Archive for Web Video Tips
Generation and Gender Gaps: Outbound vs. Inbound Marketing
Posted by: | CommentsThe Generation Gap
Many older business owners are still relying on traditional marketing methods, and losing ground to their competitors
These business owners see the internet as “too big” to get involved in, and don’t understand the value of engaging potential customers/clients in any way until they walk through the front door, money in hand.
Where Traditional Marketing Often Fails
It doesn’t matter to them that an entire generation of people — I’d venture they range in age from teen to early or late 30’s — use DVRs to fast forward through television commercials, or that they simply watch their programs online. This same younger generation uses iPods and satellite radio in their cars so they don’t have to be bothered with advertisements. They get their news online and will never see a print ad, and they’ve learned to tune out banner ads while they’re at it. This tech-proficient generation is so inundated with information, when they get “junk mail” most of it ends up in the recycling bin without ever being read. They want the older business owner’s services and products, but unless the business can reach them, they have little or no idea the business even exists.
In a nutshell, a business using outbound marketing tools will rarely reach anyone of the tech-proficient generation.
I’m in my late 40’s, and they won’t reach me. But that’s because I belong to a subset of the “older business owner” world, a subset who spends almost all of their free time online, building relationships, and often building them with that younger generation. We’re women. Women of all ages. We use the internet’s relationship-building strengths to drive business to our own doors, and we’re doing so in droves. And if you want to reach us with your marketing message, you’d better be doing it online, because that’s where we already are.
You’d better be using inbound marketing.
Inbound Marketing and Relationships
Older women who own businesses understand the power of inbound marketing on the internet
Women understand relationships and seek them out. It often comes naturally to us, so inbound marketing is a no-brainer for this subset of business owners. We also see inbound marketing as a great way to combine our natural bent for relationships with making a living in our businesses.
Yes, we get paid to be online, if we’re using our time wisely and we understand at least the basics of inbound marketing.
Inbound Marketing Tools
Inbound marketing tools include blogging and social media, especially on social media platforms where your market congregates. For most small businesses and their markets, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn are the big guns right now. Use social media to build relationships, then drive traffic to your blog or website, where you can show off your services, products, and expertise further. A well-written, thoughtful blog is a powerful tool for targeting your market even more directly, and building your online credibility and visibility.
Using video on your website offers interactivity with the person who’s found you through your outbound or inbound marketing efforts, and puts a face and a personality behind your brand. There are hundreds of ways to use video to increase your credibility and visibility online. Read “Using Video To Inspire Confidence In Your Brand” to see how Steve St. Onge, owner of Rhode Island Kitchen & Bath, uses video to drive sales once web traffic comes his way through his other marketing efforts.
I love the way KayakFishingSupplies.com uses web video on their own YouTube channel to give tips and show off their expertise, at the same time they’re increasing their search engine ranking and establishing their brand online. (Thanks to George Ross, a web designer, photographer, and SEO pro, for sharing!)
For businesses of any size, a critical inbound marketing tool is search engine optimization, to make sure your brand is on the radar when a potential customer is searching for your services without having the benefit of having seen your website address anywhere. Blogging, video and social media all work together to increase your website’s SEO rankings, when they’re done with SEO in mind. Small businesses who use the relational power of inbound marketing, combined with SEO and search engine marketing efforts, have an immediate and incredible advantage over those who don’t.
Again, women of all ages lead the pack in this arena of marketing, except among younger people who inherently understand that since the internet is home to their generation, that’s where their heaviest marketing efforts should be targeted. Sadly, an entire generation of business owners is missing out and falling by the wayside, unless we can get across to them that there are millions of people online who are interested in learning more about them.
But how do we do it?
Have you seen this generation and gender gap yourself when talking to people about marketing their businesses? How do you get across to the older generation of business owner that they’re missing the wave and paddling in shallow waters when they only use outbound marketing tools?
Note: Because I want your comment to stand, please read our simple comment policy before replying! Thank-you!
Michelle handles all Social Media for New England Multimedia. You can contact her by email, on our Facebook, or on our Twitter.
“Your Backstage Pass To Twitter” with Laura Roeder (Pt 2)
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Laura Roeder, "Your Backstage Pass To Twitter"
Yesterday I blogged about someone else for the first time — Laura Roeder, she of “Your Backstage Pass To Twitter” fame, among other endeavors. Her story is inspiring for those of you who want to build businesses that reflect your passions, who want to work for yourselves instead of being beholden by other people’s schedules and whims, and who want to hear that because of the power of social media and the incredible reach of the internet, regular people just like you can make it happen with some knowledge and ingenuity.
