NIELSEN REPORTS , SOCIAL NETWORKS & BLOGS NOW 4TH MOST POPULAR ONLINE ACTIVITY, AHEAD OF PERSONAL EMAIL .

For months I have been on the social networking to grow your business band wagon.  We have personally seen the effects of its use here at Central Mass Web Design.  Now Nielson, www.nielsen-online.com has produced findings that show Social Networking and blogs via the internet is the fastest growing online category and is growing twice as fast as any of the other sectors.   Today, March 9, 2009, Nielsen released a report proving Social Media and Blogging are growing at a staggering rate.

Member Communities ( which includes Blogging) grew over 5 points in the past year, placing it above e-mail, and showing a growth of more than double any other.

Reports also show that time spent on social networks has increased globally by 18% in the past year.    Do you know what your employees are posting on their Facebook and Myspace accounts?  Do your employees know what you are posting on yours?

I recently gave a presentation to a local networking group on the benefits of using LinkedIn to grow their business and networking.  Part of this presentation talks about researching prospective employees via internet and social networking tools like LinkedIn.

LinkedIn Presentation

Time spent on Networking and Blogging sites is growing at over 3x the rate of all internet growth.  So much time is being spent on social networking sites it is eating into the time spent on other websites and activities.

The average age of online Community Networking Site Member has changed. Facebook started out as a service for university students but now almost one third of its global audience is aged 35-49 years of age, and growing.  Almost one quarter of all Facebook users are over age 50.

This is the way of the future, and I encourage you to get involved and grow with the times…before they leave you in the dust.  You can see the Nielsen report, in its entirety at http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/nielsen_globalfaces_mar09.pdf

Central Mass Web Design has actively been pursuing this avenue, and helping our clients to understand their Online Media presence.  All companies should be considering their Online Media presence when thinking about their website SEO.  Stay tuned for more information, on how to make MySpace, LinkedIn and Facebook work for you!

Kimberly Veautour

If you are not using an online newsletter to drive website traffic and possibly sales, then you really need to look at your overall marketing. Your website is not the “Field of Dreams”, people are not just going to show up because you decided to build it. You need to market your company in a cost effective way and drive people to your website. The best, and most efficient way to do this is by sending regular email newsletters. I have mentioned this before at seminars that I give and I see peoples eyes open up really wide. When I tell people about the traffic we get to our website after we send a newsletter, they seem surprised. Well certainly, I can understand how people who are not all that familiar with websites and web tracking can be surprised. But having done this time and time again, I am very successful at it and I share my thoughts and Ideas with other business owners (especially here in the Boston Mass area) about how they can do it too.

One common complaint is that the company doesn’t sell a product online. NOT TRUE. You may not transact business online, like take a credit card number, however, your website is ALWAYS SELLING your companies services. Your site is your 24 hour full time employee that is always working for you and you need to feed your site some traffic.

I would be happy to share with you my secrets to getting more spikes in your website traffic. Just call me. But start with this one tip. Schedule some time in your calendar over the next 4 weeks. Schedule 1 hour for that entire time. Meaning you have 4 weeks to have a 1 hour meeting with yourself. In that 1 hour meeting, figure out what you want to tell someone, and don’t copy the text from your website. You need to really dig deep. Share some insight, make the information valuable. During this self meeting, create a list of items that you want to share with the public. This bulleted list is the start of your email campaign. Now, to ensure success, you need to have 12 items on this list. Dig Deep, you can find them. If you struggle to find the 12 items, then use Google to find similar companies and figure out what they are talking about on their website. List those items. Once you have the list, you can now begin to determine what your text should be for each item and you can now begin to focus on the details of each newsletter item.

Remember, you can always call me for some advice. I can be reached at 978-632-5300 x111.
When you do call, be sure to tell me that you read this article.
Matt Ward

Did you ever wonder how they get street view images? For those of you who don’t know, you can browse google maps and zoom in all the way to street level. If they have photographed the street, then you can move down the street by clicking arrows and you can see the businesses, cars, home and people on both sides of the street. It’s rather cool stuff. But have you ever seen this car driving around your neighborhood?

Yes! Yes! and Yes! Blogs use web site content management systems with added functionality such as comments, pictures, and RSS feeds. When you optimize a web site with constantly changing or updated content and that document gets indexed, categorized and ranked by a search engines it adds Search Engine Benefits.

Things to remember when blogging?

1. Categories’ Make sure you use categories to establish themes, and structure your posts in those themes. If you can make it easier for search engines to understand your content, you have a better chance of ranking well.
2. Search Engine Friendly URL’s Make it easy for search engine spiders to find and crawl blog content.
3. New Content – Both readers and search engines demand new content. From a search engine perspective, the more often you add content… the more the blog is searched by search engine spiders, the more you show up in search engine results. New content will also give the impression of a more authoritative web site, and your client will value the ‘expert” advice you share. A very fast way to use a blog is to integrate it directly on the home page of your website as events, news or tips section.

