Marketing Ideas

 By Pat Price

Whenever I visit the South I have to remember that if I want to order an iced tea at a restaurant  I have to specify unsweetened tea.  Otherwise I’ll get sweet tea.  It’s a good reminder that there are times and situations when we need to be crystal clear and specific.  This is especially true on the Internet, where we need to be VERY specific about what we want – and don’t want.

A prime example of this is pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns.  (If you’re unfamiliar with PPC, here’s a previous article describing how pay-per-click works.)  One of the most important aspects of running a PPC campaign is specifying the keywords (or phrases) that you believe users are most likely to use in their search.  This is what will ultimately trigger your ads.   Perhaps the second most important consideration is specifying negative keywords – the words or phrases that are outside the scope of your ad campaign but could potentially cause your ads to appear.
 
As an example, one of our clients had been running a PPC campaign for their online store. They asked us to take over because they weren’t getting the results they thought they should be getting.  Were we ever surprised when we looked at their account!  This client had been paying for keyword phrases that had NOTHING to do with the products they offered.  They sell stationery, themed papers, and invitations.   Yet, they were paying when someone searched and clicked on golf themed toilet paper!  How did that happen?

One of their broad keyword phrases was “themed paper”.  So their ad could potentially be seen by users searching for anything even loosely related to this phrase.  They DO sell golf themed paper, but NOT toilet paper.  It’s this lack of attention to the details that can cost you a ton of money with PPC.  A couple of clicks here and a couple of clicks there can add up fast.  By setting up a large set of negative keywords (such as toilet paper), we were able to bring their costs down significantly.

We’ve found this to be true for others who are managing their own PPC campaigns.  When asked how well their program is doing, a common response is “it costs too much for what we are getting.”  In many cases, this could mean one of a few things:

1. The company didn’t adequately research the proper keywords or phrases to include in their ad campaign(s). They may have taken a wild guess or assumed they already knew what should be used for keywords. 
2. Too many keywords or search terms were broadly defined.  As a result, their ads might appear when users enter a search term that is only loosely related to their keyword phrases but is outside the scope of their offer. 
3. No negative keywords have been specified.   Many people are not aware that PPC keeps track of search terms that users enter when ads are shown.  Through analysis of this data, a list of negative keywords can be compiled to eliminate unrelated words or phrases. 
4. And finally, in some instances, companies simply don’t give their program enough time.  It can take months of continuously defining and refining keyword phrases, finding your niches, and determining the optimal wording of ads that will ultimately lead to a successful campaign. 

So remember to specify negative keywords when running your PPC campaign!

Pat Price has worked with numerous clients to generate more business and boost their marketing effectiveness. She is a professional speaker and president of The Price Group, Inc, a full-service marketing firm serving small to mid-sized organizations. To receive Pat’s free Marketing Tips! newsletter, go to www.PatPriceSpeaks.com/resources.php . She can be reached at 630.717.8332 or through her website at www.thepricegroup.biz or www.patpricespeaks.com.

By Pat Price

Perhaps you’ve noticed those funny looking bar codes on products or magazine ads.  They’re square, and look like a mini printed circuit board.  When they are scanned by a mobile device, users are directed to more content such as messages, websites, or videos.  Their purpose is to give people passing by additional information.  They can be used for providing background information, advertising, and even fundraising.

Although they’ve been used in the manufacturing industry for almost 2 decades, these little guys are quickly catching on as a great way for marketers to connect with prospects and customers. Called Quick Response, or QR codes, they have been extremely popular in Japan and are only now making their way into the American mainstream.

Here’s a classic example of how they work.  Suppose you run an art gallery.  Next to each piece of art, you have a label with the name of the work, the artist, and a QR code.  Anyone with a Smartphone (and a QR code-reading app) can read the code with their phone and immediately be connected to a website with background information on the artist, video of the artist creating the piece, or an interview with the artist explaining their inspiration for the piece.

