Posts Tagged ‘small business’

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What Do You Do When Social Media Doesn’t Work?

Wednesday, February 1st, 2012

Wet FloorWhat do you do if you’re active in social media but it’s not helping your small business?

Dear Rich,

I run a commercial cleaning business and I’ve been using social media for almost a year. I have been blogging three times a week, creating videos, and tweeting several times a day. We have a Facebook page that gets updated multiple times a day but has very few fans and only my employees and family members engage with it, and only when I threaten them! Even when we ran a contest with an iPad 2 as a prize we only got a handful of new likers.

We set up a Google+ page for our business, but almost no one has circled us, despite the fact that we’re putting out fresh content daily.

Most importantly, in looking at our traffic reports, almost no traffic comes from our social media activity, and none of our new clients mention social media when we ask how they found us.

What are we doing wrong? I feel like I’m banging my head against the wall.

–Confounded in Cornish

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Posted in Entrepreneur & Small Business, Search Engine Marketing, Social Media | 4 Comments »


Marketing Your Small Business with MarketingProfs

Monday, December 5th, 2011

MarketingProfs LogoLearn how to market your small business, generate tons of online leads, and reach your business goals for 2012.

The “small” in Small Business doesn’t represent your dreams, your goals, or how big you may want to grow your business. However, many small business owners hit their collective heads against budget or human resource limitations.

That’s why MarketingProfs University is offering Marketing Your Small Business, an 11-class course tailor made for small businesses.

Here’s how it works:

  • Each class airs live and is recorded so you can watch later, or as many times as you wish
  • You get access to the class and plenty of support materials
  • You get a certificate of completion (of course, if you run your own small business, you know that the knowledge is what you crave)

You’ll also get these beneies ($813 worth of goodies!):

  • A 3-month MarketingProfs PRO Membership (we get this at flyte…invaluable!)
  • Access to new report DIY Marketing Essentials for Small Business
  • Access to Take 10: How to Build a Twitter Following in a Week
  • Access to Take 10: Creating a YouTube Channel Page that Reflects Your Brand
  • Plus 5 additional popular classes hand-picked from 2011

If you’re ready to grow your business we can save you $200 off the cost of the course. Just use FLYTEMEDIA as your discount code when you register.

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Posted in Entrepreneur & Small Business, Web Marketing | 2 Comments »


How to Setup Your Google+ Business Page in Under 3 Minutes

Thursday, November 10th, 2011

Google+ Logo (Google Plus Logo)Google Plus recently opened up its platform for businesses. Here’s how you can get started with your own page.

Yesterday I created a Google+ page for flyte. I turned on ScreenFlow, my favorite screen capture tool for the mac and created the following video.

Thanks to some fancy editing, some enhanced typing skills, and a trough full of Red Bull, I created this video that will show you in less than 3 minutes how to setup your own Google+ business page.

You can watch it below or check out How to Create a Google+ Business Page in Under 3 Minutes on YouTube.

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Posted in Entrepreneur & Small Business, How-To Web Marketing Videos, Search Engine Marketing, Social Media | 7 Comments »


Small Biz Success Summit: From Social to Sales

Tuesday, November 1st, 2011

Discover how to quickly attract quality customers, build loyal fans and grow your revenue with social media.

One of my biggest pet peeves with a lot of social media advice is it seems to be targeting big corporations. It requires big budgets, expensive monitoring software, and dedicated staff that’s beyond the reach of most small businesses. And yet small businesses are the group that can benefit most from social media.

That’s why I was really excited when Mike Stelzer, the guy behind Social Media Examiner, told me he was putting on a new success summit that is 100% focused on social media strategies for small business.

This is the same guy who put on those fantastic Social Media Success Summits, Facebook Success Summits, and even a Blogging Success Summit. And now he wanted to put the spotlight on how small business owners and entrepreneurs could use social media to attract customers, build fans and generate revenue.

Tickets will be $597, but currently they’re only $297! I was never good at math, but that’s like 50% off!

I’ve attended every one of the Success Summits, and I always get some amazing takeaways. This isn’t fluff. This is very specific advice from small business experts who have succeeded using social media.

Here’s a short list of some of the 25 presenters at the Small Biz Success Summit:

  • John Jantsch, Duct Tape Marketing
  • Anita Campbell, Small Business Trends
  • Mari Smith, author of The New Relationship Marketing
  • Brian Clark, Copyblogger
  • Lee Odden, TopRank Online Marketing
  • Lewis Howes, author of LinkedWorking
  • Amy Porterfield & Andrea Vahl, co-authors of Facebook Marketing All-in-One For Dummies
  • James Wedmore, Video Traffic Academy
  • Rich Brooks, he’ll write a book one day.

Yes, that’s right! I’ll be one of your presenters! My presentation is Social to Sales: 4 Steps for Growing Your Small Business Revenue.

