Alberta Business Marketing

By now, most of us have heard that the Web is social, but are you taking action to encourage social actions on your blog or website? Of course we can socialize with our fans and followers on Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and the like, but now even our websites and blogs can become places where social actions can bring big benefits.

Three Steps to Earning Tweets and Likes

Step 1: Create great content, stuff that gets people excited, interested and enthused about the content you create.  Think beyond basic website information, think about providing something that your fans will want to tell others about.

Step 2: Ask for the action you want people to take.  Be straightforward – instead of leaving it up to your website visitor to decide how to share, ask them to Tweet about it or Like it.  I like to call this action “a small yes”  vs a “big yes”, like opening their wallet to get out a credit card!

Step 3: Make it easier to take that step by providing buttons that make it easy! Grab the new Twitter Tweet code http://twitter.com/tweetbutton and make a customized Facebook Like button http://developers.facebook.com/docs/reference/plugins/like.  Then just paste the html code into your blog or website.

Benefits of Buttons

The nicest thing about using Facebook and Twitter buttons is they are interactive and easy for the users.  It is a very small request to ask a visitor to Like or Tweet about you when all they need to do is click a button on your webpage.  If a visitor likes what they see, engaging with it, brings some sense of personal satisfaction.

A big benefit is that this action is social, letting the website visitors spread word about your offer to all of their friends and followers. Actions produce results that are instantly visible to the clicker.  As the button is pressed, the counter updates, showing number of times the page has been Liked or Tweeted.  It’s a small bit of feedback that encourages users who are social to take action on your page.

Sharing can be viral:  When visitors see others have tweeted or liked your content, it encourages others to share it too! Tweet Button is very well designed

Tweet Buttons Well Designed

The Twitter button is well thought out and features text you can define (default is the page title), a shortened URL and a link to your preferred Twitter account. Users of the code can also recommend a second twitter account to follow once the user confirms their tweet.  Twitter users can also edit the tweet to their desire.

Using the Code

Twitter Tweet Button code is super user friendly, because wherever the code is used, the tweet that is generated automatically creates a shortened URL to the page that was liked.  Once you’ve decided on the design of the button you want for your site, you can use the same code over and over again on any page that you would like tweeted.

The Facebook Like button is highly customizable.  Website editors can even choose to show the Facebook avatar (photo) of the last person who liked your stuff.

Facebook Like button could be better

One of the downfalls of the Facebook Like button code generator, is that the Url to Like must be updated for each page the code is placed on so that when people Like your content, the link in the Facebook status update links directly to the content that was liked.

Think about your site users and fans before determining how social to make your button.  Adding a counter encourages action, but I think most users might be hesitant to see their face show up on the webpage of a tourism business.  My preference is for a simplified counter to save page space.

Get Social on your Webpage or Blog with Facebook Like and Twitter Tweet buttons

If you are in the tourism business, there are big benefits to be had by creating content that engages your audience, just make sure you are making it easy for webpage visitors to share your content with their fans and followers by using Facebook Like buttons and Twitter Tweet buttons.

Tags: Facebook, facebook like, tweet button, Twitter
Posted in Alberta Business | | Comments Off

By now, most of us have heard that the Web is social, but are you taking action to encourage social actions on your blog or website? Of course we can socialize with our fans and followers on Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and the like, but now even our websites and blogs can become places where social actions can bring big benefits.

Step 1: Create great content, stuff that gets people excited, interested and enthused about the content you create.  Think beyond basic website information, think about providing something that your fans will want to tell others about.

Step 2: Ask for the action you want people to take.  Be straightforward – instead of leaving it up to your website visitor to decide how to share, ask them to Tweet about it or Like it.  I like to call this action “a small yes”  vs a “big yes”, like opening my wallet to get out my credit card!

Step 3: Make it easier to take that step by providing buttons that make it easy! Grab the new Twitter Tweet code http://twitter.com/tweetbutton and make a customized Facebook Like button http://developers.facebook.com/docs/reference/plugins/like.  Then just paste the html code into your blog or website.

