Many companies like to give away free items and discounts on Facebook for exchange of likes to increase their fan base. It’s no wonder they would; it’s a great way to encourage people to actually follow your company and maybe even get them hooked on your product or service.
But did you know that it’s actually a No-No with Facebook Terms and Conditions? Well if you didn’t, now you do! And you better make sure to follow them too or you might lose your profile completely.
Here are a few more points you might want to take note of as well:
You need written approval from Facebook
That’s right, unless you have been using an application box on your Fan Page, you MUST have written permission from Facebook before you can conduct a promotion or giveaway of any kind if it’s being administered on Facebook. This means that if you are actually running the giveaway on a blog or another website, but just advertising it on Facebook, you don’t need written approval.
Ineligibility
Facebook states that the following individuals are not eligible to enter promotions or giveaways:
Less than 18 years old, from a country embargoed by the USA, from Norway, Sweden, India or Belgium, can’t have a prize that is considered a dairy product, giveaways where you have to purchase a product or complete a lengthy task to enter.
Obviously, the Terms and Conditions are a bit more in depth than this, but it sure is a good start and some of the major points that should be taken into consideration.
Don’t forget that Facebook Terms and Conditions are always changing. This is one reason why consulting a specialist is always helpful. As a professional in this field, it’s our job to keep up to date on the most recent changes to help keep your page up and running.
What else you think you might be missing? Check back next week to find out.
Moving on for a moment from LinkedIn Groups let’s now discuss LinkedIn Company Pages. Being one of the newest additions on LinkedIn, company profiles have not only provided an avenue for employees to connect to one another, but to also advertise your company to its potential audience. Available for about a year now it has opened up the business networking experience quite a bit. Company profiles allow brands to list services, publish videos, create promotions and most importantly, get endorsements from their customers.
Developing your Company Page on LinkedIn should be taken just as seriously as any other advertisement.
Probably single handedly the most important page within the Companies sections would be the Overview Page, because it is the first impression one will get of your company on LinkedIn. This Page will have a general description of your company, list of connected employees, as well as your social networking updates.
The general description typically at the top of the page is one of the areas you will have the most control over. This is where it’s important to know your 30 second elevator speech. You want to write content that is not only short and to the point, but gets the attention of your target audience. Throwing in some SEO helps as well. You also have an option to upload a photo with the description. It is best to upload either a company logo, or some other kind of signature image. Make sure the image is of high quality.
Next you see the network/employees. This shows how well connected the company is and who works for you. Other than seeing just people who work within, you also see people that are openly affiliating themselves with the business. This can be great publicity for companies. Many even give their customers rewards for connecting on LinkedIn.
Another item you will see on the overview page is social networking updates. This gives viewer a real time look at your social networking on other platforms (Twitter, Facebook, etc). This is where it becomes important to keep engaging and talking to your audience, and why it’s important to keep your fingers in all the social networking pots.
This is obviously a bit of an involved topic, so check back next week for more information on LinkedIn Company Pages.
Twitter has taken the world by storm over the last year. It is a major part of our social lives where we can not only keep up-to-date with our friends and colleagues, but also get breaking news, celebrity gossip, dinner specials from our favorite eateries, and just about any other instant need-to-know information. More importantly, though, Twitter has become a major marketing resource for entrepreneurs and companies alike.
Getting Noticed
The number one way to get your product noticed on Twitter (without paying for promoted tweets) is the use of strong, relevant keywords. When mentioning what you have to offer, be clear and precise and choose your words wisely. Imagine that you are a potential customer looking for the product that you have to offer. What words would you use in your search? These are the keywords you need to include in your tweets.
Another great way to get noticed and to develop a larger following is to post information that other people will want to share with their own network. When your tweets are retweeted by others, you are exposed to all of their followers. This is the absolute definition of marketing with social networking. People turn their attention to their timeline several times a day to keep current on the latest happenings. If one of their colleagues posts something, they have instant access to it without having to search.
If you want immediate exposure, you can also use trending keywords in your tweets. While this does ensure that a vast number of people will read your post, you must keep in mind that unless those trending keywords are relevant to your topic, most people will probably just skip over your tweet. There is still a possibility that it will catch the eye of a potential customer; so, this method of keyword selection should not be omitted, it just should not be relied upon as heavily.
