20 Things To Know About Using Social Media For Your Business

These are the Twenty Things that everybody needs to know about Social Media and how they can use Social Media for their business. A lot of Hype has been created around this topic and we want own clients to understand what exactly it means to them.

(1) Don’t Believe the Hype

Our professional opinions are based on our expertise, experience and education. We are not here to repeat what others have to say. We are here to give you the facts not feed you fiction.

(2) It’s Not Cheap Advertising

It is wrong to believe that Social Media is nothing but a cheap channel to spam out a sales pitch. Social Networks are not a place for an infomercial or “Guerrilla Marketing”. Social Networks are not “the new” late night television, they are a new way to communicate with people.

(3) It’s Not Just Numbers

Social Media is not about building large numbers or friends, fans or followers that do not know who you are or do not care about what you have to say. Sending out information to large numbers of people that do not care what you have to say is spam. If you annoy them enough they may even look to see who is spamming them. This is not the way to build traffic to your website, because the only thing that they will remember is to buy elsewhere.

(4) It’s Not Just About You

If you make it just about you, only you are going to want to hear it. It’s easy to spot someone that doesn’t say anything with out posting a link to their website or starts every message with “My new Blog Post”. Words “I” or “Me” from your Social Media vocabulary or else you will create a personal brand that nobody will ever want to buy.

(5) You’re Not a Movie Star

How celebrities and major corporations are using Social Media has very little to do with what is going to work for you. Do not make the mistake of comparing yourself to a super model,  celebrity or professional athlete.  Social Media has nothing to do with who they are or why people are interested in them.

(6) Have Realistic Objectives

You need to know what your objectives are before you even think of starting a Social Media Marketing Campaign and if you are going to be able to realize those objectives for the type of business that you are in.

(7) Develop A Game Plan

An effective Game Plan will create the buzz for your business. Social Media gives you the ability to keep in touch with your loyal customers and to reach out to new ones around the world.

(8) Know Your Marketplace

You need to know your marketplace and why your customers buy from you. The Internet is a global marketplace and people can buy from you from all over the world.

(9) Give It Time

You need to remember that Social Media Marketing is a long term strategy, not a way to become an “Internet Millionaire” overnight.

(10) Treat People As Friends

Talk to people like they are your friends. Abrasive tone, SHOUTING, and pushy sales pitches are not what your friends want to hear. You are not writing copy for an infomercial.

(11) Build A Community

Use your Social Network to build a community around your business and reward your customers for their loyal patronage. Building a community online is how you bring people into your business, because they want to bring their business to you.

(12) Understand the “Vibe”

Every Social Network has a different Vibe and that vibe is created by the people that use the network, not the people that operate the network. For example automatically posting messages from another network is considered to be an acceptable practice on Twitter, but would be considered spamming somewhere else.

(13) Do Something Interesting

Always offer something that people are going to want or else they are not going to be part of your online business community. When you give people the opportunity to do something fun, they are going to bring your business into their circle of friends.

(14) You Must Participate

Internet Communities are about people and you are going to have to be there to carry on a two way conversation or people are just going to blow you off. One of the biggest mistakes people make is that they join as many networks as they can find and never become a part of the community. “Auto-blogging” services like Ping.fm can give people the idea that spamming out a sales pitch to as many social networks is going to build traffic to their website. What they don’t realize is that traffic is not converting to actual sales. because people are just looking at their site in contempt.

(15) Encourage Cooperation

People will remember that you helped them and they will come back when they need your services. When you let people ask questions and answer them promptly they will know that someone is listing to what they say. Community pages should always include postings from fans to encourage cooperation between the people in you community.

(16) Build Relationships

Social Networks allow you to meet people around the world and in time you will be able to make friends them. These friendships may also lead to trust based relationships in business with people that you would not have to opportunity to meet otherwise. People that are experienced in business networking understand how this works on the local level, when they join Chambers of Commerce and other networking organizations.

(17) Think Business

Don’t say things that are going to offend the people that paying you money or challenge their political views or religious beliefs. One of things that makes America great is that people have the right to have different views on everything. It’s not your business to try to change what people believe and the only thing you are going to make them believe is they need to do business else where.

(18) Protect Your Reputation

Reputation is the key component in Social Media, the way you deliver your message and the frequency that you deliver it is going to directly impact your reputation.

(19) Never SPAM Your Friends

Friends don’t what to read spam or care about the latest trends in Social Media. Computer programs that send messages over the Internet that nobody wants are spamming. There are places on Social Networks to advertise and build lists of people that want to know about your business. For example, when people join a page on FaceBook they know that they are going to receive messages from the people that run the page.

(20) You’re Not Fooling Anyone

Just be yourself and treat people like your friends and everyone is going to like you. Pretending to offer sage advice only to lure people into some get rich quick website is going to get you nowhere fast. An excellent example is the “Thank Your For Following Me” message on Twitter, that is always generated by a computer program. A tool that will only build traffic to your website from contemptible people or people with contempt for you.

The Wrong Way to Do Social Networking

There are many ways to implement a social networking marketing campaign, but not all of them are equally effective. Here are some typical missteps:

read more | digg story

Is Twitter Right For Your Business?

Twitter has made the news again with the recent Ashton Kutcher vs CNN race to 1 million followers. Now that piece of pulp news has given ammunition to all the so-called social media “experts” riding Twitters jock. I’m going to borrow a line from Chuck D and Flava Flav and caution some of you business owners out there, “Don’t believe the hype”.

