How to use Marketing to gain customers for your small business. Applying marketing strategies to engage with customers while driving product sales.

1. How Small Businesses can use Marketing to gain customers
By @DanGalante

2. 1.What are the best ways to market to my industry?
 The best ways to market to your industry is through offerings such as
whitepapers, industry events, Social Media/Content Marketing and through
direct selling. As there is no single best way, all of these methods need to be
integrated together and function as a synergy. The Sales and Marketing
functions need to be aligned and support one other in order for any
marketing effort to be successful.
 Becoming a part of your industry community is one of the best ways to
market to them. This can be achieved by becoming a trusted advisor. Earning
the trust of the community can be achieved by demonstrating your value and
becoming a resource they the turn to all of the time not just when they have
a need. Understanding the pain points of this group is critical to creating and
implementing the best solutions to solve their problems.

3.  Knowing who could use your product is also
something important to consider. If you
do not have any existing customers you
will need to be the Sales rep for your
business to get yourself set up in the
marketplace.
 To be able to make an effective Sales
Presentation to a customer, you will need
to compile your Marketing research in a
competitive analysis chart as seen above.
 Image via smartdraw.com
 Before businesses can sell anything, they need to
determine if there is a market for their products
and services.
 Most businesses will not necessarily be creating
new product categories. As a result, they will be
entering into a market place that already exists.
This is true if you are a re-seller or distributor of
products and services. Once you decide that there
is a market for your products and services; you
need to study your competitors.
 You can see who your competitors are by doing
internet research, reading trade publications and
attending industry trade shows. On the internet,
you can view your competitors' websites. Once
you have all of this information you need to
determine the sales, and marketing channels that
you will use to sell your product. Are you going to
sell products via a website, direct mail, social
media marketing, retail space, trade shows or a
direct sales force? There are many options
available to you.

4.  How is the product being used?
 What is the product designed to do?
 What are the demographics of the people using the product?
 How long is the sales cycle between purchases?
 What channels is the product sold through?
 What offerings does the competition have?
 What channels does the competition use to sell?
 How do your offerings measure up compared to the
competitions?

5.  Product literature from your company and the competition
 Reading industry trade magazines and journals
 Attending industry trade shows where products are readily on
display
 Viewing product training and demonstration videos by experts
in your field
 Talking to prospects and existing customers about how they
use the products
 Examining your company’s data on sales and the sales cycle
of your products

6.  All of this information can be used in your sales presentation to
convince your prospects and customers that you are an expert.
This is the cornerstone to the consultative selling approach.
 Once you know who your products are a good fit for, you can come
up with a prospecting list based on geography. If you work for a
company as a sales representative you will be given a territory with
a list of names and addresses.
 The only exception to this is if you are selling life insurance and
financial services, in these professions you can call on anyone. You
are not limited by geography.
 If you are starting your own business you will have to come up with
a prospecting list on your own.

7.  I would do internet searches that focus on certain
professionals that are a good fit for your offerings and
organize it by zip codes. You will be able to build and improve
on your prospecting list as you call on prospects.
 Your prospecting list is a building block you can use to
develop a sales plan. I will talk about this in a later post.
 This is how you prospect and identify your target market.

8.  3. Imagine you could speak to a current customer. What would you want to ask
them? How would you use their responses to market my product?
I would want to ask current customers the following questions:
 1.Why did you chose my product?
2.What do you like about the product?
3.What do you dislike about the product?
4.Is it easy to use?
5.How long did it take to put the product to work?
6.Would you be willing to provide a testimonial in writing, on video about how the
product helped your business, speak at an event?
(Questions may differ based on the user’s answers.)
 I would take the information from questions to 1-5 and discuss them with the
product manager and engineer to see how the product could be made better.
Testimonials obtained would be uploaded to the website and integrated into product
literature.
 What questions are you asking before starting a content & digital marketing
campaign?

9.  Content Marketing is a great way to connect and engage with potential customers. Only
through thoughtful connecting and engagement with others will you be able to
obtain quality leads and create demand for your products.
 Making people want to connect with you on Social Networks is the key to uncovering
any needs they may have. A great place to start is to write and create content that
informs people on how they can use something or how they can fix an issue that they
are having. This has the effect of offering a value message to potential customers
because you are showing them what you can do to help. In essence this is your digital
portfolio. Just as in the offline world, when you are trying to acquire new customers
part of your strategy is to show samples of your work and what you have to offer.
 Now this might sound like a lot. To start, try writing comments on blogs that you think
are interesting. This is a great place to get comfortable sharing your insights in the
digital world. Once you write a comment, make sure to follow up and respond to any
replies as this will help get a conversation going. Make sure that you share the blog
that you commented on so your insights can reach others. You can do this with articles
on LinkedIn as well.

