Got Something to Say But Don't Know How to Say It?

Then let us help with professionally written web site content designed with SEO in mind.

Our team has been writing engaging and effective web site copy for the Internet since 1997 – we’ve been around longer than Google!

Regularly updated web sites that have valuable information for their audience is rewarded by search engines with better rankings. The more frequently your web site is updated, the more search engine spiders will be back to catalogue what’s new.

But I don’t have anything to add!

Many business owners see their web site as simply online brochure. However, your web site, in conjunction with social media can be a powerful communication tool, enabling you to reach more customers and create develop a brand loyalty.

You'll have plenty to say to your customers in the form of product and service education as well as the opportunity to share success stories and testimonials.

Choose the frequency:
Web site updates

Monthly
Fortnightly
Weekly

Facebook updates

Weekly
Daily
Three times a day

Twitter updates

Weekly
Daily
Three times a day

 
Package One
We spend up to one hour with you or your team to brainstorm and get the information for the updates

Up to one hour to write the content/posts and to

• Update the web site every month
• Update your business Facebook page four times each month
• Update your business Twitter account four times each month
  

Just $220 incl GST

Package Two
We spend up to 90 minutes with you or your team to brainstorm and get the information for the updates

Up to 90 minutes to write the content/posts and to:

• Update the web site every fortnight
• Update your business Facebook page each week day during the month
• Update your business Twitter account each week day during the month
  

Only $330 incl GST

Package Three
Up to two hours with you or your team every month to brainstorm and get the information for the updates
Up to three hours to write the content/posts and to:

• Update the web site every week
• Update your business Facebook page three times each week day during the month
• Update your business Twitter account three times each week day during the month
  

For the low fee of $550 incl GST

Don't see anything here that meets your business needs? Then contact us today for a custom made package, just for you!

Why Social Marketing Won't Work For Some Business

Last week we discussed social marketing in business and canvassed some of its advantages and disadvantages.

Without a doubt social marketing offers some great advantages for business. The good news is that's free. The bad news is that social marketing requires a commitment from people to use it effectively.

We've come to the conclusion that social marketing is a lot like content management system web sites - people go to the time and expense of having one created, but then they never update it!

There are a number of reasons for that:

• It's not my job - business owners and managers aren't really sure who to assign to the job. Is it the role of the boss to update Facebook and Twitter? Should it be a marketing function? What about leaving it to admin person to do between taking calls, making calls, doing the bookkeeping, chasing accounts and providing clerical support?
• It's lovely... now what do I do with it? - Even if the business does have the resource to use social marketing, there is frequently a lack of understanding about how best to make social marketing work.
• I hate writing! - Sure, we were all taught the basics of grammar, syntax and sentence construction in primary school - some may vaguely remember something about nouns, verbs and adverbs. But writing is more than just an assemblage of words - it's about the communication of ideas, concepts and emotions designed to elicit a response. In business, that's about reaching new customers and building relationships with existing customers. Writing a skill that people have to various degrees, but is what you have enough to promote your business?
• I hate deadlines! - Using any type of marketing requires a commitment to deadlines. This ensures consistency of your message. As anyone who has had the role of writing a company newsletter with attest, deadlines can be menacing creatures and can cause untold frustration.
  

That's why we recommend - as with all communication media (web sites, print, TV, radio, social media) - to work with professionals.

Not only with they be faster, more efficient, more cost-effective than using a non-specialist, but they will also be more results driven.

Just one last thing, thanks to one of our close friends:

Q: How many sub-editors does it take to
change a light bulb?
A: Too.

News Limited Rebrand Must Be More Than Skin Deep

The Financial Review reported yesterday leaked news that ‘Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp has briefed local ad agencies to help improve its (Australian News Ltd) brand image among consumers, advertisers and media buyers’.

If News imagines a rebranding and spin alone will mend its broken relationship with readers, advertisers and buyers, it is as misguided as governments that think the only problem with policies roundly rejected by the electorate is ‘the messaging’.

‘No’ usually means just that and in the case of News Ltd they have some work to do behind the scenes that doesn’t involve ad agencies to arrest the tide of cynicism towards not only their brand but also – to be fair – towards traditional news outlets generally.

The Sydney Morning Herald notes that News Ltd has indeed looked within itself for answers as it moves towards the new name of ‘News Australia’ and the introduction of paywalls for online versions of its titles. Interestingly, SMH reports:

According to the (leaked internal marketing) brief, News Ltd reflects and fights for "the values of middle Australia", but employee research last year had discovered a "misalignment" between the values the group espoused and that which it enacted.

‘Employee research’? ‘Misalignment’?

Indeed, other research over many years has found the values of those who write the news are distinctly different to those who receive it.

The significant disconnect between the beliefs and aspirations of those telling the stories and those reading them, and the way in which the story tellers inject their personal biases and agendas into much of what they write is a major issue that has worsened in recent years. Readers feel abused and insulted when even supposedly ‘straight’ news reporting hectors and criticises them ‘between the lines’ or, worse still, openly and disparagingly.

