Last week we begin discussing Internet marketing tools and strategies that start-ups can use to promote their products and/or services online. This week, we will wrap up the Internet marketing strategies. We left off on discussing LinkedIn groups, which are similar to forums.
Yahoo Groups
Speaking of forums, Yahoo groups are business-related forums where you can swap pertinent information and gain valuable business tips as well. As we discussed last week, you will be seen as the expert in your area.
You also want to join the forums where your target audience hangs out. By following their conversations, you can learn what keeps them up at night and come up with solutions to their business issues.
This is just the tip of the iceberg of some of the Internet marketing strategies and tools you can use to promote your business online and get clients as a result. There are several more online marketing tools available.
Internet Users
According to the UN’s International Telecommunications Union (ITU), there are over 2 billion Internet users. With the world population at 6.8 billion and rising, almost one person in three is online. If you target your message correctly, you will reach your market within these global users. Everyone in the global market is not your potential clients. So, be sure to create your Internet marketing messages for your target audience.
Outsourcing
Unless your product or service offering is Internet marketing, it’s advisable to outsource your Internet marketing to experts in this area. Internet marketing is strategic and time-consuming. It will take your focus away from your core products or services.
When starting up your business, you will have enough items on your “to do” plate. There are virtual assistants that are experts in Internet marketing who are available for you to outsource your Internet marketing needs to on an ongoing basis. Internet marketing is continuous even after you are established.
As a start-up, have you used any of the online marketing strategies and tools mentioned in last week’s and this week’s posts to market your products and/or services and have you gained any clients through their use? We would love to hear. Leave us a comment below. You just might help some other start-up entrepreneur avoid the bumps in the road of Internet marketing.
This is a video that I included in my newsletter for my subscribers. I give an overview of the content in the November edition, which focuses on social media marketing. Following is a transcript that I included with the video on YouTube.
Introduction
Hi Rita Cartwright here, with another month edition of our newsletter.
Social Media Marketing Facts
We begin this newsletter with some interesting facts on social media marketing.
Critical to Your Internet Marketing Strategy is Keyword Research
And following that is a video on the importance of keyword research to search engine optimization and to your internet marketing strategy.
Women Empowering Women – Is Networking Alive And Well In Internet Marketing For Women?
Following that is an article on women empowering women in the internet world. And this is done through joint ventures with each other and also through networking.
Social Media Marketing in 3 minutes
Next is a video on how critical social media is to your business. And also in this same video, you will learn the secret formula of how to become success online.
Using Social Media Boosts Website Promotion
Next is an article on how you can add your website links to social media sites in order to promote your website. These links are also known as backlinks or inbound links. They are simply links from somewhere else back to your website.
RJ’s Internet Marketing Services Video Trailer
Last but not least is a video trailer on our services and how our services can help you with your internet marketing. More information can be found at http://rjsinternetmarketing.com.
Instructions for Non-Subscribers on how to Subscribe to Newsletter
By the way, if you happen to be watching this video, and you are not a subscriber of our newsletters, scoot on over today to our website and sign up today. The sign up box is on the right-hand side of the screen. When you do sign up, you will receive a free copy of our e-book, “Online Marketing Tools for Today’s Small Business.” You will also receive a 5-part report on working with a virtual assistant.
Conclusion
As usual, thank you for your continued subscription. I hope that this information will be beneficial and useful for you in your social media marketing. Thank you.
This is a video trailer showcasing the benefits for entrepreneurs and small business owners of outsourcing their Internet marketing to virtual assistants who provide Internet marketing services.
In a recent survey I conducted, the respondents cited that lack of time and procrastination were two main reasons why they were not doing Internet marketing or completing the tasks. In my last blog post, I mentioned that 54% of entrepreneurs and SMBs (small and midsize businesses) are using Internet marketing to market their products and services. Therefore, if you are an entrepreneur, you can’t afford to put off your Internet marketing if you want to compete. If you don’t have time or you are procrastinating, outsource your Internet marketing to a Virtual Assistant who specializes in Internet marketing.
