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Website Creation and Online Training

Juggling Your Time

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Juggling day to day operationsWow, does time fly. It’s embarrassing to mention how long it’s been since I posted here and when I really think about it, I’m a prime example of most of my clients.

We end up operating a busy, successful company and we don’t have time to work on some of the tasks that got us here. Tasks like sharing information, doing some shameless self promoting, you know the typical start up stuff.

It’s no wonder most of them find their sites or their marketing falling off, they simply get too busy with day to day operations, just like me! At this point though, I’ll try to stay on top of posting a bit more regularly here, although no guarantees.

It always comes down to trading off time doing work for other clients or for myself and I prefer to get their work done first, then move onto mine, but somehow, somewhere I will fit more time in.

 

What’s New

One part of doing my work I find most exciting is seeing how the clients react. Whether I’m creating some videos for them or working on their site, seeing the reaction of clients can be an awesome feeling. It really gives you a positive push to see them happy with a project.

This has never been more apparent than in one of my current projects. I’m helping a local author with everything from his site, to his YouTube channel, to his Facebook presence to creating what I can only describe as a kick-ass trailer for the book. Incredibly happy with how it’s turned out.

You can go take a look at it here, RC Richter – Crossing The Rubicon and I’m hoping to potentially post the video here later this week. I just need the last few stamps of approval and we are good to go. So watch for it!

 

 

Are You Ready For Facebook’s Changes?

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Changes to Facebook’s Business Pages

If you haven’t heard, Facebook is making more changes, this times it’s to business pages and if you have a company Facebook page, these changes are going to affect you, are you ready? If you’re not, you have until March 31st to get ready, so here’s a recap on the big changes.

Timelines

This is going to be the most dramatic change as it takes away the landing or welcome pages that many marketing savvy businesses’ previously used to attract new “likes” to their page. Currently (and until March 31st), you could [Read more…]

Technology is Changing Marketing

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Marketing Your Business Online – It’s More Important Than Ever

I just bought a new TV recently and I need to start by saying I love it. It’s a bright, shiny new Sony Bravia LED TV that’s incredibly thin, has a brilliant picture and has become a bit of an eye opener for me. Anyone who knows me will quickly pick up on the fact that I am pretty technically inclined (read this as I a a gadget guy), but this new TV caught me completely off guard and it was only this morning that my mind really started to grasp the significance. Especially when it comes to marketing and business!

You see, the last TV I bought was over four years ago and my how things have changed in four short years. This previous TV was near the end of the cycle for that particular technology, so I was able to get a great deal, but this new TV is cutting edge, far superior and for significantly less. It’s already got my mind wandering as to what will be available in four years, but that’s for another post.

Right now, I need to get you up to speed on my revelation. [Read more…]

Facebook, Google Plus and The Evolving Internet

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Facebook and Google Plus

There have been a huge number of changes with this continually evolving Internet since I last posted an article and the biggest news is likely the introduction of Google Plus to the market. Currently Google Plus is still relatively new and doesn’t have all the buttons, bells and whistles that Facebook has to offer, but you know it’s only a matter of time before they introduce their evolved versions of Facebooks offerings.

Perhaps the most talked about current evolution with Google Plus is the introduction of circles to the vocabulary of the Social Networking group. Facebook has lists and groups and Google’s circles are some where in the middle. They are immensely more flexible than lists, but don’t have all the options of groups.

Circles are essentially just [Read more…]

QR Codes – How To Use Them To Promote Your Business

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QR codes are the Rubik’s cube of marketing. Many people understand they can be a great solution to promote their business, yet they only get part way to the solution by simply using a QR code to direct clients to their web site.

It just requires a little more creativity and strategy to get to the point of solving the riddle and coming up with a viable use for these crazy little codes.

The easy out is directing people directly to your site, but why not think out of the box, or in this case out of the cube?

You need to put yourself in a client’s shoes and ask what they want from you and your business. One of my favourite examples is restaurants.

What does your client want? Food!!!!! Will a link to your website solve this? What if instead you had your savvy web site designer create a custom mobile web page for your smart phone visitors that took them directly to an embedded video showing off your most popular dishes and a link to your menus? Would this ramp up client interest better than a static web page full of content?

What can you do for your industry that is out of the box? If you would like to get some ideas to help promote your business, use the contact form below to see what we can come up with for you!

