Archive for January, 2010
80 Ways To Use Twitter As A SMB Owner
80 Ways To Use Twitter As A SMB Owner
It’s pretty common. A small business owner comes to us looking for help promoting his or her business. We suggest using Twitter as a way to find new leads, build relationships and as an overall way to cost effectively market their business. The small business owner then turns around, tilts their head and responds, “Twitter? What can Twitter do for me?”
Well, I’ll tell you. Below are 80 ways a small business owner can use Twitter to build and market their business.
Just like last time, hit print.
Build Credibility
- Answer common customer questions
- Share insight and opinion
- Pass on interesting links/posts
- Tweet links showing your company featured on other Web sites or mainstream media
- Tweet often to keep your brand in customer’s top of mind
- Share high quality content that is relevant to your customers needs
- Share information about your organization that customers, colleagues and others may be interested to know
- Promote competitors when they deserve it
- Tweet links to Slideshare presentations or videos of speaking engagements.
- Promote upcoming speaking engagements
- Mention awards you’ve won or accreditations you’ve earned
- Be the one to break the news in your industry
- Livetweet events
Market Your Business
- Talk about company culture and values
- Let people know the events your company will be attending this year
- Offer discounts, coupons or special offers to customers who find you via social media
- Offer discounts on conferences for folks who come to hear you speak
- Show your human face
- Talk about what you’re doing
- Talk about who you are
- Talk about why you do what you do
- To get blog subscribers
- Direct traffic to your site
- Find referrals
- Offer referrals
- Connect vendors to one another
- Hold contests
- Highlight employees
- Publish your Twitter handle on all direct mailings, email newsletters, on your Web site and all other marketing channels. Put it everywhere
- Promote your latest blog posts and newsletters
- Share reviews people have left about your site that made you laugh. Or smile
- Tweet when you do something cool
- Admit and apologize for flubs to help neutralize the impact
- Be excited about your week
- Ask for votes on social media sites (use sparingly)
Grow Ears
- Track conversations about your brand for online reputation management
- Track your most important keywords and subscribe to an RSS feed
- Listen in on conversations about your general industry
- Do free market research to see what people want/don’t want
- Conduct Twitter polls to quiz consumer opinion
- Learn about what’s working/not working for your competitors
- See how your competitors are interacting with customers
- Find out who your competitors are talking to and do some competitive intelligence
- Track conversation patterns for your industry to determine when people are most active online
- Identify Twitter trends or hot topics related to your industry
- Find ways to connect what you do with what’s already trending on Twitter
- Ask people for their opinions. Listen to them
- Notify customers of any holdups, mishaps or things that may affect business
(Read more…)
80 Ways To Use Twitter As A SMB Owner
80 Ways To Use Twitter As A SMB Owner
It’s pretty common. A small business owner comes to us looking for help promoting his or her business. We suggest using Twitter as a way to find new leads, build relationships and as an overall way to cost effectively market their business. The small business owner then turns around, tilts their head and responds, “Twitter? What can Twitter do for me?”
Well, I’ll tell you. Below are 80 ways a small business owner can use Twitter to build and market their business.
Just like last time, hit print.
Build Credibility
- Answer common customer questions
- Share insight and opinion
- Pass on interesting links/posts
- Tweet links showing your company featured on other Web sites or mainstream media
- Tweet often to keep your brand in customer’s top of mind
- Share high quality content that is relevant to your customers needs
- Share information about your organization that customers, colleagues and others may be interested to know
- Promote competitors when they deserve it
- Tweet links to Slideshare presentations or videos of speaking engagements.
- Promote upcoming speaking engagements
- Mention awards you’ve won or accreditations you’ve earned
- Be the one to break the news in your industry
- Livetweet events
Market Your Business
- Talk about company culture and values
- Let people know the events your company will be attending this year
- Offer discounts, coupons or special offers to customers who find you via social media
- Offer discounts on conferences for folks who come to hear you speak
- Show your human face
- Talk about what you’re doing
- Talk about who you are
- Talk about why you do what you do
- To get blog subscribers
- Direct traffic to your site
- Find referrals
- Offer referrals
- Connect vendors to one another
- Hold contests
- Highlight employees
- Publish your Twitter handle on all direct mailings, email newsletters, on your Web site and all other marketing channels. Put it everywhere
- Promote your latest blog posts and newsletters
- Share reviews people have left about your site that made you laugh. Or smile
- Tweet when you do something cool
- Admit and apologize for flubs to help neutralize the impact
- Be excited about your week
- Ask for votes on social media sites (use sparingly)
Grow Ears
- Track conversations about your brand for online reputation management
- Track your most important keywords and subscribe to an RSS feed
- Listen in on conversations about your general industry
- Do free market research to see what people want/don’t want
- Conduct Twitter polls to quiz consumer opinion
- Learn about what’s working/not working for your competitors
- See how your competitors are interacting with customers
- Find out who your competitors are talking to and do some competitive intelligence
- Track conversation patterns for your industry to determine when people are most active online
- Identify Twitter trends or hot topics related to your industry
- Find ways to connect what you do with what’s already trending on Twitter
- Ask people for their opinions. Listen to them
- Notify customers of any holdups, mishaps or things that may affect business
(Read more…)
Say It’s Not “Too Early” Before It Becomes “Too Late”
It’s time that we start paying attention to a real problem that has been around for a few years now and will only get worse. Let’s face it, kids who are overweight suffer physically and emotionally. And, statistics have consistently shown that unless there is affective intervention obese kids turn into unhealthy obese adults. Read on…
Experts urge screening for obesity in kids
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Doctors should screen children and teens between 6 and 18 years for extra pounds, a federal task force recommends. For children who are found to be obese based on their body mass index (BMI), a standard measure of the relationship between height and weight, the task force also calls for referrals to a comprehensive program that includes dietary advice, physical activity, and behavioral counseling to promote weight loss. The new recommendations update earlier ones from 2005. Skyrocketing rates of obesity have reached between 12 and 18 percent in 2- to 19-year-olds, increasing up to 6-fold since the 1970s, members of the United States Preventive Services Task Force report in the February issue of the journal Pediatrics. Obesity is linked to the early development of diabetes and high blood pressure. For their update, the task force reviewed 13 studies of behavioral intervention in 1258 obese children and adolescents. Moderate- to high-intensity programs, involving more than 25 hours of contact with the child and/or the family over a six-month period, resulted in a decrease in BMI 12 months after the beginning of the intervention. In addition to dietary and physical activity counseling, effective programs included behavioral-management techniques such as self-monitoring and eating management. However, the programs only worked in children who followed through on treatment. (Read more at Reuters.com)
No Evidence that Chiropractic Causes Stroke According to Foundation for Vertebral Subluxation
Amidst a great deal of emotion and rhetoric coming out of Connecticut this week regarding the stroke issue The Foundation for Vertebral Subluxation has just released a very clear position statement on the issue of chiropractic and strokes.