10.  Wordpress & tumblr
 Writing a blog is great way to share your ideas and market your expertise in
an area. I began blogging back in November 2011. Blogging had connected
me with so many great people around the globe. I began publishing on the
Wordpress platform.
 WordPress
 The first thing that you need to do is to register on the site. You will have the
option to create either a wordpress.com address or a custom domain name. I
suggest that you pick a custom domain name because your blog will come up
better in search results. Wordpress gives you a choice of web suffixes to
choose from, for example .com, .me etc. I chose the
address http://dangalante.me. If you decide to change the address after you
set up the blog that is ok. The wordpress.com address will automatically be
directed to your new address.
 It is important to note that you will have to buy the domain name if you want
your own. Hosting is inexpensive and should cost about $25 per year at most
depending on the name you choose. The investment is well worth it because

11. Creating a Wordpress Blog Once you register, you will see WordPress’s default theme.
Click on the appearance tab and browse the free and premium
themes that are available. You can then choose the one that
you would like to install.
 Now you are ready to write a post.
 To do this click, on the new post tab. A window will pop up.
Here you will find tools to write and edit your post. When you
are ready to post, just click publish and you are ready to go.

12.  tumblr
 Like Wordpress, you will have to register on tumblr to set up your blog. I have
provided the link to the registration page. If you land on the home page, just
click on the sign up button.
 Once you have signed up, you will be prompted to create a web address. You
will notice that the only address you could create is a tumblr.com address.
Tumblr does not support or partner with site hosting companies. In other
words, you will need to find a third party host on your own. I purchased a
domain name from Yola.com . The name I purchased
is http://askdangalante.com .
 Once I secured the name, I had to point the address to the Tumblr servers.
(Tumblr provides the specific address and exactly what CNAME or A-Records
need to be changed. Here is the link. You will know if this is correct if your
address redirects to Tumblr and it say page not found.
 You can test your domain address in the box under your tumblr address in
the blog settings. Your address will not link to the site right away. It took 24

13.  Now you can click on the customized theme and
browse through the free and premium themes.
Pick a theme and now you are ready to post. To
post, click on the text tab which is located
underneath the Dashboard tab. You will see a
window where you can copy, paste, write and
edit your posts. When you are done, just click
the publish button.
 Now you have your all of this content. How do
you track your progress? To do this you will
need to set up analytics. LinkedIn provides this
for the long form and Wordpress does this.
However for your own blog on tumblr and a
custom website you will need to use a site like
Google Analytics.
 Image via zanderchance.com

14. Blogging on LinkedIn’s
Publishing platform
 Writing on LinkedIn's long form post is
similar to writing blog posts. Your goal
is to engage your readers & build an
audience. Let's explore the features of
the LinkedIn publishing platform.
 The Structure of the LinkedIn long form
 Title
 The platform provides a place for a title.
 Tool Bar Underneath the title, there is a
tool bar similar to one you would see in
Microsoft word that allows writers to use
headings, Bold, Italics, underline, center,
bullet pints and numerical lists. Users
can also use the tool bar to insert links,
images, and videos.
 Image via vni.s3.amazon.aws.com

15.  Body
 Next, is the body of the platform
where users can write the body of
their content and lastly there is the
SEO tags.
 SEO Tags/Keywords
 A key difference with these tags is
that LinkedIn allows users up to
three tags or keywords to index the
content where traditional blogging
platforms offer more.
 Pictures/Images
 Users can also upload an image at
the top of their post, LinkedIn
recommends pictures 700 x 400
pixels look best. LinkedIn also
allows users to credit their image

16. Popular topics are as follows:
1. Your insights on trends in your industry.
2. Case Studies
3. Topics in the News
4. How to articles that teach readers how to do something.
5. How you learned from failures and adversities.
If you are not still unsure what to write about; LinkedIn now uses an algorithm
that analyzes previous posts you have written; offering 3 to 4 ideas based on
your industry.
The Body of your Post
Once you have chosen your topic you are ready to start writing. You must
create a thesis which is the claims that you are making. This should be followed
up with three to four paragraphs that prove your thesis, claim and assertion.
Paragraphs should be 4 to 6 sentences when possible. Within these paragraphs,
you should use headings and sub headings along with built points so your text
is easy to read. The text should be visually appealing to the reader.
In terms, of how long your post should be it is up to you. There is no set
length, rather your post should be long enough to prove out your thesis,
assertion and claim.

