Saturday, December 1, 2012

Using Social Media to Boost SEO

by After Interactive

Many potential customers use search engines like Google to find services / products they may need. Therefore it becomes important that your website is optimized for search engines like Google. By focusing your website's content and architecture around keyphrases your customers are looking for, you can ensure your business is as visible as possible online.  In addition, it will also be able to get customers from these search queries.  However, social media can actually be used to boost a company's website searchability. How?

  1. Keyphrases - Search engines are programmed to determine what content on a webpage is about. By focusing on keywords and embedding keywords in your company's social media efforts you will make it easier for search engines to determine what your content is about. This means it will be easier for search engines to deliver your content in the search results of your potential customers.
  2. Shareability - Make your content as helpful as possible to your target audience. By doing this you increase the possibility of your potential customers sharing your content with others. This increases visibility and builds a spider web of links that search engines like to crawl.
  3. Blogs - Platforms like this are a great opportunity for a few reasons.  First, it gives your opportunity to create shareable content.  Second, you have the ability to link back to your website which search engines will give increased value to versus the websites of your competitors. Finally, by focusing on keywords your blogs will make it easier for search engines to figure out what and to whom to deliver your content to in search results. 
By using social media to deliver more search traffic to your website, your business will gain more visibility.  Through more visibility your company will gain new customers which is what it's all about. Isn't it?


Thursday, November 1, 2012

What Social Media Strategy Is Suppose to Deliver


by After Interactive

Many business professionals are pitched to by social media "gurus" talking about abstract principles that may not make any sense but still fall to the spell of fancy new age words.  When being pitched by these so called "gurus", business owners have to remember one thing:  they are running a business not a social media frat house.  Any marketing effort has to grow the business and have a metric based ROI.  So when it comes to social media marketing, what should the results actually look like?  Below is an email we recently sent to a satisfied client showing the results we delivered to them in a short amount of time.

Dear Client,

As promised, here are a few facts to cover how social media has affected your marketing and website results over the last 3 months:

Website:

Last 3 months compared to last year:

Visits 1,459.65% increase
Unique Visitors 1,365.00% increase Pageviews 889.90% increase
New Visitor 62.65% increase Returning Visitor 37.35% increase
Visits via Social Referral 8,900.00% increase

Facebook:

458 Fans (we took over when you had about 150)
98% of of Fans are female and located in or around the Metroplex!
Reached over 60,000 people

Twitter:

167 Followers (we took over when you had about 25)
48 Direct Interactions with Posts
Lots of PR and Exposure through groups like: Grapevine COC, City of Grapevine, CEO of Stroller Strides, and many others.
Since you have chosen to educate your audience through social media, your competition is following you as well!
Ads:

1,526,019 Impressions
415 Clicks on Ads
148 Actions (Shares, Likes, or Clicks on Ads)
147 Page Likes (Liked your Facebook page)

Leads:

If each new lead is valued around an average of $72 (varies based on number of visits, etc..), then we have generated a value of $51,264 for your practice in a 3 month period….of which, one month was set up and event promotion…not lead generation.
These numbers speak volumes and we look forward to continue helping you grow your practice!

Sincerely,

After Interactive

The results above show what social media based on strategy and measured with metrics can produce. If your company's social media guru isn't producing results growing your business it may be time to show him/her the door.


Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Ivan Misner Says " Great Referrals Aren't Accidents"

