You Tube Marketing For Your Business

I'm fascinated by the growing list of organizations successfully using You Tube for a new kind of PR. Heard of the tie up between Diet Coke and Mentos, the Sony Bravia phenomenon or the Will it Blend? craze? If not, look them up on You Tube, you'll find these companies have secured millions of dollars worth of free publicity for the corporations behind them. Well, I say behind them, it usually starts by accident. Someone posts something that is fun to watch, it just happens to have your brand in it and if you're lucky, it spreads.
It's successful because the audience believes it's been made for their amusement, not for your publicity. And they believe this because it's true.
Engage Audiences on a New Level
This is the challenge for people in business, especially those of us in the communications industry, be they freelance copywriters and marketing consultants like me, to admen, media sales executives or pr consultants. It's to get brands posted on You Tube using genuinely entertaining, engaging and sincere approaches.
Everyone posting to You Tube is potentially an adman for your brand or business. The catch is, that in a world growing in cynicism, if the audience finds out you intended to get your message on there, the message will fall flat: Bang. You've been found out. Get it right, you're on to a winner. Get it wrong, you could look a bit of a fool; but chances are, it will go completely unnoticed. I can't answer the question of what to do for you, there's probably a million or more answers. But if you do decide to get your video camera out and get your brand on You Tube, do it with integrity, sincerity and quality.

Facebook Events To Promote Your Products

One of the most effective marketing tools to promote your business would be through Facebook Marketing. Facebook can help your business grow at low cost and fast rate. Specially, that Facebook has more than 150 million users, it's so easy to reach for your targeted market.
Through Facebook Events, you can spread word out about your upcoming events to hundred millions of people. Facebook events are free application developed by Facebook thus anyone can take advantage to promote marketing events, product launches, new store opening, virtual events, sponsored parties, or transactions etc. You get a fully-featured page, which means you can post on wall, discussion, photos, audios, videos, and links. Plus, an extraordinary add-on is that your event is indexed by search engines.
With Facebook events, you can invite all your friends to your event, and your friends can invite all of their friends. Along with the invitation is a special notification requesting for their RSVPs.
For your event to work, have your page a "share" link. Post it on your wall so that anyone can see it. Then, send reminder because some are too busy that it might skip their minds, and it's the most effective way to drive traffic to your Facebook event. Create a lively discussion about the event to create excitement and interest to your audience. Join other Fanpages or Groups that best describe your target market for the event.
Moreover, you can promote events with highly targeted social ads that Facebook offers. And publish photos or videos of the past events, to show how fun it was. And most importantly, update your page regularly as to let them know your presence and not just a spammer. But don't be repetitive of your messages; be creative on how you will catch their attention and interest.
To make money on Facebook, your event strategies must be creative and don't be afraid to experiment. Facebook Events offers a lot of opportunities for your business and it's up to you how to make use of it.

E-Book Cover Design For Your Next Project

Book covers are a piece of art, in both their visual and verbal presentation. When we look at a cover we are drawn to it for the dynamic visual presentation. Each cover has layers of concept as well as visuals that bring it to life for the author and the reader.
I don't know many authors who haven't thought of what their cover will look like once the manuscript is finished. With every word they write the cover starts becoming more real. Same with the title of the book, what may have been just a working title becomes the actual title.
However, things can and do change. What was once thought to be the final creative becomes something different when the author begins the production process. After months of living the story it's now time to make it 'real'. It's the job of the book designer to make this happen. To take the authors passion and visualize it. How this is accomplished is as different as each subject and author. It is determined by a series of questions.
Often times when a designer asks the author why they wrote the book they are given pearls of wisdom, a view that the author never realized was there. Yet was the motivator for the project, the passion and within this dialogue the cover begins to take shape.
Layers: Story. Author. Design
Author: what is their vision, the purpose, motivation. A book cover designer is very curious and asks lots of questions until they get the feeling, the direction to begin the cover deisgn.
Story: who is the audience, what are their motivations, what is the era or location of the book. Each factors into the look of the cover, another layer of form and structure.
Design: what is the desired response... shock, question, association, pain, joy. strength or weakness. Color, image and typeface have their work cut out for themselves. The book cover designer takes them all and works them into a unity.
When all the questions are in, all the parts to the why of the cover design, the designer then begins to look for images and thinking of the typeface that will bring it all to life. They consider color, will dark or light colors work for the focus. Will the image be of people or landscapes or both? Will an abstract image help a difficult subject seem less threatening? There is a never ending string of question and perspectives that are covered over the concept research time that builds on each piece once put in place.
Typefaces are like clothes, the dress up the cover, some think they take on masculine or feminine characteristics. Which will represent the books subject best. Will a bold san serif project the strength of the subject or will a complicated serif give the reader a feeling of safety?
So, creating an artful book cover design is like painting layer after layer of creative process and discovery.