Benefits of Buttons

The nicest thing about using Facebook and Twitter buttons is they are interactive and easy for the users.  It is a very small request to ask a visitor to Like or Tweet about you when all they need to do is click a button on your webpage.  If a visitor likes what they see, engaging with it, brings some sense of personal satisfaction.

A big benefit is that this action is social, letting the website visitors spread word about your offer to all of their friends and followers. Actions produce results that are instantly visible to the clicker.  As the button is pressed, the counter updates, showing number of times the page has been Liked or Tweeted.  It’s a small bit of feedback that encourages users who are social to take action on your page.

Sharing can be viral:  When visitors see others have tweeted or liked your content, it encourages others to do it too!

Tweet Button is very well designed

The Twitter button is well thought out and features text you can define (default is the page title), a shortened URL and a link to your preferred Twitter account. Users of the code can also recommend a second twitter account to follow once the user confirms their tweet.  Twitter users can also edit the tweet to their desire.

Using the Code:

The Facebook Like button is highly customizable.  Website editors can even choose to show the Facebook avatar (photo) of the last person who liked your stuff.  One of the downfalls of the Facebook Like button code generator, is that the Url to Like must be updated for each page the code is placed on so that when people Like your content, the link in the Facebook status update links directly to the content that was liked.

Think about your site users and fans before determining how social to make your button.  Adding a counter encourages action, but I think most users might be hesitant to see their face show up on the webpage of a tourism business.  My preference is for a simplified counter to save page space.

Twitter Tweet Button code is super user friendly, because wherever the code is used, the tweet that is generated automatically creates a shortened URL to the page that was liked.  Once you’ve decided on the design of the button you want for your site, you can use the same code over and over again on any page that you would like Tweeted.

If you are in the tourism business, there are big benefits to be had by creating content that engages your audience, just make sure you are making it easy for webpage visitors to share your content with their fans and followers by using Facebook Like buttons and Twitter Tweet this buttons.

Tags: Facebook, facebook like, tweet button, Twitter
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LinkedIn, Facebook and many other Social Networking sites have been suggesting friends and followers for a while now.  Do you follow these people just because the service recommends them to you.   Deep down inside where many Facebookers or LinkedIn users never get a chance to visit there is some formula or algorithm that figures out who you should know and offers suggestions based on your friends, there friends and a number of other criteria.

Twitter is now jumping of the “suggest a friend” campaign with their own “suggestions for you” program.

The Twitter blog has more information on how this will work inside Twitter.  Read the Twitter blog.

Are you the type to follow whomever is suggested to you?

What do you think about the automated suggestions?

In the LinkedIn world, I have used the suggestions to my advantage.  When I see a name pop up from someone I haven’t heard of in a while or a long-lost colleague, LinkedIn can be a great way to get back in touch with people.

But what do you think?

Tags: Blog hosting services, Facebook, Facebook Inc, Human Interest, linkedin, LinkedIn Ltd, Online social networking, Social information processing, Social Landscape, social media, Social network service, Technology/Internet, Twitter, Twitter Inc, web 2.0, World Wide Web
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Everyday I get asked by someone who is wanting the “quick win” with their marketing.  What do I have to do today to enable the phone to ring tomorrow?  Well, that is a very good question.  I am one hundred percent sure there is some marketing guru out there who can give you some quick win success formula that will enable this happen.  A couple a tweets here, a Facebook status update there and you are off to the races.  You need to simply spend two minutes on Google and you can easily find them, there are lots of gurus and ninjas and self-proclaimed experts who can help you.  Sure get the quick win, lots of promise but they all lack real substance.

Success in marketing doesn’t come overnight, I know…I haven’t been marketing for several years and it takes blood, sweat and tears.  It takes works and it takes time.  It takes patience and most importantly, it takes commitment.  The only thing overnight about marketing is your blunders that knock you down.  Those for some reason they seem to occur overnight, but success doesn’t.

I was reading on the side of my cereal box this morning about healthy eating.  Same thing, healthy lifestyles isn’t a race it is a journey and the same thing can be said about your marketing and especially your social media activities.