Great Referrals Aren't Accidents

Make networking part of your relationship-building strategy, and you'll see real results.
URL: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/205378
Just like casting for fish, the process of meeting people, staying in touch, and then asking for their business is something that requires patience and practice.
A few years ago, a long-standing member of a business networking organization was talking about canceling his membership--not because he wasn't getting enough referrals, but because his referrals were coincidental.
That's right. Despite a full year of getting great referrals, Mike (names have been changed to protect the foolhardy) didn't feel the results proved that networking was a viable business strategy for getting more referrals. He felt that the business he got was based on "chance occurrences"--one person knowing another, who happened to know him--and despite the fact that he kept getting these referrals as a result of his networking contacts, it couldn't possibly last. So he left the group.
Even though Mike's misguided reasoning led him down the wrong road, it raises a good question, and understanding the answer could help your business. The question is: Despite its chance nature, is networking something you can count on as a consistent means of getting more business? Of course it is.
Mike's situation boiled down to two things--repeatability and understanding. His training told him that the way to get more business was to target a niche customer by calling people from a demographics-based list. If he didn't have enough business, he needed to make more calls. Exactly how many more? He could figure that out, too, because the amount of business he got was directly proportional to the number of people he talked to. It was a repeatable process that he fully understood.
On the other hand, clients he got from referrals always had a story that he couldn't see being easily repeated. Sally knew Jim, who ran into Sue, who happened to be in his group and referred Mike the business. This understanding led Mike to conclude that the results were coincidental and couldn't possibly be repeated.
Mike's reasoning wasn't entirely off-track, just flawed. If you focus on the specific people who gave you the referral, rather than the process and relationships that allowed it to happen, then it's unlikely you will consistently get more business from networking.
But if you step back and ask, "Is it possible that somebody will know someone else who's looking for my services and will give me that referral?" Well, there's that repeatability--especially if you focus on building relationships--because there's always a "somebody."
Networking Is a Long and Winding Road
When it comes to networking and passing referrals, it's not about who's giving what to whom, and it's hardly a straight line. If you're thinking, "For every referral I give, I can expect one in return," it's time to put that idea to rest. Reciprocity is nice, but networking just doesn't work that way.
Think of referral-giving in the context of the Abundance Mindset, which is the awareness that there's more than enough business to go around. If you hear of a business opportunity that would be well-suited for a referral partner--in other words, not your kind of business--think of it as "excess business." When you pass this kind of excess business to others in the form of a referral, you'll wind up attracting more prospects who want to work with you.
Call it a gift from the referral gods, but when you do good things for others, those good things have a way of making their way back to you--often from a different person or group of people. Even if it seems that you're not directly benefiting from the referrals you're giving others, take note of all the other business that just happens to come your way.
  • The guy who stumbles across your website and gives you a call.
  • The old prospect you haven't heard from in months who suddenly wants to get together for lunch.
  • The inactive client who wants to renew his contract with you.
Even though it seems happenstance, some or all of these occurrences are likely to be new business you attracted by giving away excess business (in the form of referrals) to people you know.
Network With a Net
Referral networking is a lot like catching fish by casting a net. Each fish comes to the net by a different path--each has a unique "story" that is not repeated. You don't focus on a particular fish and then try to get it to come to the net--in fact, you probably don't even see the fish until you pull in the net. Instead, you focus on the action of setting the net. You know that if you set your net correctly and consistently, fish will eventually come, no matter what path they take to get there.
The same is true for getting referrals. You don't have to worry about how a specific referral got to you because you understand the process of setting your net.
And the best part is your net can be working for you all the time. You don't have to be there whenever someone you know runs into someone else who could use your services--this means you can be "fishing" in many different ponds simultaneously and reaping tons of new business. This is especially true when you've become a referral gatekeeper and begin to get referrals not only from your own network of contacts but from the networks of others as well.
When it comes to networking, there is no coincidence about referrals. They are the inevitable cumulative result of the day-to-day activities of relationship-building. And even though those efforts can't be measured as easily as cold calls, the results are far more powerful.

Ivan Misner is founder and chairman of BNI, a professional business networking organization headquartered in Upland, Calif. He is co-author, with Hazel Walker and Frank De Raffele, of Business Networking and Sex: Not What You Think (Entrepreneur Press, 2012).

Friday, May 4, 2012

N.T.A.P. - Elite Power Mixer (May) ALoft - Frisco



This is a dynamic group of professionals that meet monthly in an effort to build better relationships. You involvement in NTAP puts you among the elite in networking and in business. Our group consist of a diverse member base representing dozens of business catagories.
Banking
Finance
Insurance
Real Esate
Title
Attorney's
Accounting
M&A Firms
Contractors
IT Solutions
and many more
If you could use a few more contacts in your roladex this is hands down the largest mixer in the area. We regularly host over 100 professionals a month so make sure you bring PLENTY of business cards. Once you get plugged into NTAP you will make lasting and profitable referral alliances. Bring a friend...they will thank you.
*** THIS IS OUR VERY FIRST FREE MIXER!!!! SPREAD THE WORD.


For sponsorship / Vendors inquire email MYNTAP@YAHOO.COM
This month will be held at the upscale Aloft Hotel in Frisco. A brand new venue for NTAP.

SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR PLATINUM PARTNER:
RELIANT MORTGAGE (JIM LOUGHBOROUGH)
www.reliantmortgage.com
PHOTOS @
www.ntap.biz
www.facebook.com/myntap
www.youtube.com/ntaptv
Chapter Directors:
DJ Jones - Commercial Banking
Philip Hooks- Insurance
Matt Herleman - Financial Advisor

Saturday, April 28, 2012

American Marketing Association Dallas - North Texas Area Professionals


DFW American Marketing Association Dallas Meet & Greet

Join us at Sambuca 360 in Plano for an evening of great marketing conversations. Sambuca 360 is an American grill that features moderately priced comfort food and live music nightly. Enjoy appetizers and register for the chance to win a door prize of "dinner for two." Valet parking is complimentary.
  • Free for members, pre-registered nonmembers pay $10, $15 at the door
Victor Su
www.dfwama.com
Vick233j@gmail.com
When:
Thursday, May 03, 2012
6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Where:
Sambuca 360
7200 Bishop Road
Plano TX
Website:
www.dfwama.eventbrite.com

**This is not an NTAP meeting however you want to make sure you can find other good events that we endorse as a place for you to build your connections in DFW.