With the growing rise in mobile smartphones, marketers for both small and large companies are taking notice of this opportunity to communicate with their audience.  (The Nielsen Company noted that 30% of cell phones are now smartphones, such as Blackberry, Droid, and iPhones.  And, Deloitte’s “Technology, Media & Telecommunications Predictions 2011″ is forecasting 46% of global PC and non-PC computing device expenditures will be for smartphones.  That’s slightly more than they predict will be spent on PCs and laptops combined.)  The use of QR codes for social scanning is expected to grow right along with this trend.  One of the biggest obstacles for this application is consumer awareness.  But, I suspect that by the end of this year that will have changed.

So how can you use QR codes? Here are a few ways they can be used:

• On your print advertising such as ads, direct mail, brochures, or informational packages.
• To offer a special promotion or scan the QR code for a discount
• On your business card.  Marketers have always wished that business cards could hold more information.  Now they can!  A QR code can link your card to your resume, your website’s services page, or LinkedIn profile.
• On Point-of-Sale product displays.  QR codes can be used with high-end items, such as cars (linking to a video of the car performing on a racetrack), jewelry (with close-up views of the gemstone) or home theaters (with product specs).  But I can also see them being used with everyday items, such as clothing (fabric, laundering, or product details), fast food (nutrition analysis) and makeup (how to apply).
• On promotional items. Speaking of clothing, you can put QR codes on mugs, hats, and t-shirts to promote your business.
• For Eco-friendly products.  Give consumers more information related to how your product is saving the planet.  Showcase your production methods, statistics, or video of the difference your product is making.
• With assembly instructions.  It would have been nice to have video instructions for how to assemble that grill we bought last summer, in addition the 20 pages of print instructions!  With a QR code, there’s no cost because you don’t need to produce a DVD!
• In your newsletter.  Include a QR code to launch to a page that gives you additional resources, articles or how-to’s.
• On for sale signs. Real estate agents can put a QR code on their “for sale” sign to launch a virtual tour
• For bonus material.  Offer special bonus materials in videos, games, memberships, CDs or DVDs
• For how-to’s. A QR code on scrapbooking paper, cutters, etc. would be ideal for sharing project ideas.
• For non-profits.  A QR code at an event or on a brochure or pledge card could offer more information about the cause’s good work.  Recipients could also scan the codes to either donate or volunteer.

I’m sure you can think of other ways to use them!  It seems like the possibilities are only limited by imagination.

By the way, be aware that like most technologies, there are a couple of “standards” out there.  QR codes were developed in Japan and are used extensively there.  But in the US, there is a move to adopt ScanLife EZcodes.  The ScanLife code reader app can be downloaded to your Smartphone by texting “SCAN” to 43588.

Get ready, now that you know what they are, I’ll bet you see these little guys popping up all over the place!

Pat Price has worked with numerous clients to generate more business and boost their marketing effectiveness. She is a professional speaker and president of The Price Group, Inc, a full-service marketing firm serving small to mid-sized organizations. To receive Pat’s free Marketing Tips! newsletter, go to www.PatPriceSpeaks.com/resources.php . She can be reached at 630.717.8332 or through her website at www.thepricegroup.biz or www.patpricespeaks.com.

A Wish List for All Seasons 

By Pat Price

During the stressful holiday season, why not take a break and treat yourself!  Consider making a wish list for all seasons to make you or your business more productive in the new year.  Here are a few of our favorites:

• Toggl – www.toggl.com Do you find yourself losing track of the time spent on customers’ projects?  Toggl is designed for easy time-tracking. You can use the built-in timer on the website or on your desktop.  Toggl keeps track of time spent on specific customer projects and/or tasks with the click of a mouse. There is a free version and a version for as little as $5/month for solo freelancers.
• Flip video – www.theflip.com – These small video cameras offer an affordable and easy way to record and share videos.  There are many ways small businesses can use the Flip.  For example, you can record customer testimonials, how-to videos, demos, video messages, or snippets of educational seminars.  You can then upload them to Facebook, your website, YouTube, and other sharing platforms. Let others see how your product works and what your customers are saying!
• Form and survey creation – www.wufoo.com – While there are tools available for creating surveys, wufoo adds the ability to create forms as well.  The tool offers easy-to-use methods to create online forms and surveys such as contact forms, online order forms, mailing lists, marketing surveys, and more.  Their integration with PayPal, Google Checkout and authorize.net makes it easy to receive payment for online event registration, donations or simple online orders.  Try them out at their free level, which allows you to build three forms. After that, the price is $15 per month (and up) for more capabilities and capacity.
• Social Media tracking –Social Media really gained traction in 2010.   Many small businesses want to monitor their social media activities, but don’t have the time or the knowledge to view and manage performance metrics on these platforms. TwentyFeet -  https://www.twentyfeet.com/ – provides an easy-to-use service to aggregate your Social Media data and provide “exceptions” reporting. In addition to a dashboard on their site, they send an email notifying you when something occurs above or below the norm for your profiles.  It “learns”, for example, how many followers you attract on average, and notifies you when you have an above or below normal spike in activity. They currently support Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and bit.ly, with more platforms to come. Your first month of use is free.  They offer one Twitter account and one personal Facebook account for free, with additional account support available for as low as $2.49/month.
• Use your phone without removing your gloves. Given the cold winter weather, you might find this little innovation interesting.  A company called Glovetips – www.glovetips.com – makes your gloves touch-screen compatible.  Who knew?!  You can modify your gloves with a kit that allows you to interact with touch screen devices such as iPhones, iPads, Android phones and capacitive touch screen devices. They are precise enough that you can even send emails and text without removing your gloves.
• Keep devices charged with a portable universal charger- If you’re on the road, here’s a nifty way to keep your electronics charged and ready to go.  Although there are a variety of charging platforms available, a relatively inexpensive version is offered by Sharper Image called the Portable Charging Valet.  Instead of packing all of your chargers for phones, PDA, iPods, Bluetooth headsets etc, this fold-up charging pad lets you charge up to 3 devices simultaneously from one plug.
• Social Media Management – Are you overwhelmed with keeping up with your Social Media efforts, or do you want to be involved but just don’t know where to start?  You’re not alone, based on what I’ve been hearing lately! If you’d like to give yourself the gift of time, give us a call.  We can help you sort through what you need, how to be more effective or even manage your accounts for you.  Call us at 630.717.8332 to see how we can help.  We’d love to hear from you!

Pat Price has worked with numerous clients to generate more business and boost their marketing effectiveness. She is a professional speaker and president of The Price Group, Inc, a full-service marketing firm serving small to mid-sized organizations. To receive Pat’s free Marketing Tips! newsletter, go to www.PatPriceSpeaks.com/resources.php . She can be reached at 630.717.8332 or through her website at www.thepricegroup.biz or www.patpricespeaks.com.

 By Pat Price

I absolutely love turning a new website over to a client.  After all of the planning, strategizing, copywriting, and design, it all comes together in a visually appealing and compelling representation of their brand.  But even though we take great strides to create the content with strategic keyword phrases so a website is more likely to be listed high in search engine rankings, there are other critical factors for ensuring a site is consistently ranked high. 

One factor that will determine whether your site is listed on page 1 or page 12,435 is inbound link popularity.  An inbound link is a connection from another web page to yours.  For example, if your website is listed on a Chamber of Commerce website, odds are it includes a live link back to your company’s site.  Any time a link to your website is posted anywhere on the Internet, and people are able to click and jump to your website, you have an inbound link.

So, in order to be ranked high by the search engines you’ll need to work to increase the number of inbound links to your site.   But here’s a word of caution.   You don’t just want any links coming back into your site.  You want links that are relevant to your business, your product or service mix, etc.  You need links that are from trusted domains, authorities in your industry, and popular web sites.  Avoid schemes promising thousands of links.  It’s quality that counts.

It is estimated that link popularity carries as much as 66% of the weighting of the Google search algorithm. So how do you build inbound links?

