flyte blog: small business web marketing blog

Why I Won't Friend Your Company on Facebook

By now, most small businesses know that Facebook can be a great tool for connecting with customers and prospects, building relationships, and growing your business.

However, many businesses jump into Facebook without a clear understanding of how to use it. I know this, because at least once a month I get an invitation to become "friends" with some company, non-profit or even an event.

I can only imagine what that would be like: catching a Sox game with an anthropomorphic mascot, having drinks after work with that cute new not-for-profit from accounting or perhaps texting the Friday Arts Walk during a boring meeting.

On Facebook, people have profiles and businesses have fan pages. If you want your business to succeed on Facebook, you have to understand the difference.

From Facebook:

How are Pages different from personal profiles?

Profiles can only be used to represent an individual and must be held under an individual name. Pages also allow people to maintain a personal/professional distinction on Facebook. You may only create Facebook Pages to represent real organizations of which you are an authorized representative. Fans of your Page won't be able to see that you are the Page admin or have any access to your personal account.

It's quite possible that Facebook at some point will crack down on all the non-humans who have profiles, shutting them down with extreme prejudice. If that happens, all that hard work you've put in to building your business's profile will be down the tube.

It makes a lot more sense to create a profile for yourself and a fan page for your business. A profile has benefits because you can connect with other real people who are your vendors, customers and prospects. You can ask your friends and clients to become fans of your company, which can start to build momentum.

When some company does ask me to friend them on Facebook, I politely decline but tell them that if they set up a fan page I'll be happy to become a fan.

Now, won't you become a fan of flyte new media?

flyte new media on Facebook

Rich Brooks
BFBFF (Best Facebook Friends Forever)

What Is Web Marketing, Anyway?

Although businesses and organizations have different goals and purposes, most would like to achieve the following:

• increase their online visibility
• drive more qualified prospects to their site
• convert that traffic into business or membership.

These days, almost everyone will agree that a company's Web site is the hub of their marketing; TV ads, print ads, even billboards, will include a URL to drive interested parties to for more information or to order.

While different people have different opinions of what Web marketing is, I feel there are four major components:

• Attraction: How to you drive qualified prospects to visit your site
• Retention: How to keep the lines of communication open after they've left your site
• Conversion: How to get visitors to take a desired action on your site (buy now, picking up the phone, etc.)
• Measurement: How to track your success and continually improve on your site and marketing campaigns.

There are plenty of tools at our disposal as small business owners and entrepreneurs to accomplish this, including search engine optimization, email marketing, blogging and social media to name a few.

If you'd like to learn more in a classroom setting, I'll be teaching Web Marketing for Small Business at the University of Southern Maine starting this Thursday evening from 6 - 8pm, and three additional classes after that.

Just remember to bring the teacher instructor an apple.

Rich Brooks
Web Marketing for Small Business

Email Marketing is Sexy, Dammit!

While everyone (myself included) is fawning over Twitter, Facebook and other social media marketing tools, you have to feel a little bit sorry for email marketing.

After all, email marketing has been around for a while and has proven itself again and again as an essential tool for the small business or entrepreneur. So why do we cast our old friend away just because a new, sexier tool appears? Where is our loyalty?

"But what about spam?" I hear you ask, "And spam filters, which prevent so many of my messages from reaching their intended audience...even for opt-in lists?"

True, spam and the sometimes effective antidote, the spam filter, have reduced the effectiveness and deliverability rates of emails. However, do you honestly believe that all of your 500 (or 5,000) followers on Twitter see all your tweets? Especially if they are following a couple thousand people?

"Who needs emails now that we have RSS?" you ask. 

Ah, yes, RSS. The very cool tool of professional bloggers and new media evangelists. A spam-resistant tool that keeps our inboxes clean. Dirty little secret: if I find a blog essential I subscribe to the email version. That way I know I'm going to see it. Even though my Firefox start page is filled with RSS feeds from some of the most important Web marketing blogs out there, I just don't notice them very often.

"Email is for old people, like you. People my age use social media sites to stay in touch."

First of all, you're not too old for me to put you over my knee, so watch your tone.

Yes, I love sites like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. However, all social media sites leverage emails in some way. You generally have to visit those sites to interact with them, which is why LinkedIn sends you group updates and network invitations via email, Facebook forwards all emails and wall posts and photos you've been tagged in to your email, and Twitter emails you direct messages.

Yes, you can shut these off, but these sites are wise enough to realize that people have their emails open almost all day, and it's a way to make sure they can get in front of them.

If you're looking to grow your business online, then you need to include email marketing in your marketing campaigns. We've found that your email subscriber base is often the highest converting group when it comes to promoting new products and services, and especially events.

