If you read one article on where marketing is heading in 2010, then this is it. It’s already been tweeted 627 times as I write this into! It’s written by David Garland of Rise To The Top and I think he’s nailed it – from claiming the 30 second is FINALLY dead, to big brands learning from us little guys (check this podcast) to the death of the one-way website it’s an article that will get you (the marketer and / or business owner champing at the bit for the new year to arrive. In fact don’t, start now! Read on.

Are you online? Or do you just have a website?

The world of real estate marketing has changed forever. And for the better.

Running ads, installing boards, printing fliers and having a website are still valid methods of marketing properties and attracting listings, however opportunities abound for the smart Agent who is willing to roll his or her sleeves up and enter the world of Web 2.0.

“Web what?!”, I hear you say. Don’t worry too much about the fancy name, Web 2.0 is simply the current incarnation of the internet that enables people and businesses to become much more involved via communication, collaboration and sharing of information. You simply need to know this…The web is no longer a static medium that allows you to post information in the hope that the right people will find it.

What today’s Internet allows is an amazing opportunity to interact with your Clients and prospects like never before. Here’s how:

YouTube: Google own YouTube. Google believes that videos enhance your Internet experience. So any business that uploads videos to YouTube will be looked on favourably by the world’s most popular search engine. And that’s got to be a good thing. Here’s some ideas of what you could upload:

• Tours of homes.
• Selling tips.
• Buying tips.
• Suburb overviews.
• Staff introductions.

Twitter: A simple way of getting your message out there in 140 characters or less. Twitter is a great way to share what’s happening in your business and industry, to enter conversations that others are having about your industry and to connect with prospects and others who are interested in what you do and have to offer.

Podcasts: These are simply audio programs that can be downloaded from your website or Apple’s iTunes store. Podcasts are a great way to position yourself as an expert and provide your prospects with valuable information. Once again, topics could include buying and selling tips, suburb overviews or special guest interviews with local personalities.

Google Adwords: There are two ways of rising to the top of Google. One way is to do everything within your powers to ensure your website is key word rich and highly search engine optimised. The other is to use Google’s pay-per-click advertising service. Basically, you ask Google to run your ad on the right hand side of their search results when someone keys in a search phrase relevant to your business – For example…Homes for sale in (insert suburb).

LinkedIn: There shouldn’t be an Agent in the world that doesn’t have a profile on this highly effective networking site. Over 45 million business people use it to exchange information, ideas and opportunities. It’s simply a great way of building your online personal brand.

Now, I don’t expect you to race off now and start doing all of the above…I know for some of you what I’m proposing is quite alien. However, the wonderful thing about all of the above marketing channels is this:

• When combined, they have a significant effect in building your online presence, so that when prospects do a search for a business like yours (and they do) you will rise to the top.
• A presence in everyone of them by default leads back to your website.
• They’re free…the investment is generally one of time, not money.
• Using them will put you way ahead of the game. And afterall, isn’t the idea to create a brand that’s so irresistible that it makes competing with you far less desirable? I think so.

So, are you online? Or have you just got a website?

Many Clients ask me if they should be utilising the various social mediums available to them.

As long as they’re up for providing ongoing content, and they (or someone within their business) has an inkling about how to find their way around the web, then my view is GIVE SOCIAL MEDIA A GO. And here’s 12 reasons why:

1. To engage in conversations with their customers. (Do we need any more reasons?!). Assuming we do then…
2. To attract prospects.
3. To provide customer service (answering questions, giving advice).
4. To gain information on our competition.
5. To exchange information with others who know more than you.
6. To extend your reach globally (this may force you to develop a new offer).
7. It costs nothing but time (compare that to other marketing channels).
8. It’s fun (nothing wrong with that!).
9. It’s measurable and accountable (compare that to advertising, sponsorship, direct mail).
10. To attract quality employees, suppliers.
11. To attract media attention.
12. To position yourself as an expert…or at least someone who knows what they’re talking about.

Let’s create the ultimate list. Why do you believe businesses should use social media?

So I ran a webinar on Twitter and Business today….Click here to view it.

It goes for 30 minutes (plus 15 minutes of questions) and you can view it below.

Why’s it worth watching? Mmmm…well it shares with you some key concepts that, if you spend a moment understanding them, will enable you to develop a mindset around Twitter that will allow you to make your tweeting work hard as an effective sales channel for your business. That’s all!

I also give you practical HOW TO’s on ensuring your tweeting looks right and stays on brief. Enjoy…and please feel free to share the love and RT this link.

Here’s the webinar link again.

Every now and then I invite another small business owner to share their personal marketing experiences, tips and tricks. Today’s guest blogger is Jeri Wilson, owner of Hawkeye Business Services. I came across Jeri on Twitter where she was offering her Followers a commission for referrals. I love seeing small business owners using Twitter to sell…not blatantly…not every tweet…but a little offer amongst some tips and updates is a good thing. Jeri does just that…although at the time of writing, I think she’d twitted just one too many Ping.fm tunes! Ah well, trap for young players!

If you’re a Bookkeeper or Accountant this is a must read. If you’re stuck for some ideas to get more customers it’s also worth the next five minutes of your life. To anyone who says Bean Counters aren’t creative…Jeri just proved you wrong. Check this…

“You must believe in a product completely before you can start to market it. If you are passionate, confident and knowledgeable about your product, understand how it has benefited you and be able to explain clearly how it will benefit others, then you will be on the right track to successfully market your product. The key to the success is showing people the real you. Don’t try and change yourself to be something else, people won’t believe in you if you don’t believe in yourself.

