For those of you that live in the Greater Philadelphia Area, I will be speaking at the event for the Women of Wit and Wisdom on Wednesday, September 24th, 2008 at 5:30pm at the Pyramid Club in Philadelphia.
Marketing Your Website: A 12-Step Program
Is your website simply languishing in the corner, failing to deliver on the promise of the Internet? Change your online strategy and learn the tactics that actually deliver results:
Identify the REAL target audience of your site
Optimize so Google knows who your are
Leverage the power of social networks
Get site visitors to raise their hands
What: Guest Speaker, Dinner & Networking
Date: Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Time: 5:30-8pm
Location: Pyramid Club, 1735 Market Street, 52nd Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19103-2921
Cost: Cost: $30 for PC members; $35 non-PC members/advance registry (includes tax and gratuity) + cash bar; $40 at the door.
It happens at least once per week, if not more. A friend, colleague, client or prospect asks for the silver bullet.
“How do I reach my target customers?”
The typical answer (old) is to buy a lot of ads in hopes that millions of people will see them and somewhere in the millions, your target audience will respond. Don’t have that much money? Do the same thing but focus the ads locally.
And this strategy is essentially the same on the Internet: get the top position on Google.
This seems great for products, but what about service-based businesses? I think that you just have to get more creative. And the Internet is only one tactic to use.
Example 1 - Landscaper: Find a handyman that is busy and ask if you can tag along. People that hire handymen typically hire landscapers. Support this with
Example 2 - Allergist: Sponsor “Back to School Night” at as many schools as you can by supplying coffee, tea, snacks and such. And then be there for the conversation and give free advice. And have your appointment book with you.
Example 3 - Graphic Designer: Hold a contest for high school seniors and offer a $500 scholarship. Make sure the local papers cover it. Side effect: intern program.
What other “small” ways can you think of that could get big results?
The other night, we ordered takeout food from California Pizza Kitchen. So I drove across town to pickup the order and back through traffic with the food. But when everything was unpacked, something was missing: the tostada toppings for my wife’s pizza. Needless to say, she was bummed.
As the dutiful husband, I offered to go back and rectify the situation. So I called the restaurant to let them know that I was coming back. The manager got on the phone, apologized, and offered to drive the replacement pizza (plus a couple of free deserts) right to the house.
And even better, the manager himself made the drive and apologized again. Even though it wasn’t perfect with the original order, the recovery was great.
Too often, we blog about bad experiences. That is why I wanted to post this story. It is a simple example of customer service gone right.
For those of you that happen to be female and live in the Greater Philadelphia Area, I will be speaking at the event for the Women of Wit and Wisdom this Thursday, June 26th, 2008 at 5:30pm at the Pyramid Club in Philadelphia.
Using LinkedIn to Promote Your Business
Is it 12 or 73 invitations that you have received from LinkedIn so far? You have either ignored them or perhaps created an account. So now what do you and you 4 connections do next?
Learn to use LinkedIn to improve your reputation online:
Create powerful connections for business networking
Give and receive recommendations
Promote yourself by answering questions
Create opportunities for new business
What: Guest Speaker, Dinner & Networking
Date: Thursday, June 26, 2008
Time: 5:30-8pm
Location: Pyramid Club, 1735 Market Street, 52nd Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19103-2921
Cost: $35 advance registration/Pyramid Club Members; $40 at the door. Cash bar.
The Inquirer ran a one-day campaign to prove a point: print advertising still works.
The piece was seriously hysterical and I had fun sharing it. But you wouldn’t believe the letters to the editor in the Inquirer. People really need to lighten up.
Darren is right on target. All too often my clients look for the quick fix or silver bullets. Networks take years to build and seconds to topple, so you have to be honest and authentic and human in your networks. This doesn’t mean that you have to be perfect. It is okay to make a mistake, but not to be a jerk.
And when people look at the value of social media in 3 years, those of us that are investing effort now may reap the rewards of our time and effort.
So no matter how much you look for the deal, there is no way to purchase experience and effort.
What I like about this video is that it is very much an overview of social media, rather than a focus on one particular technology. That might be its weakness as well as I think that it might be just a bit too long, even though it is less than 4 minutes.
Darren is right on target. All too often my clients look for the quick fix or silver bullets. Networks take years to build and seconds to topple, so you have to be honest and authentic and human in your networks. This doesn’t mean that you have to be perfect. It is okay to make a mistake, but not to be a jerk.
And when people look at the value of social media in 3 years, those of us that are investing effort now may reap the rewards of our time and effort.
So no matter how much you look for the deal, there is no way to purchase experience and effort.