To learn how to grow your subscriber base with quality leads, and how to integrate it into a holistic Web marketing plan, you may want to check out Web Marketing for Small Business, a course I'm teaching at the University of Southern Maine on four Thursday evenings, from 9/17 - 10/8.

Rich Brooks
I'm Too Sexy for Email

What If Your Audience Is Too Old For Blogs?

"Our target audience is too old for blogs. They're too old for Tweeter (sic). They're too old for Facebook. I don't see our audience reading blogs."

At those words my ears perked up. I grabbed my cup of coffee and sauntered swaggered strode into the conference room where a couple of my co-workers were meeting with a prospect who came in to talk about search engine optimization for their site that targets women over 40.

"Do you mind if I add my .02?" I asked. Since I made and served coffee to our guests already, they may have felt indebted to me, but in any case they asked me to continue.

"Blog posts are just like Web pages; each blog post you create is another opportunity to rank well at the search engines. You don't have to worry whether your audience reads blogs, just if they use the Internet and search engines. (And I assume you do believe that, otherwise you wouldn't have an e-commerce store.) Your blog posts can attract that search traffic and either funnel the prospect to your site or we can e-commerce right to your blog itself.

"According to some recent surveys the fastest growing segment in Facebook is women 35 and over. A lot of 'grandmas' are joining Facebook because that's where they can see their grandkids' photos. The average age of someone on Twitter is 31 (which means a lot of people are older).

"A strategic combination of search engine optimization and social media marketing (along with some hard work) can definitely increase the quantity and quality of traffic coming to your Web site. Plus, with social media you can better engage your audience and get feedback from them on what your next products should be.

"You might end up being a little ahead of the curve for some of your audience, but better to be a little ahead than behind."

Not sure if I convinced them, but if you're concerned that your audience is too old for a blog or social media, perhaps you're underestimating your audience. Or, perhaps you need to find another audience.

Rich Brooks
Maine Business Blogs

The Web Marketing Pie: Bet You Can't Eat Just One (Slice)

Apparently, Nicki Hicks has a sweet tooth.

Nicki is flyte's search engine marketer, helping clients rank higher at the search engines and drive more qualified leads to their sites.

Besides performing keyword analyses, running link building campaigns, teaching swimming and cheer leading, she's also become a great writer. She's been sharpening her skills over at the Maine SEO blog.

The other day she wrote an article on Web marketing, and suggested that I could use it for the upcoming issue of flyte log, our monthly email newsletter. Until now, I have been writing every issue since 1997.

Maybe she thinks I've been working too hard.

In any case, it's a great article for any one who is trying to get a better understanding of Web marketing, and how a business can better promote themselves online. She talks about Web sites, blogging, social media, search engine optimization (SEO), PPC, article marketing and email marketing, and how they all can fit into a Holistic Web marketing campaign.

And she wraps it all up in a flaky pie crust. I don't exactly understand how she did it, so you'll have to read the article yourself. You may never look at pie the same way again.

The Web Marketing Pie by Nicki Hicks.

Rich Brooks
...Mmmmm, pie

Photo Credit by Pauladamsmith

Is Gmail Right For Your Small Business?

I started using Gmail regularly for business back in March. It happened right after a series of frequent, productivity-killing crashes of my Entourage mail client (what Microsoft calls Outlook on the Mac.)

I'll be honest; it took some getting used to. First off, no folders? Really? Google, you think your mail search is all that? (Actually, it is all that and a bag of chips.)

However, since I'm often checking email from my iPhone, I fell in love with the automatic sync that Gmail (as a Web mail app) provided. I'd check my email while waiting in line somewhere, reply, and the original message would be archived and my message in my sent folder, even when I returned to my work computer. Or my home computer. Or an Internet café computer, if I went there.

I also love the way Gmail threads messages, collapsing previously read messages automatically, and even telling me while I'm reading an email if a new, updated response has come in. Sometimes it gets a little too aggressive with threading messages, however, and I wish there was an easy way to unthread certain threads.

And for years I joked about writing a script that would check for attachments if the word "attachment" was in the email, so I wouldn't keep forgetting. And lo and behold, Gmail has that feature as well.

Of course, there are drawbacks, too. The lack of folders, recent downtime and the Web-based nature of the application makes it not for everyone.

I wrote up a pro and con list of making the switch to Gmail and entitled it Gmail: Is Free Email Right for Your Small Business. It's this month's issue of flyte log. Enjoy.

Rich Brooks
Web Tools for Small Business

The Calm Eye of the Social Media Storm? Your Blog, 'Natch.

As more small businesses come around to the idea that social media can help them grow their business, the number of options seem overwhelming: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Flickr, FriendFeed, the list goes on....

The other concern many small business owners have is that if they invest their time in one of these social media sites and build an audience, what happens if Facebook goes the way of Friendster, or Twitter loses the media buzz the way Second Life did? Things are moving too fast for many entrepreneurs and they're not sure where to begin.

