If you are not using Web 2.0 communities to help build your business – don’t miss the boat.

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in
Marketing & Sales, Social Networking
on
March 14, 2009

10 years ago it was a tough sell to convince a small business that they should get a website. Today, most business owners and entrepreneurs turn to online marketing. I know from experience that most Calgary Entrepreneurs spent time and money, initially, on some form of marketing for their new business. Two very common areas of spending are undeniably on the Internet and on joining Calgary business networking clubs or business referal clubs.

Long gone are the days where small business owners didn’t recognize the value of a website. Google revolutionized the ease and accuracy of effective search and in recent years has focused on local search results. Local search results have made it realistic that even the smallest of companies have a chance to compete online for relevant traffic. Relevant traffic, in most cases, results in relevant leads.

This leads me into the topic of Web 2.0 communities.

You know some of them… Facebook, Twitter & LinkedIn seem to be the larger community sites being used by Calgary Entrepreneurs. I have been an active user of LinkedIn and Facebook for some time now, but only recently started encouraging people to connect or “become my friend”. I was surprised how many of my clients were not actually using LinkedIn or Facebook when I sent out my “join” invitations. In many cases I was their first “connection” on LinkedIn or their first “friend” on Facebook.

The concept of social communities and using them for permission marketing is apparently being missed by quite a few Calgary Entrepreneurs.  Many of my clients find the whole concept a bit daunting and have trouble understanding where “we find the time”. One of the most common questions I get from people that I talk to about the ‘Power of Blogging’ or Social Communities is, “how do you do it all?” My answer is quite simple… “don’t do it all” and certainly not all at one time. Pick you battles. I highly recomment that you start with LinkedIn. LinkedIn clearly is all about “business” people. You won’t see many Tweets on linked in about “my kid is sick today”.  Facebook is also a must “have” network, primarily because of it’s saturation. The advent of business pages, events and groups in Facebook has made it possible to focus your profile towards business.

New Kid on the Block – biznik
“Business Networking That Doesn’t Suck”

An up and coming site called biznik is also a great place to create a business profile. The only issue with biznik today is that there is only a small group of Calgary Entrepreneurs networking there. It hosts many similar features to LinkedIn, plus some that are very nicely done. Like LinkedIn the biznik structure is free, with paid memberships that unlock more features.  I am actually quite liking it and have a suspicion that biznik is going to be popular in the Calgary area once it catches on.

Start Building Your Community

So, now we start again. We don’t have to convince Calgary Entrepreneurs that they need a website anymore – now we need to encourage you to get active with Social Communities. It is getting more and more difficult to send bulk email that isn’t immediatel y sent to spam. In the USA it is illegal to send unsolicited email. In Canada it will soon be illegal to send unsolicited email. The recent “Do not call” list in Canada is making it risky to use telephone marketing to Canadian.

Don’t miss the boat – harness the power of Social Media online. Have fun and start building your communities today!

Connect With Me!

Remember that owning a website is only one step in a successful online marketing program. Balance your online marketing strategies and you can benefit directly from the targeted traffic that will come to your website.

We have developed a formula for success. I you own a website that is not bringing you new business, or if you are planning a new website – talk to us. We’ll share the program with you and help you to succeed online.

Cheers – Feel free to drop us a note if you would like more information.

David A. West, Director
eKzact Solutions Inc.

PS – Connect with me at my Social sites!!!  Learn more about Web 2.0 Social Media Services

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