Internet Marketing Blog » Social Media http://emaginewebmarketing.com/blog Free tips, advice, ideas and how to's for Small Businesses Tue, 27 Jul 2010 04:54:51 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 en hourly 1 Facebook User Names http://emaginewebmarketing.com/blog/2010/07/facebook-user-names/ http://emaginewebmarketing.com/blog/2010/07/facebook-user-names/#comments Thu, 08 Jul 2010 22:00:53 +0000 Michelle Harrington http://emaginewebmarketing.com/blog/?p=2806 If you’d like to have your own easy to remember and brand Facebook username/URL (example:  www.facebook.com/mybusiness) for your Facebook business page, here’s a quick video tutorial from “We Teach Facebook” on how to do it.

You must be the admin of your business page and you must have at least 25 fans before you are eligible for your own branded URL on Facebook.

Creating a Unique Facebook URL” – We Teach Facebook

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]]> http://emaginewebmarketing.com/blog/2010/07/facebook-user-names/feed/ 0 Blogging for Non-Writers http://emaginewebmarketing.com/blog/2010/04/blogging-for-non-writers/ http://emaginewebmarketing.com/blog/2010/04/blogging-for-non-writers/#comments Sun, 04 Apr 2010 20:54:24 +0000 Michelle Harrington http://emaginewebmarketing.com/blog/?p=2627

Here’s a great article for anyone wanting to start a blog but is worried about not being a “good enough” writer.  Blogs aren’t just for “great writers” and can be used in a variety of creative ways.  You can use a blog to feature your art and/or photography and let the visuals “speak” for themselves.  Or you could use your blog to collect and organize information and articles that you know your clientele/audience is interested in.  The possibilities are endless….

For more inspiration on how to start a blog when you aren’t a great writer, check out the article below.

How to Blog When You’re Not a Writer
by Mark Hayward

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]]> http://emaginewebmarketing.com/blog/2010/04/blogging-for-non-writers/feed/ 0 Great Ways to Use Twitter for Small Business http://emaginewebmarketing.com/blog/2010/02/great-ways-to-use-twitter-for-small-business/ http://emaginewebmarketing.com/blog/2010/02/great-ways-to-use-twitter-for-small-business/#comments Sun, 21 Feb 2010 08:24:30 +0000 Michelle Harrington http://emaginewebmarketing.com/blog/?p=1438 Here are some links to some great ways to use Twitter for your small business.

Here’s an article about how to use Twitter’s Advanced Search  to find new leads for your business….

How One Small Business Doubled His Clientele Using Twitter

When J.R. Cohen, Operations Manager for CoffeeGroundz (@coffeegroundz) Cafe in Houston, Texas first heard about Twitter from one of his customers, he was puzzled but intrigued. Today, he credits Twitter with almost doubling his clientele and with opening his eyes to a whole new way to build Community.  Read the article here…

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]]> http://emaginewebmarketing.com/blog/2010/02/great-ways-to-use-twitter-for-small-business/feed/ 0 Google’s Place Pages http://emaginewebmarketing.com/blog/2010/02/googles-place-pages/ http://emaginewebmarketing.com/blog/2010/02/googles-place-pages/#comments Tue, 02 Feb 2010 01:18:31 +0000 Michelle Harrington http://emaginewebmarketing.com/blog/?p=2431 Here’s yet another opportunity to use Google’s Local Listings to promote your business.

“…Post to your Place Page is nothing more than a Twitter-like status update box with a 160-character limit that updates your business listing with whatever current information you want to expose to the Google  audience.   You can access it from your Local Business Center dashboard when you’re logged in.   Posts expire in 30 days, but it seems likely you’ll be able to delete outdated entries as well.”

Read the rest of the article to learn about a new feature Google has added to it’s Local Listings.

Google Lures Local Business with Place Pages Bait
By Jennifer Van Grove

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]]> http://emaginewebmarketing.com/blog/2010/02/googles-place-pages/feed/ 0 Creating a Social Media Contest http://emaginewebmarketing.com/blog/2010/01/creating-a-social-media-contest/ http://emaginewebmarketing.com/blog/2010/01/creating-a-social-media-contest/#comments Mon, 01 Feb 2010 00:40:10 +0000 Michelle Harrington http://emaginewebmarketing.com/blog/?p=2433 Here’s a great article on how to effectively promote your brand through Social Media channels.

5 Tips for Creating a Successful Social Media Contest

by Clay McDaniel

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]]> http://emaginewebmarketing.com/blog/2010/01/creating-a-social-media-contest/feed/ 0 How to Build Facebooks Fans http://emaginewebmarketing.com/blog/2010/01/how-to-build-facebooks-fans/ http://emaginewebmarketing.com/blog/2010/01/how-to-build-facebooks-fans/#comments Wed, 27 Jan 2010 01:06:45 +0000 Michelle Harrington http://emaginewebmarketing.com/blog/?p=2435 John Haydon had a great idea on his blog for building Facebook Fans by offering Fan-Only content.    Check out his article link below to learn how to do it…