My recommendation? Your blog! You may already have one, and if you don't, I'd strongly recommend you get one! A business blog is the perfect, calm eye to the social media storm that whips around us.

Some benefits for having a blog?

• Search engine visibility
• Inbound link building (read more on this at The Maine SEO Blog)
• Ability to generate more links to your Web site and other online properties
• Establish your credibility
• PR
• A home for your intellectual property (I stole this line from Denise Wakeman)
• A place where your audience can interact with you through comments and trackbacks
• A place to put breaking news and events

The list goes on.

If you're going to be in Maine next Wednesday and would like to learn more on How to Plan, Build and Promote a Business Blog, I have just the event for you.

I'll be putting on a session on blogging (10:30a - 12:30p), as well as one on social media marketing (8a - 10a) and another on search engine optimization for the Southern Midcoast Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday, August 12th.

You can learn more and register for any or all of the seminars by clicking on the links above.

Rich Brooks
Your Blogging, Social Media & SEO Guy

All this talking about hurricanes makes me want to listen to some Neil Young. Oh, look, here's some now!

Web Marketing Seminar Marathon

Would you like to learn how to leverage social media to help grow your business?

Would you like to learn how to start, build and promote a successful blog to increase your online visibility?

Would you like to learn how you can rank higher than your competition at Google, Yahoo, Bing and other search engines?

Would you like to learn all of these things in a marathon of Web marketing presentations, put on by one man, fueled only by his desire to help you grow your business and an unlimited supply of Red Bull?

Then have I got the spectacle for you.

I'll be doing back-to-back-to-back Web marketing presentations for the Southern Midcoast Chamber of Commerce. Here's how it breaks down:

• Social Media Marketing: 8am - 10am
• How to Plan, Build and Promote a Business Blog: 10:30am - 12:30pm
• Search Engine Optimization: Rank Higher, Sell More! 1pm - 3pm

For session details and to register for any or all of the seminars please visit the links above.

Date: Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Place: Southern Midcoast Chamber HQ, Topsham, ME (directions)
Cost: $20/session for members, $30/session for non-members

Rich Brooks
Marathon Man

Save the Date: Social Media Marketing Conference: 9/23/09

Social media is seemingly everywhere these days.

Twitter was the cover story of Time magazine last month. Seniors are joining Facebook by the busload to see their grandkids' photos. Blogs are replacing press releases as a communications tool. Companies are using YouTube to reach new audiences at a fraction of the cost of TV ads.

But you still have questions:

• Does my company really need a Facebook page?
• Will social media really drive new leads to my Web site?
• Can I use Twitter to sell?
• Why do I need a blog if I already have a Web site?
• Is this just a passing phase?
• How do I get started?

Well, now it's time for answers.

Over the past few months, Chrystie Corns, Jaica Kinsman and I have been scheming. We've been putting together a conference on social media marketing. We've got some of the most talented marketers to talk about:

• blogging & podcasting
• Twitter, Facebook, & LinkedIn
• using video to drive traffic to your Web site
• how social media improves search engine optimization
• and a lot more.

We've just launched the site for The Social Media FTW Fall Conference. This half-day conference will take place on Wednesday, 9/23/2009 from 1pm - 5pm with a 1 - 2 hour networking event to follow. (And the first round's on us...no joke!)

Kiosks, Have We Got Kiosks!

In addition to great speakers and presenters, we want to make this a hands-on, roll-up-your-sleeves event. We'll be having computer kiosks where volunteers will help you setup profiles for yourself and your business at Twitter, Facebook and other popular social media sites.

Already have a Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn profile setup? We'll give you quick, on-the-spot evaluations and tips on how to improve your profiles and get more bang for your buck.

It's only $79--which is a steal for all this great material. But wait, there's more! Through Friday, 7/24 we're offering an early bird special of $59! That's less than $10/hr (if you stick around the networking event for 2 hours.)

Since this is the first FTW conference, we're offering only a limited number of tickets. Tickets started selling within 30 minutes of the announcement of the new site, so please...don't miss out!

Register for the Social Media FTW Fall Conference

Learn more about the Social Media FTW Fall Conference

What the heck does FTW stand for, anyway?

Hope to see you there.

Rich Brooks
I Love the Smell of Social Media in the Morning

How to Set Up Recurring Billing in PayPal

If your business has products or services that require regular billing, you might want to look to PayPal to automate the billing process.

In this short video on How to Set Up Recurring Billing in PayPal, I'll show you step-by-step how to automate recurring billing, whether you want to bill once a month or twice a week, and whether you want to bill for six months, a year or forever.

Once you've set up the recurring billing PayPal will generate code you can add to a Web site, blog, or even put into an email.

Rich Brooks
Helping Small Businesses Do Stuff