Your local ad agency, web guy or God forbid “social media expert” may be trying to use this as an example as to why your business should start tweeting. They may even show you examples of various tweeters with thousands of followers trying to convince you that that kind of audience is waiting for your message. After all, what business owner wouldn’t like to have tens of thousands of people to market to on a regular business.

I’ve read some recent blog postings from “social media experts” hailing this event as proof that Twitter can be used to reach a huge audience for business. The scary thing is that I believe some of these “experts” actually have people paying them money for this kind of advice. Someone needs to step up and drop some common sense on the public.

I guess I’ll have to do it.

First thing I have to say is this. Twitter can be useful tool for some businesses. That’s “some” businesses, not all of them.  Another thing is the fact that Ashton Kutcher and CNN have some things going for them that 99.9% of the business owners out there reading this probably don’t have. Fame, popularity and the ability to get their message to the masses through TV and radio for free.

People, if you’re not an “A” list celebrity or a huge corporate entity with a zillion media outlets to promote through then you may need to scale back your Twitter expectations just a little bit.

Here are just a few things you need to ask yourself when considering using Twitter as a tool in your overall marketing scheme.

Do to have time to do this right?

Using Twitter for business works best when you stay consistent. Can you post messages and check responses multiple times per day? Can you do it once a day or once a week. The more you post using Twitter the better the chances are of someone finding one of your tweets interesting and following you. If they follow you, then they are at least interested in something you had to say and maybe, just maybe, they’ll become a client or refer someone to you.

Do you have someone to do this for you?

If you don’t have time but see value to your business ask yourself this question. Are you willing to pay someone to keep up with this for you or are you willing to add tweeting to an existing employees workload. Again, consistency is key. Someone needs to be blasting out messages and responding to your followers in a timely manner.

Are you willing to pay someone to show you how to do it?

There are strategies you can use to promote your business through Twitter. Do you know them? If not, are you willing to attend a seminar or workshop to learn them? Are you willing to pay a marketing specialist or consultant to put together a marketing plan for you. Just because it’s free and 16 year olds are tweeting it doesn’t mean you should just start blasting out messages without knowing what you are actually doing. Just as quick as you can get your business message out a bad rep can be spread by becoming too spamming or self serving in your tweets. The goal is for people to like your tweets – not be repulsed by them.

Will using Twitter bring in actual business or just waste your time?

If you don’t know, you better ask somebody. Some people will immediately see the benefit Twitter can bring to their business others, not so much. Like I said before, it’s not for everyone.

Jayme Ward is the owner of Digi Donkey, an Internet consulting firm located in Historic Cocoa Village, Florida. He is also the creator of the Cheap Ass Website.

Basic Information About Website Hosting

A website hosting company provides a place where the files used to build your website are kept so that they can be viewed and accessed by people on the Internet. Your files are kept on a web server. This is a basically special type of hard drive that has software running on it so that it is accessible to people surfing the Internet. Think of it like a folder on your computer where you keep pictures. If you want to look at the pictures you have to open the folder to see them. A web hosting service provides the ability for people to see your pages by clicking on your URL. Your URL is directed to a folder on the web server that contains all the files needed for your website to work. When the web designer finishes building your website they will upload all the files to your web server and then your website will be viewable to the world.

There are two main types of web servers that can host websites and they are Linux servers and Windows servers. If you are setting up your hosting account yourself yourself, ask your web designer which type of server you’ll need to run your website. Sometimes it can be a hassle having to switch over from one type to the other which in turn could end up costing you more money. They both basically do the same things but certain e-commerce shopping carts, websites, CMS systems and other software will only run on one or the other.

The three most relevant types of web hosting for most businesses learning about the Internet for the first time are shared hosting, dedicated hosting and self hosting.

Shared hosting involves putting your website on the same part of a web server with other people’s websites.  The equipment and server are owned and managed by the web host provider, with technicians on hand to monitor and manage the servers. This is a popular option because it is inexpensive and gives you many of the benefits that dedicated hosting provides. The drawback is that you will have limited access to the server which means you may not be able to run many of the applications you see on other websites. This is a good option if you just want to have basic website.

Dedicated hosting allows you to rent an entire web server yourself and have access to all its resources to host one or more websites. The website hosting company typically does not take responsibility for anything other than the hosting operations. Setting up files, databases, permissions and other technical things may (depending on the company) be your or your web designer’s responsibility. Most web hosting companies provide built in tools to make doing these things easier but the learning curve can be steep. This option is good for larger websites and ones used for e-commerce. If security is important then dedicated hosting is what you need. The cost can be a little bit more than shared hosting but there are many web hosting companies out there where there is no difference.

Self hosting is when you host the website yourself on your own web server. To do this you’ll need the proper hardware, software, technical skill and Internet connection. This option gives you complete control and responsibility over everything. Hosting your own web server will normally require a specialized Internet connection depending on your particular needs. Before going this route you’ll want to speak to an Internet consultant or IT person to get all the particulars.

When you sign up for web hosting you will given a login and password to your account so remember to write this information down and keep it somewhere you won’t lose it. You may even be able to sign up for hosting when you purchase your domain name. Speak to your web designer before doing this if you are not sure as to what you are doing or what type of hosting you need. If you don’t have anyone to consult with when you buy your domain name then purchase the hosting at a later time. It won’t cost you anymore to do so as hosting can always be added to your account later on.

