With autumn here and firmly entrenched, it’s time to give your company’s holiday marketing schedule some serious consideration. The holidays are one of the best times to reach your customers. Sluggish summer habits get a burst of energy with the snap of the cold and the thought of holiday parties and gift giving. Use this time wisely to attract more customers, and to better serve your current clients.

1.)    Make plans: It’s easy to foresee using a fall and winter marketing schedule, but less clear cut to actually establish one. Plan for the holiday months early, and determine any promotions or discounts you’d like to run. Coordinate these promotions with your bursts of advertising or direct mail—haphazard planning in this regard has been many a company’s downfall.

2.)    Utilize a direct mail campaign: Once you’ve run the numbers and determined which promotions or marketing you can afford to run, use direct mail campaigns to educate your customers. Consider synching your mailing campaign with promotional e-mails, blog updates, and social media promotion. The more cohesive, the better.

3.)    Make your company website holiday appropriate: This doesn’t mean changing the company colors to red and green and posting a garish, bright holiday banner across the top of the page. In fact, we might recommend against such updates. However, talk to your graphics and web designers about sprucing up the company page with a few little holiday reminders. For inspiration in this regard, think Google’s mostly subtle logo changes. It never hurts for a few quick prompt about the holidays to jog a customer’s memory.

4.)    Update website user-friendliness: It’s reasonable to expect higher website traffic in the fall and winter months, mostly due to the circumstances of the weather and events. For companies in the home repair business, you can bet things will start going wrong the day before a customer’s house party, or just when the temperature dips below freezing. Be prepared for an influx of web traffic by updating parts of the company website. If you’re in the retail business, is your shopping cart button prominent on every page? Is it simple to purchase from your company? The last thing you need is a lengthy product purchase process that allows customers to get distracted and put off buying. Consider utilizing wishlists or other interactive ways to encourage turning one time buyers in loyal customers.

5.)    Utilize SEO: Like we mentioned in our previous blog on SEO, don’t be afraid to make your company as search-friendly as possible. This might include upping the number of blog posts, or changing the titles of your pages to include some more relevant search terms.

 At the heart of the matter, all that this comes down to is effective preparation. Be sure that you’re ready for the changing weather and tides of consumerism. Have quality staff, effective promotions and proper schedules set aside. Such arrangements can mean the difference between coming into the holiday months blind and coming in prepared.

One of the more hidden aspects of marketing is SEO, and it’s crucial. You may read SEO and be tempted to bury your head in the sand, but we’re here to tell you that it can make a world of difference—and that it’s not as scary or time-consuming as it sounds.

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, and it can be summarily described as the Google-ability of your company. There are a multitude of tips and tricks that can launch your website up the search engine ranks, and many of them just require a few quick tweaks to your existing practices. SEO has exploded in recent years, with books, papers, and professions being built around the practice of maneuvering websites higher up search engines. There have been some scandals, mostly with some companies abusing the system by flooding the internet with extra tags and claims for products that they don’t actually sell, or that doesn’t accurately represent their websites. For the most part, however, an SEO campaign can be a clever way to boost yourself above your competition, and it cannot be ignored.

To really begin to understand the web of SEO, it’s necessary to delve into the basics and work your way up. Search engines like Google rank pages based on a few secret formulas, but it’s fairly universally understood that more legitimate pages rank higher. For example, your unknown company blog will appear more credible if a legitimate page links to you, and thus your blog will rank higher. There are plenty of qualifications for legitimate pages. Some are simply established by age, some are established by popularity, some, like Facebook and Twitter, are megaliths in their own rights. The beauty of this is that you can link your Facebook pages to your blog or website, and Google automatically recognizes this as a more legitimate page than one with no links. Promote cross linking between all of your pages to encourage the flow of traffic and SEO optimization.

In that same vein, having links and references on your page will also optimize your SEO. Another way to increase your visibility is to make sure the titles of your pages reflect your company succinctly. The Google search spiders don’t look at website pages as we do, they scour the HTML and plaintext, and therefore they won’t be impressed by your fancy images, but they will scan the first few words of your titles. Titles that reflect your business will be turned into keywords and your page will be more accurately discovered in Google.