Read yesterday’s blog, “Your Backstage Pass To Twitter, Pt 1″ to get the beginning of the story and hear about Laura’s promotional webinar “The True Story of How a ‘Waste of Time Tool’ Launched My Six-Figure Business in Less Than 12 Months.” Don’t let the title mislead you into thinking this is another one of those “Get Rich Quick” schemes. It’s not. It takes work. It takes thought. It takes planning. But it’s work anyone can do, and best of all, harnesses the power of the internet and social media using free and inexpensive tools available to anyone.
More of Laura’s Story and A Few More Takeaways For You:
As promised, here are some more inspiring nuggets from Laura’s story about using Twitter to change direction and get the life she wanted:
1) Laura knew that networking is important, but she didn’t want to go to face-to-face networking events anymore, chasing down contracts. She saw and sees Twitter as one big networking event, and used it as such to build relationships with her followers. She gave very valuable tips on how to network, tips I’ve seen for face-to-face networking. Her point: Don’t be too “salesy”! Be interested in people!
2) Echoing something I’ve been saying to everyone, your online reputation is so important! Be encouraging. Be kind. Don’t criticize. Don’t start fights, and don’t take part in them. Relationship skills will go far in the social media world!
3) Leveraging her social reputation and her contact and follower lists, Laura decided to launch her first Online Training Program, “Your Backstage Pass To Twitter,” using a live video webinar format. She tweeted about a free promotional webinar she was going to host, which she did on February 12, 2009, with a launch date for the paid Online Training Program on February 19th. Excitedly, Laura shared that in that very first promo webinar, she made $3,000 in sales of “Your Backstage Pass To Twitter.” In case that’s not impressive, she shared that it would sometimes take her months to land a web design contract of that size (we know what that’s like). She made this in one live webinar.
4) Here’s where Twitter really worked for Laura. As she hosted her online video classes for “Your Backstage Pass To Twitter,” she would tweet about them, and her students would tweet as well — to each other and the world! The Twitter followers her webinar attendees had on their own lists were now hearing all about Laura and her training program. Free advertising for Laura and her brand!
Get People Talking!
By the way, at this point in Laura’s inspiring story, she didn’t even have a blog yet! A couple of months in, she built that blog using a generic, free template, nothing fancy, nothing embedded into another website. She said she hated to write, and the thought of having to put down her thoughts regularly in a blog was intimidating. Undaunted, Laura decided to use video to blog, and I’m sure that’s part of her success — video captures her personality and the “You can do this!” quality she has when she shares her knowledge and experience. Video blogging is the best way to make a human connection with your followers (note to self!). Of course, it helps if you have Laura’s infectious smile and her passion for what she does!
The best part of all? You can see that she’s one of us.
Everything Laura teaches is working for her: she’s building buzz. Here I am blogging about a total stranger, with no strings attached, no compensation, no reward other than I find her and her story amazing and inspiring. In a time when so many have lost their jobs, or have dreams of starting their own businesses but feel ill-equipped, she makes her viewer feel like everything will work out with ingenuity, relationship skills and a little hard work. My blogging about her is social proof enough for me.
The free webinar Laura gave yesterday was, in all honesty, to promote her online training program “Your Backstage Pass To Twitter” at the end. But that’s how she got the life she wanted, and got out of the career she was tired of. The way she talked about her paid online training program is so honest and refreshing, and she gave so much rich, useful content for free, that I walked away feeling like I just spent an hour with a girlfriend who’s made it and who shared her secrets with me.
Laura gave away much more valuable information that I’ve given you here. If you want to know how you can use Twitter to build the kind of reputation she’s built (and is still building), check out “Your Backstage Pass To Twitter.”
UPDATE: I just got word that Laura is offering her free webinar again this Friday, April 9, 2010, under the title “How I Built a 6 Figure Business From Scratch in Less Than One Year.” Do it!
Note: Because I want your comment to stand, please read our simple comment policy before replying! Thank-you!
Michelle handles all Social Media for New England Multimedia. You can contact her by email, on our Facebook, or on our Twitter.
