By L. Drew Gerber
Have you ever had someone tell you they were slammed with work, only to find their Facebook page full of frequent frivolous activity?
Or maybe you have been surprised by a rude, off-the-cuff remark on Twitter?
Social networking offers boundless potential for authors and writers to promote their works to a wide audience online. Just remember to avoid some common etiquette pitfalls.
Keeping a personalized touch makes all the difference. Let the Golden Rule govern your behavior online and treat people and situations as you would face to face:
Share — Provide valuable information that people can use. When I am networking online, I offer great content for free, whether it be seminars, newsletters or even articles that I find that would be interesting for the community.
Don't just promote yourself — Engage with people online just as you would if you were building a business relationship in person. If someone comes in and all they want to do is promote, promote, promote, that approach is likely to go nowhere.
Be polite — People have a tendency to say things online they would never say face to face. I have seen instances where people on Twitter have a personal beef or a problem with a person and tweet it out publicly. Don't say anything you would be embarrassed for your loved ones to read.
Don't lower yourself — With electronic communication, whether email or social networking, there is no way to read facial expressions or body language. If there is a question about a person's intentions, give them the benefit of the doubt rather than calling them out for being rude.
Be responsible — Not only for what you say, but for your time and your image. It will hurt your credibility if you tell people how busy you are and they see you taking those "Who am I?" and "5 Favorite" quizzes on Facebook everyday. When you are online you should assume everyone is watching and behave accordingly.
Don't butt in — If you are participating in an online discussion, let other people have a chance to share their ideas and perspectives. Wait your turn and you will get your chance.
Have fun and be creative — Think of ways you can share information about your article, book, writing service or yourself that are fun and make people want to follow you.
These tips work because social networking is all about building community. Just like in the community you live in offline, the people who have credibility online who are those who engage others and provide value for the community.
Interested in Branding Yourself
About the Author:
L. Drew Gerber is CEO of Blue Kangaroo, Inc. and creator of http://www.PitchRate.com, a no-charge media tool that moves the best interviews to the front of the line for journalists and producers. Gerber's business practices and staffing innovations have been revered by PR Week, Good Morning America and the Christian Science Monitor. His companies handle international PR campaigns and his staff develops online press kits for authors, speakers and companies with PressKit 24/7, a technology he developed (www.PressKit247.com). Contact L. Drew Gerber at: ldrewg@gmail.com or call him at 828-749-3182.
Showing posts with label branding yourself. Show all posts
Showing posts with label branding yourself. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
How to Have an Effective First Website
Phyllis Zimbler Miller
The saying "a picture is worth a thousand words" could be applied to the need for local businesses, book authors, or anyone with an idea or product for sale to have a website. Nowadays more and more people tend to first look up information on the web.
If you want your business, book or idea/product to stand out in the marketplace, you have to have an online place where potential customers can find you.
But the truth is, for people who have no website expertise, getting started having a website can be overwhelming:
· Which website designer/programmer to hire?
· How much will the project cost?
· How long with the project take?
· Does the website designer/programmer understand marketing principles?
· Will he/she make the website effective for online marketing campaigns?
· Will he/she make the website user-friendly?
While these questions can be paralyzing — it's easier to do nothing than to tackle these unknowns, you're risking losing your potential customers to local businesses, book authors, and others who do have an effective presence on the internet.
Where do you start?
First you need to get a domain name that effectively supports your business or project.
Make sure that you get one that is memorable, can be spelled easily, and is a .com (people try .com first if they're looking online for a specific website). If you get a domain name with .biz or .net, your online marketing efforts may send potential customers to your competition.
Second, you need to consider whether you want to capture the email addresses of people who come to your website and are interested in what you have to sell.
This "email opt-in box" can be a highly effective if you offer, in exchange for the person's email address, something for free that has perceived value. This can be a report or a discount coupon or something else that is related to the reason the people came to your site in the first place.
And, yes, the placement of an email opt-in box is important. If should definitely be "above the fold" — as high up on the home page as possible. And for maximum effect the box should be on every additional page. This way, if people decide on another page that they want to join your email list, they can do so without having to search for the email opt-in box.