Tags and keywords are another way to increase your SEO. At the end of each of your blog posts, having descriptive keywords and tags not only organizes your site for your visitors, it provides the search engines with a way to classify your page. Make sure you have a variety of tags—for example, this blog post might have the tags SEO optimization, social media, marketing, small business optimization, franchising, etc. Be sure not to overtag, as search engines frown upon it. If you overtag your website with inapplicable terms like “shoe shopping, free dental work, and Leonardo DiCaprio,” you may find yourself booted out of the system and back to square one.

SEO is a wonderful tool because it allows you to exert a finer degree of control over where your website appears on the internet. The tips above are simple, yet effective tricks to move your page up from page 234 of Google to perhaps page 10—and more advanced research can lead you to page one, and the multitude of profit potential that exists in such a place.

Recently, I had the opportunity to interview Mary Thompson, the president of Mr. Rooter and the chair for VetFran, about the VetFran program. It was an eye opening chat, and one that I believe deserves to be advertised as much as possible.

VetFran was founded after Desert Storm in 1991, by Don Dwyer, the founder of the international franchise company, The Dwyer Group. After 9/11, Don Dwyer’s daughter, Dina Dwyer-Owens, the current CEO of the Dwyer Group took it upon herself to revitalize the VetFran program. There are over 400 members of VetFran, all franchisors looking to give discounted franchises to veterans. The current chair of the program is Mary Thompson, the president of Mr. Rooter. So far there have been over 2100 deals given to veterans throughout the years. And Mr. Rooter, Thompson’s own company, has been named by USA Today as one of the Top 50 Companies in American to work with veterans.

“I was a franchise owner before, and I’ve done every job since. I’ve been on every side and seen it from all levels,” Thompson said. “That’s why I’m so passionate. I know I would not have had the success I’ve had without the marine corp. and the franchising business teaching me how. Veterans make the best franchisees: they are disciplined, but follow a system. We are looking for leaders who want to lead toward a common goal.”

Indeed, a marine sword flashes from the walls of Thompson’s office, a flash of deadly silver and ivory handle polished until it glows in the late afternoon sun. Thompson herself speaks on the subject with true passion, as evident by her recent travels to Washington DC to support the new Help Veterans Own Franchises Act.

“The bill is a win/win situation,” Thompson said. “It gives veterans tax credits up to $25,000 of the franchise fee. This money is cash that veterans can then invest back in the company. It pays taxes back into the community. The veteran now has a job, and also has created jobs, and the franchisors end up with a great franchisee.”

As the chair for VetFran, Thompson has spent her time trying to expand the program to its limits. Through her leadership, the website has been redone and a portal is being created to marry veterans with different job opportunities. Their goal is to increase the number of franchisors on VetFran 15%, and they’re already part of the way there to next year’s goal.

“At a recent event, VetFran experienced 4 percent growth at a single event,” Thompson said, relish in her voice. “The greatest thing about the program is that VetFran isn’t just doing ‘the right thing to do.’ VetFran is the right thing to do, but it’s also the smart thing to do. Franchising is a great medium and a great match between veterans and franchisors. Veterans ‘get’ the system. Most people have to be taught that.”

Through her many engagements, like speaking at the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities, Thompson has had the opportunity to spread her knowledge about the world of opportunities available for veterans and franchisors alike. Having wounded warrior, Staff Sergeant Shilo Harris there, however, as living proof of her words, made the impact all the more tangible.

“I always have said ‘If not now, when?’ when it comes to VetFran and veterans programs, and Shilo said something that has really stuck with me. He told me ‘That’s not a question, that’s an imperative.’ And he was right.”

Helpful links:

The VetFran website

Information on the Help Veterans Own Franchises Act and how to help:

If you spend any time at all on any social media, or perhaps if you have opened a newspaper, or even if you simply exist, you’ve most likely heard about the uproar regarding all of Facebook’s new changes. Coming within days, Facebook will be unleashing their most radical change yet—and this one, unlike many other small changes, may be enough to give you pause.

