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5 Ways to Make Social Media Work for Your Business

admin — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 13:45:28 +0000

5 Ways to Make Social Media Work for Your Business

internet marketing Articles from Moe Tamani, the SEO Services Consultant.

Owning your own business is difficult enough without having to worry about finding the perfect balance of marketing strategies. Stick solely to traditional marketing strategies and you’ll find yourself potentially missing an enormous demographic. Try to milk the internet for all it’s worth and you’ll find yourself completely overwhelmed by the number of tools and application available for internet marketing. But what if you used social networking sites as a happy medium between traditional and hard-core internet marketing strategies? Using this one tool could make a huge difference in your business without overwhelming you altogether. Here are 5 ways to get started using social media in your marketing strategy.

1. Create a Strategy. Your competitors have already created a strategy for using social media, so chances are you’re already behind. This means thinking intentionally about how to use social media instead of randomly opening an account here and joining a group there. Spend some time determining the kinds of sites available and evaluating what role they might have in your marketing strategy. Then make a plan to use them consistently and effectively. If you just “go with the flow” you’ll be wasting your time and effort.

2. Brand Building. Social media marketing is like having one enormous billboard advertising your company. Everything you post, every tweet you write, and every comment you make should be treated as a chance to show your audience what your business is all about, what you value, and what you stand for.

The first step to consider is creating a business blog. Chances are you have employees who are already involved in social media in one way or another, so ask them to post some articles to the blog. Be sure your blog includes your logo, a picture of yourself, and any other tools that will help you promote your brand. Use your company’s colors as background on your blog and as wallpaper on your Twitter profile.

3. Choose Wisely. Don’t feel like you need to use every single social media site available. Stick with a few and spend time using them to your advantage. Choose sites that help you connect with your target demographic, that help you show off the components of your business that interest potential customers, and that will be most helpful in connecting potential customers to your business.

4. Find the Right Balance. Social media is so popular that it might initially be difficult to find the right balance between it and traditional marketing strategies. In the end, they should all work together to serve your business effectively. Start with LinkedIn and create a business profile where you can post testimonials and make connections with your customers. Then create a Facebook group tied to your industry or product.

Finally, use Twitter to create a village of those with interest in your industry. Connect traditional strategies with online strategies by printing your Twitter ID on business card and make a place on your website that shows visitors where they can connect with you using social media.

5. Mobility. Many platforms allow you to communicate in real time by downloading applications to your phone. Imagine what you could do as a business owner attending a conference. Sharing with your readers what you’re learning, as you learn it, is a great way to build rapport with and interest in your customers.

Overwhelming or not, young people are exchanging information and making decisions based on social media sites. If you’re interested in connecting with them as they age, procure more discretionary income, and spend money on things that interest them, then you need to find a way to connect with them now. And you need to make sure you’re defining your business online rather than waiting for others to define you in your stead. Get connected online and let the world know who you are.

Using Social Media as an HR Tool

admin — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 15:57:32 +0000

Using Social Media as an HR Tool

internet marketing Articles from Moe Tamani, the SEO Services Consultant.

If you’re a business owner, have you considered the myriad of ways that social networking sites can help you in your hiring decisions? Given the number of individuals using social networks like Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter, it’s almost foolish not to do a little digging on such sites when you’re looking for prospective employees. In the past, many employers have entered prospective employees’ names into search engines, but social networking sites are a whole different ballgame. They encourage users to post personal information and have broken down the barrier between what is kept private and what is shared with everyone.

CareerBuilder recently released survey results showing that 22% of the respondents check social networking sites when considering adding a prospective employee to the candidate pool. And almost one-third said that information they had found on social networking sites caused them to release employees from the pool of candidates. Respondents said that information most likely to influence them included alcohol and drug use, poor communication skills, negative information about coworkers and employers, and inappropriate photographs.

Twitter, the newest of the highly-popular social networking tools, also offers employers a way to obtain information about employees. Twitter displays the time and date of each post, giving employers invaluable information when they read that Employee X is “sneaking away for an hour” while he’s supposed to be working on a project. Can you imagine how it will affect your hiring practices to know what your prospective employee has tweeted in the days and hours before her interview?

Social networking sites can play a huge part in your hiring practices. But what if you’re the one looking for the job? Keep these 5 rules in mind:

1. Be Picky About Your Friends. No matter how clean you keep your comments and your profile, you may have friends who post those photos from last weekend when you couldn’t even stand up straight. If you have friends whose discretion leaves much to be desired, at least request that they not provide compromising content about you.

2. Be as Professional as Possible. It’s fine to chit-chat with friends on your profile as long as you keep it to a minimum and as long as your banter is innocuous. Be careful about everything you post.

