Archive for Web 2.0
Why Facebook Fans Are Important to You as a Solopreneur
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Just about everyone uses social media networks these days. It’s a way to keep up with friends old and new. But, did you know how important it is for the business side of things?
Social Media Hype
What is it about social media that is so appealing? For one, in the age of technology, it is a way for people to keep up when their schedules are too busy for actual face-to-face meetings. People can stay social and share with others over the cyber waves even if they don’t get out much.
Friends and family can stay in touch over the long miles with social sites. You can also meet and make new acquaintances through the personal information that you provide on your profile. Facebook can make suggestions for you of people you might know.
What Does It Mean for Your Business?
If you own a business, whether brick and mortar or online, you can benefit from your association with Facebook. Most of us use Facebook for personal reasons. We chat, share photos and other things. But it can be turned to profit your business.
One way is by creating a business page on Facebook. You can link to this page from your website. Use your social media page to offer special coupons or offers to those who visit and see what you are talking about there.
As your page is an extension of your business, use it as a way to hone in on what your customers are thinking. Do your due diligence as well. Respond to questions and comments asked there. Offer surveys and polls for those who “like” your page.
Highlight what is going on at your business and upcoming features. Target your updates to those who are in your niche market. And, keep them brief and timely so no one is inundated with a lot of posts to their wall.
If you are just beginning a Facebook business page, invite your friends and family members you are already “friends” with to visit and “like” your page. This can get the ball rolling. They can suggest your page to their list of friends as well.
Another suggestion is to hold contests on your business page. Mention them on your website, but only offer entry to those who check in on the Facebook page.
Did you know that Facebook pages appear in search results on major search engines? With that thought in mind, don’t forget to optimize that page just like you have done with your website. Post snippets of your content here with links back to your website for those who find you through the social site first.
Facebook fans are important to your business because there are so many of them. And, through their clicks, you can find more targeted traffic for your website.
Web Analytics for Solopreneurs
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Website analytics can tell you a lot. For a solopreneur, understanding web analytics is a crucial skill. Your analytics can tell you whether people understand what you’re offering, whether people like your brand and whether or not your website is helping you make money.
Here are some of the important numbers every small business should be watching in their web analytics.
How Many Visitors Are You Getting?
The first and most important number you should be watching is how many visitors you’re getting. In addition to the raw number, also pay attention to whether the visitor count is going up or down.
As your marketing efforts progress, you should see a direct boost to your visitor count. It might not happen right away, but within a couple months you should see a measurable increase.
How Many Hit a Goal?
Every website should have a very clear goal. For example, your website might be designed to get someone to fill out a form for a free sample. Or it might be designed to get someone to print out a coupon for a free appetizer and bring it into your restaurant.
Whatever the case, you should be carefully tracking the goal hit rate for your website.
Use the “Goals” feature in Google Analytics to track this.
Geographic Location
Are the people who’re landing on your website the right kinds of people? If you have a small local business, check to make sure the traffic you’re getting is actually from your area.
Where Does the Traffic Come From?
How do people end up on your website? Do they type something into the search engines and end up on your site? Or do they enter your URL manually? Is someone else sending people to your website?
Tracking your traffic sources and your referrer data can give you valuable information about what’s working and what’s not working when it comes to generating traffic.
The Bounce Rate
The bounce rate measures the percentage of people who land on your website and leave without visiting a second page on your website.
A high bounce rate usually means that visitors came to your site expecting one thing but didn’t find what they were looking for. If your bounce rate is above 60%, you might have some serious revamping to do. Of course, if you are looking at the stats on a one page sales letter, your bounce rate is irrelevant.
Are People Coming Back?
Finally, check to see whether or not people who visit your website come back again.
For some businesses, this is an irrelevant statistic. For example, a restaurant’s website doesn’t really expect to get repeat visitors. People just use the website to find the address or phone number so they can show up.
But for most solopreneurs, you do want people to keep coming back to your site. If people are coming back time and again, that probably means people are finding your website useful. Check your returning visitor rate to see how well you’re doing in this department.
These are some of the many things that your analytics system can tell you. Learning to understand analytics can really help you steer your small business in the right direction.
Getting Over Blogger’s Block
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Writer’s block is a common ailment among writers, whether it is a news reporter under a deadline or a student trying to finish a report. If you are a blogger, you may find yourself suffering from “blogger’s block”, the condition of not knowing what to put in your blog.
Your blog should feature your voice. It is easy to find reprint articles when you feel stuck, but try to avoid putting them in your blog. You can publish a reprint article on your website and create a blog post that links to it, but keep the blog content your own. This will enable your readers to get a feel for your personality, as well as develop a relationship with you.
The media is a great place to find things to blog about. Watch the local news, read the paper, or check media websites. Take a look at what is going on in the world and spin the stories into a tale for your readers. If you have a website about coaching solopreneurs and come across a news clip that features something they would find interesting, by all means, blog about it. After you give your opinion on the story, link to the original news source as a convenience for your readers. They may find your post so interesting; they’ll want to read the original story, too.
