A Day in the Life of Fickr & Twitter – for business

Today we began work on an Email campaign for a client that required a very specific photo image that I could not find through my normal resources. Now what do I do? I turn to Flickr, the online photo management and sharing application. After a few keyword searches, I arrive at the photo that would fit the bill. Flickr tells me about the photographer and includes a link to the web site. I visit the site briefly and decide instead of emailing I would see if the photographer was on Twitter. Sure enough there he was. I followed him and sent him a direct message inquiring about licensing the photo. He responded within minutes and shortly thereafter I had all the information I needed. Moral of the story… #1 Don’t under estimate the role Fickr can play in social networking and Business. #2 More people are on Twitter that you could imagine. Here is a good article about Marketing on Flickr.

BZA Designs Custom Twitter Background for M.Teixeira Soapstone

We just finished setting up and designing a custom twitter account and background for M. Teixeira Soapstones’ Soapstone.com web site. The background reinforces their brand and communicates the products they offer. You can check it out at http://twitter.com/soapstones.

soapstone_twitter1

 

Zaccone to Teach "Building an Effective Web Presence" at The Adult School of Montclair on March 24th

I am going back to School. Yes, to teach at the Adult School of Montclair. This is one of two business courses that I will be teaching in March. If you don’t have a web site for your business or you are about to embark upon a new site this is a class that you should not miss.

Class Description: Your website can be a critical factor in the success of your business. Learn the secrets behind creating and building an effective web presence. Topics include developing a site map, site design strategies, crafting your message, writing web content, working well with images and photography, and selling online. For more information or to register visit the Adult School of Montclair web site. The class will be help on March 24th 7:30-9:00pm.

 

 

Montclair Adult School

Montclair Adult School

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Online Digital Fabric Printing

Just heard about a web site on Facebook called Spoonflower The site allows you to upload an image and have it printed on fabric. You can choose how you want your image to be repeated and even order a sample swatch. If you want to learn more make sure you check out their blog and view the YouTube Video which describes how the site works. Great for event marketing, trade shows, promotions, etc. Very cool stuff.

Is Your Web Site Ready for 2009?

The New Year is no better time to prepare your site for the year ahead. Unfortunately, more often than not, organizations don’t update their site on a regular basis. Refreshing your content can contribute to improved ranking and exposure in Google.

Follow this list to make sure your site is in ship-shape condition for 2009:
1. Change the copyright date at the bottom of your site to 2009;
2. Edit your home page copy. Your message should be mindful of today’s economy. Speak to your visitors to demonstrate your understand of the current challenges your target marketing facing.
3. Update your news and blog articles. A 2009 date will demonstrate that you’re on the ball.
4. Take a look at your Page Titles and Meta Data. As your content changes, don’t forget to change your keywords and page titles.
5. Give your inquiry form or linked email addresses a quick test. Make sure they are going to the correct destination and you know who in your organization is getting the leads and queries.

Looking Forward to the New York Times Small Business Summit

I just registered for this year’s New York Times Small Business Summit which will be held November 17th at the Sheraton Hotel and Tower in NYC. I have attended in previous years and it is such a quality event and great for networking. You also appreciate the bargain price of $99.00 which includes keynotes, workshops, breakfast, lunch and cocktails. You can’t go wrong. For more information visit the New York Times Small Business Summit.

How to Market your Business Online in a Tough Economy

Putting your marketing dollars to work in these tough economic times requires smart thinking and a decisive plan of action. With competition heating up, now is not the time to retreat. Retreating in a recession will give your competitors a position of strength once the economy and business capital markets start to turn around. Here are a few things you can do:

- Look at the trade publications that you may have advertised in and check out their online directory or banner ad programs. These programs traditionally cost less and provide measurable results. Within one month of advertising you should be able to determine if your efforts are driving traffic to your web site. Do not commit to a long period of time. Give it a try for a month or two and see if it works.

- If you are doing Google Adwords you can see how competitive and expensive certain keyword and phases are getting. Instead of going for the same phrases that everyone else is doing, add more campaigns that are niche oriented. Build web traffic from multiple, smaller campaigns instead of one big expensive one. Overall, with this strategy, you should get the same amount of traffic at a lower cost.

