5 Grassroots Marketing Tips to Grow Your Business

Posted on May 13, 2013 by admin

Here are some simple, yet effective grassroots marketing tips to help grow your business. Feel free to contact me if you have any suggestions, comments or wish to learn more about Red Egg Marketing.

Stand out - This seems obvious but it’s very important and often overlooked. Create a piece of your business that stands out. It can be anything from a clever slogan or tagline, a funky business card, a wacky mascot or a brightly colored storefront! Is your business more serious? Then make sure the feature that separates you from the competition is clearly displayed. Maybe its customer service. Go the extra mile and handwrite a thank you note. These are the kinds of grassroots strategies that are low cost but achieve big results.

Google Your Business - If you haven’t Googled your business yet, take some time and try it. This is the easiest way to learn about your online presence. Find out where people are talking about your business, what they are saying and then better understand how your business is being found.

Join the Conversation - Many businesses have achieved amazingly positive results by participating on Social Media. These programs are primarily free and are used by millions of people. Your clientele is probably using Social Media so why aren’t you? Even if you can only dedicate a few minutes a day, Social Media applications like Facebook and Twitter will help make you look up-to-date, professional and attentive.

Network - Again, is may seem kind of obvious but it should be an important part of your Grassroots Marketing strategy. Use a website like Meetup to join groups that fit within you business model. Can’t find one? Create one. They are free and can be a great promotional tool. Invite clients, friends, family, and whoever. Just make sure it’s fun and valuable.

Write - Inform people about what you do and why do it. Writing is free it just takes time. Distribution can be free as well. Email Marketing programs like MailChimp and Constant Contact can distribute emails for thousands of addresses before you are required to pay. Use that content for your blog too. Blogging sites are available for free as well through WordPress, Tumblr and Blogger. Promote your business through content marketing.

For more Grassroots Marketing tips check out www.redeggmarketing.com or give Ryan a call at (720) 446-6640.

Tips on Dealing with Negative Comments on Social Media

Posted on April 9, 2013 by admin

If your business has an online presence you are unfortunately as vulnerable to negative comments as you are to positive ones. Although this may seem worrisome, it is still much more advantageous to be involved online than to just hide under a rock. Social Media and Social Search sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Google and Yelp, are important programs to participate on and can bring in lots of new business in addition to nurturing existing relationships with current customers. Unfortunately there are people who use social sites negatively so it is important to be prepared.

I thought I would share some helpful tips on how to deal with negative comments on Social Media. Your business will hopefully never have to take these steps but you will be happy to read this if it happens.

Set Your Filters – Facebook and other Social Media applications have filters to stop people from posting inappropriate comments. For instance, in the “Manage Permissions” tab on Facebook, a page administrator can block certain words or use a general profanity filter. If inappropriate or hateful language is used, most sites give administrators the ability to flag or delete the comment. This is one reason why it is important to own your company’s profiles.
Monitor Your Online Presence – Google your business every now and again and see what people are saying. Look for your business name on Social Media sites. Find any negative comments or incorrect information before your potential customers do.
Don’t Take It Personally – If you find a negative comment, it is important to remember that the customer is likely upset and may be acting irrationally. This is not a personal attack. The worst thing you can do add fuel to the fire and respond emotionally.
Move The Conversation Offline – Ask the person to call or email you so you can better address their concerns. Social Media is a very powerful tool. By moving the conversation offline you can reduce its negative impact.
Be Careful About Deleting – Do not just delete any comment that you do not like. It is also important to be transparent. Responding promptly with helpful information can make you look better than deleting a comment, ignoring a complaint and further upsetting a customer.
Let Sleeping Dogs Lie – Sometimes people need to vent and unfortunately, they use Social Media. After the dust settles, leave everything well enough alone. Safely hide the post if you can or push it down the profile page with new reviews or more content.

Having a company such as Red Egg Marketing grow and manage your online presence is a great way to safely get involved in the conversation. We constantly watch our clients’ profiles and monitor their online presence. If you have any more questions about online reputation management or wish to inquire about our other grassroots marketing services feel free to give Ryan a call at (720) 446-6640 or at ryan@redeggmarketing.com.

If At First You Do Not Succeed, Try Again.

Posted on February 18, 2013 by admin

In business and in life, how many times have things gotten tough and you gave up? Not many I hope. When adversity is staring us in the face, it is human nature to punch it in the nose! Unfortunately when it comes to marketing, many business owners do just the opposite. If they are not seeing measurable returns directly linked to marketing efforts, they quit.

