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Different uses for QR codes for small business owners

Friday, June 11th, 2010 by shahar

We get a lot of questions about our favorite social media tools. Well, most social media tools can be useful in one moment or another and when they help you convert prospects into customers or strengthen the relationship with existing customers, I tend to love them.

There is one social tool that I think is one of the best things out there for savvy business owners.

It is the QR code. This simple code does something that every small business owner should dream about every night. It creates a bridge between the printed or offline world to the online world.

How powerful is that?

qr codes

I don’t know about you but when I started my business money was not easily available and every penny spent counted. One thing that annoyed me a lot was going to networking meetings and passing some flyers knowing most of them would end up in the trash really soon. If at that time QR codes were around things would be different.

QR codes stand for quick response codes. They store a lot of data- around 250 characters. Not enough? Well, it is a lot more than a tweet and people are doing just fine marketing themselves with tweets.

The QR codes can be scanned with any smart phone and will take the person to a web page, a coupon, a contest, whatever you can imagine. Just think of the possibilities. They are simple to create and very inexpensive. People can check right away and get the offer right away too.

Authors for example can have QR codes at the end of their book with an offer. Yes, I know you can add a web address to a page but let’s face it, how many times have you gotten a book or a flyer with a web adreesand took to your computer to check the URL? For me, most of the times I make a mental note to check the URL and then just forget.

I think QR codes can become huge allies for small business owners. Maybe what is missing is just some ideas on how to use the codes, so here is a list I compiled:

linking to full text journals from print journals; making mobile friendly videos available at the point of need; embedding videos & links to extra help online in printed guides.
QR Code on bus stations to allow you to purchase ticket without typing the message.

At bus stations with the schedule
Geo caching adventures
Share presentations
Music Downloads
Apps downloads
Self-branding
Geo-based reviews
Geo-based tours
Green tickets
Fashion
Product details
Offers
Event details
Contests
Competition details
Contact details- we use them in our business cards
Coupons
Random coupons- Starbucks does this very well, each time you scan you get a different offer.
Social media Ids
Links to your videos
how to information in products
How to information in printed materials
Book offers
Authors bio
Use in Billboards
Use in your shop window to entice reviews
Maps
Invitations
Link to your blog
Special offer on flayers
On trade shows
On trade shows where when you scan tells you to go to a specific booth for a freebie. (saw this one done by a company called Print concierge. Very clever!

Probably there are many more ways to use QR codes, just takes a little imagination and as usual, action.

Want to master marketing for small businesses? Try Small business marketing mastery program

Posted in Business, Marketing for small Business, Small Business Marketing | No Comments »

Refining your positioning

Monday, June 7th, 2010 by The BuzzBooster Team!

Positioning is not a simple thing. you don’t get done in one day. You need to answer several questions in order to know how to position yourself in the market as a small business owner. You need to know exactly who is your ideal client, in what business you are really in and what is the end result your provide.

You may get quite close to the perfect positioning but there will be some refining over time either because your business changes or the market changes.

Have always in mind that there are two main reasons that impact sales conversion: the level of trust people have in your company and how clear is your message to your target audience. Positioning has to do with both of them.

We try to refine our promise to the market every now and then because we think that although it is ok, was never perfect. We finally think we have something that will resonate well with our audience and makes the message really clear about what we do.

It is: Your modern marketing GPS.

I don’t know about you but I love my GPS. It took a lot of frustration out of my life and quite a few arguments between my daughter and me. i don’t get lost anymore and I arrive wherever I’m going with no anxiety and on time. We named our GPS Nicky. We are about to buy another one for our geoaching experiences.

They are a piece of new technology that don’t invade your life and are extremely useful.

We believe that what we do as marketing advisors is pretty similar. We provide the kind of knowledge that people can apply and see results. They don’t feel overwhelmed or anxious and can track results. We can guide them to amazing new places in their business and lead them through business breakthroughs.

So we are quite content with this promise.

Tell me about yours

Tags: business promise, business tagline, gps, marketing advice
Posted in Business, Small Business Marketing | No Comments »

How FourSquare and Mobile Marketing Benefits Users and Businesses

Saturday, April 10th, 2010 by shahar

I’m not a game person but FourSquare caught my attention since the beginning. Some call it a game but I see it as a location-based application that works with most smart phones.