Jayme Ward is the owner of Digi Donkey, an Internet consulting service located in Historic Cocoa Village, Florida. He is also the creator of the one and only  Cheap Ass Website.

SEO Explained

According to the bastion of knowledge known as Wikipedia, search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the volume and quality of traffic to a website from search engines via “natural” (”organic” or “algorithmic”) search results. Usually, the earlier a site is presented in the search results, or the higher it “ranks,” the more searchers will visit that site.

Now I’ll attempt to explain what SEO is for people who don’t know an algorithm from an enema.

The search engines use an algorithm to determine the placement of a website when someone types in a search phrase for content contained on that website. Here is an extremely over-simplified example. Someone types “plumber Boston” into Google’s search box. What happens then is Google displays all of the websites that have the words “plumber” and “Boston” in them. Now if one website has more instances of the words “plumber” and “Boston” in it than another then, in theory, it will rank higher. Google knows which websites have these words because is has indexed all the websites that are out there and it has given relevance to each and every one based on certain criteria. This is predominately based on two things: the text on the website and how many other websites with similar content have linked to the website. There are other things that factor in too like how long the website has been online, the names of the files used to build the website, the frequency of updates, the title and description meta tags, the domain name and the technical makeup of the website.

What it boils down to is this. If you want someone to find your business by typing in “pool company Phoenix” then you better have the words “pool company Phoenix” sprinkled throughout your website. An even better way to do this is to use proper phrases throughout your website’s content. Instead of “pool company Phoenix”, since that isn’t really proper grammar, you could use “pool company in Phoenix” such as “Are you looking for the best pool company in Phoenix?” and “If you need a pool company in Phoenix then ABC Pools is the place for you.” That will increase the chances of your website being listed higher when someone searches for “pool company in Phoenix”.

Now if two or more websites have the exact same amount of instances of the phrase “pool company in Phoenix” then the amount of incoming links will factor in. An incoming link is another website linking to your website. Google factors in how many websites link to your website when ranking pages. It doesn’t appear at the time of this writing that the other search engines place as heavy an emphasis on incoming links as Google. It helps out even more if the links are coming from websites with similar content. Links from other pool company websites, websites about pools, pool suppliers and directory listings under the category of anything pool related would help your website out more than links from flower shops.

It can take up to 3-4 months for a brand new website to show up in the search engine rankings. If your website is built properly it should start showing up in various searches during that time frame. You can test this yourself by typing in various word combinations related to your products, services and service area. Your placement will be determined by your website’s content, incoming links and how much competition there is for the keywords used for the search. If you are one of only 5 roofers with websites in your area then your website should show up within the first 1 or 2 pages or so if someone types in the word “roofers” and a city or town in your service area, for example “roofer Bay City, MI”. If it doesn’t, then you need to make sure that your website has enough mentions of the words “roofer” and “Bay City, MI” in the text because the search engines have not deemed your website relevant for that particular search phrase.

I hope this sheds a little light on the subject for you. If you want more information on how to not get screwed when hiring someone do SEO work for you then click here to read this previous post.

Jayme Ward is the owner of Digi Donkey, an Internet consulting firm located in Historic Cocoa Village, FL.  He can also hook you up with a Cheap Ass Website.

Advice on Choosing a Domain Name

One of the first things you’ll have to do when planning your website is come up with a domain name and then register it with a domain name registrar like GoDaddy.com or Netfirms.com. Typically the cost to do this is around $6 – $12 per year depending on who you register it with.

Even though many web designers may offer to do it for you, it is in your best interest to register your domain name yourself. This way you have sole access to the account and can choose whom you share the information with. Now, if you hire someone to develop your website for you, they will need access to your domain name. But keeping it in your name will prevent future hassle, especially if you have to terminate your web designer.

You will be given a customer number or login name as well as a password when you register your domain name. Make sure you write this information down and put it somewhere you won’t lose it as recovering this information, if lost, can be difficult.

When selecting a primary domain name consider these points:

• How will you be marketing your website?
• Does the name of your business tip people off as to what service you provide?
• How much online competition do you have?

Write down about 5-10 different names you would like then check online for their ability using GoDaddy.com, Netfirms.com or a similar service.

One of the choices you will need to make will be to go with .com, .net, .org or something else. The .com extension is the most desirable due to fact that most people will assume that is the extension unless your advertising has effectively branded something different. As far as the search engines are concerned, it doesn’t really matter which extension you choose because the content on your website and other factors will determine your website’s search engine placement. The .org extension is typically used by non-profit organizations.

Here is an additional note about your domain name and the search engines. It does help a little bit if your domain name states what it is you do as opposed to just being the name of your business. If, for some reason, the name of your business isn’t available then a good way to choose your domain name would be to name the service you provide as well as the area you provide it. For example, if you’re a plumber and your business is named Joe’s Pipe Works and you are located in Orlando, Florida but the domain name joespipeworks.com, .net and everything else isn’t available then you could consider going with orlandoplumbing.com or joesplumbingorlando.com if they are available. You can also try using dashes. For example: joes-pipe-works.com or joes-plumbing-orlando.com.

