Small businesses are the backbone of all successful economies. They have been pushed by the economic downturn and are struggling to figure out a way to survive. The ones that adapt are the businesses that will grow and evolve, the ones that do not, risk going under or worse becoming irrelevant. Small businesses that embrace Social Media are creating new realities for not only themselves, but a way to communicate and interact with their clientele. For years Social Media marketing has been an “Ace Up The Sleeve” of many savvy marketing connoisseurs. But, with the advent of higher band-wdith access and the mainstreaming of Social Networks like Twitter, Facebook, and Linkedin, the business of doing business has changed the way we all think about commerce and communication. Just because you have and update your Twitter / Facebook accounts daily about how much the guy standing next to you smells bad, doesn’t necessarily equate more qualified followers and/or potential customers. The following is a simple strategy for an aspiring small business that most likely has some sort online presence, but really has no clue of what to do next.

You have 12 Seconds…

They say that you have 12 seconds to capture someone’s attention online. I agree, you literally have SECONDS to get your point across or people will bounce off your site or profile. Put yourself in the shoes of a site visitor…would you want to meander around a site and waste your time with meaningless content or images? No, you would want to get what you need and then get off the site. Over the 33+ years I’ve been blessed to be alive on this planet, I have realized that the most precious commodity is Time. We never have enough of it and you can NEVER get it back. To put it simply, you need to make an effective impact immediately.

A super quick way to get noticed by your consumer base and site viewers is interacting with them with on a multimedia level. Having a picture of your business is “nice” and passively “safe”, but having a video of employees at work or the boss giving an update on the company’s footing in a weak economy is thousands of times over more palpable. The entire concept of video in my opinion is not being utilized the way it can be. There are a bazillion video uploading sites like; YouTube, Revver, MetaCafe, etc., which are all great. There is one however, that you almost NEVER hear about: 12seconds.tv

12seconds.tv is similar to many other video social networking sites with uploading and video replying, but very different in the sense that they literally limit the video time to just, yup you guessed it; 12 seconds. You can record a video about whatever you want and then share it with everyone else in the 12seconds community. You can also link up your Twitter and Facebook accounts to spread your video message to many places at once, instantly. Granted most of the 12second community tends to be teeny boppers, but for a small business owner this is a PERFECT solution. Why do I say perfect with CAPS ON? I’ll tell you why…

With the ever expanding and intertwining nature of Social Media and Social Networks and connectivity, your last paying customer can now become your next brand spokesperson in a mere 12 seconds. Here is a scenario…You just finished selling an item to a customer who just loves your business and is excited. Historically, what’s the next step in the chain of sales from that point…have them fill out an email flyer with some room for their Facebook or Twitter account? You have a vital resource that at that moment NO other business has…which is the paying customer standing in front of you. The future of your business is literally right in front of you! You provided a service for them in some capacity or another. Hopefully, you have elated their spirits and retained your name in their short term memory. Why not use that moment to have them give you a positive review of your business on the spot…impromptu…in just 12 seconds. (My suggestion is to use very simple questions like: What was your experience like? What makes keep coming back? etc…) The best part of using this kind of service is that you do not have to worry about editing and sequences or dubbing.

This isn’t going to be a super high tech experiment requiring you to learn a foreign language. You don’t have to a Geek Paladin Level 71 to grasp the concept. This isn’t rocket science, but it is an ingenious way to use a medium that will benefit your business. All you need is an internet connection, a laptop and a camera. (or if you have an iPhone there is a 12seconds App in the iTunes store called: 12UP)

Just sign up, create an account, make sure your internet ready camera is on…and you are ready to change your small business into a smart business. When you finish uploading your video you then can take the code (if your slightly tech savvy and embed it onto your blog on your site.) See? Social Media Marketing isn’t THAT hard…you just need to think a little outside the box. Oh, did I forget to mention the best part? Oh…just that ever aspect of what I just wrote about is 100% Free? Yeah…that got your attention…in less than 12 seconds!

Here is a link to my 12 seconds of fame: http://12seconds.tv/v/CFFQI

Posted via email from The Baron Bytes Back! Posterous

There are so many scams out there when it comes to Social Media.

I found a website, the name is escaping me at the moment, but it looked very, very similar to a well known Social Networking site. As soon as you hit the site, they ask you to log in using your account name and password from the other Social Networking site. Scary to say the least. Obviously, it was a fake to me, but how many people look at a website like I do? There are so many people out there that would just type their user name and password in like it were no big deal.