Nashlah started using FourSquare on its first moments. She just loves it. Even though, right now, there are a lot of professionals saying they know all about it and are super users, you should take a look at what she’s done in a small place like Salt Lake City: Nashlah on FourSquare

Most social media gurus focus on tactics and telling people how to use the tool, but they seldom talk about business strategy.

Let me show you how businesses can benefit from Foursquare. Have in mind that the application is addicting because users will compete for mayorships and badges which is something that ends up benefiting businesses. The app promotes exploring the town and trying new things which is great in itself. It will tell you if a place is trendy by the number of check-ins, and if you accomplish some requirements that vary from business to business you may win a badge.

Why is all this important to businesses: visibility, popularity, more customer loyalty, more business.

Why do people do it? They like to compete, they have ego, it is fun and they can promote your business even though you might not be aware of it happening.

Have in mind that people want to become mayor of locations and oust previous mayors. When this happens they get posted publicly to twitter and Facebook with your business name and a link to your business’ profile page on foursquare.com. The same may happen when they arrive at your business.

Well, there are already savvy businesses using Foursquare to promote their business. A bar in San Francisco gives free drinks to the mayor of their location, and gives $2 off any performance night for those that show the phone and prove they checked in. This obviously motivates people to come back to the business and to use even more the application. In Las Vegas if you become the Mayor of the Miracle Mile Shops you’ll get your face and name on the 126-foot LED video screen. Big companies like Brave network, Pepsi and the New York Times are also using Foursquare. AJBombers a restaurant, did a Foursquare party and increased business in 110%.

Foursquare is already working on showing banners with the promotions.

The other day we were checking in at the movies and a message popped up telling us to try a restaurant around the corner with a coupon for us to use. What a proactive way to promote businesses in nearby locations!

The application allows people to recommend the place and suggest favorite dishes. It allows businesses and people to connect, bring foot traffic to the place and recommend to others. What more can a business wish for?

Badges for your business and badges to sponsor events is another possibility. For the users the more badges they have the more fun it is.

So, to put it into perspective, here are a few things you can use Foursquare in your business for:

Coupons

Special rewards for mayors or check-ins

Encourage customers to come back

Special promotions on slow days.

Be a sponsor of Foursquare leaderboard.

Brand awareness

Deeper connection between customer and patron

Instant feedback

Promote events

I always say that the gold rush today is for being found, and getting attention.

About the being found part: Google and Bing maps are showing Foursquare venues when people search locally. Foursquare pages rank on search engines which means your business name, phone number and link come up.

Foursqare has the potential to revolutionize social media and turn it into a form of currency.

Out of the over 1.4 Million venues, only about 1200 venues have special offers. Less than 1% of businesses are going after this amazing opportunity. It is free.

Remind me how much you’ve spent with advertising that didn’t work? So what are you waiting for?

Posted in Marketing for small Business, Small Business Marketing, Social Media Marketing, mobile marketing | 2 Comments »

How to outsource and delegate in your business

Friday, March 12th, 2010 by The BuzzBooster Team!

You can only go so far in business without the help of other people. For most small business owners, there comes a time that they know they need to start getting help but don’t know how they can really afford to get help and are not clear on how to manage a worker.

Usually, getting the first person to help is the challenging decision. Fear comes to stop you and you will need to overcome that in order to grow. You might have to give a leap of faith. After the first one, this will not be an issue anymore.

Remember that you don’t have to hire an employee. You can start just outsourcing.

I for one, don’t like to micro manage or to be stuck inside an office when I don’t have to. So far, we have a great team that is outsourced.

Now, about the part where you are not clear on how to delegate tasks and how to outsource what to whom, a simple way to deal with that is to use a simple spreadsheet.

It can be really frustrating if a virtual assistant comes to work for you and you just don’t know what tasks to do.

First understand that you will have to delegate, even if you think only you can do it well. This is a trap that won’t allow your business to grow.

Now, back to the spread sheet.

Use 3 columns.

On the first column add areas that you could use advice or help like accountant, lawyers, marketing.

On the second column put all the things you could outsource or teach someone how to do it.

The third column, add things that only you could do. Remember that tasks can always be outsourced, strategies not so much, so you should focus on strategies.

For column one, you should find the expert to help you with those tasks or teach you how to do it fast. Focus on the things that you are good at and outsource the rest. For example, I am not good with numbers, so the first thing we outsourced was accounting. It also makes no sense to spend time in something that I could pay $45 an hour to someone when my time is a lot more valuable than that.