Though it’s been occurring gradually, Facebook has become more and more attuned to you as a user. In fact, Facebook now has its own smart lists on your profile, where it groups your close friends, coworkers, and schoolmates together with absolutely no input by you. It is alarming that Facebook is becoming more intelligent by the day, but that can be attributed to the marvels of technology. Soon enough, the shock value will be gone and we will wonder how we survived without it. That is not the issue. However, the new Facebook that will be released soon does have ramifications, and they are implications that need to be addressed not only on your own personal profile, but for your business as well.

Recently, Facebook has already made some changes—there is a real time feed along the side, along with the intelligent groupings akin to Google+’s Circles features—but the real change will occur in a few days. Facebook Timeline.

Facebook Timeline is being met with both roars of approval and cries of outrage. It is, for sure, one of the most dramatic steps Facebook has ever taken and it’s a big gamble for founder Mark Zuckerberg. Previously, once your post or status has disappeared down the newsfeed, it was unlikely you’d ever see it again. Facebook Timeline is looking to change that. Along with revamping the general design of Facebook, including adding a massive photo banner at the top of each profile, Facebook Timeline will allow you to go back throughout your entire Facebook history. Your older material will be there, and you will have the chance to edit and add to the timeline, effectively creating an online scrapbook of your time on Facebook. Your past will be clearly laid out for you—and everyone else on the internet—to follow. Privacy settings will remain, allowing you to keep things private, however people change drastically in just a few short years. For professionals, it is crucial that you take a look at your old content and make sure that what you might have posted as a college senior five years ago isn’t something you’d be ashamed for your new boss to see.

With this ability to look into the past, employers now have a swifter and more deadly tool to weed out applicants in interviews. Though Facebook has not released information about how this new timeline will affect business fan pages, there is much to chew on in that arena as well. With the whole of your business’ past spread out on a page for anyone to see, it is imperative now more than ever that it be monitored frequently and that every post is one that you’d be proud to have a customer see. Employees are now under the microscope and must also scrutinize their pages and past to make sure everything reflects well on them as a person and them as a business professional.

Facebook Timeline is going to be the story of the day in the coming weeks, that’s never been a question. What is a concern is managing your previous history with your current situation in life and managing your business’ page.

Now, more than ever your social media presence is vital. If you’ve been pushing your social media presence off, it’s time to get back in the saddle and manage your brand before your customers form their opinions without you.

Despite today’s downturned economy, or perhaps because of it, more and more business owners are discovering the secret of stability and prosperity: franchising. Franchising, though not for all businesses, is an ideal way to grow your company. Franchising allows for the duplication of successful business plans and then applies them directly to your own business. Through the aid and support from the Dwyer Group, you as an owner can spend less time bogged down in the time-consuming minutia of daily business life and can apply yourself to improvement and expansion.

The Dwyer Group is comprised of 7 potential concepts that you might be interested in operating. One of the greatest benefits of working with the Dwyer Group is that you can either convert your existing business into a successful franchise, or you can start from scratch and build your franchise from the ground up. This flexibility allows you the freedom to run your company, while also having support when you require it. Between the Dwyer Group’s proven business plans and excellent training opportunities, becoming a franchisee means starting out ahead and with more connections that you could previously dream.

There are 7 potential franchises that encompass the Dwyer Group, and each one has its own unique benefits and is recession-resistant.

Rainbow International- Rainbow International is in the smoke, fire and water restoration industry. This industry is both recession-resistant and profitable. In addition to those basic services, Rainbow International also offers mold removal services, biohazard clean up and commercial services. With a Rainbow Franchise, you will receive full training and support, and will receive help from our national accounts and marketing team in order to help you get the optimal number of jobs for your business.

Glass Doctor- Not only is Glass Doctor the largest fully franchised residential, business and auto glass franchise company in the U.S. and Canada, they also have the ability to make your existing glass company skyrocket. With a Glass Doctor franchise, you will have access to experts in specialty glass services that can drastically increase your client base. Through a franchise with the Dwyer Group, you will have access to discounts and rebates on all that you need to run your company, and access to special, proven business systems that will streamline your company and maximize results.  

