Pinterest For Business
So how do you use Pinterest for your business?
First, Pinterest works with images so you need to think visually. How can you represent your products and/or services in such a way that you paint a picture? What pictures come to mind when you think of your business? What goes with them so you create a storyline? Just some ideas.
So to jumpstart your create juices, if you…
Are a designer or contractor- post pictures of rooms you’ve refurbished in a before and after, and then find other pins that could add decorations, colors and other options for the room.
Own a restaurant or bakery- pin pictures of your meals with images of compatible wines, coffees, locations to be on a picnic…basically create a story board to go with your menu.
Run a technological company- post the images of ebook covers, companion products, things that are the same color of your logo (see Hubspot who always gets it right).
Are a writer- create boards about your characters, settings, essential plot points. If you were going to make your book into a movie, what would it look like?
Do life coaching- focus on the end result of your clients’ goals and dreams and do vision boards for them. \
Other ways- if you have important caveats or inspirational sayings that go along 
with what you do, create jpeg files of them (like we did for The Joy Source). Always remember to add your website to it on the bottom so the original source is found. To avoid the self promotion issue, ask people to pin up their own uses of your product or ask them to do something fun and creative with your product and share it.
The idea is to be as creative and fun as you can think to be.
Check out the OTB Marketing Boards for examples…it is a work in progress, but would love for you to follow me!
And if you are in need of images, I LOVE 123rf.com:
What’s All the Interest in Pinterest?
I’ve been waiting for the next stage in social media and it’s here…Pinterest. 
If you’ve already discovered this visual medium, you probably aren’t reading this. You’re too busy repinning inspiring messages or creating visual displays of your dream vacation, wedding or kitchen. If you’re utterly confounded, read on…
Pinterest is the perfect social network for those who communicate in images. In essence, it’s the cyber version of scrapbooking or vision boarding. The site allows users to share their interests, dreams, ideas, etc. by ‘pinning’ an image or video to a pinboard. You can upload your own image/photo/video, ‘pin’ from a web page or ‘repin’ from someone else’s board (a bookmark pin tool is downloaded from the site when you register). Then you look at others’ boards and discover similar interests, thereby establishing associations with friends or strangers. Connecting the world, one pin at a time.
If you are looking to use Pinterest for your business, here are a few things to think about…
- Pinterest cannot be used for self promotion (according to their rules). I’m not sure what happens if you blatantly promote your business- you probably won’t have to trade in stock for your company or give up your firstborn. I assume you just get kicked off. Not a horrible fate, but it’s good to be careful. So you will need to be creative to get your message out there.
- There is some static out there about how Pinterest is making money. I don’t know the full details (see here for more), but apparently they have partnered with a service that adds code to pins that are associated with an affiliate link. If someone clicks on that pin and buys a service/product, Pinterest gets the affiliate commission. Just keep that in mind.
- There’s also some confusion whether Pinterest is legal or if they are infringing on copyright agreements. Many photographers and graphic designers aren’t happy about having their content poached; and if you buy images for your site, you might not be pleased that someone is using them without sending you a kickback. Whether any of this is lawsuit material has yet to be determine. My advice- be careful what you use from other people’s sites and make sure always that you have it directly linked back to their site so at least they get the promotion.
So how to use it for your business? Stay tuned for next time…
Need for new kind of marketing
You’ve probably heard the terms…guerrilla marketing, inbound marketing, affiliate marketing…different ways of getting your business out there to potential clients or customers. The methods overlap, packaged in different theories or ways of doing things, and I’ve learned that what’s the main difference is your belief system. 
There are aggressive ways to market if you want to sell, sell, sell. Other softer styles if you want to attract leads and turn them into customers. And finally a community building approach that focuses on using relationships to share your product. How you’re marketing yourself and your products depends on your brand, type of business and your beliefs.
While I’ve seen each of these methods work, I do think there is another type out there that is formulating. Something that works for businesses based on passion and soul…a way of communicating to people that isn’t aggressive or pushy, but encouraging and empowering. Maybe it’s the social worker in me (something I’ve had to battle in the for-profit world) and I’m too touchy-feelly, but I see that something is missing in the way I promote services and products that can enrich and change a person’s soul, beliefs and joy of life.
Thoughts?
Sacred Union of Profit and Purpose
When people ask me who I work with-who is my ideal client- I have a two part answer. First, I work with people within the wellness/helping field…those who aim to improve the lives of their clients. The second caveat is that my clients have to work from their heart and soul. In other words, they believe their work is a calling…something they are meant to do. These are the people I LOVE to work with- who either hit a rough spot in life and used the lessons to create something amazing, or had always had this itch inside their head to do something, or have the belief that we all have a path to follow.
If you are one of these people, you should check out Kathleen Hanagan’s upcoming FREE call on October 18 at 7:30EST: The Sacred Union of Profit and Purpose- 5 Secrets to a Soul-Infused Business. It will help you to create a business that offers you the opportunity to earn a great living following your purpose. Because what good does all the money in the world do you, if you are not deeply satisfied and joyful? And what good is being of service if you struggle to make ends meet?
