I cannot tell you how many times I am asked this question when presenting on how to set-up your social media accounts and utilize these sites to market your business no matter how big or small the company is. The analogy that I use to explain all the different Internet web presences that a company has or should have is the following:

• Your Website = Your Virtual Company
• Your Bog = Your Online Newsletter
• Your Social Media Sites (Facebook, Twitter, etc) = Your Virtual Networking
• Your Video Site (YouTube, Vimeo, etc) = Your TV Commercial, your “how-to” videos, etc.

I will go into more detail about the other three topics in other blog posts, as well as give you specific tips on how to get more fans and followers on the major social media sites. As for now, let’s discuss the basics of social media and why even small businesses need to get involved in using this avenue for marketing their businesses. Here are some potential benefits for posting to social media for your company, even if you are posting for just 30 minutes per day:

Get New Business

Yes, it’s true! Once you’ve developed even a small following of “fans” to your Facebook page, you will generate new business or even spark renewed interest by previous customers. The next big question is, “how do I do that?”. It really is all about building relationships with your current and potential customers online. I will be covering many tips and tricks on how to do this in subsequent blogs. Stay tuned!

However, this doesn’t happen overnight. There is no magic formula for getting someone to walk into your business (or click on your virtual business’ website) just by posting on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIN, etc. It is about commenting on your fans’ posts, sharing their posts, sharing information that benefits your fans and not just broadcasting all about your business – you must always think about your fans first. Always think in terms of “how would this information I am posting make my fan’s life better, more successful, etc.” and not think about writing things that may sound to your readers more like “look at me, look at me”! Yes this sounds obvious, but companies do it all the time.

Create Good Backlinks for your Company Website

Backlinks (also known as inbound links and incoming links, among others) are links from websites other than your own that point to your company website. They are becoming extremely important for search engine optimization (SEO – optimizing your site to rank how on the search engines so that your website shows up high on the first page of the search engines) for many reasons, including indicating to Google that the more, high quality backlinks you have for a site, the higher the ranking of the site may have. Many of the social media and video sites (including Google’s own YouTube.com) are high quality, high-ranking sites that, when you post on them and have your website listed somewhere on those sites, gain you valuable backlinks.

Build Lasting, Meaningful Business Relationships

As mentioned above, the more you learn how to use social media to post valuable information that benefits your current and potential customers, the better your relationships with your customers will be. Other ways to build good customer relationships is by providing excellent customer service. If a customer has a problem with your company for some reason, if they have a negative post on your social media site(s), it’s a good idea to address that post professionally and without judgment and simply find out how you can improve the customer’s experience (this is also called Reputation Management). Just by taking the time to address negative issues compassionately and honestly, you may not only regain an unhappy customer, you may gain new customers simply by what you wrote.

Fort Myers Plastic Surgeon & Medical Spa | Dr. Patrick Flaharty

At the AzulBeauty.com website, Azul Cosmetic Surgery and Medical Spa in Fort Myers, Dr. Patrick Flaharty, you will learn about the latest in Cosmetic Surgery as well as see the results (with before and after photos) of Dr. Flaharty’s surgical and non-surgical procedures and Medical Spa treatments.

Challenge: Dr. Flaharty’s old website was an old design based on a Drupal platform. The staff wanted the ability to edit their website as their previous web designer took weeks to months to make updates to their site.

Solution: Update the look of the site and place it on a WordPress platform to allow the staff to make changes. One of the staff interns, Bobby Mercer, web developer, was a great help. He created the graphics for the headers and learned very quickly how to edit the site in WordPress.

Technology Applied: WordPress platform, several WordPress plug-ins, Photoshop to edit photos.

She Sings for Chocolate® provides exceptional voice instruction by conducting master classes, annual performances, and studio training for singers and speakers of all skill levels. Students also learn the art of performing with professional pianists in front of live audiences as well as improving their music theory, ear training, diction, elocution, and overall communication skills.

Challenge: Create a web site that reflects the quality of voice instruction taught by Ms. Pamela Pyles Linkhart.

Solution: Update the look of the previous site with design principles and include new photos of recent students.

Technology Applied: XHTML, photo gallery, image enhancement, Adobe® Flash® CS4, Adobe® Photoshop® CS4 photo manipulation (ethical application).

