mentioning a simple quote or statement of fact can have a larger impact than a full article on your regular blog. For example, if you Have a dry cleaning business you may want to put out a quick tip to make the dry cleaning process easier. Then add a link to your dry cleaning business.
Follow: jqsdreamweaver on twitter or pospittlive
This blog post can be reproduced in its entirety with the following information: © Joanne Quinn-Smith, Monday Morning Marketeer 412-628-5048
Listen at: http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/tscmd/tc/33960 or
www.positivelypittsburghlivemagazine.com on the Monday Morning Marketeer Channel.
Blog: www.marketingmondaymorning.blogspot.com
e-mail: infoatmondaymorningmarketeerdotcom
What’s the Twitter about Twitter and what is it? It’s a social media tool which enables people to post via instant message. Originally designed to help people stay connected it’s quickly becoming a tool used by businesses around the world. So how do you make twitter interesting and something to get your target audience to respond.
Some ideas to Tweak Your Twitter and get more tweets:
1. Drive traffic to your blog. Post a question on Twitter and include a link to your blog. For example. I would love to find out what marketing ideas people would like me to talk about on this show, so I am posting those questions on twitter and linking it to a blog post where respondees can post comments.
2. How about driving traffic to your blog or webinar or talkcast or with a twitter post using some of the more interesting or unique comments to blog posts you’ve written or testimonials. These can start very interesting conversations and drive traffic to your blog and company website.
3. Announce contests – with a link to your website where the contest details are offered OR post a question and challenge someone to be the first response, give a prize for the first and the tenth respondee just like the radio stations or better yet direct them to a landing page with a free gift. Give them something related to your business for answering the question correctly first. If you own a restaurant you could give a gift certificate to the first person who answers the question correctly.
4. Share personal adventures which relate to your business. If You have a contest, event or promotion, post a funny picture of that event, this is a great branding tool and if it’s funny enough it can go viral.
5. Post interesting or thought provoking statistics, quotes, or headlines and start a conversation. Remember no hard sell but during the conversation, when appropriate, it may be possible to link to your company website.
6. Make an announcement. Have a new wonderful product or service to share with the world? Use twitter to make an announcement – amplify the power of the announcement and post a code to give the first 5,10, or 50 customers. Make it an event.
N.B. Remember to be subtle, don’t use overkill, make it interesting, no one likes to be blogged to, podcasted to or twittered to with nothing but advertisements about your business. Like any social marketing tool the key is to market subtly. No one wants to read an advertisement for your business – however it can still be a valuable marketing tool. Be creative, think outside the box. There are a wide variety of ways to make Twitter more than just a fun social tool, use it to build your business.
Now that I have got your interest how do you get started?
1. Build an account and immediate start using Twitter Search to listen for your name, your competitor’s names, words that relate to your space. (Listening always comes first.)
2. Add a picture. People want to see you.
3. People love to talk about themselves so don’t forget to talk to people about their interests.
4. Share links about other things besides yourself, interesting things in your community, books to read, blogs to check out, favorite web sites, tools people can use.
5. Chris Brogan Community and Social Media says, Instead of answering the question, “What are you doing?”, answer the question, “What has your attention?”
6. Announce New Products Twitter is an excellent tool for letting hundreds (or even thousands) of people know about new products you've made available for sale. Depending on the people who are following you, an unlimited number of consumers will instantly have access not only to a brief product description, but also to a link that takes them directly to the product page on your web site. Direct marketing is one of the best ways you can use Twitter to market your business. But you do need to build your list of followers, make friends, follow them and ask them to follow you on Twitter.
7. Advertise Discounts Microblogging doesn't make advertising discounts much easier except that Twitter offers the ability to include a link with every post. If you've decided to offer a discount on the products or services of your business, make a quick announcement via Twitter and watch the hits roll in. This means you never have to waste another opportunity to gain new clients.
8. Spread Ideas One of the easiest ways to use Twitter to market your business is to plan new seeds in the minds of your readers. Mentioning a simple quote or statement of fact can have a larger impact than a full article on your regular blog. For example, if you Have a dry cleaning business you may want to put out a quick tip to make the dry cleaning process easier. Then add a link to your dry cleaning business.
