Greatson Media – Saco, Biddeford Maine Website Design & Hosting

Just like there are reckless and foolhardy methods you can use that will absolutely assure marketing failure, conversely, there are sound, proven, time-tested techniques that will greatly enhance your chance for marketing success.

Following are The 10 Commandments For Online Marketíng Success…

1. Thou Shall Have a Clear Vision and Goal

There’s an age old proverb by Thomas Edison that famously states:

“He who fails to plan, plans to fail.”

Truer words haven’t ever been spoken. You need to have a plan before you start a business. Why is a business plan so important? Because a properly constructed business plan is like a roadmap to your goals – a GPS if you will.

Having a business plan will give you a much clearer vision of your goals and objectives, and will keep you on track and enable you to operate more efficiently, and achieve your goals more expeditiously.

One important caveat about business plans: They aren’t written in stone, and more than likely, you will have to change or adjust your plan multiple times along the way to keep yourself on track. That’s just part of the process.

If you need help writing a business plan, you can obtain a free business plan template from BPlans.com.

2. Thou Shall Educate Thyself on the Fundamentals of Marketing

Take time to educate yourself. Does it really matter if you build that website now, or a few months from now when you’re more prepared? Of course it doesn’t.

Starting a business is like building a house. You start with a strong foundation, and then you build on it. Well, in business, being knowledgeable about basic marketing fundamentals is your strong foundation. You just have to build on it.

That means taking the time to learn how to do things the right way. Be patient, and prepare yourself for success. By “failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” Study and apply basic marketing fundamentals.

Slow down, and read a few marketing books. To get started, I highly recommend Web Marketing All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies. It’s actually eight books in one, and is written by multiple authors. It’s perfect for newbies, and touches all the bases including…

* Establishing a Web Presence
* Search Engine Optimization
* Web Analytics
* E-Mail Marketing
* Blogging and Podcasting
* Social Media Marketing
* Online Advertising & Pay-Per-Click
* Mobile Web Marketing

3. Thou Shall Learn and Implement Basic SEO Techniques

I don’t consider myself an SEO expert by any means, but I’ve taught myself enough basic SEO, so that I can at least optimize my own website well enough to generate a decent amount of organic (free) traffic. Learning how to optimize your website should be one of the very first things you do. You don’t need to become an expert. Simply focus your attention on basic SEO techniques. For example, make sure your title tags contain your primary keywords.

Also, make sure your description tags are properly optimized. And don’t cram your web pages with keywords. Sprinkle them in intermittently… naturally. A web page stuffed with keywords will be interpreted as spamming by the search engines, and your pages WILL be penalized as a result. And don’t keep using the same keywords over and over again. Using different variations of your keywords is the best approach. It looks more natural to the search engines and will give you a much larger keyword footprint.

Believe it or not, these simple but basic steps really do make a difference. One of my favorite resources for learning basic search engine optimization techniques is Jill Whalen’s, HighRankings.com.

4. Thou Shall Advertise and Promote Thy Business Consistently

Free advertising methods such as article marketing, forum marketing, social media marketing, etc., are all proven traffic generators – provided they’re properly executed. But it’s also important to have a sufficient amount of money set aside for paid advertising. You will have much better sales conversions if you combine proven, free advertising methods like the aforementioned, with laser-targeted, paid advertising, such as pay-per-click, ezine advertising, text link advertising, etc.

And don’t overlook offline advertising methods either. For example, college newspapers, community shopper newspapers, car magnets, local business journals, and flyers. The most important thing is to advertise and promote your business consistently.

5. Thou Shall Give Customers Easy and Convenient Payment Options

Believe it or not, as popular as it may be, not everybody likes PayPal. So be sure to give your customers alternative payment options.

In addition, make it easy for customers to get from the product page to the checkout page. Don’t make your customers jump through hoops, clicking thru page after page after page to give you their money. If you do, they will become frustrated and abandon your shopping cart. It’s estimated that 71% of shoppers abandon shopping carts in the middle of a purchase.

