At Web-JIVE, we listen to our customers requests, and two requests have been consistent, a newsletter and blogging services. Well, we listened, we developed and now we're announcing them!

Web-JIVE Does Blogging!

Do you want to rank well in the search engine result pages? Let Web-JIVE create a professional, customized web blog that reflects the branding for your business while keeping your online marketing current, relevant, and searchable!
 
Blogs are one  great way to get Google to index your site more frequently, which in turn helps your organic rankings. We can make sure a blog is added to your website every month, week, or more often if you require. We will set up your blog (if you don't have one already), create content (usually 250 plus words) and publish it to the web.

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Everyday, business owners like yourself ask; what can I do to drive more traffic to my website?

A couple of effective ways of driving more traffic to your website is through Email/Newsletter Marketing campaigns and Blogs. The great thing about blogs are, they can be converted into an email newsletter campaign without much additional effort and cost.

At Web-JIVE, we answer SEO questions on a daily basis for our clients. Along with a good SEO strategy,blogging and email campaigns are effective marketing tools, when it comes to getting measurable results. This is why we use them as well.

Some blogging tips:

When drafting content for your website blog and newsletter, remember to provide information people will find valuable. For instance, if you sell products, include how-to information along with a coupon to bring people back to the website.

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In most cases, people tend to use their Facebook accounts for either personal or business use, but not both. However, in some instances - like a one-person business -  it can be effective to combine the two, with a little help from Facebook’s privacy features.

To distinguish between personal and business use, one approach would be to assign a Limited Profile setting to business contacts to control what they can (and cannot) see in your profile.  And always bear in mind when you do anything in Facebook, a prospect or client might see it, even if they shouldn’t have access to it. You just never know what might spill over.

Here are a few notes on creating an effective profile for business and personal use.

Use your full name -- Many women use a version with their maiden name, because some people knew them only by that name. If you’ve used other names, try to fit them in somewhere logical, such as your “Info” tab.

Fill out your profile as completely as possible -- The profile has four sections: “Basic,” “Personal,” “Contact” and “Education and Work.” Fill out the information as completely as you can, but always think about a potential client reading the details. Do you want that client to know that about you?

Choose the right profile photo -- If you have a professional photo, use it. If not, pick a photo that captures you wearing the clothes that fit your style or what you would wear for a typical business meeting. Don’t try to be too dressy or too casual. You can post other photos of yourself under the “Photos” tab and assign privacy settings on a per-album basis.

Link to your blog -- Facebook has several Applications that can automatically  import your blog entries into Facebook. Networked Blogs is one good choice. It’s a great way to find readers of your blog’s content. Many people say their local friends never read their blog until they connected it to Facebook.

Put your most important business information on your profile home page. This is the paragraph that appears below your profile photo. What is the most important thing you want potential clients to know about you? What do they get out of working with you? Mention your industry, client type or other information to give people a hint. Use appropriate privacy settings for your profile information. Some people have their profile settings so high that when someone searches for them, they only see a name. You might not be the only one with that name in the world, which makes it harder for people to tell if they have the right person. One basic set-up would be to open your profile photos and then maybe your “Education and Work” information to everyone. This helps searchers know if they have the right person while letting them know what I do.

Take advantage of privacy settings to limit access on a per-user basis. If you don’t know someone very well or only on a professional level, give them a “Limited Profile” assignment. Those with this assignment can only see the parts of your profile that you open to them. You can also control who can view each photo album. For more personal photo albums, you can customize the privacy settings to “My friends except for those on the Limited Profile list", for example.

Still not sold on Facebook for business? We will continue to discuss the many tips and challenges associated with social networking in upcoming blogs, so stay tuned!

Blogging on your website is a great way to add fresh content while keeping viewers engaged in your business.  Web-JIVE customers are provided with several choices they can use as their blogging tool.  Give us a call today to discuss your options and ability to start blogging on your site!

Here are a few good tips to consider when blogging on your site.

Make your blog posts interesting and thought provoking.  Be unique.  What makes your blog stand out? Why should people read your blog rather than the others in your niche? People can read more than one blog, but being original is the best way to stand out in someone's memory. This means writing original content, having an original focus (possibly a well-known niche, but with a twist?), and giving your readers something to be interested in every time you post.

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One of the biggest secrets to success on Twitter is sharing.  As many Twitter experts say: You are what you share.   People use Twitter (www.twitter.com ) for many different reasons.  But for the purposes of this blog, we will focus on engaging with the business community. Please note that 'engaging with' should not be mistaken for 'selling to'!!  Just because it is 'business focused', it doesn't mean that you still can't have some fun - like occasionally tweeting about a sports event, or recent big news event.  After all, Twitter is about the people, right?  Many people who use Twitter for business, make the mistake of starting off with efforts to boost sales or launch some new product or service.  They do this without any engagement with anybody.  Take note here...Twitter is a communication channel with an OFF button - the unfollow link - and people aren't afraid to use it.  If people don't like what you are saying, or the tone you use - then your follower list will start to shrink…and quick!

So how do you tweet  and manage to maintain your business integrity?