A Virtual Assistant can post your micro-ads to Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. S/he can submit your articles to article banks. S/he can create your blog and post your blog posts, as well as keep up with the maintenance. A Virtual Assistant can create your website and maintain it. S/he can take care of your e-mail marketing campaigns. Imagine how much time you will have to focus on your business if you outsource these type of Internet marketing tasks.
Whatever the problem or situation may be, don’t put off your Internet marketing one more day. You can’t afford to.
If you are an entrepreneur or small to midsize business owner who is not using Internet marketing services to market your products and/or services, you are missing out on potential clients and customers.
According to a recent article in Marketwire, eight out of 10 consumers shop online at least once a week. As you know, if you are trying to get your sales message in front of your target market, you have to hang out where they are. Apparently, they are online; therefore, the best method to deliver your message is Internet marketing.
Social media marketing is a form of Internet marketing and is one of the most popular strategies to use. Wikipedia’s definition of social media marketing is “Social media marketing is a term that describes use of social networks, online communities, blogs, wikis or any other online collaborative media for marketing, sales, public relations and customer service.” Social bookmarking (Stumbleupon, Digg, Technorati, etc.) and social media sharing (YouTube, Flickr, etc.) are also included in social media marketing.
In a recent article Forbes.com stated, “Fifty-four percent of small and midsize businesses (SMBs) are using social media to promote their businesses, double the number using these sites in December 2009, with 35% posting daily updates to sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter, a new study found.”
Other forms of Internet marketing are e-mail marketing campaigns, article marketing, teleseminars, webinars, and podcasting, to name a few.
As you can see based on the article on Forbes.com, your competition and colleagues are using Internet marketing services to inform their target market that their products and/or services exist. So, if you want to compete or capture some of the target market, include Internet marketing in your marketing plan.
Internet marketing costs little to no money; however, it is time-consuming. If Internet marketing services is not your service offerings, you should outsource this task to a Virtual Assistant who specializes in Internet marketing services. In turn, you will be able to focus on your services and/or products, as well as your clients.
When all else fail, Google it. This is a tip for entrepreneurs and small business owners from your Virtual Assistant Rita Cartwright.
I created a drop down menu for my ASPX web pages with Expression Web 2 software. The drop down menu appeared correctly in IE8 but not in FF 3.6. I posted my issue in the Expression Web forum, and the members gave me various suggestions and tips, which were from the perspective that I was designing my web pages incorrectly. So, I applied their suggestions; however, it didn’t solve my drop down menu issue.
Although, their tips didn’t solve the problem with the appearance of my menu, I did learn some valuable information regarding how to correctly lay out my web pages; therefore, it wasn’t all in vain. However, my menu still wasn’t displaying correctly in Firefox. So, I decided to Google my problem. Lo, and behold, I found a solution.
It turns out that it isn’t me, it is Firefox’s browser; specifically, Version 3.6 if using with Vista Operating System. If you are having the same display problems, click here for more information.
As a sidebar, Safari and Chrome browsers don’t show ASPX drop down menus correctly either. The members of the Expression Web forum did help me resolve this.
Anyway, when all else fail, Google your question and/or issue. There is a good chance you will find your solution. This is a tip from your Virtual Assistant Rita Cartwright.
In honor of Earth Day, I am re-posting this post. This is one of many solutions to help us preserve Mother Earth.
With the increasing cost of fuel and pollution, businesses are going to have to come up with alternatives for their employees who drive back and forth to work on a daily basis. One alternative could be to reduce the work week. Another alternative would be to allow their employees to perform their duties from home. Of course, there are certain businesses that cannot operate off-site, as well as certain tasks that cannot be completed virtually.
On the other hand, if you are an entrepreneur, small business, or a small business owner and need administrative assistance, you have the alternative of working with a Virtual Assistant (VA). As a result, you and your Virtual Assistant are able to “go green.” Your Virtual Assistant doesn’t have to purchase as much gasoline, because he or she works from their home office. You “go green” by choosing to work with a VA rather than hiring an administrative assistant who would have to drive to your office. Both you and your VA are helping to preserve our planet by not adding to the levels of carbon monoxide.
This is just another great benefit in working with a Virtual Assistant. “Go green” work with a Virtual Assistant.