Keep Calm And Carry On

Running a business is a funny thing. One minute, you can be swamped with work and the next you're so quiet and you can't see where the next penny is coming from.
When you're desperate for new business, it's likely that you'll do tons and tons of marketing. You'll really get off your back side and get out there as much as possible to get new business through the door.
But, here's the thing. When you're desperate for new business, it almost has the opposite impact. It's almost as if your potential customers can sense this a mile off and don't want to work with you because you come across as needy.
And this seems to be true no matter how much of a brave face you put on. Let me give you an example of this. A few months ago I went to a networking event and for some reason, I just wasn't in the mood for it.
But I put on a brave face and thought I was coming across ok. At the break though, no-one spoke to me. It's as though I was giving out an unconscious signal to leave me alone.
So, if you need to get business in through the door quickly, what can do you?
Well, I strongly urge you to do what the old posters suggested in World War II - keep calm and carry on.
You must let go of how desperate you feel and how much you need to get new business in through the door quickly - I know, easier said that done. It's only when you do that you will start attracting business back to you.
So, how do you do this?
Here are my top 5 things to do when you're feeling this way. They've all helped me on many an occasion:
1. Write a diary.
As a business owner, we're incredibly good at focusing on the negative and forgetting about anything positive that happens to us. Start writing a daily diary of what's happened - both positive and negative - and you will start to see a more balanced picture of what's going on. Writing a diary has helped keep my mood much more stable and when I'm feeling a bit down, I can look back at all of our successes.
2. Keep track of your successes
Along similar lines, it's really important to keep track of your successes. Print off any emails that give you raving reviews; write down any positive comments you receive and when you're feeling low, look back over them. I didn't do this for a long time as it just wasn't me. And now I have started this, I wouldn't be without it.
3. Read inspirational books and listen to audio recordings
There's nothing that takes me out of myself more than to read an inspirational book or listen to audio recordings. For one, it stops me concentrating on myself and how I feel and I've also picked up tons and tons of ideas that I can do for the business by doing this. Next time you're feeling down, have a look on I-Tunes, Solo-E.com or check out your local library.
4. Take action
Now this, for me is a biggie. When we get wrapped up in panicking about where the next bit of business is coming from, we tend to just sit there and think about things. I'm going to encourage to get out there and take action. Put a plan together and get on with it. The more action you take, the better you'll feel.
5. Be around positive people
When you're in this mind-set, being around negative people will make you feel worse. Talk to as many positive people as you can and you'll be amazed at how much better you feel. Get out there too - don't wallow in your home or office. Go to a networking event or attend a course.
Remember, being desperate for business will really come across to potential customers, so you really need to get out of this mind-set as soon as you can. Try some of the suggestions I've given above and you'll be surprised by how much better you feel and by how much business will be coming through the door.

Pinterest Marketing For Business

What is Pinterest and how can it help me grow my business?

This is taken right from the pinterest.com website. "Pinterest is an online pinboard. Organize and share things you love". Pinterest allows people to pin anything on virtually any subject on their virtual pin board. Beyond that it allows users to view what other people have posted on their pinboards. This allows visitors to discover new things about topics that they may be interested in, or discover topics they know little about. Since early in 2011, Pinterest has experienced significant growth and wide acceptance. The difference between Pinterest and other social sites is that Pinterest is much more visual and engaging than other sites, including Facebook and Google +. Users "pin" images and videos onto their pinboard, creating a collection of "pins".

I know what you're thinking. "Not another friggin' social site! Why in the world would I want to get involved with that"? The best way to answer that is to take a look at Pinterest's main assets for marketing.

1. It's aesthetically pleasing. Since it's primarily a site for visual presentations, people go there and stay there for a longer period of time than other social sites. Pinterest have five million users, who average 15 minutes a day on the site.

2. Pinterest has become a referral juggernaut. According to copyblogger.com, Pinterest referred more traffic in January 2012 than "LinkedIn, Google Plus, Reddit, and YouTube - combined. "

3. Pinterest's emphasis on visual content makes it a player for B2C businesses. Businesses that would find Pinterest a great fit include clothes stores, florists, hairstylists, furniture dealers, and other craft oriented enterprises. Showcasing beautiful images or videos of your product on Pinterest is an easy way to leverage the power of images.

4. It is easy to share content on Pinterest. The site prompts you to download a "pinmarklet". The pinmarklet allows the user to pin any content they found on the web to their pinboard. You don't have to copy and paste or switch between browsers and tabs. It is very easy to offer interesting content visually to your customers or visitors on Pinterest.

Pinterest does have drawbacks. Unlike other social marketing sites, Pinterest does not have the capability to produce a dedicated branding page. This creates quite a challenge. How do you create a marketing page without it looking like a marketing page? Because visitors don't always know that the link they clicked through links with a business, they may not be the hot referral you are looking for. To find out, use Google Analytics to tell you the referral path for your prospect. From there, you will be able to determine whether Pinterest referrals are interested customers or inadvertent visitors.

Another drawback can be the audience Pinterest attracts. According to hubspot.com, 83% of Pinterest visitors are females between the ages of 18-34. The types of businesses that might be attractive to this demographic are design, fashion, and home décor. B2B businesses will find it hard to develop an audience on Pinterest.

Pinterest can be a valuable marketing tool for those businesses that cater to retail customers, attract a lot of females and have visually exciting wares. To use Pinterest effectively requires the time and commitment to create visually exciting pinboards. Remember to track your referrals to determine if the referrals from Pinterest are the quality you want. Utilized the right way by the right business, Pinterest can be a enormous asset in your marketing toolbox.


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