Aire Serv- Aire Serv is a leader in the heating and air conditioning industry, an industry that is both competitive, profitable and always necessary. By opening an Aire Serv franchise, you can learn how to increase profitability, have access to our cutting-edge research and learn to expand your existing company into something much greater. With over 175 locations worldwide, there are hundreds of franchise owners in a support system, as well as the entire Dwyer Group team, who will provide help and information on running a successful business. 

Mr. Appliance- Mr. Appliance is the largest fully franchised appliance repair company in the world. By opening a Mr. Appliance franchise, you are getting the chance to benefit from fifteen years worth of experience in servicing high-end appliances and operating successful businesses.  The industry is both dynamic and competitive, and many people previously owning appliance repair services have made the switch to a Mr. Appliance franchise and seen their companies really take off.

Mr. Electric- Mr. Electric is an electrical home service provider with impeccable connections. Already the official electrical home installation partner of the Home Depot, this powerful alliance has helped our franchise owners become leaders in the industry. With this franchise, you will be able to provide special electrical services like solar patio lighting, security lighting, custom projects and much more. As a franchise owner in such a successful business, you will be allowed the freedom of running your own business with the security of support from other franchise owners and headquarters just a phone call away.

Mr. Rooter- A leader in the plumbing industry, Mr. Rooter allows you to build a successful franchise due in part to the training and business services you will receive on your induction into the franchise family. With a long, illustrious history, Mr. Rooter was founded in 1974 and has grown to over 300 franchise locations across the United States, Canada and Europe. Opening a Mr. Rooter franchise means that you will have access to important help that will allow you to focus your time on improving efficiencies and performance. As always, being a part of one of the Dwyer Group’s franchises also means that you will receive the immense discounts and rebates available through the Dwyer Group’s many connections. 

The Grounds Guys- The newest franchise opportunity in the grounds and lawn care industry, The Grounds Guys franchise comes with all of the systems, training, support and tools to become a fully profitable and competitive franchise. With all franchise territories in the United States open, opening a franchise has never been more accessible. Regardless of your experience, you will receive top of the line training  and you can focus on streamlining your business to maximize profitability.

Whether an existing business owner or a new one, any one of these franchises can help you take your business to new, impressive heights. Having the support of other franchisees and the invaluable training and resources from the Dwyer Group means adding layers of security and aid that are difficult to find in smaller, non-franchised businesses. Many franchise owners have praised the system, stating that they are able to devote their time to actually running the business and expanding it, rather than simply putting out fires as soon as they spring up.

Convinced? Click here to get started.

The times of business are changing, and the internet has been at the forefront, leading the charge. Now, instead of searching through phonebooks to find specialized services, most people bring their hunt to the internet. There are endless reasons why: speed, convenience, etc., but also because the internet provides what the yellow pages do not: customer reviews.

As human beings in the internet generation, we feel more comfortable in taking advice from complete strangers than simply picking a name from a hat. Typically, this is a good thing. Truly excellent businesses are allowed to shine through their positive reviews, while their lesser competition gets bogged down by deserved negative reviews. However, there are always the one of two negative reviews that really scare people off of a certain service or company. There reviews might be there for a whole host of reasons. Honestly, some people simply like to stir up trouble. They might have had a less than satisfactory time with your company, or perhaps they’re mistaking you for a different company. No matter the reason, negative reviews need to be dealt with, for better or worse.

But how? You may ask. I have no control over the website and this review is chasing off sales!

Never fear, there is hope. Follow these tips to battle negativity and encourage likability and your company will reap the benefits of a greater and more positive online presence.

1.)    Stay calm and never lash out when angry: There are probably very few things in the world more aggravating than Googling your company only to encounter an atrocious and malicious negative review about your company. The review might be an outright lie, but the most important thing to remember is to never lash out when angry. The internet is like an elephant, it never forgets, and people have long memories. If another prospective customer logs on, reads a negative review and then reads you screaming back at the negative customer, they aren’t going to be prospective for long. Remove yourself from the situation and do not post anything for at least 24 hours. By then hopefully your rage will have cooled, and you can begin to make amends to your online reputation.