Atlanta, GA, January 07, 2010 –(PR.com)– According to the Foundation for Vertebral Subluxation there is no human experimental evidence that chiropractic adjustments or neck manipulations are causally related to strokes. “While plaintiff’s attorneys and expert witness make claims and statements contending that such a causative link exists, the fact remains that these are based largely on anecdotes, case reports, and case controlled studies and cannot be used to prove causation” stated Foundation President Christopher Kent DC, JD a chiropractic researcher and attorney. According to researchers and the scientific method itself there are all sorts of biases and distortions that effect conclusions drawn from such studies and other criteria must be used to determine whether such a link exists. “What this boils down to is a simple lack of understanding of biostatistics and epidemiology” stated Foundation Vice President Matthew McCoy DC, MPH, a chiropractic researcher and public health expert. “Words like ‘association’ and ‘causation’ and ‘risk’ have very specific meanings when it comes to their use in epidemiology and it’s clear that laypersons involved in this debate are using these terms inappropriately.” While the experience of a stroke can be devastating and no one would suggest ignoring the concerns of those who have suffered one, the reality is that when it comes to the contention that chiropractic causes strokes – the evidence just isn’t there. And while the strokes these people have experienced are indeed real, McCoy suggests there are often other issues involved and offered an example. “Millions of people visit a dentist every year and a certain number of those same people get into car accidents on their way home. If we were to run the stats on it we might find that there is a statistical association between visiting a dentist and getting into a car accident on the way home. But no one would even consider suggesting that the dentists are causing the car accidents.” Self described chiropractic stroke victims say there is a risk and that people should be advised about it prior to undergoing chiropractic care. The majority of chiropractors would agree that patients should be informed of the risks, benefits and alternatives of any health care intervention, but according to Dr. Kent “Such informed consent must be based on appropriate information and since there is no scientific evidence that chiropractic adjustments or neck manipulations actually cause strokes, it is inappropriate to require a doctor to suggest that such a risk exists.” Dr. McCoy added another often overlooked issue “Chiropractors utilize a number of techniques to address joint dysfunction and vertebral subluxation and in fact there are over 300 named chiropractic techniques and many do not employ the type of manipulation that has been alleged to be a factor in vertebrobasilar accidents. This adds to the inappropriate nature of such a disclosure.” In the end, chiropractic has an impressive safety record compared to traditional medical care with estimates are that anywhere from 100,000 (Institute of medicine) to 750,000 (Null et al) people die every year from medical care. In comparison, other than some minor soreness following chiropractic treatment, research has shown chiropractic to be very safe.Losing Weight But Still Not Feeling Fit?
Fit VS. Fat: New Research Sheds Light On Debate
Although proper nutrition alone can lead to weight loss, it doesn’t necessarily equal true health or fitness, says a new study in the January issue of the official journal of the American College of Sports Medicine.
Enette Larson-Meyer, Ph.D., R.D., FACSM, directed 36 overweight (not obese) adults to participate in one of three programs during a six-month intervention: diet alone, diet plus exercise, or a weight-maintenance program (control group). The diet-only and weight maintenance groups were instructed not to change their physical activity regimens during the six-month period. Although both the diet and diet-plus-exercise groups lost weight during the course of the study – around 10 percent of total body weight – only the exercising individuals improved their internal fitness in addition to their waistlines. Read more at medicalnewstoday.Brief Training In Meditation May Help In Pain Management
Living with pain is stressful, but a surprisingly short investment of time in mental training can help you cope.
A new study examining the perception of pain and the effects of various mental training techniques has found that relatively short and simple mindfulness meditation training can have a significant positive effect on pain management. Though pain research during the past decade has shown that extensive meditation training can have a positive effect in reducing a person’s awareness and sensitivity to pain, the effort, time commitment, and financial obligations required has made the treatment not practical for many patients. Now, a new study by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte shows that a single hour of training spread out over a three day period can produce the same kind of analgesic effect. Read more…