Social Media Marketing
By Tom Grifasi | March 9, 2010
(This post comes from WBC board member Tom Grifasi, of Enterprise Holdings System Corporation, as a follow-up to this introductory post about the business application of social media.)
The major social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, LinkedIn) have become household names and major marketing tools for business. However, two factors are often overlooked when a business decides to jump into the social media marketing:
First, there are dozens of social media sites (loosely defined) which can push your marketing message. Once you determine which sites seem to be popular with your target market, you can begin to focus your efforts and even create orchestrated campaigns to “cross market” your messages (aka “advertise your advertising”). Here’s a short list to get you started:
http://www.squidoo.com
http://www.tagfoot.com
http://www.ezinearticles.com (also, http://www.articlemarketer.com)
http://www.digg.com
http://www.stumbleupon.com
http://www.zimbio.com
http://www.mixx.com
http://www.friendfeed.com
http://www.big-boards.com
http://www.craigslist.com
Second, after Google acquired YouTube, their search algorithms changed and now give YouTube postings an advantage in Google search results. Therefore, video clips on YouTube will generate a better click-through rate to your website and your message than most other efforts at SEO (Search Engine Optimization).
And finally, what most marketers miss—even those who successfully use online marketing such as Social Media sites—is the Conversion Rate. That’s the ability to capture visitors to your site, turning click through visitors into bona fide leads, newsletter subscribers, etc.
Category: Biz Tips, Guest Blogger, Marketing, Media | No Comments »Testifying for MWBE
By printzg | March 3, 2010
Today, WBC Executive Director Melinda Rath Sanderson is in Albany, participating in a Public Hearing held by the New York State Senate MWBE Task Force, New York State Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus, and the Assembly Sub-Committee on Oversight of MWBEs. At the hearing, which aims to reform Article 15-A, Melinda will be testifying about our experience at the Women’s Business Center with MWBE goals, current participation, and state agency practices.
You may have seen that we recently held a webinar series with William Lobbins of the Erie County Equal Opportunity Division and Gerald McDuffie from Empire State Development about MWBE (Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprise) certification and government contracting. So we definitely realize a need for these kinds of opportunities for women and minority business owners, as well as the need to make small business owners aware of these kinds of opportunities.
The NYS Senate Task Force has similarly acknowledged that minority and woman business enterprises have “historically experience difficulty in obtaining access to capital” and now, in the midst of a global credit crisis, these issues need to be addressed with stronger legislation and more accessible procurement opportunities.
To find out more about MWBEs, click here.
To read more about this week’s MWBE legislative activities, click here.
Follow the developments on https://twitter.com/NYSenate.
What do you think? Leave a comment.
Category: Uncategorized | No Comments »Happy Women’s History Month!
By printzg | March 2, 2010
This month we celebrate the incredible women in our nation’s history – from suffragettes to women CEOs.
Here in Buffalo, the Erie County Commission on the Status of Women and the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library are presenting a whole month of events. See the full line up here (adobe pdf).
If you’re on Twitter, I recommend following @womenable, published by Julie Weeks. She has a great series of “You Go Girls” posts in honor of Women’s History Month. She tweeted this great article yesterday about the diversity of women entrepreneurs, “The Power Girls.” Check it out here.
Are you doing anything to celebrate this month? If you’re local, do you plan on attending any of the special events?
Category: Events, In the News, Women | No Comments »How Connected Are You?
By printzg | February 18, 2010
In this day of constantly-refreshed status updates, tweets, texts, and feeds, we’d like to know:
How connected is your business?
We’ve recently joined Twitter and YouTube and have been maintaining a Facebook page for a while now, even syncing our feeds with a new platform, TweetDeck. This is all in an effort to make ourselves more available to you.
But we’re interested to see how many of you are tapping into social media. If you are connected in this multitude of ways, what benefits are you seeing from it?
A recent survey of our clients cited that the biggest concern in 2010 was marketing their business. And we are a firm believer in this kind of media’s marketing potential. We’d like to investigate this further, so stayed tuned for more content about how you can use social media and information sharing to your advantage.
Tell us what you think… Leave a comment!
Category: Biz Tips, Marketing, Media | 3 Comments »“Women-to-Women”
By printzg | February 9, 2010
We came across an interesting article from the Boston Herald’s Women Business News section. It investigates the value of women helping women in business and in professional fields. The author Maria J. Krokidas maintains that, despite positive trends in the last few decades, women still face disadvantages in the workplace and women-owned businesses continue to be underrepresented in the marketplace.
She writes: “We too need to establish and promote networks and relationships that support women and women-owned ventures, and use our buying power to advance each other’s businesses.”
Find the full article here (http://bostonherald.com/business/womens/general/view.bg?articleid=1227079)
Category: Uncategorized | No Comments »Watching Government
By printzg | February 2, 2010
Hi! Happy February!
