Twitter is by far and away one of the best freaking ways to promote your business you can find. Seriously. If you’re not on Twitter, go sign up. But I’ll let ya know right now that there are a lot of jackasses on Twitter. Trust me, you DON’T want to look like a jackass. Here’s how to avoid that:

You Are NOT A Guru
Twitter gives you a little bio area where you can put some info down about yourself, your biz, etc. I’ve come across all kinds of bios – from the short and sweet to the funny to the weird. But what really grates on my nerves is when people call themselves a “guru” or something along those lines.

Trust me, you are NOT a guru. You are a regular person with a Twitter account. Calling yourself a deity makes you look kind of obnoxious and cheesy.

In case you missed the memo, a person wants to do business with someone they like. Not the person who does a great impersonation of a 70s used car salesman.

Just be real. You’ll make a lot more friends that way. And that will improve your business.

Twitter Is NOT Your Ad Feed
If you follow me, I will get a little email from Twitter letting me know. I’ll look at your Twitter page and see if I want to follow you back. If all I see are notices about the things you just listed in your Etsy shop or some other similar type of ad, I’m not going to follow you back.

Not trying to be mean, here, but I am not interested in reading your personal ad feed. And neither is anyone else….

Twitter, like all social networking sites, does require a bit of the “social” to be considered effective. So get with the conversation – you might even make a new friend or two.

What’s Up With That Welcome Message?
Another thing I find kind of irritating (and so do other people) is to get a message saying “Thanks for following, now go to my website and buy something.” Okay – maybe they don’t actually say “buy something,” but that’s what they’re implying by sending that message!

It’s okay to send a little DM (direct message) to someone when they follow you, but keep it personal…. I mean, if you met me in real life, walking down the street, you wouldn’t introduce yourself and ask me to fork over some cash…. If you did, you’d be a weirdo and I’d run the other way.

And if you did that on Twitter, same thing.. I’ll run the other way! Or click away, as the case may be…..

Participation Is Required
I’ll be honest with you. I have more followers than updates. (at the time of this writing, I’ve made 2,345 updates). I can’t say that I sit around posting all day long on Twitter, but I’ve obviously made an effort.

If, however, I get a follow notice from someone who’s last update was in 2008, I’m not likely to follow back. I mean, you got onto Twitter to follow me, so why not update the darn thing???

But Please, Don’t Overshare
Have you ever been to the bar and had a total stranger sit by you and start telling you way too much information? Sometimes people do that on Twitter, too. (I don’t know if they’re drinking while oversharing, but it might be linked…)

And while I do think that people need to actually Tweet every so often, I don’t want to know too much about your life. And you should always be careful about what you put on the web because it’s all indexed and can easily be searched upon.

I mean, any cyberstalker worth their salt will be able to pull up boatloads of info on you already, why put out more info than they really need to know???

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I am going to be holding a teleseminar class  that will teach you
How To Use Twitter To Promote Your Biz!
Friday, April 10, 2009 at 1pm Eastern

We’ll be covering the following:

• The Twitter Basics (especially helpful for those that are wondering what the #!@* Twitter is!)
• How To Target Your Market On Twitter
• How To Develop Relationships With Customers and Potential Biz Partners
• How To Promote Your Biz On Twitter (Trust me, there’s a good way & a bad way… I’ll show you the good way!)
• And More!

Can’t make the live class? Don’t worry! I’ll be recording our call, and everyone who registers will receive the Mp3.

When You Register, you’ll receive:

• The Twitter Class Workbook!
• Access to several online videos that will teach you how to use Twitter!
• The Mp3 recording of the Twitter class!

Click Here To Grab Your Spot Now!
Register before April 3 for early bird registration – only $9.95
Register after April 3 for $14.95

Now, I have anohter question for you…. How would 4 days of training from people who are making their living with an online business sound? No hype. No “make millions overnight” kind of stuff. I’m talking about real women who are really earning money, working from home. Real women who will give you real advice and real insight… not some cheesy mumbo jumbo that doesn’t even make sense.

