I love pizza and could eat it everyday! Do you think that would be bad for me? Probably not bad, but it certainly wouldn’t provide the best overall nutrients for my body to eat it EVERY day.

The same holds true for businesses who think they can rely on word of mouth to build a customer base. It’s true that reputation is important and can drive referrals to you, but there will always be a huge group of potential customers who won’t know about your product or service through word of mouth.

Relying on word of mouth exclusively is kind of like our pizza example because eventually eating the same thing gets boring. A once happy and loyal customer may need a change and choose someone different especially during difficult economic times. If you only rely on these customers to refer others to you, the referrals could start to disappear. You can’t control when someone will make a recommendation or what people say and do.

What about those networking groups that rely on referrals? Any business you might receive from them will depend mostly on the amount of time and effort it takes to go to the meetings and drum up business for other members of the group. It also depends on who is in the networking group with you and their sphere of influence. These groups can be expensive when you factor in annual membership and dues. Again, relying on one source to grow your business can be dangerous.

All businesses must stay visible by consistently and constantly promoting and marketing themselves to become top of mind to their target audience. By keeping visible, potential clients will think of you when they are ready and need your product or service.

This does not mean that word of mouth (or pizza) are bad for you. It just means that overall, a balanced mix of marketing strategies and networking will help your business stay strong and healthy during the long haul!

Have you ever been in a situation where you met someone for the first time and they refused to shake your hand? It can be quite unnerving and difficult to continue a conversation when placed in this uncomfortable situation. Why? Does it have something to do with the actual physical touch?

The act of shaking hands is a way of saying, “I’d be happy for us to get to know each other.” By refusing to shake hands, the exact opposite is communicated. It is true that different cultures greet each other in very different ways, but the handshake has become a universal symbol for peace and an invitation to trust.

So, how does a handshake apply to the rules of online networking? Let’s say you’ve met someone at a networking function and they send you a personalized request to connect on either Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter. Should you refuse to connect with them if you barely know who they are or can’t remember meeting them? It depends.

By refusing to connect, you miss out on the chance to find new customers, the opportunity to find employment/employees and exchange ideas while learning and sharing in a network of trusted relationships and groups. You never know where any new connection may lead, and no one knows what the future has in store.

On the other hand, there are people who send out invitations with the goal of spamming accounts with unwanted solicitations. This is as bad as shoving a business card into someone’s hand at a networking function and then walking away.

Follow the rules of social media etiquette and send every invitation to connect with a personalized message. Sending a generic invite without any indication of how the person found you or why you should connect is rude and the viral equivalent of a sleazy salesman. Always remind the recipient of your relationship or reasons why you would like to connect when you send an invitation.

One of the benefits of social media sites is that they are a tool for future face-to-face networking. Take your social media connections to the next level and ask if you can meet them in person at a public location. This is an opportunity to take your viral connection personal and shake a hand!

So, take a deep breath, be more open to social media invites and imagine what it might be like to be refused a handshake.

What about you. Do you accept all social media invites or do you have any examples where you have refused a invitation for good reason?

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The title comes from Joe Raposo’s classic lament for Kermit the Frog on Sesame Street. When it comes to SEO, most businesses understand what Kermit was talking about when he sang: It’s not easy being green. Green, inexperienced, a little new to this mysterious thing called search engine optimization.

It takes some time for most businesses to truly come to the self knowledge that SEO is not easy to understand much less execute. It’s more than just adding keywords to a website or changing the meta tags or site architecture to reach #1 in rankings.

Search engine optimization involves hard work and a time commitment that can’t be achieved quickly. There are no shortcuts nor are there any cookie cutter solutions that fit every company. Below are just a few of the most basic aspects of a successful SEO campaign.

• Create quality content that attracts and converts visitors to loyal customers. Don’t get so focused on SEO and keyword repetition that you forget about the end user. Write content and brand your website as a valuable resource so visitors will be interested, enjoy returning and hand over their hard-earned money.
• Build quality NOT quantity links that help your content get found by the search engines. Again, SEO shortcuts are often taken by some businesses who think that purchasing backlinks is a quick fix. In reality, search engines instantly detect unnatural links and ignore them. Building quality links involves creating valuable content and then marketing that content through blogs, websites, print marketing and social media sites. This process takes time and effort.
• Develop and interact with people through social media sites. Social media is a powerful tool for building the quality links that are mentioned above. Understand where your target audience hangs out online and then decide which social networks to become involved with.

Beyond the basics there are a combination of other things that affect rankings and search engine algorithms are constantly changing. Did you know that the number of years your domain name is registered can affect your ranking? It’s true. Google and other search engines want to know if you are in business for the long haul.