Being an entrepreneur and small business owner, chances are you do not have enough time to prospect for new clients, as well as take care of your current clients. Generally, you are faced with daily administrative tasks, which are very time-consuming. You barely have enough time to focus on developing your business. This is where a Virtual Assistant (VA) comes in. When you retain the services of a VA, you will gain valuable time. With this extra time, you can concentrate on growing your client base. In addition, you will have more time to provide your current clients excellent customer service.
Examples of tasks that you can outsource are: bookkeeping, scheduling appointments, returning phone calls, answering phone calls, managing e-mails, making reservations, typing and mailing correspondences, creating and managing your database, updating your website and blog, etc. These are just a few examples of projects that can be farmed out.
Another task you can outsource to your VA is social networking. As an entrepreneur and small business owner, you are aware of the importance of using social media networking as a marketing strategy. You also realize how much time is involved in social media networking. I can spend an entire day on Twitter alone networking with other entrepreneurs. In order to save you some valuable time, virtual assistants can help you with your networking efforts. Keep in mind, virtual assistants use the same social media networking techniques and know their way around social media sites.
A virtual assistant can set up your social media profiles at various sites, as well as filter through posts for any relevant information pertaining to your business. On Twitter, a Virtual Assistant can check your DMs (direct messages) and your replies (posts directed to you) to see if there is anything you need to respond to.
A Virtual Assistant can also post pertinent information about your company and products and/or services. Larger companies are starting to use Twitter to communicate with their customers about their products and/or services, in addition to getting their feedback. Another feature of Twitter is you have people following you and people you choose to follow. A Virtual Assistant can research the ones following you to see if they are viable potential clients. In addition, s/he can search for possible clients for you to follow on Twitter.
As you know, social media networking allows you to create business relationships, as well as give your prospective clients the opportunity to learn more about you; therefore, it is necessary for you to spend some time networking on these social media sites. However, virtual assistants can help you save a huge amount of valuable time; time you can use to focus on your clients. Virtual assistants can help you with social media networking also.
Lately, I have been receiving inquiries as to how to arrange Virtual Book Tours (VBTs) and what is involved. I decided to write a blog post about it in order to share the information with other interested authors.
A virtual book tour (VBT) uses similar concepts as a book tour except it is done virtually on the Internet. Blogs are the brick and mortar book stores where book tours are held. Instead of physically going on a tour visiting book stores, you visit blogs.
When you are arranging a VBT to promote your book online, research different blogs to determine if their readers are the target market you are promoting your book to, as well as how much traffic that particular blog gets. Are there a lot of site visitors/readers?
After you select the blogs, which meet your criteria, contact the owners to arrange a date for you to virtually stop by to visit with their readers. Then you will need to supply the blog owners with a copy of your interview, graphic image of your book cover, and your picture. The media standards are you provide the interviewer with the questions and answers for your interview. Although, the blog owners will get a lot of traffic, due to your book tour, you should offer them something for being a host. Maybe a discount or a free copy of your book.
On the day of your tour visit, the blog owner will post your interview, book cover image, and your picture on their blog. You and the owner will want to encourage audience participation, as well as create an incentive for readers to visit the blog site on the day of your tour stop. You want as many site visitors as possible in order to promote your book or e-book.
The best incentive is to give away a copy of your book to a randomly selected visitor. There is a website called random.org where you enter the e-mail addresses of the site visitors, and it randomly chooses one. The contest can be something along the lines of all who post a question or comment on the day of your visit will be entered into a drawing for a free copy of your e-book or book.
You will check in throughout the day to see if there are any questions or comments that need addressing. This can create a dialogue or conversation, which in turn, will generate more audience participation. To make it more exciting, the owner of the blog can post the winner’s name after they have been notified that they are the lucky winner.
Following is an example of an interview I did when promoting my e-book to give you an idea of what type of questions and answers you can use to construct your interview:
TH: Why did you write this book?
RC: My goal was to create a handbook, which entrepreneurs and small business owners can refer to when they are searching for online marketing tools and/or new marketing ideas. I wrote it for new entrepreneurs and small business owners, as well as for those who have been in business a while.
