Is marketing through social networks a waste of time?

More and more small business owners spend more and more time online with social networking. Is time spent here wasted or is it useful?

For sure, blogging, twittering and facebooking takes time - a lot of time if you want to post more articles than just one every now and then.

There are some things online that you can automate, such as the update of your twitter account, that you can set up in a way that it will show your latest blog posts or facebook post. However, communication through social networks should stay personal. That means, not everything should or can be automated. If you really want to start interacting with people, you yourself will have to answer their questions or respond to their comments they might leave on your blog or facebook page.

So why do businesses and organizations even have blogs, twitter accounts, a fanpage on facebook, if it is so much work to keep it updated?

They do it to draw attention to themselves, to gain more and more subscribers or 'followers'. Of course, as a company or organization you also want to sell. Either your product or service or your organization’s purpose.
If you do not gain any new subscribers, ‘followers’, customers or clients with all your efforts, then you are probably just wasting your time.

Of course it will take some time (at least several months) until you succeed with your efforts in social networks. If you are not successful, you should reconsider your strategy. It might be better for you to target your audience through other channels.

How much time do you spend with social networking? Do you believe it is a waste of time?

Facebook-Ads – How to create an advertising campaign in facebook

Facebook offers a very cost-effective way of online advertising with facebook ads. These are ads that can be set to be shown only to a very specific audience.

For example, you can set your ads to be shown to just 40 year old, single, male facebook users who have kids, like hiking and live in Switzerland. This example is very specific. However, you limit the number of facebook users, who will get to see your ad. The fewer attributes you set for your target audience, the bigger your target audience will be and the more facebook users will get to see your ad.

In order to advertise on facebook, you already have to be a facebook user. If you do not have a facebook account yet, you will have to open one.



Go through the following steps in order to advertise on facebook:

1. Log in to facebook with your user name and password
2. Click on your profile, click on “Create an Ad” on the right side
3. Now you can start creating your ad
4. „Design your ad“: Under „Destination URL“, enter the website that you want users, who click on your ad, to go to. You can add the URL of your facebook page or the url of your website. Under “Title” you should add a title for your ad. The text of your add can not have more than 135 characters and has to be added under “Body Text”. Under “Image” you can upload a picture for your facebook ad. This is optional. However, pictures can not be bigger than 110x80 px.
   The last sentence of your ad should give an instruction to the viewer, such as “Order now!”.
   On the right side you can view your ad, while you input the text.
5. “Targeting”: When you put in details here, you will see that the “estimated reach” will decrease. Remember that not all facebook users make all information in their accounts and thus may not be counted as your target audience, although they should.
   Under “Location” enter the country in which the ad should be displayed. The ad can be seen in the entire country or in specific cities (“by city”) and the area around them.
   Under “Demographics” you can provide information on age, gender, relationship status and languages of your target group.
   Under “Likes&Interest” you can add certain styles of music, bands, movies etc.
   Under “Education&Work” you can specify what education it is your target audience should have. You can even add a company or organization.
   If you advertise your facebook page in your ad, you should add it under “Connections on Facebook” > “Target users who are not already connected to:”. Otherwise, facebook users who already like your facebook page will get to see the ad as well.
6. Under “Campaigns and Pricing“ you will have to decide whether you want to „pay for impressions“ (CPM – cost per impression) or „pay for clicks“ (CPC – cost per click). You also have to add your maximum bid. The maximum bid is the highest price you are willing to pay per 1,000 impressions or per click. Just choose “Use Suggested Bid” – this is the simplest way when you are just starting out with facebook ads.
   I recommend you use the model of CPC (paying for every click on your ad), as this is more cost effective.
7. Click on “Review Ad”.
8. You will now see your facebook ad and you can also assign a name. This is especially useful if you decide to run different ads.
9. The costs for your ad will be charged to the credit card that you have already stored in your facebook account. If you have not put in your credit card information, you will have to do so now.
10. If you do not want to change your ad, click “Place Order”.
11. Under “Run Status” you will now see “Pending review”. This means that facebook is currently reviewing your ad. You will receive an email from facebook once your ad is approved and active.
12. In this overview, you will later on be able to see how many people have seen your ad and how many actually clicked on it.

It is advisable, to advertise with different ads with slightly different texts and target groups, in order to get a feeling what the target audience likes best.

Plan for recreation when planning your marketing activities

Recreation and free time are part of the life of an entrepreneur/freelancer, such as well as work. You do not have time for recreation? That is not possible! Without recreation there is no work.
People who who are just working around the clock, do not nearly do their work as powerful as someone who regularly relaxes.
Recovered and relaxed people can concentrate better and perform their tasks better. This was confirmed by a study of the Johannes-Gutenberg-University Mainz, Germany – even though you probably knew that already a long time ago.
Recreation and leisure go hand in hand with the marketing of a company. Only people who have free time on a regular basis can make good marketing. People who do not compensate work with recreation cannot be creative.
Go out, enjoy the summer and leave your computer and Blackberry at home.