Lets talk about blogs, a great tool for grassroots marketing. A blog is a website in which a ‘blogger’ can write about anything he or she wants. Blogs are very important for online marketing, yet only a small fraction of small businesses use them. For those businesses that do use a blog, few invest the time and energy needed for the blog to start producing results. Lets look at why blogs are important.

Blogs Provide Value: When a potential customer comes to your website to learn about you or your organization, a blog that provides relevant content in a fun, interesting or creative way provides value to your customer. Lets say you own a restaurant. Maybe you can use the blog to showcase your head chef designing a weekly special or give the history of Puttanesca’s “saucy” origins. Whether you use your blog for entertainment or education is up to you, but remember to write so your customers will get value from it.

Blogs Drive Traffic: Just having a blog doesn’t drive traffic necessarily but updating, sharing and posting to one does. Share your blog on sites like StumbleUpon to grow the chances of your blog being found. If one of your articles strikes gold there, you could be in for a lot of new traffic to your website. This leads me to my next point, SEO.

Search Engine Optimization: Even if no one is reading your blog, the benefits of writing and posting relevant, keyword rich articles are worth the time and effort. Google uses an algorithm to rank every single website on the Internet so it can be found in a search. Recently it has updated to include fresh content in its equation. This means that having a website that changes periodically can be seen as more relevant. How can you update your website regularly? Drumroll please. A blog! SEO takes time and results may not be seen for months so you have to be patient.

Red Egg Marketing uses Grassroots Marketing techniques to help clients get discovered by customers. Affordable marketing solutions such as blogs can have an enormous impact on how easily a business is found online. You can set up a blog for free by using WordPress or Blogger! How much more grassroots does it get than free?

So my message is “Don’t give up!” Blogs are just one of many marketing techniques where results cannot always be measured right away. Social Media is another example. If you have any questions about blogs, Social Media, SEO or other marketing techniques, do not hesitate to call me at (720) 446-6640 or email me at ryan@redeggmarketing.com. And don’t forget to check out the Red Egg Marketing blog! www.redeggmarketing.com/blog

Use a Symbolic Link to Back Files up to Dropbox

Posted on February 8, 2013 by admin

(If you want to skip my story there is a quick Step-by-Step guide below. It’s a pretty good story though.)

Who out there uses Dropbox? This nifty little cloud storage site allows you to, well, store your files in the cloud! There are other companies that do similar things including Google (their version is called Google Drive) but Dropbox works great for my clients and me. I can create a folder and give someone else access to it that way we can easily share large files without constantly having to email back and forth.

Last week I was leaving on vacation and did not want to bring my computer, however wanted access to all my business files in case of a client emergency. I thought to myself “Self, wouldn’t it be cool to store my files in the cloud?” and then answered with “Yes!”

Ok, so this is nothing new. Cloud storage has been around a while but my issue with it was that it meant keeping my files in the cloud and not storing them on my local hard drive. So what happens when my Internet router spontaneously combusts and I don’t have access to my files? Nothing good for sure. The only other way to do this would be to copy my files I want backed up periodically and then paste them in Dropbox. Not very efficient.

Then I learned about Symbolic Links. These neat links are a separate file that exists independently of its parent file but is exactly the same. By creating and placing a Symbolic Link of my files in my Dropbox account, I can edit files on my computer and they will automatically back up to Dropbox! Exactly what I was looking for.

Unfortunately, Dropbox doesn’t help you with this and neither did my operating system. I had to scrape the Internet for information on how I could make this easier on myself without screwing up my computer. Ok, so I didn’t really scrape the Internet, I just performed a Google search for Symbolic Link Creator for Mac and came up with this site:

http://seiryu.home.comcast.net/~seiryu/symboliclinker.html

It looks sketchy but MacWorld gave it a great rating so I went for it. Follow the directions and you’ll do just fine. Once this thing’s files are installed in your library folder you can now just right click on a file and scroll down to ‘Make Symbolic Link.” Then Voila! You have done it! Drag the symbolic link you have just created into Dropbox and you have just backed a file. Now whenever you save something in the folder on your computer, it updates to Dropbox.

Pretty neat huh?

Here is a Step-by-Step guide if you don’t care to read my whole post.

Decide you want to do great things! (Or at least back a file up to the cloud while still having the local file on your computer.)
Make sure you are using a mac and then go to http://seiryu.home.comcast.net/~seiryu/symboliclinker.html
Follow Instructions
Right click on precious File and then click ‘Make Symbolic Link.’
Drag Symbolic Link into Dropbox or other cloud storage program.
Pat yourself on the back for being awesome.

Thanks for reading this post. I thought it was such a neat thing I had to share it. A great grassroots way to protect your important files. Its too bad Dropbox or the other programs don’t just have this option build into their program but oh well. Good luck!