How To Create An Incentive For Visitors To Fan Your Facebook Page

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]]> http://emaginewebmarketing.com/blog/2010/01/how-to-build-facebooks-fans/feed/ 0 GoMyLocal.com http://emaginewebmarketing.com/blog/2010/01/gomylocal-com/ http://emaginewebmarketing.com/blog/2010/01/gomylocal-com/#comments Tue, 26 Jan 2010 01:04:32 +0000 Michelle Harrington http://emaginewebmarketing.com/blog/?p=2437 Here’s another local directory/social media site that you can add your business to for free.  GoMyLocal.com directory listings are a free and easy way to get more exposure online for your business or store front.  Visit the site and see if your business is listed, if not click on “Add a Listing” and fill out a short form with details about your business.  Even if you have a website it is important to have listings on local search sites too.

www.GoMyLocal.com

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]]> http://emaginewebmarketing.com/blog/2010/01/gomylocal-com/feed/ 1 Hospitality Industry Reviews http://emaginewebmarketing.com/blog/2009/12/hospitality-industry-reviews/ http://emaginewebmarketing.com/blog/2009/12/hospitality-industry-reviews/#comments Tue, 29 Dec 2009 08:55:33 +0000 Michelle Harrington http://emaginewebmarketing.com/blog/?p=1571 The following is an article by Miriam Ellis one of my favorite authors on Search Engine Guide.  I thought you might be interested in knowing what sources Google uses for its Local Maps listings.

34 Google Local Maps Sources For Hospitality Industry Reviews

Who does Google trust? Who do they love to get data from about your local hospitality business? With the new, expanded, 10-listing One Box now showing at the top of Universal search for so many local searches, and with number of reviews being given a prominent place in this new One Box, hotel and restaurant owners need to get those reviews pouring in if they want to win a spot in the A-J Top 10. It could mean the difference between a full house and ghostly silence in your place of business.  Read the rest of the article here.

Here’s what the Google Local Listings look like for popular searches.

Google Local Listings

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]]> http://emaginewebmarketing.com/blog/2009/12/hospitality-industry-reviews/feed/ 1 Encourage Reviews on TripAdvisor http://emaginewebmarketing.com/blog/2009/12/encourage-reviews-on-tripadvisor/ http://emaginewebmarketing.com/blog/2009/12/encourage-reviews-on-tripadvisor/#comments Thu, 17 Dec 2009 18:50:08 +0000 Michelle Harrington http://emaginewebmarketing.com/blog/?p=1593 TripAdvisor is a free travel guide website that allows users to post opinions and reviews of travel related issues.  TripAdvisor-branded sites alone make up the most popular and largest travel community in the world, with more than 25 million unique monthly visitors, 15 million+ members, and more than 30 million reviews and opinions. Featuring real advice from real travelers, TripAdvisor-branded sites cover 500,000+ hotels and attractions in the U.S.   With this kind of travel market share you can easily see why TripAdvisor is important to all visitor/vacation-related businesses.

5 Things You Should Do Today (if you haven’t already)

  1. Go to TripAdvisor.com and do a search for your business name.
  2. Peruse the traveler reviews to see if anyone has posted a review or comment about your business.  Pat yourself on the back if what you find is positive, think “opportunity for improvement” if what you find isn’t so great.
  3. If there are reviews of your business click on your business name which should be a hyperlink to your business listing.  If you don’t see a listing for your business, then it’s time to set one up.
  4. Create a user account and listing for your business.  (Follow the link for instructions).  Be sure to complete all the information requested and add photos to your listing too.
  5. Start encouraging your guests/patrons to share their experiences on TripAdvisor.com (click here for the down loadable flyer) or sign in to your TripAdvisor.com account and download the high resolution flyer.  You can also make your own flyer (recommended) and post it prominently at your business location and email it with a note of thanks to your guests/patrons after their visit/trip to encourage reviews.

What about bad reviews?

One bad review is NOT the end of the world, but it can be harmful if ignored.   If you’ve found a review of your business that is less than flattering I recommend submitting an “management response” to that review offering an apology and to share what you are doing to correct the issue.  By publicly acknowledging the problem that occurred you’re letting other potential guests/patrons who read the review that customer satisfaction and your reputation is important to you.  The best medicine for a bad review is to encourage more people to write reviews and over time it will become evident what customers can expect from your business.

Reviews should be monitored regularly (use a Google alert to make this easy) as this will help you to identify the areas where you can improve your customer experience.

Once you have a TripAdvisor listing and some good reviews established I recommend installing one of the TripAdvisor badges on your website, which will help to further promote your credibility and encourage future patrons to write about their experiences with your business on TripAdvisor.   You can access the TripAdvisor badges once you are signed in to your account.

More Owner/Representative Resources on TripAdvisor.


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]]> http://emaginewebmarketing.com/blog/2009/12/encourage-reviews-on-tripadvisor/feed/ 3 Has Your Business Been Yelped? http://emaginewebmarketing.com/blog/2009/12/has-your-business-been-yelped/ http://emaginewebmarketing.com/blog/2009/12/has-your-business-been-yelped/#comments Mon, 14 Dec 2009 08:48:30 +0000 Michelle Harrington http://emaginewebmarketing.com/blog/?p=1568 Read Jennifer Laycock’s article on Yelp and find out if your business has been “Yelped” and learn how to set up your Free business profile on this popular social media site.

Can Yelp Help Your Small Business?

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