2.)    Offer to meet and discuss the issue: So you’ve waited 24 hours, you log back in and the review still gets your blood boiling. That’s normal, especially if the critique is warrantless. The best way to run damage control on the situation is to respond to the review in a calm, collected manner and offer to make reparations. Perhaps you could respond by saying: I’m sorry you feel this way about your recent service with Your Company. We would like to get to the bottom of this issue. Please contact us at this number, or feel free to come into our office to discuss your situation personally. We look forward to seeing you. This approach doesn’t just nip the issue in the bud, it makes you look coolly rational and willing to deal with even the most fractious consumers.

3.)    Don’t get bulldozed: No matter the business, there will always be people in the world bent on tugging the tiger’s tail. These people might be looking to take advantage of you, or perhaps chancing on the bet that you would rather pay them off than deal with them. They might be looking for refunds or rebates, and they most likely will have done things like this before. If you truly look at the situation and realize that they are making outrageous demands with no fact to substantiate them, do not simply give in to what effectively is blackmail. They are holding your company’s reputation hostage, and giving in will not serve the company’s best interests. Be polite, but firm.

4.)    Ask yourself if there truly is a problem: Though there are always the pranksters and scum looking to simply ruin a day, oftentimes customers who post negative reviews really do feel cheated and wronged, and this is something to take very seriously. Perhaps your employees mishandled a situation, or maybe something went wrong on your end. Investigation into complaints can turn your most staunch opponent into your biggest fan if you resolve their issue quickly and show that you value their opinion.

5.)    Build reputation in other ways, effectively drowning out the bad noise: A lot of the time, you cannot simply wave a magic wand and remove the bad review from the review site. The best way to counter a bad review is to drown it out with positive ones. Give people a little credit, most people will not take the one negative review seriously if it is lost in the flow of happy customers. Build your company’s reputation by providing excellent service, but also by boosting your online presence. This will also help with your SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and will drown out the negative voices.

1.)    Converse, don’t just sell: People don’t want to be lectured to, and the minute you start rolling into a sales pitch, oftentimes people begin building their reasons why not to submit. Build relationships and it will become their idea to use your services. The different is palpable.

2.)    Respond! The glories of social media: Oh social media. You’ve added a face and a personality to companies. No longer are we simple names in the phonebook, or even an address on the web. Now, through social media, companies are living, breathing entities that can interact personally with their customers. If a customer posts something on your Facebook, negative or positive, write back to them.

3.)    Inquire and ask for opinions: People love to give their opinions and they love to answer questions. Make your social media pages as interactive as possible and your online reputation will become infinitely more likeable.

4.)    Honesty and genuineness: Perhaps the most important point, it’s very easy to read something for its genuineness. Your customers are going to go with the company that they feel is the most honest, hardworking and which will ultimately give them the best deal and experience. Allow your honesty to shine through and negative reviews will become a moot point.

By Laura Shaheen

We could fill this space with the normal platitudes: “There’s no time like the present!” “Time waits for no man!” “Don’t put off on tomorrow what can be done today!” But besides those being irritably cheery, the core message is the same, and it’s one that’s existed since the start of humanity: get going. There are 24 hours in a day, and oftentimes we feel like we’re barely treading water as it is. That is when our real nemesis creeps in. Our worst enemy isn’t our schedule, or a bothersome coworker, it’s the mentality that perhaps, when the time is right, we might start buckling down to making things happen.

That’s the biggest excuse we hear from budding entrepreneurs about starting up their companies. There are a host of others: money issues, age issues, experience and confidence issues, but what all of the issues boil down to is that we live in a nation ruled by procrastination. There will never be a time when all the stars align, when you’re making more money than you’ve dreamed, and you have vast quantities of free time (However, if you do manage this, hats off to you. Perhaps you should look into motivational speaking.) For the rest of us normal folk, entrepreneurship is intimidating and we put it off.