17. Title
Your title should reflect what the topic that you are writing about while being
engaging to readers. Most people just skim the headlines as they are
bombarded with content, in other words you have just seconds to catch their
attention.
Popular titles include:
1. How to's,
2. lists ex 7 ways to _______
3 A question.
SEO tags Keywords
Make sure to pick keywords that reflect your topic as you only can use three.
Images
Make sure when you upload an image that it reflects what your post is about.
Video's/embeds
To enhance your text, you can embed videos and presentations from Slideshare
& YouTube. This can be a strategy to re-purpose existing content.
Calls to action
Make sure that your posts have a call to action at the end. In other words, what

18. Sharing
You can share your post in the following ways:
1. On LinkedIn through a status update, your LinkedIn groups & messages.
2. Through the Social Sharing buttons that include LinkedIn, Facebook &
Twitter.
3. Through links on Google+, tumblr, Wordpress etc...
Also, you want to ask questions of the reader that encourage them to comment
and start a discussion.
This is how to write a LinkedIn long post that engages readers & builds an
audience.

19. How you would repurpose/rewrite/market to increase readership?
In order to increase readership, I would create accounts on other social
networks such as Twitter, Facebook, Google+, YouTube and Slideshare.
Rewriting/Repurposing
 The first thing I would do is to change the title in the form of a question. This
way it invites the audience to weigh in. I would also ask a question at the end
of the article.
 Great calls to action would be: feel free to comment, or asking a question of
the reader at the end of the post. By having a call to action to comment,
readers are more likely to start a discussion and share the content. It is
important to talk with your audience and not at them.
 I would add is an about the author section at the bottom of each post. This is
another great way to showcase the author’s expertise and incorporate a call
to action such as see how we can help or click here to sign up for a free
demo.

20.  The contents of the article can be put into different formats such as a
PowerPoint, a YouTube video all of which can be uploaded to Slideshare.
 Article can be published to LinkedIn’s publishing platform as well.
 The article can also be written and have presentations and videos embedded
in the article itself.
 There are endless ways to repurpose content.

21. . Google Analytics also lets you track
your Adwords campaigns. I use Google
Analytics for my website and tumblr
blog.
 Google Analytics is a great way to monitor
your efforts online. It allows you to see how
many people are visiting your site, the
duration of their visit, what content they are
looking at and from what network. You can
also see what country they are from. Another
thing you could do is to set custom goals to
check for certain things. The site allows you
to measure the amount of traffic that comes
from social networks. To access this, just
click under the social tab under traffic
sources. Google Analytics also lets you track
your Adwords campaigns. I use Google
Analytics for my website and tumblr blog.

22.  Next, you will need to copy and paste this
into the html section of each page of your
website or blog. If you have done this
correctly, you will see that the tracking
code is installed.
 You will start to see statistics about your
visitors within a few hours. It is important
to note that you cannot use Google
Analytics with WordPress.com. WordPress
provides users with a set of analytics.
 I have also included a video tutorial
 How to setup Google analytics for your website and
blog. The first thing that you will need to get
started is a Gmail account. Now with your Gmail
account, go to the Google Analytics website. You
will need to click the create an account button.
Next you will be asked to login to you Gmail
account. You will then be asked to create a profile
and add the website URL that you want to track.
You can also provide your time zone.
 Once you provide this, the site will provide you with
a tracking code. Next, you will need to copy and
paste this into the html section of each page of
your website or blog. If you have done this
correctly, you will see that the tracking code is
installed.
 You will start to see statistics about your visitors
within a few hours. It is important to note that you
cannot use Google Analytics with WordPress.com.
WordPress provides users with a set of analytics.
 I have also included a video tutorial

23. Sharing Your Content on
Social Networks
 Twitter is a great social networking site for
people and brands to spread ideas quickly.
Twitter is also a great marketing tool for
brands to promote products and services.
Twitter has a few hundred million users
worldwide. Getting started with Twitter is
quick and easy. To get started using Twitter
you need to do the following:
 1 Click on the join link.
 2 Provide your first and last name.
 3 Provide a valid email address.
 Once you join, you will need to choose a
name for your account. I would recommend
using your name or your business name.
You can also choose a name that relates to
what you do. I have two Twitter
accounts @DanGalante
and @TrendSettingSM.

24. Now that you have an account, you should fill in the bio section. Twitter gives
you 160 characters to describe yourself. Although Twitter provides a place for a
web link, two links are better than one.
The next step is to upload a photo of you. Make sure that the photo that you
choose is professional and clearly visible to members. Remember, this is your
image that you are sharing. Twitter provides users with an option of uploading a
custom background. To do this, click on the settings button and click design.
Here you can upload a picture from your computer or view different Twitter
backgrounds.