On column 1, you have all the tasks that could be easily delegated to a freelancer, a virtual assistant or a part-time employee.

The third column is for high-profit activities, where you should focus. These are tasks that you get paid a premium and that you enjoy doing. If you free time with the other 2 columns you will be able to increase profits, grow your business and do things you love.

Now, here at BuzzBooster Marketing we use an open source software to manage our products and the people we outsource to. Since we have more than one business and people are not inside our office, the software helps keep things a lot more organized and we can access anytime, anywhere, even from our phones. There are many project management softwares out there, from free to very expensive for you to use.

In order to find people to outsource to, there are also many options. Guru.com and Elance.com are two of them.

Prices in these places tend to be very interesting but don’t forget to check the person’s portfolio and past projects.

Mechanical Turk.com is a new option that seems to work really well. Check that one too.

You can pay people per project or by the hour.

Again, don’t waste time with tasks that are not worth your time or that you are not good at. Focus on becoming even better on the things that you already excel. Outsource all the rest.

Tags: busines, delegating, hiring, outsourcing
Posted in Business, Small Business Marketing | No Comments »

Anything or Whatever? Marketing a Small Business

Tuesday, October 27th, 2009 by The BuzzBooster Team!

Who Pops Your Popcorn?! Episode #42. Would you like anything or whatever? Is it getting hard to make decisions? Is there an opportunity here? Show hosts are Shahar and Nash with marketing training. Click HERE to watch Who Pops Your Popcorn?! Episode #38 Now!

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Download Who Pops Your Popcorn?!.

Posted in BuzzBooster TV Show, Small Business Marketing | No Comments »

Why they use Twitter?

Wednesday, August 26th, 2009 by The BuzzBooster Team!

Twitter forecasts that by December 09 it will have over 50 million users. Google took 10 years to have 50 million people a day using its search engine and Facebook took 19 months.
Why people adopt tools like Twitter in such a fast and passionate way?

Many reasons there but one main reason is that tools like Twitter allow people to have a mass 2 way communication and this is very powerful for people and for businesses.
It is the one to many and many to one era.
Instant feedback is another powerful reason.
We can also say that many people look for leaders to help them live a better life and Twitter allows them to listen and meet other people.

The possibility to meet people is another big reason. Kind of the same reason you would go to a party. To have fun, meet people and learn more about them.
Here is where most businesses fail not only when using Twitter but other social media tools.
They meet someone and the next second they are either trying to sell you something or offering something for fre@.
People are not interested at this moment in getting things from you, they just want to know you better and maybe start a new relationship.

Do you invite friends to a barbecue and right when they get there you try to sell them Tupperware?
Same common sense goes here.
Sales will happen later when they get to know you better and the trust level is higher.
All you really have to do is let people know you better. At least a little better than they know your competition.
Did you know that 63% of people on Twitter follow people that have a nice smile?

Do you approach a guy with a sad face at a barbecue?
One frequent question we get is: But what do I do there on Twitter?
Perry Belcher, a heavy Twitter user says that 30% of the time, you should tweet about things that would make people’s life better, 10% you would compliment people. (that is something we all need more of), 20% try to make people laugh and 40% of the time you would provide good content. When you provide content you can add some soft sales calls.
I believe that is a good mix.
You should try Twitter. Twitter can be a great marketing tool in your business.

We all feel comfortable doing the things we are used to do but you need to remember that in this new economy, just trying to do more of what you have been doing thinking that will do the trick is not an option. It is like running faster on the same path trying to get to a destination when the destination is in a different place.

Posted in Small Business Marketing, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Blogging in corporations

Tuesday, August 18th, 2009 by The BuzzBooster Team!

Very often we get companies that want to start a blog because they think it is an easy way to generate more traffic and leads. That is not the primary benefit of a blog and it is important to understand that. Of course, because blogs tend to be keyword rich, over time that will help your rankings, but this is almost a side benefit. In order to generate traffic and leads, the company needs to be seriously committed with the blog and understand that they are after a blog generates recurring traffic with a regular readership. To achieve this goal, the company needs to create engines of engagement that will bring people back to the blog. A regular readership is the end goal for the company.
There are a few things that a company needs to consider before starting a blog.

