Trends

You hear this everywhere that the gold is in the list, you need to build a list.

This true but what and how you work this list is what really matters.
Unfortunately, most people understand that after they build a list, they need to keep selling to this list non-stop.

Yes, this list has a business purpose and you will need to get sales from this list but creating a relationship with the people in the list is what really matters. Helping your customers will generate loyalty and this is a perfect marketing strategy specially when you are marketing on a shoe-string.
There are several ways of doing this, like providing tips, good information and suggesting things they might be interested.
I’d like to show you what a company did that makes all the difference here.

You heard about the peanut butter recall right?
Did you get any phone calls from places where you buy telling you about the recall and what you should do?
Most companies just live with the fact that people will learn about the recalls in the news and will figure what to do next.
But not all.

Costco checked its members database to see who had purchased products in the recall list. Then they used a robo-call to get in touch with the customers telling them what to do.

Why Social Media?

Some people try to use social media just for traffic, but there are many other reasons:

• It is the new form of PR.
• Builds trust with your audience.
• Very effective word of mouth marketing.
• World wide focus group.
• Creates brand awareness.
• Get answers to business problems.
• Information on your market.
• Grow your business network.
• A great tool of communication with your audience
The down side of social media:
• Bad PR may happen and will spread.
• You cannot sound like you are selling- here the conversation leads to awareness that leads to persuasion that leads to conversion
• It is a process and does not work overnight
• You can get addicted and spend too much time.
• You need to test what works.

What to Do?

1. Have a purpose, direct your efforts. Focus on your strategy
2. Be transparent, be real.
3. Lead with content and participate.
4. Bring them back to your site or blog.
5. Monitor your reputation. Use tools like TweetDeck, Google Alerts and Twitter Searches to see who is talking about your brand keywords and why. Respond appropriately. Don’t forget that this is a conversation.
6. Engage your audience. Keep them interested
7. Measure your ROI and do more of what works. Rinse and repeat always.
8. Test, test, test. Keep learning from case studies.
9. increase links and referrals.
10. Build a list
11. Be consistent, don’t keep jumping from one tool to the next.
12. Create good content with the keywords that are relevant to your business.

You won’t be able to measure your ROI the same way you would with advertising or direct mail. Social media will give ROI in aspects that are more difficult to measure like engagement, loyalty and the decision process. On the other hand, there are many tools that will help you track a lot of data. Begin by having Google Analytics install on your website. Then, spend sometime learning how to use this amazing tool.
Don’t forget, social media works as a process and you will not see results immediately. This is a key reason to be consistent, focus on the tools where your audience interacts and have a strategy before you start.

Teleseminars are great if you want to sell or promote your services and products. They are easy to do and very effective.
My friend Kathleen Gage put together a FREE report on the use of teleseminars.
You can get your report on Teleseminars by clicking here:http://tinyurl.com/9bsfop

Where are we going in 2009?
What should I pay attention to?
If you are a business owner, you need to be aware of trends.
Here is a very good overview for the trends in 2009:
Trends for 2009

By Shahar Boyayan

Here we are in a brand new year! This one promises to be a very interesting year.
One thing we know for sure. This year will be good for business owners and professionals that improve their skills and don’t find excuses to avoid work. It will be deadly to the others.
I want to make sure you have all the tools you need to succeed during the next 365 days, so I’ve prepared a cheat sheet for you.
Read carefully and apply to your business.

1. If you are serious about making money with information and deliver this information via online media, you need to study and try new things every day.
2. When you find something that works, use it consistently.
3. Check drawers and computer files with your old articles, sound files and video files and do something with them. Create new products, submit articles etc.
4. When deciding which media sources to use, think about your customers true preference. Don’t make assumptions, always check and re-check.
5. Always think about the big picture. Answer to yourself: What business are you really in?
6. Invest in relationship building.
7. Everywhere there are potential customers. Make a list of influencers in your market and think about strategies to reach them and create a relationship with them.
8. Test every strategy you put in action.
9. Schedule time to consume relevant information. Do not whine about not having time or having too much information to go through. Did you know that Donald Trump gets up at 5am to read five newspapers?
10. List things you could do that would increase desire for your products or services.
11. Look for ways to create more involvement or pain of disconnection with your customers. Maybe you need to create another structure in your relationship with your customers.
12. The internet is great and inexpensive but as a business owner you need face time with your clients. Don’t fall into the trap of only marketing online.
13. Keep in touch with clients and prospects. Review your follow-up strategies. Remember: implement multi-step, multi-media follow-up sequences. This is how wealth is built.
14. Hunt for opportunities to share resources, leads and customers.
15. Do not start the year without a marketing plan. You need to have written down your plans. You won’t get there if you don’t draw your road.
16. Don’t be afraid of reinventing your business if you have to. Successful businesses do this often. Remember that airplanes fly out of route 90% of the time. What makes them get to the right place is the fact that the pilot makes corrections all the time.
17. Don’t postpone and don’t loose focus.
18. Market, Market, Market.

We at BuzzBooster have several meetings at the end of the year to make sure we put all these steps in place. During the year we have other meetings to realign our strategies.
One tool we use for brainstorming is a mind map. We love to work with mind maps.
We have a system to manage our time. Two days a week, that we call buffer days, are used only to work on money making projects. We like to use a timer. We set it for one hour. During this hour, we don’t do anything that is not a money generating activity. No breaks, no e-mail reading, no talking, no answering phone calls. We use the full hour to work on activities that will generate revenue. We call this “Power Hour”.
We focus on the things we are good at and try to outsource the rest. Even at the beginning where budget was a big issue, we managed to outsource things like accounting. It is not worth our time to struggle with things we don’t do well.
Above all, have fun with your business. If it is not fun, it is a job, not a business. Go do something else.
Have a great 2009!