2012 -Time to Renew with Social Media

December 25, 2011

Happy New Year!  Here we are with 2012 just a week away.  Time just goes by so fast!  Happy New Year!  My calendar just seems to be on Steroids and my life! Do you relate?

With another year upon us we have so much to be thankful for yet our economy is not looking to well these days.  More than ever one needs to market their business as competition is stiff out there.  People are expecting to pay less while still getting more.

It is a great time to renew your Social Media business plan for the upcoming year and take a look back on this previous year in business.

About Social Media:

Social Media – The Next Best Thing to Being There in Person

While meeting with your clients and prospects in person is always the best way to build relationships, you might also consider Social Media.  Facebook is a wonderful place to get to know your clients and engage with your audience.

It has created an opportunity for anyone, anywhere, to have a voice.  Getting a message out no longer depends on how large a marketing budget is; in fact, it’s forced many companies to be creative; many have even hired social media consultants like myself to manage their social media campaigns. The good news is that anyone can learn how to benefit from social media.

You can Blog, Tweet, Facebook or create videos to draw in your targeted audience. What ever you do, you MUST jump on the social media wagon because Internet marketing has never been more necessary for small businesses that want and need an online audience.

Announce new products, post coupons, get to know your clients and their needs.  Don’t just sell them, get to know them!

If you want to brand yourself online please contact me. 

Visit my portfolio by clicking here.

Happy New Year!

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Posted by Jude Hodge

Facebook Pages have the Viral Flu!

October 24, 2011
facebook

Facebook has made some great changes to Pages lately, and I can assume it will only keep getting better.  I love the new upgrade to the traffic reports and the invite friends and also recommendation links.  Facebook is Viral and traffic reports prove that.  It is the best flu your business can ever have.

Every business should have a professionally set up Facebook Business Page, end of story.  Where else can you meet and greet hundreds of thousands of friends/clients and potential customers and neighbors each day.  A website is great but only if people can find it and want to go there.  The great thing about Facebook is that it is forever changing and full of people and rich content.  Search engines are loving Facebook and often can find your business on Facebook before your website comes up.  They have improved their SEO features this year and have done a great job, just another way for your page to go viral with the flu!!

I believe every business should have a website, but honestly believe Facebook is the best way to drive traffic to it.  I would love to analyze your Facebook page at no cost to you…if you would like some honest feedback just send me the link.  judehodge@gmail.com  or call me at 541-933-5833

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Posted by Jude Hodge

Jobs & Social Media Privacy

September 11, 2011
Пирсинг_тоннели_медуза_бридж_лабрет

Image via Wikipedia

Just how private should your social media profile be?  Social Media like Facebook and others have taken over our lives, all around the world.  Now more than ever it is easy for a potential employer to find out more about you when looking through their applicants.  This can work in your favor or against you, depending on the image you portray in your social media pages.

A few months ago in a public group I saw a young stay at home mom seeking a part-time job.  She said she was willing to work any hours, had child-care for her child, that she just wanted to get out part-time and work.  I clicked on her photo to learn more about her as I knew of a few available jobs locally.  Her profile was not private and I saw that she liked to drink a lot of beer, and that her house was filthy as the carpets that her baby were crawling around on were filled with pet hair and crumbs. I also saw that her hair was purple and pink, she had large gauged holes in her ears that hung low, (like the photo above) her nose, lip, eyebrows and chin were pierced, she had tattoos on her neck and arms, her husband had just been released from jail…no I am not kidding as she had chatted about it on her profile page.

So personally I am sure she probably a nice person, but I know that 50% of the public would judge her, so as an employer I would think she would be a great applicant for a tatoo parlour, a hair salon that was trendy, and a place that does piercing, maybe a trendy young cafe etc…but she has narrowed her choices considerably or even the chance of getting an interview based on her profile.  Tatoo’s can often be hidden, piercings can come out and hair color can change.  The chat about jail and her husband made you wonder.