SEO is definitely not easy! It takes time and resources that should be implemented in the planning phases of building a website and then constantly reevaluated. If done correctly, you can prove to Google and other search engines that you deserve to stand out with a high ranking!

How about you? Are you feeling a little green or do you think you know it all when it comes to search engine optimization?

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Can you remember back to your childhood and how you felt about your grandparents? Maybe they grew up without cell phones, cable or even color TV, and you couldn’t help but think of them as old fashioned.

It can happen to us all eventually if we’re not careful. Technology can be so confusing and it is easy to become out of touch with the world around us. Young people look and act a certain way especially when it comes to marketing and advertising.

Apply this same concept to your marketing materials and take a good look at your brochure, logo or website as if you’re looking at them for the very first time. What do you really think and be honest. Does your marketing message still apply? Do all your marketing elements include outdated information and lack visual appeal? Does your photography and graphics look like they were created in the 80′s?

Your marketing and advertising elements are sometimes the very first impression a customer gets of your company. Think about it. You’re meeting with a potential client and trying to convince them that you are the best choice and then you send them to your website which looks like it was built in the 90′s.

What do you think this potential client will think about your company? My guess is that they will assume your product and service is as outdated as your marketing efforts or worse yet, figure you just don’t care what they think!

Keeping up to date with changes in consumer styles, design trends and shifts within your target audience and industry are critical. When was the last time you took a good look at your advertising and branding?

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You don’t have to run a big business anymore to accept credit cards! Many small businesses loose sales everyday because they can’t accept them for whatever reason. They feel locked out because of the expensive setup and bulky system of card-reading equipment, contracts and transaction fees.

Not anymore. Mobile phone swipe-technology eliminates all those barriers and makes it easier for us little guys to enter the credit card world and improve cash flow. Your smartphone has now become your computer in your pocket.

The Phone Swipe reader is free and simply connects to your smartphone. The only thing you are ever charged is a minimal fee for each credit card transaction that is swiped. Even if you only use the reader once a year, you never pay any other fees.

Just imagine being able to swipe and pay your babysitter with her phone. Or, swipe and pay for that amazing garage sale find. Apply the same concept to any business transaction! No more running to the ATM machine to withdraw cash or dealing with checks.

Try it for yourself because the technology is here today and available to anyone with a smartphone. Go to Phone Swipe and use it on your iPhone. This particular reader is not yet available for the iPad, Android or BlackBerry but there are other readers that are.

Eventually as consumers begin to trust this new technology it will become more mainstream and no one will ever need to miss a sale again! Look for the plastic credit card to eventually disappear as well. All credit card information will someday be stored and transferred right from your phone to the merchant’s phone. Scary, right? Tell us what you think.

Charene Creative would like to wish all our readers a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!! We’ll be taking a break over the Christmas period and the office will be closed on Thursday December 22nd until Monday January 2, 2012. The blog will be taking a slightly longer break, but we’ll be back with a new article on January 12th, 2012.

The other day I did a short presentation on social media to a networking group. Eventually and predictably someone made the comment I hear most often regarding social media. She said, “I don’t know how anyone finds the time for it!”

She is not unusual and I hear this from many small businesses. I believe her frustration is a result of not truly understanding what social media is or how she can use it on a daily basis. Most small business are confused and overwhelmed trying to understand what they should be doing!

Social media is just one more way to get information from your customer. It is a powerful way to listen and understand what’s happening with them, their problems, what they plan on doing and where they plan on going. Every business should take the time to listen to clients and social media is a great place to start.

Yes, it can be a major waste of time if you don’t have a plan and carefully integrate it into your marketing goals and objectives. Below are a few tips on how to manage your time on social media.

• Go where your customers are – Whether it’s Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn, find out where your customer hangs out and spend time developing online relationships there.
• Schedule your time carefully – Most everyone understands that there are only so many hours in a work day. Some days it may be easier than others to carve out time for social media. You would be amazed how much you can accomplish in just 15 to 20 minutes each day.
• Find tools to help make social media easier – Take advantage of tools to update more than one social media profile, but be careful that you don’t automate every interaction. Social media is about engagement with customers and prospective clients. You don’t want to end up looking too automated and staged.
• Hire someone to help you– If you can’t seem to make the commitment to social media or don’t know where to start, than hire someone to help you. It may end up being a full-time or part-time position. There are also many freelancers willing to help you set things up and show you the ropes. That may be all you need!

When you think of social media in terms of reaching new customers, engaging with current clients all while promoting your brand, it is worth every minute you invest. Keep in mind, social media should not be about spitting out data and constantly trying to sell something. It should be about listening, understanding and having real conversations with your current or perspective clients!

Do you make time for social media?

