Well I have to say as a Marketing Practitioner and Coach I haven't put much time or stock into Facebook yet!  I love Facebook for keeping in touch with friends and family but was not convinced it could drive leads to my service business and bring new clients.  It looks so much easier for a product based business that can post images of their creations - what photos could I use?
So I've been doing some research both online and locally talking with other business owners and I may have to reconsider.  But first I'm going to try out these tips from Amy Porterfield, a Social Media Strategy Consultant and see if Facebook can make a difference to my business.

Here's 5 tips Amy recommends for starters:
1. Brand your FB Page
- create a great image for your FB banner that reflects you and your brand and has consistency with your     other marketing materials including your website
- image size 851 x 315px - create your own in pixlr.com, photoshop, paint etc
- follow the FB rules which say you cant include price mentions, contact details for website address
2. Add a link to your business page on your personal FB page (in the About section)
3. Create a Custom URL for your Facebook Page so its meaningful - mine is www.facebook.com/marketinghat.adelaide
4. Add a FB Like box to your website - I have mine on a couple of pages as you can see here
5. Post 2 to 5 times per day

I have to say the last one is definitely going to be a challenge for  me!! I really recommend you visit Amy's website for more tips on marketing with Facebook and I would LOVE to hear about your successes.

There is no doubt that great photos are extremely important in the creation of a great website.  This article from Weebly gives 5 key attributes to aim for to produce a great photo.  So have a read and get out there and have a go!

http://inspiration.weebly.com/post/how-to-take-professional-photos-for-your-website

In the meantime if like me you are too busy running your business to become an expert photographer to boot, I can recommend a couple of good photographers I have used to create the photos for these websites.

www.helenelizabeth.com.au
www.corporategoldpresentations.com.au
www.arcadi-a.com.au

All of these websites have been built on the Weebly platform which is a great relatively new tool for business.  Websites created in Weebly are automatically designed to fit desktop and mobile devices. The drag and drop edit facility is intuitive and makes it easy for you to do your own updates - saving you from paying a web development company for every update.  You start with a template of your choice and then build the website with great photos, content and a good solid structure.

I can help you to get started or when you get stuck, or create and build your website and then train you how to do edits.  Go to weebly.com and have a look then feel free to call me if you need.

You can waste a lot of time and money marketing to the wrong people or sending the wrong message. 

One of my starting points when coaching clients is to ask who their best customers are and why they buy from them.  You can spend a lot of money on formal market research or follow this process to get the same result.

1. write a list of your best customers (you should be keeping a database)
2. contact 10-12 asking if they would mind participating in some online market research you are doing to improve your customer service
3. write around 10 qualitative survey questions to discover why your customers' buy from you and not your competitors
4. send the surveys using a free online program like Survey Monkey
(https://www.surveymonkey.com) giving a deadline for completion and nice cover email
5. study the results and highlight key phrases
6. summarize your research into rational and emotional benefits
7. ensure these benefits are then clearly articulated in all your marketing communications

Write your questions to discover the following:
- what was the problem your customers were looking to solve when they found your company?
- how did your customers first find you?
- what attracted them to your business/service/product?
- why do they keep buying from you and not your competitors?
- is there something your customer wished you also offered?
- what are they key features of your product/service that appeals?
- if they were selling your product/service to a friend, what would they say?

Ultimately you are looking for your UNIQUE SELLING POINT.

And while you're there, it's a great time to ask if they would mind you quoting them on your website or asking them to write a testimonial or review.

Feel free to contact me if you need any help writing and sending a survey to discover your UNIQUE SELLING POINT and to define your best most profitable target market.

I've just read Hubspot's "The Science of Email 2014" report, hot off the press today! The main take-away points I thought relevant to you were:

• ensure your email gives value to the recipient
  
• always include an unsubscribe option otherwise you could be in breach of the SPAM Act
  
• test your email for desktop, tablet and mobile devices
  
• create personas for your target audience and test different formats
  
• click-through rates (CTR) are highest on the weekend so trial sending your email on different days
  
• emails with 300-500 characters had highest click-through rates
  
• create subject lines that are concise and persuasive
• avoid the term "newsletter" in your subject line - indicates it's being sent on your time schedule, not because you have something really exciting and new to offer
  
• personalize your email by using the recipients first name
  
• using the words "you" "download" "free" or "thank you" in subject line when relevant can greatly increase your CTR
  

And some Pro-Tips from Hubspot:

• ensure you include alt-text captions for your images as many companies will block images
  
• include a couple of images but dont go over the top in number or size - in this case, smaller is better
  
• work on your data list constantly to keep it clean
  
• optimize your email for HTML and plain text recipients

Keen to read more?
Eight more little tricks to make your emails more clickable.
How to create a 5 Star subject line

On the Linked In forum this week there was an interesting conversation, started by well known social media specialist Michelle Prak, around endorsements. 
www.prakky.com.au

Her tip was not to accept those that don't apply even though they have come from well-meaning people.  It's all about keeping your own brand credible and authentic.

