Tweet Your Heart Out to Grow Your Business at No Cost
Tweet Your Heart Out to Grow Your Business at No Cost
When you have a business, especially a small business, you need to make the most of every marketing dollar you spend. Most small businesses don’t have a lot of extra money lying around to just throw up in the air, hoping they hit their target and draw in sales. The good news is you don’t need to have a lot of money to effectively advertise, promote and market your business. In fact, you can do it for no money at all!
Social media is absolutely bursting out from its seams and straight up CHANGING the way to create and maintain your business relationships. One of the hottest hang out spots on the web these days is Twitter.
If you haven’t stepped into the Twitterverse yet, the time to begin is right now. This social site is growing fast! It’s called “micro-blogging” and it’s becoming a hot way to extend your business network.
How Do You Twitter?
Here’s the Twitter kick: You get 140 characters to say what’s on your mind. You choose whomever you’d like to “follow” which means you will see their comments, known as Tweets. The folks who follow you will see your tweets, but so will anyone you call out by name. This is done by using an @reply. You simply type in the @ sign before a person’s username and they will catch that tweet, whether they are following you or not.
That, right there, is the beauty of Twitter. With one little line, you reach out and connect with a new person. Most of the time, that person will then respond and if you bond at all, you are likely to begin following each other and creating a relationship.
What is a Re-Tweet?
The other super power of this marketing madness is the power of the Re-Tweet. Here is where Twitter casts your net(work) far and wide.
When you post a tweet that one of your followers thinks is worth passing on to their followers, he or she can re-tweet it! They simply type in RT before your @username and then cut and paste your message. This sends out your tweet to their entire following, where someone else may just re-tweet it again. The power of the multitudes climbs like crazy and suddenly, you find yourself with more new followers to get to know.
Twitter is More than Just Sales – It’s Relationship Building
This brings us to the most important part of Twitter- how to use it effectively to promote and market your business. With Twitter, it isn’t all about the sales. That’s right – I just told you the most effective marketing hot spot on the web is not all about making sales. It’s about the people and the relationships you build with them. The fastest way to get dropped like a hot potato in the Twitterverse is to spend all of your time on self-promotion through links to your site or products and using a hard sell technique.
People come to Twitter looking for ways to share what they know, create real relationships and maybe even start a joint venture or two. Have conversations with people on Twitter. You don’t need to (and shouldn’t) share intimate personal details on the public timeline, though. Also, don’t carry on closed conversations for more than a couple of tweets. There is a feature called Direct Message that lets you talk one-on-one like instant messaging. Use that feature for private conversations. Your conversations will get more results when you keep things on the lighter side combined with tidbits of useful information and welcome other people into the conversation.
The days of the hard-sell are dwindling. As more and more people discover the adventure of running their own businesses, they are changing the way business is done. Internet entrepreneurs may never lay eyes on their clients in the real world. They need to build up other ways of developing trust – a key component of any business growth. By developing true connections and relationships through social media marketing, like Twitter, business owners and clients get a real sense of each other’s standards and ethics.
Interacting, offering a helping hand, and providing links to other people’s great information as well as your own are all ways to develop a successful network via Twitter. These are the types of things which make Twitter’s marketing magic come alive.
Three Ways to Advertise on the Internet for Free
Three Ways to Advertise on the Internet for Free
Advertising your business on the Internet doesn’t have to be expensive. In fact, it does not have to cost you anything at all. Every savvy business owner is always on the lookout for ways to stretch their ad budget to get the most possible exposure at the least possible cost.
Here are three ways you can promote your business without spending a dime.
1. Volunteer for an interview on Blog Talk Radio. Blog Talk Radio is a popular Internet radio channel featuring bloggers from across the Internet. The hosts of these radio shows are continually creating new programs and they are always on the look out for guests to interview for their listeners. You can search the shows on Blog Talk Radio by category to find one (or more) in your niche. Contact the show’s host and find out if you can be interviewed for an upcoming broadcast. You will get the opportunity to discuss how and why your business will benefit the show’s listeners, as well as advertise your website link. If you find your business is suited for this type of exposure and you enjoy the experience, you can even create your own Blog Talk Radio show and promote your business via Internet radio on a regular basis.