 

QR Codes – Part 2 on the News

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Global TV wrapped up their story about QR codes on the news tonight, here’s the video.

If you are interested in creating some of your own QR codes, here is a link to a site where you can create your own QR codes.

How to Create your own QR Code

If you would like ideas about how you could incorporate QR codes into your business contact us at 403-870-4663 and we can arrange a consultation.

How Can My Business Use QR Codes to Stand Out?

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Using QR Codes In Your Business

I had previously written an article walking you through what QR codes are and what they do, but I seemed to leave an important part out. The part that helps your business to stand out from the crowd!

QR codes seem to have a million and one applications, so I took some time to brainstorm and came up with a few different ideas for several different types and styles of businesses. Before I launch off into these ideas, if you are looking for specific ideas for your business or industry, contact me and we can have a quick consulting meeting to see how we can help you use QR codes to grow your business.

QR Code Uses (or Ways to Engage Your Clients with QR Codes!)

Over the last decade, I have been quite involved in the world of Real Estate and I can easily see a multitude of ideas and marketing concepts for various industries in this sector. Let’s start with Realtors!

Have you ever driven by a Realtor’s lawn sign and had a few questions about a potential property? What if the lawn sign had a QR code located on the corner that you could scan from your smart phone, potentially from the comfort of your vehicle in front of he property?

This QR code could link directly to the feature sheet and quickly answer questions about size, bedrooms and various other easy questions. Or how about a video walk through? Perhaps even a link to book a showing?

This is just the tip of the iceberg, they could be used on feature sheets within the property, now the potential buyers have the information in a format far less likely to get lost or misplaced than a piece of paper. Or in newspaper ads or mail outs to help reduce costs and to take clients to the most current featured properties.

Still in the world of property, what about renovation companies? Rather than being limited to your costly full page colour advertisement in a magazine, a QR code could take interested parties directly to before and after pictures, client testimonials, post renovation examples and even videos explaining the process and why you are perfect for the client?

If you’ve ever assembled a BBQ or completed any home repairs, could you have used a video to walk you through the process by your side? Manuals these days have become so complex and so confusing, you often wonder what language the instructions started in. What if they also included a QR code to a video showing you each of the steps to properly assembling your project or completing your repair? Are you listening IKEA?

The World of Retail and Marketing With QR Codes

Have you shown up at a retail outlet and forgot the coupon you had intended to use at home? Now you have to grab the flyer at the store (if they have any left), find it, rip it out and then toss the rest of the paper. What if they also had a QR code that linked you to the electronic version of the coupon? Or what if the QR code was posted beside the product with the coupon?

Another option, what if the item you were looking for was sold out, but it was in stock at a different location you had never visited before? If the store had QR codes taking you to maps of their locations you could use the handy GPS on most smart phones to drive directly there.

Product demonstrations, instead of having a large booth taking up valuable store floor space, why not use QR codes taking interested consumers to demonstration videos? Or provide links to guides the consumers can sign up with their email address for that provides additional uses for the product. Now the company also has a way to follow up with the client and potentially market to them later.

Vehicle and RV dealerships and QR Codes

Auto manufacturers spend millions on commercials already, why not leverage these ads and include QR codes directly linking to them either in print advertising or right on the stickers on the vehicle on the lot? For limited quantity offers, why not include a link via QR codes to a countdown of vehicles available? Or to additional features that didn’t make the final ad cut?

RV dealerships, how often do clients have questions about whether their current vehicle can safely haul the latest greatest 31’ toy hauler? Why not include a QR code breaking down the specifications required to safely haul the trailer, or have the QR code point to links to partner service companies that can provide upgrades like electronic trailer brakes, or hitches? Why not cross promote with a truck dealership to provide a specific vehicle they have on sale all explained through a QR code link to a video or web page explaining how these two items match up so well?

QR Codes For Small Businesses, Sales People and Organizations

Growing your business requires people knowing about you; use a QR code to direct friends, clients and associates to your Facebook Fanpage, to your website, to helpful information about your products and services. Create engaging content that people will want to share and perhaps you even go viral!

You can put the codes on your marketing material, your business cards or even your storefront window. Don’t wait, start thinking now about what you want clients to see, QR codes are in their early stages here, but it won’t last long, so be a front runner as it is incredibly easy and cost effective to get started.

