Is Your Business on Pinterest?

Pinterest may have started out as a hobby website, a collection of DIYs, recipes and fashion advice, but it’s advanced into another hot outlet for business growth online. So the question is, do you have your business on Pinterest? Well, the answer is, you definitely should.

Through the info-graphic shown above, there are tips and what not to dos, as well as stats to back up why Pinterest is quickly becoming another great source for brand expansion. The key to this technology age is to simply not fall behind. Stay active in the Pinterest phase, “Pinners” (people using Pinterest) will be more exposed to your brand the more active the brand is on Pinterest. Don’t go overboard, keep it simple; but upload pictures and re-pin relevant pins to your business.

Here is the link to signing up for a Pinterest account.

https://pinterest.com/join/signup/

Small Business Strategy

6 ways to integrate Twitter into your WordPress account

http://www.etny.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/wordpress-plugin-twitter-retweet.jpg

 

Twitter and blogging seem to go hand in hand these days. Learn how to keep up with both by using one to enhance the other!

1. Embed tweets into a blog post… simply paste the URL in a new post and WordPress takes care of the rest for you

2. Put a Twitter Follow button on your page-followers don’t have to leave your page to follow you on Twitter, all they have to do is click and go on with reading your content!

3. Add a Tweet Button so readers can tweet your posts to their own accounts

4. Showcase your recent Twitter action in a sidebar on your page using Tweets Timeline Widget

5. Enable readers to tweet their comments they want to leave on a post… this could potentially draw in their followers to your blog and get you more readers

6. Finally, auto-tweet new blog posts. Make sure to keep a healthy balance on your Twitter, however. You don’t want to lose followers by only using auto-tweets on your account as that may come across as impersonal and detached from your audience. Intermix auto-tweets and personal tweets to keep the balance!

Uncle John’s Cider Mill

Uncle John’s Cider Mill-St. Johns

 

With 90% of Michigan’s apples wiped out this year, Uncle John’s Cider Mill is still up and open for business. They have their decorations up, and donuts made. Though the shortage of apples caused a rise in prices, there was no shortage of people.

“The higher cost of apples hasn’t swayed us from coming to Uncle John’s. There are so many other activities for us to do, like the winery, that the trip out here is well worth it,” said MSU student, Sam Flynn.

Uncle John’s brings in patrons by offering many free activities such as a hayride, part of a playground and wine tasting for example. It’s never a dull day at a cider mill.

Thanks for the fun day Uncle John’s.

Why You Shouldn’t Care About Influencers

Influencers are important, but when you have limited resources to dedicate to your social media brand presence, it makes sence to focus on allocating your resources to the aspect of your online presence that is going to have the most impact.

Use Visuals for Brand Engagement

Engagement is one of the most difficult things to achieve with your brand online.  You can be active in all of your social networks, but without engaging material, you will hear crickets.  Engagement is one of the most widely struggled with aspects of a brand’ online presence.

Social Media Marketing IS Effective

Are your efforts paying off?  The folks at MDG put together this infographic to prove that social media marketing IS effective.

Twitter Psychology

Why do people follow and unfollow your company’s Twitter handle?  WhiteFireSEO put together this infographic to explain the results of a study they did:

5 Tips to Boost Your Facebook Page

For most small businesses, a Facebook Page is a relatively cost efficient way to raise awareness of your brand and communicate with your target audience.  Here are five tips to give your Facebook Page a boost:

1. Design From your cover photo to your profile photo, and your albums…these should all be relevant to your brand and your message.
2. Content Keep it short, keep it relevant, and keep it engaging.  It is always good to link back to your other social media accounts as well.  If you just published a white paper to your website, link back to that.
3. Engage Demand responses from your audience.  Post informational articles, links, questions, and short statement that will get your audience thinking.
4. Promote Again, link back to your other social media accounts, and use these other accounts to promote your Facebook Page.  Make sure that you put a Facebook icon on your website, and if you send an e-newsletter, include a button there, too.
5. Measure- You are not going to know  if your page is really working for your business if you don’t measure.  Figure out what you want your Page to accomplish, and determine what success looks like.

Now Boost!

Infographic: Time Management for Local Online Marketing

Short on time? Take a quick look at this infographic for time management tips relevant for small business owners and the like. Do you have any helpful time management tips for marketing your brand?