Wednesday, 21 September 2011

SiteProNews


SiteProNews

Posted: 19 Sep 2011 09:38 AM PDT

spn_exclusiveBusiness owners are always looking to optimize advertising and use the best locations on the Internet. Ultimately, they need to measure whether the time and effort – and the money spent are worth it. Facebook is one of those prime Internet sites that is emerging as an attractive location for advertisers. With over 500 million active users – Facebook is a force to be reckoned with – and probably one worth considering for advertising your company’s goods and/or services.
Let’s take a look at the dynamics of advertising on Facebook:
First of all, it is a social media network that is made up mostly of family and friends so the information profile that is tied to each user should be fairly accurate. That makes it an ideal source to tap into targeted groups: by location, by age, and by gender.
Targeted advertising can also be done based on users “Likes” or “Interests” because that is part of the user profiles. This makes it easy to target specific groups such as those that like basketball or ballet. This can be useful but don’t get caught up in the restrictions of just focusing on those who picked a particular “Like” or “Interest”. Targeting age groups and locations can be just as effective. Regional advertising options are available to companies who don’t offer national services.
You can enhance the social recommendations from a Facebook ad by having your brand link with a Facebook page. This highlights that you value the Facebook ad and increases the exposure when friends purchase something from your brand. Facebook will display when your friends “liked” the page. This will only help to make your brand more desirable. Maintaining an up to date Facebook page for your company also displays a willingness to engage with customers, fans, and potential customers. Keeping on top of a company Facebook page adds credibility to your advertising campaign.
Keeping your Facebook ads simple is important because the best ads have been those that extend special offers or calls to action with simple text that grabs people’s attention. Too much information will lose people quickly.
Be creative and different. Test a variety of pictures and product ads to come up with the one that works best. Imaging is important and essential for you in order to gain people’s attention quickly.
Facebook has an ad format called Sponsored Stories that will turn people’s “Likes” and status updates into ads to their friends. It is, therefore, important to ensure that you keep up with Facebook formats and ways of advertising to ensure that you are the one that is always one step ahead.
All of this being said – should you advertise on Facebook? Absolutely! Why would you turn down an opportunity to advertise to such a large audience that is just waiting to hear from you! If you are not a Facebook advertiser – you should be.
Article By Gayle Hawks. Give us a call today at 858-522-9335 or email at Author@CardAdmin.com. We look forward to discussing your comments, suggestions, or hearing any ideas for future article topics you may be interested in regarding professional business cards design or business cards management.
Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources

Facebook Ads – Do You Use Them? If Not – Should You? – A SPN Exclusive Article
Posted: 19 Sep 2011 09:18 AM PDT

ecofriendlyEveryone has become more and more conscious of the need to be more earth friendly both at home and in the office. It really is amazingly simple to start making some minor changes that really don’t require a lot of extra work or effort, yet yield some great results for our precious environment. In order to get started with some eco-friendly changes in your office, it’s simply a matter of educating your employees on how to “green up” and help our planet and offer them a few tools needed to properly implement your new earth friendly changes.
Here are 7 easy steps that your office can take to “green up” the work place:
1. Use Recycle Bins
One of the easiest first steps is to invest in some recycle bins or just put labels on regular trash bins: PAPER ONLY or CANS ONLY for all the soda cans that are used in an office.
2. Replace Incandescent Lights
As lights burn out replace them with the efficient lighting CFL bulbs also known affectionately as the “twisty” bulbs. Ensure that all lights are turned off at the end of the day or as you leave a room to save on electricity.
3. Economize on Paper
If you do not need to print something – DON’T! But if you do – then print it two-sided for office use to save on paper. Also start buying recycled paper. Did you know that the EPA estimates that 700 BILLION sheets of copy paper are used in the USA alone each year? That’s a lot of trees! Recycling paper, working to reduce the amount of copies you make and purchasing recycled paper all work together to save trees and reduce landfill waste.
4. Eliminate Paper Coffee Cups and Plates
Utilize reusable mugs, plates, and glasses or ask employees to bring their own. If you do not have a dishwasher, then each employee should be responsible for cleaning their own. If you must use disposable dishware for an event, consider using products made from sugar cane and corn. Not only are these products made from abundant, renewable, sustainable resources, they also break down in landfills in no time flat – without any negative side affects.
5. Install Water Flow Restrictors and Aerators on Faucets
If these are installed on toilets and faucets it will save thousands of gallons of water. Not only is it a good conservation tactic – this can be a long-term money-saver for your business too.
6. Use Old Stationary for Scrap Paper
When you order updated stationary with a new logo or address, use the old paper for scrap or test printing so that it is not wasted.
7. Use Green Cleaning Products
Ensure that whoever does the cleaning in the office uses green cleaning products. Reducing chemicals that make their way into our water is an important step that should be taken by every business and everyone in their own home too. There are many great cleaning products out that use safer, natural cleaning ingredients and still do an excellent job of cleaning and deodorizing your office.
These are just a few simple things that can be implemented without too much work and financial investment on your company’s part. Rally your employees to make a conscious effort to adhere to the green guidelines that you create for your office. Help them understand why it’s important and then…get to it!
Article By Gayle Hawks. Color Card Administrator is the parent company of PrintBusinessCards.com and several other innovative Real Estate Business Card websites. We’re eager to share with you what it is we do. Give us a call today at 858-522-9335 or email at Author@CardAdmin.com for Online Business Cards. We look forward to discussing your comments, suggestions, or hearing any ideas for future article topics you may be interested in regarding business cards design or business card management. Be part of the professional business cards company.
Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources

7 Ways to “Green Up” Your Company’s Office – A SPN Exclusive Article
Posted: 19 Sep 2011 09:04 AM PDT

spn_exclusiveWith the lagging economy today, companies are looking for ways to cut costs while continuing to provide the same level of services that they have in the past to their customers and their employees. For years, many companies have allowed employees to work from home. In return, these companies seem to enjoy a higher employee satisfaction rate and employee retention rate. The work from home scenario provides a win-win for both the company and the employee and it is becoming more and more popular. If your business model will allow you the ability to have employees work from home, here are a few reasons to consider implementing this feature into your company:
Reduction in Costs
Employees working from home saves on office space and parking as office space alone costs an estimated $10,000 per employee. Employees spend less in gas and maintenance on their vehicles due to reduced mileage driven. Lower costs for employees translates into happier employees since they are spending less money to get to work and will have the ability to use those funds as needed in other areas of their personal finances.
Reduction in Absenteeism
Many employees are off work when a child is ill or due to inclement, unsafe weather conditions that preclude them from driving to work. If they worked in the office they would have to take a personal or sick day to attend to a child who was ill. Offering the ability for employees to have what is commonly referred to as “flex time” will allow them to stay at home, tend to their sick loved one or stay safe at home due to weather conditions and still get things accomplished for your company.
Enhances Employee Productivity
Studies have shown that employees are more productive when working from home because there are fewer distractions or interruptions from meetings and less socializing with co-workers.
Balances Work/Family Life
It provides better balance between work and family life since much of an employee’s time is spent at work or traveling to and from work giving them less time with the family. By allowing them to work from home, you are giving them more time to provide attention to family by eliminating commute time.
Increases Employee Retention and Loyalty
Employees are happier when they are able to work from home without the added stress of commuting, dealing with rising fuel costs, expensive automotive repairs, etc. Employees who work from home tend to be more content with their jobs and thus more willing to work hard for your company.
Allowing employees to work from home, even for one day of their week, is something important to consider for your company. There are a lot of details that need to be worked out and discussed with your management team. However, if you’re able to do it, most experts say that you will see a rise in productivity and job performance will increase as well.
Do you currently allow employees to work from home? If so, let us know what your experience is with offering this to your employees. What kind of impact has it made on your business? Overall do you see it as being beneficial to your company? We look forward to hearing from you.
Article By Gayle Hawks. Color Card Administrator is the parent company of PrintBusinessCards.com and several other innovative Real Estate Business Card websites. We’re eager to share with you what it is we do. Give us a call today at 858-522-9335 or email at Author@CardAdmin.com for Online Business Cards. We look forward to discussing your comments, suggestions, or hearing any ideas for future article topics you may be interested in regarding business cards design or business card management. Be part of the professional business cards company.
Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources

5 Ways Companies Benefit When Employees Work from Home – A SPN Exclusive Article
Posted: 19 Sep 2011 08:19 AM PDT

ppcUsing PPC marketing to advertise your legitimate online businesses is still one of the best methods to get regular buyers to your opportunities as the traffic is immediate.
The downside to Pay Per Click marketing though, is that if the campaign you are running is not effective, you can land up losing money and this will happen very quickly. If on the other hand your campaign proves successful and has high conversion rates, you can profit beyond your original expectations. If really does not matter if your PPC marketing budget is small or large.
These 3 tips will help you get more out of every cent you spend.
1. To begin with you must take a look at where you are purchasing your ads. If you have previously done some PPC advertising then you will have already researched the big name options like Google and Bing and perhaps even Facebook, but there are an even wider range of options out there is you are willing to search for them.
A lot of the bigger websites have their own pay per click programs and recently ESPN followed this trend. Apart from this there are also blog and website networks that run their own PPC programs. In many cases your adverts will be more conspicuous simply because your competitors are not likely to advertise on these websites, and another advantage is that the cost per click will be much lower.
By spending some time searching for the best places to advertise, not only will you need to spend less of your budget, but you will also have the opportunity to connect more efficiently with your prospective buyers.
2. If you find that you are not getting the kind of conversions you expected, you will know that your ads are not working; similar to running an ad on television when during the hours that your target market is sleeping.
Remember that different advertising networks will appeal to different types of people and because of this you may find that your ad works extremely well on one network while it may not work at all on another kind of network and this includes landing pages.
3. Tips number 3 involves stretching your Pay Per Click Marketing budget in order to take advantage of the different ways that you can lower your cost per click.
Remember if you choose to use Google to advertise your online income opportunities that they work on a score system for each campaign and the better your score, the less you will need to pay per click. What this ultimately means is that the more targeted your ads are the further your money will stretch.
Other networks may work a little differently and charge you according to the amount you spend. Ultimately it all comes down to what it is costing you per click and what you can do to keep your costs to a minimum, so that you can stretch your marketing budget further and earn more income in your legitimate online businesses.
For more help with your legitimate online businesses Michelle Jayes invites you to visit her online income opportunities website http://www.online-income-business.com and get some great internet marketing e-books for FREE at http://www.online-income-business.com/FreeEBooks.html
Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources

Stretch Your Pay Per Click Marketing Budget For Better Online Income Profits
Posted: 18 Sep 2011 10:00 PM PDT