- Make sure you existing web site is in tip top shape. Are you putting your best foot forward? Check your content, add cross linking from within your site, and expand or update your content to reflect your potential client’s current issues and challenges.

-If you are not nurturing your existing clients and customers with email campaigns that are relevant to their business than you just have not seen the light. Email marketing (not spamming) is the most effective, low cost, measurable marketing tactic you can add to your bag of tricks.

Forward thinking companies do not retreat when it comes to their marketing efforts during a recession they simply adapt.

BZA Launches New Web Site for New Jersey Based Virtual Office Services Firm

Last week we launched a new web site for EOS Solutions LLC a New Jersey Based Virtual Office Service firm located at www.eosvirtual.com. Their services include live receptionist, virtual receptionist, mail handling and conference room rental. BZA has enabled the client to update the content of the web site so they can efficiently update pricing, services, business tips, and client testimonials. The site has been integrated with Google Analytics, allowing them access to an online dashboard that provides up to the minute statistics detailing the performance of their web site. Their contact page contains links to Google Maps so visitors can quickly enter their address to obtain driving directions.

The True Cost of Procrastination

Recently I was at a networking event and asked a person I had just met if they were proud of their web site. She said to me “Oh, we’re working with someone, but we’ve been working on it for about a year”. I thought to myself “a year?”. One full year of missed opportunities. Let me try to actually break down the cost of this loss in terms of dollar and cents.

Let’s say for example your existing web site generates 50 visitors a day. I will add that by not updating your site through the years and bringing it up to today’s standards you will find that your traffic will continually decrease over time. Now you look into a crystal ball and estimate the performance of a new site. The new site would be more visually appealing, search engine friendly content, compliant with WC3 standards, and contain relevant content that will increase your traffic by 100%. This is a totally realistic number. Now you have 50 more visitors per day or approximately 1,500 visitors per month or 18,000 visitors per year. If those numbers don’t motivate you to do something the next set of numbers should. Now we’ll turn traffic in dollars and cents.

Let’s say you decide not to invest in a new web site, but instead try your hand a PPC (Pay-per-click) advertising, the most popular being Google Adwords. When you set-up an Adwords account you will use the keyword tools to find out how much you need to spend per day and per click to be in the top six positions. Depending upon the competitiveness of your business you’ll get a sense of what those clicks to your web site will actually cost. For a B-to-B marketer a cost of $1.25 per click is a reasonable number. In using this as an example here is the actually cost to you by doing nothing. Not to mention you are giving this traffic to your competitors.

Case #1
Keep existing web site. No changes.
Case #2
Keep existing web site but use Google Adwords to generate more traffic
Case #3
Redesign a search engine friendly web site; anticipated double the traffic of existing site
Web site visitors per day 50 100 100
Web site visitors per month 1500 3,000 3,000
Cost Per Month 0 $1,875.00* 0
Web site visitors per year 18,000 36,000 36,000
Cost per Year 0 $22,500 0

*Calculated by assuming the cost per visitor in the Adwords campaign is $1.25 click.

In conclusion, you can see the true value of traffic. A good analogy? A large billboard on Route 3 just before the Lincoln Tunnel. In Case #1 your billboard is blank. In Case #2 you billboard cost you $1,875 per month or $22,000 per year. In Case #3 the cost is equal to the redesign of your web site and your billboard stays up forever. I rest my case.

How to Tickle your Prospects at a Trade Show

Yesterday we exhibited at the North Jersey Biz Expo that was held in Whippany, New Jersey. Like all good marketers we planned ahead of time and designed a new banner, ordered our printed materials and give-a-way items for the booth. As a creative firm we like to demonstrate our creativity in everything we do. So when it came to coming up with an idea for the booth all I had to do was too look to our web site. On our home page we use a peacock feather as a unique graphic element. So the idea was born. A big beautiful glass vase filled with peacock feathers was destined to be in our booth. Taking the idea a step further, I thought, let’s give out peacock feathers. We designed a hang tag about the size of a business card and attached each one to a feather. The feathers were about 36” long. We gave them out and people loved the idea and more people began coming up to our booth asking for a feather. The feathers were noticeably visible as people walked around the exhibits carrying these long beautiful feathers. It actually created quite a buzz. It goes without saying; everyone was tickled to have one.