Follow: jqsdreamweaver on twitter or pospittlive
This blog post can be reproduced in its entirety with the following information: © Joanne Quinn-Smith, Monday Morning Marketeer 412-628-5048
Listen at: http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/tscmd/tc/33960 or
www.positivelypittsburghlivemagazine.com on the Monday Morning Marketeer Channel.
Blog: www.marketingmondaymorning.blogspot.com
e-mail: infoatmondaymorningmarketeerdotcom
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Monday Morning Marketeer, Web 2.0 Series: Secrets of Using Web 2.0 for Branding
The Secrets of Using Web 2.0 for Branding
Consumers are flocking to blogs, social-networking sites and virtual worlds. And they are leaving a lot of marketers behind.
For business owners who want to become involved and successful marketers of their business, Web 2.0 offers a remarkable new opportunity to engage consumers.
If you as a business owner could only figure out how to do it, Web 2.0 could be the economic downturn lifesaver that allows you to successful brand or rebrand your business and get the word out to thousands, and if you manage to go viral possibly millions. You can do this very cost effectively sometimes by just rolling up your sleeves and getting it done yourself or if you time is at a premium you may have to outsource. But this is a conversation on Guerilla Marketing, so we will not talk about outsourcing at this time. That’s what this series on Web 2.0 has been about, finding effective ways to brand and market your business at low or no cost. What are the opportunities and how deep do your marketing pockets and branding pockets have to be?
What potential marketing opportunities do Web 2.0 applications and tools offer your company? Which Web 2.0 tools have worked well for your company, and which were less successful? You have probably jumped on the bandwagon of e-mail marketing and e-zines, how has that worked for you. More and more people are averse to the amount of e-mail they are getting so there need to be other ways to use Web 2.0 for branding. But first, a more basic question: What is Web 2.0, anyway? Essentially, it encompasses the set of tools that allow people to build social and business connections, share information and collaborate on projects online. That includes blogs, wikis, social-networking sites and other online communities, and virtual worlds.
Millions of people have become familiar with these tools through sites like Facebook, Wikipedia and Second Life, or by writing their own blogs. And a growing number of marketers are using Web 2.0 tools to collaborate with consumers on product development, service enhancement and promotion. But most companies still don't appear to be well versed in this area.
So here's a look at the principles we arrived at -- and how business marketers can use them to get the best results for branding that brings business.
1. Don't just talk at consumers -- work with them throughout the marketing process. Have you heard of a focus group, what about an on line focus group, instead of constantly bombarding your clients or prospects with information, perhaps you may want to send out a blog post and invite comments, use your blog like a focus group to figure out:
a. Do they want or need your product?
b. Are there benefits that should add?
c. Have you gotten your message right?
2. Some people will be concerned about negative reviews:
In sales I always learned that a no is a bridge to a yes. The fact that someone has blogged on your website negative or positive to me is a sign that they care enough to be in touch with you. Recovering from poor feedback by openly offering a solution can really get the blood of your business moving. Correct your mistakes openly and then be sure that you follow through. In the end you can look like a hero. You could also ask some of your satisfied customers to give you some testimonials to the fact that you have done it right in the past.
3. Web 2.0 tools can be used to do what traditional advertising does: persuade consumers to buy a company's products or services. An executive can write a blog, for instance, that regularly talks up the company's goods. But that kind of approach misses the point of 2.0. Instead, companies should use these tools to get the consumers involved, inviting them to participate in marketing-related activities from product development to feedback to customer service.
Dove Cream Oil Make your own commercial for the Oscars was a great example not just of branding but double branding using Web 2.0, Dove put up a site and advertised a contest for their new product, Dove Cream Oil. Content for their site was user generated, by those who wanted a chance to be one of the three commercials showcased on the Oscars for Dove Cream Oil. Visitors to the site could view the videos and then vote on which commercials they liked the best, voting was limited to three days before the Oscars. Millions of people visited the site and thousands entered the contest, what great double viral branding.
4. You can also use on line groups to create collaborations both its business partners and consumers. Among other things, company employees have created wikis -- Web sites that allow users to add delete and edit content -- to list answers to frequently asked questions about each product, and consumers have added significant contributions. For instance, within days of the release of the new Microsoft version, Vista, consumers spotted problems and posted a way for users to deal with it. If only Microsoft would have listened, you as a small business owner are in a particularly flexible niche to listen when your prospects and customers talk.
