Here is an interesting article about Facebook. Many people, me among them believe Facebook is merely a social networking website, geared primarily for college – early twenty market. Some people, however, believe it can also be used as a too to market your business! Mary Smith is one of those people and offers some tips for using Facebook for marketing.

• In addition to creating your profile you should create a page for your business.

• Start a group,

• Use the events feature and polls to gather information and gently market to your “friends”.

• More

Personally, I think this is effective only if your clients are in the 25 and under crowd, but perhaps I am wrong.. What do you think?

In a recent blog post Seth Godin describes the delimena of providing preferential treatment to loyal customers without alienating prospects.   He makes a good case for improving your overall customer experience, and I agree.  As a business owner,  whether you are a restaurant owner or a printer,  your challenge is to make everyone feel valued.

Read the rest of the post 

Craig Killick, a web marketing expert in England has produced a terrific new eBook :Let’s Cut to the Chase.

In clear, concise language, he delivers powerful tips for small business owners on how to build an effective SEO strategy. Just 73 pages long, it is worth the read for anyone looking to strengthen the power of their website.

And the best part? It is free.  So check it out.

Running a business is like jumping off high dive. Every time you do it, it gets easier!

Phil Daniels of Tactic Marketing here in Indy had a few great points in his article on Inside Indiana Business this am. He suggests:

1. Perform an annual checkup
2. Offer a Newsletter
3. Become an Expert

Need help? Call the professionals at Roundpeg, and we will show you how!

Here is the story of a small business that’s baking up a storm via its web site, a blog, public relations, and social media. Pink Cake Box is a specialty cake shop in northern New Jersey with 10 employees.

Since opening in 2005, built their own web site, and started a blog all in that same year. As a result, they have been featured in People, Modern Bride, and several other publications.  …More Info

A Web 2.0 strategy begins with an interactive relationship with the on-line community. These concise recommendations come from a column by Anita Campbell on the intuit website (pretty cool for an accountant.) I have added my thoughts in italics. She writes: )

(1) Start a blog — this will get you posting content regularly AND creating an online community. Make it a team blog if possible, to share the workload. A local example of this is: www.866mynubiz.com

(2) Guest post at other blogs — if you don’t want the commitment of maintaining your own blog, guest-post at another blog with a similar audience.

(3) Consider 2 or 3 of the general social networking sites — you can make connections online with other business owners and professionals. This can lead directly to new business, speaking gigs and other opportunities. The trick here is not to try 17 of such sites — pick a couple and focus just on those. LinkedIn, Smaller Indiana and the Make it Rain site for Rainmakers are my favorites

(4) Participate at niche communities — examples of niche communities are QuickBooks Group, www.jumpup.com www.Sphinn.com, www.SmallBusinessBrief.com and similar sites. You’ll find helpful resources and like-minded souls.

(5) Email newsletters — Email newsletters are still good ways to keep reminding customers, friends, and others that “Hey, we’re still here!” They are good for drawing add-on business, too. We like Constant Contact. If you aren’t sure if it is right for you.. take a free trial: http://www.constantcontact.com/index.jsp?pn=roundpeg Don’t have time to do a newsletter? Outsource it to Roundpeg.

I came across an interesting blog, which contains 10 marketing tips for entrepreneurs.

The author points out how market segments are shifting and desiring the same things out of life, especially more time for themselves. Nowadays, different socio-economic segments have access to products and services that were in the past only for the affluent market. This fact affects our marketing strategies.

One example of this shift is cell phones. When cell phones were introduced to the market, the non-affluent market could not afford to purchase them. Now everyone has a cell phone, including adolescents and teenagers. Here is an excerpt from the blog: “As an entrepreneur, what can you learn from the luxury travel industry? Actually, quite a lot! By examining the trends that are taking place in the luxury travel market you can see ideas and business segments that are emerging amongst some of the world’s most affluent shoppers…More Info

How has your website changed over time?  Take a look at older versions of your Web site through Archive.org’s Way Back Machine.  Has your website’s appearance has changed for the better?. Or does it look the same as it did when it was first launched?

Keeping your site fresh gives people a reason to return, here is an article with some more ideas on changes to consider, including Template, Video, Podcast, Newsletter, Blog…More Info

Everyone is talking about Web 2.0.  And while some businesses are starting to mine Web 2.0 for economic gain, but most lack a firm understanding of what it is

Although the term suggests a new version of the World Wide Web, it does not refer to an update to any technical specifications, but to changes in the ways software developers and end-users use webs.

This second-generation internet, includes strategies such as blogs, wikis, tagging, social bookmarking, RSS feeds, social networking and online 3D virtual realms.  Ultimately a Web 2.0 strategy or site is built on the principle of interactivity, allowing users have a role in content creation…More