25. Now you are ready to tweet. However before you start tweeting away, you need know
the following:
1 Tweets are limited to 140 characters. At first, this may seem annoying, but this is a
great exercise for your creativity.
2 Make sure you have something of value to say, nothing will turn people off faster than
nonsense.
3 Make sure to share articles and content that you create in your Tweets by including
links. Doing this will help you gain followers. Twitter also allows you to share videos
and photos in tweets. This can be a great way to share experiences, ideas and to
promote a business or a brand.
4 Do not be afraid to make a mistake. Twitter provides a delete button with an icon that
is a trash can. This is great if you make a typographical error.

26. 5 Make sure to change-up your message. No one likes the same message over and over.
6 Leave 10 to 20 characters for your tweets to be retweeted.
Once you start tweeting, your goals are to:
1 Get other users to share your content.
2 Build a following
3 Follow other users who interest you.
The Retweet and The Mention
When a Twitter user shares a message from another user, this is called a Retweet.
Retweets are sought after because the more your content is shared, the higher your
influence is perceived.
Mentions are when a Twitter user references or quotes you in on of their tweets. Some
users may use this instead of simply retweeting because a mention shows up quicker than
a retweet does in a users timeline.
Retweets and mentions show up in the interactions and mentions section of the Twitter
account.

27. The Direct Message or DM
The Direct Message or DM as it is referred to, allows Twitter users to send messages to
other users. I waited to mention this feature until now because Twitter only allows
users to send messages to users who follow them. This is a great way to send a private
message to users on the site.
Sharing Tweets with More than Just Twitter Followers
In order for users to share tweets with more than a their followers, users need to use
hash-tags. Hash-tags are a number bracket next to a word. For example, #business is a
hash-tag. Hash-tags create an index of information on a specific topic. A hash-tag
reaches more people than a regular tweet or just getting a few retweets. Hash-tags are
a great way for users to earn new followers.

28.  LinkedIn is a professional networking site that allows people to
search for jobs and connect with people they know. You can also
make new connections on the site. Right now, over 400 million
people around the world are using LinkedIn.
 The Basics
 LinkedIn allows users to sign up for free. To get started you need to
do the following.
 1 Click on the join today tab.
 2 Enter a first and last name.

29. 3 Write a professional summary that provides information that describes past
accomplishments along with what you can do for potential clients and
employers. You should also describe what type of position or client you are
seeking.
4 Upload a professional picture that will make your profile look more attractive.
5 Create a professional headline in 160 characters or less. If you leave this
blank, LinkedIn populates this with your latest position. My advice is to create
your own catchy headline to captivate readers to read your profile; unless you
have a great position and have achieved your career goals. The professional
headline provides you with an opportunity to quickly sell and market who you
are and what you do.
6 Fill out the specialties section with keywords related to what you do. Your
idea is to use keywords to optimize your LinkedIn profile to come up in
searches on LinkedIn. Also fill out the skills section and interests section.

30. 7 Connect with customers, colleagues, bosses and professors. To do this quickly, upload
your address book from your email account into LinkedIn. LinkedIn will identify which
members in your address book are already members.
You can then decide which members you want to invite to join your network. LinkedIn
is based on a network of first, second and third degree connections. First degree
connections are direct connection.
Second degree connections are a connection of a connection or a friend of a friend.
Third degree connections are friends of second degree connections. You can connect
with people by entering an email address for them, indicating that you share a group
with them, stating that they are a colleague, stating that you have done business,
together or by stating that you were classmates.

31. Make sure not to abuse the contact form otherwise you will have to enter email addresses
every time that you connect with someone. Inmails are a premium feature that allows
you to contact people anyone on LinkedIn. This is good if you are not able to reach a
person through traditional means. Basic accounts on LinkedIn also provide a feature
called introductions. Basic accounts allow five introductions. This feature allows you ask
one of your connections to connect you with one of your connections.
8 Get recommendations. Once you have first degree connections, you can ask them to
recommend your work. To do this, click on the profile tab and click on the
recommendations link in the drop down menu.

32. This will allow you to choose the position you want to be recommended for. Once you
have identified this position you then can send out a request to your connection for a
recommendation. Recommendations are social proof and are a great way to boost your
credibility online. LinkedIn requires three recommendations for your profile to be
considered complete. For recommendations from non LinkedIn members, use
the Slideshare plugins.
The Endorsement. Users can also list skills they have. Connections can endorse each
others skills to show what talents they have by clicking on the particular skill.

