Alberta Business Marketing

Social Media and Search Engines are turning the sales world on its head. Is your business attractive bait in the online ocean or is your business just a small fish in a big pond. Businesses today are looking for what you have to offer but how are they finding you?

One of the questions I get asked throughout the course of my day, as a Canadian Social Media Consultant is how small businesses across Canada can actively prospect for new business in our online world. The Internet has opened the kimono when it comes to marketing opportunities.

Is your business leveraging what the Internet has to offer?

I continue to enjoy a strong passion for sales and marketing. This passion was born in my early days as a computer tech and IT Professional in the Calgary market. As a young computer support technician I had a knack for helping those get the right IT solutions for their business and with the right mindset. These core principles I practiced 12 years ago are now very relevant today.

It started with putting service first and the need to provide the client the right solution that allowed them to achieve their crucial business goals. I loved being involved in the sales process and eventually helping build IT Matters through a strong client-first marketing focus.

Like many of you, I had a number of so-called “sales experts” try to educate me on how to sell to my customers. Some strategies worked and some flopped. That was part of the education process. The important component of any experience is that we learn from it.

In a traditional sales environment, we have always taught our sales teams to go out and prospect. Chase down potential opportunity after opportunity and shake things out. Many of us are still taught to “go out and hunt for opportunities”. We do cold calling, warm calling, selling to people in our networking groups and the list goes on from there.

The question is, does it really work in today’s world?

The market is much smarter than just a few years ago. Google, BING and the Internet have helped educate our clients on exactly what they want or need. Social Media and online communities are breeding grounds for those looking for answers. However, many of us continue to turn a blind eye to the power of social media and continue with websites that don’t perform.

Today’s consumer plays the prospector role. Educated consumers lurk amongst us and the Internet allows these knowledgeable consumers to continuous search the information and answers they want. Many will never stop until they get the answer they want. These same consumers once relied on our expertise. Today, that expertise is available with a simple Google search.

I often think in order to fill this need and to be successful in our businesses we need to flip the prospecting model on its head. The roles have to be reversed. Our sales teams and marketing professionals must become the prospect and our future clients…the prospector. I think this is how the model has to look. It is the only way it can work in today’s world where answers are at everyone’s fingertips.

What can we do online and offline that facilitates others to prospect for our services and products? How do sales professionals and business owners become attractive bait for those in need of what we have to offer? I often think about what Jeffrey Gitomer says, “customers love to buy but they hate to be sold”.

How can we become that facilitator who allows people to do what they love…BUY. Can our social media activities play an active role? I think it has to. The reality of today’s world is never before has the opportunity for many of us to become great bait and allow the prospectors out there to find us. After all, isn’t that we all love to buy? The debt crises in North America can attest to that.

The Internet allows us to be searchable. Social media and search engines are the prospector’s tools. The scary part is for many of us is we are nowhere to be found. We have little or no online presence and we wonder why the guy down the street gets all the business. Maybe it is because he is out there, helping and serving those who are looking for what he or she has to offer.

That is the reality, it doesn’t matter what market you are in, you have an opportunity to educate and make yourself the most attractive bait out there. You just need to take the first step and learn how to participate effectively.

Tags: Business, Business/Finance, Calgary, canada, Canadian Social Media, Consultant, continuous search, google, Google Inc., I T MATTERS, jeffrey gitomer, marketing plan, media activities, North America, online communities, online ocean, online presence, online world, sales, search engines, social media, Social Media Ventures Inc, Stuart's ramblings, Technology/Internet, young computer support technician
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Being a small business owner and working in our vibrant Calgary market is truly exciting.  I can’t think of any other market that I would want to own a business in.  My friends at SOHO came through Calgary on June 2nd for their annual trade show and conference.  The Small Office, Home Office event is one of the must attends for Calgary and area small business.  Ulistic had the pleasure of sponsoring this year’s event, sharing our story as an exhibitor and also being the closing speaker.

It was great to be the closing speaker. jokingly we said that Ulistic was the headliner for the 2010 SOHO event.   I spoke on “The New CRM – Managing Your Reputation Online Is CRUCIAL“.  It was a talk on what small business can do to monitor their reputation online.  Reputation Management is very important for business especially when it is so easy for business to fall victim to a malicious person or an upset customer who turns to the web to voice their frustration or seek their attention they crave.  For a great example, see what happened to a friend of mine recently on LinkedIn.

There are a number of key reputation management tips that small business in Calgary must do in aiding to help keep on top of their reputation online.  During my presentation I really only scratched the surface simply because online reputation management can be such a deep subject.  Only so much a guy can cover in 40 minutes!   Here are a few immediate things your small business can do to watch what is being said about your business and many of them are FREE!