TH: Tell me about yourself
RC: I’m originally from Arizona and now reside in California. I earned my bachelor’s degree (with Magna Cum Laude honors) from Arizona State University when I was 44 years old. After graduation, I couldn’t find a job; therefore, I decided to start my own business offering online word processing services, which was 7 years ago. At that time, I was not aware of the virtual assistant industry, which I am now a member of. So, I guess you can say I was ahead of the curve.
TH: What qualifies you to write this book?
RC: Approximately 2 years ago, I started maintaining a blog and writing articles in order to implement the article marketing strategy. (I talk about using this strategy as a marketing tool in my e-book.) Also, while attending college, I learned how to write. I had to write. I remember my English professor saying I should be a writer, because he thought I had the skills. I didn’t take him serious. I was just trying to get through college.
In regards to the subject matter, my background and education in marketing and my experience from operating an online business provide me with the necessary qualifications to write this e-book on the topic of online marketing tools.
TH: How long have you been an entrepreneur?
RC: I have been an entrepreneur since October 2002. Although I started out as a small business owner, I have become an entrepreneur. There are differences between entrepreneurs and small business owners. In fact, I wrote an article on the differences. It is titled, “Are There Any Differences Between an Entrepreneur and a Small Business Owner?” Ezine Articles is one of the article banks where you can find it.
TH: What is the e-book about?
RC: This e-book contains information on various online marketing tools, along with some examples and in-depth descriptions of the tools. There is also a resource section that lists websites where you can find the online marketing tools, including “live” links to the websites. The resource section will save your readers a lot of time in Internet research when they are searching for information on online marketing tools.
TH: What do you want the readers to get out of this e-book?
RC: I wanted to provide those readers, who have a shoestring marketing budget, with information they can use in their online marketing plan or, at least, generate new marketing ideas. Most entrepreneurs and small business owners do not have a large marketing budget. The marketing tools I discuss costs little to no money.
TH: Can we look for more books from you in the future?
RC: Yes. One of my clients, who is a coach of Christian leaders, and I are currently working together on an e-book. It will be geared towards Christian leaders and Christian virtual assistants. So be on the lookout for that in the near future.
TH: How can the readers contact you if they have any questions?
RC: Your readers can reach me at 760-631-1335 or toll free at 866-651-3073 or send me an e-mail at rjcartw[at]rjswordprocessing.com.
TH: Where can the readers purchase your e-book and how much does it cost?
RC: They can click here to purchase it, and it only costs $3.98.
TH: Rita, thank you for stopping by my blog on your tour.
RC: You are very welcome. Thank you, Tina, for having me.
Overall, virtual book tours are more cost-effective than physical book tours. Plus, you reach a much broader, larger audience, including an international audience. If you don’t have time to arrange a virtual book tour, outsource it to your dependable virtual assistant.
When starting a virtual assistant business, the first item on your to do list is coming up with a business name. You should give this a lot of thought. The name you choose should reflect your products or services, because you will promote, brand and market your business under this name.
Next, decide on a niche. A niche market is a narrowly defined group of potential clients. In order to create effective advertising and/or marketing messages, you need to know who you are addressing.
One method of marketing is Internet marketing, also know as online marketing. Nowadays, because of the Internet and technology, Internet marketing is affordable and popular. Examples of Internet marketing are blogs, websites, article marketing, online networking, and e-mail marketing campaigns. For more detailed descriptions and examples of Internet marketing, click here for a copy of my e-book for only $3.98.
If you are considering starting a virtual assistant business, decide on a business name, choose a niche, as well as create and implement an Internet marketing plan.
Click here to schedule a fr^ee Social Media Marketing Solutions session.
This start-up guide will teach you how to start and operate a work at home online business. Upon completion, you will be ready to start up an Internet business. Click here to learn more!
A must-have e-book for entrepreneurs with a shoestring marketing budget. Click here to learn more about it. Pick up your copy today for only $3.98.
Last week we begin discussing Internet marketing tools and strategies that start-ups can use to promote their products and/or services online. This week, we will wrap up the Internet marketing strategies. We left off on discussing LinkedIn groups, which are similar to forums.
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