15 mins a day could be enough to help make your Facebook Fanpage thrive

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Created on Tuesday, 06 March 2012 10:39

Last Updated on Friday, 11 May 2012 07:14

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Usually when starting a new website I also set up the customers Facebook account.     And more often than not activate automatic status updates from their website.   and then   THAT'S IT.   Other than some tips on Facebook usage like

1.   Try and post everyday
2.   Pin point those other Facebook fanpages that are relevant and talk to them from your fanpage profile.

Heres a video I made for a customer on Basic Facebook Fanpage Tips

Some customers take to Facebook well, while others struggle to post anything with any regularity.   Take a look at Wavelength Surf Mag Facebook fanpage even if your not into surfing then you should still become a fan as it'll give you an idea of how to make engaging Facebook content. Here's some things that work well for them

1. Ask questions in their statuses.   This produces a response from there fans.   Which both engages them, let's their friends know about the fact they've been on the Fanpage and keeps the status higher up on peoples feeds.   Therefore attracting more posts.

2. Post photos that demand a response or caption.   Take a look at this Funny Surfing Picture

3. Daily statuses and a North Cornwall Surf Report



You may at this point be thinking 'Sure it's easy to write about a hobby or a passion but how about selling my product'   . If you're selling Womens Clothes or Carpentry and Building Tools then it may be harder to think of daily content but these are still things people feel passionate about.

Time is money and as there is no direct daily proof your Facebook fanpage is earning you money then it can often get pushed to the back of your to do list.   But just putting back 15 MINUTES A DAY TO BUILD YOUR FACEBOOK PRESENCE could massively help your business in the long run.  

Let's take a look at some ways of improving your status regularity and increase your fan base. THESE THINGS TAKE NO TIME AND SHOULD BE BUILT IN TO YOUR WEEKLY ROUTINE



1. Tell your fans what you're up to. !!
It's an obvious one but if you've got something happening in the area or in the store then tell people about it.   In fact an event can make 3 post.
* pre warning of an event .
* the event is on post.
* after event photo.

For example if you where to give away free mini pasties on St.Pirans day .

Post one - announce it in advance.
Post two - It's on today.
Post three - how did it go. Why not where some black and gold and take a picture of the staff and customers eating pasties.  

( I'm sure you can think of much better ideas than this. )


2. If you have visitors/customers to your store then make an attempt to let them know you have a Facebook Fanpage. Why not make a poster and have it on the door as they leave.   Or make leaflets to put in their bags after a purchase is made.

3. Testimonials - if customers have something nice to say about you then why not ask them if they'd mind this going up on your Facebook Wall.   Be careful though, you shouldn't over use this but once every couple of weeks will be fine.


This blog was inspired by this blog Increase Your Local Facebook Reach .   Please take the time to read it for more tips.

How writing good blogs will improve your business

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Created on Wednesday, 01 February 2012 15:26

Last Updated on Friday, 11 May 2012 07:14

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You may have noticed that I haven't written a blog on   my website for a while.   Therefore we should embrace   the irony that this article will about trying you all   to blog more often.   ( actually I have been blogging   quite a bit but in my Littleripples Tech Blog. ) My   advice to you all this month is.

CONTENT is the most critical element of any website.   Yep it's old advice but one worth mentioning time and time again.

It's THE most important thing why a user may be on   your site. Adding content is paramount to the success   of your website and a blog is an vital part of the cog that will make your website succesful.



CONTENT TYPES

Whether the content on your site is products, images,   video or text - it's the content of text that will be the driving force of your organic hits from search   engines.   Therefore if you are using   images and video; then writing accompanying words to   desribe these or in the case of videos why not have the   a written version of the audio!; is a great way of   making sure these items are getting found by search   engines and users alike.

From your regular blog then you can then link to your   main keywords that you're targeting,     targeted   advertising .   The main thing is that when   producing content you're creating something that your   users really want.   So in fact when it comes down to   it 'how writing good blogs will improve your   business'   is basically about trying to understand   what your users want out of your website.


WHAT DO USERS WANT

I'm going to split this in to two categories.

Fisrtly lets look at our own use on the internet and   examine that to see if that has any bearing on what   your visiters want.

You've read over 300 words of this blog and you're   still here, why is that ?   Every morning I also   digest a handful of articles from others around the net, if I where   to take one element that links almost all of those   blogs it's this SELF IMPROVEMENT.   Whether it's about   ways to improve my income, save money, talk another   language, improve my surfing .   This means my RSS   feeds,   YouTube subscriptions and Ipad apps are over 75%   taken up with life improvement tools.   Lets face it you saw the   header and your brain has picked out the words   'improve your business' and I've kept your attention   ever since.   Now lets have a look at your business   how does 'SELF IMPROVEMENT' apply to you and your business. Here's an   example.  

Surfboards - not only do people want to buy but   they'd also be interested in fixing dings, tips   making sure they get the right surfboard and learning   how to improve their surfing.

Womens Clothing - buying clothes is already a type of   'self improvement'.   Looking good can help you go   further in life.   How can you make your website a   better experience for your users so they can find   what they want.

The second category is just simply entertainment -
we don't want to be stressed about self improvement all day long. Sometimes it's just good to unwind.   Shopping and surfing can fall into this category too.  



AND FINALLY...