33. 9 Use the three profile links LinkedIn provides in the website section of your profile. I
would include the following links, your website, your blog, your Facebook page, your
YouTube channel and your Google plus page. The sites you choose are up to you.
LinkedIn also provides users with two additional Links for Twitter accounts. In other
words, LinkedIn provides you with up to five touch points to connect with people and to
showcase your work. LinkedIn now allows users to publish articles using the long post
form. This also a great way to share content.
10 Make sure to make your profile public. LinkedIn allows users to create a custom URL
to make it easier for users to find them. I would make the address one that easily
identifies you. My public profile URL is http://www.linkedin.com/in/dangalante .

34. These are the 10 steps to create a complete LinkedIn profile that will be optimized for
search on LinkedIn. Also public profiles are indexed in search engines such as Bing,
Google, and Yahoo. It is important to know that you can determine what activity that
you share. You also have the option to hide your connections from your 1 Degree
connections. The settings tab will allow you choose options.
Make sure to share content and status updates with your network to engage them.
LinkedIn allows people to like and comment on posts. Status updates can be shared on
Twitter, with groups and with individuals. Another thing that you can do to build your
brand on LinkedIn is to join groups

35. LinkedIn allows members to join up to 50 groups. I would target
industry groups or groups that match your interests. Groups are
great places to facilitate discussions. I would also recommend
creating a group. This is easy to do. I have provided a link to my
sales and marketing group to give you an example. Groups are a
great way to make connections and to share and start discussions.
You can also post jobs in groups as well.
Companies can also take advantage of LinkedIn. LinkedIn allows
companies to create pages. On these pages, companies can post
jobs which are a premium feature.
LinkedIn added the status update feature for company pages. This
is great to provide updates about your company along with
promoting your products and service. I have included a link to my
company page as an example. As you can see, LinkedIn is a great
place for personal and corporate branding.

36. image via telegrapg.co.uk
 Facebook is the largest social networking
site in the world. Facebook has over a
billion users worldwide. Almost everyone is
on Facebook. From teenagers to baby
boomers, people from all walks of life are
using Facebook. In this post, I am going to
discuss the basics of personal branding on
Facebook.
 To sign up for an individual account you
need to do the following:
 1 Provide your first and last name.
 2 Enter a valid email twice.
 3 Create a password

37. 4 Provide your date of birth to verify your age.
To get started, you need to fill out the basic information section which
includes the following information: your birthday, your sex, your relationship
status and if you prefer men or women.
The next step is to fill out your contact information. In this section, you can
include links to your websites, blogs, and other social networks.
Facebook also allows you to share your education and work experience. This is
a great way to make your profile professional. To tell your story, make sure to
fill out Facebook’s about you section. This is a great place to tell your story.
You can sell who you are and what you do.

38. You can also create a timeline to tell your story. This is a new feature on
Facebook. Make sure to upload a professional photo of yourself. Facebook also
allows you to create photo albums. Make sure to upload photos that contain
nothing embarrassing such as drinking or nudity. Remember you are trying to
build your image here. Here is the link to my Facebook profile for you to see an
example of what I have discussed so far.
http://facebook.com/dgalantenyc Facebook allows you to pick a custom URL to
make it easier to find your profile.

39. Now that your profile is set up, your next goal is to add friends to your Facebook
account. You can do this as follows:
1 Do a manual search for your friends.
2 Upload your address book to see which of your contacts are on Facebook
3 Send email invitations to people who are not on Facebook.
When you find a contacts profile, click on the add friend button. When you click
the add friend button.
Facebook allows you to specify how you are connected with the person. I would
also include a message with your friend request.

40. Try to connect with people who you know well because if too many of your
requests go unanswered, you will be blocked from adding friends. Also if people
flag your request as spam, you will be blocked from sending messages.
If you want to add more people, make sure that you share an interest with them.
You can also subscribe to people’s updates even if you are not friends with
them. Now that you have friends on Facebook, the next step is to post status
updates. I would recommend posting interesting content you come across. This
is also a great way to share your own content.
Next, I would use your Facebook wall. The Facebook wall allows people to
publically communicate on Facebook with one another. Also if you approve of a
status update or comment, you can like them. Likes on Facebook serve as a
social endorsement. You can look at my profile to see examples of my likes and
people who have liked my content. http://www.facebook.com/dgalantenyc .

