Get creative! This is a fun way to market and connect with your customers and it doesn’t have to be complicated. There are a variety of ways to disseminate your information; think Facebook, email, Twitter, website, blog, Youtube, radio, newspaper, podcasts, or letters. Then think about what you’d like to offer up –this of course should relate back to your business. Could you share articles or books, DIY project ideas, money saver ideas, tip and tricks, offer guidance to others in your industry, share interesting facts, or the latest trends? The truth is, whether your business is just starting out or you’re an old pro, if you can offer people relevant information; increased trust and sales will be close behind!

Need more ideas or help executing your own ideas? See what Twelve Oaks Group can offer your small business!

Elizabeth

Elizabeth McPhail grew up learning about the trials, tribulations, and perks of small family-owned business. She creates and maintains websites and blogs, and in her spare time can be found on the water boating!

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Now that you have a small business or home-based business, how are you going to achieve success. What can you do right now that will give your small business a competitive edge? Keep your eyes on these 6 guidelines!

1.      Website

You do not need an exorbitant amount of money to have a website. As a matter of fact, you are far better off (in my opinion) to not have a website that is too complicated-looking with a surplus of widgets plastered all over. No, having a website that is pleasing to the eye will go much further to bring in clients.

2.      Social Media

Social media has become a useful advertising, networking, and communications resource for small businesses. That includes such sites as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and even Pinterest is starting to catch on.

3.      Search Engine Presence

Small and home-based businesses can create a strong Google presence using the same search engine optimization (SEO) tactics that the big box stores use. There are a variety of methods you can use to do this. One of the best ways is through the use of keywords that relate to your website. Whenever you use article marketing, you want to use your keywords and have those keywords apply to how people will “search” for you in not only Google, but other search engines as well.

Another excellent way to become highly rated in Google specifically is through their Google Adwords Pay Per Click (PPC) internet advertising.  For small businesses that are on a limited budget, this is an ideal way to advertise within the confines of what you can spend. You basically just create your ads with the keywords and content that you want to use, your ads get displayed on Google, and your ad magnetizes customers to your site. Of course, it’s not quite that easy, but it really is an excellent program.

4.      Website Tracking

Knowing who is visiting your website and what they are looking for is all part of successful visitor tracking. Many businesses strictly rely on Google Analytics to gauge the overall success of the marketing campaigns. Twelve Oaks Group, however, prefers to take it two steps further by utilizing additional tracking sites to get a good temperature as to the well-being of our marketing techniques.

5.      Offering Discounts

Offering discounts can be a powerful lure to the customers out on the Internet. If they have clicked on one of your ads and actually ventured over to your site, why not reward them by offering them a discount or premium? For those of you that do eCommerce, offering them a

percentage off an item can encourage those would-be shoppers to actually shop around.

Offering discounts or coupons are gaining increasing popularity in the small business world. Many of those discounts often turn out to be just the enticement customers need to stay on your site awhile — and buy more!

6.      Local Search Marketing

If you are not being active on Yelp, it IS costing you money. It’s not just Yelp either. You should participate in local search marketing in order to increase visibility for your website and your brand. Recently, reports have been seen by the staff at Twelve Oaks Group that indicate that 73% of all internet searches are for local services or goods. To me, that spells out a strong reason for taking advantage of local search marketing while the iron is hot.

What I’ve offered above are just a few guidelines you can use to propel your small business on the road to success. Twelve Oaks Group has many more tips that we’ll be sharing with you in the near future. Are you ready?

Pam

Pam Lokker is a master writer and proficient virtual assistant, as well as being Co-owner of Borlok Virtual Assistants.

In addition, Pam is Customer Service and Content Manager for the Twelve Oaks Group.

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Cyber security expert Rick Doten tells Marshable,

“…companies should allow employees to post online about the company in a positive light, but cautions that employees who use social media too carelessly can give away sensitive details about a firm’s internal business.”

“If I see someone tweeting about a conference in Omaha, I can guess what’s    happening there. Social media’s great from a competitive counter-intelligence point of view. I can learn a lot [by] following tweets.”

- 4 Tips to Protect Your Small Business Against Cyberattacks

Twelve Oaks Group realizes that not every company is at extreme risk of sharing counter-intel information via Facebook or Twitter, but it is important to think about what kind of company information is being represented on the internet. Companies that don’t have a Facebook and Twitter account still need to take into consideration how an employee might be representing their business online. In some cases, business that do not have a social media account will find that their business is listed on Facebook and may even have a few “likes”, but the rest of the pages are completely empty. While this does not necessarily pose as a counter-intel threat, it doesn’t help your business put its best foot forward either. Or perhaps you’ve got a product or service on the market that’s loved by customers –loved so much that one of those customers created an unofficial business page for you. Again, not necessarily a counter-intel threat, but it does pose a risk.

If used correctly, Facebook is a very effective tool in helping you connect with current and potential customers. Interested in getting your business on Facebook? Contact Twelve Oaks Group! We can help your business master the perks of Facebook –one of the best values in online advertising anywhere.

Elizabeth

Elizabeth McPhail grew up learning about the trials, tribulations, and perks of small family-owned business. She creates and maintains websites and blogs, and in her spare time can be found on the water boating!

