Custom Websites - Simple, Functional and Built For You

Website Creation and Online Training

Technology is Changing Marketing

By

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

By

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 – Part 2 on the News

By

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?

By

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!

By

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?

By

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?

Is Your Business On YouTube? It Better Be!

By

Are You on YouTube?YouTube


Recently I wrote an article about how Facebook has become a force and why it’s important for a company to get their Facebook Fanpage set up. Well, YouTube can be just as valuable to business as Facebook if a well designed marketing plan is created.

If you thought the Facebook Facts were interesting, look at these tidbits about YouTube.

  • Over 2,000,000,000 (yep that’s billion!) video views per day
  • 24 hours of video are uploaded every minute
  • YouTube is the second largest search engine, after Google
  • Video results are showing up more often in Google search results

What exactly does this mean to business? Opportunity! Some of the most popular videos on YouTube are informative how to style videos and this is mostly why YouTube has moved up to second place as a choice for a search engine.

Do you have a business with a product or service that could benefit from being explained via video? Often people want to be shown how something works or how to do a certain task with a product. One area I have found this to be beneficial is when I undertake a home renovation project.

There is no shortage of videos helping homeowners learn the process of repairing toilets, installing electrical devices or even fixing garage doors. More often than not, these videos are provided by people in that particular industry as a “public service”. Really though they are planting their product or service in the mind of consumers as a go to person or company for information, advise and potentially new sales.

Why You Want A Youtube Channel

Could your business benefit from a little extra exposure, a few more calls and some additional sales? I’m pretty sure we both know your answer to this question, otherwise you wouldn’t still be reading, would you?

This is where having your own YouTube channel can help give you an edge over the competition. Much like having a Facebook Fanpage, having a YouTube channel can set you and your business apart and provide you with one additional place to be found by potential customers.

A YouTube channel doesn’t have to be something elaborate and doesn’t have to contain an extensive collection of videos. It can be as simple as one video in your channel like this one,

Plaka Greek Restaurant YouTube Channel

The important aspect is that it is complete with plenty of information about your company, how to contact you and your services. In my example, note how the video contains information about what they offer, where they can be found and how to contact them. This is further reinforced on the channel itself as under their profile explains what they offer “Fine Greek Food”, their web address, their physical address and even a phone number for reservations and take-out orders. It’s simply another billboard out on the internet, which directs people back to your business. Which is really what marketing is really all about.

Now, much like almost everything on the internet, these channels can be highly customized to best position your business. This customization should be taken advantage of to help promote your product or service and to make it easier for potential clients to find out more. Here’s an example of an even more decked out channel with a very clear message.

Organizing Clutter Video Channel

From the channel name to the extensive number of videos it serves to promote the product and cater to people specifically looking for information on organizing and decluttering their home. This has helped to contribute to the success and growth of the channel and as this was written, to having over 500 subscribers and over 5,000 friends of the channel. Hopefully that number is even higher now as it’s my wife’s channel!

So How Can You Leverage YouTube?

Hopefully you understand the benefits of having a YouTube channel, but now it comes down to how you can use it to leverage your business on the internet. Let’s look at some quick ideas that worked for other businesses.

FAQ’s

Does your business have a list of Frequently Asked Questions by your clients? Why not create a series of videos that answer these questions and place them on your channel? This works two fold, the questions may turn up in search results when other people are inquiring about similar products and attract new clients and it may result in new business

What’s In the Box?

Do customers often wonder what all is included with a product you sell or a service you provide? If it’s a product in a box, video tape someone opening the box and explaining each item in the box. This would work incredibly well if you have a product like a video camera that includes additional cables for plugging into TV’s etc. The person explaining the items could explain what the “mystery cables” are used with.

If you are a furnace cleaning service, why not make a video detailing the areas of the furnace you inspect and explain how it benefits the client? What do you believe your clients want to know about your product or service? Tell them the answers in a video!

Compare Products

Do you have multiple products that are similar but have slightly different uses? For a drycleaner, perhaps you explain the difference between your cleaning process and the industry standard cleaning process (if yours is different of course, no fibbing!). If your company provides free onsite service, how does this benefit the client versus what the competition does?

Helping You Market Online

Really, there is no limit to the ideas available to help increase your marketing, for your particular business, the only limit is your creativity. If you are absolutely stymied, send me a quick email with info about your product and I will send you some ideas back.

Now I’m not sure what type of feedback I will get from people. I may have a thousand people read this and only one emails me, or I could have 50 people read this and all 50 can see the value and request some ideas. It’s kind of a shot in the dark, so I’ll start this off by putting an imaginary cap of a maximum of five emails of these a month, but perhaps I can feature them in a post every month or two that will also help provide your product or service with extra exposure. It’s free to you, so what do you have to lose?