How easy is the buying process on your site? How easy is it for customers to quickly find what they need and checkout? More importantly, could you make the process even easier?

To find out, have a few of your friends test your website for shopping user-friendliness. Have them make a small purchase as a simple test. (Don’t worry, you can cancel the transaction on your end later).

Getting some honest feedback on the user-friendliness of your website’s buying process is a win-win situation for everybody. You make shopping on your website easier and more pleasant for your customers. And improvements you make in that regard will boost your sales conversions.

By David Jackson (c) 2012

Make no mistake – online video marketing is the “next big thing.” However, there are a ton of misconceptions about it floating around out there. The end result is business owners that are hesitant to jump onboard and who don’t think they have what it takes to use online videos as a marketing tool.

Chances are you don’t know these 6 things about online video marketing. And, until you understand them backwards and forwards, you’re really missing out!

1. YouTube is the World’s Second-Largest Search Engine

How much time do you spend making your website “Google-friendly”? Why do you work so hard on it? Because Google has a tremendous reach. Heck, the word “Google” has turned into a verb that’s used day in and day out, all over the world. Need an answer? Just Google it!

But how much time are you spending, marketing through YouTube?

Did you know that YouTube gets more than 4 billion video views every single day? Yes, that’s “billion,” with a “B.”

And, don’t fall victim to the myth that getting exposure on YouTube is nothing more than a crap shoot. With just a few mouse clicks, you can optimize your video titles, descriptions, and tags – and even create your ówn optimized “About Me” and “Channel Description” areas – so that you’re more likely to pop up in a search. You can even take it one step further and organize your videos into different “Playlist Categories” that – you guessed it – have keyword-based names. That way, you’re optimized from top to bottom! As powerful as YouTube is, it’s not the only horse in this rodeo. There are plenty of other video sharing sites where you can upload your creations and share them with your target audience.

2. There’s More to Online Video Marketing Than Just YouTube

A great way to make the most out of your online video marketing efforts is to look for sharing sites that are specific to your niche. Some searching may turn up video sites that are go-to resources for people interested in your niche – or that make it easy for people to find videos, without navigating a sea of irrelevant YouTube videos.

3. Longer Doesn’t Equal Better

Lots of people avoid creating online videos because they think they have to talk for hours on end to get their point across. But great videos come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. I’ve seen great videos that kept my attention for a full 20 minutes. I’ve also learned a lot from videos that are 2 minutes long. The length of your videos will be determined by what you’re talking about, and how long you can realistically engage your viewers.

And, if you still don’t think your videos are long enough, look at it this way – When you turn on your local newscast tonight, odds are that the lead story will be 1 and a half – 2 minutes long. If a reporter can squeeze all of the facts into a minute or two, so can you!

4. You Can Succeed With Online Video Marketing Even if You’re Camera Shy

Sure, giving your target audience a chance to see and hear you (and, thus, prove that you’re not some kind of slimeball or scam artist) is one of the great perks of online video marketing. However, if the thought of getting on camera has you crawling under the bed and trembling with fear, that’s OK. You can still use online videos to your advantage. To get yourself comfortable, do voiceovers instead of being in front of the camera. Just make sure that you don’t sit there and read verbatim off PowerPoint slides. The last thing that you want to do is bore your audience to tears!

And, really, no one expects you to have the on-camera charisma of Walter Cronkite anyway. As long as you can speak clearly, avoid the dreaded “umms” and “uhhhs,” and look confidently into the camera, that’s good enough. Instead of looking at the camera and envisioning the thousands of people that are going to be watching it, just pretend like you’re talking to a trusted client. That way, you’ll feel like you’re having a one-on-one conversation – and your fears will subside.

5. Most People Make Excuses About Online Videos, Instead of Taking Action

In the online video marketing world, the excuses are nevér-ending. You don’t have the right equipment – You don’t have the time to upload things – You think your voice sounds funny – Your hair doesn’t look good on camera – You don’t know how to write video scripts.