These days, in this desperate economy we find ourselves within, you can’t be careful enough. Here are a couple of really important tips to remember when surfing sites.

1. Always double check the URL bar to make sure you are on the correct website. If a link takes you away from the original site, make sure you have a pop up blocker working.

2. When closing a window on a PC, NEVER click the little red “X” in the upper right hand corner! Always go to the boxed window in your bar at the very bottom if your screen and right click and close that particular window. The reason for this is because some hackers change the parameters of what certain functions on a popup can do. They could change the red “X” to open a separate program or another pop up window, instead of closing the original window.

As always I’m available for free advice.

For April 2010, I chose to create this Linkedin Poll as a way to remind you all that Social Media can be an incredibly powerful tool to all businesses, but at what cost? Many people take Social Media and Social Networking for granted. A huge misconception about Social Media is that it’s only for tweeting what you just ate or posting a cute photo of your kid’s first steps. Can it be used for these purposes? Of course. You can technically do whatever the heck you want…it’s your profile and your space. Here’s the real question, “Is anyone listening to you?”

If your Social Media campaign is not bringing in sales…you are doing something wrong. Keep in mind, this should be seen as a long term project…unless you have a brand name that people already know. It doesn’t matter if you sell high end jewelry, a live chat service, or whatever. If it’s not done properly or orchestrated to a certain degree, then all the time you spent was a complete waste of time. I have personally seen so many of my clients come to me and ask me what they are doing wrong and usually it’s as simple as; content creation, post frequency, and content relevance.

You can’t just post photos all the time. I’m sure they are nice to look at, but Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc. just can’t read the context of a photo. They may say a picture is worth 1000 words, but not to search engines. (of course if you tag your photos correctly, then that is a different story…of which is for another article.) You need content and lots of it. Posting only once a year in not the way to gain followers or fans and posting every 5 seconds will most likely mark you as a Spammer. And no one likes a Spammer now do they? Most importantly in my opinion is relevance. Your content should be about your business and should use keywords or phrases that relate to what you do or sell. Using your Facebook business page to chatter about what you did last night is not going to get you more customers…unless that is what is relevant to your business and people follow you for your perspective on night clubs or something.

Basically, think of your profile as a unique website that you have to optimize so that other people who think like you will be able to connect to you. This is why so many companies are not getting the response they are looking for with Social Media. The most important thing to do when starting in Social Media is just listen. Read the tweets. View the profiles. Look for patterns in how people communicate. Your audience is out there and they are looking for you. Are you sending out the right message and is it effective? Is your time being spent wisely. If not, then you need to re-evaluate, revamp, and reconnect.

Take my poll and let me know what you think.

There is a ton of information out there, when it comes to internet marketing and to be candid, most of it is crap. You have a gazillion self-proclaimed GURUs or EXPERTS that will tell you the “right” way to market your website online. Oh…but you have buy one of their online seminars in order to get their help. That’s their business. They sell hope just like hair tonic salesmen did for bald men in late 19th century. I have a news flash for you and your stress filled follicles…save your money and your hairline. There isn’t just one “right” way of achieving online marketing success. A seasoned SEM [Search Engine Marketing] professional will tell you that every approach must be unique and best suited for that business. No two SEM campaigns should ever be the same because the results will always vary from business to business. The Internet changes so rapidly that even the pros have a hard time keeping up with technology. With the growing trend of do-it-yourself style type of mindsets out there, many business owners want to take full advantage of all the incredible technology available on the internet, but few know where to begin. The following are 9 truly important aspects to think about before starting your own internet marketing campaign for your business. Ignorance is your worst enemy and perspective is your greatest ally online!

Time: The very first and most important aspect to consider is your time. Simply put, do you have the time to invest in managing various types of accounts across the internet? Or have the time to sit and develop intelligent SEM articles that are relevant to your business? Do you have the time to do the research? Can you really keep up with Social Media trends and postings? Can you really spend extra hours reviewing data, going back and forth, comparing, contrasting, and forecasting. Oy Vey! Trust me, the list about time goes on and on. Time is one thing you can never get back in life, so make sure you spend it wisely. Do you think your time online with internet marketing is used effectively?