The most important "real estate" of a website is the home page area first seen when a visitor comes to the site. This means that it is no longer considered effective to waste time with a cute flash intro that prevents a visitor from immediately getting to the heart of the site.
Another big negative is to waste real estate announcing in large letters "Welcome to my company site." The most important real estate should answer the question what you are offering in information or products that makes sticking around on your website worth it.
An additional website goal is creating a relationship with potential customers. Nowadays people want to know who is behind the site. Whose authority is being presented online? Thus home page pictures of company buildings are out; home page pictures of company personnel are in.
These are only some of the important elements that you should consider when starting your online presence.
While even these elements may seem overwhelming, if you find a website designer/programmer who understands marketing and is willing to be guided by your website goals, you can make these elements work for you without paying a bundle for your first website.
And once that website is up, you can move on to your next project: utilizing your website as part of an ongoing marketing campaign to attract more potential customers and to convert more potential customers into buyers. – P.Z.M.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Phyllis Zimbler Miller is a National Internet Business Examiner at http://budurl.com/internetbusiness as well as a book author, and her company http://www.MillerMosaicLLC.com provides internet marketing information with easy-to-implement solutions to promote your brand, book or business.
The saying "a picture is worth a thousand words" could be applied to the need for local businesses, book authors, or anyone with an idea or product for sale to have a website. Nowadays more and more people tend to first look up information on the web.
If you want your business, book or idea/product to stand out in the marketplace, you have to have an online place where potential customers can find you.
But the truth is, for people who have no website expertise, getting started having a website can be overwhelming:
· Which website designer/programmer to hire?
· How much will the project cost?
· How long with the project take?
· Does the website designer/programmer understand marketing principles?
· Will he/she make the website effective for online marketing campaigns?
· Will he/she make the website user-friendly?
While these questions can be paralyzing — it's easier to do nothing than to tackle these unknowns, you're risking losing your potential customers to local businesses, book authors, and others who do have an effective presence on the internet.
Where do you start?
First you need to get a domain name that effectively supports your business or project.
Make sure that you get one that is memorable, can be spelled easily, and is a .com (people try .com first if they're looking online for a specific website). If you get a domain name with .biz or .net, your online marketing efforts may send potential customers to your competition.
Second, you need to consider whether you want to capture the email addresses of people who come to your website and are interested in what you have to sell.
This "email opt-in box" can be a highly effective if you offer, in exchange for the person's email address, something for free that has perceived value. This can be a report or a discount coupon or something else that is related to the reason the people came to your site in the first place.
And, yes, the placement of an email opt-in box is important. If should definitely be "above the fold" — as high up on the home page as possible. And for maximum effect the box should be on every additional page. This way, if people decide on another page that they want to join your email list, they can do so without having to search for the email opt-in box.
The most important "real estate" of a website is the home page area first seen when a visitor comes to the site. This means that it is no longer considered effective to waste time with a cute flash intro that prevents a visitor from immediately getting to the heart of the site.
Another big negative is to waste real estate announcing in large letters "Welcome to my company site." The most important real estate should answer the question what you are offering in information or products that makes sticking around on your website worth it.
An additional website goal is creating a relationship with potential customers. Nowadays people want to know who is behind the site. Whose authority is being presented online? Thus home page pictures of company buildings are out; home page pictures of company personnel are in.
These are only some of the important elements that you should consider when starting your online presence.
While even these elements may seem overwhelming, if you find a website designer/programmer who understands marketing and is willing to be guided by your website goals, you can make these elements work for you without paying a bundle for your first website.
And once that website is up, you can move on to your next project: utilizing your website as part of an ongoing marketing campaign to attract more potential customers and to convert more potential customers into buyers. – P.Z.M.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Phyllis Zimbler Miller is a National Internet Business Examiner at http://budurl.com/internetbusiness as well as a book author, and her company http://www.MillerMosaicLLC.com provides internet marketing information with easy-to-implement solutions to promote your brand, book or business.
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