41.  I am going to discuss how to brand your business using Facebook
pages. Remember Facebook is the largest Social networking site
which means that your customers and prospects are on the site. Your
job as a business and a brand is to engage with fans, prospects and
customers. The goal is to convert this engagement (marketing) to
product sales. Facebook pages are a great way to do this.
 Facebook has greatly increased the kinds of pages that people and
brands can create. Currently there are six types of pages. These
pages include: a Local Business or place page, a Company page, a
Brand or Product page, an Artist, Fan or Public Figures page, an
Entertainment page and a Causes or Community page. Each of these
pages has their own benefits.

42. I am going to focus on the public figure and the Company pages; using my
public figure and company pages as an example.
The first thing that you need to do before setting up a Facebook business page
is to set up a Facebook account. The steps to set up a Facebook account
addressed in my last post. Once you create an account you need to do the
following:1 Log in to your account
2 Scroll to the bottom of the page and find the create a page link
3 Once you click on the link, a page will come up that will list all six types of
Facebook pages. (For this post we will focus on the Public Figure and Company
pages.)
4 Choose the type of page you would like which in our case is the Public Figure
and Company pages.
5 Once you choose the type of page you would like, you will be asked to select
the category your page falls into.
6 The next step will be to name your page. For the public figure page use your
name or your band’s name if you have one. Use your company name for your
company page. I started with a public figure page and added a company page
later.

43. I will start by discussing how to set up a public figure page.
The first thing you will need to do is to fill in the basic
information section of the public figure page. The basic
information section asks for the following:
1 The category of the page, the type of person you are
public figure, journalist etc…
2 Your name
3 Your Address (This is optional for public figure and
company pages)
4 Your affiliation
5 Your date of birth
6 An about headline which is similar to the headline feature
on LinkedIn except you need to provide the content, where
LinkedIn will let you use your job title and company as a
default. I would use this space to briefly sell who you are
and what you do. You should be brief.

44. Once you reach 25 likes, Facebook allows you to set a custom URL to your
pages. I recommend doing this because it will be easier for people to find your
page and it will be easier for search engines to index your page. Here are my
custom URL. http://www.facebook.com/djgalante
I picked one name that was my name and one that is a shortened version of
my name. You should pick names related to yourself and/or your business so
people will find your page quickly and easily.
Facebook also allows you to use insights to see who is talking about your page
and who likes your page. Also make sure to upload a professional photo of
yourself.
Another thing you can do is to choose an administrator for your page. I would
recommend doing this yourself unless you have a professional moderator for
your page because the administrator will have full access to your page. You
can also post your tweets to Facebook using the Twitter plug-in the under the
resources tab.
Getting Likes
Once your pages are complete, you want to get people to like your page. For a
long time Facebook likes have been Facebook’s social currency. Likes

45. 1 Provide compelling content that engages Fans. (I share my blog posts with my
fans.) Encourage them to share their stories using your product and services.
This could be done through wall posts or videos
2 Promote your page by inviting your Facebook friends and sending email
invitations to people who are not directly connected with you.
3 Use Facebook ads to get people to like and interact with your page. (I will
discuss this at a later time)
4 Post content from your Facebook page. (Facebook allows users to switch
between their personal accounts and their Facebook page.)
Remember that this takes work and it is an ongoing process.
The company page on Facebook is similar to the Public figure page. The
Company page is good to promote your business if you have employees. It is
also good if you want to promote your company as a brand. If you are a in a
band or working by yourself, I would use the public figure page. I use both
pages because I am looking to get customers and I would like to grow my idea
into a large business. The difference with the Company page is that you will not
have to provide a date of birth. However, you will have to provide a company
description instead of a personal description. (About me) Also you can provide a

46. These are the key differences between the pages.
Promoting your Facebook page on other Social Networks
and other Platforms
1 Share your Facebook page on LinkedIn, Twitter and
Google plus by sharing your pages URL on these sites;
inviting your connections/followers to join you.
2 Include a link to your Facebook page in your email
signature
3 Include Facebook plugins on your website and blog
4 Include your Facebook page on any printed materials
that you give customers and prospects
5 Include your page in any TV, Radio or print
advertisements that you engage in.
This is how to successfully build and promote a public
figure and company page on Facebook.

47.  Content creation is one of the best ways to engage an audience,
making it essential to content marketing. However, we simply cannot
cover every single topic in our industry. This is where content
curation comes in handy, content curation is where you share the
work of others in your industry.
 Content curation can enhance your content marketing efforts in the
following ways: it offers users a fresh perspective on a topic, sharing
others work can plug a hole because you can't write about every
single topic in your industry and you are engaging the person whose
content you are sharing. Sharing the content of others is key if you
hope get your content shared.

