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I Help Owner-Operated Businesses Get More Leads And Sales From The Internet Using Online Advertising Through Google And Facebook

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5 Mistakes That Businesses Make With Facebook Marketing That Cost You Money

July 17, 2016 By Corey Koehler

thumbsdownEvery day I come across businesses who are costing themselves money when it comes to their Facebook marketing practices. Here are five mistakes that I see the most and a few tips on how to correct them.

1) They use a personal profile for a business page

I see a lot of businesses use who are using a personal Facebook profile for a business page.

Here’s why it doesn’t work.

There are a few reasons why this is bad for your business. One of which is, your profile could get deleted. Facebook has announced that it will get more aggressive in removing businesses that use personal profiles to represent themselves.

Next, you are missing out on important features like Facebook Insights. With Facebook insights you can learn a bunch of stuff about your customers. You then take what you learn to help inform future marketing decisions.

You can more about you is engaging with your page. Stuff like age, are they most likely male or female and what products or topics do they respond to best.

Finally, you can also run Facebook Ads, contests, conduct surveys and assign roles for managing your page if you find it hard to keep up on your own.

If you are making this mistake don’t feel bad. It is something a few of my clients where doing when I started working with them. And it is understandable. As a business owner you quite a bit on your plate as it is and do not have the time to stay on top of the latest Facebook changes.

To fix this, just set up a business page and start migrating your followers from your current profile to your fan page.

Need help with that? Let me know.

2) They never update their page

Many businesses post once per week or less. This is mistake.

It is likely that your customer is not visiting your page on a regular basis. If you are not showing up in their timelime by posting new content, you don’t exist. Out of sight, out of mind.

If you want to stay in front of your customers, you need to post as often as you can. At a minimum you should post once per day.

You should post content that you think your customer would be interested in. It can be a mix of your own content along with blog posts, videos and pictures related to your niche.

This may sound daunting because it adds another thing to your plate but it doesn’t have to be. There are strategies you can use to simplify and streamline the process.

For instance, if you have a smart phone there are all kinds of ways to add good content to your Facebook page that take less than 5 minutes. A bar and grill client of mine sends out pictures of that days specials and/or comments on sporting events. My car audio client shares in progress photos of speaker boxes or installations. My photographer client uses her smartphone to share behind-the-scenes information. this is quick and simple way to fill in the blanks between the sharing of her high quality images.

What would your ideal customer like to see or learn more about?

Want more ideas or help putting together a content strategy? Let me know.

3) They broadcast rather than participate

I see a lot of businesses who are constantly posting sales messages or pitches but nothing else.

Nobody comes to Facebook to be sold something. They are there to hang out and stay up to date with friends and family. Also, Facebook is starting to clamp down on blatant advertising because they know their users do not like it.

A better approach on Facebook is to participate. Keep in mind that you part of an online community. Like in real life, if you are constantly talking about yourself eventually people are going to phase you out.

Get involved in the conversation by chatting about the things your customer cares about. Be a part of the community, rather than a business looking for a sale. If your customers love football then talk about football. If they are watching Breaking Bad, talk about Breaking Bad. If they like underwater basket weaving, share your thoughts or a video about that. And make sure you are authentic.

Once you have provided some value, your customer will be more likely to check out an “occasional” offer and act on it.

Want to some ideas specific to your business? Let’s talk.

4) They do not collect emails

Many of my clients were not collecting emails from their customers when I started working with them. In fact, very few businesses collect emails. It is underrstandable because its one of the biggest mistakes I made when I started marketing online.

By not collecting emails you are limiting the amount of times you can engage with a potential client. You are also forfeiting the opportunity to build a lasting relationship with customers who have given you permission to make them offers. Consider this statistic.

“ExactTarget asked almost 1,500 US online consumers (age 15 and up) about how they prefer to get permission-based marketing messages and a whopping 77 percent said email.”

Also, by collecting email, you get more out of your advertising dollar. You pay to get that customer one time and then keep them around forever. Another stastatistictisic.

“It’s 8X more effective to bring back an existing customer than get a new customer.” – The LMC Group 2012

Email is a great tool and can quickly become one of your businesses greatest assets. One of the oldest saying in internet marketing is “the money is in the list.”

Building an email list is something that can be done online and off. You could start with a free Mailchimp account. They provide you with a code that you can add to your website and integrate with many of the top social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. If you are a brick and morter business, you also want to collect emails from customer in store.

The best way to get customers to opt-in is to offer your customer something of value. Could be email subscribers only deals, coupons, special access, tip sheets, etc.

Want to brainstorm some ideas for your bsuiness? Let’s talk.

5) They do not use Facebook Ads

Many businesses spend thousands on radio and newspaper ads. Those ads can be effective for certain businesses. But they typically offer little or nothing as far as customer targeting and tracking return on ad spend.

With Facebook, you can identify your customer and target them and only them. If you want 35-45 year old moms who make $50K – $75K per year, read Family Circle Magazine and live within 5 miles from Winona, you got it.