No longer. Check out some of these tips, and get going.

1.)    Make the time: We’re all strapped for time. Honestly, sometimes it might seem like you’re pulled thin enough, by work, by your family, by your friends. The point is, however, that everyone you know is in the same boat. Twenty-four hours a day is all we have to make our impression, day after day. You have exactly one lifetime to leave a legacy. In the case of dithering over whether to get into the franchise business, follow the rest of our tips. Make time to research, and then think long and hard about whether the decision is right for you. Learn to prioritize and time-manage. A firm handle on those is like the key to the universe.

2.)    Turn struggle into a lesson: It’s tempting to ignore your struggles. It would be so much easier to turn a blind eye to your failures, and to avoid thinking about the mistakes you’ve made coming to the point you’re at this very second. While it’s not healthy to overly dwell on mistakes, neither is it beneficial to simply push them from your mind, time and time again. Learn from your mistakes, and then learn to push them away once you’ve established what you did wrong. As human beings, it’s instinct to make excuses, even to ourselves. Getting past that barrier of lying to oneself is like its own victory in the war of success.  

3.)    Research until you drop: This point, though down here at number three, is the cornerstone on which this entire article rests. Research. Perhaps opening a franchise isn’t right for you. But without research, you will continue to devote day after day to it in the back of your mind, hemming and hawing as you go over points with no facts to back them up. But perhaps entrepreneurship is the right road. Without making the time to learn, there’s no way that you can move forward. This is procrastination at its most aggressive and damaging. Arming yourself with knowledge can be what defeats the fear, and keeps procrastination at bay. Succeeding in this one aspect is one of the more vital aspects of entrepreneurial victory.

4.)    Discover online tools: Though this ties into research, we felt it deserved its own category. There are so many online tools available to the starting business owner. Cloud computing has become big, allowing you and your employees to access files no matter where you are on the globe. Skype can allow you to make international visits face to face, while other social medias keep you connected in a way that would have been unimaginable just ten years ago. There are also online tools to help you cut costs, like online faxing.

5.)    Buck up and accept responsibility: Finally, responsibility is what separates the go-getters from the mosey-alongers. Accepting responsibility for yourself, your customers and your employees is what can end up maximizing profits and allowing for growth. It’s easy to glide along on a wave of excuses, and most of the time people won’t even call you out on it. They probably recognize their own shortcomings in your words. “Yes, the economy is bad. I would do the same thing,” they say. However, if you accept responsibility and work through your struggles, you will command respect, something that can never be bought, and you will succeed where countless others have failed. That makes you special. That makes you unique.

Make the time, do your homework and take the reins of responsibility. It’s tough, it’s everyday, and it’s not for everyone, but those, as bluntly as possible, are the qualities that will push you into success.

At first glance, social media looks like a zoo. Between phrases like tweeting and retweeting, Facebook “likes,” and Foursquare “check-ins,” it’s easy to see how many business owners simply take a look and then leave the social networking to someone, anyone else. However, it’s unlikely that you’ve avoided social media completely, and that is a step in the right direction.

Social media experts (both self-proclaimed and the one or two Mark Zuckerbergs out there ) are a dime a dozen, but what they’re saying does have value: embrace social media. It’s here to stay, and where else can you potentially reach 250 million people in one place? When the internet rolled around, a new playground was born and rules changed. The same thing is occurring now, instigated by websites like Facebook and Twitter. With a firm grasp on social networking, your company can quickly not only announce its presence, but it can add something to your client relations that’s impossible to find in a newspaper ad or a television commercial: real, human interaction.

One of the most important and worthwhile things to remember about social media is that there are real people behind the blocks of type. When a customer writes on your company’s page wall to thank you for the service you provided, you get a chance to write back to them and actually interact. That tiny effort, that simple acknowledgement, can do wonders for the good will of your business. If a customer complains on your Facebook wall? Don’t delete it out of hand. Talk to them, figure out the problem, and then try and make reparations. A client you might have lost forever could now be telling all of his friends about how Your Company so quickly addressed his problems. People idly scrolling down the page can see how you treat customers and just like that, more business.   Facebook, Twitter and other social medias are powerful tools, and they don’t have to be intimidating. Check out some of these helpful tips for social media and your page will blossom.

