In the previous article What print materials do I need to start a business? we talked about what essential print items I recommend for start-ups. Today we are going to go over what online materials you will need to reach your target demographic. I’ve again broken it down to “essentials” and “advanced.”

Online Essentials:

This short list is what I recommend to start a business and appear professional. And remember if you appear professional you will more easily earn your customers trust and credibility and thereby increase sales.

Website:

Having a website is ultra important because it allows people you meet in person to find out more about your company, plus it enables you to be found by search engines, such as google. Many people do preliminary research on the web before they contact a company or make a purchase.

Tip: When considering the design of your website think about the following: Make sure it is easy for a potential customer to find what they are looking for. Is it products for sale? Information? Also think about what your end goal of your website is going to be. Is it making a shopping cart purchase or email newsletter sign-up? Also make sure you have links with all of the different ways people can contact or follow you, such as email newsletter, Facebook, Twitter, and blog RSS. For more in depth info about website design, read 7 tips for a stellar web layout.

Email Newsletters:

Email newsletters can increase your sales and are one of the cheapest forms of communication to put into action. There are email clients such as Mailchimp.com and Constant Contact that offer low cost solutions. How low? If you have under 500 people on your list Mailchimp is free and Constant Contact starts at around $15 per month.

Tip: Make your branding consistant with a custom email template that matches your website and print collateral. Make sure you only email people who have opted-in to your email list. Do you want to know more about SPAM laws? Check out MailChimp.com and scroll to #11 for a great Email Spam overview.

Online advanced:

The following tips are “advanced” because they either take more time and/or money to put into action. These suggestions allow you to go out and find your customers and not just wait for them to come to you.

Blogs:

Blogs are a great tool to get more traffic to your site, educate your customers, build trust and toot your own horn. Want to know more on how that is possible? Read Why your small business should have a blog. Are you not sure what to write? Visit Ten topics for your small business blog.

Tip: To keep a consistent brand make sure your blog matches the look of the rest of your online and print materials. Consistency is the key to having your customers recognize you.

Facebook fan page:

Facebook fan pages are a great way to reach your customers daily.Why do you need one? Your customers aren’t going to look at your website everyday, but they are going to be on Facebook. Check out these Facebook stats:

• Facebook has more than 350 million active users
• 50% of active users log on to Facebook in any given day
• Average user spends more than 55 minutes per day on Facebook

To find out more, read Why your small business should have a facebook fan page.

Tip: To further stand out from the competition you can add a custom “Welcome” tab or a special tab for a specific promotion. For a “Welcome” tab example, view the Uncommon Threads Jewelry Facebook fan page. You can set it up  so new visitors are automatically directed to your custom page.

Twitter:

Are your potential clients on Twitter? It’s free to set up and the only thing it takes is time. Are at a lost as to what to talk about on Twitter and Facebook? Check out How to Simplify Social Media.

Tip: To keep branding consistent have a custom background with your branding. See the Uncommon Threads Jewelry Twitter page as an example.

Video:

Did you realize that people are 7-10 times more likely to view a video then to read an article or profile? Video can be used on your website, Facebook Fan page, YouTube and even in email newsletters.

Webinar:

A webinar is a great way to show you as an expert and will also give you the opportunity to reach new potential customers. Are you just starting out and don’t have a lot of information to share? Partner with an authority figure on the topic to give your company credibility.

Pay per Click Ads:

Pay per Click ads can be a great way to get new customers that you are not currently reaching. The most popular ads are through Google and Facebook. You can also advertise on other websites that are frequented by your customers. How research your customers to find where they shop or go for information and then email the site owner about advertising rates.

Tip: Set a daily budget on whichever you choose, so you don’t get any unwelcome surprise bills. And make sure you check your Google Analytics to see which ads are delivering the most potential customers and which ones are fulfilling your website’s goals (sign-up for email newsletter, e-book, or make a purchase).

Wrap up:

Set up an Online Marketing Strategy for the entire year, so you can compare results from year to year. Decide ahead of time how much money and time you are going to invest in online media. Remember the marketing rule is it takes 7 times for a person to see something before they buy. Which method online makes the most sense to reach your ideal customer?

Let’s start the showcase with the Twitter background. Important things I needed to include: Randi’s photo, Uncommon Threads jewelry logo, the fabric from the website and examples of the jewelry she creates.

