Archive for the ‘Blog’ Category

Creating a “buzz” around products, services, businesses or an event is a requirement from all clients. There is no social media marketing wand that someone will wave and a target audience will automatically start coming to your site. And what works for one brand may not work for another.

The process of creating buzz doesn’t start from creating a Blog or creating a video, it’s a social media strategy that encompasses social media and word-of-mouth marketing. We have compiled a list of social media tools that companies use to build their social media marketing mixes.

1. Blogs

Blogs have become a great tool for social media marketing. First because, if optimized correctly, they can be used to drive traffic to a website. A good blog will help in creating internal links, fresh content, active community, or non-search engine traffic.

Examples of popular blogs where you can create your account are:

• Wordpress
• Blog.com
• Bloggers.com
• Typepad, etc. Read the rest of this entry »

Blogging, tweeting, friending. Odd sounding verbs, these. Not sure you’ll find them in the “verb” category in the dictionary ~ at least not yet. Give them time. “Ain’t” made it in, and that verb didn’t have nearly the grassroots

support of these three.

Indeed, this triad of “new verbs” are both the result and the harbinger of the most prominent types of social networks and Social Media Marketing in the world today: personal and professional blogs (with RSS feeds so you can stay “tuned in”), Twitter (the “mini-blog” suited to the info-bites attitude and fast-forward pace of our lives in the 21st century), and Facebook (the global water-cooler). As the Bible says of Faith, Hope, and Love, these three remain. Blogging, Twitter, and Facebook: which is “the greatest of these” remains to be seen.

In the realm of the online marketplace, however, it’s no contest. The winner is: all three of them. They are the leaders of the newest form of network marketing and one of the most effective: Social Media Marketing.

Why is it so effective? Three reasons that are particularly attractive to small business and other entrepreneurs: low impact/annoyance factor, cost effectiveness, and a viral spread of information.

1. Low Impact (and therefore low annoyance factor) :- Read the rest of this entry »

Twitter has certainly emerged as one of the most popular social networking/blogging platforms of the past few years. There are various reasons why Twitter has become so wildly popular. It is a simple concept where brief messages can be sent to loyal followers. This is why Twitter is so helpful to small businesses. It can aid in promoting a business in the most cost effective manner. Really, this is one of the very best systems for promoting updates, info, and deals to the followers of the Twitter account.

The one problem here is that most entrepreneurs look towards quantity as opposed to quality in their followers. This can prove to be a huge mistake since you never want to sacrifice quality when looking to amass Twitter followers.

How do people make such a mistake? Well, they look at volume as being the secret to their success. The problem here is that the process is not going to be a very successful one. Rather, it can prove to be disastrous more than anything else because your business ends up promoting itself to those that are really not interested in the products or services you are offering.

Yes, some people will sign on to be followers of your Twitter account with no real interest in being customers. That is why you need to develop a strong niche following as opposed to a large following. Read the rest of this entry »

The next class for the Word Press Blog Building Advanced class is May 25 and 27 (6:30-9:00 pm) Course code: CO-318-1. (Please see below for description.) 

  You can register by calling the school directly if you’d like (Community Education: For Assistance Call: (250) 386-8367) or if you wish register online at http://www.bookking.ca/bkshorelinepub/courses/index.asp. Once on the course index page (http://www.bookking.ca/bkshorelinepub/courses/index.asp), scroll down the left column to computers and click the ‘Courses’ link at the end of the paragraph.  The Word Press courses are near the bottom of the right hand column.  You can both view details about the course or register from this area.

WordPress Advanced Training
May 25 and 27 (6:30-9:00 pm) Course code: CO-318-1

WordPress is one of the most popular blogging tools on the web, making it easy for anybody to post their ideas, pictures, and audio/video. This Advanced Course teaches you how to get to get more from your WordPress Website. You will be covering advanced configurations such as advanced plug-in use and SEO techniques for your website, as well as how to setup a Shopping Cart for E-Commerce. You will also cover how to use your site for photo blogging and/or podcasting. You will learn how to import content from a previous blog system. You will also learn how to set up your site for automatic database backups and more. 

Prerequisites

Strong basic computer and internet skills, having taken WordPress Intro Course or a strong Knowledge of WordPress

Can’t make these classes but are interested in the courses?  Contact John, at dragon@smartbomb.ca or call him directly at 250-885-2888 between 8am and 8pm PST, for other dates he is available. This can be for individuals or a group, all you need is a laptop.