48. Content curation takes many forms across social networks but it
always comes back to sharing the work of others and celebrating
them. By celebrating others, content curators get to build
relationships with those in their industry allowing reciprocity. In
other works, people will help each other get their message out
because they are part of digital community.
Content can be shared in the following ways:
1. On blogs.
2. On social networks. 3 Through online publications.
4 Guest blogging/Content Syndication
1.Blogs WordPress/tumblr
Blogs are a great way to create content and share ideas. Blogging
platforms such as Wordpress & tumblr have a like button and a
reblog function. The like button allows user to say they like a
piece of content and a reblog button allows users to republish a
blog they like on their own blog. When a user reblogs a piece of
content from another blog, the original publisher is notified of
the reblog or share.

49. A reblog is much more powerful than a like although a publisher
see both types of notifications.
Blogs also allow users to categorize topics with endless SEO tags.
Users can also search out keywords or tags to find related content
on a topic which they can reblog. In addition to reblogging, users
can share blogs to other social networks such as LinkedIn,
Twitter, Facebook & Google+ etc... by clicking share buttons
embedded on the platforms.

50. LinkedIn Long form Posts
LinkedIn also has a blogging platform of it's own called the long form post. Users can
curate content in the following ways: clicking the like button, sharing the article which
will appear as a status update, sharing the article in groups, using social share buttons
to share content to Twitter & Facebook and of course LinkedIn. Each piece of content
in LinkedIn is indexed with three SEO tags that categorize it by topic. Users can also
embed content from Slideshare along with videos. This can be a great way to share
your work and that of others in the form of a blog.
Users can curate content in the following ways: clicking the like button, sharing the
article which will appear as a status update, sharing the article in groups, using social
share buttons to share content to Twitter & Facebook and of course LinkedIn. Each
piece of content in LinkedIn is indexed with three SEO tags that categorize it by topic.
Users can also embed content from Slideshare along with videos. This can be a great
way to share your work and that of others in the form of a blog.

51. Slidseshare is a great tool for content curation. The site was acquired by
LinkedIn. Slideshare allows users to upload documents, presentations and
videos. Users can create descriptions of the content, a category along with SEO
tags to further categorize the information. Slideshare is a great way to repurpose
content. Content on Slideshare can be shared to social networks via sharing
buttons & embedded on other blogging platforms such as LinkedIn, Wordpress
& tumblr. Slideshare is a platform in itself.
Image via whitehatmedia.com

52.  Social networks such as Twitter, Facebook and Google+
offer users like and share buttons that allow users to curate
content that they like. All three networks allow users to
categorize & index content by topics using #hashtags.
 Twitter
 Twitter allows users to create lists based on topics they found
interesting. Users can add other users to lists. This helps to
build a digital community by uniting people around
common interests. Tweets are also indexed in Google.
 Facebook
 Facebook is similar to Twitter in the sense that it let's users
tag content based status updates; helping users to reach
beyond friends and followers. Facebookalso allows users to
share content in groups as well. Facebook is partnered with
Microsoft's Bing Search engine.

53. Google+
Google+ is similar to Facebook in the sense that it allows users to join groups. It is also
helpful for content curation because the results are indexed in it's search engine. The like
button is a plus one button and Google+ has a sharing button. Users can also use
hashtags and build a community based on topic as well.
Online Publications
Online newspapers and newsletters are another great way to curate content. Flipboard is
a great site. I like Paper.li Users can sign up with Facebook or Twitter. Paper.li allows
users to customize newspapers and is a great way to curate content. Users can pull
content from multiple sources to create newspapers based on topics. These sources
include RSS feeds social networks, lists, hashtags etc... These newspapers celebrate the
work of others by mentioning them on social networks in the form of a status update. I
have gained a lot of followers this way. There are countless sharing sites out there.

54. Guest Blogging/ Content Syndication
Writing on other blogs is a great way to get your message to a wider audience and it
allows the blog owner to curate great content that happens to be yours. This can be a
great way to build up a following. Another way to use curate content is to syndicate your
content. Content syndication is when your share your blog's RSS feed with other
websites. When you share your RSS feed, your content can be shared to multiple
websites simultaneously when you publish on your blog. tumblr offers a widget where
you can share a blog on a stand alone website.
These are some content curation strategies you can use to improve your content
marketing results. How do you curate content?

