It’s fantastic to see so many of you embracing new media to grow your businesses, with a constantly changing world wide web, new ways to market your business online are opening up to you all the time. They’re low cost and easy and a little time on a frequent basis will see what will work for your business to keep up the communication with potential customers and current customers and ultimately increase your turnover.

Here are some of the most popular, inexpensive and easy-to-use new media options and some ways to make the most of them in your business:

Online Networking
LinkedIn is a worldwide online business community, this is an excellent way to keep up to date with what others are doing in their businesses, it provides an opportunity:

• to help others
• to find help on particular issues
• for you to connect with others you might not necessarily get the opportunity to meet
• to introduce people to others in your network who could potentially become a great source of referrals, a supplier or customer.

It’s simple to join and build an online network by finding and making connections with people who know the people you know who then become prospects for you.

Tip: After a networking event, instead of using regular email to reach out to the people who you've exchanged business cards with, use the LinkedIn invitation feature: Follow up and invite them into your network. This is better because if your new connection accepts your invitation, you both have a more tangible reminder of your connection. Plus, you also have access to their network of contacts.
There are also industry-specific groups and discussions. These groups also make it easier to find and connect with people of similar interests and experience. Looking at who your contacts are connected to definitely expands your exposure to potential clients.

"It's a great way to build relationships, promote your business, and share your experience."

Other online or social networking sites include Facebook, Flickr and Twitter, along with LinkedIn the purpose of these sites from a business point of view is to grow your world of business prospectives, increase visitor growth to your website and help you develop your reputation as an expert. These sites will all help get your name out there.

Getting Started in Social Media

Facebook
Tip: With a strategy in mind create a business page on Facebook if you haven't already, then start posting interesting and useful information and remember to link your page from your website and give people the incentive to become your friend or follower.

Businesses success in social networking depends on creating value in your interactions, to initiate these interactions and to engage your audience.
Share information, be personal and invite feedback. Make it easy to further find you with easy access to an already established web presence (your website or blog). This way your online audience can find additional information about you and your expertise before deciding to be your friend, follower or contact. With that link, you gain credibility and add value in your tweets, posts and comments.

 
For many newcomers, Facebook was strategically used to create personal profiles with a business slant. Now Facebook is attracting “grown-up” users and has added new tools that enable a more professional presence on the network. You are able to set your Facebook profile so that it automatically feeds to your latest blog posts, and many are able to contribute targeted, business-specific updates and post galleries of appropriate photos and graphic images. And you can create a page for your business that exclusively spotlights your business. This increases visitor growth to your website and grows your web presence.

Twitter
Many find that after just short times of tweeting, traffic to their websites and blogs have increased making Twitter an invaluable business resource.

Opt for more professional tweets, add links to your website, blog posts or articles you think others may find interesting.

In New Zealand there is an increasing growth in social networking use for all age groups, so it is therefore no longer just a place to be if your products and services are for a younger audience. There is not much risk in using Social Networking if you keep your posts professional and appealing.

Using Social Media Strategically
Know what your strategy is for the use of social networking in your business. Being active in online conversations demonstrates your expertise to a new niche.

Use caution in establishing the online attitude for your business, it’s important to show your personality, but have a more professional appearance on the internet as a whole remember that everything is searchable, and what you say could come back to haunt you.

The blending of personal and professional worlds may be one hurdle keeping you from tapping social media as a professional tool. Another may be time. Just as you can be strategic about representing your brand everywhere else, you can be strategic about how you manage all these networks. For example a blog post might appear in your newsletter and, in short form, on Twitter. And there are tools that let you monitor and post to Twitter and Facebook at the same time.

When it comes to social networking, it is possible to successfully mix business with pleasure. Make the time for social networking, you never know whether or not a valuable new business connection is just around the corner.

If you need help with your online strategy including website visitor growth and social networking or have any questions to get started or to make the best use of it for your business, just be in touch.

Next time in part two of 'embracing new media': how to successfully email market, blog and advertise on Google for increased turnover.

Introducing Urba Water:

I’ve enjoyed seeing what some of you are doing so far this year, with exciting new products and services in the making. One of these is part of an extremely innovative New Zealand rotational moulding group, local company Mouldings Unlimited. Continuously innovating to design and manufacture new products for a wide range of uses and having big opportunities open up for them it’s been a real pleasure to be involved with designing an installation guide and homepage for their latest product Urba Water.

“Urba Water tanks are designed to sit alongside your home and used to reduce your dependence on mains water by providing rainwater recycling opportunities for your garden, washing the car or with the installation of a pump and rainsaver device – connection into your home for use in the laundry or bathroom.”

They can be purchased from any Bunnings store. Visit urbawater.co.nz

Invite Out
This year if you or someone in your family is celebrating visit inviteout.co.nz for printed invitations, stationery and announcements as well as evites (email invites) invitesites (occasion websites) and ennouncements (email announcements).
For Weddings, Kids parties, baby announcements, thank you cards, Christenings, birthdays and special occasions, corporate events and functions. visit Inviteout.co.nz

Great Business Resource: Google Local Business Centre
Are you on here? Visit Google.com/LocalBusinessCentre to increase your web presence

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