So don’t wait, send me an email with your questions! Or just as good, send me an email to tell us how you market your business or service online!

QR Codes- Everything You Need to Know About QR Codes

By

QR Codes- Why We Need Them

Have you ever seen an ad somewhere for a product or a service you absolutely needed. Then hours later, when you finally have some time at your computer to look it up, you discover your mind has generated this huge vacuum where absolutely no hint of what you positively had to have can ever reappear?

It happens to the best of us and it appears to becoming much more common as we get lambasted with more and more non-stop advertising. This continual barrage of ads, information, and general branding messages eventually causes us to try and forget more than we remember. Or at the very least numbs us to the majority of it. I would like to think this is what led to the creation of QR codes. It was all just to help the overwhelmed out there who are just like me.

So what exactly are QR codes and more importantly how can they help people remember those ads? Let me start by explaining what QR code stands for. It is an acronym for Quick Response code and is an extension of the bar codes found most often in retail establishments. This extension involves turning the straight bar code into a 2D code and I have an example below.

QR Codes – It Takes More Than Just The Code

Now the QR code is only part of the puzzle, or in this case the solution. The second part is a device that can read these 2D bar codes. We aren’t talking about anything as clumsy as one of those large hand scanners you find at Wal-Mart either. We are talking about that iPhone in your pocket, or that Blackberry you carry everywhere with you. The device more and more people cannot live without and carry with them everywhere.

By installing one of the many free QR code readers onto your smart phone, you are ready to scan away. This brings us to the next question which is, So What? What is the point of being able to read these codes?

This is where the people who get this, can really see the value, So pay close attention. Consider you are in the market for a new vehicle and just happen to be out for coffee and reading the newspaper. Suddenly you notice an ad for the vehicle you’ve been looking for. As you look closely, you notice the QR code in the corner of the ad. You quickly grab your smart phone, fire up the QR reader and take a picture of the QR code.

Within a few seconds, your browser on your phone opens and takes you directly to a link on the dealer’s website where you simply enter your name, phone number and you can book a test drive later that day. Right from where you are sitting. No need to call in, no need to write all the details down to as you can simply bookmark the page on your phone. All with minimal fuss and no vacuum affect where you forgot about it by the time you arrived home.

This is just one example. Other ideas may be a restaurant putting their QR code on their window. Instead of going inside to determine what the special is, you can scan it and have access to the entire menu, or even just determine today’s specials. Or maybe they put the QR code on their takeout menu. Now you can scan the takeout menu and the link there takes you to their online menu. Suddenly you can flip to your bookmark while you are riding home on the train and order your food ahead so it is waiting for you on your way home.

QR Codes Make It Simpler

Sure, you could easily have just typed the longer web address in your phone for either of these examples, but this is so much simpler. It is just so much cleaner and easier. But it doesn’t end there. You see QR codes don’t have to just direct people to a web page.

You can put QR codes on billboards, so someone can scan it from the street. You can put them on business cards, vehicle signage, almost anywhere. Even more interesting is understanding that it doesn’t just end with web addresses.

You can use the QR code to load a GoogleMap to help someone locate your business. You can use it to grab an email address or a phone number. You can use it on your business card to send your VCard information. Or even to direct someone to a YouTube video. The possibilities are endless!

QR Codes Uses

This is what is so exciting, especially to small business owners who can react to this and incorporate the possibilities into their business. Think about this from your business’s perspective. How could you use this to help your company do any of the following?

  • Solve client problems
  • Promote special deals
  • Streamline providing clients with information

How is this for some quick answers? If you provide a product that has an FAQ to answer common questions, you could put a sticker with the QR code directing clients to the FAQ. If you business has monthly promotions you could include a QR code directing people to that month’s or weeks special. If you have just released a new product and want your clients to see it, create a YouTube video walking the product through its paces, then create a QR code you distribute out in your advertising that directs clients to the video.

I’m barely touching the surface here. Currently transit systems in Asia and Norway use QR codes to help people with bus routes. Some Realtors in the US are including QR codes on their listings signage to direct people to the properties info sheet online. People are using QR codes to direct clients or friends to their Facebook FanPages.  The more you think about the potential, the more ideas you can come up with to market with QR codes.

I’ve included a couple QR codes in this article for examples, so if you have a smart phone, go load a QR code reader up and scan them in. Experience for yourself what can be done and how easy it can be.

The next challenge for you after you have thought about this is to leave me a comment and tell me a potential use for QR codes you can see happening. Or tell me how you are already using QR codes in your business and what your impression of the technology is so far. Our creativity is the only thing holding us back, so be creative!