Try to mix up your tweets .  Don't just focus on you - get interested (and get involved) in others and SHOW IT!  People are happy to look and listen to what you have to say, but only in moderation, and then, only if they trust you and have some sort of relationship with you.  So mix up the types of tweets you make, and engage with the community - business will come later.  Here are just a few suggestions for the types of tweets you can be using to get involved:

Informative:  What have you seen? What websites have you seen that are interesting? What have you read?  Which articles were in your daily news gathering process that got your attention? Get the message?  Tweet something that your followers will (hopefully) find interesting.

Re-Tweets :  Did you receive a tweet you want to share? It's easy to "retweet" it to your followers. Maybe some of your followers will do the same with some of your tweets!

Blog-Post Tweet:  Post your latest blog posts via Twitter, it is a great way to reach a larger audience with the same information and effort.

Help tweet:  Need some help or advice?  Want to know where to stay when you take a trip? Looking to make an important purchase, but need feedback on your options?  Just tweet about it.  People will give you their opinions quickly and honestly.

Humor Tweet:  Something makes you laugh? Share it with a tweet - we all like to see those tweets, especially if they make you LOL! (that's "laugh out loud" by the way!

Your business-related tweet: This is where you can tell what you do, how you do it, and promote your business.  But be careful how you pitch it!  If you just talk about you and your business, people get bored and will turn off, but show variety by mixing it up and you will be able to engage with a much wider audience. And if they like they way you do it, then people will naturally gravitate to your website, and they may well become customers or new clients in time.

Lastly, you decide who follows you!  This is very important since twitter acts like a big wall. If you have someone following you, check out their profile to see if it's someone you want following you.  Twitter is just as susceptible to SPAM and Porn as any other system.  If they are not a quality Twitter-ers, then block them.  You won't hurt anybodys feelings and, when someone checks out your followers, you won't have one of those embarrassing moments.

Facebook has two types of pages. The first is Facebook Pages, which allows public figures and/or businesses a space to share information, interact with their fans and create an interactive forum. The other, Groups, is more focused on a shared interest. Unlike Pages, Groups have a 5000-member limit. Pages can tie in with your account, while Groups stand alone. Facebook Pages has the tendancy to work better for businesses; Groups do well for non-profits, interests and causes.

While Pages would seem to be the better option for most businesses, they’re really geared toward well-known brands. In this post, we will attempt to explain how a small or one-person business can create an effective Facebook Page.

When setting up your page, consider this…if you’re a one-person business, rather than creating Facebook pages for your name, consider setting up a Facebook fan page for the company, product or service name and add keywords to it. People may be more likely to subscrbe to your Page (become a “fan”) when they see the topic that follows the company name. For example, for a one-person business, instead of creating the Page using your name, you might use your official company name.  Then you can expand it to show "yourcompanyname:  keyword, keyword", with the keywords being the brief description of your company, service or product. 

Using this approach shows what kind of valuable information people will get if they subscribe to your Page. Not all of us have well-known brands like Kleenex or Microsoft, so consider this carefully.  How can you communicate your business/service/product most effectively?

Creating a new Facebook page requires picking a category for your Page. There are three main choices: “Local,” “Brand, Product or Organization” or “Artist, Band or Public Figure.”  Take a look at the categories and their subcategories to see where you best fit.  You may find that you could fit into numerous categories/subcategories.  Choose the one that fits your business best.

Prior to broadcasting that your Facebook Page is open for business, add some valuable content so people will see the benefits of subscribing:

• Import your blog entries.
• Share tips on how to do things faster or more effectively with your product or service.
• Announce free upcoming events or webinars.
• Mention if you or someone from your company will be attending an event for a potential meet up.
• Post how-to videos or screencasts.

If you’re not yet ready for a page, or if you want to become familiar with Facebook Pages, subscribe to some other pages and visit them regularly. Look for businesses you use, or restaurants you frequent.  Maybe Pages set up for your favorite local radio or TV station.  See which ones work, and what makes them better than those that don’t work well.  Do keep this in mind when setting up your Page.  Don’t come across as overly promotional, as this will turn many viewers and potential clients 'off'.  Keep this in mind and you should do well.

While most people still use Social Networking services (SNS) mainly for personal use, business focused online social networking services are becoming more popular.  Dating, old friend look-ups, and party announcements are just a few of the more personal pursuits people seek on web sites like Facebook and MySpace.  But some social networking services can prove to be powerful tools for businesses — especially independent entrepreneurs and smaller companies, where each new personal connection is a significant business building block.  Social Networking Services that facilitate business-oriented connections, are now providing better connectivity than ever before.  As the popularity of SNS sites grows, so does their value.  Basically, a larger number of contacts means a better chance for productive connections.

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We all know how difficult software is to use these days, and we all have limited time and resources to learn these systems. We are in the same boat here at Web-JIVE central.

So, what's a person to do? Well, at Web-JIVE, we always strive to be the "better service company" and, in keeping with that direction, we're publishing our first help usage guide.  The Web-JIVE Administrators Guide! This is not a complete how-to manual, which might take weeks to read.  This is a simple, to-the-point PDF, with 26 pages of information.  

This is a good document for the new client or clients who haven't updated some site content in a while, and need a refresher.

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