2. Another great way to get free advertising on the Internet is by becoming an active participant on a forum in your industry. Nearly every type of industry has forums and chat rooms where colleagues gather and share insights and tips. Internet marketers make great use of forums both to interact and share with each other as well as to perfect their sales pitches and technological ideas such as new software they develop.
Some forums are open to everyone. Other forums require a registration and possibly charge a membership fee. Assess the value of the forum before you pay a fee, but don’t let a few dollars prevent you form becoming a member of a quality forum. Forums are an excellent way to establish yourself as an expert in your field. They also give you a place to learn, grow and improve your skills and knowledge. Your business will gain from active forum participation in two ways. Every time you leave a comment on a forum, you have the opportunity to leave a link to your website. If you are sharing useful information on the forum, this will definitely bring you traffic. Your business will also gain from forum participation through your ongoing participation as you develop networking opportunities, market your products and services and sharpen your skills in sales.
3. You-Tube Videos offer a third way to advertise your business on the Internet for no cost. With a simple video camera, you can create an informative or interesting video to drive traffic to your business website. Video is fast becoming the preferred medium for many Internet regulars. Many people love the entertainment value of a humorous video. Others prefer to learn a new technique or skill by watching rather than reading. Video can be very enticing for businesses that provide training for a particular service. If you have a five-step system for your service, you can share the first two on a You-Tube video and then draw viewers to your site for the remaining information. You can also make a creative video that leaves viewers with a question they can have answered through your services. With a bit of imagination and a small investment of time, video can become a huge advertising tool for your business.
These are only three of the many ways you can promote your online business for free. You also have options such as article marketing, link exchanges, social networking and more. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking you have to pay to get the word out about yourself or your business. It can be done and done successfully, without breaking the bank. So, which will you choose to do first?
Social Media Promotes Your Business
Social Media Promotes Your Business
If you’ve spent much time on the Internet, you have probably heard the buzz about social media and social media marketing. Social media marketing is a great opportunity to network, promote and advertise your business on a wide level for no cost. If you aren’t in the social media game, you’re not in it at all.
Social media outlets like Facebook, Twitter, Linked In and others offers a great way to network, meet new people who can become either colleagues or clients and promote your business. You need to learn how to leverage these social media outlets to take full advantage of the ways they can help you build your business.
The great thing about social media marketing is it offers a place to talk about your business in a new setting that is a lot less threatening than many other types of advertising. Social media is not about the hard sell. Instead, it focuses on creating relationships with people. Social media allows business people to share some of their personal lives with others. This helps to overcome any fear or reservations connected to buying from people online.
So How Do You Begin Social Media Marketing?
If you’ve started a blog for your business, you already have your foot in the water. The next logical step is to begin commenting on other blogs related to your business. Spend some time searching for a few blogs that you enjoy and subscribe to them via an RSS feeder to manage your time. This will allow you to follow several blogs without having to go to each one every day. When you find a post you can contribute a useful comment to, go to the site and offer your thoughts. Leave a link, if you can, so the audience can link to your own blog. Make this a part of routine at least three times a week.
Next, choose one or two social media communities to join. There are dozens and dozens out there, so do not try to become visible everywhere. Two of the most popular social media communities for business networking are Twitter and Facebook. Both of these are effective sites to increase your relationship building skills with prospects. Combine some personal tidbits with some business information until you discover the perfect mix of both. Do not just focus on building big numbers of friends or followers. It isn’t all about the numbers. Instead, build a little slower and spend your time interacting with the people you meet.
Share Your Business Information – Strategically
Obviously, you will want to share your business products with the people you meet through social networking. However, you need a plan to do so effectively so you don’t turn people off. Sharing useful information from your field of expertise develops good relationships. Jumping in and doing the hard sell doesn’t. It really is that simple.
Social media marketing is a powerful way to extend your Internet presence without spending money on advertising and marketing. It is changing the way we do business online by connecting people in a very real way. Try it out for yourself and see how this form of free marketing can revolutionize your business.