Luckily, all of these excuses make it easier for the people who actually get out there and do it! If you embrace online video marketing right now – while it’s still relatively new – you’ll be able to jump out ahead of the pack and become one of the “Joneses,” instead of always trying to keep up with them!

6. Creativity is More Important Than Budget Don’t have a Spielberg-esque budget to blow on sets, lighting, and post-production? No problem! Sure, big companies like Doritos, Volkswagen, and Geico are making a huge splash in the online video world – but that doesn’t mean that your videos have to emulate theirs.

Instead of worrying about dollars and cents, come up with creative ways to get the job done – like turning your living room into a “studio,” having a kick-butt script, or using inexpensive editing software to come up with awesome animations. Remember, at the end of the day, the goal is to create online videos that your target audience will learn from, will remember, and will want to share with their family and friends!

Article Nicole Beckett (c) 2012

Facebook provides businesses with another way to interact with their customers or clients in addition to adding value.

Unfortunately, notwithstanding the potential, I often hear from Facebook Page owners that in spite of their hard work on creating their pages, they are frustrated by the fact that they have few fans, and the ones they have aren’t engaged.

Something that contributes to this problem is inadequate planning and no clear purpose for their Facebook Page. Purpose and planning aren’t the most exciting words out there, but they payoff big time. Once business owners take the time to put a plan, known as an editorial guide, in place, everything else falls into place. As a result of this, their fan base grows, and engagement begins to happen to the point where it no longer feels like work, but fun.

Here are some tips for creating an editorial guide for your Facebook Page.

Define Your Purpose

Ask yourself the following three questions to help you define the purpose of your Facebook Page:

#1: Why Have a Fan Page?

Hint: “everybody else is doing it” is not a good reason! Instead, consider what you hope to accomplish through having a Facebook Page.

#2: What Will Differentiate Your Fan Page from Your Website?

You need to think about what you can provide on your Facebook Page that will be different from what is available on your website. Think of ways that your fans can interact with you on your fan page that they can’t on your website. The more interactive your page is, the more successful it will be. Fans will have no reason to visit a static Facebook Page.

#3: Define Your “it” Factor

What is different and special about you and your employees? What do you provide that is different from your competitors? Build your fan page strategy around what makes your business unique.

Now that you’ve considered the three points above, it’s time to work on your editorial guide. Here are the things you’ll want to be sure to include:

#1: How Often Will You Post on Your Facebook Page?

Although we engage with our fans throughout the day on Social Media Examiner, we also have specific chunks of time set aside for certain types of content. For instance, in the morning, we post the latest Social Media Examiner article. In the afternoon, we post a link to content from a third-party that we know will be beneficial to our fans. Then, a few times a week, we post a question late in the afternoon. Although most of the questions pertain to social media, some are on other topics.

#2: Decide What Type of Content You’ll Post.

Knowing this ahead of time makes it easy to find great content for your fan page. At Social Media Examiner, we consistently find valuable content on about 20 different websites. It’s fine to branch out occasionally, but having a list of great sites you go to regularly for content makes it easy to find valuable content to share with your fans.

#3: Determine the Post Format.

Define ahead of time how you want you and your team to put posts together. Some pages are informal and conversational and others are more factual and informative, like a news source.

Since we have three people posting on our fan page, we always end each post with our names, so people will know who posted. This adds a friendly and personal touch to our posts.

#4: Plan Out How You’ll Respond to Your Fans’ Comments.

On the Social Media Examiner page, we have a goal of reaching out to everybody who makes a comment on our page. We want our fans to know we are listening to them and interested in their thoughts.

#5: Determine What to do About Promotional or Negative Posts.

It’s not uncommon for fans to post promotional bits of information regarding their services and products on your Facebook wall. This can make things cluttered and can hinder legitimate conversations from taking place. It’s important to determine ahead of time which types of posts you’ll allow and which ones you’ll delete. Be sure your entire team is on the same page regarding this.

One thing to keep in mind is that your editorial guide is just a guide, not something that can’t be changed. The goal of the guide is to keep things running smoothly without hindering you from going with the flow.

By Amy Porterfield (c) 2012