Facebook Fanpages – Why They Matter

By

Facebook is a Force

If you haven’t noticed, Facebook has quietly become a dominant force online. In the last year, it’s had some very notable achievements, not the least of which is an entire movie called The Social Network!

Here are some quick facts about Facebook.

  • Over 500 million users worldwide
  • 50% of users login to Facebook any given day
  • 700 billion minutes are spent on Facebook, each month

The implications of this to a business owner are huge. Over 500 million users all in one place is exciting enough, but knowing how often people log in to the site and how much time they spend online with Facebook just make it that much more enticing.

You Need a FaceBook Fanpage

Now you have to understand that you are not the only person or company that has noticed this. Facebook has become such a huge enterprise that it has led to a multitude of different businesses processes being built to complement it and even to profit from it and there is no reason you cannot be one of them. If you are currently on the outside looking in, one of the most important steps a business can make to start becoming involved, is to claim your own Facebook Fanpage .

Your Facebook Fanpage will allow your business to have that first step into the world of Facebook and Social Media. If you believe that this doesn’t make a difference you might want to be aware that over 80 of the top 100 websites based out of the US have integrated with Facebook and over 2 millions websites worldwide have integrated themselves with Facebook, usually directly via Fanpages.

Of course, there is more to just having a Fanpage, but getting that page started is the crucial step that is needed to move forward and getting their company noticed. Once it is up and running it provides you with the beginning platform to promote your business, to grow a tribe of raving fans and to allow you to become seen by a much broader audience.

Most importantly, this potential audience has an average of 130 friends linked to them in Facebook, many of whom are just like them and are likely to be influenced by their decisions. If you have a product or service that benefits from people talking about you in a positive way can you see where this can lead?

The question at this point isn’t whether you need a Facebook Fanpage, really, it’s how quickly you can get it up and running and start using it as a platform. So what are you waiting for? Shouldn’t you be out there starting your own Fanpage?

Well, this is where the wheels tend to fall off and good intent often gets overwhelmed by sheer confusion. While it’s important to get a Fanpage set up, it can be a rather confusing process. But don’t give up, you still have options! If you absolutely positively have to get something up now, this is just one of the services we can provide, or you can find someone else to hire to get the work completed. However, if you can hang on for a week or two and want to tackle this yourself, I am in the process of putting together a guide that will take you through the process.

Decision Time

So you have some decisions to make, but let me give you your options.

If you have plenty of time and don’t mind leisurely getting around to it, there are plenty of free and paid resources out on the internet as to how to set up a Fanpage. With a little searching around and some time spent with Google, you should be able to find some information on how to get started. Just be careful you have the current information. Facebook has made a couple of huge changes just in the last few months and older guides may be more confusing now than helpful as the process has changed a bit.

If you have some time, understand you need to get on this, but can wait a bit longer, I recommend you scroll up to the top of the page and fill out the form near the top right of the page and grab your Free Social Media Report. By filling out the form, I will provide you with some great additional information about what is happening with Social Media as a marketing tool and how it is affecting business right now. Plus when the guide is available, you will be the first to know as I will update people on that list immediately!

Finally, if this is time sensitive  and need a Fanpage ASAP away email me at bill@billbiko.com and we can get started moving forward almost immediately and getting you set up. I’ll need some information from you, a bit of understanding about your business, what your aspirations are and how I can help you get there to start. Once we have that we’ll get you set up quickly and correctly, so you are off to the right start immediately.

Just to conclude this, I would love to know your thoughts about Facebook and Fanpages, so if you have one already please tell us about it. Just leave us a comment below. Or if you have a favourite Fanpage from another business you like, why don’t you tell us about it too!

Have You Claimed Your Google Place?

By

Google Places Listings

It’s amazing how many local businesses have no idea about Google Places. Which brings up the question of “What exactly is Google Places?” To answer that I helped a friend of mine Steve Bell of Target Your Site Locally to create a video explaining a bit about Google Places to you.

You can watch the video below to learn a bit more and Steve has also put together a free guide explaining how you can actually set up your own Google Places listing. Just head over to his site at http://www.targetyoursitelocally.com to grab it, after you watch the video of course!

Some of the information that didn’t make the video is that a company doesn’t even need their own website to get some value from a google Places listing, but the two in combination can really help your marketing efforts.

Anyway take a look at the video and if you have any comments or questions I would love to hear them.

Just a quick note for you, if you already have your Google Places listing configured, but it hasn’t really helped your business, it may just require some optimization. Along with helping companies set up their own Google Places listings, we can also come in and optimize the listing for you to ensure you are getting the most bang for your buck.

Enjoy,

Bill