If the domain name you prefer is available with multiple extensions (.com, .net, .biz, etc.) you will have a decision to make. Should you just purchase the one you want or should you purchase all of them. This will really depend on how much control you want over the name. For example, if the domain name you choose for your BBQ business is PigInThePoke.com would you be okay with a porn website setting up shop as PigInThePoke.net.? That may sound extreme but it has happened many times to many businesses before and it will continue to happen in the future. The other concern is that of a competitor getting the same domain name with a different extension. If you can afford it, it would be a good idea for you to buy up all the different extensions of your domain name. This is especially true if you want tight control over your branded image. There are other benefits to owning multiple domain names for your business too such as using them to promote landing pages, blogs and other online marketing tools.

Jayme Ward is the Owner of Digi Donkey, an Internet Consulting firm located in Historic Cocoa Village, Florida

6 Tips To Save Money On An E-commerce Website

The title says it all this week. Read on for some tips that can save you hundreds of dollars when you have your E-Commerce shopping cart built.

Now these tips apply to people that are considering having a real bonafide shopping cart built. Not a web page with some PayPal buttons on it. We’re talking real E-Commerce ability here: credit card processing, inventory control, complete administration access, wholesale pricing, affiliate programs, real time shipping quotes, newsletter capability, 24 hr support, the works.

Tip 1: Hire Someone Who Actually knows What They Are Doing

This is not a joke. We get a handful of clients coming to us every year with these aborted abominations they call shopping carts and, of course,  they want us to fix them. My answer is usually to put their existing waste of money out of it’s misery and do another one from scratch the right way. This isn’t to get more money out of them, it’s because, in the world of web programming, fixing someone’s mistake usually takes more time than doing it from scratch the right way.

The problem for the business owner looking to get an E-Commerce site built is the fact that they are usually looking for a bargain (which is akin to using a coupon for cosmetic surgery) and they hire someone who doesn’t know what in the hell they are doing because there bid was the lowest. Why was it the lowest? Because they figured since the software is available for free online they would take your money, learn how to do it on your dime and everything will turn out right. Unfortunately, and ask your local web guy who really does know how to build E-Commerce site to verify this, there are plenty of “freelance web designers” that participate in this practice. And, yes, I did write that the software is available for free. You can download Zen Cart, OS Commerce and a slew of other open source shopping carts for free. As a matter of fact, these carts are sometimes included with your web hosting  tools. Go ahead you do-it-yourselfers. Knock yourselves out then call your web guy once you’ve been at it 50 hours and haven’t figured out how to change the color of your buttons yet.

The point is this. If you hire someone who has experience then the setup and programming won’t take as long. You are most likely going to be billed by the hour, so the less time it takes, the less money you spend. Ask to see a portfolio of shopping cart sites. Do they all look the same or are they different? Do they actually work? Does the designer give you excuses like, well it’s not quite done yet? Have they built more than one? Do they know how to set up credit card processing, PayPal, E Checks? Can they set up real time shipping quotes? If you wanted to set up an affiliate marketing program, could the cart handle it? These are just some of the questions any competent designer with E-Commerce experience should be able to answer. If they can’t, then call someone else.

Here’s a common example of something that happens all the time in the world of web design. A cheap business owner wants a cheap shopping cart. He gets three quotes. Two  for $100 per hour and $95 per hour from professional design firms and one for $50 per hour from some kid just out of college. He reads the three bids and has no clue as to what he’s reading. It’s all too technical so he goes for what he perceives as the better deal of $50 per hour. 40 hours and $2000 later his cart still isn’t quite working right. Instead of taking credit cards the proper way, the kid has convinced the business owner to just have the credit card numbers and orders emailed to him (believe me, this really does happen) since there is some sort of technical problem he can’t figure out with the cart. The business owner gets fed up with the kid and hires the $95 per hour design firm to fix the cart. They build him a new one from scratch (since the one the kid built is crap) that works perfectly in 15 hours for a total cost of $1425. Even if the kid got his cart working, did it really save the business owner anything?

Now, assuming you hire someone who’s competent, the rest will be up to you. If you deliver your materials to the designer all ready organized and set to go then you’ll shave hours off of the production time. If you are paying by the hour you need to make sure that the designer doesn’t have to sift through all your crap looking for what they need to set your cart up. Organization is the key to keeping production time down.

Tip 2: Put All Your Products Into a Spreadsheet

Every cart requires the same information so make sure you create a spreadsheet with all your products on it whether it’s 10 or 10,000. If your products are in Quickbooks or some other type of proprietary software you need to export it into a spreadsheet that anyone can open and read. At the very least have this information organized into columns:

• Product Name
• Keywords – no more than 10 words associated with the product
• Short Description – a one sentence description of the product
• Long Description – a full description of the product
• Image Name – the file name of the photo for this product
• Price

Now this is a bare minimum of the info actually required but just getting this stuff into a spreadsheet can save you hours upon hours depending on how many products you have. If any of your products have options (size, color, brand) you’ll want to list those too.

Tip 3: Organize Your Images

First, rename your images to what they are actually pictures of. Instead of “KDK00398834598627265347.jpg” rename it to “YellowHat.jpg”. When renaming images make sure to not use leave any spaces and only use letters and numbers. This will make it easier for the designers and the easier you make their job the quicker your stuff will get done. Also, deliver large versions of all your images to the designers. Let them resize your images for you. If they have Photoshop this can be very quickly. This way you’ll have high quality images on your site and the designer won’t have to take extra time working with tiny, junky images.