• Submit your website to free, high trust search engines and directories such as Google, Yahoo, Bing, yellow pages, Merchant Circle, and industry-specific directories.  How do you find these directories?  Here are two great ways that we use.  Look at the inbound links for the dominant company in your industry.  Odds are they are listed in a multitude of online directories.  So why reinvent the wheel?  You can also do a search for directories associated with your particular industry. 
• Get listed with any associations in which you are a member (for example your Chamber of Commerce, industry associations or local affiliations).
• People love saving money, right?  Think about a coupon or “freebie” that you could offer to potential customers and then list your business on as many free coupon sites as you can find.
• Offer to share links with all of your business partners and customers.
• You may already have a newsletter that you send out to customers.  Repurpose your content by creating an article that can be submitted to article directories such as ezinearticles, bestmanagementarticles, isnare, or goarticles.
• Post any existing content on appropriate social media content sites such as slide presentation on slideshare.net and videos on youtube.
• Create a press release and share it on local and industry news sites.
• Publish existing content or create fresh new content that you can offer as a free download such as white papers, studies, lists, tips, etc.
• Leverage social media by commenting on articles and engaging in discussion groups. When appropriate, create accounts on social media platforms such as Twitter and facebook and post comments and content consistently.  Include links in your posts back to your website.
• Write reviews for products and services on directories or stores such as Yelp!, Tripadvisor, and Amazon.
• If time and resources allow, launch a blog for your business and post articles.  Invite others to write articles for publication on your blog as guest contributors.
• If you don’t have a blog offer to be a guest writer for another blog that is relevant and important in your industry.  In the bio box at the end of the article include a link back to your site.

Lastly, once you have invested time in creating inbound links, be sure to periodically evaluate and measure the success of your efforts.  Most web hosting companies provide statistics, or use free tools such as Google Analytics or Yahoo’s Site Explorer to see the source and number of inbound links to your site.

Pat Price has worked with numerous clients to generate more business and boost their marketing effectiveness. She is a professional speaker and president of The Price Group, Inc, a full-service marketing firm serving small to mid-sized organizations. To receive Pat’s free Marketing Tips! newsletter, go to www.PatPriceSpeaks.com/resources.php . She can be reached at 630.717.8332 or through her website at www.patpricespeaks.com.

 By Pat Price

Vacations and long weekends result in summer months being slower than average for many businesses.  If that’s true in your business, there’s no better time to use this lull to revisit your marketing and business plans.  I’ve compiled a list of some of the best FREE online resources available to small businesses.  Whether you are considering starting a small business or have already been in business for awhile, these resources provide a wealth of information to help grow your business.  So, add one or more of these to your summer reading list!

General Small Business Management:
1. The U.S. Small Business Administration provides great free resources, tools and online courses for small businesses on a wide range of topics.  Be sure to visit their Local Resources page where you can find Small Business Development Centers, Women’s Centers and other valuable resources located near you.

2. The website for Inc. magazine, has insightful advice, tools, and services for business owners. They have several free tools geared specifically to the small business owner.  You can find a sample of those tools here: http://www.inc.com/tools/ .  Topics include running a business, sales and marketing, leadership and management, financials, and more.

3. Entrepreneur magazine offers 12 Free Tools for Online Businesses  It links to other web sites and service providers who offer free services in areas such as market research, keyword research, web design and email campaigns.

4. The Small Business CEO blog, is a concise resource for small businesses.  They have compiled a list of useful web sites for the small business – http://www.smbceo.com/free-small-business-tools/ which includes a list of free tools, forms, templates, e-books and software that will help you manage your business.

Website Marketing:
5. Having some knowledge of website design and marketing can go a long way in helping you better understand the opportunities and obstacles for marketing your business online.  This Master Web Site Marketing Checklist  from the searchengine.com blog is a pretty decent checklist that covers over 400 specific items within 23 topics on web marketing.  Topics include website development and design, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), and e-commerce considerations. It will tell you what you need to know, but not how to implement it.  There are books for that!

Market Research
6. Do you want to know whether the region you are serving or plan to serve is a good candidate for your products and services?   City-Data.com  has collected and analyzed data from numerous sources to create complete profiles of all U.S. cities.  Here you will find a wealth of information about demographics, geographic data, population growth, employment, housing statistics, and more.  The best part is that the data are current through 2008.  With other sources, the data are only as current as the last US Census which was completed and compiled in 2000.