Facebook is Finally Aboard the Social Search Train

Posted on January 9, 2013 by admin

Facebook has completely redesigned the ‘Nearby’ section of its mobile app. Before now you could only see where friends had checked-in and the feature lacked the search ability to find businesses in your current area. Now Facebook has added the search feature as well as the opportunity for users to review places. Cue the term Social Search! I have beenharping about Social Search and its future importance since I began my company. Social Search, for those of you who are new to my blog, is the blending of Social Media and Search Engines. Social Search uses information collected from Social Media platforms (in this case Facebook) and Online Search (in this case the map and search features associated with Facebook’s mobile phone app.)

Every day more and more people are performing searches using their mobile phones and many of them are location-based, meaning they are looking for information relative to their current location. Businesses that appear on these searches have a major advantage over the ones that do not. For instance, with Facebook’s new ‘Nearby’ feature only businesses that have a Facebook page with a valid address will appear on the map. The ones who utilize their page more and have more fan interaction will appear towards the top of the search. Facebook users will still be able to see which of their friends have checked-in to a business or place but now they can also rate these places with a 1-5 star rating system. Businesses with higher ratings will appear higher in search.

Facebook is not the only company that uses user information in online search. Google Maps (Google+ Local) and Yelp are similar programs that will use a person’s location, their friends and a company’s online reputation to show search results. So what can you do to help better your odds of being found?

Perform a search of your business on these programs. Do you show up? What do they say about you?
Join the programs. If you haven’t set up a Facebook page or a Yelp account, what are you waiting for?
Get customers to talk about you. Many of your best customers would be happy to help. Sometimes you just have to ask.

If you need any help getting your business involved in any of these programs I have mentioned or would like more information, please contact Ryan at ryan@redeggmarketing.com or by calling (720) 446-6640. I specialize in working with local businesses to grow and manage their online presence including Social Media, Social Search, Website Development and Search Engine Optimization.

Using Social Media to Create Brand Transparency

Posted on December 13, 2012 by admin

I think we can all agree that as consumers we are tired of being fed false promises and marketing gimmicks. We are constantly being bombarded with deals, bargains and discounts but what we are simply seeking are companies we can trust.

Transparency and trust are critical components for a brand’s reputation. People are not only more likely to consistently shop at a business they trust, but are more likely to recommend that business to a friend. Can you remember how you found that perfect beauty salon or auto repair shop and how many people have you since recommended go there? Word of mouth promotion is incredibly powerful but people won’t just go around talking about your business, you have to earn it.

The popularity of Social Media has helped many businesses achieve transparency and create an emotional connection with their brand. Social Media adds personality and provides customers with a chance to learn more about your company. By regularly posting relevant and interesting content, you are providing added value to your customer’s buying experience. Share funny photos from the employee holiday party, let your followers be the first to know about a new product line or have a fun photo contest! Get to know your customer base better and then communicate with those loyal patrons to earn their trust and their referral.

At Red Egg Marketing, we work closely together with businesses to create, grow and manage their Social Media presence. If you are interested in hearing more about how Social Media can help your business as well as other services offered by Red Egg Marketing please explore our website or call Ryan at (720) 446-6640. (Don’t forget to Like us on Facebook!)

Google+ The Beginning of Social Search

Posted on October 4, 2012 by admin

Have you come across this yet when searching Google?

Yes, that my friends is what I have been talking about. Social Search. Integrating Social Media into search is where all of this is heading. This is why we are spending so much time and resources on getting people to like our pages, plus one our listings and follow our tweets.

Let me explain how it will work. You like or plus one companies you do business with or enjoy. Now when your social network is using Google (or my hunch is that it soon will be Facebook) to search for say, a remodeler or restaurant, they will see that you have essentially recommended a particular company. That company will also appear higher in the results. Wow!

Just the other day Facebook added an app to your page called “like pages.” My feeling is that the are trying to get people to like more pages to further develop the search engine I think they are secretly creating. By including a person’s social network into the discovery process an entirely new form of search is being created.

This means an entirely new form of Search Engine Optimization will also be created. Although G+ does not seem very important at this current date and time, aside from the basic SEO benefits, its importance will be greatly magnified as social search grows.

Red Egg Marketing is based in Denver, Colorado but works with clients all over the country. If you are interested in hearing more about Red Egg Marketing can help grow and develop your business using Social Media, Social Search, Website Development and SEO as well as grassroots marketing techniques, please contact us.

The Squirrel Teaches Lessons in Preparation

Posted on September 17, 2012 by admin

As Fall approaches and the cool weather creeps in, the preparation for winter begins. I was recently looking out my office window and I caught a squirrel burying food to get ready for the winter. Instantly, because I live and breathe my work, I thought of content writing.

