What is social media? Generally speaking social media is user-generated online content that gets shared across communities. It allows people to connect in the online world to form relationships for personal, political and business use. Social Media is widely regarded as a shift in how people discover, read and share news, information and content. From an academic point of view, some even regard social media as the democratization of information, transforming people from content readers into publishers.

Social media marketing is the act of using social influencers, social media platforms, online communities for marketing, public relations and customer service.

There is a wide range of social media tools to be considered for your social media marketing strategy, and the list changes every day. In summary, social media range from communication (blogs, social networking) and collaboration (Wikipedia, social bookmarking), to multimedia sharing (YouTube, Flickr), reviews, opinions and entertainment.

Which social media tools for marketing?

More social media tools are appearing on the net every day. For business use and social media marketing it is advisable to focus on the most popular social media applications so that your social media marketing strategy can leverage the number of potential customers that can be contacted. Using the most popular social media tools for marketing also allows your business to take advantage of the large number of participants and a well established context for business use.

Disadvantages of Social Media Marketing

There is a plethora of reasons, why well established companies are afraid of branching out into social media marketing – they fear the disadvantages of social media marketing could outweigh the advantages.

These disadvantages should be detailed in your business’ social media marketing strategy where the benefits and limitation of social media marketing should be analyzed to determine whether it’s the right strategy for your business, your marketing goals, and your marketing budget.

For many businesses, the time investment required for many social media marketing tools is an alarm bell or a red flag. The time spent marketing on social media should be closely monitored to assess whether the return in website traffic, promotion of your business brand, distribution of your business content, and resulting leads and sales is worth the investment in time and resources.

This is the first post in a series of articles on social media marketing. Are there any particular topics within this series you’d like to know more about? Leave your feedback below.

If you’re still asking why a business must have a website, consider the following case study:

In today’s Sydney Morning Herald an article outlines how traditional fashion retailer Witchery has turned it’s website into it’s most important and profitable shopfront.

How is that possible, you may ask? Witchery has applied important marketing principles to it’s online marketing strategies and has also engaged an agency specialising in online marketing consultant to benefit from specific internet marketing strategies.

Why have business websites? Here are some of the main considerations:

Massive Return on Investment

In 2007, Witchery Holdings acquired Mimco, an accessory and handbag outlet, which made miniscule sales at them time. After a $100,000 website make-over, the website now turns over $90,000 each month! What a return on investment!

Of course, not everyone has a budget for a $100,000 website make-over, and it’s not even necessary. What this case study illustrates is that you’re leaving money on the table if you’re not taking a piece of the online market.

Engaging Customers

Through it’s online presence, Witchery Holding’s brands have now created additional points of contact with their customers. Whether it’s their monthly newsletter with a subscriber base of 130,000, or their Facebook and Twitter pages, Witchery can keep in constant contact with customers to offer everything from the latest fashion trends to promotional discounts in store.

Give the customer what they want

Monitoring customer’s behaviour through analytics helps the company to improve customer experience. Whether users are looking for a product, a store, or the latest fashion information, it’s the data collected by analytics that help to develop insights and turn the website into the fourth most profitable outlet of the company. Ian Nairn, the chief executive of Witchery Holdings, told the Sydney Morning Herald about the importance of striking a balance between content and commerce, resonating with the common internet marketing principle of giving value before asking customers to buy.

Synergies between online and offline business

In summary, the most important lesson from this case study is that taking your business online doesn’t mean leaving your traditional business behind. In contrast, the purpose of taking your business online is to create a synergy between the two that contributes to your overall profits.

Why have business websites? Are you seriously still asking? The fact is, most Australians are now online and are increasingly more comfortable shopping online too. So whether you’re a retailer, or a traditional brick-and-mortar business, you now know why a business must have a website.

If you want to take your business online too, contact me now for a obligation free consultation to see how your business can also increase profits online.

When you get started online, there are some essential internet marketing tools that should be in your internet marketing toolbox.

There are so many types of internet marketing tools, so here are just a few of them: email autoresponder provider, domain name registration services, cheap domain name registration, best places to register a domain name, domain name registration Australia, website hosting services and specifically Australia website hosting.

Free internet marketing tools?

A lot of people will try and get everything for free when they’re starting out online. That is not the approach I take. I will let you in on a little secret and tell you why:

1. This is your business. If you’re growing a business there will be some costs associated to it. If you treat online marketing as a business, it will grow as a business too.
2. It’s not actually free! Although you’re not paying for it, someone else is spending either money or time to provide this service to you. If you’re not paying upfront, it’s likely you’ll be paying at some other time.
3. You’re paying for service and support. If you’re new to internet marketing, then you probably need some guidance, service and support. Even those who have been in internet marketing for a while, often use the service and support function. So decide for yourself, is it worth paying a little extra knowing that you will get guidance, service and support?

