Posted April 13th, 2009 by Tem Balanco
Twitter is a great new free micro-blogging service that allows you to broadcast your thoughts to followers in quick, 140 character chunks. As a user, you can follow people or companies and get real-time updates.
140 characters may seem kind of small, but that is the great thing about this service, it forces you to be succinct in your thoughts.
More and more businesses are starting to use Twitter. Companies like Comcast, Whole Foods, Delta Airlines and many more are using Twitter in various ways including promotion, customer service and branding.
At OneWebHosting, we are still thinking about ways we can effectively use Twitter to serve our customers.
For now, we feel it is a great compliment to our blog and an effective customer service tool.
You can follow us here: http://www.twitter.com/OneWebHosting
Here are some ways Twitter can benefit your business:
1. Use Twitter for Promotions
You can use your business Twitter account to “tweet” last minute discounts or promotions to your followers. The key idea is it is real-time, followers can get the promotions on their phone (should they choose) and this can spur sales.
2. Use Twitter for Customer Service
Chances are you have a toll-free number, a business email address, so too can you use Twitter as a customer service tool. We are looking at using Twitter to deliver real-time server updates, tips and suggestions, much like we do with our blog. Think about ways your business can benefit from this real-time communication to followers of your account.
3. Use Twitter for Competitor Search
Twitter has a great search feature located at http://search.twitter.com. You can search for keywords that pertain to your business or your brand to see what people are saying. You can use this for ideas and inspiration on how to improve your business. You can also search to see how competitors are using Twitter for their businesses.
So, Twitter may or may not make sense for your business, but I thought I would share our thoughts on it.
If you start using Twitter for your business and want to share your thoughts, let us know!
Posted April 13th, 2009 by Tem Balanco
We are often asked by customers about how to get professional quality stock photos to be used on their websites. A great website we use for our marketing materials is called iStockPhoto.
iStockPhoto is a online service that features royalty free stock photos, icons and illustrations. Images cost between 1 and 20 credits, depending on the size and each credit is about $1. With iStockPhoto you can add great quality, professional stock imagery to your website for a very affordable price.
Simply search for keywords that pertain to your business or business concept and you will find tons of great images, illustrations, icons or video that match your keywords.
Professional photos for your website:
Standing out from your competition, especially when it comes to your website, is very important. By using professional imagery, you can do this and with little cost.
Check it out, we use it regularly and it may be a great resource for your website: http://www.istockphoto.com.
Posted April 13th, 2009 by Tem Balanco
Word of mouth marketing is often overlooked by business owners as a way to grow their business, especially in tough economic times.
In this brief article, I’d like to talk about why word of mouth marketing is so important and how you can use your website to make it a part of your business operations.
Prospective customers always ask their friends and family for referrals to products or services they are looking for. A personal referral is a powerful thing. Most of our customers come from personal referrals.
Why is word of mouth marketing so important?
There are a couple of reasons why word of mouth marketing is important. First of all, people are social animals and like to discuss with friends and family about their experiences. If they find a service or a product they really like, they enthusiastically spread the word. It allows a business to pass the first test, that is, being qualified as a company you should potentially work with.
The power of numbers is also a top reason. You tell a few friends and they tell a few friends, pretty soon, the word spreads quickly.
Another reason why word of mouth marketing is important is that, unlike advertising, it is effective. Nothing beats a personal referral.
How can you integrate word of mouth marketing to your business?
Here are some tips on ways you can use technology and your website to encourage word of mouth marketing:
1. Make sure your customers are happy and satisfied
The first step in getting referrals is to make sure you are doing a great job with your current customers.
If your customers are not happy with your service, they are unlikely to refer someone.
Also, if you can satisfy your most outspoken and critical customers, chances are you are doing a great job and they will tell others.
2. Simply ask for the referral
It seems obvious, but often times businesses don’t ask for a referral. In your email communications to existing customers, have a tag line that says something like “Know someone what could use our service? Let them know about us!” This can go on your outgoing email signature, auto-response forms, etc.
If you have a contact form on your website, as part of your reply, we suggest having a “forward-adable” feature so the person visiting your site can forward your response to a friend.
You may even consider having an affiliate program which can reward your customers for spreading your message.
3. Integrate social media features into your website
By using new social networking services like Twitter, you can encourage more word of mouth. Twitter is a great tool you can use to deliver real-time updates and encourage people following you to share the benefits your products and services with friends.
If you use our Site Builder Pro, we have a Goodie called “Tell-A-Friend” you can easily add to your website.
By using word of mouth techniques within your business and in an automated fashion, you can ensure your happy customers spread the word and help grow your business.