Tip 4: Have Your Shipping Info and Equations Ready

If you are going to be using real time shipping quotes have all your equations written out and ready to be handed over to the designers. DO NOT I repeat DO NOT just give some of the info and expect them to come up with your shipping rates for you. This can be a real time killer, especially if you have thousands of products with different rates for each. It’s your responsibility as the business owner to know what your shipping situation is. Have it ready to save money. Call the carriers you will be using and have them help you come up with your rates. They’ll do it for free, your web designer will bill you for it.

Tip 5: Create an Outline

Once you have all your products in the spreadsheet create an outline just like the ones you did back in grade school. See, you should have paid more attention in writing class. Anyway, organize your products into categories, sub-categories and sub-sub-categories. Make sure that every product, category, option and sub category is accounted for and organized. This is another time killer if not presented to the designer in a clear organized manner.

Tip 6: Use a Skin

Another money saver is to use a skin for the design of your site. Most of the top line shopping cart software has these things called skins available for them. Skins are basically design templates that can be added with the click of a button to make your E-Commerce website look more professional. Now, any designer can customize your site for you but that can be expensive considering that most carts require PHP, ColdFusion or ASP programming skills to customize the look. Your won’t be able to just hire the kid down the street at $10 per hour to do it. A skin can be added to a cart and modified much quicker and cheaper than having a design custom built. Most quality skins cost money but they are also way less than hiring a designer to do the same thing.

There are many, many other things that need to be done when putting together an E-Commerce site like setting up the server, database , SSL certificate, photography, home page content, email set up, affiliate programs, wholesale programs and more but if you at least follow these six tips then you should be able to save yourself some production time. Again, the most important thing is to hire someone who is competent. That decision alone could save you thousands of dollars in production costs.

Well, smart guy. How long should it take?

I’ve received some feedback since posting this that I’d like to address and that’s how long it should really take to build a cart. Now this varies depending on a variety of factors. But, unlike websites, shopping carts are software programs that really only need to be loaded, set up and then customized. Whether it’s 10 or 10,000 items the amount of time to set up won’t vary much if the information is presented to the designer the way they require since they will most likely upload a spreadsheet to populate the cart and run batch image processing to resize the images used. Now, yes, 10,000 items will take a little longer than 10 but not as long as you may think. Customization is where the real time is spent. But back to the question, how long should it take? I know some solid designers than can have skinned carts with hundreds of items up within 7 hours from beginning to end if they get the materials sent to them the way they require. That includes server, database and SSL set up. Now in your area you may have designers who are faster and some who are slower but I can only speak from what I have personally seen.

Jayme Ward is owner of Digi Donkey, an Internet consulting firm located in Historic Cocoa Village, Florida

Using Video To Promote Your Business Online

“What would it take to add video to my web site?”,  is a question I am often asked. This question is usually followed by, “…and what would it cost?”.

Whenever I am asked how much a video will cost I think back to my first job at a video production studio. Ah, back in the days of flat top fades and New Jack Swing. Back then I remember the boss drilling the sales reps with the same mantra over and over, “If they ask you how much it will cost, then they can’t afford it.” Then he would always follow with, “We’re not about saving them money, we’re about doing the job right and making them money.” This is something I try to impress on anyone who is serious about adding video to their marketing tools. Video really only has two options, the cheap way and the right way. If you think this blog is going to teach you how to get a professional video done on a tight budget then don’t waste your time reading any further. I’m going to cover PROFESSIONAL video marketing solutions. If want to do it on the “cheap” then hire your brother-in-law that fancies himself as a video expert because he shot a couple weddings and birthday parties. That way, if your intent on just pissing your money away, at the very least, you’ll be helping out a member of your family.

The issue is that most small business clients (now that I think about it, large ones too) don’t really have a clue as to what goes into video production, the cost involved or even how they would use a video for promotion in the first place. Most just think that it would be cool to have one because, well… there just cool. 5-7  years ago most small business owners wouldn’t even consider video because of the production costs as well as the type of financial commitment a TV campaign would run them. Well, software advancements and the Internet have brought video production into the realm of reality for many small businesses. Or they think it has.

Now video production has come down in price a whole bunch the last few years. The Internet has made video delivery extremely cost effective but the fact is, as a business owner, you need to be educated as to what is available and effective for your business and image. An awesome video is still no good if no one sees it or remembers what the video is promoting. Video is still one of the most, if not the most, effective forms of advertising available to any business today. And with viral marketing techniques you can get more millage out of posting a video online than you could just by running ads on local TV.

I’m not going to cover how much you should be paying for custom professional video production because prices vary depending on where you are. For the same quality of video, a company in New York, NY may charge $40,000 where as a company in Cocoa Beach, FL may charge $10,000 for the exact same thing. I will, however, give you this advice on how to save a little money. If you are in a large city sometimes it may be more cost effective to bring a video crew in from a smaller area. I’ve seen rates fluctuate from $350 per hour to $75 per hour for the exact same service with the exact same equipment run by a producer with the exact same experience. Do your homework, hire a consultant or hire an independent executive producer that’s not affiliated with any production house to handle bidding out the project on your behalf. The cost of bringing in an outside crew, consultant or producer can almost always be offset by how much they can save you in production cost. Remember, these people know a whole hell of a lot more than you do when it comes to producing a video and where money can be saved without ruining the quality.

What I am going to cover is some of the more popular uses of video for business. Some are more effective than others and some are very popular but not really as effective.

