How To Market Your Small Business on Facebook

In recent years, there has been a phenomenal increase in the number of social networking sites. These sites are now not only being used to connect with friends, family and business contacts, but also being used to market products and services. Facebook is one of the most popular social networking sites and many small businesses market their products and services through it. However, these businesses are still struggling to gain expertise in this area. Here are a few things to consider when using Facebook to market your small business:

1. Share Useful And Updated Content With Potential Customers
Many small businesses set up a profile page instead of a business page, while also starting a group for their business. As a result, your fan base may get divided and you can struggle to engage with the audience. It is very important that the business shares meaningful and updated content with the people, which creates a difference in their lives. Broadcasting your message is a big turn-off for people as it sounds too pushy. You should only share updated and engaging content with the audience, and seek their feedback. You should also plan your posts well so that your content does not become too boring or predictable. The shared content should be a mix of multimedia and other useful articles. Sharing exciting and new content increases the chances that people will talk about you with their friends and family. It is also advisable that you do not publish most of your content directly from your blog or other platforms.

facebook marketing

2. Take Facebook Seriously
While many small business owners realize that social media, particularly Facebook, has changed the marketing landscape, they are simply not investing enough time to leverage its power. By not investing adequate time in social media campaigns, the business is losing out on marketing opportunities. Facebook should be central to any social media campaign and, therefore, engaging content should be regularly shared with the audience. You should use Facebook to establish strong relationships with your customers and ensure a timely response to their queries.

3. Explore Facebook’s Tools
Businesses can do a lot more than merely setting up fan pages and groups on Facebook. To maximize the marketing potential offered by Facebook, you should explore all of its functionalities and tools. This will help you in creating a great online experience to engage your audience. As a small business owner, you may utilize the info tab and also create a custom welcome page to create better awareness about your business. By using Facebook Insights, you can benefit from the medium’s built-in analytics system and analyze what type of content caused the greatest stir among your audience. This can be of great value when publishing content in future.

4. Follow Rules of The Game
When using Facebook to market your business, you should be careful not to violate the terms and conditions set by the site. By violating these terms, you may risk your reputation and remain ineffective at building a helpful community. Some of these common violations include setting up a personal page instead of a business page, tagging people in images without seeking their permission and sharing abusive content.

By keeping in mind these simple Facebook marketing tips, you can develop strong personal connections with your audience and grow your business.

About the Author: Donna Hays works full-time as a marketing consultant for an online advertising company. She writes for several sites including Degree Jungle a resource for college students. She takes keen interest in social media marketing and is a regular contributor on social media marketing topics.

Image: GOIABA (Goiabarea) / Flickr

Launching Your Own Digital Start-Up

Digital businesses are the buzzword today. These are not brick-and-mortar businesses; in fact, these are computers and Internet entities. The creation of a digital business is not very difficult, and requires far less money than a land-based or traditional business. However, like everything new, it requires careful planning and preparation.

Good Idea

Begin with a good idea, and then expand upon it. There should be clarity on what the business is all about, what is it going to sell or do, and what are the aims and goals of the business. The conceptual process is probably the most important part of any business; since, it lays the groundwork for all that shall come later.

Domain Name

Register a domain name which represents the name of the business. It should be easy to remember and easy to access. Registration of a domain name also gives email ID’s and, in some cases, websites are also part of the package. As in a traditional start-up business, the name should reflect the aim or purpose of the company.

digital business tips

Website

The most important aspect of a digital business is its website. It is the face and the office of the company and it is the first point of contact for the clients. An error-free and well-designed website is the biggest asset a digital business can have. It is equivalent to having the best manufacturing facility a company can afford. Navigation through the website should be easy, the content should be clear and crisp, and all contact information should be clearly marked. The images should reflect exactly what the company is selling, or offering to the clients. In a traditional start-up, the office or factory is the productive space; and in a digital start-up, the computer replaces the factory or the office. A digital start-up is not limited by the location; it can be conducted from anywhere defying geographical boundaries.

Financial Software

The second most important part of a digital start-up firm is the quality of the financial software being used. All transactions should be securely routed, and the client should be able to make payments easily with a single click of the mouse. Credit card processors and payment platforms should be an inherent part of the financial software. This should be arranged much before the first sale goes through. Any glitches can lead to the loss of good customers, and also monetary losses.

Communication Strategy

Keeping in touch with customers has now become very easy due to the various online platforms. Social media, email newsletters, and websites – all these have made the world move closer, but it has also enhanced the need for excellent communication strategies. Attention spans have become shorter; hence, information needs to be condensed into fewer words and presented in a crisp manner. There has to be quick interaction with the clients, the response times need to be much shorter than they would be for traditional businesses and since there is no personal interaction, the written words should be satisfactory.

About the Author: This article is written by James Bentham.

Image: renjith krishnan

Why Your Business Should Try Online Accounting

The push for businesses to get online has never been stronger. With so many free social sharing platforms popping up, it seems an essential part of the marketing plan needs to be online activity. For some business owners getting online can be a daunting experience, especially if there isn’t a website already in place. There’s a lot to think about when using online technology for marketing including graphics, copywriting and maintenance which can be overwhelming. But marketing isn’t the only benefit for business when it comes to using the internet.