Not only that, you can track every eyeball that saw your ad, whether they clicked on that ad and whether they bought your product. And you only pay when they click on the ad.

It is easy to start using ads is by using the Boost Button (which isn’t ideal) or by clicking on “Build Audience” in the top right of Facebook Business Page.

But before spending your money, educate yourself (ideally from someone other than Facebook). It doesn’t take much to blow through your ad budget without getting any results if you don’t know what you are doing.

If you have any questions, let’s talk. I’ve been running Ads in a variety of niches and for a wide variety of businesses. I can point you in the right direction.

More LinkedIn Marketing Tips Than You Can Shake A Stick At

May 24, 2016 By Corey Koehler

LinkedIn-TipsHaving a strong presence on LinkedIn is becoming more and more important for owners of small businesses (Don’t believe me? Read this).

That is why I like to keep an eye out for tips that can help my clients – and myself – stay ahead of the game. Today I wanted to share some with you.

Tip 1 Involves Your Headline

First, I stumbled on a great post over on Social Media Examiner called 9 LinkedIn marketing Tips From the Pros.

A ton of great tips over there but I feel that there is one very important tip that is missing. Tip 9 suggests you should make your summary and your job titles “client-facing.” Great advise but why stop there?

The headline just below your name is prime real estate. Anyone who comes to your profile or hovers over your name in the comments will see it right away.

So I suggest you use your Unique Selling Proposition (USP), or to put it another way, a result that you provide for your customers and/or clients. Most people use their job title but something like “I Help [target audience] [pain point] so they can [desired result].” That way a prospect know right away that you are someone that can help them.

If your target audience sees that, they are much more likely to continue learning more about you don’t you think?

I have been constantly testing my headline using this approach for a little over 3 months now and I can tell you, it works great. I’ve been receiving more profile views and have had an increase in inquiries from potentiality clients.

Tip 2 Involves a Challenge

Once you have a great profile you need to participate. I know what your thinking, “who the hell has time for this?” I get it. I struggle with the same thing but I have a challenge for you and it only involves 15 minutes per day.

For 30 days spend 15 minutes per day doing the following:

  1. Focus on helping others (find local and/or industry related groups to monitor and comment when you can help).
  2. Share content like an article or video (Related to your industry. Could be yours, a thought leader in your industry, Projects or industry related news – along with your thoughts on the matter).
  3. Be consistent

That’s it.

Bonus

If you really want to jump in and get the most out of LinkedIn. Here’s an article I found that teaches how to use LinkedIn’s Publishing Platform to build authority and get customers. It is a little more involved but it could produce even greater results.

That’s it

So there you have it. To leverage LinkedIn for you and your business, read the articles I’ve linked to, improve your headline and spend 15 minutes a day participating.

Do you have anything to add? Let me know in the comments below.

3 Mistakes Small Business Owners Make With Their Website That Costs Them Money (Part 3)

August 26, 2014 By Corey Koehler

small business email marketing listsIn part 1 we looked at the importance of updating your small business website on a regular basis. In part 2 we looked at the importance of mobile optimization. Today we conclude this series by taking a look at one of the most costly mistakes of them all.

Question for you…

Do you collect emails from your customers?

If you answered yes, very cool! Not many small businesses, in our area anyway, take advantage of email (pat yourself on the back).

If you said no, here are some statistics for you to consider.

Consider these statistics:

“Businesses return $40 for every $1 spent on email marketing.” – Constant Contact 2012

“Email is the most effective channel for direct marketing.” – Direct Marketing Association 2013 Study

“ExactTarget asked almost 1,500 US online consumers (age 15 and up) about how they prefer to get permission-based marketing messages and a whopping 77 percent said email.”

“It’s 8X more effective to bring back an existing customer than get a new customer.” – The LMC Group 2012

What you can do about it…

There’s an old saying in the online marketing circles, “The money is in the list.” And boy is it true.

An active and well maintained email list can be one of the most important assets that a business can have.

For example, lets say you are in the restaurant business and you have an email list of 1000 customers. And lets say Tuesdays are a little slow or you have a ton of inventory you need to get rid of before it goes bad. You could think up a irresistible promotion and send out an email to your list. All of the sudden, Tuesday isn’t so dead your inventory isn’t going to waste.

Or lets say you own a small business that makes widgets. Can you imagine how handy it would be to have a mailing list full of customers that you could bounce product improvement ideas off of?  Or imagine having a list of paying customers that you could tell about your new widget? Instant sales if you’ve been doing a good job of maintain a relationship with them.

I think you get the idea.

This happens to be one the biggest mistake I made when I started doing business online. Once upon a time I had a fantasy football site where I was averaging 5K to 10K visitors every time I would publish and promote a blog post. Not once did I ask for an email. I blew any chance of building a relationship having the chance to create instant sales by offering them products or services in the future. Still hurts thinking about it.

And really that is the just tip of the email iceberg. I could go on and on about email marketing, but I will spare you for now.

It is not hard setting up and maintaining an email list these days if you have a little extra time. There are a few services out there that make it simple for you to collect email addresses. The two that I use are Mailchimp and Aweber.

