Lakeshore BrandingSearch results for 'meaningful conversations' (page 1 of 4)

Social Media Marketing: 4 Ways to Make Your Business More Visible With It

Guest Blogger — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 16:35:02 +0000

A big part of running a successful business is making sure that everyone knows about it. Unfortunately, though, that can be a lot easier said than done! If you want to make your business more visible, tap into the power of social media marketing and take advantage of these expert tips: Offer specials to your social media contacts If people know that they’re going to get extra discounts and perks by “liking” you on Facebook or following you on Twitter, they’re going to do it! And, in return, they’ll give you things that you would have a real hard time getting otherwise, like solid word-of-mouth advertising and repeat business. Show people that you’re genuinely excited A big problem that people have in social media marketing is posting something because they feel like they “have to”. Guess what? That lack of enthusiasm shines through, and it’s not a good way to get people talking about your business. Instead, make sure that - Read the full article

Social Media Marketing: 4 Ways to Make Your Business More Visible With It is a post from: Lakeshore Branding

Social Media for Travel Companies: Where We’re Headed (Plus Power Tips)

Guest Blogger — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 19:17:19 +0000

For the travel industry, at least, social media is seen as more valuable than pay-per-click advertising. The World Travel Market 2011 report says that travel professionals see social media as one of the key revenue-generating channels over the next five years. As proof of this, the study found that eight out of ten travel-related businesses use some form of social media. Not only that: the World Travel Market 2011 also expects that in five years, half of all travel-related companies would be generating income and bookings on social media, rising from the current 22%. Out of those using social media marketing, around 50% do not even invest in PPC advertising, while 1 out of 5 of those who do use PPC aim to stop or reduce their spending in the next few years. It is very apparent that the travel industry loves social media. So if you are in the travel business, it is time to amp up your social media activities. Blogs - Read the full article

Social Media for Travel Companies: Where We’re Headed (Plus Power Tips) is a post from: Lakeshore Branding

E-Commerce: Launching Your Online Business

Guest Blogger — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 17:54:50 +0000

Every business shares a common goal – to survive, grow and prosper. In today’s fast-track competitive world, businesses large and small must turn to new measures in order to evolve, grow or simply stay afloat. Ecommerce website development can offer growth opportunities of enormous proportion for businesses from all sectors. This is mostly due to the advent of highly improved and user friendly web services (Ed’s note: services like our favorite, Magento) available across the web that have literally carved a place in the hearts of online users. As an online business owner, the employment of technological advances in e-Commerce website design can mean the difference between the success and failure of your business objectives. Accordingly, it is important to understand exactly what an ecommerce website is and how to get started with one. Basically, an ecommerce website is a virtual representation of your physical business. Interestingly, most business owners grow to learn that the biggest difference between an ecommerce - Read the full article

E-Commerce: Launching Your Online Business is a post from: Lakeshore Branding

Social Media Dashboards – with Customer Relationship Management Features – for Twitter

Chris Campbell — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 17:52:32 +0000

It’s not uncommon for businesses today to use social networks – namely, Twitter and Facebook – as a platform for engaging with customers and managing customer relationships. This development has given rise to an increasing number of social media solutions and dashboards, each promising to streamline all tasks and bring a new level of ease in customer engagement. Let’s take a look at the best of these solutions and their features. MediaFunnel MediaFunnel is a social media suite for businesses and enterprises, with a host of features designed to make Twitter and Facebook accounts easier to manage. One of these distinguishing features is Multiple User Roles, or the ability to assign Administrator, Publisher, and Contributor roles and grant various levels of permission to review or publish tweets and Facebook posts (for greater editorial control and efficiency). Apart from monitoring Twitter and Facebook for mentions and tracking the performance of links via Bit.ly and BudURL, MediaFunnel also enables you to - Read the full article

Social Media Dashboards – with Customer Relationship Management Features – for Twitter is a post from: Lakeshore Branding

5 Cheap but Effective Small Business PR Tips

Guest Blogger — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 18:31:11 +0000

We have witnessed a dramatic evolution in media in the past few years – the media elite matter less every day, everyone is the media, and everyone matters. Reaching the big media gatekeepers of yesterday is no longer the challenge. Now the challenge is effectively reaching the audience that will be interested in hearing your story and engaging with you. Fortunately this new media environment has had great benefits for small business PR, giving small business owners more power to disseminate their message and reach their target audiences. Here we offer some of our best, cost-effective PR tips for small business owners and entrepreneurs. Create a Press Release There are several cheap and free options these days for issuing a press release. Platforms such as PR Web offer business owners access to a large network of media outlets and bloggers on the cheap, while giving them the ability to target specific and relevant audiences. You may also want to consider submitting your press release to the editors of specific news outlets you are trying - Read the full article

5 Cheap but Effective Small Business PR Tips is a post from: Lakeshore Branding

Why You Must Use Google+ (Google Plus) For Your Business

Guest Blogger — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 18:34:05 +0000