Using online software applications for management tasks is much less daunting than social media marketing and graphic design. It’s quick, easy and most of the time free to tree or use to a basic level, and most of all will save you time rather than taking up even more of your precious time.

Online Accounting Plus Points

The best time saver in online software, and one that all businesses will be able to find a use for is online accounting software for day to day book keeping and month on month reporting.

Instant Reports

Online accounting software is programmed to provide all the reports that a business owner could ask for. After inputting the month’s income and expenses, a report can be run to show profit and loss, a breakdown of expenses categories, an overview of the month and even a glimpse into the financial future of the business. All of this would have taken hours for one person to work through just using a calculator or complicated spread sheet, but now sophisticated reports are ready in just seconds.

Storage Saver

By moving all of your accounting online, you can save space when it comes to storing files and paper statements. Existing paperwork can be scanned in to the online account, and documents and files received by email can be uploaded quickly and easy without the need to print these off. The cost savings here are storage space and printing costs for paper and ink.

Safe and Sound

Keeping your account online is one of the safest and most secure ways to store them. The online accounting software provider will back up all of your data as soon as it’s entered online. It will be safe from accidental deletion, and can’t get damaged or lost like paper files can. It’s also secure from any break ins.

Getting online and making the most of the free business helping tools might sound scary, but once you’ve started using such simple and effective software, you’ll be wondering why you didn’t get online sooner.

About the Author: Katie Sykes is a small business advisor who set up her Brighton SEO company from home in 2010. Katie now supports young entrepreneurs looking to make the move in to self-employment.

Buy online electronic products with discount coupons

When you shopping for electronic products online for your business, it is always great to find a good deal to reduce your costs. Electronics products can be very expensive, and because technology is always changing and growing.

Every small business needs certain electronic products to support its operations. However, it’s often that small businesses need to find ways to reduce purchase prices. It is often better to try out a few services and find out how it all works, and whether you get quality with savings.

There are different plans to save money while shopping products for your business on the internet. Since many shops and merchants are displaying a huge range of electric products for selling purpose, there is obviously a scenario of cut-throat competition. Most retailer and merchant offer discounts and best deals to attract more consumers. More recently discount coupon codes are which can help you get the best deal on your purchase products over the internet and make your shopping more affordable.

electronic products

When looking online electronic items, you have the chance to view more products in lesser times so you never know just what you will find. However, if you are set on one particular brand, you will have a greater chance of finding that particular brand with great discounts by shopping online. Compare brands for the best bargains. You may be looking for a Samsung plasma TV, but if you keep your options open, you may find a bargain on Sony plasma, Panasonic plasma, or any other major name brand electronic manufacture.

Here’s what every small business owner should do: Find out the best quality and top branded electronics items or equipment gadgets and purchase them at the lowest possible price. You should browse through the online to arrive at the best source from where you will be able to get the best products at the best value. A discount range of offers and promotional coupons are there for your advantage and can save you big while shopping online.

There are many electronic items such as LCD Monitors, computers, Laptops accessories and many more. Choose the best store or merchant to shop with to get the best offers. While placing your order over the internet at the checkout, do not forget to use promotional code and other discount coupons to save money on your shopping budget.  You can purchase high quality electronic products from Buy.com, CompUSA, Abt.com, Kmart, Meritline and many others.

About Author: Lois Martin is the author of guest post. She writes about how to avail Newegg Coupons and save money on electronic products using Promo Code while online shopping.

3 Reasons Why You Should Outsource Your IT Department

1.       It is cost-efficient.  Instead of internally hiring IT people, outsourcing it to an IT company will save you money. The cost for training, office equipment, employee benefits can be hefty and the IT person himself may demand for a higher remuneration. When you outsource your IT department, you only pay the company where these specialists are signed based on the packages or services you are availing.

2.       It saves time. Instead of hiring IT specialists that will undergo the course of employment requirements such as interviews and exams, and undergo a series of trainings on both technical and company matters, getting services from an outsourcing company can work on the goal even on its first day. Skilled outsourced IT professionals need not undergo trainings since they have acquired the knowledge over time with past clients.

3.       It gives more opportunities for broader and better aspects of IT. Outsourcing companies hire and train IT professionals for more intensive work and with that being said, they have broader knowledge in information technology – whether software or hardware. Your own IT department may have the knowledge and skills but a team from an outsourcing company can open doors to more techniques, strategies and approaches in the field. In a nutshell. Outsourced IT professionals may know more than in house IT people.

Information technology is a field that is ever-evolving. If your company is based in prime territories such as Australia, the best way is to outsource this department to avail premium Melbourne IT services. It is faster and more practical and it gives your company more opportunities to excel.

About the Author:  Guest post contributed by freelance business writer Pamela Kinley on behalf of Australia’s mid-sized enterprises, Brennan IT  has become the leading national provider of specialist business-ready Melbourne IT services .