1. Long term commitment
2. You need to engage people. It is not about just giving information about your company. Ask for feedback, ask for questions.
3. Press releases shouldn’t appear on a blog.
4. Have a face and a personality. People don’t like companies, they like other people.
5. Accept criticism
6. Be real, be transparent
7. Summarize a post at the beginning and in the title. Be controversial to grab users attention.
8. Use headings to grab attention and summarize content.
9. Use images to break up the copy and communicate key points.
10. Don’t make long posts. Less than 500 words.
11. and yes, your competitors will read your blog. Don’t worry, that is part of the game.

Posted in Small Business Marketing | No Comments »

Utah Pulse Interviews Shahar & Nash with BuzzBooster

Friday, July 31st, 2009 by The BuzzBooster Team!

We were interviewed by local news giant Utah Pulse about business storytelling, social media and consumer engagement. Take a look… I think it’s quite interesting, if I can say so myself!

Posted in BuzzBooster TV Show, Internet Marketing, Media, Small Business Marketing, Small Businesses | No Comments »

Online Video for Business

Friday, June 5th, 2009 by The BuzzBooster Team!

Smart businesses today know they have to use online video in their marketing mix. It is a powerful and really inexpensive media that reaches millions of people around the world.
One option of doing online videos for business when you think that producing a video would be complicated, is to use screen capture softwares. They record everything you have on your computer screen like photos, power point presentations and it records together with your voice. When you save, it saves in a video format ready to upload.
Screen capture videos are easy to use, fast and a great option if you want to use presentations you gave before or created training videos.
Animoto.com is an online option to create a video. It is very easy to use. Great if you are doing just for fun or to communicate with your list, but it is not the best option to make videos to promote your business.
Jing.com is another option. It allows you to create a 5 minute video really fast. It also records what is on your screen. I use it to send instructions to my virtual assistant. We also keep all videos with training material, so when someone new comes onboard to our team, he or she can watch the videos and be trained and we saved hours that we would spend training ourselves.
Producing an online video can be done today by just using your cel phone or by getting a Flip camera. You point, shoot, hook to the computer and upload. It is really simple.
Some things you can accomplish with online video:
The best option when doing online video for business is to create your own Web TV show. This would help branding you or your company and because a show happens every week or every two weeks, you would educate your audience to come back and watch the show. Consistency in social media is king. Your own show would also establish you as the intentional choice for your market.
You can have an online infomercial about your product or service, for a fraction of the cost for traditional media.
Put your video resume so you can find better work opportunities.

Have a book trailer to promote your book and sell more.

Have videos on your site that will increase traffic and conversion.
Add video testimonials to your website- they have a lot more credibility
Have video on a squeeze page to generate more leads. This is a great option for local businesses and are proven to increase at least 30% the response rate.
Create training videos to employees, virtual assistants or for your site.
What about having you show up and walk on your website and introduce your business? Your website will be more engaging with video and audio than just plain text.
When you use online video, these things happen:
You will reach millions of people without spending a dime
You’ll rank on Google really easily with a video for your main keywords
Better branding
Become a celebrity
Double your business.
Get higher fees when you sell.
Reach millions of people without spending a lot of money.
Be perceived as the expert.
Get clients to call you.
Sell larger amounts of products.
Have your Bioclip.
Use this easy and cheap electronic marketing tool so that people around the world know your name.
Some Examples:
Gary Vainerchuck started his show WineLibrary.tv and his wine store went from 1.5 million a year to 10m.
Blendtec a blender manufacturer is the greatest example on YouTube and they sell more blenders on a weekend than they used to sell in their best month.
Our show Who pops your popcorn? Reaches thousands of people every week and generates not only more clients but more PR.
And there are many more companies that benefit from the use of online videos.
You heard it, people respond better to visual.
No one has a problem to click the play button and people love to watch video.
Why not invest in your ability to take control of your profits, increase your lifestyle and make a substantial amount of money simply because you chose to get yourself on an online video?
The cost: It is really low if you compare to any kind of media, with one big difference: There are 154 million people watching videos online. It is more than if you combine all tv and movie screens! So, start planning how you want your video to be. You can use your home camera or even your computer camera to shoot your video and there are many cheap and easy softwares to help you edit.
You don’t need to edit though. Social media is about being transparent and real. Online videos should not have a lot of production and some mistakes are ok as long as the content provides value.
Want to understand and have step by step instructions on how to use online video?
Try our modular training at: training.buzzbooster.com/onlinevideos

Posted in Small Business Marketing, Social Media Marketing | No Comments »

Using Twitter

Monday, April 6th, 2009 by The BuzzBooster Team!