Success with social media is definitely not a race.  It is a journey and a tough uphill journey at the best of times.   It takes commitment from you and your entire team.  It takes more than just opening a Twitter account, Facebook Page and throwing up a free WordPress or blogger site.  Social Media takes planning, preparation and it requires everyone in the company to play a role.  I don’t care if you have three employees, thirty-three or three thousand and three.  Everyone must play a part.

This is what we do at Ulistic, everyone plays a role in our social media activities.  David, Frank and myself (soon Melanie) all play our parts and we all have the same goal just different paths that are strategically laid out in our marketing plan.  We all blog regularly and we participate in blog commenting almost daily, we are active on Facebook, Twitter and others and most importantly, we are active in our communities and this includes online and face-to-face.  I mentioned this in my podcast with Daniel Gutierrez and Bob Burg the other night…nothing will replace a face-to-face meeting, your social media fills these gaps and helps you get to face-to-face.

Are you expecting that quick win?  You may be a tad bit disappointed with this mindset.  For those who are out there consistently adding value and enriching the lives of others you will have success and it will take time.  Success with your social media marketing is helping others but also getting paid to help these people.  Bob says’ “Give more in value than you take in payment”.  You need to provide value but don’t do it for free.  Never lose site that you are in business and you must convert visitors, fans and followers to clients.  If you don’t you have a big network.  That’s it.

Need help figuring all this out, give me a call 403.775.2205.

Tags: 403.775.2205, Behavior, Blog hosting services, blogger site, Bob Bur, Business Success, Daniel Gutierrez, Facebook, Facebook Inc, Google Inc., Learning, media activities, media marketing, Online social networking, Play, social media, social media marketing, Twitter, Twitter Inc, web 2.0, World Wide Web
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Our team at Ulistic coaches many small business folks and marketing teams across North America each day.  This is the part of the job that I truly enjoy, openly sharing concepts, tips and tricks and practical use of social media.    It is always such a delight when the light bulb goes off during a consulting session with one of our clients.  Business in my opinion are done with the fluff around social media, they want the hard facts, return on investment justifications, what are the opportunities and most importantly what do need to do.  Interested in learning more, just click here, drop me an email or phone call.

One Product that rocks my world – Hootsuite

One of the products we discuss at length during our Social Media Consulting engagements is Hootsuite.  Hootsuite is the cornerstone of our social media modules and it rightly deserves it place in the pecking order of must have social media management tools for any size of business or hobbyist.

I have personally tried a number of social media services out there (Tweetdeck is one).  Hootsuite is really the only true social media dashboard product out there that is easy to use and does almost anything you can imagine.  One the biggest stress factors with social media is managing the time to engage properly online and make important connections, Hootsuite solves this.  With Hootsuite, you can manage multiple Twitter accounts, LinkedIn profiles, Facebook pages, Foursquare accounts and so much more.  You can even invite members of your team and share certain online social media accounts.

It is a must have for any serious social media professional out there and it is also Canadian.

Hootsuite is based in Vancouver, BC.

Hootsuite runs online, it is a true cloud solution.  Leveraging the power of HTML5, Hootsuite requires no software to install and no widgets or browser add-ons, simply point your browser to http://www.hootsuite.com, create your account and you are off to the races.

Karim at Techvibes shared some recent news on Hootsuite the other day.  Hootsuite is cranking it up another step.  I love the fact that I can segment my Twitter account into lists, searches and much more but now I can filter these columns on keywords or Klout.  My Klout score sits at 29, it has taken a hit over the past little while since I haven’t been that active in the Twitter Universe lately.

Go and check out Hootsuite, it is awesome web-based solution that rocks!

Tags: awesome web-based solution, british columbia, cloud solution, Facebook Inc, foursquare, Hootsuite, LinkedIn Ltd, media accounts, media dashboard product, media management tools, media modules, media services, North America, Online social networking, Real-time web, social media, social media consulting, Technology/Internet, Tweetdeck Inc., Twitter, Twitter Inc, Vancouver, web 2.0, World Wide Web
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