What I learned about Linked In however was that other people can write recommendations!  No doubt some of you are already aware of this but I for one, was not.  This seems to provide much more credibility than endorsements and gives the ability for the endorser to write what they love about your business.  

From now on I will spend more time "recommending" my friends, clients and colleagues and not worry too much about the endorsements.  We also need to ask our clients and associates to leave a recommendation on our profile.

Would love to know if you have benefited from a recommendation on your Linked In profile.

PS. On the LI profile, you will need to scroll down past "Background" to find "Recommendations".

Being a small business owner sometimes means "brainstorming" new ideas on your own. It's not only more fun but more productive to work with others if you can.  I came across this great mind map for ideas on attracting new clients to your business and building a long-term relationship. It's a lot easier to keep a happy customer than find new ones! 

My recommendation is that you spend some time with this map and decide which ideas would be worth trying in your business.  I'm happy to email you the file, help with your own brainstorm session or implement any of these ideas.  Write your chosen ideas into your Marketing Plan under the goal you are trying to reach and then set up a process to make it happen.

For example, 
Goal - Increase customer retention & repeat business by 20% 
Actions - Follow up each sale with a Thank You email and short customer feedback survey
          - Ask to add them to your email list and let them know when you launch a       new service, have a sale, employ a new staff member
          - If you collect their date of birth - send a birthday card and voucher to go towards their next purchase with you

Mind Map - www.socialentrepreneurempowerment.com

I've just read a short book called Purple Cow by Seth Godin published in 2003. Talk about a man ahead of his time! It's still very relevant 10 years on.

Here’s a few points I thought worth pondering for your business:

The 5P’s of marketing aren’t enough anymore – they were:
Product, Price, Promotion, Positioning, Packaging

The new P is Purple Cow – the need to stand out and be exceptional/remarkable

Remarkable marketing is the art of building things worth noticing into your product or service, not slapping on marketing as a last minute add-on. Understanding that if your offering itself isn’t remarkable, it’s invisible.  Traditional approaches to marketing are obsolete (except maybe for those with lots of $)

The good news for small business is that you’re not missing out because you can’t afford a TV or print campaign!  It probably wouldn’t have worked anyway!

Create remarkable products that the right people seek out and be sure they can find you.

Its safer to be risky – brainstorm to find that remarkable idea to make your product, service, or even your method of marketing – remarkable!

Here’s some of the take away points in summary:
• If your product /service offering is boring – come up with ten ways to change the product to make it appeal to a sliver of your audience
• Think of the smallest conceivable market and describe a product that overwhelms it with its remarkability
• Build and use your database of loyal customers and ask them to come up with ideas or test new ideas on them
• Find the things that are “ just not done “ in your industry and do them
• Ask “ why not “ 

My Purple Cow is offering small businesses the opportunity to "hire me" for a day a month to be their "Marketing Hat".  What's yours?  Promote it here and I will share.

A great way to start the year for your business is to write a marketing plan, or revisit your existing one.  Here's a great article detailing in very easy steps "How to create an effective marketing plan in three pages" - written by Sarah Morton on the Women in Focus blog. 

Your marketing plan should be written after your business and financial plan so you're clear on your business goals and budget.  This helps to ensure your marketing strategies are targeted to achieving those business goals.  You can spend an awful lot of time on facebook but is it going to increase sales?  Another good point - there needs to be some key performance indicators - those measurement tools that help you know you are heading in the right direction and your time and money is giving you return on investment.

When working through your target audience, remember there may be more than one tightly defined group that buys your product or service, and they may need to be communicated to differently and in different places.

It's always great to work with someone else who has an understanding of your business  - not only does it make it more fun but more ideas are generated with the synergy.

Love that word "synergy" - the interaction or cooperation of two or more organisations, or people, to produce a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate effects.

I would love to hear how your marketing plan has gone for 2014!