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huggytree
01-17-2009, 09:30 AM
I heard somewhere that websites like 'facebook' are good social networking sites which can drum up some business for your business.

Jan./Feb. is typically a very slow month for my plumbing business and i decided to look into it. I just joined this morning..there isnt anyone from my high school i know good enough to communicate with....there isnt anyone from anywhere i have worked that i can find.....

any idea's of how to advertise my business to locals there?

what would be perfect is to start some kind of question & answer just for locals...the answer could always be 'hire me!'

vangogh
01-17-2009, 10:01 AM
If you approach Facebook or any other social networking site with the sole purpose of advertising it's not likely to work. You want to join and genuinely participate in the community there. If you come across as being there only for self promotional reasons no one is going to pay attention and you could always end up being banned from the site.

However Facebook does sell advertising (http://www.facebook.com/advertising/) too. You can always advertise that way.

If you're looking for free advertising through using the site then you have to spend the time becoming part of the community and no push marketing messages so hard. Think of it like the forum here. If you sign up and your first few posts are self promotional the posts will be deleted and your account will probably be banned. If you participate and contribute something to the forum you'll likely get away with an occasional marketing message, though even then you could do it too often or too aggressively and still find your posts banned and your account removed.

If you simply participate and contribute you'll likely find you get business from the forum without having to ask. It's the same way with social sites like Facebook. Most of the people there don't want to see marketing messages and aren't likely to respond to them.

phanio
01-17-2009, 11:12 AM
I have struggled with the same issue. Finding past friends or colleagues. I created a personal profile and then a profile for my business. But, I just don't have the time to post what I am doing every minute of the day. I did join some groups that are fun to discuss in, but have not generated any business from them as most are also looking to drum up business.

Regarding to adverting there, I found and joins the Visa Business Network. By joining this group, I receive a $100 coupon to advertise on the site. I have not used it yet but it is good until 4/1/09. Might be a cheap way to advertisie.

My problem with facebook is that I do not understand how it all works. I try to post stuff there, but it usually seems a little corny and a waste of time.

It is my understanding that both facebook and myspace are struggling to get new usuers. Must be saturated or the allure is diminished.

Let us know if you stumble upon something that works or is cool.

vangogh
01-17-2009, 03:20 PM
Joseph, don't feel like you have to post every minute of the day. You can set aside a couple of 15 minute blocks each day to post. Your goal should be more to connect with other people and build relationships than overt marketing. Once you've been part of the community you can look for opportunities to market yourself without going over the top.

I see a lot of people jumping into social media sites and start to aggressively market themselves. The community isn't likely to respond to that kind of approach and you can do more harm than good.

Go into social media with the idea of contributing to the sites and the communities around them.

phanio
01-17-2009, 04:40 PM
I try to post helpful hints - hope it does not come off as marketing. I am new to all of this - just not sure what to say - even though I have an opinion on everything. I do hope that I can help someone - it is such a good feeling.

phanio
01-17-2009, 04:42 PM
To huggytree,

what other avenues have you used or are using that does help drum up business. I am very new to all of this and have taught myself html php/mysql but am very new to the online marketing side.

Any hints?

Aaron Hats
01-17-2009, 04:54 PM
How about sending a newsletter to all your existing customer with maintenance tips? We get one from our accountant. This way you keep your name in front of the customer so when they need a plumber you're their first thought.

huggytree
01-17-2009, 05:20 PM
i have the real world stuff down good...im interested in the possibilities of the virtual world right now...

it worked well on 'king of the hill' ...they had a office worker who got them propane business from her online friends....i get all my new business ideas from adult cartoons...

Aaron Hats
01-17-2009, 05:49 PM
I understand. Don't get too hung up on making sure you're doing internet marketing because you hear "everybody's doing it". If you think it will help your business then do it regardless of whether it's online or in your neighborhood.

orion_joel
01-17-2009, 06:31 PM
I hope that this response does not sound to disjointed and may actually provide some information for you, but here goes.

While Facebook can be good to connect with people that you know (or even some that you don't know). The problem is forming the initial connection that means that they want to connect with you as a friend on the site. For example previously knowing the person, having a similar interest, or being in a similar group. The site does to some extent allow for this, as when you search it will search for not just people, but also relevant associations, and groups that are on the site. For example you may try searching for your city name, which may turn up any number of local community groups.

Once you find groups, you can join them and if you like participate in these groups. However, it depends on the type of group and the range of people in that group if this is going to be of any benefit to you. From a business point of view, i would estimate that the vast majority of users on facebook are probably in the 14 - 24yr old age group. While there are many users outside this age group, they are probably not as common, really again depends on the area.

The other thing that you can do on Facebook and one thing i believe you need to do to be able to place advertising on the site is to have a Facebook Business Page. They are not to difficult to setup and are pretty much done through your existing account. I wrote a blog post on these not that long ago, you can find it here First Step into Social Media JOELBROWN.ID.AU (http://joelbrown.id.au/2009/01/02/first-step-into-social-media/)

On another note something that you may find to be more useful them Facebook initially is a blog. I am sure that you could come up with a lot of different stories to share about plumbing nightmares, and tips that you could offer, or even sharing information about different products that are available. One thing that this could do, is give you some great content to catch through the search engines. It could help to show people you range of experience, and also to either prove or build on your reputation for knowledge and the level of information that you share. One thing that you can do from this is each time you create a new post share it as a status update on facebook.