socialmediaLet Uniqueness, Users and Usefulness PR Your Online Campaigns
“Let’s hire an intern or recent college grad to do our social media!”
For small and medium sized businesses this seems like a smart and cost-effective idea, mainly because many believe that social media is a necessary evil that the younger crowd “gets.” But, this plan goes in the wrong direction since social media is rapidly becoming the number one PR tool for businesses, and as such, requires a smart and effective PR strategy that focuses on the uniqueness, users and usefulness of the company.
The Case of “Love Simple”
Let’s take a look at the story of a small film whose own use of the three “U’s” translates successfully to a small/mid-sized business. “Love Simple,” a small, low budget film appeared at several festivals, received a nice review in the industry trade Variety, and then after rejections by film distributors to pick-up the film, it was about to run out of gas, until a social media campaign stepped in!
Unique
Every business has a unique aspect; however, sometimes the uniqueness is not overtly evident. For example, most claim to be the “best software solution” or the “best service in town,” but these are tired marketing slogans that do not highlight uniqueness. Perhaps there’s one small, niche element that sets these apart? For example, the software’s myriad offerings might include something trend-setting (a tax office management software that includes a differentiating client portal), or for service, maybe it’s an element of that service (the only bank in town that is open on Saturdays). In other words, don’t try to “sell” the whole package, but find that one morsel that might be unique!
For “Love Simple” that uniqueness was only evident after a PR/social media team examined the film and discovered that the lead actress portrayed a lupus patient. After the team investigated, it was determined that this portrayal was indeed the first of its kind in the film industry; thus, the filmmakers were presented an opportunity to virally reach an audience that the film would most resonate with – lupus survivors and their family and friends. Once the uniqueness aspect had been identified, then it was time to translate that to Facebook postings, and blogger/media outreach.
User
Too often, social media activity for many businesses consists of simply posting links to articles and videos that might relate to that business on their Facebook and Twitter pages. Likewise, PR activity is usually defined as the antiquated preparation of a press release that is arbitrarily distributed to the masses, or posted, again to Facebook and Twitter pages. How does any of this haphazard strategy stand a chance of personally connecting, or even being seen and/or read by the end-user?
First, relying on traditional media to promote a commercial product or service is not going to happen, because 99% of press releases or announcements just aren’t newsworthy, particularly to thinning newspapers and magazines; thus, the only and surest alternative is to engage social media bloggers and online influencers — but not by sending them press releases!
After you’ve determined your uniqueness factor, the next step is to studiously research relevant blogs, Facebook pages and Twitter accounts of those who would be directly affected, or interested in, the unique niche that you’ve selected. Take “Love Simple.” Rather than go the traditional route of having real world movie reporters and critics write about the film, the marketing strategy was tweaked to offer blogs and websites that covered lupus the opportunity to review the film. This strategy would enable the film’s core audience or end user (lupus survivors and their family and friends) the ability to hear about “the product” directly from someone they follow, relate to or get their information from. When the respective bloggers reviewed the film, links to the bloggers’ sites were placed on the film’s Facebook page, which helped highlight the review of the film and promote the blogger (a mutually beneficial trade-off since bloggers need PR too). Further, the link to the review was tweeted, always with the hash-tag #lupus so that those interested in lupus could learn about the latest review or news for the film.
Finally, press releases about activities around the film were rarely sent to bloggers; rather, carefully calibrated and customized personal pitches were tailored to each blogger, online writer and influencer. Indeed, it’s a time consuming strategy, but personalization pays off!
Useful
The kind reviews and blogger, Twitter and Facebook posts were useful in spreading word about the film. Further, the posts and tweets were useful in personally connecting to the “product” & to the end-user in a meaningful way; thus, the final component is making your product or service useful to a worthy and related cause or non-profit program.
Most businesses do support local and national organizations and charities, and while they’re noble gestures, the message the partnership sends might not parallel the unique niche or mission statement of the company. Case in point: a health and beauty spa touted its support of a women’s abuse shelter – a worthy cause; however, it might be more useful to support a local non-profit Yoga center that provides free services to those with physical and mental health conditions that require special attention – the niche message of healing, a staple of both Yoga and the spa, is supported through this endeavor.
For “Love Simple,” the useful cause program was, well, simple. The film works with both the S.L.E. Lupus Foundation and the Lupus Research Institute by donating a portion of the proceeds from its iTunes and DVD sales. Again, the cause supports the unique lupus message of the film, and helps raise awareness and funds for the organizations. The organizations in turn, help promote the film on their Twitter feeds and Facebook pages, particularly on special fundraiser initiatives revolving around special days (World Lupus Day) and programs (benefit screenings). Thus, the cause program is useful both to the film and the organizations. Further, lupus bloggers and online influencers are more receptive to products or services that are helping a cause they write and care about.
“U’s” Get It!
“Love Simple’s” social media campaign was a winner. The film’s successful social media campaign garnered nearly 700 quality Facebook fans, and almost as many Twitter followers (The old axiom “quality is better than quantity” holds true with Facebook fans and Twitter followers, but that’s a story for another time!). The film continues to be reviewed in scores of blogs worldwide, and as a result of the attention, “Love Simple” was prominently featured in a variety of publications including The Lupus Magazine, Ability Magazine, and on movie, women’s health, chronic illness and lupus blogs and websites around the globe. Subsequently, the film was able to sign that once elusive international distribution deal with a Hollywood agency.
Developing an impactful social media strategy involves supporting it with a thoughtful PR approach, something that interns or recent college grads might not be able to comprehend and implement. Other small and mid-sized businesses (and your competitors) increasingly recognize the strength and cost effectiveness of assigning their social media campaigns not to a neophyte, but to a strategic thinker. Moreover, they “get it,” realizing that social media, when handled properly and smartly, will put your business on the right road to PR success.
John Casey, a former public and media relations executive for Toys “R” Us, Sears and Kmart, is currently director of freshfluff: spread good stuff!, a PR/social media agency in New York. Read about freshfluff’s successful PR/social media campaign for a Michigan tax business in the latest issue of Taxpro Journal.
Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources

“U” Turn Your Business Social Media Efforts
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