The Success Summits are perfect for small biz owners; here’s why

One of the best thing about the Small Biz Success Summit is that it’s a completely virtual event. Why is this good?

  • Attend in business casual, your pjs, or au naturel, it’s up to you. 
  • You can attend live and ask questions of the presenters at the end of each session
  • If you miss a session you can download the slides, audio and/or video after the fact
  • Download the audio to your iPod for travel time or watch the videos multiple times so you don’t miss a thing
  • No travel expenses
  • You’ll still have an opportunity to network! The Success Summits have vibrant, active, attendee-only discussion groups at LinkedIn where you can ask your questions, network, and engage with the presenters
  • You won’t miss any work (I know for some people that’s a negative, but we small business owners stress over any lost productivity!)

Two reasons why you should act now

  1. The Small Biz Success Summit runs from February 1st, 2012 – February 23, 2012, but the early bird discounts end soon! You can save 50% off the regular priced tickets if you order now! Save $300 by ordering today!
  2. Despite the fact this is a virtual event, seats are limited. The last Success Summit sold out! Don’t get left out…get your seats now.

If you’re a small business owner, or work for one, this is the event that will help you grow your business in 2012. See you there!

Rich Brooks
Small Business Owner

 

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Posted in Entrepreneur & Small Business, Social Media | 2 Comments »


The Joys of Working With Small Business Owners

Monday, October 31st, 2011

Small Business OwnersAlmost every day a small business owner comes into my office to share his or her dream with me.

Sometimes they’ve already got a business, whether it’s a storefront, a home office, or a retail space. Other times it’s just an idea that they want to bounce off me to see if it makes sense. Often the person comes in covertly during their lunchtime so their boss won’t know about their desire to escape the cubicle and create something new.

This is the best part of my day.

Nothing picks me up like hearing the entrepreneurial ideas of small business owners and future small business owners. It’s like caffeine for the soul. Their dreams power the future success of our country and our economy.

Of course, there’s a long journey between a dream and success. It’s a path that requires long hours, sacrifices, and trying to find the nearly impossible balance of running a business and having a life.

It’s not for everybody. I know a number of people who wanted to work for themselves because they wanted more flexibility, free time, or didn’t want to answer to a boss.

Flexibility? Yes, you’ve got to be flexible to somehow juggle all the jobs you’re suddenly saddled with, from sales to marketing to accounting to hiring to buying office supplies to taking out the trash.

Free time? I don’t know a business owner who doesn’t check email before they go to bed and as soon as they wake up. Who often works through lunch. Who reviews their numbers after dinner at the dining room table.

Not answering to a boss? When you run a small business you suddenly have to answer to dozens, maybe hundreds of bosses…from your customers to your employees to your vendors to the tax collectors to your spouse wondering why you’re late for dinner…again.

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Posted in Entrepreneur & Small Business | 6 Comments »


YouTube Marketing Workshop Handouts

Monday, September 26th, 2011

YouTube Marketing HandoutsCouldn’t make it to the YouTube Marketing presentation at Social Media FTW? Here are the slides from that workshop.

YouTube and online video are powerful tools to increase your online visibility, drive more qualified traffic to your website, and convert that traffic into leads and business.

In the YouTube marketing presentation I gave at the Social Media FTW conference I talked about what types of videos businesses should make, how to make videos that get found, and some advanced YouTube tactics to get people to take action while watching your videos.

I showed how to make a CTA (call-to-action) overlay ad and how to use annotations to link one video to another video, playlist, channel and more.

Finally, we talked about how to go beyond YouTube and took a quick look at other video hosting platforms like Vimeo and Howcast, as well as how to use your videos on your blog, Facebook page, and email marketing.

YouTube Marketing: How to Increase Your Visibility and Grow Your Business With Online Video

View more presentations from Rich Brooks

Below you’ll find the slides to the presentation. Since I tend to use a lot of imagery and few words in my slides, not everything may be clear. If you’ve got any questions on the presentation or using video to help market your business, non-profit or cause, please post your question below or send us a message. Thanks!

Rich Brooks
As Seen on YouTube

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Posted in Social Media, YouTube & Online Video Marketing | 2 Comments »


Learn YouTube Marketing at Social Media FTW

Friday, September 9th, 2011

Attend this YouTube marketing workshop and learn how to use online video to build your business.

Can’t see the video above? Watch YouTube Workshop at Social Media FTW at, um, YouTube.

If you’ve been looking for new ways to increase your online visibility, drive more qualified traffic to your website, and build your business, then be sure to check out the Online Video and YouTube Marketing workshop at Social Media FTW 2011.

We’ll talk about how to find out what type of videos your ideal customers are searching for, what types of videos work best, and how to create them.

