 December Hosting Tip
Did you know that you have at your fingertips over 38 of the most popular open source web applications available anywhere? And did you know they are FREE to Happy Dog hosting customers?
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December Marketing Tip
Whether you love them or hate them, one thing is certain - giant social networking web sites like MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube offer one of the best marketing opportunities that's come along in years, and it's all FREE!
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Web Scam of the Month
With the ever-increasing scams that are popping up every day directed at web site owners and their customers, our hope is to use this column to give you a heads-up as they appear. In this issue we will discuss the ever-growing practice of "slamming."
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December Marketing Tip
Whether you love them or hate them, one thing is certain - giant social networking web sites like MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube offer one of the best marketing opportunities that's come along in years, and it's all FREE!
Social Media Marketing has quickly become an important component of a broader Internet Marketing approach. A well planned and strategic social media marketing campaign can not only dramatically change the overall sales and revenues coming through a web site, but can also significantly improve a web site's visiblity and page ranking in modern search engines like Google.
Though there are hundreds of smaller social networking web sites, the top four are MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, and most of your social networking marketing efforts should be directed at those.
How can you use these social networking web sites to your advantage? Simply by joining under your business name, setting up a basic page that is chock full of product information and important keywords, and then by inviting others to join you. From there, let the magic begin as your popularity grows in the form of link-backs.
Facebook and MySpace
Facebook is the world’s no. 1 social networking website. With more than 120 million unique visitors per day, Facebook is far ahead of its rival MySpace in online social networking. The huge user base of Facebook is attracting thousands of small, medium and large sized businesses and organizations. Consider this - every user on Facebook or MySpace is a potential buyer of online products and services from web sites like yours. However, the purpose of using Facebook or MySpace for business purposes is not only limited to selling products or services, it also acts as a powerful means of online promotion and is a click-magnet for search engines like Google, who put a high value in link-backs and popularity, translating to higher search engine rankings.
Twitter
With an exclusive and unique concept of "micro-blogging", Twitter has redefined the concept of instant messaging. Smart business owners are now using Twitter for making their latest announcements regarding new products and special deals directly to their customers in real time. It’s among the best and most cost-effective means of circulating a message to a large number of customers instantly. As part of a broader marketing strategy, every web site should have a place on their site to allow customers to sign up for their Twitter updates. You'll be amazed at how quickly this list will grow.
YouTube
YouTube is being used extensively for publishing brief podcasts by business owners and internet marketers. As a business owner, you can upload videos of your products describing their benefits or as a "How To" tutorial for your products. YouTube video is also being used by many companies for online support videos. All it takes is a simple video camera and a YouTube account. By setting up your own "channel" under your business name, you can upload as many product videos as you need, and each and every one of them will be included in the YouTube search database. Think of the possibilities of exposure among YouTube's etsimated 1 billion page views per day. The potential is staggering!
In today's economy, the right kind of Internet marketing may mean the difference between success or failure. Gone are the days when a monthly sales email was all that was needed to generate consistent sales. Online social networking web sites like MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube have presented a huge opportunity to attract thousands of new customers to your products. Start developing a social networking marketing strategy today and you'll see a steadily growing increase in your customer base. All it takes is a little bit of your time, because remember, it's all free!
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