I work in an industry that is based solely on trust and the most successful marketing tool is word of mouth from happy customers. As a bookkeeper, the quality of my work, my professionalism, simplicity and ability to handle client affairs with complete confidentiality is what makes happy clients. One of the most useful tools for a bookkeeper is being able to simply describe to clients how bookkeeping works and what the information means to them and their business.

The bookkeeping industry is flooded with undertrained bookkeepers that do not provide quality service for the price they are being paid. With an average bookkeeper, in some cases the client would have been better off saving their money than having a bookkeeper because the bookkeeper had no idea at all. The most difficult hurdle that I currently face relates to the potential client not knowing whether I am a good bookkeeper or an average one until they give me go.

For new clients, I provide a free initial consultation to review their current bookkeeping system and advise any improvements that need to be made for their bookkeeping system to provide them with the relevant information and meet their expectations. The clients can then either:

1.    Take my free advice and use their own resources to improve their system
2.    Use us to train their staff how to implement and manage the bookkeeping system
3.    Use us to review what they are doing periodically to ensure they are on the right track
4.    Use us to complete some or all of their bookkeeping tasks

In order to get the clients initially, I offer commissions (from 2.5% to 10%) to family, friends and colleagues who refer new clients to Hawkeye Business Services. Imagine earning up to $5 per hour for every hour someone else works on your friend’s bookkeeping. It benefits everybody: the client, the referrer, the bookkeeper and Hawkeye Business Services.

I am also very passionate about helping other people who have to do bookkeeping (whether they are professional bookkeepers or not) to be able to understand what they are doing when recording their transactions and be confident that the figures they are producing accurately reflect how their business is performing. That is why I am developing a Bookkeeping Training Network for people who want to learn and be confident in their bookkeeping skills, as well as a Bookkeeper’s Start-up Kit for those who want to move into bookkeeping professionally.”

Thanks a gazillion Jeri…So readers…Which of Jer’s ideas are you going to try?

I’ve been using Twitter since December 2008…You can find me here @TimboReid

I use it to share my marketing tips and tricks with small businesses and charities.

I try to stay on brief...’cause I think that’s important…but every now and then I’ll let my precious Followers know what I’m eating or how I’m feeling. Afterall, it’s a social —-> media, right?!

But it’s also a channel to market…and don’t let anyone tell you it’s not. In the past three months, I’ve gained over $3,000 in business directly from Twitter…from Followers who’ve watched me, read me, RT’d me and PM’d me…they then developed enough trust in me to give me some work.

How great is that…marketing cost $0! Well, not if you factor in my hours spent tweeting…but I’m not going to do that because in using Twitter I’ve also built a valuable asset…a database of nearly 2,000 Followers. “How’s that an asset?” I hear you ask. Well, those Followers:

1. Share valuable information with me.
2. Point me in the direction of websites and businesses and people that can help me with my business.
3. Answers questions.
4. Act as a quick poll.
5. Sell on my behalf.

Now that’s what I call an asset. Could I sell it? Probably not…Can I make it work for me…oh yeah! I see no reason why the rate of work I get from Twitter increases in direct relationship to my following.

So, whenever someone tells you that you’re wasting time twittering…just agree…then walk away rubbing your hands together and quietly laughing “Muwahahahaaha!”

Tell me, how are you using Twitter to add value to your business? Have you made any money from it?

A few days ago I put a simple question out on LinkedIn…What’s your best small business marketing idea?

Within 48-hours I had 31 responses…Ah, the power of social networks!

My idea is to join online and offline social networks…Join and start conversations.

Here are the 31 others… 31 Small Business Marketing Ideas.

If you use one and benefit then please comment.

If you are already using one and benefit…then please comment.

And if you’d like to join me on LinkedIn then please do by clicking here.

I can feel a Tipping Point just around the corner!

It seems that each and every day more people than the previous day ask me what is Twitter and how do I do it.

So I wrote this one-pager…That’s all.

Download how-to-twitter.pdf

Follow me on Twitter here.

Twitter and coffee

I love it when I see a small retail business using social media intelligently.

In fact no, I love it when I see small business using social media. Period!

I mean, there’s too many reasons supporting the fact that it’s just a bloody good idea. Like…No cost of entry…No…not low. That’s good isn’t it?

So you can imagine how excited I was when I came across Coffee Groundz example. It’s pretty simple…

1. Cafe Owner starts twittering.
2. Local fellow sees cafe owner’s tweets and tweets an order.
3. Cafe owner gets a sale.
4. Cafe owner also realises that he can use this as a new channel to market and starts promoting the fact that you can order your skinny rice milk frappacino via Twitter.
5. Idea takes off…everyone talks about it…Regular tweet-ups start happening.
6. Cafe owner doubles his business…No money outlayed.

How tweet is that! You can check the whole story here.

Do you know of a retailer who’s done something similar? Please share it.

There are many, many reports and opinions going around about how Social Media can work for businesses and organisations.

Well, you officially have my permission to stop searchiing for and reading all of them.

This is the only one you’ll need.

Beautifully titled The Social Pulpit : Barak Obama’s Social Media Toolkit, it takes you through how he and his team used all the social merdia tools at their disposal to communicate intimately with the American people.

Please pass this on to all and sundry…Evertyone who’s thinking about, taking part in or dubious as to thje power of social media to build an organisation deserves a copy.

And once you’ve read it, let me know what you think. Is there anything you disagree with? What would you have done differently?