Category:
Small Business
It used to be that businesses concentrated their marketing efforts exclusively on traditional (offline) media – like print ads, TV commercials, radio, PR campaigns, events, billboards, direct mail, glossy brochures. And then the Internet happened. And then social media changed the Internet. A recent report by GrowBiz Media, a small business market research firm, and online survey company Zoomerang led to key insights on how much money small businesses are allocating for their Internet marketing efforts. Entitled “SMB Marketing Practices: Small to Midsized Business Survey Results, 2010”, the report gathers information from 751 completed surveys across the U.S., by businesses with less than 1,000 employees. Among the key takeaways: More than half of the businesses with less than $1000 marketing budget are adopting social media practices, most notably in social networks Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter (in that order). Around 39 percent of respondents are spending more than 20 percent of their marketing budgets on websites (design, development, content creation, marketing, – Read the full article
These days, Twitter is synonymous not only with communication and sharing but also with doing so while on the move. If you need an application to make your Twitter experience more mobile then you won’t have to look too far to find one. Here are 9 Twitter applications to make your life a little – and your business – easier and a lot more fun. Twitpic has become one of the most popular and downloaded apps for mobile phones. Just like the online version, the Twitpic app allows you to easily send images from your phone to Twitter. If that isn’t enough, Twitpic has a bunch of Twitter clients, too (for example, TweetDeck, which has TwitPic integration functionality). Just take a picture (or use your gallery images) and you can upload it to Twitter in an instant. Definitely worth the small cost to download. While of the subject of TweetDeck, what better application is there than this to maintain your Twitter stream? This app – Read the full article
Lakeshore Branding was recently featured on independent news site RINF.com, with a couple of articles on social media for businesses, entrepreneurs, Internet marketers, and startups. RINF.com is a news website with an Internet marketing edge. It’s owned by Mick Meaney, who’s been working on and writing about all things technology since 1998. The first article is “What to Expect from Your Social Media Consultant”, with tips and key insights on what exactly that newly hired employee at the social media department in your office should be doing. Does the job entail tweeting and blogging 24/7? Does the consultant have to double your number of followers or quadruple your number of fans? Or should you be expecting more? Find out more by visiting the social media section of RINF. The second is “7 Twitter Mistakes Businesses Should Avoid”. Well, we all have heard great stories and testimonials from top brands on how Twitter’s so cool – and how amazing it is – Read the full article
With the nation uncertain whether or not the Great Recession is over, and waiting to see what happens next, we all need to sit back and think to ourselves what we need to do to pull ourselves out of the situation that we’re in. Most people in the business and economics world claim that a large part of this recession is a lack of demand. The idea is this: if people aren’t spending money on buying things, then no one sees the need to make and sell products. As a result, people are being laid off and not being rehired elsewhere; it seems there’d be no need for their labor, since no one is buying anything anyway. How does someone create demand, though? It doesn’t seem plausible that someone can create within people a desire to buy, but what we can do as a nation is create something new for which there might be a desire. What people want right – Read the full article
If you have a brand, you should have a logo. Simple as that. And if you have a logo, put it in places where other people can see it: in your website, on your branding collaterals, on your business card. If you don’t have a logo, ask someone to design one for you. Don’t use Microsoft Word clip art or MS Paint. Hire a freelance graphic designer. Or a creative design agency. Or that talented nephew of yours who’s studying art in the university. Or an online service provider? You read that right: an online service provider, and from an already trusted brand like HP, too. Logoworks is a design provider for small businesses. It was established in 2001, acquired by HP in 2007, and has since been known for delivering custom branding material and original, downloadable logos in all major file formats for businesses spanning a range of industries. The idea behind Logoworks is a simple one, really. If – Read the full article
Are you an e-commerce merchant looking for iPhone or iTouch apps to make your life easier, especially on the move? Look no further. There is a wealth of electronic evolution for Apple products that are geared to making your life easier and more fun. Here are my personal favorites. Social Media has taken the Web by storm but it also has a vital place in mobile technology. One of the best ways to keep in contact with your customers, and to maintain a valued relationship, is via social media and there are apps that help you do just that. Take the Meebo, Twitter and Facebook applications to start with. You can share views, news, images and even videos. Check out the Apple App site for a wealth of other social apps that allow all types of possible interaction and functionality. Anyone that cares for their business should care for their customers and using social media is one way to do so. – Read the full article
The Internet has provided many businesses with new exciting opportunities. We know that an increasing number of consumers are turning to the Web when it comes to purchasing products and services. As a business owner, this means that it’s vital that you maintain an online presence. You’ll want to give potential customers the best possible chance to buy your services. The first step on the road to achieving this will be to build a website. Many small business owners take that first step, but too few think about what to do next. The reality is that having a website will be of very little value unless consumers can actually find it. This is what makes search engine optimization (SEO) so vital to any business that’s aiming to succeed online: appearing at the top of the search engine rankings will give you the best chance of being noticed. Hiring a suitable SEO consultant is thus going to be important to your – Read the full article
Online business meetings bring the world to your presentation or discussion. Unfortunately, online business meetings can cost the human element that makes a sales relationship lasting. Let’s discuss the pros and cons of an online business meeting as opposed to booking meeting rooms. Pros of an online business meeting Anywhere, Anytime – Anytime, anywhere, by anyone and to everyone was one of the promises of the Internet. Online business meetings can fulfill that promise. Online presentations can be offered by sales teams around the world, reaching audiences everywhere at once. Economy of Scale – Both the digital broadcasting hardware and receiving hardware in the form of computers have become commonplace, reducing the cost of producing as well as receiving online business meetings. Online meetings also make meetings more affordable to everyone with the hardware to view it. Whether thirty interested experts attend or three thousand potential customers listen in is only a limit of the processing ability of the server. – Read the full article
