small business social networking – InovediaMarketing.com

You’re sound asleep in the middle of the night. You wake in a cold sweat because you’ve got it! There it is, the golden marketing idea that will bring the masses to your door! So, where do you go next? Who’s going to execute it? Is it even realistic?

I’d like to introduce you to mFormer.com because I think their concept could help a lot of people get started on marketing projects big or small. Their new online resource for locating a wide range of marketing services and vendors could be especially helpful for business owners and marketers who lack they’re own marketing departments. mFormer.com also offers a free referral service, you can submit your project and they will get you started with vendor suggestions. If you’re a marketer you can create a free listing in their directory here.

SHOP AROUND: Whether you want to start at Facebook community, flyer a neighborhood or spread viral videos, don’t be afraid to schedule face to face or phone interviews with numerous marketers. Even seasoned marketers learn more about projects just by requesting bids and occasionally you may find out a project is more affordable than you thought! If you can’t hire out an entire project it’s a great idea to hire an experienced marketer as a project manager. They can help shape your idea, evaluate the folks you want to involve or simply layout guidelines and directions for you follow.

AVOID “DIY” MARKETING PITFALLS: Like many projects, marketing projects are often more complicated that initially thought which makes them more expensive in time & dollars! Let’s face it, everyone’s trying to save a buck and most don’t have a choice, but many projects are better not done than done “on the cheap.”

Try to avoid:

Taking on too much. Whether it’s you or your staff, everyone makes this mistake and it’s an opportunity killer! You can get sloppy, distracted and so can your staff. Be fair to yourself, can you really make this project a priority?
Recruiting your sister, cousin, uncle or the next door neighbor’s kid for “skilled labor.” Even if they are Photoshop experts, for example, “free labor” tend to miss the big picture. Designs tend to lack brand consistency or worse.
Handing over Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn accounts to interns! This is your identity & reputation we’re talking about. It’s also an opportunity for you to listen to your customers!

What’s your story? Got a horror story from a project you should have hire out or tips on hiring the right company for the job? Please share in the comments.

While I have no direct affiliation with mFormer.com and I have not used their services myself, in the spirit of “transparency” I want to point out that you will find InovediaMarketing.com listed on their site in the Social Media Marketing category. We offer new & traditional media marketing services such as multimedia project management.

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Good luck!

Richard (@richardbouchez)

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*Mall questions photo by Wok on Flickr here

*Pen mightier then sword photo by feastoffun on flickr here

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Claiming a community of 30 million, Linkedin.com is a social network for professionals offering small business owners vast potential for increasing their bottom line whether they have national, regional or local customers. Here are some straightforward and some “more clever” ways you can tap into that 30 million users to get real results for free.

Make a More Personal Connection: Don’t just offer your Linkedin connection to colleagues and peers. Offering a connection to everyone from customers to clients and venders is a great idea! Doing so shows customers you are online, and more importantly, it’s a meaningful gesture sure to give you an edge on the competition who is probably not engaging customers in the same way. Remember, and this relates to your business too, at a restaurant everyone wants to know the owner!
Make a Great Impression and Improve Your Image: Once you have a Linkedin profile, encourage customers, clients and venders to give you a “Linkedin” recommendation. Here’s why: If I’m looking for a home builder and I Google “custom + homes + your area” your Linkedin.com profile will help you appear toward the top of that search. If I Google your name, there is an even better chance you will be at the top of that search where I can be very impressed by: your many flattering customer recommendations, your well defined business description, expert answers you’ve provided to Linkedin questions (see next tip) and direct links I am now presented with to your website.
Answer Linkedin questions: Regardless of what your business does this will build your brand and promote it in the Linkedin community. One could argue that this is particularly relevant for B2B and national services, but certainly anyone can benefit. By answering questions related to your product, brand or service you are placing your name in front of a large attentive audience and effectively soft selling your services to potential customers! You can also directly offer your services to “question askers” but be sure that your “answer” is actually helpful to the asker or you will be doing yourself a PR dis-service.
Keep Track of important and “not so important” contacts: By connecting to practically everyone you meet via Linkedin you will build yourself a “one stop shop” for keeping track of customers, clients or whomever. You don’t have to keep up with them because as they update their own information it will be available to you. When that time comes for you to make some quick cold calls, reach out for a favor, check in on a customer who hasn’t been by in a while, or quickly push excess product, their information will be sitting there waiting for you!
Test Your Ideas: Join a Marketing group and utilize the “start a discussion” feature to act as a focus group for your marketing materials to test new ideas you have for expanding your business before you take the leap. You will be putting your ideas in front of a large well spoken community of professionals, many of whom are upper level executives and creative types in large agencies who you may otherwise never be able to connect!
Connect with other Small Biz Owners: By Joining a Small Business Group you will find many small businesses owners and other small business resources readily available to you. Some of these will be local to you and some won’t but having the wide and diverse group will serve you well.