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How often have you been curious as to how a particular topic is doing on the Web, you know, is it being talked about a lot or hardly at all? There are ways to track topics, did you know that? Read on as Twelve Oaks Group shares successful ways to track topics on the Web.

Google Alerts

A popular method, and a very successful way I might add, is through the use of setting up Google Alerts. It’s very easy to set up. Start with going to Google News and put in your topic that you want to search for (like Twelve Oaks Group, for example). Now scroll all the way to the bottom and click on the link that says “Create an email alert for Twelve Oaks Group.” You can do this for any topic you want. The final steps would be to add your email address and make your selections for what’s showing. Voilà, click on Create Alert. Then depending on how often you have chosen to have the email alert delivered, you’ll get an email anytime anything new pops up in Google.

Social Media

If you would be more interested in taking the social approach, then two good options are Google+ and Twitter.

1.      Google+

Google+ is Google’s version of a social network. When you signed up for your Google account, you were automatically set up with Google+. If you were to go there now, you would type in your search topic. If you look over on the top right, you see a red button that allows you to save your search. To check your topics you saved on a regular basis, just go to your Google+ homepage, select the More drop-down list in the sub-menu where you’ll be able to see your Google+ circles, as well as your saved searches.

2.      Twitter

Did you know you can save your searches for topics in Twitter — whether or not you use the hashtag? Yes, that’s right; you can. Just log into your Twitter account, type in your search query in the search box on the top right and click the magnifier. Presto, all the tweets that relate to your search come into view like magic. To save it, click on the search icon at the top of the tweets and choose either Save Search or Advanced Search.

Now finding that topic that you just saved is not so intuitive to find. Remember where you typed in your initial search on the Twitter homepage? Click on that again, and you will see all your search topics that you have previously saved.

3.      Facebook

Some of you may be wondering if you can conduct searches for topics on Facebook. You can by searching a topic but at this point, it’s pretty hit and miss.

Niche Communities or Specialist Services

Depending on what you’re interested in, you may find niche communities or specialist services that you can get good information from. Reddit is a good site for a niche community.

Tracking topics and tracking visitors are just two ways that small businesses can get an edge on their competitors or become aware of emerging trends and technology in the business world. Twelve Oaks Group has many more useful topics planned that will help you become the leader in your industry.

Twelve Oaks Group

Tennessee-based Twelve Oak Group is unique in its approach to its customers. Each team member is committed to helping grow small business, making local government more accessible, and enhancing communities with their web design and consulting services expertise. We will not deviate from this approach!

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QR is short for Quick Response. They are a two-dimensional coding that is meant to be read with a special QR reader that will read the code — like your smartphone. Why not check your phone right now and see if your phone has an app for QR reading.

Once upon a time, the QR code was first used in the automotive industry. According to Wikipedia, “More recently, the system has become popular outside the industry due to its fast readability and large storage capacity compared to standard UPC barcodes. The code consists of black modules (square dots) arranged in a square pattern on a white background. The information encoded can be made up of four standardized kinds…” But, I won’t bore you with the details of those kinds. Instead, let’s get into the 5 incredible opportunities where small businesses can use QR codes.

Social Media Platforms

According to Biznik, “There is a large variety of uses and potential uses for QR codes and social media:

• Links to maps
• Scavenger hunts
• Landing pages for customers/web traffic/blog readers
• Confirming that someone is actually at a specific event (a type of check-in)
• Business cards, labels, stickers, etc”

Business Cards

Your business cards are the second potent opportunity small businesses have for using QR codes. You can have a QR code included on your business card and use it to direct customers or clients to your business website or promotional offer.

Packaging Products

Here’s another idea for you. If you send packages to your customers, why not attach a QR code to the outside of the package and direct them to some of your online guides or presentations about using your product. Or, you can have the QR code direct the customer to a manual that will provide them with tips on how to use your product. Now Twelve Oaks Group thinks this is one incredible opportunity to drive sales.

Press Releases

Anytime you have an opportunity to use press releases to increase the visibility for your small business, you should definitely take advantage of them as press releases are an excellent technique to draw in traffic. Adding QR codes to your press release can be an added way to highlight your business even more, as well as making the press release more user friendly. All the reader would need to do would be to scan your QR code with your smartphone and immediately be taken to your website for more information.

Printed Advertisements

The last and 5th powerful opportunity where small businesses can increase your brand awareness is through the use of QR codes. Look around. More and more businesses are incorporating the use of QR codes on promotional products and marketing materials. Once the customer scans the QR code, they gain access to information on a business — your business. What could be better?

Twelve Oaks Group knows that small business needs every advantage in order to compete with not only their local competitors, but also the larger “big box” stores. Throughout this post, we’ve started you out with 5 incredible opportunities where small businesses can use QR codes. And, this is just the tip of the iceberg. As you go through your day, start looking at other ways other businesses have used QR codes. Or, if you need other web services, why not contact us at (731) 337- 4330. We have a wide variety.

Image Copyright (c) 123RF Stock Photos

Pam

Pam Lokker is a master writer and proficient virtual assistant, as well as being Co-owner of Borlok Virtual Assistants.

In addition, Pam is Customer Service and Content Manager for the Twelve Oaks Group.

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