When in Rome...

Does anyone else ever feel overwhelmed by the massive amount of opportunities there are online for free or cheap marketing? These sites are free in the sense that they don't cost money, but they can zap your time. I believe that many of the social networking sites are useful --when used correctly and for the right reasons. It's just like when every company thought they had to have their product on television to get anyone to notice it. Not true. If you are just jumping on the bandwagon because everyone else seems to be and you don't want to get left in the dust, take a step back and think about whether or not the people you are trying to reach can even be found on a site like Facebook or Twitter. Maybe they are on MySpace -- people have preferences and prejudices regarding these sites.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a strong advocate for online networking, but it seems like everyone is everywhere, with no real strategy. Maybe you're trying to get the attention of the 20-something crowd to come into your new salon -- Google AdWords might be the best. Or maybe you should be going with an old-school newsletter -- on actual "paper" if you want to tell local businesses about a sale you're having at the end of the week or a new service you're offering. Figure out where your time and money is best spent, and go from there.

Erin Pankowski
Marketing Manager
Concierge Marketing
and Publishing Services

First, a Thought from Tom Becka on Social Networking

“I think social networking is just another tool in the arsenal. With a Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, or LinkedIn account, you can be in control of your message and help generate sales. The trick is to branch out and generate new leads and new "friends" But with some work, you can have a site that will be a resource and keep reminding people about your product. You won't sell a million books off these sites but combined with all your other media it definitely helps.”

Social networking is a buzz word right now, and has been for awhile. I hear about Facebook and LinkedIn several times a day from different media outlets – local and national. Everyone is trying to get you to visit their page, some for personal reasons, and others for business.

It’s important to keep your content relevant for your audience, so that the right people will be interested in reading what you have to say. It’s also important to keep business and personal networking sites separate. Not everyone cares that you went out and had a few drinks Friday night. It’s not a bad idea to have separate pages for both, and different friends to go along with those pages.

If you do these things, you’ll keep yourself from getting into sticky situations between work and play, and you may find that you have new followers by keeping the content relevant.

Erin Pankowski
Marketing Manager
Concierge Marketing
and Publishing Services