New page on Internet Marketing Tools

I have just added a new page to this blog on internet marketing resources. On this page I recommend the providers I have previously used and am currently using. This includes email autoresponder provider, domain name registration services, cheap domain name registration, best places to register a domain name, domain name registration Australia, website hosting services and specifically Australia website hosting.

I have been talking to many people about marketing their business online. Marketing is an essential part of any business and helps you generate new leads, let people know about your product and service, and if you’re really good, it will help you establish yourself as the ‘Go-To Expert’ in your field.

Some of the questions I often get asked when people first think about taking their business online is: Should I be creating a website or blog? Which is better blog or website? Is a blog or website better for search engines?

To answer your questions, I would look at your desired outcome and assess your ‘business lifestyle’. There is no one solution to whether you should be creating a website or blog.

Free Webinar on Setting up a website or blog

I will be presenting a free Webinar this Thursday, 17th September 2009, at 6.30pm (AEST) to answer your questions on setting up a website or blog. Please register here if you’re still not sure which is better blog or website.

https://www2.gotomeeting.com/join/232368914

Please click on the link to register for the Webinar. It is absolutely free and you will discover some amazing marketing benefits to help excel business and online marketing!

Register now and please also to invite your colleagues or associates if they could also benefit from learning more about setting up a website or blog and getting started online!

As my background is in writing, and I have written many white papers for other businesses, I thought a white paper would be the best way to explain the benefits of taking your business online.

Please download your free white paper on search engine optimization, search engine marketing, increasing targeted traffic and leads and customers for your business.

You can download the white paper “How you can generate leads, customers and more business while leaving your competitors in the dust” here.

Please leave a comment with your feedback below.

If this sounds way too complicated, and you’d rather spend time with your business and your customers, consider outsourcing your online business optimization to a professional.

Whether you decide to partner with an agency or an individual, here are some key points to consider when choosing  a partner to optimize your website :

Proven Results

Unfortunately the internet has become infamous for the amount of spam and deceit that is going on. Therefore, it’s vitally important to partner with someone who can deliver proven results and knows how to optimize your website – and will meet the outcomes you desire. Whether you want to increase your website traffic, have tons of potential leads, create a massive email list or find additional streams of income.

If you’re really lucky you might even find someone who can give you a guarantee and will work for you until they have delivered results.

Professional

Although the internet is famous for bringing us 15 year old millionaires, that’s no excuse for partnering with someone who is not professional. After all, they are working to on your online business optimization to improve your business. You deserve to know they will be professional, organized and meet your agreed deadlines when they optimize your website.

Long-term relationship

Building your online presence won’t happen overnight. And when it does happen, it will need to be maintained. Therefore you’re well advised to choose and agency or individual you can develop a long-term relationship with. After all, they’re working to improve your business, so you’d better get along.

If you’re considering outcoursing your online business optimization to a professional, contact Get Started Online now for a free online positioning report (normally valued at $497).

There are two options to consider when taking your business online:

You can either do it yourself or you can engage someone to do it for you.

Many people consider doing it themselves because it’s ‘free’. It’s true, you probably wont pay the same amount of money you would pay a professional, but it will cost you a lot of time and learning experiences.

If you decide to take your business online by yourself, here are the main steps you should consider to optimize your online presence for a fast web formula:

• Create a website (if you don’t already have one)
• Drive traffic to your website through search engine marketing (SEM)
  • Search engine optimization
  • Pay Per Click Advertising
  • Convert your traffic by making an irresistible offer and getting your leads to take action
  • Capture details of new prospects and existing customers to create an email list
    • Offer incentives for them to come back
    • Create a community to further tie your customers to your business.

For some more resources and step-by-step instructions, check out our online business optimization DIY tips.

If this sounds way too complicated, and you’d rather spend time with your business and your customers, consider outsourcing your online business optimization to a professional.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), in 2007-08 Australian businesses made online sales worth more than $81 billion, an increase of 20% over the previous year . Online income for Australian businesses is expected to rise further, as internet access spreads even wider, and people become more comfortable buying online.

The same research found that large businesses were more than three times as likely to have a web presence than small businesses – meaning now is an excellent time for any offline business to get an advantage over their competitors and take a cut of the profits.

Don’t Wait – Act Now!

If you’re waiting for your business to truly excel, but you continue to get the same results year after year, it is likely that you are losing business to your competitors who are changing with the times and going online.

Australians are continuing to become more comfortable with online purchases and it is well known that many people simply search the internet to find products and services, rather than fishing out the yellow pages and finding a service or business.

If you already have a website, that’s great. Think about the return you get from your investment, how much money did you spend on it and how many new customers does it generate every month? If you think there is some more, untapped potential, you’re probably right. The old adage ‘When you build it they will come’ simply doesn’t apply on the internet. There are just too many alternatives for potential customers.

If you want to find out more about the benefits of taking your business online, download our free white paper on taking your business online today!