After doing a comparison between WordPress and Blogger…..I have decided to switch to Blogger. Please go to
Make Your Website Work
Found a great blog entry today written by Larry Brauner on his blog, Online Social Networking. His article basically addresses the following four problems:
1. Too Little Traffic
2. The Wrong Traffic
3. Insufficient Stickiness
4. Poor Conversion.
It offers lots of good tips like exposure through social media, having the right content and making sure visitors are given a call to action. His blog made me think about my website and I can’t wait to make some changes to it.
go to http://online-social-networking.com/why-doesnt-my-website-generate-sales to read the full article.
Thank you Larry,
Janis
Twitter Gear!!
Thought everyone could use a giggle on this sunday afternoon. The mask even makes the “voice” which is funny from a 2 yr old little girl.
Enjoy
Janis
Filed under Laughter is the Best Medicine
Harper: ‘The worst is behind us’
Prime minister encouraged by new data that suggests economy is in recovery mode
Julian Beltrame
The Canadian Press OTTAWA
Canadians have reason to breathe a little easier — the economy fell sharply at the start of the year but talk about another depression appears to have been just talk.
Having been given the best economic news in months, Prime Minister Stephen Harper was quick to take advantage yesterday, saying the Liberals have no reason to push for a federal election.
“I think the worst is behind us, we will have better quarters going forward,” Harper said in an interview with a Toronto radio station.
“I think that’s one of the reasons (Liberal Leader Michael) Ignatieff seems to be pushing so hard with ideas to get the other parties to bring the government down. He would love the opportunity to get in there for a recovery. The country needs an election like a hole in the head,” Harper added.
The output numbers for the first quarter of 2009 were nothing to boast about. The economy contracted by a massive 5.4 per cent at an annualized rate, the worst in 18 years when there was a 5.9 per cent decline in 1991.
But with the Bank of Canada having projected a 7.3 per cent collapse and some economists saying the decline could be as much as nine per cent, the Statistics Canada data has the feel of a death row reprieve.
And the improving data for the last two months of the quarter — February and March — suggests that as Harper noted, the worst is likely over and it happened during the November-January period.
“It is the worst recession since the Great Depression globally, but this is where some of Canada’s positives have come back to save us a bit from something nastier,” said Douglas Porter, deputy chief economist with BMO Capital Markets.
“Make no mistake, it’s a very severe downturn. But we’ve been through these kinds of severe downturns before in the early ’80s and early ’90s.”
Combined with the revised 3.7 per cent drop in the fourth quarter of 2008, Liberal finance critic John McCallum said the slump still qualifies as among the worst since quarterly data began being kept in 1961.
But he too expressed relief that “there is less panic than there was a while ago . . . and more sense that, ‘Yeah, we are going to get out of this.”‘
McCallum said his party will still press for improvements to unemployment insurance to ensure that more laid-off Canadians qualify for benefits, saying the economy will likely continue to shed jobs for months to come.
** Good News for everyone!**
Cheers,
Janis
Filed under Canadian Economy
Are Landlords Your Target Market??
Here is a great place to advertise to your target market
ROMS Advertising
ROMS is the Rental Owner’s Management Society and it provides an “Associate Membership.” This is a listing of products and services for residential rental owners, managers and other real estate professionals.
Membership provides the following advantages:
- Put the name of your business directly in front of over 1000 potential customers – at least once every two months
- An article in the monthly newsletter introducing your company, your services and your fees
- Include the company’s name and description in an annual telephone and information directory used by those same potential customers
- Offers the opportunity to meet and network with other ROMS BC Members at the annual ROMS BC Trade Show
- At an annual cost of only $300.oo plus GST, membership will give your business exclusive access to a large and growing group of potential customers, all of whom are in the real estate business
- Access to a mailing list for your target market for a fee.
Contact information:
830B Pembroke Street
Victoria BC V8T 1H9
(250)382-6324
Fax: (250)382-6007
Email: info@suites-bc.com ASK FOR CARLY!
Enjoy and stay tuned for more helpful tips.
Janis
Follow us on Twitter @CarmenaConsult
Filed under Real Estate Marketing
Thank You 30 Minute Twitter Solution
“You’re busy.
I’m busy.
We’re all busy.”
I think Phil Gerbyshak hit the nail on the head.
When starting my new business, I was extremely worried that the marketing of it would take up alot of my time. With all the Twittering and blogging, when would I have time to work on my client’s marketing suggestions and websites?
Thank you Phil for the 30 minute Twitter Solution. I personally think it’s brilliant and I really enjoy Tweetdeck. It’s a nice layout and I don’t feel overwhelmed with Tweets.
Your article has given me more time to spend with the family and work with clients.
Again, thank you.
Janis Carmena Carmena Consulting
Filed under Social Media Marketing
Adventures of a SMM Virgin!
If beginning a new business is an adventure; delving into social media marketing is downright scary. Over the past couple of months, my partner and I have decided to do what we do professionally. Based in Victoria BC, she designs and creates search engine and user friendly websites while I help new business owners and home-based business operators market themselves. I really enjoy marketing strategies that are easy to execute and inexpensive because entrepreneurs just starting out don’t have the money to be spending on expensive marketing.
This is what led me to the world of Web 2.0!!
First I had to ask myself, what is Web 2.0? I’m sure many newbies are doing the same thing. I turned to my trusty Google and found that Wikipedia describes Web 2.0 as a “ perceived second generation of web development and design, that facilitates communication, secure information sharing, interoperability, and collaboration on the World Wide Web.” Uhhh OK. So I did some more googling and found a definition in the ecommerce journal, “Term Web 2.0 means the set of Internet-based tools that enable users to conduct two-way communication” That made a lot more sense to me. With Web 2.0, I can connect with suppliers, customers and potential clients at little or no cost.