1.)    Create an account and maintain it. This is one of the most critical steps, and though it may appear self-explanatory, it’s the one that companies most often forget. Once you make your Facebook Page, or create your Twitter account, do not simply leave it there to wallow in the internet wasteland. Assign someone to monitor your social media. Without proper monitoring, you might never even get this wonderful opportunity off the ground. If you’re finding yourself strapped for time and knowledge, consider creating a marketing internship position. College students in the area thrive on social media, and marketing internships are highly coveted and highly sought after. Pretty soon you’ll be weeding out the best of the best from your applicants and setting their minds on improving business for your company.

2.)    Create content, don’t merely advertise. One of the reasons that people elect to “like” your page or follow your tweets is that they feel you have something to add to the table. Use this opportunity to inform your fans about things they might not know. Give them a reason to consult your page, and above all else, keep them from regretting they added you.

1. a.       Creating content

i.      Post helpful tips that apply to your customer’s needs. In the yard business? How about some free tips on landscape management?

ii.      Make your company human: post pictures of your employees, have interviews with satisfied clients. The more interactive your page is, the longer people will stick around to look at it.  

iii.    Ask questions, use polls, and get people talking. Make people want to check out your page in the mornings.

3.)    Always keep your eyes open for new ways to advertise. With the proliferation of social medias mobbing the internet, Facebook and Twitter aren’t the only options around. This is especially true depending on the typical demographic of your specific clientele.  A new contender, Foursquare has hit the market hard, increasing their users from 1 million to 10 million in one year. Foursquare is a check-in application at its heart, and as a company owner, if a user checks in at your location, you can offer them a variety of small discounts while they create buzz with their location being posted on various internet profiles. In addition to Foursquare, other social media platforms are changing the ways that people find businesses.

Overall, social media has proved time and time again that it is here to stay and that it can be an effective and inexpensive way to reach consumers you might never have anticipated. If you have a social media page already, give it a makeover, if you don’t have one, well then, what are you waiting for? New ways to spread your company’s name are being created almost more quickly than companies can keep up with, and that simply is an opportunity that cannot be missed.

But how can small business owners use social media to establish themselves on the Internet?

Facebook is, by far, the most popular form of social media on the web. Millions of people around the globe have a Facebook profile and are checking it constantly.

Facebook allows business owners to create a profile specifically for their business, and every person who likes the business, or wants to know more about it, can become a “fan” of it. After becoming a fan of the business, they will now be notified every time the business posts something on Facebook.

Although it is relatively new compared to Facebook, Twitter has become a force to be reckoned with on the web. Twitter bases its communication not on writing on peoples walls, but solely on updates posted by users.

Twitter is similar to Facebook in the same way that it uses status updates to communicate with consumers. People “follow” your business on Twitter, and whenever you post something, they are able to view it on their news feed. In the past, this would have been comparable to posting an ad in the newspaper or a billboard on the side of the road.

Why is this significant? Instead of having just a handful of random people see an advertisement, hundreds of already interested consumers will now see every promotion or announcement your company makes.

Both Facebook and Twitter are very easy to use, and are quickly becoming essential tools for business owners. If you haven’t already done so, make a Facebook profile and a Twitter account for your business. They are both great ways to advertise for free and a great recourse to communicate with consumers.

Are you utilizing your methods of social media correctly? Are you employing social media in a way to keep and attract customers’ attention and interest, or have you become the page that people click “Ignore” or (Gasp!) “UNLIKE”?

Below, I hope you all will find valuable ways to keep the customer first and foremost in the mind. A business is NOTHING without customers, and building your customer following can start, or continue, with online social media.

That golden, goopy, sweet and delicious honey:

Cover up that vinegar with some honey!

