I have become an official member of the “Money to the Power of 2″ Fenton Business Network.  I have to tell you it was an exciting day as five other new members joined today as well.  I decided that joining this group was the best investment for my business right now.  I strongly believe in the “pay it forward” as well as “givers gain” mottos.  If I give you business, you’ll give me business and we’ll both benefit as a result.  The group of business owners are fantastic and I really look forward to getting to know them better.  Again, I will keep you posted…..

For more information on the group, please visit – http://www.fentonbni.com/index.php

“Build it and they will come” seems to be the mentality that businesses have about their websites.  What I mean is this – a business will pay to have a website built by a designer expecting that customers will just land on it.  Website designers are just that – designers.  What you now need is a website strategy.  Whether this is a campaign announcing your new site or a search engine optimization program, you must realize that the website alone won’t do much for your business!  So, ask yourself, what has your website done for you lately?

Just a tip about Facebook marketing – books and websites will tell you to create a profile when you create your account.  DO NOT DO THIS!  If you create a profile, you become a Facebook User.  You then fall into the same group as a consumer.  Be careful when working on your site as Facebook has a giant link at the top of the page that states “CREATE A PROFILE”.  I cannot tell you enough to make sure that YOU DO NOT PUSH THAT BUTTON.  You want to advertise through your existing customers or using social ads.  If you become a regular user, your profile appears differently than a business page. 

I am sharing this because I recently made the mistake although I knew better because I wanted to see what would happen.  Well, I lost all my info and had to delete my account.  So, let me spare you from making from the same mistake!

More to come…..

To continue my social networking for business experiment, I was invited to the Fenton Business Network last Tuesday.  The Network consists of small businesses in the area that meet weekly to help each other generate referral business.  As some of you may know, the best type of customer is someone that does come as a referral.  These referrals purchase more and stay a customer longer than customers that come from traditional leads.  I felt really good because I was able to give one referral and perhaps another!  It is great when you can add value as a visitor.   

This type of network is a “win” for any small business.  The local chapter here can be found at – http://www.fentonbni.com/.  If you are out of the area – please go to http://www.bni.com/ to find a local chapter.  I am so interested in hearing if anyone else has been helped by a group like this.

I may actually become a member so I will fill you in on how it goes.

Sorry that it has taken so long to write a post but I was wiped out by WPPI.  I have learned that social networking is THE way to do business.  By cultivating relationships over a period of years, I was able to leverage this and gain some clients.  If you have an opportunity to attend a tradeshow in your industry, the expense is well worth it. 

I also picked up a really cool marketing idea from Robert Evans – Photographymentor.com.  At his launch party, he offered customers to blog about him.  In return for the blogging he was offering $10 itunes giftcards!  What a great idea.  This is the way of marketing for the future.  It is an example of what I call “cheap and cheerful” marketing.

The other marketing tip I can give is to that when you are at a tradeshow, please be careful what marketing strategy you use.  If you are new to the space, branding strategies work – sponsorship, signage, and parties.  If you are a company that exists in the space, use the tradeshow as an oppportunity to market new products or to deliver a very specific message.  I was absolutely floored when a company that has been in the industry from the beginning and has a huge following decided to go with branding.  What a waste of money.  By not having a real message, it looked like they were reacting to the marketplace and were desperate to regain  market share.  The attendees I talked to were thoroughly confused by their presence. 

 Over the next few weeks, I am going to interview a few of the entrepreneurial companies I came across to learn what motivated them to start their business, their biggest obstacles, and their plans for investment.  Keep checking back!

I am off to Las Vegas tomorrow to extend my social networking experiment.  RJE recently started a division that could help professional photographers or entrepreneurs sellling to the photography industry.  Wedding & Portrait Photographers International (WPPI) is the largest trade show in the industry.  I am off to do some research on the issues facing photographers and entrepreneurs.  I will be posting their responses as I go through the show.  I am hoping to learn new ideas but also be able to give some good advice that does not just apply to the photography industry! 

Let’s see how social networking can help grow my own business! 

Stay tuned….

I wanted to try to do something that was tied to what I had learned about social networking this week that would help my local community.  I live in a townhouse which has a total of 24 units.  The community is really isolated from each other and I wanted to see if I could grow this “network”.  I decided to start a newsletter for my neighborhood.  Our association is sending it out next week.  I hope it works….. 

More details on this to come.

Last night I attended the Ann Arbor Spark – Marketing Roundtable Series on Social Networking.  These are events that you cannot miss if you are a start up or have been in business for years.  The topic focused on various ways you can network to increase your social circles but also help your business and community.  What motivated me was the discussion on blogging.  I had always thought about doing one, which I am sure you went through this too, but never quite knew what to talk about.  When the panel at the event discussed the effect of blogs, I realized that a blog would be a great way to share my passion for marketing and sales and helping start ups!  I get to ramble on about cool marketing ideas and events and I can help others by giving out free advice! 

Please check out -http://www.annarborspark.org/events/marketingroundtable/ for information on more events!  Once I get the link to the podcast, I will post so keep checking back!