The Video Walk On

One of the more popular (at least from all the people I run into selling this service at networking events) uses of video is the Video Walk On. These can be produced for as little as $300 and involve a spokesperson (sometimes professional other times not so much) walking out onto your web site and greeting visitors. They sometimes mention your promotions or specials and usually ask for some type of call to action: Call now, Click this link for more info,  and so on. Many also have some sort of monthly fee for using the service that can run anywhere from $35 a month and up.

The lower cost ones usually involve a template where your business name, contact info and call to action are plugged into a pre-written script. Now these scripts are usually very generic so that they can be used over and over for multiple businesses.  That’s how the production companies keep the cost down. You will usually not have very much say in the format but some companies will customize the video for you at additional cost. The thing to look out for is that the additional cost may be a whole lot more than the advertised price which made you consider this option in the first place.

The more expensive ones usually use scripts that are custom written for your business. They will normally have someone work with you to come up with an effective message. They also usually have more professional spokespeople as well as a larger selection of them. The cost for the higher end Video Walk Ons usually run $1500 and up give or take depending on the part of the country you’re in.

Are Video Walk Ons actually effective? Will they increase sales or leads? Will they increase traffic to your site? Will your search engine ranking go up? I’ll start by answering the last two questions first. No and no. If a sales rep tells you anything other, then they have no clue as to how the Internet works. From a technical standpoint, adding a Video Walk On to your web site will not increase search engine ranking or traffic. Most video nowadays is delivered online using Flash and Flash is not recognized by the algorithms that the search engines use. No matter how cool it looks. Now you may be wondering why in the hell then can you search for a video online and find it or how do YouTube, Google Video, Yahoo Video, AOL Video, Vimeo and all the videos from those types of sites come up in search results. It’s simple, they are using a totally different kind of video delivery system than a Video Walk On does. Will they at least increase sales or leads? The answer is a resounding maybe. It really depends on the type of business you have as well as the product or service you are offering. Why do it then you may ask yourself? It’s all about image baby. If you want to add something to your web site that “pops” then a Video Walk On may be for you. If you want to differentiate yourself from the competition then this might a tool that can help you do so.  Don’t kid yourself thinking that adding this type of thing will drastically increase sales or your bottom line, it’s more for image. But, sometimes, a memorable image may be just what you need to separate yourself from all the other glut on the Internet.

The Template Video

Another low cost marketing tool is the Template Video. This is similar to the Video Walk On in that the script is a template where your companies unique info is plugged into an existing video shell. The difference is that these usually involve a voice over person as opposed to a spokesperson that appears on camera. These type of videos typically use stock video footage and have sections where your logo and message can be easily entered in by the production company. These retail anywhere from $250 and up to produce and usually have a monthly fee attached. The major issue with these types of videos is the fact that they are a template. Your message may not get across exactly as you intend it to but that’s why they are inexpensive. You’re not paying for a solid marketing piece, your paying for a cheap video. The benefit to having this kind of video made is that it’s cheap and at least you’ll have something  to post on YouTube and all the other video distribution sites as well as on your own web site. You can also post it to your blog and if it’s fits into the size constraints your Facebook page as well. You can get a lot of mileage out of one of these as long as your agreement with the production company allows you  to do so. Be careful though! When getting one of these Template Videos you need to make sure that you have complete control over where it can be posted. Some companies will charge you a “distribution fee” if you post it anywhere other than your web site.

Viral Video Campaigns

Viral Videos could also be called Stupid S#!t That People Post Online That Other People Get a Kick Out Of For Some Unknown Reason.

Star Wars Kid, Numa Numa, Dick in a Box and the celebrity filled I’m F*@ing Ben Afflek are just a few examples of successful Viral Videos. These are videos that became extremely popular by people sharing them with each other. Many companies hear of the success of these types of videos and try to replicate that success for themselves. They figure that if some dork with a web cam can get a million views acting like a retard then with all their marketing might they can to. The challenge is producing a video that is not only entertaining enough to stand out from all the dumb crap and make people want to share it but to also produce one that actually promotes your company or brand effectively. Oh, and does it within your companies image guidelines. That’s where most corporate image types show their ignorance regarding the Internet and what kind of videos people actually LIKE to watch and share.

Viral Videos for business need to be entertaining. Your video will competing for face time with dorks, losers, sluts, farting, testicle shots, monkeys, sociopaths and a few individuals with a little talent who all probably know more about what people want to watch and share online than you and your marketing co-horts combined. If you want to keep your video professional, corporate and bland then advertise on TV or on the video sign at your local mall. If you want people to share it with the world, talk about it and have it seen by a large audience then make it funny, sexy or extremely weird.  Check out some examples of successful corporate Viral Videos. Here’s one for Guinness Beer and one for the launch of the PS3. Note – the PS3 spot debuted on TV with an extremely limited run but gained a following online when people started searching  for “the weird Play Station baby commercial”. Consumers actually went out of their way looking for the ad. That’s marketing.