55. Image via freshlime.com
 Many people ask, what is the best day
and time to execute an email campaign?
 Instead of trying to get the best day and
time to execute an email marketing
campaign, I would instead focus on the
developing compelling content that
includes visuals.
 Before starting you should be able to
answer the following questions when
creating the content for your email
campaign:
 1) What message do I want to send?
 2) What action do I want my customers
and prospects to take?
 3) Is the content of my message relevant
to my customers?
 4) Will customers see the email campaign
as a value message or just another
solicitation?

56. • For example, I write a blog on the topics of sales, marketing and social media.
My readers can choose to follow me through my RSS feed, through email,
Wordpress, tumblr, LinkedIn, and Facebook. I use my blog to do my email
marketing. As you can see my blog is seen by those whore receive it through
email and the other ways I mentioned as a value message. In fact, when you
enter your email address to subscribe to my blog, you will receive a
confirmation email. This is known as an opt-in.
• It is important to note that when building an email list that you get the
recipients consent through an opt-in. If you are building a list from your
website you can use services such as Constant Contact.
• When executing an email campaign, make sure to protect the privacy your
customers by blind copying them. When the customer receives the email, it
should say sent to undisclosed recipients.
• To answer the original question, I would say that any day and time is a great
day to engage consumers through email marketing; especially in today’s
digital world. Consumers are on different schedules and have different needs
so it is hard to predict which day would be best to send out emails.

57. • If you wanted to obtain concrete data on which day would be best to email
consumers.
• You would need to develop and implement a survey that asks consumers what
day they opened and received your messages. Services such
as SurveyMonkey can be used to create the surveys. I use a widget on my site
to obtain feedback on what content people want to see from me. . This
information could then be compared with the customer’s date of purchase to
see how long it took them act on your message. (The sales cycle)
• If at first you get a low response rate to your survey, you may need to offer an
incentive like a gift card for each completed survey or a chance to win a gift
card in a drawing; this would be dependent on your budget.

58. Direct Mail
Today we receive a lot of mail.
Most of the time, a majority of
the mail that I receive is a
solicitation and/or junk mail.
People are very busy; as a result
they will skim their mail very
quickly. They have to think that
your message is compelling
and relevant to them within the
first 30 seconds. Otherwise,
your mail will get tossed in the
trash.
Image via getorthocases.com

59. • To make sure you get your mailing opened, you have to make sure that you are
directing your message to the decision maker. The decision maker will be different
depending on your product. It is important that your recipient see’s your message as
valuable. In your mailing, I would ask catching questions in terms of the person you
are trying to market to.
• For example, I would ask questions such as: Are you happy with your company’s
current sales and marketing results?, Are you satisfied with your company’s standing
in the marketplace?, Do you want to know how you can produce more?, If you lost
______ what would you do?, Do you have a backup plan in place if this happens?
The insurance industry does this when they want to sell insurance policies.
• You have to customize the message for your product or service. This message will
get the decision maker thinking because everyone wants to produce more. In other
words, you need a message that drives people to act.

60. • Another thing that you could do is to offer a free trial of your work. You could also
offer a discount to new customers. For example, you could offer a free consultation.
Also, if you are sending the mailing to existing customers, I would offer them rewards
for referrals. Make sure to provide a direct response card with paid postage for them
to mail back.
• Besides the copy and content of the message, it is important to make your mailing
visually appealing to your prospect. The copy should be clean, neat and easy to
read. Use colors and images that are visually appealing in your message. Make sure
that prospects are aware of your presence on social media sites by including badges
with link addresses.
• Make sure that your business address, phone number and website are included in
each piece of the mailing. This is a good precaution to take in case any piece of your
mailing gets lost.

61.  I have presented a lot of information in this presentation. It is a lot to
take in. My hopes are that you will use it as a guide as you create,
implement and execute your small business marketing strategy.

62. About the Author
Dan is passionate about using Marketing to help
businesses drive sales. He has worked on various
marketing assignments that include a Start Up,
Political Campaign & a Digital Marketing Conference.
Prior to Teaching, Dan served customers as an
Outside Sales & Marketing Representative in the
Dental industry. In this role, he taught and trained
Dentists on the company’s products and services
using a consultative selling approach.
He also supported the company’s marketing efforts
at industry trade shows & in the field through lead
generation of Digital Technology along with large
Dental Equipment.
He writes and publish a business blog on the topics
of Sales, Marketing & Social Media entitled Sales,
Marketing & Social Media Today.
Dan is seeking a full time marketing role in New
York City. He is interested in roles in Direct, Digital,
Content & Social Media Marketing. If your company
is hiring for roles in these areas, contact him directly
via a free LinkedIn Message or email him
at Dan@DanGalante.com to set up interviews.

63. Subscribe to my Blog
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