A Few Tips to Get Started
Mind the 140 character limit. Twitter does allow for longer tweets, but it forces the user to click a link to read the full post. Unless you have successfully captivated the potential customer, you will probably lose them at this point. You need to grab their attention in those first few words and compel them to click the link to your website or purchase page.
Don’t forget your own link. Unless you are just trying to build a Twitter following, you need to include a link to your website in your tweets. It does no good to “sell” them without giving them an option to actually buy your product.
Change it up. Keep in mind that even though you are hoping to reach the outer branches of your own social network, your posts are still being read by your followers all day, every day. Although you may only be selling one product, you can market it differently with each post and tweet. Let one post (or tweet) “breathe” before coming back to it again.
When using social networking to market your product, Twitter can be a very valuable and cost-effective (free) resource. Remember that the keywords you choose for each post will either make or break your tweet. Keep in mind though, if at first you don’t succeed, because of the wonderful low cost (free) of marketing on Twitter you always have the option to try, try again.
When you have a business website and are trying new ways to increase your Internet website traffic, blogging is a great way to get noticed.
Blogging is a good way to express your personal thoughts about various subjects that pertain to your business. You can write about how to market your business or how to increase the number of customers. You can also blog about why you started your business. Your readers’ comments are a good tactic to get ideas about what to change and/or what to write next. Show your readers that you are listening to what they have to say by responding to their comments.
It is vitally important to have a well-written blog. Always use proper grammar, and spell check your blog post before you post it. Using the proper SEO (search engine optimization) keywords will increase your ranking on the search engines and that will increase the amount of readers to your blog site. SEO keywords pop out at your readers in your blog, and it is always helpful to have hyperlinks, links and/or pictures to drive your readers to your website. These are good steps to take to boost website traffic.
When you promote your blogs with catchy titles on various social media networks, it will attract readers to your blog site. If your blog site is part of your website, your readers will be more inclined to visit the rest of your site.
Another way to boost website traffic is providing Internet marketing services offering to write blog posts for other businesses. It’s a terrific marketing tool for businesses that want to have blogs on their site but do not have the time to write. With blogging there are endless ways to boost your website traffic one blog post at a time.
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.
Rita Cartwright is following up a previous video in which she announced her new business name and website. She is now offering Internet marketing services replacing word processing services.
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.
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.
We, as virtual assistants (VAs), generally attempt to grow our businesses by obtaining more clients. Another strategy is to grow your business by subcontracting or outsourcing projects to a team of VAs. These VAs’ services will complement your services rather than compete with them.
In an attempt to grow my virtual assistant business and deepen my service list, I organized a team of three VAs. My core services are word processing services and Internet marketing, and my team services include bookkeeping, transcription, and ghost writing. Their services complement my services. Now I can offer these services in addition to my current offerings. They are also my backup.
There are two different models of multi-virtual assistant (multi-VA) businesses, which outsource overflow of projects. One model is team and the other is subcontracting. The main difference is a team approach.
Multi-VA team businesses list the team members on their team web pages, but everything is under the umbrella of the multi-VA business owner. Team members also have direct contact with the clients. Whereas, with multi-VA subcontracting businesses, the subcontractors don’t have contact with the clients; although, they may be listed on your website. You, as the multi-VA business owner manage the clients and projects.
In both cases, subcontractors and team members/associates are VAs themselves and are at the beginning stages of their businesses or have room for more projects.
Due to the current economic situation, there will be more entrepreneurs and small business owners, and they will need virtual assistance. We probably will see more multi-VA businesses, both team and subcontracting models.
If you are Virtual Assistant and you want to grow your business, consider organizing a team of virtual assistants whose service offerings complement your services.
You may have read in a previous post that I am a Christian business leader, as well as the responsibilities that are associated with this position. This video explains my vision of training women, who are turning their lives around, how to become virtual assistants and entrepreneurs. If you know of anyone who would appreciate this information, please forward this post to them. Thank you very much.
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.
Many companies like to give away free items and discounts on Facebook for exchange of likes to increase their fan base. It’s no wonder they would; it’s a great way to encourage people to actually follow your company and maybe even get them hooked on your product or service.
That’s right, unless you have been using an application box on your Fan Page, you MUST have written permission from Facebook before you can conduct a promotion or giveaway of any kind if it’s being administered on Facebook. This means that if you are actually running the giveaway on a blog or another website, but just advertising it on Facebook, you don’t need written approval.
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