Issue 10 - 12/12/2014

Small businesses use Instagram to drive sales - from Crain's Detroit Businesses - AP This article starts out with a case study of a small Hair Salon and how the owner drives sales to her business just by posting picture of what she has done. The picture to the right is an example. One single photo generated $10,000 in sales. Since many are relying on ROI, the investment in times is minutes, the return 10K. Not Too Shabby.

The main take aways for our business use were:

Right now instagram does not have a way to pay to boost readership of your posts, though they are working on it. However, much good results have occurred by paying bloggers or celebrities to post you pictures linked to you website or account.
There are less expensive ways to promote use. One is to scan Instagram for use. Say, you post everything with #MAK, and ask your clients too. Then you link back to their hastags.
Hashtag everything!
Pick a number of photo's you are going to post a day, compete with hashtag, keeping it consistent. One business in the article post 6 a day.
Post a photo for a discount campaign. One business in this article posted a product discount for mother's day. Boom!
Consistent use and # tag use builds your brand over time.

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Saturday, December 6, 2014

Issue 9 - Social Media Guides for Small Business

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A Beginner's Social Media Guide for Small Businesses - by Social Media Examiner -

This is an article that is written for small business owners, about small business owners and in a language that assumes you are not an IT expert, yet is is surprisingly complete. Some of the topics, but by now means all, are listed below:

Why Social Media for Small Businesses?

Do Your Homework

Coordinate Your Social Channels

Get Started, but Start Small

Listen and Share

Create Your Daily Plan

Boost Results With Social Advertising

If you want to understand what all the Buzz is about, and how to create your own buzz, read it now.

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10 Ways to Make Your Small Business Social Media

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Activities Rock - by the U.S. Small Business Association - one of the traditional enemies of Small Businesses is government. No matter what side of that argument you stand on, it should be clear that the U.S. Government would know more about what makes businesses tick than the average bear. This article is a collection of that wisdom, collected and presented in a way that is both useful and understandable to small business owners.

Not only do they give you 10 ways to make your social media ROCK, but they also have links to other useful information, including articles like: "8 Ways to Develop Online Content for Your Business – Even if You Hate to Write" and "Never Run Out of Blog Topic Ideas: Here are 36".

Two of the 10 ideas might strike a cord of fear or inquisitiveness:

Have an Authentic Voice
Don’t Overly Automate

One of the mistakes that small business make, according to business publications, is jumping at the chance to "automate" everything, and that leads directly to having a mechanical or inauthentic voice. The good news is, you can prevent it. The bad news is, people will notice if you do not.

Let the US Government teach you some tricks.

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