Here are ten more quick ideas for QR codes:

  1. Restaurant = QR code to an online Take Out menu
  2. Manufacturer’s = QR code linking to online manuals instead of easily misplaced paper manuals
  3. Events = QR codes to add calendar events for Sales, launches, or events
  4. Directions = a QR code with a Google map showing where your business is
  5. Artists = QR codes that explain how, why or where a CD or art piece was created
  6. Twitter = a QR code that links to your Twitter profile
  7. Donations = use a QR code linking to PayPal for donations for a cause
  8. Customer Reviews = links to review websites to get people talking about your company
  9. Recipes = grocery stores can include easy to scan codes for recipes, including grocery lists
  10. Museums = audio explanations of museum pieces

I can’t stop!

  1. Conferences = QR codes to list who is speaking where, when and about what
  2. Advertising in Elevators = Fast quick ads full of content with only teaser headlines
  3. Bar Bathrooms = see above!

Remember these codes can go anywhere and be on anything that has a reasonably flat surface, so you can reproduce these codes on signage, windows, T-shirts, business cards, tattoos (temporary ones recommended!), bags, ball caps, vehicles, online avatars, coasters, napkins, the list just goes on and on, so be creative! What ideas have you come up with, leave us a comment to share your innovative and creative thoughts!

To find out how you can utilize QR codes to help grow your business contact me via the comment form below, or call me at 403-870-4663. Let us help you stand out from the crowd!

March Facebook Fanpage Update Coming!

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Facebook Fanpage Update March 10th

If you’ve missed it, tomorrow March 10th is the day everyone will be required to switch over to the new redesign of the Facebook Fanpage. Now many Fanpages have already started the rollover, but it will be mandatory come the 10th.

The big changes are the removal of tabs across the top of the page and the addition of the photo-bar across the top making the page more closely resemble regular profile pages. If you are concerned the special tabs you had are completely gone, don’t worry, they have just moved down the left side of the page, again like the profile page.

This new navigation system is much cleaner and easier to use, but at the expense of also blending in much more than the former tabs did. Time will tell if this becomes a feature people are aware of, or will simply be ignored and become less valuable of a capability.

Perhaps the most talked about feature though is the ability to post as the Fanpage. You can now login as the Page itself. To do this you just need to go to your account tab and choose Use Facebook as Page.

From there you have the option to switch to a page you are an admin on and now you are that page. If you “like” another page or post, it shows up as the Fanpage, rather than as your personal profile (although there is nothing from stopping you liking it with both!).

The advantage of this is Fanpages can do a much cleaner method of ensuring their branding themselves properly. Prior to this, it all merged together, now Fanpages and personal pages are their own separate entities.

The final user feature I will mention is the new method which posts appear on the wall. They no longer appear chronologically, but rather by popularity. This allows the most commented and liked posts to move to the top of the page and the less popular ones slide further down.

Of course with all these changes there also has to be some background changes. These technical changes involve the transition from Facebooks current FBML language to the use of iframes. For the average user this won’t make much difference, but for those of you with custom pages or looking at getting a custom page, the use of iframes brings up an amazing multitude of new possibilities.

I have a new page I am working on, so watch for details to see what some of the early techniques you can use are to optimize your fan’s experience!

Mobile Marketing – Is Your Business Ready?

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I just finished reading a great post over at the MarketRumba website (http://www.marketrumba.com) that talks about how mobile is the next huge area of growth for business. Some of the numbers are simply astounding as far as the penetration of smart phones into the market and the growth projections over the next year. Add on top of that mobile devices like iPads, galaxy’s and a whole stream of other tablet products that either are on the market, or are arriving weekly.

It’s a market that smart business owners cannot ignore, because their competition isn’t! If you own a smart phone and have ever done a Google search, you already understand the power of being connected anywhere and anytime. Potential customers can now find out about you (or your competition) immediately rather than waiting to get to their desktop.

Because this is such a new market for many businesses, we are just at the beginning of the curve as far as new ways of engaging clients, selling products and even capturing client information. There will be new advances that will absolutely astound us when we first see them, but will be commonplace over the next few years. And business cannot ignore this.

Dianna had a great video from Google on her site which I have grabbed from YouTube and embedded below for you. I’ve also included a link below to her original article. The video itself is just over an hour, but I highly recommend you watch it if your business is not already marketing online to the mobile market.

Here is the link to Dianna’s article,   Is Your Business Mobile Ready?