We’ll also spend time focusing on YouTube, the world’s most popular video sharing platform. We’ll see how to create a channel, how to get people to watch and share your videos, and to subscribe to your channel. We’ll also look at advanced techniques like adding annotations and linking one video to the next.

If you haven’t bought your ticket yet, go to http://www.socialmediaftw.com and use the discount code “flyte“. That will save you $25 off the ticket price. (You’re welcome.)

See you on 9.22.2011 at the Abromson Center on the USM Campus in Portland, Maine!

Rich Brooks
Maine Web Marketing Guy

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Posted in Web Marketing, YouTube & Online Video Marketing | No Comments »


What Should I Make a YouTube Video About?

Monday, August 29th, 2011

What Should I Make My YouTube Video About?You know you need to create online video for increased visibility, but you have no idea what your video should be about.

Just like blogging before it, I’m a big proponent of using online video to increase your online visibility, drive more qualified traffic to your site and build your business.

And just like blogging before it, people are still not sure what they should be creating videos about.

The short answer is, that if you’re creating videos to generate online leads, you should be answering your prospects’ most pressing questions.

A few weeks ago I was on vacation at a lake house we rent. I had never been able to get up on water skis before (only tried a handful of times) but I was determined that this was the week. I went to YouTube, searched for “how to get up on water skis” and found a number of videos. After watching one particularly instructive one I took to the lake. Three attempts later I was up.

That week I also learned how to start the square stitch and a good workout for resistance bands, all from watching videos on YouTube.

Keep in mind that YouTube is the #2 search engine in the world, AND its videos often appear on the first page of Google, the world’s most popular search engine. The right video, with the right title and description, addressing the issues that your prospects and customers face on a daily basis can greatly increase the number of inbound leads you can generate.

So what should my online videos be about?

That’s obviously going to be specific to your business and industry, but here’s a trick to finding out what people are looking for when it comes to videos. Go to YouTube and start typing in your industry or the type of questions customers usually ask you…YouTube’s auto-complete feature will provide suggestions based on previous searches and results. Here are a couple of examples:

Profit & Loss Video Search

How to Email (Auto-Complete)

And don’t forget that the same trick can work at the search engines:

How to Fundraise

And notice how the 3rd organic result is a video!

Now, go out and make some videos!

Rich Brooks
The Water Skiing, Resistance-Banding Lanyard-Maker

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Posted in Entrepreneur & Small Business, How-To Web Marketing Videos, YouTube & Online Video Marketing | 3 Comments »


Learn YouTube Marketing at Social Media FTW

Tuesday, August 16th, 2011

Social Media FTWGrow your online visibility and build your business with online video. Rich Brooks leads a workshop in YouTube marketing techniques at this year’s Social Media FTW Fall Conference.

YouTube is the 2nd most popular search engine in the world. Videos from YouTube (and other video sharing sites) appear in the first page of search results. Videos entertain, educate and engage your audience. They attract prospects on YouTube, on your blog, and on your website.

So why aren’t you making more of them?!?

In my session at this year’s Social Media “For The Win” conference I’ll be talking all about making and marketing online videos to grow your business. Here’s a little promotional video I made about it:

My online video workshop is only one of many great sessions we’ve got planned. Mike Volpe of Hubspot and Saul Colt of Freshbooks will be our two keynotes, and you can see a full list of speakers at the site.

Here’s the 411 on the social media conference:

Date: Thursday, 9.22.2011
Time: 9a – 5p (registration begins at 8a, networking bar at 5p)
Place: Abromson Center, USM Campus, Portland, Maine (map & directions)
Cost: $149 (save $25 w/discount code flyte)

Every year this conference sells out, so don’t wait! Get your tickets now!

Rich Brooks
YouTube Famous

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Posted in Social Media, YouTube & Online Video Marketing | No Comments »


Understanding the Financials of Your Business

Thursday, July 14th, 2011

George WashingtonFrom reading P&Ls to understanding cash flow, it’s critical to understand your small business financials…so why are so many of us so bad at it?

Hello. My name is Rich and I don’t understand my business’s financial statements.

Sounds like an introduction at a 12-step program, doesn’t it? I’m not sure how I stayed in business for 14 years and counting with such a tenuous grasp on the finances of running a business.

I’m easily stumped by such accounting questions as:

  • Why is it a debit when a client gives us a down payment?
  • Are we cash or accrual?
  • Does it really impact our business if clients pay us late…as long as they pay us?

It was because of these questions (and others) that I attended “Financials for the Math Challenged” yesterday, presented by Don Gooding of the Maine Center for Enterprise Development. Although not all of my questions were answered, it did start me down the path of getting a better grasp on the numbers of running flyte. If you struggle with understanding the concepts of your own financials, read on.

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Posted in Business Philosophy, Entrepreneur & Small Business | 2 Comments »

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