Customer surveys:
7. Zoomerang and Surveymonkey let you create free customized customer surveys and view the results.  This provides an opportunity to see how your products and services are perceived by consumers and where gaps exist so you can add or change your offerings if necessary.
Social Media:
8. These two blogs offer the latest and greatest social media information.  If you are engaged in social media I would encourage you to follow these two favorites: Mashable and Social Media Examiner.

9. If you missed getting your copy of The Price Group’s Social Media Guide for Small Business now is your chance.  It’s particularly valuable if you are just getting started.
 
On a final note, I regularly feature articles and tools that my team and I find on the Web in my Twitter and Facebook streams.  Be sure to click on those two links under “Find Pat On” to the right to get plugged in to receiving that information.  And, if you’re headed to the beach this summer, don’t forget to take a little of the above “light reading” with you!

Pat Price has worked with numerous clients to generate more business and boost their marketing effectiveness. She is a professional speaker and president of The Price Group, Inc, a full-service marketing firm serving small to mid-sized organizations. To receive Pat’s free Marketing Tips! newsletter, go to www.PatPriceSpeaks.com/resources.php . She can be reached at 630.717.8332 or through her website at www.patpricespeaks.com.

By Pat Price

The next time you type a word or phrase into Google (or your favorite search engine) take note of the results that appear at the top of your screen. Typically you will see a shaded box with several listings for web sites. These listings may appear vertically on the right, as well. Companies pay for this prime real estate using pay-per-click (PPC) advertising campaigns.

Why would they do this? With PPC advertising they can grab the attention of prospects who are searching for exactly what they offer. Couple that with the fact that most people will click-through on search results on the first page. Although it is true that fewer people click-through on PPC listings than on the organic search results just below them, they still have a solid click-through rate. Consider this. Would you rather be listed on page 5,321 or have a respectable click-through rate on page 1?

Pay-per-click advertising is a great way to get more traffic to your web site and makes sense to use in these situations:

• When you launch a new website or have low search engine rankings. Good organic (natural) search engine rankings take time to build. If you can’t afford to wait to get your rankings up, complement your search engine optimization efforts with PPC.
• If you are offering seasonal items or time-sensitive promotions that you want people to purchase now, PCC is a good option. That extra push during prime sales season offers an additional, focused, marketing opportunity.
• If you are selling a product or service in a highly-competitive online market, it’s to your advantage to get buyers to your site and purchasing immediately. If you are competing against other online stores that are using PPC, it becomes a competitive necessity.
• If you have a new campaign or new product, PPC is a great way to generate business quickly.

How PPC works
Companies pay to advertise, but are only charged a fee if someone actually clicks on their ad and connects to their web site. That’s why it is called pay-per-click. Companies “bid” on specific keywords or phrases that best describe their product or service. The cost of those keywords can vary dramatically. The more competition there is for a keyword, the more expensive it is. It is not unusual for PPC costs to range from $.40/click to $60/click. The good news is that you can set a limit as to how much you are willing to spend per day.
Here are some things to consider when setting up your PPC advertising.

• Set a sensible budget
• Define up-front quantifiable goals and a strategy for PPC
• Research optimal keywords and key phrases – (Fortunately there are free tools available to help you determine the best keywords to use for your specific product or services.)
• Bid strategically
• Write compelling ads so that users will click on them. Ads have a limited character count, so every word matters. Provide an incentive to click, such as the mention of a discount or special offer. You should also include a call to action (Buy now! or Act Now!), and create a sense of urgency to encourage them to click immediately (Free shipping today!)
• Provide an accurate, specific landing page on your website. This is where users are linked when they click on your ad. Make sure this page is highly related and relevant to your ad.
• Monitor and manage your campaigns

What to measure
After you have launched your campaign, the key to your success is diligent and effective monitoring. Pay-per-click platforms provide a wealth of information and reports that analyze the effectiveness of your campaign. Take the time to review and analyze this free information!