I just wanted to stop in and share with a piece of relevant advice we came across. It comes form Janet W. Christy, author of Capitalizing on Being Woman Owned: Expert Advice for Women Who Have or Are Starting Their Own Business.
In light of the status of the economy and small business in 2010, she advises:
“Watch government announcements closely. In 2009, two characteristics of the stimulus package (officially the American Recovery and Reinvestment ACT) became apparent. First, the money was going to come through the same channels it has always come – for example: road and bridge money would go to Departments of Transportation or cities or counties to award contracts. Second, most of the money was going to come very slowly. It is important to pledge to watch the government announcements about stimulus packages, incentives and other money related actions because those announcements will provide information about who will receive the money, how it can be used and may include clues about if and how Woman Owned Business can be involved.”
I’m sure many of you, like me, watched the State of the Union address last week. The focus, as predicted, was on the status of small business and jobs in our struggling economy.
President Obama offered these incentives:
“I’m proposing that we take $30-billion of the money Wall Street banks have repaid and use it to help community banks give small businesses the credit they need to stay afloat. I am also proposing a new small business tax credit – one that will go to over one million small businesses who hire new workers or raise wages. While we’re at it, let’s also eliminate all capital gains taxes on small business investment; and provide a tax incentive for all businesses, large and small, to invest in new plants and equipment.”
At this time, these are just executive proposals, so we remind you to watch the legislative process, see what is passed, and how it can ultimately benefit you.
What do you think about these proposals?
Leave a comment!
In 2010
By printzg | January 11, 2010
Hi there, Gabby here!
I’ve just returned from my holiday vacation on the West Coast and I’m excited to be back in the office and on the blog. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday break and is ready as we are at the WBC to tackle 2010.
Some exciting things are happening at the Women’s Business Center right now:
First of all, if you’ve been to our homepage recently, you might have noticed that we are now on Facebook and LinkedIn!
Since we are a partner organization to a college, we thought it was only appropriate for us to start a Facebook group. And if you’re not on Facebook (or you just can’t get enough of us on the web), we would be happy to be a part of your professional network on LinkedIn!
Also, we are happy to announce that we will be holding our second-ever Sister Mixer this February at the Buffalo & Erie County Botanical Gardens Society! Some of you may have attended the first Sister Mixer this summer at Dug’s Dive on the waterfront. We invite you to come again for some fun, informal networking with other guests and clients of all WBC programs. For more information, click here. We hope you can attend!
I also wanted to share with you, in light of the new year, some advice for small business owners in 2010. This article, published over on WebCPA, highlights the top ten tips shared by 750 real small business owners, based on past year’s experience.
They advise:
1. Start Preparing Your Taxes Now
2. Cut Personal Expenses
3. Think Green
4. Have a Long-Term Plan
5. Don’t Focus on the Money
6. Use the Web (one thing we really emphasize at the WBC)
7) Rely on Yourself
8. Focus on Sales
9. Stay in Touch with Family
10. Stay Healthy
You can read the full text of the article here.
To leave a comment, click here.
Category: Biz Tips, Events | No Comments »New Year’s Resolutions
By printzg | December 8, 2009
Believe it or not, it’s December. It’s the time of year when, if you’re not thinking about the mad holiday rush, you’re considering the coming new year. Maybe the changes you’ll make (or those few lingering pounds to lose). But what about for the small business owner? Have you thought about the resolutions will you make to further your business in the new year?
Start your 2010 off on the right foot with Open Networking.
On January 6th, 2010, the Women’s Business Center will be holding a free, Open Networking event available to all area business owners. You will have the opportunity to practice your networking skills, exchange leads and cultivate new business relationships.
Make your small business resolution to expand your professional network. We’d love to help.
Continue reading for more details.
Category: Events, Networking | No Comments »New Opportunity!
By printzg | December 4, 2009
Just wanted to drop in and let you know about a unique opportunity at the Women’s Business Center next week…
We are offering a Communication Workshop to possible candidates for our Coaching and Forum Series programs. This is a way for you to “try us on for size” without any cost or obligation.
The workshop will consist of an interactive self assessment with significant takeaways. Participants will gain knowledge that has been proven to make individuals stronger in their interaction skills with clients, staff, partners and even significant others!
For more details, visit our website.
Category: Events | No Comments »Small Business and Health Care Policy
By printzg | November 23, 2009
This past weekend, the Senate bill on health care reform was cleared for debate during Saturday’s session. Much discourse has taken place as the issue has gone from campaign platform to its current state in the legislative process, with talking points ranging from the cost and its effect on the national deficit to the availability of basic health coverage for the currently uninsured.
But what implications are there for the small business owner?
Click here to read the White House’s fact sheet on How Health Insurance Reform Will Help Small Business and this report from the Council of Economic Advisors which examines the specific challenges faced by small businesses and their employees in respect to the health care debate.
Are you a small business owner? What do you think about health care reform?
Click here to leave a comment below.
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