Is it almost Christmas?
So I know I’m in the right field when I get THIS excited about something. It’s like the proverbial bicycle under the tree, first date with high school crush or when Target opened the town over excitement.
Are you saying ‘huh? What’s that?’ Are you as in the dark as I was a few moments ago? Well from what I can see over at Hubspot, my favorite site for all things inbound marketing, Google+ is the latest innovation in the social media world. It may be the answer to what I asked Zuckerberg for Christmas last year. Here are some of the features that make it different from Facebook:
1. You can pick and choose who sees what. Do you have separate worlds- work friends, high school pals, family, in-laws? With Google+ you can keep those worlds from colliding and knowing what they really don’t need to know (like your work buddies reading your comments at the beach when you’re home ‘sick’). Not going to lie, this is my dream come true (not because I skip out of work often mind you)!
2. You can hang out with people. No longer do you need to have separate chats with people- now there is the Hangouts feature where you can set up or join scheduled or impromptu meetups online with multiple people.
3. Similar to Hangout is Huddle- a new way to text a group of people. Think of 3-way calling for texting…but it’s a 4-5-6-way. Perfect for when you are coordinating real life meetings and decisions (like where to go for dinner).
4. And if you are a media junky and love the latest video, site, post, etc. on your favorite topics and interests, then Sparks is the lazy man’s search engine. You type in what you like and Sparks will send stuff to you. Makes waiting in line for the DMV or dentist so much more fun and efficient!
So I’m thinking this is the new thing in social media that I’ve been anticipating…or I hope so. Time will tell. Unfortunately, Google+ is in an infancy stage, stuck behind planes of glass in the NICU while the developers test out all the bugs and user-friendly issues. Hopefully it will makes its debut to the general public soon. Stay posted!
Teleclass 101
This month seems to be the summer of the teleclass. Most of my time and energy has gone into the promoting and publishing activities. Fortunately not the creating part since I hate recording and listening to my own voice. And in case you have been thinking about creating a seminar you can present over the phone to a ‘live audience’, or podcasts to be downloaded, it’s an easy simple process once you know the steps and software. (And for vocab purposes, I’m going to refer to this as a class)
- Build your list- you can create the most informative, life altering class/podcast, but if you don’t have a list of interested contacts who will listen or purchase, you are just talking to yourself.
- Schedule the class and inform your list- use email marketing, social media, print, affiliate marketing, networks; you name it to publicize your class
- Set up a ‘place to hold’ your class- create an account at FreeConferenceCalling that will allow you to gather everyone together on one line and even record the call (make sure you send that number and code to your registrants)
- Keep track of registrants- this is where things get tricky in terms of what you want to use to register people. You can use regular email, or add a sign up box on your site (or within your promotional email) that creates a new list for your email marketing (Constant Contact has a great Event Marketing feature that can also help with this). That way you can send out autoresponders to the registrants so they get the details automatically.
- Hold your class- call in, sit down, relax and work your magic. This is the only step I don’t get involve in- the content is all my clients’ skill, knowledge and talent.
- Record the call- simply press the right buttons to record the call and the site does the rest.
- Edit the call- especially if you don’t want to include comments and discussion by others (unless you have their permission or you are just sharing the mp3 with the call attendees- but make sure you tell people you are recording and will be sharing without editing). Don’t worry if you ‘umm’ or ‘so’ your way through the call. If it’s too much, then edit using free downloadable software from Audacity. However, please note that today’s consumers want you to be real and authentic, so even if it’s not completely polished, it’s okay.
- Share the call- Free Conference Calling will save your recorded call as an mp3 and there’s really nothing (other than the editing) you need to do to share it. The site will also provide you with html code to add to your website or provide you with the details so people can just go to the FCC site and listen.
- Upload to your site- if you prefer, you can download the mp3 from FCC and upload it to your site. If you need a FTP program, download Coffee Cup which is an easy free program to learn and use.
- Sell the call- even after you hold the class, you can use the podcast as a product. Simply add a shopping cart to your website or blog and earn some extra passive income!
Try as Many Avenues
ROI. Return On Investment. I talk about this often with clients- how certain tools, especially free ones like social media and blogs, can grant 100% ROI for their wallet (but maybe not for their daily schedule). We iron out ways to get the best for their limited marketing budgets, trying to diversify our actions to reach a large number of potential leads and convert them into paying clients.
That diversification is key, because you never can truly predict where your next client will come from or what blog post, status update, or email campaign will connect with them.
Take for example a press release written for Julie McGrath’s The Joy Source. Last summer, we crafted a beautiful piece on the launching of her new business and inaugural event. We sent it off to the local paper with high hopes of a plug in the business section or even a feature article. However, a week later, there was only a brief mention…a few words at the bottom of the Business page.
That was all. Ugh.
Instead of being deflated, I saved the newspaper, happy to have something published. And unknown to us, so did a woman across town. She cut it out, hung it on her fridge, wanting to connect with The Joy Source simply because of the name. She started following Julie’s blog and when registration for the Woman’s Weekend of Rest and Renewal opened up this past March, this woman signed up and brought three friends. All from seven words in a local newspaper.
