Why is building a list important? Building a list of prospects and customers is one of the most important things you can do to make your business a success.  Almost everyone has heard the term, “the money is in the list” and we have all read about businesses selling or renting their customer lists for money.

The most definitive reason however is because your most important asset in your business is your loyal customer.  The person that you’ve spent so much time and money to get is not just a one time sale.  Y

–>> You must factor in the lifetime value of each customer, and then you will see what makes your list so valuable.

Once you fully understand this relationship you can see why building your business list should be a main focus in your business.  The larger your list becomes, the more money you will make.  This is because you have more customers to sell new products and services to and because you are selling to existing customers. This is a lot cheaper than having to spend additional time and money in advertising to get new customers.

Need help with the technical part of building a list? Call me!

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When a company creates a blog, it is creating an individual voice for their business.  Clients can leave comments and receive feedback quickly promoting the idea of personal customer service.  A business blog creates an atmosphere of trust and openness, which in turn generates a greater brand loyalty to a company.

A business blog can also establish a business as a leader in its industry. A business can lend credibility to their knowledge and character by providing information to educate its customers.  By continually updating a blog with new articles, a company shows it is committed to its product or service and provides customers a reason to continually return to a website.

In this day and age, a blog is a very important part of building your online presence and driving traffic to your main website. Do you have a blog? If not, I can help!

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Podcasting is basically an online radio show, a way for you to get your audio message across via the Internet. Like a blog, a podcast also has its subscribers who are regularly informed when you have an update. Unlike a blog, a podcast is an audio recording, which means you will have to flex your vocal muscles and speak to the world. Literally.

Not all people are interested in reading blog post after blog post but they are more than willing to listen to podcasts because they give voice (and increased reputation) to the broadcaster. If you are a business owner, this is a good way to establish yourself as an expert in the field and promote your way to increased revenue and a larger client base.

–>> Want more ideas about how to create your own podcasts? I can help!

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What is Google Places? It is an internal search engine within Google‘s general search database. This internal search engine lists businesses by their geographic location. You have probably noticed Google Places without realizing it.  For example, let’s say you do a search for “Los Angeles dentist”. The search results will reveal a map with corresponding brief listings for one to seven dentists in the Los Angeles area in the middle of the first page of results. This is the Google Places system in action.

Why has Google instituted Google Places? It has determined that 97 percent of consumers search online for local businesses. By implementing this new system, consumers can find exactly what they are searching for in their area without having to scroll through a bunch of random sites that may list nothing in their locality.

If you have a local business presence, Google Places is CRITICAL for you. Need help? Call me!

The post Don’t Miss Out On Google Places appeared first on Vashon Media - Web Development and Social Media Consultants.

–>> Facebook ads allow you to customize your demographics down to the smallest details.

You can choose to show your ad to people in a certain area or of a specific age range. Facebook shows ads to its users based on likes, dislikes and other preferences.

Although you can drill down to the specific demographics you want to target, you’ll never receive personal information about your potential customers.

You can elect to display your ads on profiles, pages and even within some applications. The possibilities and combinations in which you can put together your Facebook ad campaigns are as diverse as the people that use Facebook daily.

The site also gives you detailed information that helps you to determine what is working and, more importantly, what is not working.

If you are interested in using Facebook Ads for your business, give me a call. I can help!

The post What Are Facebook Ads? appeared first on Vashon Media - Web Development and Social Media Consultants.

1. Your videos must be short in length and not more than 3 to 4 minutes.

2. Your video must contain your website URL. Place the URL at the bottom of your YouTube videos.

3. Write your keyword phrase twice in the title of your YouTube videos, if possible.

4.  Store your video in multiple directories with different titles so that same video may get good rank for certain keywords.

5. Create an attractive profile at YouTube. Similarly to Facebook, Twitter or any other social media websites an interesting user profile is a compulsory. People would like to visit your profile after watching your video to know more about you and your business.

Of course, I have a lot of other YouTube related tips I can share with you when we talk!

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Content can mean a number of things from articles to blog posts to videos. The content that you distribute both on and off your site affects your reputation, search engine rankings and credibility. It is a crucial element to your marketing success.

Let’s talk about some different kinds of content that you can use for SEO purposes online:

–>> Articles: These are often articles that are distributed across the Internet with links back to your website. These links use what is called “anchor text” which is a keyword phrase that you want a page or post on your site to rank for.

–>> Videos: These can be short or long videos using screen capture software or live footage. You can put these videos on your site and even on video sharing sites like YouTube.

–>> Blog posts: These are posts that you write on your own blog with certain keywords included. You may also want to do guest blog posts on other people’s blogs as well.

There are other kinds of content that you can use to get people motivated to click back to your website. The key is being creative in your efforts to get people to visit your site.

The post Using Content for SEO appeared first on Vashon Media - Web Development and Social Media Consultants.

With the advent of social media, however, one unfortunate comment posted or retweeted millions of times on Twitter or shared through networks on Facebook can send a company reeling.

Your reputation on various social media platforms is every bit as important as a face to face interaction, if not more important. Let your customers know that what they have to say is important to you.

Brushing them off or worse, completely ignoring what customers have to say, is a sure fire way to earn a reputation as a company that cares about nothing but the bottom line.

–>> People are far more likely to share negative information with friends and family than they are to share positive information, so make sure that you

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A business should have a presence on Twitter.  By creating an account, not only can you engage and build your customer base, but you can respond to concerns tweeted by your customers. This relationship, albeit in just a small step, shows that a company is listening and values the opinions of those who are loyal to them.

Tweeting tips, or links back to a company website with information, allows a business to be engaging, accessible and continually remind customers of their brand.  In addition, businesses can connect with other successful companies in their industry and form new relationships that may become mutually beneficial.  Twitter is free, simple, and should be a part of a businesses marketing and customer service program plan.

Many business owners are NOT using Twitter to its fullest advantage (or at all). If you are among them, give me a call to discuss how you can start making money using Twitter this week.

The post Should Businesses Use Twitter? appeared first on Vashon Media - Web Development and Social Media Consultants.

–>> If you don’t sell to your prospects and clients, your competitor WILL!

How do you sell to people on your list? First, remember that you only want to SELL about 20% of the time. The other 80% of your time should be spent sending them quality information that they can use.

A list will thrive if your list members TRUST you. Spend your first few emails building that trust before you ever try to sell them anything.

You can offer information, coupons and other special deals to your list. You can also offer the products and services of other companies AND get paid to do it. This is called affiliate marketing, and I can explain exactly how to do it!

Contact me today so I can help you make extra income using your list!

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