You can blog about your affiliate programs and make money at the same time. If you are an affiliate for something, find a way to create a blog post about it. You can review the item, give tips on how to use the item and so forth. You will have something to write about, and if your reader clicks on your link and purchases the item, you’ll make money at the same time.
Blogs are also a great way to promote your website. Let your readers know when you have made a change to your site, such as publishing a new article. Create a blog post that contains the first few lines of the article to tease your readers, as well as a link to the page that features the full text.
Keep your posts timely and helpful. If it is almost Labor Day, adding a post with tips on “spring cleaning” your business isn’t very timely. However, tips on rejuvinating your business when kids go back to school, would be both timely and helpful.
To help your readers stay up to date with the new posts that you add, install Google Feedburner. Once you register, you will be given a small amount of HTML to add to your blog. Your readers can choose to subscribe and have your new posts delivered to their email or computer’s home page.
Creating Your Own LinkedIn Group
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LinkedIn is the premier social site for business professionals on the Web. If you are not a part of it, get involved today. One effective tool is LinkedIn Groups.
You may be familiar with LinkedIn but don’t really know how it can help you. Being a business professional, it can be hard to connect with other professionals. Running an online business or holding a pivotal position in a company can consume most of your time.
LinkedIn takes the guesswork and legwork out of networking with others in your field. This site allows you to search for, connect with and get needed advice from professionals with a few clicks. There are no face-to-face meetings unless you want them. Even so, you can get to know people through their profiles and interacting in groups and discussions.
LinkedIn Groups: Increase Your Visibility and Expert Status
This brings us to LinkedIn Groups. What are they? These groups are like small gatherings of professionals with similar business niches or interests. The entire site is available to you, but concentrated groups help you to target those professionals with whom you need to network.
Groups help you do many things:
- Discover other professionals to meet quickly
- Actively participate in discussions relevant to your interests and needs
- Zero in on the most influential people on LinkedIn within your professional sphere
- Know which profiles to view and which people to “follow” in discussions
- Begin your own discussions to help establish yourself as a leader in your field
These are also excellent reasons to begin your own LinkedIn Group. Before you do, though, get a feel for the process by joining a group or two. You can search for relevant groups using different parameters.
Once you find one that you like, introduce yourself. Do this by posting a new discussion question and then leaving a comment. Let people get to know you.
LinkedIn Groups can also increase your visibility and popularity on the site. While you are leading discussions, don’t forget to leave meaningful comments on other discussion topics. It will look pretty suspicious if you only post questions and never join in the discussions of others.
Build up a presence and a following. When you are ready, create your own group. If you are an executive coach, creating a group for upper-management motivational ideas is an ideal place to connect with others within companies you want to target.
Ask your new business contacts to join your group. Don’t forget business contacts on other social sites like Facebook and Twitter. Invite LinkedIn members with similar interests as a way of connecting with new faces.
Why should you create a LinkedIn group? You can increase your visibility, ranking, popularity, network and credibility in the business world.
If you want additional tips for using LinkedIn for business, join the Social Media Newsflash today!
Building a Professional Online Business Profile
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Knowing how to build rock-solid profiles online is a valuable skill in many ways. Websites like LinkedIn for example can help you make career-launching contacts. On websites where you do business deals online like Facebook, Twitter and Google+, you usually need some sort of profile as well. Just knowing how to create a compelling and professional profile will help you establish trust, get more clients as a provider or get better service as a buyer.
Here are a few of the most important things that go into creating an online profile.
A High Quality, Professional Photo
People do judge a book by its cover. Before they’ve read your profile and before they’ve read anything you say, people are already going to be forming impressions of you based on how you look in your photo.
Aim to have a high quality, professional, high resolution photo for online profiles.
Ideally you should be wearing a suit and tie, or for women a suit jacket or blazer. The image should be crisp and it should be color corrected.
If you don’t have such a photo yet, go out of your way to take one. It makes a difference.
Focus on References
Your references will make or break you. Each social network’s referencing system works slightly differently, but by and large most communities have some sort of referencing system.
On LinkedIn for example, the references are called “recommendations.” The more positive recommendations you have, the more solid your LinkedIn profile looks.
On the other hand, on the domain buying and selling forum NamePros, they use a system called iTrader. ITrader allows users to record feedback for one another for every transaction conducted.
No matter what the reference system looks like, do everything in your power to get as many compelling references as you can. People lend a lot more weight to these references than what someone says about themselves.
Your Personal Description
Finally, your description is where you really get the chance to come out and make your case.
Try to touch on the most compelling things about you and what you have to offer. Use credibility-enhancing statements, such as talking about how many satisfied clients you have or any news outlets that you’ve been featured in.
Try to make your profile sound as professionally compelling as possible. However, try to also drop in just one or two little personal tidbits. This will help humanize you and set you out from the crowd.
These are the three most important elements of creating a compelling online profile on any website or online community. If you have a professional-looking photo, overwhelmingly positive references and a credibility-building description with a hint of personality, then you’ve nailed the online profile.