Next up is the Facebook fan page that I set up for Uncommon Threads Jewelry. For the profile or “wall”, I combined her logo, website info and most popular piece of jewelry. I also uploaded a photo album of her top pieces and set up her blog to automatically publish onto her Facebook page:

Lastly, I mentioned above that I also created a custom Facebook landing/welcome page. Not sure what a landing page is? You can set up Facebook  pages to direct all potential “fans” to land on a custom tab. This tab is basically a mini-web page that can include – links to your website, any special promotion, and sign-up for your e-newsletter. Very cool!

If you are a regular reader of my website, you’ll know that I think that Facebook is a great tool for your small business. To build on that concept, I have debuted new social media package pricing for your small business. But hurry, the pricing is only available April 20 – May 20.

Social media for small businesses can be confusing. After all, as a small business you are most likely in charge of many different areas and don’t have a lot of free time. You may be wary of Twitter and Facebook and view them as time wasters. So, how do you become involved with social media and not get sucked into the wasting time vortex?

Have an online marketing strategy

If you map out general topics that you are an expert on throughout the year, you’ll never have a moment of “what should I write about today?” To find out how to create your own, read “How to create an online marketing strategy.”

Use free social media software

Use free software, such as Tweetdeck or my favorite, Hootsuite. You can update Linkedin, Twitter, a Facebook profile and a Facebook fan page all at once. No more having to login to 3 different sites to send a message. Plus, Hootsuite tracks how many clicks your links receive, shrinks your long URL’s and can track keywords. Another feature that will save you time – you can also schedule when your message goes out. In another words, if you know your week is fully booked, you could potentially set up the entire weeks messaging in one hour a week.

Just remember if someone comments, retweets or sends you a direct message make sure you still make time to respond. Social media is all about building relationships and interacting is part of building that trust.

Need help with your online marketing strategy? Don’t hesitate to email me with your questions at becca@bauerhaus.com.

In the article 10 ways to increase your web traffic, I talked about the importance of an online marketing strategy. For any business right now, it is essential that an Online Marketing plan is built into your regular marketing plan. So what is an online marketing strategy (also called Internet Marketing by some) and how do you create one? Follow these steps.

Target market

Who is your target market? One way easy way to do this, is pull the info from your business plan. Don’t have a business plan? Think of your clients and pick your top three. How old are they? What do they do for a living? What do they do in their free time? Or are you starting from scratch? Install Google Analytics to your website and start a Facebook page. Both can deliver statistics on who your visitors and fans are. Every message you send out think of your target person.

What is your goal?

Is it to increase traffic? Brand awareness? Have people sign-up for your email newsletter? Buy a product? Have people attend an event? If you don’t pick a goal, you can not measure its success.

Keep your branding consistent

Repeat, Repeat, Repeat. Can your customers or clients tell your business by a glance at a brochure and at your website? Do they match? The core elements need to be there: logo, color scheme, fonts, images and tone of voice.

Who is going to manage it?

Before you start your facebook page or sign up for Google ads, make sure you have a dedicated person to monitor and make updates. If you, as the small business owner, are taking on this task, plan to dedicating at least an hour per day to get everything set up. Once you get the hang of writing blogs, tweeting, checking stats and sending messages you can spend as little as 5-15  minutes per day.

What is your plan going to cover?

Types of online media to consider for your small business:

• User-friendly website

• Blog

• Facebook fan page

• Twitter

• Email newsletter

• Online Ads

What is the budget?

Decide ahead of time how much you are going to invest in the above. Remember the marketing rule is it takes 7 times for a person to see something before they buy. Which way makes the most sense to reach your ideal customer? Some costs to consider:

Website: Is your site user-friendly? Is it easy for a potential customer to find what they are looking for? Are your customers exiting on your goal page, such as a shopping cart purchase or email newsletter sign-up? Do you have links with all of the different ways people can contact or follow you, such as email newsletter, Facebook, Twitter, and blog RSS? If the answer isn’t yes to these questions, it may be time for a site re-design.

Blogs: To keep a consistent brand make sure your blog matches the look of the rest of your website. Need a custom design? I offer custom blog designs.

Facebook: Free to set up, but to stand out from the competition you can add a custom “Welcome” page or a special page for a specific promotion. For a “Welcome” page example, view my Bauerhaus Design Facebook fan page. To see a great example of a special promotion page that they changes monthly, look at the Gap’s Facebook fan page. You can set it up  so new visitors are automatically directed to your custom page.

Twitter: Free to set up. To keep branding consistent have a custom background with your look.