Effort: Building upon the aspect of time, something that is often overlooked and is difficult to sometimes quantify when considering an internet marketing campaign is the effort that goes into it. Was the time spent worth? Internet marketing isn’t always PPC (Pay-Per-Click), PPI (Pay-Per-Impression), or based on paid search. There is another side of internet marketing that is much more subtle and deceptively illusive to the laymen. Quantification of this type of effort can be tricky. Usually a decent Organic SEM campaign involving content laden articles that are posted around the internet takes roughly 1 – 3 months to get indexed by major search engines and thus useful to said SEM campaign. Paid search is instant. You pay money, your ad shows up somewhere. You stop paying money, the ad goes bye bye. So effort is a major consideration. Is the effort you’re pouring into this going to be worth it?

Objectivity: This aspect is what can separate a novice from a professional. It might sound crazy, but certain things you might have taken as a truth might hurt you in the long run when marketing your own business online. Who knows your business better than you, right? Not quite. In the overall scheme of things, yes, you know your business better than anyone else, but when it comes to effective and highly calculated writing of SEM articles you might be writing the same thing over and over and over again and not even realize it. It’s always better to write things in the 3rd person. It’s quite rare to see a quality SEM article written in the 1st person. That is what Facebook is for! So being objective about your business is imperative. It’s not an easy task to think differently about yourself and/or your business consistently. Do you have the ability to step back and gain a larger perspective for internet marketing and your business?

Knowledge: Here is something to think about, do you even know what you are doing? Knowledge is essential to an incredible internet marketing campaign. Managing paid search accounts, writing articles, updating social media sites, and having a finger on the pulse of the internet is not an easy thing to keep up with. There are new things happening everyday that you need to be aware of and take into consideration. Do you know what keywords are relevant to your website? Do you know the demographic breakdown of who is visiting your site based upon age, sex, race, wealth, etc.? Do you know how to start and manage a Google Adwords account? It literally does not end. The more you know, the more you have to fuel and direct your marketing campaign in the right direction for your website. Do you know your business and internet marketing well enough to start your own campaign?

Writing Ability: This may sound silly to ask, but do you know how to articulate your knowledge of your business into articles, keywords, sponsored ads properly, etc.? So many people take huge liberties in their daily lives when it comes to writing. Grammar is usually the first rule to be thrown out of the window. Followed by spelling, punctuation, and context. It’s one thing to have a great idea, it’s another thing to be able to effectively communicate that idea into words, which then will be read by others. Luckily, most modern computers are equipped with MS Word or a reasonable facsimile. These programs have spell check, grammar check, punctuation correction, etc., but they can’t catch every mistake. If you misspell a word or put things out of context, your readers might scratch their heads and say, “Why should I take this seriously, when they didn’t take the time to read over what they wrote.” Put yourself in the reader’s point of view. What would you do if you read something that had errors all over the place? Would you keep reading? Would you respect the author or editor slightly less? Would you dismiss their content consciously or worse subconsciously?

Expectations: I like to call this next one, the quantum aspect. In Quantum Theory, there can be an infinite number of potential results or choices made for any given moment for; electrons, atoms, molecules, dogs, cats, You, Myself, Space, Time, etc. Yes, theoretically as crazy as it sounds, on a quantum level even electrons can make decisions that can alter reality. With that being said, there are an infinite number of outcomes and choices that you, the business owner, could make along the way. It’s important to set realistic primary goals as well as long term phases that encompass a broader context of initiative and imagination. Internet marketing has so many possibilities and potential outcomes. Some million dollar questions could be; What are you looking to achieve? Will this increase my profits or my overhead? Could I do this more efficiently and/or effectively?

Analysis: This is usually the part that business owners loathe. Going over data can be tedious and time consuming. Arghhhh! More time spent going over stuff about other stuff and how it relates to other stuff, which leads to the analysis of said stuff to make clearer and more informed decisions about future stuff. Analysis doesn’t have to be an impossible mission. Knowing what works and what won’t will maximize your time and effort as well as help get you home in time for dinner. Every business wants the same thing, which is to make money. Data analysis and the proper follow up will shape and mold an internet marketing campaign into an incredibly effective and proven tool. The main issue with analysis is where to start and where to stop. What concrete conclusions can be established by addressing and analyzing relevant data to your site? And so on…and so on. There are literally thousands of ways to analyze data. However you do it, the important thing is getting what you need to make the campaign work more effectively. The tough part is knowing which questions to ask.

