Business Success for 2012 and Beyond
Make More Money in Your Business
So, is it or isn't it? Is the recession over or not?
While we don't have an answer to that, we DO know that
on-line sales are one of the fastest growing segments of the economy.
So the question really is: How do you get
more of it? With major retailers like J.C. Penney shutting down a
portion of their "brick and mortar" stores in order to invest more money
into their on-line presence, how can you compete?
If you have a "brick and mortar" store, and you're still in business, then
you've probably weathered the worst of the economic downturn.
But for those for whom on-line sales are a
major part of their business, it gets harder and harder every day to get
"seen" on the web.
Here are some tried and true tips to help you
get started promotiing your business using on-line Social Networking.
1. Use existing social networking sites like Facebook. Don't have
a Facebook account for your business? Open one up, it's easy--just
don't contaminate your business account with personal contacts or items.
Use it ONLY for business. It's also probably best that you do not use
your business email as your contact email for Facebook or any other social
networking system, unless you like TONS of junk mail.
2. Make it public. When you open your
Facebook account, and, assuming that you keep it strictly for business, be
sure that your account is "searchable" by web users--in other words, nothing
in your account should be "private." Everyone should be able to see
your account and the activity on your wall. That way, articles and
pictures that you post on your Facebook wall can be seen in search engines
by people outside of Facebook
After you create your account, and make sure
that the settings are public, take every opportunity within Facebook to tell
the world about your business. You do this in the "profile" section.
There you have plenty of space to promote your products and your business.
3. A picture is worth 1,000 words.
Create photo albums of your products. You'll notice that there's LOTS
of room to add captions to your pictures--take full advantage of that and
use lots of keywords. If you have set your account up to allow public
access to your wall, these albums and captions will be searchable by the
search engines.
4. Join appropriate groups.
There are many groups available on Facebook, certainly some of them would be
interested in your store and your products. But do not SPAM groups
with unwanted advertisements. It's usually ok for you to post a
picture or tell a little about yourself--or even to offer a coupon code to
members of the group. Search around for other businesses or
individuals who might be interested in "friending" your account.
5. Don't spend all day at it Try to
log in several times a week--but don't get hung up trying to list something
every single day--you'll drive yourself crazy.
Next time we'll take a look at some other free ways to promote your business
on-line!
Blessings and Best of Luck for 2012
Suzanne & Steve at Mandarava | 