Dear Abby [Insert franchise name here]! A primary reason customers look to connect with companies via social media or by Google is because they need you to fix something. If you provide it, they will come. Have the easy-peesy answers to simple questions available at their convenience, but also invite them to ask you directly via an @name tweet or message on Facebook. A great way to boost your following is to simply provide a fun tip each day.

A GREAT example is @MrAppliance. They search for comments on Twitter with “broken” or an appliance name, and respond directly to those users with, “No need to make food in the microwave. Look up the nearest Mr. Appliance and give them a call. We can fix it!” You have to give people a reason for sticking around and remaining a fan of your page or Twitter account.

Good PR is a two-way street! How to improve a service if there is no feedback? People REALLY like to feel like their opinions matter (AND THEY DO!) When you invite them to comment on service, it makes them feel more valued and not just your average, run-of-the-mill customer. If you invest more interest in their opinion, you have a friend/customer for life. Not to mention those wonderful “how are we doing?” posts you can put on Facebook and Twitter, fearlessly inviting the world to see how your customers view you. Those companies with guts are able to handle anything, even a bad review. Ask how you can improve it!

SALE ON AISLE 8! Let’s face it, people LOVE bargains, coupons, ANYTHING to save them money. The primary reason customers connect with brands is to take advantage of promotions or coupons, so bring it to them in the simplest of ways, a click away!

Customers are willing to “like” a page with the hopes that the brand will “thank them” by giving them a discount or special offer. When you’re creating these offers, aim higher than the mundane and average, “10% off…” Make sure it’s something unique and is an offer people will want to cash in.

Guarantee a coupon for following on both Twitter AND Facebook. Host contests on Twitter with trivia related to your concept and award the first 10 people who respond with the answer and your @direct name! Make sure you are reaching out to people in the way they WANT to be reached out to; the new-age of social media is upon us, people!

Make ‘em laugh, make ‘em laugh, make ‘em laugh! Okay, no one likes a sourpuss with absolutely NO sense of humor…But a class clown isn’t exactly what we are shooting for. You want to show the world your personable side, without losing their confidence in your brand.

There is no harm in posting a link to something funny (within good taste/reason), to a recipe or to something you support (like The Ronald McDonald Charity House, Relay for Life, etc.). Don’t bombard them with opinion, stay out of politics, but make them realize you aren’t an automaton that posts blogs, never reads comments, doesn’t care what people are thinking, etc. Have a blog that details what you did with your family, post pictures of the grandkids; essentially help them to get to know you.

But here comes the vinegar…

R.E.S.P.E.C.T. I was always taught, religion and politics are NOT dinner conversations. Don’t make following you on Twitter or Facebook an awkward or embarrassing fact. I know I have deleted a cousin or two who spouted off religion-related rants or politic-fueled fodder just because I didn’t want others to see it!

Be Switzerland. Make sure you allow your followers their rants about your service (or praises!). If you invite it, it will be given. Treat each and every comment as if it will help your image, (and you would be surprised, bad comments help too!)

Don’t start pointing your finger or criticizing the customer, because who knows, maybe they will remain loyal to you!  Instead of censoring their messages because it’s not nice, have a public discussion with that customer on how to improve!

I. Am. A. Robot. Another reason people’s fingers hover over that “Unfollow” or “Unlike” button is because they can’t get around your updates and Tweets to see others! Don’t flood the screen with information.

A Tweet or three a day will suffice. A question or blog update twice or thrice a week will do. Don’t change directions so many times that you lose their interest. You can even have a theme per week, if it floats your boat! You know your audience best, so go from there!

Tumbleweed Tweeter. You know those old Westerns where, to emphasize nothingness, a big tumbleweed floats across the screen? Do NOT be that tumbleweed! You are emphasizing to your customers that you CARE, therefore you need to actually be there… I know, it’s a shocker.

You want your image to be between a season veteran grandpa of five and a helicopter parent. Show you care enough to let them comment freely on your brand, while also emphasizing that you are there to help with absolutely anything they need. (Pretty spot on, don’t you think?)

If you start something, like a blog, Twitter account, Facebook or something else, maintain it! Nothing annoys people more when they go to the trouble to find you online, only to have you disappear on them. What was the point?