1. Check Yelp.com or Yelp.ca daily. Yelp is a service that allows reviews to be posted online about your business.  It is very easy for a customer to offer their praise about your business on Yelp.  I would check Yelp daily and engage when required.
2. Take ownership of your business on the Google Local Business Directory.  Google’s business directory is an online directory of businesses across the world.  Check to ensure you own your listing and when you do take ownership ensure you fill it out completely.
3. Setup alerts on Google Alerts and Social Oomph and monitor your company name, trademarks, brand names, key employees, competitors and anything else you wish to monitor.

It is too late if a prospect informs you about some negative talk online about your business.

Now is the time you take ownership on your online presence.

One of the folks in my session sent me this email…

Aside from gold medalist Carla Macleod you were the best public speaker of the bunch!

About SOHO

SOHO is an organization that empowers small business owners from all across Canada.   Moe and his crew come to Calgary annually to share their message to small business owners.  They are truly unique in what they do.  I can’t really think of any other organizations who have national coverage and also approach our vibrant community with integrity and service.  Kudos Moe…great job.  To learn more about SOHO visit their website at http://www.soho.ca.

Tags: Business, Business/Finance, Calgary, canada, closing speaker, Home Office, Immediate Records, LinkedIn Ltd, online presence, Online reputation management, reputation, reputation management, Small Office, Small office/home office, Soho, World Wide Web
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It is a very proud day today and a wonderful end to a very busy week.  David has been working very hard to get the Ulistic online store up and running for those folks who are interested in registering for the Ulistic Calgary Social Media Workshop on April 15 or our Calgary LinkedIn Workshop on April 28.  The Ulistic storefront provides an easy place for all our clients to sign up for the course of their choice.

Here is our official press release announcing the opening of the Ulistic storefront and registration site.

April 1, 2010 Ulistic Inc., a Calgary Social Media consultancy and search engine optimization service have opened a registration site. The new registration site is where Ulistic will feature upcoming training workshops.

Currently workshops, scheduled and ready for registrations include;

• Search Engine Optimization
• Social Media for Business Owners
• A Social Media Breakfast for Real Estate Agents
• LinkedIn for Business

The Ulistic approach to internet consulting is based on empower the client to take ownership of their online presence through education and support.

A practical “newbie” training…? By Sandy – Mar 30, 2010

I have been privileged to take two of Ulistic’s social media courses and they have helped me overcome my fear in this area. They taught it in an understandable, hands-on method so that when I left, I felt confident that I could do this. Other courses left me feeling overwhelmed, rather than equipped. Though they’re very experienced in this field, they didn’t make me feel that my questions were silly. I felt very comfortable during the course and excited to try it out for my business. Thanks, Ulistic!!?

Tags: April, Business/Finance, Calgary, collaboration, Internet Consulting, linkedin, online presence, registration site, search engine, search engine optimization, search engine optimization service, Social information processing, social media, social media courses, Ulistic Inc., World Wide Web
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How is your business leveraging social media?
Do you know what is being said about your business?
Do you want to learn more from experienced social media business owners?

Consider signing up now for the next Ulistic workshop. A hands on workshop designed to empower the business owner understand social media.

We are going to tell you have to do this…we are going to show you how to do it.

Many business owners, entrepreneurs and managers have heard about the power of social media however struggle on where to start, what to look out for and even how does it bring in new business.

Ulistic is one of Calgary’s freshest businesses focused on empowering small business understand the power of social media. We are not hear to do it for you, our focus is to teach you what you can do online and empower you to take ownership of your entire online presence.

Register today for our next Social Media 101 workshop on April 15th at the Calgary Blackfoot Inn. Workshop runs from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM. This is a hands on, bring your laptop and get started with Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and others.

Click here to register – Calgary Social Media Workshop by Ulistic.

Look forward to seeing you at our next workshop.

“I recently heard that in Jamaica people use the term “overstand” rather than “understand” when they mean that they see the whole picture. That’s what Ulistic’s social media course did for me. I now overstand how to use the many different forms of social media in a coherent and strategic way to deliberately maximize business marketing and name recognition. This isn’t about being overwhelmed and floundering around in new media, guessing how to make them work for you; this is about using them as daily tools to achieve business objectives. Ulistic’s instructors were obviously speaking from deep and broad experience, and their perspective was cogent, clear and very valuable, generously shared. That was great. Then, I took the search engine optimization course and found the same depth, breadth and overstanding perspective that allowed me to see how I could own a website and use it strategically as one of many interlocking online tools for marketing a business. I think anyone would find value in their courses and their services. Thank you, Ulistic!”

Marnie Schaetti, Rai-do Dynamics Communication

Tags: Aesthetics, Business/Finance, Calgary, Calgary Blackfoot Inn, Facebook Inc, Jamaica, LinkedIn Ltd, Mass media, media business owners, media course, New media, online presence, search engine, search engine optimization course, Social information processing, social media, Twitter Inc, Visual arts
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