Hire Cammie McKenzie for an overhaul of your small business’ Customer Services practices. Cammie’s dynamic personality and results-based program will “whip your employees” back into shape and make them more efficient than ever.

Cammie trains small to medium businesses to use the Profound Power of a Positive Attitude. “If an Attitude is not Positive then it is, at best, Indifferent and, at worst, Negative.”

I am so pleased with the work KISSyourWeb.com did for me. I needed my web site completed in a fairly short time and Sandi was able to put it together with a better-than-expected design in less than a week. ~Cammie McKenzie

Challenge: Cammie did not want to make any decisions about the design nor did she want to bother with writing any new content. She wanted an easy-to-navigate Web site in a relatively short time.

Solution: We were able to create her site within a week’s time using content from several different sources including one brief meeting face-to-face about the overall design. Cammie had compiled information previously for other projects so it was easy to pull it all together which made her extremely satisfied. She is a very busy person with little time for small details.

Technology Applied: XHTML, photo gallery, image enhancement

Excellent Service After three prior attempts to launch a website with other experts, I retained Sandi. She did everything for me. In addition to understanding my needs for a clear and friendly website product, she also created a second linked site in Spanish. Highly recommend her services. ~Iris J. Sifontes

Challenge: Create a new web site with a fresh, new, vibrant look that deviates from the “norm” of a typical Immigration Attorney’s web site.

Solution: Start with a color pallette recommended by the Client, work with content already present in brochures and me, and content provided by the client.

Technology Applied: Xsite Pro^®Web Design software, Adobe^® Photoshop^® CS4 photo manipulation (ethical application)

Many people have asked why I started a second career as a local, Fort Myers web designer when I already have a fulfilling career as an eye doctor! The big surprise is how supportive people have been when I told them I did it “because I am following my Passion”. What started the excitement was in creating my first web site for my “other career” of Optometry and a lifelong love of computer technology. Here is an example of a page of that site:

Fort Myers Eye Associates, PA

After learning HTML and Adobe Flash, I realized there was a great need for business owners to be able to edit their own sites. They no longer wanted to be at the mercy of their website designers who could actually take months before they would make requested changes to the owners’ sites. This is when I realized WordPress is the perfect answer. WordPress is a platform that allows anyone to easily learn and edit their own sites. With this in mind, I started custom designing and/or customizing templates for the business owners’ company sites.

And here is an example of the WordPress Blog for the same business:

Fort Myers Eye Associates Blog

For example, here is an interview Betty Walker from the Web Wise Lady did for me:

This is a very quick blog post but I wanted to give you a great link to Robin Williams’ tips & tricks for Bad web design and Good web design. Here it is:

http://www.ratz.com/features.html

Also, here are some of her great design books:

the Non-Designer's Design Book by Robin Williams

the Non-Designer's Web Book by Robin Williams

Thanks to a friend of mine, Kent McKenzie, of Inflatable Cinemas, I have discovered this great website called Thumbtack.com. With just a few minutes of your time, you can post your company’s service and become part of a large community of service providers that will help both your website’s Google rankings as well as provide another way for clients to find you in the local marketplace. Per the site’s instructions, I am posting a link to my new listing using their user-friendly copy and paste posting below:

Check out my Website Design and Social Media Network Marketing for a glimpse at what they have to offer.

An Engaging Experience

by Sue Haberkorn

Marketing in 2010 has changed dramatically. Most business owners by now realize consumers search for everything online. Does your website excite, invite and motivate your visitors? Today it’s not enough just to have a website. It’s all about first impressions. You would be better having no website than project a poor image of your company. Imagine personally greeting every visitor 24/7/365, now that’s customer service! How about a video depicting the highlights of your product or service? Potential customers will no longer have to imagine what you offer but will get a true visual experience of your product or service. It’s easy and affordable to have the power of video working for you. Video can enhance SEO, drive sales, engage your visitors and showcase your business. With website videos you can present exactly what you wish to convey to your audience without the constraints of time and broadcast technicalities Interested? There’s more – with a video business card you can send your personal message in your e-mail. Your “About Us” web or blog page will come alive when your personnel introduce themselves and explain how they will benefit the visitor. How about a tour or training? Video takes you there and engages viewers in a way that text simply cannot.

Today – video means business