“Your Backstage Pass To Twitter” with Laura Roeder (Pt 1)
Posted by: | CommentsOK, I Was Wrong
Laura Roeder
I had the pleasure of attending an exciting webinar yesterday with the refreshing Laura Roeder, author of “Your Backstage Pass To Twitter.” The name of her webinar was “The True Story of How a ‘Waste of Time Tool’ Launched My Six-Figure Business in Less Than 12 Months.” The name is so over the top, I was all but certain it’d be one of those “Work From Home and Make Thousands of Dollars a Day” scams we see everywhere — the ones we’re always shocked that anyone would buy into.
Admittedly, I only signed up for it because (a) it was free, so if it was a scam I wasn’t out anything but a few minutes of my time, (b) I’m new to using Twitter for our business (New England Multimedia) and hoped I’d at least get a couple of new Twitter tips I haven’t seen yet, and (c) she used video advertising and her personality was admittedly adorable. I wanted to give her a chance.
But frankly, I didn’t expect much of value because of the title. I even registered for another webinar that started as soon as Laura’s was scheduled to end, expecting that I’d be out of hers by then anyway.
Well, I was wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. Did I say I was wrong? I was wrong. Laura gave her listeners an amazing, engaging pep talk filled with valuable information about Twitter, blogging, branding, relationships, how to change direction, how to be valuable, what to sell and how to sell it. I could’ve listened to her for hours.
What Laura Wanted, and How She Got There
Laura really did use Twitter to launch a successful business in less than 12 months in 2009. She started out as a young, independent web designer (Roeder Studios — now you have to redirect, Laura!), but decided at some point that she wanted to change direction and make a living doing social media consulting. She excitedly and transparently told us her story from there – a REAL story, filled with REAL “mistakes” that didn’t stand in her way, REAL soul searching about who she was and what she wanted, and REAL actionable steps she took along the way.
She wanted out of web design. She wanted to stop going to face-to-face networking events to sell herself. And she soon learned that she also didn’t want to have to stand in front of big clients with big contracts and give big presentations on social media campaigns. She said, “It wasn’t me.” So, using what she knew about social media, she completely changed the direction of her life and got the life she wanted.
Laura’s Story and a Few Takeaways For You:
1) When Laura started her first project, “The Dash,” she didn’t even have a blog. She used email newsletters only, and started a Twitter account for “The Dash.” She laughed at the fact that at first, she didn’t have a link to anything on her Twitter — no blog, no website. Her point? Start where you are, use what you’ve got, and move forward.
2) At first, she leveraged the Twitter list she’d built up for her web design business to turn attention to “The Dash.” Her point: Don’t start over, and don’t scrap everything. Again, start where you are, use what you’ve got, and move forward.
3) She decided on a weekly email newsletter delivering one actionable social media tip each week, and mapped out her topics ahead of time for the entire year. She didn’t want to be under the gun trying to think of things to write about. Laura said this was key for keeping her on schedule and planning ahead. She was also able to start working on the topics ahead of time, and not necessarily in order. Her point: Be consistent, and plan your content.
There’s so much more I want to share with you, but it’d keep you here forever and if you’re anything like me, you don’t have that kind of time or attention span! I’ve saved the rest of what she taught us for later, but just the valuable appetizers, so you’ll go to her for the meat and potatoes. Subscribe to my blog so you can read Part 2 tomorrow.
Over a very short period of time, Laura Roeder used her social skills, personality, Twitter lists and email contacts to launch a successful, exciting business that now brings her the satisfaction she was looking for. And you can do it, too.
Yes, she had something to sell — her training program “Your Backstage Pass To Twitter.” But she was up front about it right from the start, and when we found out the rest of the story, I guarantee not one of us felt like we’d wasted a single minute with her. I walked away excited and energized, thinking “I can so do this!” just with what she shared so freely and openly, and my imagination was on overdrive brainstorming about several side-projects I’ve been mulling over.
This isn’t your typical sales spiel, folks. Laura Roeder is the real deal. Check her out. If you have the kind of dreams she did, you have to hear her story for yourself.
UPDATE: I just got word that Laura is offering her free webinar again this Friday, April 9, 2010, under the title “How I Built a 6 Figure Business From Scratch in Less Than One Year.“ Do it!
Note: Because I want your comment to stand, please read our simple comment policy before replying! Thank-you!
Michelle handles all Social Media for New England Multimedia. You can contact her by email, on our Facebook, or on our Twitter.