It kind of sounds too good to be true, but this event is happening. It’s the Marketer’s Mojo Virtual Conference. It’s taking place February 16 -19. The best part is that it is virtual – all the training will be done via phone. If you cannot attend a session, don’t worry. All of the calls will be recorded and, as long as you registered, you will receive the recording.

There will be 20 speakers at this event (including myself!), teaching you a wide assortment of things, such as how to network with social media, publicity tactics, how to turn your manuscript into a book, how to write for the web, create additional income streams, connect with your audience (my topic!), and more.

The cost to attend this virtual conference is $97 and I think that is well worth it. I know several of the speakers and have learned many things from them already. I am super excited to hear from the people I am not familiar with, too. I love learning new things and I know I am going to pick up a lot of tips from this event. Plus, I am an audio junkie. I love the fact that I will be getting all of the audio from this event. 20 hours of business info, loaded onto my iPod. Talk about awesome!

I hope you will be registering for this event. There will be so much to learn! AND there is a 100% money back gaurentee if you are not satisfied. You have nothing to lose – and so much to gain!

To register, visit: http://marketersmojovirtualconference.com/crissy

For those of you that are in the dark and are wondering what in the hell I’m talking about, allow me to explain. Kirtsy is like a social news network. People can submit stories they think are news-worthy. When someone clicks on an item it receives a “vote.” The most popular stories are displayed on the left side of the screen, with editors picks on the right side.  You can visit Kirtsy and easily get up to date on all the latest and greatest.

I like the fact that Kirtsy is very women-centric. Nothing against guys, of course. But in my opinion, I think it is more than okay for there to be a social news site that caters to women and their interests. I think it is pretty fantastic that idea of Kirtsy came up between three women on a conference call during the Super Bowl in 2008.

Of course, this is a website about marketing. So you’re probably wondering why I’m going on and on about this Kirtsy thing…. Well, you can use Kirtsy to market your business! First, you need to register. Then, start submitting links. Look at the stories that are on your website or blog… Are they news-worthy to other women? (hint: the term “news-worthy” can mean many things… basically, ask yourself  “do other women care?”)

If your submission gets published onto the site, Kirtsy readers will have the option of clicking on your headline to read it. That will send them to your site. This process has the potential to send you a lot of traffic.

You can further participate by adding other users as friends and by voting for other stories. Remember, the more active you are, the more people will take notice of you. This will increase your chances of people clicking on your links.

Kirtsy isn’t going to replace your need for other social media, such as Twitter or Facebook. You still need to market your business through them. Adding Kirtsy to your marketing plan is like adding another course to your dinner.

When it comes to marketing, many business owners get confused about where to start, as well as about things such as where to market, how much to market, and so forth.

Small businesses can have an even tougher time trying to decide on all of these scenarios. Small businesses often have small budgets and small amounts of time to work within. The following are some marketing tips that small businesses can implement into their business, without spending a lot of money or time on them.

* A website is something every business should have, as it is available for customers to access twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. A domain can be purchased for under $10 per year, and hosting plans start out at under $5 per month.

* Blogs can be found for free through services such as www.blogger.com. They can also be put on a person’s own domain very easily. Blogs build relationships with customers and are a great marketing tool. A business owner can use a blog to keep in touch with customers.

* Business cards serve as a great marketing tool. Keep them with you and hang one up whenever you pass a bulletin board. If you see someone who may be in need of your products or services, hand them a card.

* Press releases are a great way to get exposure and build buzz. These can be sent to local media, including newspapers, magazines, television and radio stations. They can also be distributed online through press release distribution sites.

* Another great marketing tip involves distributing content throughout the web in the form of articles. This can be done by forming a partnership with another site which will publish your exclusive articles on their site or in their ezine. Alternatively, articles can be submitted to an article reprint directory.

* Networking with other businesses, whether it is face to face or online is another way to market your business while making friends and learning something new at the same time.

Local networking groups can be found through traditional sources such as the Chamber of Commerce. Your local newspaper may also display the meetings and times of these groups. If you don’t find one that suits your needs, you can always create one yourself.