3. Ponder the Details. Part of the fun of social networking sites is adding interesting applications and updating your status. But think about how a person who hardly knows you will interpret your applications and updates. If it’s at all questionable, leave it off of your profile.

4. Use Your Time Wisely. If the social networking site you’re using has a time stamp, current and potential employers can quickly see how long you’re spending online. So minimize that time.

5. Check Regularly. You don’t need to check your accounts every five minutes, but be aware of what’s going on as much as possible. If a “friend” posts something embarrassing and you don’t notice it until three days later, a potential employer might have already seen it and made a decision based upon it. Likewise, if you have older accounts that haven’t been updated in awhile, delete them or update them. Potential employers should have the most up-to-date information possible.

Social networks are a great tool for getting “insider” information on potential employees, that information that you always wish you’d known before you made a hire. Don’t hesitate to use it to your advantage and weed out candidates before you have a chance to waste your time interviewing them. And if you’re really excited about positive information you find on a candidate’s profile, use that to guide conversations once you actually have the chance to talk to them. Social networking is an invaluable tool, so use it!

7 Top Tips for Writing Blog Articles

admin — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 18:12:22 +0000

7 Top Tips for Writing Blog Articles

internet marketing Articles from Moe Tamani, the SEO Services Consultant.

SEO experts know that one of the best ways to promote your business is to blog. Unfortunately, many business owners are under the impression that blogging takes a lot of time, or they have seen too many bloggers who start out with gusto only to abandon their blogs two or three months later. While both concerns are legitimate, there’s no reason to let them keep you from starting your own blog. After all, business blogging is a great way to build a following and shorten the sales process.

Rare is the sales blogger who settles in a quiet room with a pencil and a pad of paper to write down his most profound ideas. Instead, most bloggers spend their time reading other blogs and interacting with others within their market niche. All this interaction makes it easier, not harder, to blog. Once you’re in tune with what everyone else is thinking and writing, coming up with your own material is a breeze.

Here are 7 ways to quickly generate your own content.

1. Interviews. Find an expert in your market niche and see if she is willing to be interviewed via email. Read other interviews to glean interesting and timely questions, and then ask her those. Most experts are willing to be interviewed because they get some exposure out of the deal, too. And the whole process only takes about 15 minutes.

2. Guest Bloggers. Hunt down an expert in your field who has expertise in an area you lack and ask him to write an article for your blog. Not only will you increase your following by attracting your guest blogger’s base, but you’ll end up ranking higher for keywords that wouldn’t normally generate a lot of traffic for you.

3. Rewrite. Read some of your old blog posts and find one whose lesson remains applicable to your situation today. You probably have additional insight now, so share that with your readers. Link to the old post and add your new insights. Thirty minutes later you have a new article!

4. Have a Contest. This provides a bonus post because you not only have to post information about the contest, but you also have to tell everyone who the winner was.

5. Ask a Good Question. A good question can ignite great conversation. Use Twitter to help build a following for your blog if you don’t already have one. The great conversation generated by your question will ensure that your readers will stick around. Everyone likes to be asked for their opinion. Let your readers share theirs.

6. Use Lists. Lists are great article-writing tools because people are automatically attracted to bulleted or numbered content. Because it’s easier to read and digest, readers are more likely to slow down for listed material than they are for material that’s written in multiple paragraphs. If you’ve found a list that you like on someone else’s blog, repost it on your blog using only the bulleted phrases and add a link to the original. Change the title of your post, of course, but always link back to the source.

7. Aggregator Blogging. Scan blogs within your market niche to find articles that you think would interest your readers. Publish one or two paragraphs from each article, link to the original, and add a sentence or two of your own to tell readers what you did or didn’t find helpful about the article. This is also a great way to start good conversations and build networks with other bloggers.

Don’t forgo the opportunity to build links, network, and shorten the time it takes to make a sale simply because you think that business blogging is too time-consuming. Use what’s already around you to make the process quick and painless, and you’ll see what a difference it will make for your business.

Promoted to Chief SEO Expert

MoeTamani — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 21:53:12 +0000

Promoted to Chief SEO Expert

internet marketing Articles from Moe Tamani, the SEO Services Consultant.

Search engine and internet marketing news

Today I have the pleasure to announce that I have been promoted to Chief SEO Expert at SEO 1 Services. That means that my job will become mainly developing existing and new SEO techniques, being in charge of the promotion of our corporate site. What does that mean? Probably not much to you… If you are one of my existing clients I will continue to handle your account. I will also personally approve and oversee the strategy of any account generated by my personal blog ( campaign will be implemented by my SEO team ). This new position should free me up to do fun stuff like maintaining this blog. I am excited about this career move! I guess my hard work has paid off…