Passion: It can be a blessing or a curse. When a business owner is too passionate about his/her business, it could eat away at his/her professional and private lives. Spending long hours in the office or sitting at home doing research away from family, friends, etc. It chips away at relationships. It’s not healthy to obsess over something, no matter what form it takes. The inability to allow any outside perspective whatsoever could do more harm than good. There is also the complete opposite, indifference. When a business owner is passionless about his/her business, they may pass the responsibility to someone who may not be qualified. What typically happens within a company is that a micro power vacuum is created. Someone gets to control an important part within the company because the owner is so far removed from the daily particulars of business and may not know of anything that is happening at all. Not only will the main goals not get focused on, but precious company time, effort, resources, and money would be spent in vain. That’s going on the assumption that an indifferent owner would even have the epiphany to even start a SEM campaign. Any of these scenario can’t be good by any stretch of the imagination. So, it’s hard to quantify the right amount of drive or passion required for any business’ online marketing needs. Knowing how to use your passion as a rudder to navigate and having the humility to listen to others is key. A campaign will dramatically improve because the results and the analysis will be more focused. Do you know how to apply your passion?

Money: Ahhhh…Money. Money, money, money. It’s the driving force to open up shop in the morning. It’s the very essence of business and commerce! Everything always comes down to this point; the bottom line. These days, everyone is trying to squeeze blood from a stone. Pinching pennies when it comes to proper placement online is not acceptable. Showing up organically on page thirty-one instead of page one will net you absolutely ZERO new leads. In fact, I would go as far as to say that if you are not in the top four organically, then you are toast. With the proper budget any business can create a fairly robust SEM campaign that can grow and change with time and analysis. At the same time spending $10,000 a week on PPC ads is completely insane! There is a happy medium. It can be tough to not only find it, but to stay on track. Think about this: With all of the previous aspects considered, is it worth it to do everything on you own?.

In closing, from time-to-effort-to-objectivity-to-knowledge-to-writing ability-to-expectations-to-analysis-to-passion-to-money…take time to fully contemplate what it is your looking to achieve. Then weigh your options and create a simple pros and cons list. Compare the benefits to the potential downfalls of doing something on your own or hiring a trained professional or a firm to get the job done for you. It’s entirely plausible that you or your current staff could handle certain SEM, Social Media, or follow up tasks, but the increase in workload may or may not create friction and/or lackluster results. Just as the boss may not understand what he/she is doing, the employees may have even less of an idea. Unless you have a competent in-house staff that strictly handles internet marketing, it’s almost impossible to do everything yourself. Many companies can’t afford any new hires in light of the current economic climate. It truly is a contemporary internet conundrum that modern business owners face everyday. The real question is; What is everything worth to you?

[As an ethical disclaimer to you the reader, this article is not meant as a direct or indirect advertisement for any of my particular knowledge, skills, and / or services. I am a professional internet marketing consultant with years of experience helping individuals, businesses, and groups to achieve a higher level of online ROI with internet marketing.]

I just posted a new poll over at my Linkedin account; Which form of Internet Marketing is most conducive to your business model? (Paid Search vs. Organic Search)

It’s important before starting any type of campaign to know where to focus your business’ attention to. There has always been a great debate as to whether or not a business should place significant emphasis to a paid search campaign or to an organic search campaign.

I have always said, that in the long run, a well thought out SEO (Search Engine Optimization) plan is much more cost effective and efficient. For many companies this really isn’t the perfect solution or even an option as quality SEO takes time (somtimes 1-3 months) to be indexed by many or most search engines. SEO is great in getting the main website indexed and organically ranked hirer.

Paid search is great for when time is short and every advertising dollar can be quantified to one degree or another. If a marketing campaign runs for a week or 1 month and the business wants to gauge the response…the best bet is paid search with the landing page being a unique microsite catered to that widget being advertised. The main focus would be either direct sales or lead generation for 3rd party sales.

Either way, the important thing is to know how and when use the proper keywords and content that are relevant to your website.

Take the poll and let me know what your opinion is.

How can I say this succinctly? Of course it is! How can you NOT do internet marketing? The real question is: What is the right way to market your business online?

That is the 1 trillion dollar question…or is it?

A successful internet marketing campaign can be as illusive and enigmatic to a small business owner as finding the fabled needle in the hay stack. Plus, between the myriad of techniques, applications, and options available, there are many that are apprehensive it will cost them an arm and a leg or that they will have to work harder in some way or another. Still others worry about the basics like: wasting valuable company time and money, while others are vigilant of being scammed. All of these qualms and more are real and valid.

I wish I could say that internet marketing will always be easy or that one thing that worked incredibly well for one company will do exactly the same thing for another, but I can’t. There are few guarantees in any kind of marketing. It’s not an exact science, but the key is to keep a finger on the pulse of change. The important things to have are: data, imagination, perspective, and most of all passion.