Additionally, anecdotal evidence suggests readers are much more media savvy than ever before and many are becoming tired of the increasingly hysterical nature of reportage and the popular media’s obsession with vacant celebrity.

To rebrand and attempt to spin its way out of the situation would likely be effective but only in the short term. For a resolution to the deeper malaise, News and other media organizations need to corral comment back onto the editorial pages and get back into the business of reporting the news soberly and without colour.

Five Ways The Internet is Ruining Our Culture

From the US media/political blog Pajamas Media.

If you went back through the whole of human history, for the most part you’d find people living in poverty and ignorance under one sort of tyranny or another. Travel was difficult, disease was rampant, wealth was sparse, scientific advances were slow and uneven, and parents had little reason to think their children would have a better life than they did.

This really started to change, at least in the parts of the world you’d want to live in, less than 150 years ago. Many of the life-altering inventions that we take for granted today were invented during that very limited time period. Just to give you a few examples, here are the years when the following inventions first became mainstream enough to be acquired by 75% of American households: radio – 1937, refrigerator – 1948, television – 1955, telephone – 1957, automobile – 1960, and the VCR – 1992. The Internet just hit that same magic mark in 2007 and the ramifications of that may be more serious than we realize.

We don't necessarily agree with all of the assertions here, but it does underscore an important point - technology is amoral (it's neither good, nor evil) but it can certainly can be used for either cause.

Smoke and Mirrors

Oh dear, the serial publicity tarts at Recreate Yourself are back.

We reported on their amateurish, but highly effective (in terms of media salviation, at least) Brazilian waxing promotion in July.

Speaking of reporting, we really wish that the local newspaper would actually do some.

We would have thought that eager beaver reporters would be asking the following questions:

• Did the company pay for appropriate imagery this time (instead of stealing a GQ magazine image of a celebrity)?
• How much money did the last stunt porportedly raise for the Animal Welfare League?
• The carbon tax legislation has only just reached Federal Parliament and is yet subject to debate - what does that have to do with waxing (or any other beauty services for that matter)?
  
• Is promoting beauty salons a legitimate use of valuable news space? Shouldn't they be encouraged to advertise instead?
  

Building Social Capital In Business - Part One: Why Social Media

There's an old saying, 'the more things change, the more the stay the same' and it's especially true in business.

Yesterday we attended an interesting business breakfast hosted by Wealthfarm at which Jeff White from White Echo about the profile and importance of social marketing for business.

Business owners need to examine where and when they spend their marketing time and dollars to ensure they get the maximum return on investment.

As we've discussed on other posts on this blog, today's consumer has changed their media habits substantially over the past 20 years.

They rarely buy a newspaper unless it is for something specific, they watch less television, spend more time on the internet and spend roughly the same amount of time exposed to radio, they will buy magazines in specific subject areas.

The internet has opened a whole world of opportunities for business owners to specifically reach their clients and potential clients through web sites, e-mail marketing and now social media which includes blogs, Facebook/Google+ and Twitter.

While all of this new technology might be daunting - especially if you don't spend a lot of time on the Internet for leisure - it does underscore one thing - the need for connection.

Since we're recycling old phrases, 'it's not what you know, but who you know that counts' takes on a whole new meaning when applied to doing business through social media.

This technology simply makes it easier to engage in conversation with your clients and potential clients - let them know about specials, recognise and reward great customers, share some interesting facts about business products and services.

Your customers become a proactive referral network, your business associates become an excellent source of information and distributed research.

A word of warning though, everything you do on the Internet is done in an open forum, everything you do is public. All you need to do is look at some celebrity social media missteps over the years to know that living your life (or running your business) in the glare of the spotlight can be embarrassing and sometimes even financially costly.

So, do the benefits outweigh the costs?

Let's look at the advantages:

• Low Cost - the social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter etc) are free to use
• Easy To Use - the interface is simple to use and intuitive - as long as you have some familiarity with the Internet
• Be where your customers are - people of all ages are embracing social media (especially Facebook) at a phenomenal rate
• Directly interact with your customers - you share information with your customers and your customers can provide instant feedback

The disadvantages:

• Can be time consuming - develop a discipline in how and when you access your social media, especially if you've delegated this to a staff member. There is the risk that one can get fixation on every Tweet and every Facebook update. Or conversely, start using social media but then neglect it because it does require commitment to use
  
• Can be dangerous - Businesses should have a protocol for social media use by staff responsible for updating pages - it's your reputation on the line. Everyone needs to be aware that there is no such thing as a private conversation on the internet. One injudicious post or photo could result in a law suit.
• Can be confusing - Many business owners don't know where to start or how to use it effectively for business

We'll be discussing those points and offering some suggestions and ideas next week - but we'd also like to hear from you.

Does your business use social media?

You you use social media yourself to research products and services?

What do you like about social media?

What do you see are the challenges?