St. Louis Missouri (MO) Small Business Social Media Marketing

I found  a great article about marketing/the internet/making it all come together. Here are the highlights below. The original article by Adam Singer is located on his blog: http://thefuturebuzz.com/2009/05/18/its-about-ideas/Internet

• Marketing isn’t directly about technology, rather it’s about ideas that set it on fire.
• The best communicators stay at the edge of technology and embrace change
•  What I’m getting at is that no marketer can thrive long-term without staying at the edge, as fluency in tools is imperative to be able to think in terms of strategy and come up with good ideas.  
• Proper on-site SEO is vital for search traffic, but it is creative and/or useful ideas that forge links, connections and authority in the engines.
• Blogs are incredibly powerful communications tools that are simple to implement, but worthless without great content.
• Building subscribers is more than enticing people to opt-in, it’s about building that relationship over time and developing trust.
• Creating profiles on social media platforms takes 5 minutes, really anyone can do this – but again just like blogs, they mean nothing without something interesting behind them and an ROI in mind.
• AdWords and PPC are easy to implement, but without a creative approach and strategy behind them the results will be mediocre at best.  Like the board game Orthello, Internet advertising takes a minute to learn, a lifetime to master.
• You don’t need a social media expert, you need a good marketer (the modern day definition of a marketing professional includes an understanding of all media).  Good marketing always finds a way to spread.  The right ideas replicate themselves in the petri dish of the web.
• I’m not downplaying the fact that you need to be fluent in manipulating web communications tools, (or that the tools aren’t amazing, because they are) you absolutely do – but the real value here is not just understanding, it is creative application. 
•  Ideas will emerge as the truly valuable asset, as execution itself gets simpler and knowledge becomes widespread.  This is a good thing, as more understanding means less time spent explaining/educating and more time working at a high level.  Also, the value of what we do will just continue to go up as more are educated.
• You have to get ahead of the curve to be effective here, come up with successful ideas and know what to apply when and where.  The best way to get there requires more than reading about others doing it, rather you will learn the most by experimenting as part of your natural process and embracing change as it happens, not fighting or fearing it.

If you haven’t embraced social media marketing as an effective relationship builder online and lead generator, you will find yourself behind the rest of your competition within the next few minutes.

IF you wait 6 months to get things started, you will be 12 months behind the rest of the senior service providers in your area. I encourage each and every one of you to make the most of your online presence. Don’t wait.

If you are independent (not a franchise owner) you have the power to change your website, and your marketing strategy immediately.

If you are a franchise owner branding correctly is important, but lack of control over your own website doesn’t mean you can’t engage in social media marketing online. You can and you should.

If your corporate office isn’t willing to embrace the change in the marketing landscape and help their franchise owners by updating the functionality of their websites (just for starters), then ask yourself this question:

Are they more interested in selling a franchise or developing meaningful relationships and fostering individual franchise location growth??? An interesting question for many of you I’m sure.

Here’s your free tip of the day:

Giving away something for free (your “call to action”) is one of the most important aspects of marketing for any business, including elder care, home care, and senior service providers. Without out a great call to action, you are wasting online pay-per-click money (if that’s your method of choice), and wasting your websites ability to generate leads for you.

What should you be giving away for free?

Depends on your budget. Mor often I am seeing home care agencies giving away 4-12 hours of free care provided the client signs up for 4-12 hours of care (buy one get one free). Adult day care centers give away a half day “try us you’ll like us” coupon.

Others are giving away free videos, free reports, free DVDs, free audio CDs, and more. Gone are the days of the simple print brochure. If you want to stand out in your marketplace you MUST be using technology to you advantage. It’s a must for those who plan to survive.

Here an article that explains some more:

http://www.searchengineguide.com/stoney-degeyter/make-money-giving-things-away-for-free.php

Over the past ten years or so the Internet has busted the doors of “free stuff” wide open. More and more we are able to get cool things for absolutely no charge. Blogging platforms such as wordpress are free. Wordpress addons are free. Many iPhone apps are free. Blogs and newspapers provide free content online. You can download TV shows and songs for free (legally or not.) And you can connect with your friends for free via IM, MySpace, facebook, twitter, and a host of other free social networking platforms. I could go on.

The era of “there’s no such thing as a free ride” is coming to an end. So many things are free now days I often wonder how anybody makes money anymore, especially competitors trying to sell what someone else gives away.

But free works. This has been true long before the web was invented.

Great post on the use of social media to drive attendance to ANY event. So, if you are looking for a great turn out at your next appearance, senior fair, open house, job fair, caregiver workshop or elder care community education event, READ THIS!

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Last week, when a discussion on LinkedIn essentially posed this question — “Social Media: All Hat, No Cattle?” — Texas author and blogger Stephen Manning was poised with a fresh-off-the-presses example of social media’s effectiveness.

