by tradesmeninsights | Mar 31, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Trends, Social Marketing
Think about it. Wouldn’t you want to model your company around the most successful company in the world? We all use Google in our everyday lives, but have we really thought about what makes them so great?
Recently my son gave me a book by Jeff Jarvis from Buzzmachine.com titled What Would Google Do? I have to tell you, it’s the most interesting business book I’ve read in some time.
Jeff gives his insights on what makes Google so successful and practical examples (from service businesses to manufacturing, government and even religion) of how we should reposition ourselves to be more like Google. He highlights the “10 things Google has found to be true.”
Here are some highlights:
- You need a new attitude – to build trust, listen and don’t try to control.
- Customers are in charge – you’re better off ceding control to them.
- The mass market is dead. Mass niches are where you need to be.
- Free is a business model.
One of the challenges he gives us all is answering the question – What business are you in? Are you in the knowledge business, data, networking? Where is your value?
This books makes you think and re-evaluate your own business model. I highly recommend it.
by tradesmeninsights | Aug 11, 2009 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
A forum is a group of like-minded people who share a common interest in a particular subject. It could be anything from fine wine to travel to the best ways an electrical contractor can make more money. What’s great about the internet is it’s one big database where you can search for virtually anything.
Use Google or any other search engine and type in your area of interest, e.g. fine wine, and add the word “forum” after it (there are 2,170,000 results on Google for this). If you type in electrical contractors forum, you get 2,270,000 results. The point is, there are plenty of people that share the same passions as you do.
Forums do have rules you need to follow them. Some are written and some not. If there are written rules, they are usually posted. Remember, this is a social site, not a sell site. Forums are a great place to listen, learn and grow trust with the audience. So how do you get the most out of forums?
Here are 5 of my favorite ones from tips from Nicky Jameson from a recent post .
- Register for a forum – then lurk. Get the feel for the tone, style and interaction of the group you joined.
- Slowly start posting – once you get the lay of the land, start by posting an introduction. Then you can move onto answering questions.
- Build a reputation – do the basic stuff, that is, make good posts. Seek to establish yourself as an expert.
- Answer questions – provide the most complete answer as possible with the appropriate links.
- Share your opinion – make sure they know it’s your opinion so folks don’t confuse it with facts. Contrary opinions can be useful in highlighting an alternative option.
You can read her entire post at: 11 Steps For Getting Free Traffic From Forums.
by tradesmeninsights | Jun 12, 2009 | Marketing Trends, Social Marketing
A
new product is on the horizon that will have a major impact upon online communications.
Let me give you a heads up. The next big tidal wave will be made available to the general public later this year. It’s the top trending conversation on Twitter and is becoming a hot topic in the daily news cycle.
Google Wave is a new real-time communications platform. It’s one of the top Google product launches and is expected to redefine online communication. It’s being heralded as the next evolution of email.
Click Here to check out the Google Wave Developer Review
This will be an all-in-one communications tool. You only need Google Wave open to manage your Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, project management, email, etc. It will also replace lots of communications and can easily be embedded into your web site or blog
“(Wave) could very well be the game-changing communications tool that everyone has been waiting for.” Ben Parr, Associate Editor for Mashable
To learn more about Google Wave, check out Mashable’s Google Wave: A Complete Guide. Also be sure and sign up for Google Wave updates by clicking here