Emails: Don’t forget to research the cost of email marketing clients such as Constant Contact or MailChimp. This fee will depend on how many people you are mailing to & the frequency at which you send. Make your branding consistant with a custom email template that matches your website and print collateral. Make sure you only email people who have opted-in to your email list.

Ads: Are you going to invest in Google ads or Facebook ads? Or other sites? Set a daily budget on whichever you choose, so you don’t get any unwelcome surprise bills.

Frequency

How often are you going to post, blog or tweet? I recommend to my clients to start out slow with a message on each type of social media once a week, until they feel more comfortable doing more. Gradually increase it to 3 times a week than daily. For email marketing, again start slow with once a month. To keep track of when you are doing what, make a spreadsheet or add it to your calendar.

Content

Stumped for what to say? Research your competition. What do they write about on Facebook and Twitter? Is their tone of voice different in their emails? Once you have researched others, make a list of 3-5 topics you are an expert on. Now for each topic, list 5 questions that people ask you the most about. Talk about an upcoming event, a special promotion, or post a photo of a new product. And don’t forget to work in the keywords that I wrote about in 10 ways to increase your web traffic.

Need help with any of the above? Want a free estimate? Contact me at becca@bauerhaus.com

Are you a small business or start-up that is stumped on how to get people to come to your site? Increase your web traffic by following these steps.

Google Analytics

First, make sure Google Analytics is installed on your website. With this free program you’ll be able to watch your web traffic increase. If you don’t know how to do add Google Analytics code, contact the person who created the site and have them install it. This free program is great for not only tracking the amount of visitors, but also finding out the details of your visitors, such as: Where did they come from? What keywords did people type in to find you? What page did they exit on? How many people came to your site when you sent out an email newsletter?

Have an online marketing strategy

Before you tackle the below, figure out what is your goal. Is it to increase traffic? Brand awareness? Have people sign-up for your email newsletter? Buy a product? Make sure you keep this goal in mind while you do the following. To find out how to create your own, read “How to create an online marketing strategy.”

Keywords

Make sure your keywords are listed in the copy on your site. If you are a photographer in St. Louis and do not have the text that says “St. Louis photographer” your site will not show up in search engines when people search for “St. Louis Photographer”. If your entire site is in Flash, again, it will not show up in search engines. Why? Because Flash is all images, not readable text that search engines can scan. So, how do you find your top keywords? Look at Google Analytics. They list your top keywords that people entered in their search to find your site.

Have a blog

If you are new to blogging, make it a goal to post on your blog weekly. Then, once you become more familiar with blogging, post 3 times a week. The more keywords you mention in your blog that relate to what you are promoting, the higher your search engine ranking will be. Talk about what inspired you to make your product or tips for using your product.

Have a Facebook fan page

Think about this: your clients are not going to log onto your website everyday, but more than half of all users log on to Facebook in any given day. That is over 175 million people you could potentially reach with a daily status message talking about your product. For more reasons why you should have one, see my recent article: Why your business needs a Facebook Fan Page.

Use Twitter

Twitter is a great tool to find more customers. However, don’t just tweet about your blogs. Also, tweet about what interests you. Social media is all about building trust. People buy from people and businesses they like. To find people interested in what you sell, go to search.twitter.com and type in your keywords. Follow the people that are looking for what you provide or are in your target market.

SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

This plugs in your keywords, so search engines can find you. A client or customer doesn’t see these words, they are in the background source code. For example, a St. Louis photographer would have words such as “St. Louis photographer, photography for newborns, St. Louis, wedding photography, etc.” Pretty much any words you can think of that describe what you do. If you use Wordpress, a great tool to do this yourself is the All-in-One SEO plugin.

Advertise online

There are many options online. The most popular being Google Ads and Facebook Ads. The good news is that ads starts as low as $1 per day, so it is easy to try an ad for a month on both and see which works best.

Comment on Blogs

When you comment on blogs, this provides a link back to your site. The more links to your site, the higher your rating with Google will be. Make sure you leave genuine feedback.

Have an email newsletter

In your email newsletter, promote your website with links to a particular story, product or blog post on your site. Also include links to your Facebook fan page and twitter account, so people can pick which way they prefer to follow you.

Give away something for free

Hold a contest for subscribing to your email or Facebook fan page. Or give away a “white paper” – free tips from your industry. Promote with print advertising and online on your blog, Facebook page, and Twitter.

Did you enjoy these suggestions? Do you have any more? Feel free to leave them in the comment section.

Do you need help in setting up any of the above? Contact me at becca@bauerhaus.com.