If you can’t meet up in person, try networking online. There are lots of websites and forums devoted to all types of businesses. You are bound to find one in your field. You can also try networking with those in complementary fields – it’s a great way to find people to share referrals with!

There are so many ways for a small business to take an active role in their marketing. Once you start, you won’t want to stop.

]]> http://indiebizchicks.com/wp/small-biz-marketing/feed/ 0 http://indiebizchicks.com/wp/is-this-the-end-of-twitter/ http://indiebizchicks.com/wp/is-this-the-end-of-twitter/#comments Thu, 22 Jan 2009 05:21:48 +0000 Crissy Herron http://indiebizchicks.com/wp/?p=619 I don’t watch a ton of  televison, but I do watch the ABC drama Brothers and Sisters. I had to laugh about this week’s episode, when one of the characters felt she ruined a business presentation becuse she wasn’t on Facebook and didn’t know what Twitter was….

Facebook is pretty popular. I think that it’s a fairly standard household item by now. But Twitter? That one surprised me! Call me crazy, but I thought Twitter was still somewhat under the radar…  I mean, I know a lot of people who have no idea what it is.

I think that for some people, that is why Twitter is so appealing. Some people want to be on a social network that their whole neighborhood isn’t on.

I’m sure that a lot of people watching that episdoe consulted the Google-verse to find out just exactly what Twitter was. And I’m sure Twitter got a bunch of new users. Over time, Twitter will become a household name. That’s the way it is…

I just wonder if this means the end of Twitter is drawing near… I mean, once the ‘every day, normal person’ finds out about the latest computer trend, the cool kids have already moved on to something else.

What do you think?

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P.S. I personally think that Twitter is one of the best online marketing tools, ever! If you aren’t on Twitter yet, get there. Now. And look me up! You can find me here: http;//www.twitter.com/indiebizchicks

And if you’re on Facebook, you should become a fan of IndieBizChicks.com. Click Here to visit our fan page!

Networking is a powerful tool in the business world, but can it be powerful enough to jumpstart a slow moving business?

Absolutely! There are times it is definitely when “who you know” is more important than “what you know.”  An important rule to remember is that the most important people in your business are your customers.  Use slow periods to reconnect with them.

What do most people like to hear?  They like to hear appreciation.  When it comes from a business that they have patronized, it means something.  Saying thank you for being a loyal customer is one way to use networking to your advantage.

With fluctuations in the economy, people hold tight to their hard-earned money at certain times and spend more at others.  These types of trends are apparent in all industries.  Whichever industry you represent, your business is no different.  The thing to do now is to court those customers so that they will return when the economy takes an upturn.

Going through your invoices and/or mailing lists will reveal the repeat customers.  What makes them continue to return and buy from you?  If you don’t know exactly, now is a perfect time to find out.  Send each one of these customers a link to an online survey on your website.  Offer discounts on their next purchase or an entry for a chance to win a freebie when they complete the survey.

The results will be twofold.  You will find out what your customers are looking for in your business and also encourage them to return whenever they feel the time is right.  Letting customers know that you appreciate their business is one way to bring them back.

Networking also involves potential customers.  Maybe there are some companies whose business you have hoped to snag.  All of these names are also present in your files.  You may have kept their information for future follow-ups.  Well, with business moving slowly, there is no time like the present to do something about it.

Create a business letter to send to these potential clients.  The basics of the letter can be generalized such as, “I appreciate you giving our business a look for your needs.”  To be sure that the potential client knows that you remember them, add information about when you first made contact and what their interest or concern was about your operation.  If they were looking for a business that offered more diverse services and you have since added that component, let them know that in the letter.

Networking is a way to build business relationships.  Keeping contact with customers and “the one that got away” can mean future profits during the busy season.

Want more info on this topic? Join The IndieBizChicks.com Members Center and you’ll have access to the guide “Handling Slow Periods In Your Business.” It has lots of solutions for how to get your business moving in the right direction.  You’ll also have access to lots of other guides, exclusive articles, a forum, and more. Click Here to sign up.

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