Just some ideas and thoughts on this direction you are taking, hope it works out for you.

vangogh
01-17-2009, 08:09 PM
Joseph I can only speak about what I've seen you post here, but never once did it cross my mind that you were aggressively marketing yourself here. I think in a very short time you've offered a lot of great advice.

billbenson
01-17-2009, 08:56 PM
If you are slow, why not add a shopping cart to your web site? It's both a way of improving the site and making a few bucks. Some of the add on carts are pretty easy. You don't need to learn to program. You already have some suppliers for plumbing products. Will they drop ship?

My recommendation is zen cart for a shopping cart. Just start out with a few products initially. Figure out how to get them placed well in Google. You probably want to use the services of a SEO expert such as Vangogh at least initially. Or just research and play with it? It won't hurt your site and will make you look larger than a one man show?? Down the road, you might find that it's a good part of your income. Not tomorrow though!!

Just a thought.

huggytree
01-18-2009, 07:53 PM
ive never thought of selling plumbing products on my site...thats a new one to ponder..

im already having people ive known ask to be 'friends' on face book...one was from first grade. its very interesting....i am realizing it wont be a marketing tool, but will make my life alittle interesting and possibly get me a job or 2 some day....i looked up an old girlfriend just to see the photo..she was beautiful and did some modeling....not good anymore.lives in florida(no i didnt click her to be a friend..just interested in a photo)...very interesting to see what 17 years of hard living can do......face book is overall quite interesting...

Dan Furman
01-18-2009, 10:48 PM
I'm not sure Facebook (etc) should be looked at in terms of "getting business" and the like. To me, it's more like "putting yourself out there".

Consider this scenario: You connect on Facebook w/ an old friend who used to live in the area. Maybe you e-mail once or twice, maybe you write on each other's wall once a month or so, and that's it. Six months go by - heck, make it a year - and this old friend is talking to his aunt, who still lives in the area. She casually mentions she has a plumbing issue - your friend (who hadn't thought about you in the previous decade before Facebook) remembers you are a plumber, and says "hey, call Huggy".

That's generally how Facebook (and other Social Media) work. Just use it and have fun with it. It can't hurt in your overall marketing - the more people who know you are a plumber, the better.

That's what Facebook does - it lets people know about you. But too many people join and a week later say "What, that's it? Where's the business from this social marketing thing I hear all about?"

Harold Mansfield
01-18-2009, 11:17 PM
Setting up a Face Book profile can't hurt but it is more for social networking. You can certainly stumble onto a business connection or two, but rarely does it come because someone saw your profile and decided to give you a call, it's more of a by product of social interaction because of other interests.

For business connections most people use Linked In (http://www.linkedin.com/). It's sort of a "Face Book" for professionals and it is set up for you put in as much information as you wish about you and your business, and include a business or professional resume'.

I have a Facebook profile, but I mostly get offers to go to clubs and dance music events (because I write a Dance Music Blog).

As far as the boredom of updating Face book with your activities...I use a Firefox plug in called Shareaholic (http://www.shareaholic.com/), and basically bookmark my blog entries, videos and any other activities that I do online to my Face Book profile with a simple click of the app, which will stay in your tool bar., so basically I update my Face Book when I post on one of my blogs. I might actually log into Face Book twice a month, but it gets updated a few times a week.

It's a social networking site. You will get business from it much the same way as you would going to the local bar and having a chance meeting with someone who is looking for your services.

For plumbing, it's likely that you need any business connections to be local, unless you branch out into designing kitchens and baths, or as was mentioned, sold products on your site.

orion_joel
01-19-2009, 06:30 PM
I think the overall idea of Facebook is social networking, friends and relatives and being casual, and as eborg mentions Linkedin is a better option for for business connections. However my personal opinion is that while they each have their upsides, you need to be involved in all, to truly get the most benefit.

Just a quick story, about twitter. I joined i think about a month ago, when it was being discussed in a post here. I had not thought to much about it and just was posting links and the occasional reply, or adding someone and making a comment or such. Well helping a friend yesterday i posted a post on my blog about a networking luncheon being held in Brisbane, and share the link to the post on twitter. I thought nothing would come of it, well within 6 hours of this post, her site appeared for the first time in google search results and she had also had one inquiry directly from my twitter post about the luncheon. This really shows what can be achieved with social networking.

vangogh
01-19-2009, 08:20 PM
Absolutely Joel. I'll share another story I may have shared before. Last spring through Twitter I got to know someone who later offered me a guest posting opportunity at a blog he writes for. The post did well in part because of their site. It probably wouldn't have had the same visibility had I posted it on my site.

Someone who read it contacted me to write an article for a site she edits that's associated with PayPal. The best part is I was paid a good amount of money to write that article.

For me networking on Twitter opened up new opportunities.

On of the things I think people do wrong when it comes to social media is misunderstanding what each site can really do. They're all different. Each has it's strengths and weaknesses.

orion_joel
01-19-2009, 10:07 PM
And while it may add extra work load (though i do not find it to be much, maybe 10-15 minutes a day) you really do need all of them and work them all in harmony.

vangogh
01-20-2009, 12:59 AM
Yeah, you don't have to be on social media all day. It is time consuming, but I try to incorporate it into other things I'm doing anyway. For example while I'm reading my feeds I'll submit content I like to various social media sites. When I need a break from something I'll hop on one social network or another to chat for a bit before getting back to what I was doing.

orion_joel
01-20-2009, 06:01 PM
Yeah that is right, i spend maybe a total of 20 minutes a day spread over about 5 or 6 times, updating status checking responses and such. Is not really a big deal really.

vangogh
01-20-2009, 06:45 PM
It's easy to get caught up in social media and spend all day doing nothing else, but if you can be a little disciplined about it then it's just another part of your day. The time can be more that the results won't be quick. You generally don't network with people overnight, but over weeks, months, and even years.