“What is Twitter?”

Twitter is a website that allows registered users to post short comments up to 140 characters to their followers: other Twitter users who subscribe to your posts, or “tweets.” Posts can be made from the Twitter website, from numerous cell phone applications, and from instant messenger clients like AIM, so “tweeting” is very easy to do, from pretty much anywhere.
You can think of Twitter as instant messaging from one to many and from many to one.
At a first glance, you could think that Twitter is for people that are bored, and at the beginning, this was probably true until some people began to tweet at conferences and events.
Within months of launch, a few experimental brands saw the opportunity and jumped on the Twitter bandwagon. Comcast, often a target of angry bloggers, began to answer customer service queries on Twitter. H&R Block started offering tax advice.
Simultaneously, many applications were developed to allow easy tweeting. This led to a tremendous rise in the number of users, resulting in the Twitter we know today with over 6 million users.

Are companies using Twitter?

Yes, they are and every day more com onboard, they finally realized that they can be using Twitter for outreach, customer service and engagement. Here is a short list:
• Whole Foods
• Marriott International
• Starbucks
• Urban Outfitters
• Carl’s Jr.
• GE
• Overstock.com
• American Apparel
• TJ Maxx
• Fast Company
• MTV
• Wall Street Journal
• ESPN
• Apple
• QuickBooks
• Dell
• CNN
• JetBlue
• Virgin America
• Ford
• Comcast
• Dunkin’ Donuts

What to Tweet about?

Twitter can be used in two ways. One is to convey information, the other is to spark discussions.
Ideally, a timeline should contain a good mixture of both kinds of tweets.

Here are a few options used by companies:

• Give tips on one specific topic
• Customer support.
• Feedback
• Category/sector news
• Company news that are interesting
• Current events that impact company business or that you are promoting
• Reports from the floor of events such as conferences
• Special offers to Twitter followers (discounts, promotions, contests)

Don’t forget to use your imagination. Some companies are already using Twitter to take orders and suggesting different uses for their products, others have Twitter parties for specific groups.

What not to tweet about?
Just Tweet about things that could add value.

How much time will this take?

Twitter is a qualitative, rather than quantitative, brand channel. It’s a great tool to build dialogue, engender trust, establish brand loyalty, and to raise awareness.
Try to spend 2 to 4 hours a week on Twitter.
If you think it is too much, reallocate some of your time and effort away from older techniques and try the new. You’ll have fun, learn a lot and will be able to demonstrate new expertise and innovative marketing approaches.

What is proper Twetiquette?

• Stay positive. It’s easy to get snarky, easy to scoff.
• Thank people who follow you with a Direct Message. Twitter allows you to send private messages (called “Direct Messages” or DMs) to individual users. Rather than publicly replying, send a DM saying thank you.
• If someone asks you a question, respond via DM. If your response would benefit a number of followers, reply publicly.
• If it makes sense, thank those who retweet your tweets. If you see “RT @yourname” in your Replies, it means someone has found your tweet valuable enough to share with their own followers.
• There is some debate about automatically following those who follow you. Some think it’s only fair to follow those who follow you, as a sign of mutual respect. Others only follow interesting Twitterers, regardless of whether or not they follow you.

What is the first step?
Open a Twitter account, start following some people and listen to the conversation. You will soon get the feel and the addicting bug!

Posted in Small Business Marketing, Social Media Marketing | No Comments »

Marketing to Boomers, Social Media tools, and Much More! WPYP #27

Tuesday, February 10th, 2009 by The BuzzBooster Team!

On this episode of Who Pops Your Popcorn we talk about the game industry, and how boomers are more and more playing games, some green ways to advertise, and a cool tool called social poster. Click HERE to watch Who Pops Your Popcorn?! Episode #27 Now!

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Download Who Pops Your Popcorn?!.

Posted in Business, BuzzBooster TV Show, Small Business Marketing | No Comments »

More companies using online social networks to advertise

Tuesday, January 6th, 2009 by The BuzzBooster Team!

Shahar was today on Utah’s Morning News talking about using social networks for business. It was a great interview and something a lot of people are talking about.

You may listen to the interview below, let us know your thoughts!

Click Here to Listen