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Okay, so it’s been a tough year financially for most, but that is not a good enough reason to forgo Christmas gift-giving to your customers. As a matter of fact, it is probably more important than ever to recognize those loyal businesses who continue to come back to your company even though they might be struggling.

Figuring out what is appropriate to give can sometimes be more tricky than staying within your budget. You don’t want to give something too expensive that may cross the line as a bribe, go against corporate gift giving rules or the IRS. Yet you don’t want to appear cheap either.

The best way to approach corporate holiday gift giving is to think of things you would love for yourself but wouldn’t necessarily buy. Something they will appreciate and enjoy that will remind them of you. Skip the type of gift that will get shoved in a desk drawer and quickly forgotten.

Delicious edible gifts, whether they are homemade or gourmet items delivered in exquisite boxes or baskets, are always a great idea. These type of gifts appeal to just about everyone and many retailers offer you the option to custom design your own gift combination. Try to be sensitive about food allergies or other dietary limitations.

Stay away from giving promotional items with your company’s name on it. Those type of gifts should be reserved for special marketing promotions and NOT Christmas gift giving. And for heaven’s sake, stay away from any and all gag gifts! They are almost always never appropriate to send.

A little common sense can go a long way when choosing the perfect client gift. Keep things professional in tone and appearance and make sure gifts arrive at least a week before Christmas since many companies shut down early. The last thing you want is for your client to come back to work from a long vacation and find rotten or spoiled food in their office!

What are some of your favorite all-time corporate holiday gifts you’ve given or received?

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Thanksgiving helps us remember that we should take the time to think about the blessings in our lives. I can count many of them. Even during the years that weren’t so good financially or included health or family issues, there were always things that I could be grateful for. Thinking about the blessings always helps make it easier to survive the challenges!

So during this week, we’d like to share what we’re thankful for. For me, I’m thankful that my family is healthy and our grown kids are doing well. Both my husband and I enjoy the work that we do and can support ourselves doing it. Sure, we’ve seen challenges the last few years, but nothing that could defeat us.

What about you? What are you thankful for? Please share your thoughts.

Most of us spend a lot of time trying to fit in and be like everyone else. There are exceptions, but most people feel much safer going through life trying really hard not to attract attention to themselves.

Fear and self-doubt are all obstacles that keep us from really shining in our own unique way. This also applies to marketing a business where it is so important to stand out in the crowd instead of blending in with the competition.

Put yourself in your customers shoes. If your company looks just like all your competitors, why would they choose you instead of them?

To stand out and differentiate yourself in today’s noisy competitive business world, you need to find ways to be unique. What your competitors may consider to be insignificant may just turn out to be the benefit you could use to get the attention of your customer!

Think of things that drive your customer crazy or mad about your industry and then look for ways to solve the problem. Do it in a way that no one else does and separate yourself from the masses.

Once you have your branding message defined, repeat it, over and over again, and let your customer know how your product or service can make life better for them. You don’t need millions of advertising dollars to be visible either.

Your goal ultimately, is to solve a problem by identifying a need. Be innovative in your approach to grab the customers attention, say you can fix their problem and make an offer with a clear call to action! Stop being afraid and remember it’s not about you, it’s about the customer!

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Try it for yourself and search for Charene Creative. Google will respond with our main website first, but then will give you our Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Google+, several directory listings, LinkedIn and recent blog articles (in that order). This is true with many other search terms and the goal is to own page one in Google and knock out any similar named businesses from a search.

Creating social media content will help your business gain instant and timely rankings in search engines all while strengthening your brand and adding powerful inbound links to your website! Google your business name and see for yourself the value of social media sites!

Here are some tips for SEO ranking with social media:

• Link all your social media pages to your website.
• Secure your brand name or vanity url on all social sites.
• Use your social media content to promote others and yourself (don’t shamelessly self promote 24/7).
• Share current events, interesting information, run contests and discuss industry related topics.
• Help others who don’t have a large following to create goodwill and build online relationships with other businesses who will then return the favor and hopefully share your stuff.
• Do your best to respond and engage with everyone who connects with you through social media.
• Post questions that invite discussions which will naturally attract more followers who will share your information and content.
• Whenever possible, try to set up real face-to-face meetings with those you connect with through social media.
• Make sure you give a description to each photo or video that you post on any social media site and consider keywords as you write them.
• Add links to photo descriptions for another opportunity to create inbound links to the page.
• Keep your posts new and interesting and try not to repost or share what others have created. Be creative and timely.
• Keep your social profiles updated and regularly post content.
• Send links out from your social media pages back to your website to ensure increased traffic whenever possible.

Do you use social media as a part of a strong SEO strategy? What else would you add to the list of suggestions above?

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