5. Give consumers a reason to participate.
Consumers have to have some incentive to share their thoughts, opinions and experiences on a company Web site. One lure is to make sure consumers can use the online community to network among themselves on topics of their own choosing. On my Positive Pittsburghers networking forum on Ning a group started up called No Excuses where a group of people got together to support themselves in losing weight.
Some companies provide more-direct incentives: cash rewards or products, some of which are available only to members of the online community. Still others offer consumers peer recognition by awarding points each time they post comments, answer questions or contribute to a wiki entry. Such recognition not only encourages participation, but also has the benefit of allowing both the company and the other members of the community to identify experts on various topics.
• 6. Get Sociable: A New Approach: Marketing these days is more about building a two-way relationship with consumers. Web 2.0 tools are a powerful way to do that. If someone starts to follow you on Twitter, follow up with them. If a prospect signs up for your newsletter, at least have a friendly auto responder set up for them.
• 7. Learn from the Pioneers:
• The Lessons:
• A. Get consumers involved in all aspects of marketing, listen to and join the online conversation about your products outside your site, and give the consumers you work with plenty of leeway to express their opinions.
• B. Put up a calendar where they can post their events
• C. Allow them to start Discussion groups
• D. Make your site as easy to use as possible. I like Ning because you can control spam and still allow your prospects the freedom to do their own thing. Be sure to give clear simple instructions for those who want to participate.
• E. Listen to conversations on other sites: Consumers tend to trust one another's opinions more than a company's marketing pitch. And there is no shortage of opinions online.
F. Keep your eye on sites like Digg.com and Del.icio.us that track the most popular topics on the Web, to see if there's any buzz around their new products, and whether they should be adjusting, say, features or prices.
G. Resist the temptation to sell, sell, sell. Many marketers have been trained to bludgeon consumers with advertising -- to sell, sell, sell anytime and anywhere consumers can be found. In an online community, it pays to resist that temptation.
When consumers are invited to participate in online communities, they expect marketers to listen and to consider their ideas. They don't want to feel like they're simply a captive audience for advertising and if they do they're likely to abandon the community.
H. Don't control, let it go.
This blog post can be reproduced in its entirety with the following information:
© Joanne Quinn-Smith, Monday Morning Marketeer 412-628-5048
Listen at: http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/tscmd/tc/33960 or
www.positivelypittsburghlivemagazine.com on the Monday Morning Marketeer Channel.
Blog: www.marketingmondaymorning.blogspot.com
e-mail: infoatmondaymorningmarketeerdotcom
Consumers are flocking to blogs, social-networking sites and virtual worlds. And they are leaving a lot of marketers behind.
For business owners who want to become involved and successful marketers of their business, Web 2.0 offers a remarkable new opportunity to engage consumers.
If you as a business owner could only figure out how to do it, Web 2.0 could be the economic downturn lifesaver that allows you to successful brand or rebrand your business and get the word out to thousands, and if you manage to go viral possibly millions. You can do this very cost effectively sometimes by just rolling up your sleeves and getting it done yourself or if you time is at a premium you may have to outsource. But this is a conversation on Guerilla Marketing, so we will not talk about outsourcing at this time. That’s what this series on Web 2.0 has been about, finding effective ways to brand and market your business at low or no cost. What are the opportunities and how deep do your marketing pockets and branding pockets have to be?
What potential marketing opportunities do Web 2.0 applications and tools offer your company? Which Web 2.0 tools have worked well for your company, and which were less successful? You have probably jumped on the bandwagon of e-mail marketing and e-zines, how has that worked for you. More and more people are averse to the amount of e-mail they are getting so there need to be other ways to use Web 2.0 for branding. But first, a more basic question: What is Web 2.0, anyway? Essentially, it encompasses the set of tools that allow people to build social and business connections, share information and collaborate on projects online. That includes blogs, wikis, social-networking sites and other online communities, and virtual worlds.
Millions of people have become familiar with these tools through sites like Facebook, Wikipedia and Second Life, or by writing their own blogs. And a growing number of marketers are using Web 2.0 tools to collaborate with consumers on product development, service enhancement and promotion. But most companies still don't appear to be well versed in this area.
So here's a look at the principles we arrived at -- and how business marketers can use them to get the best results for branding that brings business.
1. Don't just talk at consumers -- work with them throughout the marketing process. Have you heard of a focus group, what about an on line focus group, instead of constantly bombarding your clients or prospects with information, perhaps you may want to send out a blog post and invite comments, use your blog like a focus group to figure out:
a. Do they want or need your product?
b. Are there benefits that should add?
c. Have you gotten your message right?