So the moral of this story? Try as many avenues to authentically share your brand, business, message and products/service as you can. And don’t get discouraged- you never know how or when you will resonate with people.
P.S. If you do the math, Julie contracted with me for an hour to write the press release. Her ROI? 3000%!
And if you are looking to write a press release, stay tuned…I will walk you through it.
Changes to Facebook Business Pages
It’s official! By now, everyone’s Facebook Business Pages should be converted to the new format that is similar to the personal profile page. Besides the new visual, what do the changes mean- for your business and for your ease and use of Facebook?
- Facebook tabs no longer use FBML (FaceBook Mark-up Language). Now you can use standard HTML, Javascript, etc. for the tabs/boxes. What does this mean in plain English? Basically you can now use Facebook as you would any webpage and don’t have to transfer your code into some foreign dialect no one truly understood or had the playbook for. And going further, the benefits of the new coding means you can add Google Analytics to track users and search keywords, and add in landing pages or design your Page to look like your brand.
- My favorite aspect of the new format is the ability to switch into Page mode and interact with others throughout Facebook as ‘the Page’ (and not my profile). This is a major advantage to businesses because when you comment/like a Page/profile, your business icon and information comes up, allowing you to immediately form a presence, potentially initiate networking and connections and attract new fans and leads to your Page.
- Like the profile pages, tabs are now located to the left beneath the icon/image allowing more of a visual representation of your business in the photo banner above the newsfeed. This is a great way to display products, events, etc. or set a tone about your brand.
- One of the biggest timesavers is the new notification system for Admins. If someone posts a comment anywhere on your Page, then an email alert is sent out so you don’t miss a chance to engage with your fans in a timely fashion.
- Facebook is quickly becoming the end-all and be-all of social media. The new roll out of Facebook Places, a geo-location marketing tool similar to Foursquare, adds an additional feature for businesses- the ability to offer deals when people check in at their location.
So there you have it, the features of the new Facebook Page format. What do you think?
Walking my Talk
In my last blog, I featured an idea on how to make your brand come alive and walk around town- the t-shirt! And ironically, I was able to put the ‘talk’ into action at my 
client’s event, The Joy Source‘s Women’s Weekend of Rest and Renewal. Yes, that’s me on the left (and Julie McGrath looking gorgeous and inspiring on the right!):
Julie created the t-shirt with her logo to help attendees of the workshop know who to go to with questions, concerns and clarifications. In the future, she plans to sell them at the October Women’s Day of Inspiration and Joy, so stay tuned if you like the shirt! It will soon be available for purchase so you can feel sunny and inspired as well.
Thanks, Julie, for allowing me to be a part of your amazing weekend event!
T-shirts! Get your brand T-shirts, here!
Here at Outside the Box Marketing, we love to implement new tools to expand a client’s reach and build their brand. So when I was contacted about sharing the following blog entry, I got excited. Not just because it saved me from writing something this week, but because the marketing idea is a perfect combination of simplicity and creativity! Two things I base my life on!
Pete Borelli of Crazy Dog T-shirts shares the following marketing tip: ”At a time when businesses and experts alike are hotly debating the appropriate mix of media tools to use for marketing, advertising and branding purposes, there is one material that can’t be forgotten – cotton. As in cotton t-shirts!
Big Bang Theory Soft Kitty T-shirt
Successful marketers today will use a mix of print, TV, radio, and online marketing that appropriately fits their brand, and reinforce their brand’s persona with interactions in the social media space, through outlets like Facebook and Twitter. But Custom T-Shirts always have been, and always will be, one of the most cost-effective ways to breathe life into a brand.
Custom t-shirts can give a company’s biggest fans an easy way to evangelize the brand. The t-shirts not only provide an opportunity to strengthen loyalty with those key customers, but they also essentially create walking and talking billboards for the company. Some of our favorite customer success stories involve brands that are just taking off, or in some cases, have not even left the ground yet, but have already used t-shirts to start building a loyal following.
For example, Roc Brewing Co., a local brewery that isn’t even scheduled to open for several months worked with Crazy Dog T-shirts to create custom t-shirts to wear at beer festivals and beer dinners in which they are participating around town. The front bears their logo, and the back trumpets the location of the burgeoning brewery, inviting the local beer community to join them there soon. Local beer fans are clamoring for the shirts, and the brewery already has a band of brand loyalists bubbling up before they’ve even opened for business!”
So think about it…what funny phrase, unique message or image can you plaster on someone’s chest/back to build your business?
And since custom t-shirts make me reminisce about the ones I designed in college, 
I couldn’t resist plugging this one for St. Patrick’s Day (click on the image to order)!
(I did have a drinking t-shirt initially here, but had to remind myself that I’m not in college anymore! I love the Big Bang Theory one above as well…sorry if you end up singing the Soft Kitty song all day!)
And thank you, Josh of Lift Division for sending me the blog post-it’s the perfect idea for one of my clients when she’s ready to launch the next branch of her new business!