Where to start?
So I began to ask around. Facebook I already had experience with like most people. It is the best thing ever to connect with your old high school friends and keep in touch with friends and family across the world. But can I use it for business??
Blogging?!?!?!? What the heck was it and who comes up with these terms? I do enjoy writing but will others enjoy what I write? What can I write that will be interesting?
Then there was Twitter…again, who comes up with these terms? My hubby asked me the other night what I was doing, I respond, “Playing with Twitter.” Wrong words to say to a husband…I have never seen him run so fast to the bedroom. I only figured out why a little later when he yelled for me. Hmm kinda gave me a headache. So now I watch my words…I say things like “I’m Tweeting, Honey” or “I’m speaking with some Tweeples.” I personally call myself a “Twebie.”
But how can the above help my business and how can I help other business owners while doing so? The biggest question I had was how can I maintain all these social media marketing sites?
A little research into Facebook revealed Facebook “Pages.” Pages give your business a brand and identity on Facebook. Those people interested in your company or service can become “Fans” of your Page. When a person becomes a “Fan” all their friends see that they did and you may possibly attract more “Fans.” You can upload photos, videos and information about your company. Every time you post something to your “Page” then it appears in the mini-feed on your “Fans” sites resulting in their friends being able to view the changes.
The best thing I have found about Facebook is their ‘Notes’ section. You can use the ‘notes’ section like a journal, writing about your business. You can post events and write articles about your “expertise.” I have also discovered that you can link your “Blog” to the notes section on Facebook.
Blogging
With that, I went and did a bit of research about blogging. First I had to figure out where that name came from!! Back to Wikipedia; ahh Blog is a short form of “Weblog” now it all made sense. So how can a Blog help me and how do I do it?
A Blog is an incredible tool for sharing information and expertise. Remember those mass emails you used to write to catch up with everyone in your life…now you can blog. What a great way to connect with your clients and potential clients.
Debbie Weil writes “If you find the right person in your organization to “blog” about your products or services you’ll brand your company as authentic and knowledgeable,”
“A well-done blog does two important things for a business web site;
• it makes it easy to add and update content, so there’s always something fresh on the site;
• it helps establish a relationship with visitors and build a climate of trust. Potential customers get to know you and know about your company through your blog.”
www.sbinfocanada.about.com
For small business owners, a Blog is an inexpensive way to get your name out there. The program I use is www.blogger.com. It’s a simple site to figure out and very straightforward.
Again off to Wikipedia. Wikipedia says Twitter is “a free social networking and micro-blogging service that allows its users to send and read other users’ updates (otherwise known as tweets), which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length.” Hmm 140 characters or less? What can I say in 140 characters! Luckily a URL address is less than 140 characters and still gives you room for a comment.
Twitter allows you to Tweet about anything that your customers (or potential customers) would find interesting/valuable/amusing about your business. You can engage with people and have meaningful two way conversations. You can also link your blog to Twitter therefore reaching more people.
Tweetups are organized through Twitter where you can meet other people in your community and network. Twitter is also a great place to learn about what is going on in your community. The amount of information that is passed through Twitter is amazing.
To keep your Twitter account organized, I recommend TweetDeck.
Conclusion
So now I’m on Facebook, blogging and Twittering…the first thing I thought was that this was going to take up a lot of time. Then I discovered Ping.fm. It is a clever little program where you can write what you want to post and it posts it to any social site you want it to. What a lovely program for someone with their own business and limited time.
With every day that passes I learn more and more about social media marketing. I don’t look at it as scary anymore, but enjoyable and I hope you will to.
Keep up with my blog as I write more about my business adventures.
You can also follow me in Twitter @CarmenaConsult
Yours in SMM world.
Janis Carmena
www.carmenaconsulting.com
Filed under Social Media Marketing
Lawless Brown Newsletter
Hey everyone, I had a great time writing the Lawless Brown Mortgage Broker newsletter. As a marketing tool, the newsletter gets mailed, via snail mail, to all clients and anyone who requests it on their site. Marketing experts say that to keep your company name at top of mind consciousness, a client has to have contact with you 12 – 14 times a year!! A monthly newsletter does this well and having a newsletter float around your clients’ counters etc makes it visible to anyone who visits their houses!
I hope you enjoy this newsletter and if you are interested in subscribing to it or have any questions about writing a newsletter, just contact me.
JUNE NEWSLETTER – The LAWLESS BROWN LOWDOWN
Cheers,
Janis
Carmena Consulting
Filed under Uncategorized
Mtg with Kerry Davies and Krista Lawless
Had a wonderful meeting with Kerry Davies, a local realtor who helped me buy two rental properties, and Krista Lawless of Lawless Brown Mortgage Brokers.
Starbucks Broadmead was hopping and the icy cool drinks were wonderful on a day like this. It was great to talk about the real estate market and how hot it is becoming. Seems like it is matching the weather!!! Must be the low interest rates inspiring everyone to get into the market.
Also spoke of Web 2.0 marketing and how it is the way to go to appeal to the masses. I’m loving Twitter, Facebook and blogging. It takes time to get the word out there about a business but the word does get out there.
We build the Lawless Brown site and are really proud of it. It is the site that got Carmena Consulting started. It’s education based and user and search engine friendly.
Hope everyone is Slipping, Slapping and Slopping.
Enjoy the heat
Janis
Carmena Consulting
Filed under Uncategorized