Now producing a successful Viral Video campaign can be a little more challenging than you may think and obviously I won’t be covering ever aspect in this article. Most business owners I have spoken with seem to think that throwing something together and posting it on YouTube is all they need to do and it’s a little more involved than that. For starters, you need to plan the campaign out. If you have the budget, produce more than one spot. The reason why is that if you put all your eggs into one basket and it doesn’t catch on then your money could be wasted. Produce a series of spots and post them over a period of time.You also want to submit your video to more than just YouTube. Believe it or not, YouTube isn’t the be all and end all of sharing video on the Internet. There are also Google Video, Yahoo Video, AOL Video, Vimeo and a whole slew of others. Sign up with as many as you can handle and submit to all of them or pay someone to do it for you. Post your video on your blog, web site and social networking sites. Your goal is to get it seen by as many people as possible so that, hopefully, it will catch on and be shared with the world. Like I stated before, the challenge for a business owner is the fact that your video will be competing for attention with lightsaber guys, strange pets, dudes getting hit in the nuts, half naked women, weird looking babies, MILFs, Club Penguin videos, Justin Timberlake, SNL shorts, drunk people, monkeys being monkeys and other viral marketing campaigns with serious scratch and talent behind them. You need to understand the world your delving into when it comes to Viral Video Marketing. It’s not the same as advertising on TV. Not by a long shot.

Video Podcasting

Video Podcasting is similar to Blogging  in that it’s something you’ll need to do on a regular basis in order for it to be effective. What is it? Basically, it’s producing a series of short videos in which you enlighten the world with your knowledge or observations on whatever subject floats your boat (preferably, expertise in your profession). Now this honestly doesn’t translate well to every single business out there, but for the ones it does, Video Podcasting can be a powerful promotional tool. People get to see you, hear you and become comfortable with you without ever having met you. You can show off the expertise in your field and start branding yourself as an expert whether you really are or not. You tell people your an expert enough times they’ll start buying it.

Now, don’t worry. If you decide to  give Video Podcasting a try but are worried about scheduling time every week to tape and edit your segments I’ll give you an industry hint. Film them all in one day, get them all edited and then release them on a regular basis. I usually suggest filming 13 at a time. That way you have enough for one a week for a quarter of the year. 6-7 weeks into your campaign tape your next 13 and so on. Consistency is key to gaining viewers.

You can then upload your Video Pod Casts to all the previously mentioned video sites, social networks and your blogs but you’ll also want to submit it to Podcasting sites like iTunes, videopodcasts.tv, video.podcast.com, podcastalley.com and tons of others. The more places you post it, the better chance of people seeing it and subscribing.

What About a Normal Old Fashioned Marketing Video?

Let me start out by saying that putting a normal, old fashioned marketing video only on your web site  is a horrendous waste of the Internet’s capability. But if you’re too lazy to post it everywhere or too cheap to pay someone to do it for you here’s what you should do to get the most out of it. At the very least, add a social networking widget like Add This to the page the video is on so that the 6 people who actually see it can share it with others. I’d also make sure that you include video taped testimonials. Video testimonials are powerful marketing tools that really should be included in any video campaign. And don’t just rehash the information that already on your web site. It’s video for goodness sake. Take advantage of it’s capabilities. Video is one of most powerful marketing tools around so use it to it’s fullest extent.

Like I stated before, video has come down a ton in cost the last  few years but it is still a higher end marketing solution. Make sure to plan properly and give the production company enough time, and enough of a budget, to come with something that shows your company in the best light possible. Video can make your company look bigger and better than it is but it can also make you look like a cheap douche bag.  The end product will be a result of your choices so choose wisely.

Jayme Ward is the owner of Digi Donkey, an Internet Consulting Firm located in Historic Cocoa Village, Florida.

Are You Networking or Collecting?

Last week I attended a business networking function hosting by one of our local cities. It was a table top event filled with the hustle and bustle of small business owners displaying their wares, hundreds of people navigating through the maze of table tops to get to the food areas and beer lines that seemed to go on forever. It was a fine event with plenty of opportunities to meet new business people.

In fact, let me pause a moment and give the Cocoa Beach Area Chamber of Commerce credit for this. They consistently put on one of the best monthly business networking events you’ll find.

Now, as I was standing near the entrance waiting in line to get my free promotional magnet from a vendor’s table top display (I collect promotional magnets and stick them all over every exposed metal area I can find back at the office) I noticed two women in business suits walk in. It looked to be a trainee / trainer situation. One of the women looked fresh out of college, pretty, young, vibrant and wide eyed. The other was more mature, put together well and obviously very comfortable in this environment. These two marketing agents then proceeded to have a conversation that demonstrates the very problem most people have when it comes to networking at business events.

The trainee started scanning the room and pointing out to the trainer people she wanted to talk to. The trainer then cut her off and declared, “We’re here to collect our business cards and leave.”

“We’re here to collect our business cards and leave.”

“We’re here to collect our business cards and leave!”

“We’re here to collect our business cards and leave?”

That phrase stuck with me the rest of the evening. As I mingled, I started noticing how many other people were there just to collect their business cards and leave. Do you do this? Do you set up a goal of collecting “X” amount of business cards at an event so that you can follow up, or, in simpler terms, spam the s#!t out of everyone the following day?

Large networking events are golden opportunities to meet new people and make new contacts. For some business owners, meeting  just one person that eventually gives you a referral makes it worth attending. But it’s hard to really meet people if your just there to collect cards.

Now some of your “Networking Gurus” out there will probably shutter at the following statement but after every networking event I usually end up throwing away anywhere from 15-25 business cards. Why do I throw them away and not add them to my data base of prospects or contacts? Well, for one, they’re not prospects. Introducing yourself to someone at a networking function does not make them a prospect no matter what you’ve read in your sales success books. They are not a prospect until THEY mention to YOU their interest in your services.  And why don’t I just add them to my list of contacts, because honesty, I don’t know them. I separate my business cards into 3 groups: leads for me, leads for other people and junk. The bulk of what I end up with are junk. Now I don’t ask for business cards unless I really want them. All the ones I throw away are given to me without having asked. In turn, I don’t hand my card out unless asked to do so.

