Monthly Archives: May 2010

Growing Sales with Social Media

Social Media 4 Small BizWe have a repeat visitor today! Grant Griffiths, the co-founder of G2WebMedia, a firm that designs custom blogs for individuals and businesses. He's the man behind Home Office Warrior and Blog for Profit, where he has a new program called "Start Blogging Today". Grant is also the Marketing Director for Headway Themes, a super customizable theme for your website that integrates seamlessly with WordPress. We use Headway here at Bigg Success!

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icon for podpress  Hear Grant talk about growing your sales with George & Mary-Lynn on The Bigg Success Show! Click the player to listen [4:44m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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Mary-Lynn FosterGrant you've been very successful at selling your products and getting people in your network to sell your products in the social media space. Tell us how you've accomplished that.

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George KruegerYeah, because I can't tell you how many TWEETS I saw from all sorts of people during your product launch of Headway Themes

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Grant GriffithsWell I use more than Twitter. I have built an audience with my blog, Blog for Profit, and the guys involved who helped promote the launch all had great audiences for their blog and a great network. That's one of the keys. If you are going to launch a product or service, and you are going to use the internet, you need to start early to connect with other bloggers. Getting promotional help online won't just happen. It takes time and effort to build a network to get this accomplished.

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Mary-Lynn FosterHow long have you been building your network?

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Grant GriffithsI've been blogging going on five years. Realistically to accomplish what we did with the launch of Headway, you will need at least four to six months of network building to pull that off.

Start building your network for your blog before you have even launched your blog. Start commenting on other blogs, and email other bloggers, and offer to write guest posts for other blogs. Start building your network in your niche, and for goodness sakes don't be afraid of your competitors. Michael Martine of Remarkablogger and I are competitors, but now we are partners. We found it a lot more powerful to collaborate than to compete. It is so easy to collaborate with people online.

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Mary-Lynn FosterWhen you officially launched Headway, you had a very big group of people talking about it, making videos about it, blogging about it and tweeting about it. How did you orchestrate all that help?

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Grant GriffithsI started talking to people well ahead of the launch, confidentially. I sold them on Headway first. We let them beta test it and build their sites with it. I also kept the core group in the loop with constant email updates…here's what's happening, here's where we're at, here's the latest version, etc. We really did that right, because they just ran with it when I told them it was time.

In addition, I wanted them to make money. I love paying affiliate fees for Headway, and we've got some affiliates making some really nice money every month. When you have this network of people who trust you and love what you are doing, it makes it much easier, because you have this sales force out there helping you promote your product.

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We are affiliates of the Headway Theme, so should you decide this is the answer for your website, please consider purchasing through us!

Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file:
http://media.libsyn.com/media/biggsuccess/00587-051910.mp3

Finding Customers on Facebook

Social Media 4 Small BizWe are continuing our social media for small business series with Deb Brown…aka "Debworks" on the internet. Deb works with small businesses,creating social media plans that work for them. She is an in-demand speaker on the topics of community, shopping local, Facebook, Twitter, blogging and the internet. You'll find advice from her on her website, Need A Little Advice.

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icon for podpress  Hear Deb Brown talk with George & Mary-Lynn about Facebook for small business on The Bigg Success Show! Click the player to listen [5:50m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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Mary-Lynn FosterLet's say I'm a small business owner and I've just set up my Facebook Fan Page. Who should I ask to "like" me?

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Deb BrownWell I'd like to take a step back, Mary-Lynn. Do you already have a personal page set up on Facebook?

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Mary-Lynn FosterYes I do.

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Deb BrownAre they your friends and family?

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Mary-Lynn FosterFriends, family, and people in my network.

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Deb BrownAre there also people that work in your local community?

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Mary-Lynn FosterDefinitely!

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Deb BrownThen those are the people you reach out to.

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George KruegerWell that was easy!

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Deb BrownPeople forget that is simply the old party-line concept. I live in a town with only 144 people, but I live closer to the town with 4,000 people, and everybody knows what everybody is doing because they are all on Facebook! So if you have a small business, make friends with other small businesses in your local and surrounding community.

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George KruegerI think people get intimidated by Facebook because you go in and there are so many people…facebook is suggesting friends, friends are suggesting friends and pages. But instead of becoming overwhelmed by it all, just start by reaching out to the people you already know.

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Deb BrownAnd keep this in mind, if you make a friend with someone and they start to make you crazy like a couple of tele-marketers I've picked up…

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George KruegerAre you talking about me, Deb?

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Deb BrownI actually like you! But you can always unfriend somebody, so you don' t have to be afraid of making friends with someone you don't know.

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Mary-Lynn FosterSo I've got my Fan Page, I've reached out to my friends, family members and colleagues, but my page is bland. I've tried to be engaging on my page, but no one is responding. How I can turn that around?

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Deb BrownLet's take a step back once again. Is your business the same way?

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Mary-Lynn FosterHmmm, sure I'll say I'm boring.

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Deb BrownIt's very important to look at that because things show up everywhere in your life, they don't just show up in one aspect. So if you find out your Fan Page is not working the way you think it should, take a look at what's going on in your business. Take a look at your involvement in the community. Are you a volunteer? Do you give back?

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Mary-Lynn FosterWhat a great way to spice up your page, by talking about your community along with sharing the way you are involved!

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Deb BrownThat's right. And it is also very important for a small business on their fan page to not only talk about their business, but talk about other people too. Share links to other places. It's all about sharing the love!

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George KruegerThat's a great point, and it's also important to keep in mind that networking isn't only face-to-face or only online. The real power comes from combining the two.

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Deb BrownAbsolutely!

 

Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file:
http://media.libsyn.com/media/biggsuccess/00586-051710.mp3

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