2. Some people will be concerned about negative reviews:
In sales I always learned that a no is a bridge to a yes. The fact that someone has blogged on your website negative or positive to me is a sign that they care enough to be in touch with you. Recovering from poor feedback by openly offering a solution can really get the blood of your business moving. Correct your mistakes openly and then be sure that you follow through. In the end you can look like a hero. You could also ask some of your satisfied customers to give you some testimonials to the fact that you have done it right in the past.
3. Web 2.0 tools can be used to do what traditional advertising does: persuade consumers to buy a company's products or services. An executive can write a blog, for instance, that regularly talks up the company's goods. But that kind of approach misses the point of 2.0. Instead, companies should use these tools to get the consumers involved, inviting them to participate in marketing-related activities from product development to feedback to customer service.
Dove Cream Oil Make your own commercial for the Oscars was a great example not just of branding but double branding using Web 2.0, Dove put up a site and advertised a contest for their new product, Dove Cream Oil. Content for their site was user generated, by those who wanted a chance to be one of the three commercials showcased on the Oscars for Dove Cream Oil. Visitors to the site could view the videos and then vote on which commercials they liked the best, voting was limited to three days before the Oscars. Millions of people visited the site and thousands entered the contest, what great double viral branding.
4. You can also use on line groups to create collaborations both its business partners and consumers. Among other things, company employees have created wikis -- Web sites that allow users to add delete and edit content -- to list answers to frequently asked questions about each product, and consumers have added significant contributions. For instance, within days of the release of the new Microsoft version, Vista, consumers spotted problems and posted a way for users to deal with it. If only Microsoft would have listened, you as a small business owner are in a particularly flexible niche to listen when your prospects and customers talk.
5. Give consumers a reason to participate.
Consumers have to have some incentive to share their thoughts, opinions and experiences on a company Web site. One lure is to make sure consumers can use the online community to network among themselves on topics of their own choosing. On my Positive Pittsburghers networking forum on Ning a group started up called No Excuses where a group of people got together to support themselves in losing weight.
Some companies provide more-direct incentives: cash rewards or products, some of which are available only to members of the online community. Still others offer consumers peer recognition by awarding points each time they post comments, answer questions or contribute to a wiki entry. Such recognition not only encourages participation, but also has the benefit of allowing both the company and the other members of the community to identify experts on various topics.
• 6. Get Sociable: A New Approach: Marketing these days is more about building a two-way relationship with consumers. Web 2.0 tools are a powerful way to do that. If someone starts to follow you on Twitter, follow up with them. If a prospect signs up for your newsletter, at least have a friendly auto responder set up for them.
• 7. Learn from the Pioneers:
• The Lessons:
• A. Get consumers involved in all aspects of marketing, listen to and join the online conversation about your products outside your site, and give the consumers you work with plenty of leeway to express their opinions.
• B. Put up a calendar where they can post their events
• C. Allow them to start Discussion groups
• D. Make your site as easy to use as possible. I like Ning because you can control spam and still allow your prospects the freedom to do their own thing. Be sure to give clear simple instructions for those who want to participate.
• E. Listen to conversations on other sites: Consumers tend to trust one another's opinions more than a company's marketing pitch. And there is no shortage of opinions online.
F. Keep your eye on sites like Digg.com and Del.icio.us that track the most popular topics on the Web, to see if there's any buzz around their new products, and whether they should be adjusting, say, features or prices.
G. Resist the temptation to sell, sell, sell. Many marketers have been trained to bludgeon consumers with advertising -- to sell, sell, sell anytime and anywhere consumers can be found. In an online community, it pays to resist that temptation.
When consumers are invited to participate in online communities, they expect marketers to listen and to consider their ideas. They don't want to feel like they're simply a captive audience for advertising and if they do they're likely to abandon the community.
H. Don't control, let it go.
This blog post can be reproduced in its entirety with the following information:
© Joanne Quinn-Smith, Monday Morning Marketeer 412-628-5048
Listen at: http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/tscmd/tc/33960 or
www.positivelypittsburghlivemagazine.com on the Monday Morning Marketeer Channel.
Blog: www.marketingmondaymorning.blogspot.com
e-mail: infoatmondaymorningmarketeerdotcom
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