Friday, March 18, 2011

Here's a topic I know we all need.  How do we get more done with what seems to be less time.  I know that almost everyone I know says they are twice as busy as they were two years ago.  Why is that?  Here's Sean Malarkey's solution.
In the last few months I have been using Google docs to make my todo lists. It is awesome tool to keep all of your to-do lists in one place and also to delegate tasks to other team members.
If you like simple solutions – you’ll like my method.
This short video shows you exactly how I do it.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Facebook Fan Page tips for business users. Or the Fan Page cheat sheet.

Remem­ber main goal of the page and ask your­self before post­ing if the post is on topic.

Leave a lit­tle room for fun. Your fans will enjoy it if it doesn’t over­whelm the rea­son they fanned you in the first place.

Del­e­gate a project own­er­ship, if you don’t have time to post continuously.

Give the page a user­name for unique and mem­o­rable Face­book URL (facebook.com/“brandname”). Go to facebook.com/username – select your page from “My Pages” and then apply for user­name. MAKE SURE YOU’RE NOT SELECTING FOR YOUR PERSONAL PAGE. Then dou­ble check, because you can’t change it. Maybe even have some­one watch you do it, really.

Don’t for­get there may be a larger com­mu­nity dis­cussing your cat­e­gory, you can join and post there, too. Feel free to post respectfully.

Mon­i­tor daily at best. Weekly at worst. Set alerts so you know when some­one has writ­ten on your wall.

Face­book should only part of your online pres­ence. Use it to cap­ture fans and then drive them to deeper con­tent on a blog, con­nect on Twit­ter, and pro­mote video on YouTube. But, most impor­tantly, they need to be mov­ing toward busi­ness goals.

Use other online vehi­cles to recruit Face­book fans includ­ing links on your home­page, ads, pro­mo­tions and other social media sites.

You are only a small rea­son your fans are on Face­book. Be respect­ful and don’t over-promote or you risk los­ing them.

Put fans first. Con­sider what is valu­able to them and link to it or post about it.

Con­sider pro­mot­ing oth­ers on your page who have done some­thing sig­nif­i­cant in your area.

Lis­ten, con­verse, ener­gize, help, sup­port, or embrace are six things you should ask if your post do.

Keep things as pos­i­tive as possible.

Pro­mote offline and inte­grate with other mar­ket­ing mate­ri­als. (Exam­ple: Put that unique URL on your ads.)

Respond to comments.

Thank peo­ple for becom­ing fans.

Ask peo­ple to use the “share” but­ton if it’s a par­tic­u­larly impor­tant post.

Ask fans what they think about a sub­ject or post, when appropriate.

Con­sider using apps to give your fans some­thing inter­est­ing to do.

Pro­mote real-world events. This con­nects online and offline.

Face­book isn’t just for kids any­more – con­sider that FB is get­ting more mature, less edgy. Don’t treat fans like kids.

Put a fan box on blog and site.

Take notes. Make an Excel spread­sheet with stats. (Don’t rely on Face­book to store your data.)

Occa­sion­ally use Fan Page as focus group and con­sider giv­ing a prize for participation.

Track fans. See if you have peo­ple leav­ing or com­ing. Try to fig­ure out why.

Fre­quency is key. You can’t ignore fans and expect them to stay interested.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Window Into Your Company

My grandmother and I used to tour the department store windows on Madison Avenue. We'd love to look at the elegant displays and the glamorous products they were selling. They had style. They also told you everything you needed to know about the company without having to say a word.

Your website is a window into your company. Just like the displays on Madison Avenue, before a client or customer reads a word, they tell that person who you are. 

Whether it's as spare as Google's landing page, as busy as cnbc.com, the look tells the vistor whether you are easy to use (like Google) or full of information (like CNBC). It gives a personality and intangible qualities to your company. Look at Target.comMacys.com and LizClaiborne.com.  What do these sites tell you about their company and what they stand for? These companies have windows in New York and on the net.  It's just how they use them that's different.

What this means to you is look at your site and think about the messages you're getting just through the design and headlines. Most people spend less than 10 seconds per site.  So what's the takeaway in three blinks of the eye?