Social Media: Creating Connections

Tools are only as good as the wielder. Hand me the finest Black and Decker drill, and you’ll have a hole-ridden wall in seconds and it will take days for your new shelving unit to be installed. Hand that same drill to my Dad, a former contractor, and you’ll get the most beautiful shelving unit you have ever seen in a matter of an hour or less. That being said, your knowledge of the Internet, your market, and the amount of time you have available will determine which tool is best for you. Here are the top three Social Media Tools:

Blog: Formerly called a WebLog or “online journal” it is probably the most time consuming and rewarding of tools. As Ray Higdon says, “Content is King!” A keyword packed, regularly updated blog can really drive traffic to your site. The time commitment can be as little as 20-minutes a day, or as much as you want. You will need to have some basic technical understanding. Our “33-day” program (http://33daystosuccess.com/dominate). Deals extensively with keywords and blogs in nice, easy to understand video tutorials.

Twitter: “Tweeting” is perfect for pithy peeps that prefer to condense their messages and stay offline more than they are on. If you’re wondering what this “tweet” business is all about, checkout: http://twitter.com/rayhigdon and http://twitter.com/braddohack .

Facebook: The site, the myth, the network builder… There is so much information about facebook out there right now and so much is a time suck, because the people who wrote it only have 500 friends. When it comes to facebook, it’s go big or go home! You can have up to 5,000 friends, and you want all 5,000 to be strategic contacts. You also want to time your efforts so you don’t get engrossed in Farmtown. You also need a bit of patience to manage this tool, because they are always upgrading.

Tune in for the answer to our final “Top 3” questions tomorrow! And if you still have a burning question? Email our Marketing Director, Katie Romano at: Katie@unlimitedpotentialmarketing.com and visit our educational site: http://33daystsuccess.com/dominate .

The Yellow Pages Fort Myers may boast an impressive distribution but just what happens to the tinted tomes when they hit the front steps? Judging from the pile of decaying phonebooks littering the entrance ways to the humble abodes I pass on my way home, I would say, “Trash it!”

A friend of mine recently confided over dinner that he spends over $1200 a month for his business in the Yellow Pages Fort Myers and Cape Coral. This is a man with an MBA and two relatively successful businesses and what he shared with me is that he gets an underwhelming response—underwhelming as in less than one call a month! With an average sale of $65, you do the math. Furthermore, he commented that most people when they move to an area and are looking for his service hook up their internet first and then search for someone like him. No finger walking through the Yellow Pages Fort Myers or Cape Coral required.

By the time he was finished with his calamari, he was sharing how much he wanted to try an AdWords campaign. In times when budgets are leaning down, it makes sense to put money into advertising that only charges you when it works AND reaches your intended market.

Former reporter, published author, and CEO of Get Groovy, LLC, Katie Romano, has joined the team at Unlimited Potential Marketing as our Marketing Director. Her expertise with media planning and integrated public relations campaigns as well as her entrepreneurial background makes her a welcome addition to our Unlimited Potential staff. The addition of Katie is just one of the ways we are staying ahead of the curve in Fort Myers, Naples, and across the country as the #1 Internet Marketing Firm for businesses looking to dominate their market in the new millennium!

Recently, one of my dear friends came to me distraught over the failure they had promoting a series of events. The well-placed TV, radio and print advertising cost a bundle and resulted in an underwhelming attendance. In fact, many of the events had to be cancelled. Worse yet for him, the only events in his series that were well attended were the ones where an Internet Marketing campaign dovetailed with the media plan.

Internet marketing and social media are the place the puck is going to be in the advertising world. Any media plan lacking a strong cyber-campaign is doomed to mediocrity or all-out failure as evidenced by my friend’s not-so-isolated experience. So whether you are the media planner or the consumer, remember to include a comprehensive Internet campaign in the mix. It’s not only cost effective; it gets results!

Small businesses are the heart of what makes this country succeed. If small businesses fail, our economy fails. It’s as simple as that. In this time, we want you to keep a positive attitude and proactively build your business. There may be times where you feel like you should tuck your tail between your legs and try to escape, but fight through! You are responsible for your own success or demise. Keep up the good work.

We have been bombarded recently with all kinds of great feedback and testimonials for the 33 Days to Online Domination for Your Local Business product. It’s great to hear positive stories relating to business as opposed to the doom and gloom reports on the news everyday. Here is one of our favorites from Dr. Rob Watkins who brought on 4 new clients in 1 day using what he learned in the 33 Days product.