At a 2 hour event I usually speak to around 20-25 different people. When I say speak, I mean have some sort of conversation with them beyond, “I’m so and so what do you do?” I use these events to build on existing business relationships and meet new people. I try to stay away from the professional marketing reps because, more often than not, they are there to just “collect” and my goal is to get to know people. If you have ever tried to have a conversation with a professional marketing rep who’s “on” you probably understand what I mean. Everything out of there mouth is pre-scripted crap and they usually couldn’t give a damn about anything you have to say. They are there to do a job and that job is usually to promote, promote, promote.

If you feel uneasy reading this you probably have a little bit of the “card collector” mentality. That’s okay just be aware. To be successful at business networking you need to use the time to develop relationships with people. Don’t just blow through collecting cards so that you can spam them. And yes, it is spamming if they don’t specifically request to be added to your mailing list. You can call it “following up” all day till the cows come home but it’s spamming.

Networking events are golden opportunities to meet new people and get to know them so take advantage and your business will benefit.

Jayme Ward is the owner of Digi Donkey an Internet Consulting firm located in Historic Cocoa Village, FL.

Stop Blaming The Economy And Do Something About It.

This week’s post is going to be a little bit different than the others in that I’m not going to be covering marketing. This post is meant to be a big slap in the face with a large dose of, “Snap out of it!” thrown in. I have run into many business owners the last couple of months that seem to enjoy bitching about the economy. They let me know about the financial struggles they are experiencing and some even talk about shutting it all down and quitting. And this is at a business networking function. A function that’s purpose is to make people want to do business with you.

Now the media loves reporting stories of doom and gloom. We are hit daily with reports of businesses shutting down, down sizing or begging the government for money since their business is so much more important to the economy than everyone else’s business. You keep reading about this in the newspaper and hearing about it on the radio and watching on TV over and over so you may start believing it. But guess what, you don’t have to believe it for your own business.

This past weekend there was an action packed fight for the Lightweight Championship of the World between champ Juan Manuel Marquez and former belt holder Juan Diaz.  The younger Diaz came out and dominated the first four rounds swarming the older (by 10 years) Marquez with everything he had. Now for those of you who don’t follow boxing, this is something Diaz can do for 12 rounds, the guy doesn’t get tired. The strategy Marquez started the fight with didn’t seem to be working as he kept getting hit over and over again. Then some time in round 4 he made an adjustment. He realized that his uppercut was landing. From that point on his strategy changed as he found more and more opportunities to land punches. By the seventh round the tide in the fight had turned to the champ’s favor. Diaz, on the other hand, just stayed with the same game plan, burrowing forward throwing lots of punches. It was the same strategy that won him some belts in the past and he was determined to stick with it against Marquez. Another problem for Diaz was that he received a cut over his eye toward the end of the fight that in the post fight interview he admitted bothered him and had a negative effect on he fought from that point on.

Marquez retained his title via ninth round KO.

The fight this past weekend symbolizes what is going on in so many businesses across the nation right now. They started out with a solid plan and then the economy made an adjustment. Viewing the adjustment as positive or negative isn’t important because if you start allowing personal feelings and emotions to dictate business decisions you can end up in trouble. What’s happening in the current economy is neither good nor bad, it just is. It’s an economic adjustment that needs to be dealt with. The problem is so many business owners want to keep with the same system that got them to where they are at and either won’t or don’t have the ability to adjust. Like Diaz in the fight this past weekend, some business owners are going to fail because they are not going to make a the right adjustment. They are going to keep doing things the same way they always have.  What if they get cut, someone quits, they lay off their top sales person, they cut salaries killing moral or they they scale back so much that customer service takes a hit losing them even more customers? Do they just lose confidence and wait for the inevitable KO or do they readjust, build moral, offer incentives for increased sales, market more or hire a consultant?

The reality is this, there are business that are flourishing right now. There are some that are going to post the largest boosts in sales this year. There are some that will flourish specifically because of this economic situation. The thing is, can you adjust to the situation? Can you make the necessary adjustments to your business to make it through. Even more important, are you willing to make those adjustments. Are you willing to make the adjustments if they will hurt temporarily but benefit you in the long run? Are you willing to bring in a consultant if you don’t know how to make adjustments for the current situation? Are you willing to take advantage of the situation and increase your marketing presence while your competition scales back because they are reacting instead of acting? Are you willing to keep taking the punches because you know if do it will pay off in the end.

Bitching about the situation isn’t the answer. I could go another 10,000 words about how your perception forms your reality but my business is flourishing right now and I don’t have that kind of time. The economy is going to have an effect on some businesses (especially the ones that caused the situation)  but not every business. Some of you out won’t feel the effect at all. Some of you, strictly because of your perception of the situation, will allow the economy to have an effect on your business when it really doesn’t have to.

The great thing about owning your own business is that you get make your own decisions. Your not going to get fired, you control your own retirement and you have the ability to keep your business going as long as you make the necessary adjustments to do so. The question is, are you willing to?

Jayme Ward is the owner of Digi Donkey, an Internet consulting firm located in Historic Cocoa Village, Florida.