A truly kick-ass online marketing strategy starts with an honest conversation between the business and the business owner(s). The days of licking thumbs and holding them up to the wind for market direction are truly over. I’ll put it to you this way, if Charles Darwin himself, were somehow alive today and needed a new profession outside of the realm of biological science, he’d be an internet marketing consultant or analyst.

But seriously, all metaphors aside; real internet marketing, when properly planned and precisely executed for a given business will actually pay for itself and then some over time. There is working harder…and then there is working smarter.

Have a question about something or need advice?

Skype me:

It’s been a couple of weeks since I have written my last post. I’ve been so incredibly busy with work and planning for meetings for meetings on proposals…blah, blah, blah. I’ve been thinking for some time about what to write about on this post. Should I write about yet another Live Chat software development? Should I write about yet another blog post of the importance of Social Media, with emphasis on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn? Or should I write about something bigger, yet more focused on how I can help others? Each idea I kept coming up with, made me think of something else and then that lead me to something else. You get the picture…in other words…the ultimate villain of creativity: PROCRASTINATION.

Whenever I bump into friends or speak to people, they always ask me, “Hey Andrew…what do you do for a living?” I usually say, “Well…I do this, that, the other thing with Social Media. I write and create blogs about Live Chat and other website technologies…yada, yada, yada…” I talk about evolving small businesses into lean, mean fighting machines of commerce and service, but there has to be a way to succinctly put everything together without losing the message. That being said, I’m glad to say that I have come to an epiphany of some sorts with the help of a long time colleague and friend. I hadn’t spoken to him in some time and it was good to reconnect and catch up on basics, regarding our unique lives, careers, families, etc. During our conversation, it dawned upon me, from his perspectives and intuitive knowledge of just about everything that I knew about Internet Marketing that I had been looking at myself myopically.

I always think of others before I think of myself. I always try to help everyone I know with my experience and knowledge base. I’m always trying to think of a better way for others to become better at what they do. My problem was that I wasn’t seeing the bigger picture: Where do I fit into the picture? What is it that I am doing…and why? My friend told me that he thought my blog was a great place for me to share my knowledge and experience with others. That is just the surface of it all. I realized that I am not just an Account Executive at LiveChatAgent or a Social Media Consultant or any other piece of the puzzle. I was sum of their total. I am an Internet Marketing Consultant.

What does an Internet Marketing Consultant do, you may ask? Good question…

Well, a good way to think of it is like this: When you bake a cake you need all the right ingredients from the flour all the way to the icing. Internet Marketing is just like that. The difference is that, unlike grandma’s delicious marble babka cake that always used the same ingredients, mixed in the same manner time and time again, Internet Marketing’s recipe is constantly changing. You need to figure out the proper recipe for each client. Not every client is going to need an SEM campaign. Not every business is going to need a Live Chat agent based upon site traffic. Not every business is going to need a new site. Not every business could benefit from Social Media as much as others could. Etc…etc…etc…

An internet marketing consultant knows how pick and choose from a wide variety of tools and ingredients to bake just the right cake for internet success for a business. No two businesses are the same. The approach and follow through have to be organic and contoured to that business.

I already do what I love, which is helping businesses realize their true potential, but now with the bigger picture of adding all of the components of my experience, knowledge, connections and creativity in mind as well. I knew all the ingredients were in the kitchen. I knew what the finished cake would look, feel, smell, and taste like. I just needed a good timer to know WHEN to mix it all together or to put it simply, connect everything seamlessly and convey it succinctly. I’m proud of myself, knowing that I have always been a true maverick and it’s good to know that others out there see the same thing in me.

The response so far has been incredible from my recent posts on my website www.AndrewDavidBaron.com as well as my Facebook Fan Page. I’ve had such an influx of people candidly asking me for advice and suggestions towards their businesses and Social Media.

I’m happy to report that I’ll be making a bunch of new Microsites and helping quite a few of my fans reinvent their businesses with Social Media and Social Networking. As I complete each project, I’ll release the website and information about them.

I’m truly excited to jump in head first and literally help people help themselves and their businesses in the roughest economy since, The Great Depression.” You can’t wait for someone to help you or rely on them to care about your business. People need to help themselves, but so many have absolutely no idea or clue as to where to start or do. That’s why I am doing what I am doing. It’s imperative to help small businesses evolve and grow with the changing times. Small businesses are the backbone of any economy.