20 quick blog ideas to get you started:

1. Write a tutorial! Give your clients the one up on everyone else.
2. Post about current events that pertain to your business, geographical area, or industry.
3. Review your statistics to see what keywords referred your visitors to your site and post about those.
4. Write a series of posts. (Example: Take on a large but important topic that your clients would value your input and break it down into sections, with multiple posts.)
5. Update old posts with new ideas.
6. Post about frequently asked questions in your industry.
7. Combine some of your best posts from previous blogs into a new series.
8. Invite your readers to a social network you use. (This will also help with your networking.)
9. Introduce a new industry trend, and become the expert in that area to your clients.
10. Celebrate your achievements.
11. Blog an event.
12. Write a review.
13. Write a case study.
14. Write your biography.
15. Share the newest and greatest thing you found on the web.
16. Write a glossary of terms used in your industry.
17. Do a slide show that explains a new idea or technique.
18. Take ideas from another industry, and explain how it would work in yours.
19. Read other blogs to see what’s new and hot!
20. Write a blog on blogging. Use it to list new blog ideas for your clients

I hope this helps you to get started blogging! Remember your website gives back to you, the effort you put into it.

-Kimberly Veautour

Our Partnership with e-onlinedata allows us some really unique opportunities to assist our clients with taking orders over the web, and now e-onlindata has an iPhone Virtual Terminal available.

The iPhone Virtual Terminal is perfect for any business that needs to process payments on the go! Compatible with iPhone 3G or iPod Touch, The iPhone Virtual Terminal is designed to process credit cards securely with an e-onlinedata merchant account and Authorize.net payment gateway over the 3G or WiFi Network. The iPhone Virtual terminal integrates with any existing e-onlinedata e-commerce merchant account, giving our customers the freedom to process online, or on the go.

In bad economic times, many companies will hide in their office and avoid marketing. To them, there is no reason good enough to spend money on marketing. While customers may stop calling, emailing and buying during a recession… they do not stop listening, watching and looking. Websites are being viewed, newsletters are being read, and direct mail is being opened. You need to look at why you advertise in the first place. You do it to generate more business! When your competitors start withdrawing their marketing budgets and scaling back their advertising costs, you should take every opportunity to pounce! What happens if you cut your budget but your competitors do not? They get your clients!

Let us look at the findings of a few studies completed over many years on this topic:

McGraw-Hill’s Research study of over 600 Businesses stated that “In 1981-1982, businesses that maintained or increased their ad spend averaged higher sales growth during the recession and in the following 3 years. By 1985, sales of the businesses that maintained or increased their ad spend during that recession actually increased sales 256% over those that had cut back on advertising. Aggressive recession advertisers increased market share 2.5 times the average for all businesses in the post-recession.”

An American Business Press (ABP) and Meldrum & Fewsmith study showed that “sales and profits can be maintained and increased in recession years and [in the years] immediately following by those who are willing to maintain an aggressive marketing posture, while others adopt the philosophy of cutting back on promotional efforts when sales appear to be harder to get.”

The ABP/Meldurm & Fewsmith 1979 study covering 1974/1975 and its post-recession years found that “Companies which did not cut marketing expenditures experienced higher sales and net income during those two years and the two years following than those companies which cut in either or both recession years.”

RESEARCH HAS SHOWN TIME AND TIME AGAIN COMPANIES THAT ADVERTISE CONSISTENTLY, EVEN WHILE IN A RECESSION, HAVE INCREASED PROFIT IN THE LONG RUN.

How do you accomplish this?

1.) Develop messaging that explains how your product is needed during these harsh times.
2.) Build a message of value. Focus on the bang for your buck.
3.) Target the right clients.
4.) Maximize word of mouth and free advertising.
5.) Advertise on the internet, build a web presence, and make sure your website has new innovative content that is SEO friendly.
6.) Develop an email Newsletter, very low cost way to keep your clients informed of new products or specials.
7.) Increase your advertising.
8.) Spend time creating effective ad designs.
9.) Build your brand.

There is no doubt about it. Even though people are afraid to use the word recession, it is out there. With major corporations cutting back and laying off, it makes it even scarier. During this time you can establish a web presence that will stand the test of time, and be there when it is needed. You do not want to be the one trying to build your marketing campaign while everyone else that stayed with it, is now building their client base.

The good news is, this will all come to an end. The economy will turn around, and sales will increase. Keeping a positive attitude is essential! Then ask yourself…. When this turns around where do I want my company to be??

Kimberly Veautour

Acknowledgments:
“How Advertising in Recession Periods Affects Sales,” American Business Press, Inc., 1979
ABP/Meldrum & Fewsmith study, 1979
McGraw-Hill Research Laboratory of Advertising Performance Report 5262 New York: McGraw-Hill, 1986.
Forbes.com
knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu

I have always believe in sending email newsletters, and have always recommended them to our clients. If you want to grow your business then you should consider this as well.

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• -Make it a .com if you can
• -Keep it short
• -Keep it relevant
• -Keep it memorable
• -Never search the main domain places unless you are prepared to buy at that time
• -Always get the misspellings and .net versions if you can
• -Ask for help if you don’t know how to manage the domain (it can be tricky)
• -Expectations on getting help (what people typically charge to assist with your domain)

Find a domain here