You can always learn more and watch videos at http://www.33daystosuccess.com/prelaunchoffer.htm.

To Your Success,
Brad Dohack & Ray Higdon

It’s no secret that Twitter is blowing up, and now more than ever you want to be on the forefront of integrating it with your online marketing.  If you have a website, it’s a really good idea to integrate a Twitter Flash Badge into it to keep people up-to-date and allow them to follow you directly from your website.  Here’s exactly how to do this in the video below.  If you like the video, please comment and give it 5 stars on YouTube .

As a Fort Myers Internet Marketing Company owner I get to work with a lot of great people and cool businesses. As most of you know, there is no recession on the Internet and being a Fort Myers Internet Marketing Company owner allows me to show local businesses exactly how to increase their business through effective internet marketing. I am currently up in Chicago hanging with my good friend Dr Jake Caputo. Dr Jake is a PHD in metaphysics and is quite an interesting guy to say the least! I have even been able to offer some advice to Dr Jake for his business that I often use as a Fort Myers Internet Marketing Company owner. It is not that hard to do really well with a local business and Internet marketing, it is just about having the right infrastructure and being diligent with your website and advertising.

Ray Higdon
Fort Myers Internet Marketing Company Owner
Unlimited Potential Marketing

So today we are discussing which one is better the Lee County Yellow Pages or Lee County Internet Marketing? When considering the differences, it may come down to what type of business you have but, an awareness of both is essential to being a top performer in your business niche. Here are some things to consider when comparing Lee County Yellow Pages to Lee County Internet Marketing.

Lee County Yellow Pages
1. More people are using the Internet first to find resources than the lee county yellow pages
2. The Lee county yellow pages are still pretty pricey
3. The lee county yellow pages are NOT based on performance. Meaning, you buy the ad, they wish you the best and try to upgrade you to a more expensive ad next year.

Lee County Internet Marketing
1. You can set this up to be only pay per click.
2. You can control how much you spend per day, per month, and can ratchet it up or down at your convenience.
3. Lee County Internet Marketing is great as the competition for your niche is probably not that tough versus a bigger county.

Hope that helps in deciding between Lee County Yellow Pages or Lee County Internet Marketing.

Ray Higdon
Fort Myers Internet Marketer

OK, you may be thinking, why would Ray blog about a Fort Myers Vacation blog? Just hold on there! Hear me out! OK, yes, I live in Fort Myers but, I think the idea of blogging for cool things to do in Fort Myers is a good idea for local businesses. As an Internet Marketer in Fort Myers, I think the idea of a Fort Myers Vacation blog may get your website some traffic. Perfect example would be for Fort Myers Realtors.

Think about it, and maybe I am biased but I think when people get to experience a Fort Myers Vacation, they probably will want to move here…BINGO! If you are one of the Fort Myers Realtors, you may have just found a client! So, in your marketing efforts, especially if you are blogging (which you should be if you are a Fort Myers Realtor), then think about blogging about Fort Myers Vacation!

Ray
Internet Marketer in Fort Myers

OK, so you listened to some guru that told you to “blog” about your business but how the heck do you do that? Well, the most important thing is to keep it interesting! DO NOT just try to sell your product in your blog! Always, always, when working with your website, social media and blog, think about your clients or potential clients by thinking “What’s In It For Them” or WIIFM. Your prospects are searching for education, tips, tricks, resources, etc. Let me give you some examples:

If you are a chiropractor, you may use blogs such as:

“7 Questions to ask a Chiropractor before you hire them” or “3 Things you can do to immediately alleviate back pain” or “3 Common causes of neck pain”. These types of blog posts will help get the attention of your prospects and show that you are trying to provide value to them.

Another example we can share is our business. We are a Southwest Florida Marketing company that serves clients all over the world. As a Southwest Florida Marketing company, we have to provide content to those that are searching for how to market their business online. So here are some examples that we can use effectively:

“Southwest Florida Marketing Company gives you the 7 Quick Steps to Online Marketing” or “Southwest Florida Marketing company reveals how to hire a marketing company”

See how that works? Now, GO DO IT! Researching is not action, it is simply preparation for action!

To your business success!

Ray Higdon
Co-Founder – Unlimited Potential Marketing