I created a Business page on Facebook and I want my blog posts from my WordPress site to post there. The idea is that I create content on my small business consulting site, BestBreedMarketing.com and then click the Share button on the blog and voila.. posted to my Facebook page.
Trying a couple of widgets.. and have not figured it out yet.
As the Share button is not showing up.
When I consult with startup and small business clients, in Bend OR, one of the things they ask me about is how to create a brand.
I like to start the conversation with a discussion of marketing versus advertising to make a point about how to “create” a brand.
My definition of marketing revolves around the idea that we look at customer needs and wants.. and then figure out how to serve that niche or client base with a product or service that has a high likelihood of being purchased.
Advertising comes into play after we have determined what kind of product or service we are going to offer.
Branding is about half way in between. I like to be well on my way to determining a product and service mix.. for my client, before we get into the branding area.
As we begin creating a brand or analysis of an existing brand for enhancement, I reach into the discussion of
1). Who are your clients.. what do they spend their time doing.
2). What are you, or can learn to be, an expert at.
3). What kind of image can you emphasize and be comfortable and strong with.
Your brand should concentrate on both of these items as we start moving into the art of projection.
You are what you project.. you are on stage, at all times if you truly want to create a memorable and effective brand.
Trump is a great example.. this man lives branding at all times in his public life. It’s a great show.. and he has been fine tuning it for many years. It is fun to watch.. to see how he milks it.
We like to isolate two or three of our clients primary traits.. and then get to work on designing who you are to become.
If you live in the beautiful and resurgent, Bend, Oregon or Central Oregon area and would like to be part of a case study for branding of your small business, send me an email.
This morning I was reviewing the online site for our local Bend Oregon newspaper. I clicked on an article that mentioned an article in Money Magazine that is about Bend Oregon. I am always on the lookout for opportunities to promote my small business consulting company at http://BestBreedMarketing.com
This turned out to be a way to promote Bend, and I was able to get my website link published which helps in Google rankings.
The article lists Bend Oregon as a top 10 location to buy a home in 2010 based on a number of factors. My comments concurred and added that land and lots were a suggested investment as you can buy either right now for about one third of the peak values, and land should be a great currency hedge in an uncertain world. Bend was noted as a top gainer in market price and population growth percentage during the last 5 years, and that it had most likely bottomed and was heading back up.
I quickly googled for Money Magazine, opened the article and found the post.
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/moneymag_realestate/2010/snapshots/375.html
You can see my post there I think its on page 4 of the comments.
I commented on the article and linked the comments to my facebook page and to this website at http://bestbreedmarketing.com
I went to my facebook business page, where the article was posted in my own page there, and made comments about the post.
I then thought of a local friend and real estate expert Shelly Hummel at SellBend.com and sent her a note, and called her recommending that she do the same. She quickly picked up on the opportunity and you can see her post just above or below mine.
So I accomplished several note-able things in just a few minutes by being aware of the power of social networking and referrals.
I now have a link in a national publication, empowered a friends site, and added to my own reputation as a brand, and added some to my status as an expert in my own field.
So, think about those key words, add them into your commentaries and post your link to your own site, and one referral site. You will build connections and business over time.
Another way to get early notice of this kind of opportunity is to build a yahoo pipes filter, to send yourself articles that you might be able to comment on.
http://pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/
You can see my previous blog on Pipes here:
http://bestbreedmarketing.com/blog/content-feeds-and-creation/
You can, and someday should, pay a top notch SEO company to help you optimize your website with and or blog with keywords. For a small business or a startup, with more time than money, it might make sense to DIY.
Keywords are the “key” to remember when:
1) Authoring pages
2) Authoring blogs
One of the main ways search engines find your pages and posts, is by searching out words that web users type into their searches.
You might think you know, what people are searching for, but it just makes sense, to see what Google says people are searching for.
For example; Blog article name and blog article content will be more easily found if you include the keywords.
The analytics page reviews your input and suggests alternatives with information about how they are being used.
This is important. In my own case, I was wondering if Google would show my site and or blogs, if I typed in my business category of consultant and location, Central Oregon.
When you do this, think like a customer, and type in what they would be looking for.
I typed in small business consultant Bend, Oregon. My site was not (yet) shown. I checked out the top result, and my competition clearly had Bend, Or and small business consulting on their home page, and on review of my own, I found, that I did not.
That changed immediately.
So that basic step should help fairly soon, and I will keep you updated on the results.
So check out Google keywords and play around with it a little bit.
Here is the link
https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal?defaultView=2
I think you will find some great words to use in your site language, and posts.
Remember the more often, you use those key words, the easier it is for those searching for you to find you.
I noted in yesterdays blog, that I wanted to find a different content source for my small business consulting website bestbreedmarketing.com, that I could filter the input into. As a small business startup myself, I need something with no cost or inexpensive that automatically updates itself.
I chose:
-Yahoo’s Pipes.
-Feedzilla
Pipes is a powerful composition tool to aggregate, manipulate, and mashup content from around the web.
I viewed their short intro video, and searched for a small business Pipe, selected on, cloned it to be my own (which is part of the purpose) and renamed it.
You can see the result on my blog page at: bestbreedmarketing.com
Feedzilla
I chose Feedzilla for much of the same reasons, and I liked the scrolling content headers and the general format of the feed. It took me a bit to figure out how to load the pre-made html from their site. I moved an html widget into my sidebar, pasted in the code, and it worked right away.
I also want to compliment the team over at ithemes, for their fine WordPress template development tool, Builder. Chris and Cory have done a fabulous job and provide excellent support.
Tomorrow; Researching Google key words for consulting, marketing, and small business in Bend Oregon.
Today I began my research into content providers for my own small business consulting website in Bend OR., and for my small business and startup customers that want to create their own wordpress or blog based marketing promotion system.
I started with a well respected online favorite that I enjoy.
1). The Wall Street Journal, small business section.
I found a couple of interesting content providers.
1) Onespot.com
According to Onespot:
“The best content comes from a multitude of sources… it could come from anywhere. OneSpot helps you find the good stuff from all the good feeds. OneSpot Retail and Publishing customers have seen OneSpot drive amazing results across their sites…”
Its too expensive for me at this time… at $300 a month, however
I will be coming back to them at a later time.
In the mean time, I will be looking into similar companies to find feeds for my content pages and newsletters.
I will let you know who else is in the running.
Pretty busy getting the rest of the site up, but stay tuned.. for lots of good information and links for small business, consulting suggestions and startup businesses, particularly if you are in my market area of Bend, OR.
My area of expertise is as a consultant in marketing for small business. My goal is to provide no cost and low cost methods to jump start your move into social networking marketing.
I have a BBA in Marketing, graduated from the Honors college cum laude at Western Michigan University, and my MBA from Michigan State University. I have been a self employed small business entrepreneur for over 25 years, so I know where you are coming from. This is an opportunity of sorts for those who would like to follow along as I create BestBreedMarketing from scratch.
I will be creating original content, and providing a hands on approach for those that want to DIY with regards to their small business or startup website, branding and marketing. I will be providing feedback on how different methods actually work to increase traffic and business.
There are so many directions to take, and we have all been to the marketing websites, where the authors have tons of links to affiliate sites, and whitepapers that preach what to do. And I see a lot of marketers that do not practice what they preach.
As a client, it makes more sense to go with a vendor that is practicing what they promote.
So my comments will be based on what I find actually works, and I will also note what does not work. That should save others on the same or a similar path a lot of time and funds.
I would appreciate comments from viewers as to their own experiences and suggestions as we all move on towards perhaps similar goals.
If you have a particular topic you are interested in let me know.