Lets review…

Its simple, if you are not collecting emails and building a relationship with customers, you are leaving money on the table. Remember this, “ExactTarget asked almost 1,500 US online consumers (age 15 and up) about how they prefer to get permission-based marketing messages and a whopping 77 percent said email.” They are waiting for you, go get ’em. Or call me and I’ll do it for you.

Any questions?

If you have any questions or want to get started on your blog, give me a call and we’ll figure it out.

3 Mistakes Small Business Owners Make With Their Website That Costs Them Money (Part 2)

August 4, 2014 By Corey Koehler

IMG_1998In part 1 we looked at the importance of updating your website on a regular basis. Today, its all about mobile.

Questions for you…

When you visit your website from a mobile device, like a smart phone or tablet, what does it look like?

Do you have to pinch to zoom in and read the text? Do your call-to-action and phone number links/buttons stand out and are big enough to easily tap on with your thumb?

If it is a pain in the rear to do any of these things, you are more than likely losing customers.

Consider these statistics:

“Google reports that 40 percent of mobile consumers turned to a competitor’s site after a bad mobile Web experience, and 57 percent wouldn’t recommend a business with a bad mobile site.”

“49% of sites fail to comply with basic usability principles, and 50% of online sales are lost because visitors can’t find content.” – Forrester 2012

“9 out of 10 mobile searches lead to action, over half leading to purchase.” Search Engine Land

“88% of consumers who search for a type of local business on a mobile device call or go to that business within 24 hours.” Google Mobile Movement Study, 2011

What you can do about it…

The good news is that it is not difficult or expensive to make your site mobile friendly.

You could make a standalone mobile site using a service like Duda Mobile. They allow you to could either build a mobile site from scratch using their editor or let you enter in your website url so they can make a mobile version. It is pretty slick.

If you are blogging or have more content for your customers to consume you could update your site using “mobile responsive” design. Mobile responsive means that the display adjusts to the the screen of the devise (a smart phone, iPad, etc).

Even if your customers are just looking for a phone number, hours of operation or a menu (if you are a restaurant owner), these simple tweaks can make a huge difference.

Let’s review…

If a potential customer visits your site with their mobile device and your site isn’t mobile optimized, it is costing you money. Because if they to zoom in to read your copy and/or it is difficult to click on links and buttons, you more than likely lost them. They are clicking the back button and heading to your competitors site.

For a small investment of time and money you can make your site mobile friendly. Just add a stand-alone mobile site like Duda Mobile or update it using a mobile responsive website design.

Next, click here to go check out part 3 to learn about what could be the biggest mistake of all.

Any Questions?

If you have any questions or want to get started on your blog, give me a call and we’ll figure it out.

3 Mistakes Small Business Owners Make With Their Website That Costs Them Money (Part 1)

July 25, 2014 By Corey Koehler

Quick question for you small business owners: how often do you update your website?

Got your answer?

Great, read on.

If you answered 1-2 time per week, congrats. If you answer 1-2 times per month, not bad either.

But, anything less than that and you may be shooting yourself in the foot. And if you don’t even have a website, all I can say is ouch.

Here’s why…

The days of the static website are coming to an end and fast. If you have an outdated website that never gets updated you could be hurting your business. Here’s a few reasons why.

First, you are communicating to potential customers that you may not be in business any longer or you don’t care. Good, fresh content generates leads and brings paying customer through the front door.

Second, you may be leaving money on the table (or worse, handing it over to your competition). If a customer doesn’t think you exist they aren’t coming to you to give you their money.

Third, Google also loves websites that get updated on a regular basis and will reward you with higher rankings.

Consider these statistics…

“70 percent of U.S. households now use the Internet when shopping locally for products and services.” – The Kelsey Group; ConStat

“Businesses with websites of 401-1000 pages get 6x more leads than those with 51-100 pages. (HubSpot Lead Generation Lessons from 4,000 Businesses, 2011)”

“Companies with active blogs receive 97% more leads.” – Content+ 2013

What you can do about it…

Updating your website on a regular basis shows that your business is still in business.

And, if done right, the more pages you have floating around on the search engines and on social media, the more likely you are to get found. Think of your web pages as little sales people working 24 – 7 (and you only had to pay them once).

Adding a blog is a simple way to add content on a regular basis. Software like WordPress makes it easy for anyone to post articles, images, audio and video.

Blogs also give you the chance to show your expertise and build trust with potential and existing customers.

Let’s review…

Ok, here it is again in a nutshell. Adding fresh content to your website tells prospective customers that you are in business. This in turn puts more money in your pockets and gives you a little bump in the Google rankings.

The simplest way to add fresh content to your website is with a blog.

That’s all there is too it.

Now, click here to go check out part 2 (aka mistake 2) in this series, you will find out if you are missing out on one of the biggest opportunities in online marketing today.

Any questions?

If you have any questions or want to get started on your blog, give me a call and we’ll figure it out.

Coming Soon!

February 22, 2014 By Corey Koehler

I have a lot in my head that can help you. I just need to get it out of there and on here. Stay tuned.

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