I just want to give a shout out to the Wavelength Surf Mag Team who nailed the way to engage fans in the way they post on Facebook. With regular 'captions please' on relevant images and questions to keep their users engaged.  
The picture in the following link managed to get 88 comments and is a very funny read funny surf related caption photo

Why not sign up for Wavelength's facebook fanpage - it'll give you inspiration for your own pages.     here's the link www.facebook.com/WavelengthSurfMag

OceanBlueClothing - went online last week.

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Created on Thursday, 24 November 2011 22:19

Last Updated on Friday, 11 May 2012 07:14

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I've recently finished a new online store for local Polzeath Clothes  Store Ocean Blue Clothing.

You maybe thinking that it's a bit late in the day to be coming into the  online store market - about 10 years too late !!  However the advantage  of starting at any point is that you can make sure you make the most of  the current trends and technologies.  And in this day and age that means  being up with Social Media trends - so not only are there buttons for  Facebook - Clothing Retailer and Twitter but we've also incorporated the  Google Plus button.

*  The front page has a Facebook Fanbox wall with the latest status and  some of their friends.

* Automatic statuses are sent to both Facebook and Twitter.

One thing that hasn't been added are social media and a Facebook 'LIKE'  button. Although that is something that will be suggest in future  improvements.

THE IMAGE VIEWER

One of the biggest features of the site is the image viewer.  This gives  you a better view of the image as you roll over.  If there's more than  one view then easily change the picture by choosing another view  underneath.

Other Store Features include.

* Easily searchable

* Google Checkout and Paypal payments.

* Multiple Attributes ( colours, sizes )

* Unlimited amount of products can be added

Admin Features

* multiple Images and Files (like Spec Sheets and Flyers) per Product

* Product Attributes (like Size or Color) can be added to Product

*Product Types for Classification (like "Car", "Motorbike" or "Music  Album")

*Shopper Groups for Customers (allows different Price Levels and Payment  Options),

*multiple Prices per Product (Quantity-based and/or Shopper Group-based  Prices)

*flexible Price Display (number & currency formatting; including or  excluding tax)

*On-the-Fly Price Conversion between different Currencies using Live

Rates from the ECB or other banks

*Shop Statistics / Control Panel with a Summary of new Customers, new

Orders....

*Stock Level Control for Products and Item

*Order Management with Order History, Customer Notification and Order

*Edit Functionality

*basic Reporting Feature: sold Items, monthly/yearly Revenue

*Order Status Management

* manage different Currencies, Countries & States

Ocean Clothing is mostly a Womens Clothing store - at present they stock

for The Masai , Great Plains , Fitflop , NYDJ more will follow.

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Social Media - Not a complete waste of time

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Created on Monday, 10 October 2011 12:09

Last Updated on Friday, 11 May 2012 07:14

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A few years ago a friend of mine who ran his own business used to tell me that his frequent visits to the local pub where  actually where the large part of his business was generated.   It's hard to believe. Although I had to give him that as a  mechanic who specialised in MOT's, Exhausts and Tyres he did  service pretty much every other regular at the pub including  myself.  Don't think for a second that it was chore from him  though, I'm sure he enjoyed his after work drinks as much as  anyone. The clever things is he'd made this normally time  consuming and costly pursuit into a plus point.

So how does this  transcend  to social media. Do contracts and  money exchange in the same way on social media website.  It may not be as powerful a method of being chosen to for jobs as  knowing someone in the physical world but you can use these tools to your advantage in promoting yourself and what you do.

Your ONLINE Social media CV

Are you aware that potential employers and clients  will try  and search you online.  Keeping this in mind then you need to  keep in mind that your Social Media presence needs to show your  good points.

Here's some things you should remember.

* Make sure if you get tagged it goes into quarantine first.

* when writing status consider whether if that's in with image you want  to put forward of yourself.

* Loads of photos of 'nights on the town' aren't going to look  good. Although letting you hair down once in a blue moon  shouldn't be anything to worry about.

The fact of the matter is Facebook isn't really geared up to  help you promote yourself in a business but it is the leading  Social Media site so  unfortunately  we have to deal with it.

They're are better social media platforms for businesses.   LinkedIn is widely recognised in business circles as leading  social website for professionals.  It can often get forgotten  though as other platforms are more dynamic and engaging. Here's  some tips on usage LinkedIn Profile Tips

After I initially making creating my account on LinkedIn and entering only basic information - to get some insight into what  LinkedIn is all about I hadn't made many visits back there.  On  recommendations from others though in that LinkedIn has given them proven results in increased revenue I've now spent a half  an hour following the above tips.  Why not add me as a contact  on http://uk.linkedin.com/in/littleripples - it's always good  to have more contacts.

A new player to the social media circus is Google Plus - and  Google Pluses Circles is absolutley perfect for being able to  present yourself in the way you want it to the people you want  to get that message to.  To be honest it's a format I've been  craving for ages.  In the realms of twitter I've now got a  handful of accounts. One for every hobbie or interest I have.   This has happened on the basis that I reasoned that people who  sign up for my feed on Polzeath Beach wouldn't really want to  hear me going on about SEO techniques .   And with facebook I'm  more fussy about who I add to my friends list, as I don't want  to be showing pictures of the family on the beach to every tom  dick and harry that I meet. Google+ is the perfect solution to that the only problem at the moment is that take up is slow and thanks to an  oversaturate  social media market may not take off.

Check out this movie about Using Google Circles.

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Spending time on Social Media websites may not be as a bad usage of your time as you may think.  Used wisely it may help you reach some of your business goals and on the flip side you can use it as an excuse to chat to your mates online !

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