Content is key. If you do not have it, no one will read it. With Social Media, blogging or just about anything else marketing related, you need fresh and interesting content to share with your loyal supporters and patrons. When I saw the squirrel storing his food, it reminded me of how important it is to have content saved up for the slow (when not much is going on) or busy (when you don’t have time to breathe) moments of your business.

Lately, at Red Egg Marketing, we have been busy. Of course, the client’s work takes priority over our own business needs, which is why having content for Red Egg Marketing stored up is so important. I always have at least a few posts for every one of my clients tucked away. I also try to schedule posts or at least plan a week or more ahead to protect against lulls in the action or emergencies that crop up.

With Social Media it is important to be current, so planning too far in advance does not necessarily help either. With this blog post I am trying to encourage you to be prepared. Like the squirrel that is planning ahead for months of cold winter, you can plan ahead your Social Media presence.

Here are some ideas to help you be prepared:

Write at least one blog article you can keep for a rainy day
Try to have a week worth of Social Media content on hand
Save some pictures from events to reminisce about
Use lulls to change page designs and give your profiles a fresh appearance

If you have any questions concerning content writing, Social Media marketing or blogging, do not hesitate to contact ryan@redeggmarketing.com.

BONUS JOKE

What do squirrels and marketers have in common?

(They are both nutty!)

Helpful Tips for Online Reputation Management

Posted on August 8, 2012 by admin

Life moves fast. It is a fact. Everyone is always busy and taking the time to try something out is risky. When you go out to dinner and are looking for a new restaurant, do you ask a friend for a recommendation? If your friend had a terrible experience, why would you take the risk on the one night you and your special someone get to go out?

Social Search programs like Yelp and Google Local are huge networks of reviewers determined to separate the good from the bad. As a business you are probably already on these programs and may already have reviews. A positive presence here could help you attract new business while a negative one can hurt you.

Here are some tips to help you manage your online presence.

Find the programs: The first step is to figure out on which sites your business appears on online. The main ones are Yelp, Google Local, and Yahoo but there are plenty more depending on your industry such as Trip Advisor, Manta or CitySearch.
Take Control: Most of these programs allow business owners to claim their profiles. Once you have claimed your profile, you will have access to changing your business information, adding photos and responding to reviews.
Monitor your presence: Develop a system and monitor your online presence. If you can catch a bad review and respond before potential customers are turned away, you will save potential business.
Negatives: Respond quickly to negative reviews but make sure you take some time to develop a well written and thought out response. You will undoubtedly be offended and probably a little mad at first. Responding cynically or aggressively to a review will not help your cause and will likely add fuel to the fire.
Positives: Do not be afraid to thank your customers for positive reviews and helpful feedback. Also, do not be afraid to ask those loyal patrons to review you as well.

I hope these tips will help you manage your online reputation and encourage business. If you have any questions about Social Search please feel free to contact Red Egg Marketing. Also feel free to write a good review!

SEO Tips for the Little Guy

Posted on July 23, 2012 by admin

Many companies out there will spend thousands of dollars a month on search engine optimization services in order to rank at the top of search results. For those of us with smaller budgets, how can we compete with that?

Recently Google made another update to its search engine algorithm it called Penguin. Penguin focuses search a bit more on content and social interaction in an effort to curb black hat SEO tactics like content scraping and excessive keywords. This is to the advantage of companies that provide real value with their websites and their social media presence.

Here are a few tips that us little people can do to help us compete in rankings and organically appear higher in Google search results:

Keep it fresh. Static websites will be hurt by the new Google search algorithm. This makes a blog an even more important piece of your social media strategy. Blogging will help add relevance to your website and add value for your visitors.
Keep it original. Don’t just copy and paste ideas from other blogs or rearrange the words. Penguin is rewarding businesses that develop useful and original content for their website.
Keep it real. It is important that we as bloggers write for our audience, not for the robots. When you write for your customers, it increases your value as a resource. Penguin was developed to weed out the individuals trying to cheat the system and increase the relevance of genuine content.
Keep it shareable. I have talked about Google+ and the influence of social media on SEO before. Posts that get organically shared through social media, especially through Google+, will hold higher relevance in search results. Encourage your readers to share your posts if they deem them valuable.

I believe that building a website using WordPress gives the little guy lots of advantages when it comes to SEO. It’s blogging capabilities and built in SEO features give you a giant head starts hen optimizing your site. If you have any questions regarding search engine optimization or website development, please do not hesitate to contact me. Also, feel free to share this article if you found it valuable!