Manning’s case study? A just-completed conference for writers hosted by DFW Writers’ Workshop, a non-profit association in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area. 

A DFWWW board member and past president, Manning serves as the association’s volunteer webmaster and resident social media strategist. A history buff, Manning has authored two books on World War II-related topics. By day, he’s webmaster for Cook Children’s Health Care System.

Manning says social media were directly responsible for helping DFWWW significantly outperform attendance goals and achieve profitably in the second year of its conference.

Read the full article here:

http://touchpointcity.wordpress.com/2009/05/13/driving-event-attendance-with-social-media/

I’d have to say that based on this article, we really are getting it right. Our LTCSocialMark2.0 Program is worth more than it’s weight in gold for our clients.

Right now we have limited our new enrollments to private referral only. If you have questions, or are interested, and are finally convinced that you need to hop on board, please email us at valerie@theltcexpert.com

This article was originally written and posted at: http://blog.junta42.com/content_marketing_blog/2009/05/15-steps-to-small-business-online-marketing-success.html

 We’ve been working a lot lately on a list of necessary steps to take with your online content. As we compiled the list, it became clear that this would make a very helpful checklist for small- or medium-sized businesses. As you’ll see, not a lot of detail, but a great list to check against.

If you see any additional ones to add to the list or other helpful links, please comment at http://blog.junta42.com/content_marketing_blog/2009/05/15-steps-to-small-business-online-marketing-success.html

Fresh Web Content. A minimum two times a week, update your site with fresh, relevant content for your customers. An easy-to-use content management system like WordPress will help.
Hire a Journalist. (www.ltcsocialmark.com our content manager is brilliant) If you don’t have the resources to consistently develop content, hire a journalist or outsource your content to an expert content team.
Install Google Analytics. Many small businesses have a website but aren’t paying attention to who’s coming to the site and how they are getting there. Use analytics information to find out more about your customers and how you can solve their pain points.
Set Up RSS Feeds for Your Content. Google’s Feedburner or Feedblitz will work just fine.
Start a Blog. Starting a blog may be the key to your program. Post at least twice a week and talk about what is going on in your industry. A blog should not be promotional at all. When done right, you will position yourself and your company as a thought leader.
Comment on Blogs. Find the 15 to 20 best blogs that you feel attract your typical customer and post at least once a week.
Site News Section. Develop a news section within your site. Keep it updated each month. For a more robust option, check out HP’s newsroom.
Regular Online News Releases. Plan for at least one “online news release” per month. This could promote the eBook, fresh content, events, new promotions, etc.  As long as it’s valuable, you can promote it. Here is an example.  
Develop an Enewsletter. Developing an outbound communications tool is critical to maintain and grow relationships with customers, and will faciliate spreading your content. Be sure your newsletter is “opt-in” (they gave you permission).
The Free Content Giveaway. Create an eBook as a packaged content download for your customers and prospects. If you need your customer information (leads), you may opt to ask for basic information before download. If you want your content to spread and be shared, set it free. Here is a great discussion about “gated” content. Some excellent eBook examples are David Meerman Scott’s “New Rules” and our “Trust” eBook.
Twitter Tips. Instead of creating a Twitter account that is all about you, think of your Twitter account as a channel. Determine what your ideal customer pain points are, and then deliver content through your Twitter channel that they would benefit from. Use Twitterfeed to automate your RSS feeds from your blog or web articles. Use Tweetdeck to manage your Twitter conversation.
A Facebook movement. Instead of creating a Facebook fan page for your company, create a movement or cause. I thought Shama Hyder did a great job of this with her ACT Blueprint.
Set Up Your Company in LinkedIn and Maximize Your Profile. PR 20/20 has an excellent post that will get your LinkedIn profile into shape.
Pay Attention to Your Google Profile.
Listen and Learn. Set up your Google Alerts account to track what customers are saying about you, your brands and the keywords that drive your business. Here’s a quick how-to on Google Alerts.
Just a reminder…these are all tactics to use as part of your content strategy.  Determine your content strategy first, then use these steps to execute that strategy.

12 Handy Steps For Writing Great Press Releases

As a handy reminder of some of the most important points in press release writing, the following 12-step summary can be printed out and posted on your computer or your wall or anywhere you can access it easily.
1. Keep the length a maximum of one page unless absolutely necessary.
2. Tell about your products or services in one or two clear sentences.
3. Create an angle of interest.
4. Attract your reader with your title.
5. Use active verbs to enliven your release.
6. Follow rules of grammar and style as you would for any piece of writing…..

Read More . . .
Click here to read the full story:
http://www.press-release-writing.com/writing-great-press-releases.html