Google+ is gaining immense popularity and everyone’s talking about it right now. Forget for a second about its “competition” with Facebook and other social media sites; in and by itself Google Plus is receiving fast and wide acclaim, at a global level, and many even say that soon it is going to act as a channel to get people to patronize your business. A channel, in other words, for Internet marketing and social media marketing. Currently, there are no Google Plus profiles exclusively for businesses, but that doesn’t mean you can’t use the social networking site to help your work gain more visibility. Here are some tips on leveraging Google+ in order to advance your business objectives: If you already have a Google+ profile, you are halfway to generating, well, more business buzz. Not yet a member? Well, first you have to create a Gmail account (if you don’t already have one). Then you have to get an invitation. For - Read the full article

Why You Must Use Google+ (Google Plus) For Your Business is a post from: Lakeshore Branding

Revamped Facebook Questions – and How Businesses and Brands Can Use It

Chris Campbell — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 18:49:15 +0000

Sometime last year, social networking giant Facebook launched an online Q&A product called Questions. It was thought to be a feature that would rival Yahoo! Answers or the much buzzed-about Quora – in that Facebook Questions would be a similar online database of knowledge, built by hundreds of millions of users – but the product eventually failed to gain traction. Few people used it. Now, Facebook Questions has been revamped and made more “social”. It’s probably less ambitious than its first version, but it’s certainly better and more useful this time. In a March 25 announcement made on the Facebook blog, product manager Adrian Graham explained the Facebook Questions update: “Friends are often the best source of advice when you’re trying new things. Friends know your tastes, and you have confidence in their opinions. Over the summer, we began testing Questions with a small group of people, and today we are beginning to roll it out to everyone…. There are - Read the full article

Revamped Facebook Questions – and How Businesses and Brands Can Use It is a post from: Lakeshore Branding

9 Twitter Questions You Might Be Too Embarrassed to Ask

Chris Campbell — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 19:45:55 +0000

Say what you will about the power and popularity of social media, but it’s not going to make a number of marketers, business owners, and brand managers stop asking questions about what to do with it. Take Twitter, for instance. Questions about its viability are being asked over and over. If you’re one of those who have to keep asking, don’t be embarrassed. It’s okay to be skeptical. And it’s perfectly natural to scrutinize the immense popularity and business viability of Twitter before you dive in and make it part of your strategy. For the sake of clarity, let’s take on 9 burning questions about Twitter. How can Twitter and its 140-character limit possibly have any real business value? Twitter is more a communications platform than a mere application. And that’s where its value lies. It allows you to easily enter into conversations with other users – conversations where you can listen in, receive precious feedback, share information, and, essentially, - Read the full article

9 Twitter Questions You Might Be Too Embarrassed to Ask is a post from: Lakeshore Branding

After Snubbing Google, Groupon Raises Nearly $1 Billion in Venture Funding

Chris Campbell — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 19:45:48 +0000

It looks like snubbing the world’s number one search engine was the right move after all. Just a little over a month after rejecting Google’s $5.3 billion offer, daily deals website – and one of today’s fastest growing companies – Groupon has raised $950 million in one of the largest venture funding rounds of all time. The financing came from a long list of venture capital firms and investors, including Andreessen Horowitz, Greylock Partners, Accel Partners, Battery Ventures, DST, Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers, Silver Lake, Maverick Capital, Technology Crossover Ventures, Mail.Ru Group, and New Enterprise Associates. “We’re thrilled that Groupon has earned the confidence of some of the world’s most respected investment firms,” said Andrew Mason, founder and CEO of Groupon. “With their support, we will continue on our mission to change the way people shop locally and serve the world’s local businesses.” Added Greylock Partners venture capitalists Reid Hoffman and James Slayet in a TechCrunch guest blog post: “We - Read the full article

After Snubbing Google, Groupon Raises Nearly $1 Billion in Venture Funding is a post from: Lakeshore Branding

Twitter Tips: Crisis Communications and Online Reputation Management

Chris Campbell — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 19:30:22 +0000

A number of business owners and brand managers use Twitter as a tool for communicating advertising and marketing messages, but the popular social media and microblogging site is also an equally powerful public relations tool. Twitter is especially effective in helping you manage your online reputation and plan your crisis communications strategy. Where before, one turned to PR firms in times of crisis and controversy, sticking to traditional media is no longer enough today. Why? Because: People are making and engaging in conversations 24/7, real-time, on social media networks. People are sharing information and opinion through the Internet now more than ever. Dissatisfied customers (or employees), competitors, and unscrupulous stealth marketers can spread false information or commit brand identity theft as easily as they can push their own agendas. So here Twitter comes to save the day! In cases of crisis that can potentially significantly damage your business or brand, you can leverage this tool to respond, interact, and manage - Read the full article

Twitter Tips: Crisis Communications and Online Reputation Management is a post from: Lakeshore Branding