So I bring this all up not to judge her, as there is someone and something out there for everyone.  But I also know that she limits her possibilities having a page that just anyone can look at anytime, even a potential employer as if they are conservative like most then she missed out on ever getting an interview.

The message here…if you are looking for a job, who do you want your employer to know?  The professional you, or the friend, wife and mother trendy girl you are?  Choices?? You may want to reconsider your social media privacy choices.

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Posted by Jude Hodge

The Value of Social Media

August 23, 2011

Making sure your business has an online presence in the virtual world is an important part of any successful  marketing plan. With that said, it’s easy to get over whelmed with social media. Responding to comments on your Facebook page you can make you start to feel  like you’re spending a lot of valuable time and resources keeping up an online  presence that isn’t necessarily turning into dollars.

Or is it working?

I  like to think of social media as a networking tool, a way to connect with many people at once. I know, that sounds  rather obvious but if you take a look you’ll see a lot of online businesses  aren’t utilizing it the way they should. Effective marketing and networking leads to  sales and traffic to your website, especially in the business to Business market. Social media is a fantastic sales tool, particularly Facebook, you just have to change the way you approach networking and sales and take it seriously!

Facebook in particular is  about listening. It’s about conversations. It’s about building a  relationship with your customer/consumer.  It is easy to do and you can spend as little as 10 minutes each day building up your brand and relation-shipping with your audience.

Not only does social media provide a great way to target your customer base, but these sites also provide businesses with a great way to build hype around a product or service.

If you’re not sure how to start a business page, hire someone!  If you do not quite understand Social Media, take some classes.  And get yourself a Facebook page!  Add friends and family, learn about it, then start your business page.

Best advice: Be yourself,  Show  your personality, have some fun with it. In social media it’s as much  about listening as it is about getting your message out there.

Traffic

This is one of the more obvious ways of measuring social media. Remember that quality often beats quantity, though not always.  Facebook provides a traffic report instantly that every business page has access to.  It is called Insights.

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Posted by Jude Hodge

Marketing thoughts

July 3, 2011
iPhone 4 showing the home screen.

Image via Wikipedia

 Marketing Online:

Visual – You can share photos, text, videos and offer a presentation on your website, archived and ready to be found on searches whenever a prospective client searches for it.

Availability - 24 hours a day 7 days a week

Mobility - It is predicted that as of December 2011, one of every two people will have a smart phone with the internet. Also consider the tablet craze going on!

Convenience - You can visit a website on your mobile phone or internet connection anytime.

Position -  You can position yourself to any high traffic area to make sure your website is found.

Traffic Reports -  Your website can use services like Google Analytics which shows you traffic and where it is coming from – at no charge!

Social Media -  Facebook, Twitter and beyond…It costs you nothing and you can drive traffic to your website while building relationships with your clients and prospective clients…priceless!

 

Traditional Marketing

Radio – You must be listening to hear it, now with iPods, iPhones, Droids, Pandora and other audio devices, how often do you listen to the radio? Downside - no visual, no archive, no traffic reports to see if it is generating business to your business. Best for live events and grand openings, and just keeping your name out there. Make sure you relate your website address out there in all of your advertisements if you do radio so you can drive traffic to your website.

Newspaper, Magazines and Print:  Great for the day it is advertised, but soon forgotten and thrown in the garbage, It’s a here today, gone tomorrow situation. Downside, no traffic reports. Possibly best for a coupon or special weekly offer, or just keeping your name out there.  Make sure to always include your website address in all print advertising.

Road Signs

Road signs are found in all areas, they are for the most part expensive and limited.  If you want your business to be found and advertised in that area then it is something you may consider if it is affordable and will represent your business.  If you choose this type of marketing realize you are limited to the area it is seen in, so it must be a very high traffic area. Downside, no traffic reports.  Make sure to include your website on that roadside banner to drive traffic to it!

 

 

 

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Posted by Jude Hodge

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