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5 Grassroots Marketing Tips to Grow Your Business

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Grassroots Marketing Business CardsHere 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.

Use a Symbolic Link to Back Files up to Dropbox

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Dropbox symbolic link(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.

  1. 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.)
  2. Make sure you are using a mac and then go to http://seiryu.home.comcast.net/~seiryu/symboliclinker.html
  3. Follow Instructions
  4. Right click on precious File and then click ‘Make Symbolic Link.’
  5. Drag Symbolic Link into Dropbox or other cloud storage program.
  6. 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

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Facebook is finally aboard the social search train

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.

5 Things I Like about Facebook Timeline

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Facebook has gotten some flak recently after its unveiling of the new Timeline feature for pages. At first glance I had some my own concerns but now I am convinced it was a very beneficial change. Here are my 5 favorite features of the new Facebook Timeline platform. 

  1. Messaging: Now Facebook Business Pages can directly communicate and interact with their fans and followers. I think this feature adds a lot of value to pages because it helps promote conversations while giving the ability to handle questions, concerns or general comments in a more private setting. Not everyone of Facebook is looking to be social.
  2. Pin to Top: This is one of my favorite timeline features. Now you can keep your most important post at the top of your timeline for up to 7 days. This has become especially handy when running contests or promoting an event. Now your less important posts will not push your important information down the wall to be essentially lost in the shuffle of social interaction.
  3. Cover Photo: This is a great feature to add some personality to your page. Before with only the profile picture, brands looked stale and faceless by using just their logo. Now brands can take advantage of the logo still being attached to posts while representing themselves through a large banner image on their page.
  4. Highlight: This feature could use some tweaking but still is a great addition to the Facebook Timeline platform. I like the idea that you can highlight posts from your past that hold more importance than others. Like the Pin to Top feature, the benefit of highlighting your favorite items gives a business or organization a significant amount of control over their Facebook image.
  5. Timeline: The Timeline Feature itself has a lot of potential to be used by brands. I am very excited to take full advantage of it for my clients. Behind the façade of any business are people and ideas. Timeline will help show the personality of brands, their stories and their past and I think this is what Facebook and Social Media is all about.

Not If, But How?

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The question is not if, but how you will use social media for your company or organization. There are many programs available that can be helpful, however sorting through them can be a daunting task. I believe it is useful to develop a list of goals and ask yourself why you are looking to use social media in the first place.

  • Are you trying to increase your reach?
  • Are you looking to promote new products or services?
  • Are you trying to grow your online influence?
  • Do you want to participate in industry discussions?

Many small business owners have gotten involved in social media and then have quickly become frustrated. Without a plan, social media can seem like a ripple in a sea of information, taking up valuable time and yielding little return. However, with some careful planning, a goal oriented social media campaign can achieve impressive results.

Figure out first why you are planning to use social media in the first place and what you hope it will do for you. Then research the programs available (Facebook, Twitter, Digg, StumbleUpon, etc.)  and decide which ones will offer the highest return on your investment. Create interesting content which follows closely with your goals and direct people to your page using a variety of mediums. Engage your audience and grow your presence.

Using social media strategically and systematically will help you grow efficiently. Diving into anything without proper thought is a recipe for disaster. Why should social media be any different? If you first ask yourself why you are investing time into social media and understand what you hope to achieve at the start of your campaign, social media will be a great success for any business or organization.

Google’s Secret Chocolate Chip Cookies

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  • 1 Cup: G+ Social Media
  • 1 Tbsp: Android Mobile Software
  • 3 Cups: Search Engine
  • 1 Pinch: Map Software
  • 1 tsp: Google Deals
  • 1 Tbsp: YouTube

Stir until completely compatible. Enjoy!

Google+ is going to change the way businesses handle their online presence in regards to more than just social media. Controlling the most popular search engine filled with useful features such as Google Maps, the development and growth of the Android operating system, the acquisition of the largest video sharing platform, YouTube, and now the birth of a revolutionary social media platform is a recipe for sheer dominance in the way we find information and communicate with others. Google will have a direct impact on the answers to our questions. I am not preaching a conspiracy theory by any stretch of the imagination but I am suggesting how important it will be to take advantage of the services Google will be offering, especially for business.

The new Google+ platform, now that it is available for businesses, has the potential to be an extremely important Search Engine Optimization (SEO) tool. It would be naïve to believe that Google will not use G+ analytics to determine relevance in their search algorithms. This could actually give smaller, local businesses a distinct advantage in their appearance in Google search results, since they have the capability to interact with their customers in a much more personal manner than their larger counterparts. Where Facebook is currently a social media platform designed more around keeping in touch with family and friends, the G+ platform will offer many more B2B opportunities as well as B2C. The G+ “Circles” feature allows a business to organize who they are following and communicating with into categories such as “Customers” and “Team Members”. This organization of the G+ platform has the potential to create a cleaner information stream so information will not as easily get lost in the shuffle.

Additional layout features that G+ has over Facebook will help the G+ pages look and feel more like a website. This is important because G+ may appear higher in search results higher than a company’s actual website. The direct connect feature in which you add a “+” in front of search queries in Google, will directly send a user to the G+ page instead of the search results. This will add to the importance of having and maintaining a G+ page. The addition of hashtags (#) to Google+ will aid in finding information pertaining to a specific subject matter. The ease of YouTube integration will benefit brands that use video in their marketing endeavors and surely add importance to optimizing videos for YouTube in regards to SEO.

Google’s well-rounded list of services, all undoubtedly very compatible with each other, will give them a distinct advantage in the years to come. As the world becomes more mobile and social media becomes a larger part of everyday life, Google will have the resources to thrive. The key for them will be whether people adapt a new platform that has the potential for greatness, or stick with what is currently the status quo. The release of the new Facebook layout and the public opinion regarding it will likely help determine which platform will succeed.

Ryan Ellis

Founder of Red Egg Marketing

Hello Future Clients and Interested Individuals!

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Thank you for visiting www.redeggmarketing.com, your premier resource for grassroots marketing and social media consulting. Feel free to explore this website and if you have questions or wish to inquire about services, please do not hesitate to contact me. Red Egg Marketing was born out of the belief a business or organization can thrive using grassroots methodology. Let me show you how.