• Pay attention to how specific ads and keywords are performing and make changes accordingly. You may be making adjustments frequently.
• A key measurement, Click-Through Rate (CTR), measures how many times your ad is clicked relative to the number of times it is shown. If the ad is not compelling, the CTR is low.
• Measure your conversions. Every time a user comes to your site and takes your desired action, this is known as a conversion. You might want them to purchase a product, complete a sales inquiry form, download a white paper, or submit an email address, for example. Conversions are used as a way to gauge the success of your campaign.
• Cost per conversion is another key metric. If you’re doing well with the above two metrics, then you’re probably keeping the cost of acquiring this business low. You need to continuously monitor and adjust your keywords and phrases, check for compelling ad copy, and bid right. It’s part science and part art!

Pay-per-click can play an important role in your online marketing strategy. As with any other marketing or advertizing initiative, PPC is just one piece of your overall marketing plan. It is an effective means to drive more traffic to your web site, with immediate results.

Pat Price has worked with numerous clients to generate more business and boost their marketing effectiveness. She is a professional speaker and president of The Price Group, Inc, a full-service marketing firm serving small to mid-sized organizations. To receive Pat’s free Marketing Tips! newsletter, go to www.PatPriceSpeaks.com/resources.php . She can be reached at 630.717.8332 or through her website at www.patpricespeaks.com.

By Pat Price

If you’ve been following this series of articles on social media, then hopefully you have had some time to develop social media goals and strategies and listen in on conversations in your social media environment.

Now let’s talk about the important next step – joining the conversation. Successful social media marketing programs involve listening AND participation.

That participation centers around giving value without expecting anything in return. You may be thinking “What? I’m in business to get results!” We’ve talked about setting quantifiable Social Media goals. But, participation should be focused on providing value as a means to achieve these goals. Remember that Social Media is unlike traditional marketing methods, where you typically push your ideas and product information out to people. Social Media is used to entice and pull people into learning more about you, your company or your products. You want to encourage people to enter into a conversation and dialogue with you.

Assuming that you have spent some time listening in on social media conversations, you now “know” your audience. You know and understand what keeps them up at night. Now you are ready to share information, articles and tips, and talk about those things that center around their issues.

Here are some pointers for joining and remaining in the conversation:

• Target a few key people initially. Start conversations with them. Be yourself! Creating dialogue is the key. Don’t talk or share information like you would in salesware or press releases. Talk and write like you would in a normal conversation.
• Make your conversations about them. Use the same rules you would in a normal social situation. Don’t assume people care about you; they probably care more about themselves. Get to know them, ask them open-ended questions.
• Comment about the articles and information they post and share. Listen and learn as much as you can. That puts you in a better position to offer them insight and advice. Ultimately you’ll be better equipped to provide solutions to their problems.
• When you can show them that you know them, understand them, and more importantly can help them and help solve their problems, you’ve established trust and built a strong bond.
• Be transparent with your intent and your identity. This involves remaining open and accountable in your online relationships. Never communicate anything that would be viewed as alienating someone in your target audience.
• Each community has its own unwritten guidelines that can only be understood by listening and participating. Take the time to learn about how others interact and stay within their boundaries.
• As your level of participation in Social Media increases, you will begin to see opportunities to achieve the goals you have set. Talk to your audience, let them talk to you, and more importantly, promote an environment of collaboration, feedback and co-creation. Listen to feedback and make changes to your products, services, and goals accordingly.
• Make quality a top priority for your online relationships. Provide quality content. Provide quality, timely feedback and responses. Put quality time into your efforts.
• Be realistic in your expectations. If you make a concerted effort, you will get results. But, building relationships and establishing trust through Social Media takes time. Don’t expect quick results, but do expect to commit a certain amount of time to these communications channels.
• And finally, have fun! Look at Social Media as a new way to communicate with your current friends and a way meet new people. That is, after all, what networking is all about!

Pat Price has worked with numerous clients to generate more business and boost their marketing effectiveness. She is a professional speaker and president of The Price Group, Inc, a full-service marketing firm serving small to mid-sized organizations. To receive Pat’s free Marketing Tips! newsletter, go to www.PatPriceSpeaks.com/resources.php . She can be reached at 630.717.8332 or through her website at www.patpricespeaks.com.

By: Pat Price

If you’ve ever watched a relay race you’ve noticed that runners don’t stand at a dead stop when they grab the baton. They match the pace of their oncoming teammate as they take the hand-off. Just as that makes for a smooth transition, so, too, does matching the pace of the activity in social media before jumping in.

Although there are some basic rules of etiquette for social media engagement, communication norms and styles can vary widely. Before engaging in actual conversations on any of these platforms, here’s a list of things that you can do over the next couple of weeks to get started on the path to social media proficiency:

• Find relevant conversations. You’ve probably heard of people talking in social networks about the fact that they’re having lunch at the moment, or they’re at the dry cleaners. Who cares? Those are not relevant business conversations. So as not to waste our time, we need to find conversations and thought-leaders that can add value. Blogs, forums and other social networks are great sources of information, answers to problems, and the latest trends.

Begin by reading the articles, watching the videos, looking at the presentations that are contained in the Google alerts you set-up. [If you've forgotten about Google alerts, refer to our post on setting a strategy for Social Media Marketing.] Next, search for and join groups and fan pages on LinkedIn and facebook that have key areas of interest for your business and industry. Search for industry thought leaders on facebook and Twitter and begin to follow them.

Also, use search engines to find conversations and discussions within your industry. The results can provide a wealth of information. Here’s a tip: search Google for your industry. When the results are displayed, click on the “Show Options” link at the top left of the page. Another menu will be displayed, which will allow you to dig deeper into videos, forums, and other media. It’s a quick and easy way to search for relevant conversations, with the added benefit of being able to stay current with your industry.

• Monitor these conversations. Spend some time listening to what is being said in the groups identified above. What’s being said between the lines? Particularly tune into the following:

1. WHO – Who are the influencers in your area of interest? These are the opinion staters and the opinion makers whose advice is revered by the group. These influencers usually give us great insights, but at some point might also make for good partners (more on that in the future).
2. WHAT – If the group has prospects for your business, it can give you wonderful insights into what are buyers’ problems, possible solutions, ideas for innovations in your products or industry, and what gaps exist that you might be able to fill. You will also be cued into customer satisfaction (or dissatisfaction).
3. WHEN – How often are people posting? For example, most people post updates to LinkedIn much less frequently than they do to Facebook and Twitter.
4. HOW – Listen for the general tone of the group. Is it friendly and cordial? Is it business-like? Is it formal or casual? What kind of language do people use? This helps us match the style of the group’s communication.

• Get and stay organized. With the overabundance of information that is available, it’s easy to see how one could get overwhelmed. Start organizing now. I already mentioned Google alerts as a way to get started listening. Bookmark valuable sites. Eventually, you will likely have a variety of blogs and other frequently changing sources that you’d like to track. At that point, you may want to set up an RSS feed from those sites, and use a Reader, such as Google Reader or Feedburner to get your updates in an easy-to-manage format. But more about that in future posts!

If you haven’t tried this before I know what you’re thinking. This sounds complicated! It’s really not. Just take it one step at a time – and get started today!

Pat Price has worked with numerous clients to generate more business and boost their marketing effectiveness. She is a professional speaker and president of The Price Group, Inc, a full-service marketing firm serving small to mid-sized organizations. To receive Pat’s free Marketing Tips! newsletter, go to www.PatPriceSpeaks.com/resources.php . She can be reached at 630.717.8332 or through her website at www.patpricespeaks.com.

With so much time being spent on social media these days, we really need to be proactively managing our personal brand. Consider this. Every blog post, tweet and social media post represents us. And how we communicate in those words gives the world a glimpse into what it’s like to do business with us. Our personal voice speaks volumes about our credibility, our integrity, and our personality. If we are consistent with our communication style online (and offline), then our personal brand is strengthened. So, if you’re ever tempted to disagree with someone in an online group in a less than professional way, don’t do it. You will tarnish your personal brand. I know this sounds like common sense, but it’s amazing how often this happens!