Designing your business cards

Business cards are essential for your marketing! They are a cheap and simple way of advertising.

For business cards, there really is no standard format. However, there are a few formats that are common:

• 85 x 55 mm (EU credit card size used in Belgium, Germany, France, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland)
• 85.6 x 54 mm / 3.370 x 2.125 in (credit card size according to ISO 7810)
• 74 x 52 mm / 2.913 x 2.047 in (ISO 216, A8)
• 81 x 57 mm / 3.2 x 2.2 in (DIN C8)
• 100 x 65 mm / 3.937 x 2.559 in (with photo)
• 88.9 x 50.8 mm / 3.5 x 2 (business card size in U.S. and UK)
• 91 x 55 mm / 3.582 x 2.165 in (Japanese business card format)
• 90 x 55 mm / 3.54 x 2.165 in (used in Australia, Denmark, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden)
• 90 x 54 mm / 3.543 x 2.125 in (used in Hong Kong and China)
• 90 x 50 mm / 3.543 x 1.968 in (used in Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Finland, Israel, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Ukraine, Hungary)
• Fold-over business cards usually folded to one of the above formats

As paper, you should select something stable, such as 300 g/m² or 350 g/m². Thin paper is cheaper, but does not look professional.

You can design and print your business cards on one side or on both sides. The one-sided print usually is a little bit cheaper. You can just have something printed in black on the front side - the print shop will call this 1/0. Or you have something printed in black on both sides - 1/1.
However, I recommend using color. Either just on the front side (4/0) or the front side colored and the back side in black (4/1), or both sides in color (4/4). '4' stands for the four printing colors used: cyan, magenta, yellow and black.
You can also use special colors - at additional cost of course.
Also, you have the opportunit to have your business cards coated with a UV lacquer. This is offered by most of the print shops now.
Another possibility, which is particularly common in the U.S. is the thermography process. Thsi simulates the more expensive raised-print effect with the application of plastic powder that is melted onto the card.

The font on your cards should be adjusted depending on the appeal wanted. Avoid using all capital, script or ornate writing - these are difficult to read.
Select a font size that is not too small - less than 8 pt can only be read by some people with the help of a magnifying glass.

Your business card should appear clearly. Do not stuff it with too much text. Do not overload your card with too much information, as this will appear cluttered.

If you already have a Corporate Design (CD) - a consistent corporate identity - you should also use it for your business cards. At least your logo should appear on your cards!

Important content of your business card:

• Logo
• Company name
• Maybe a short description of the company
• First name, last name, title, function
• Full address
• Telephone, mobile telephone number, fax
• E-mail
• Website, blog, facebook page

There are several possibilities for having your business card printed.
One way to print the cards is doing it yourself - with your own printer and special business card paper. However, since this appears unprofessional, takes time and is not necessarily cheaper than having the cards printed professionally, you should make use of another possibility: You can use a local print shop or an internet print shop. Mot internet print shops are a little bit cheaper - however, they lack personal contact. To find an internet print shop simply google 'printing business cards'.

Wasted money for advertising - quote by John Wanamaker

Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half. /John Wanamaker, US merchant

Do you know, which half of your advertising expenditures goes to waste? What is the amount of your marketing budget and what is its effect?

Marketing for NPOs: to suceed you need a strategy - Greenpeace as an example

More and more organizations rely on social media to attract attention, such as the NPO (non profit organization) Greenpeace as already mentioned.

The organization targets a corporation that is not acting the way it should (Nestlé in the past, now BP) and goes against the corporation's work with activities in different media.

Also in its latest campaign against the company BP, Greenpeace connects social media very effectively with real actions - mainly guerrilla actions.

Greenpeace currently has graphic designers and other creative people rebrand the previous BP logo - in a competition on their webseite. The logo of the company is to be redesigned to match the dirty business of the BP-group. The previously submitted logos are all very creative.
So BP (British Petroleum) is changed into beelzebub profits, broken pipe, pollution business, big profit - it's never enough, best practices, big problem, best pest, poison black, yellow fever, british predator, big pollute, or peng bum. Slogans were changed as well, for example "BP - we oil the world", "SBP - silent but deadly", "not so slick actually - BP", "BP - burn our planet", "BP - PB - planet breakup", "children could run it better - probably "," RIPBP "," BP - we united drill. It's definitely worth taking a look at the picture gallery of submitted work! Should BP ever think of a rebranding, it would be easy for them to draw from the pool of logos of Greenpeace. However, whether these logos are good for BP's image is rather questionable.

Meanwhile, Greenpeace activists attached a flag with BP's new logo (BP - British Polluters) at the BP headquarters in London. Youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyEWwsm7wfQ

A few days ago, Greenpeace activists were arrested in the US, because they painted oily messages on a ship loaded with oil. At least, this gets the organization in the headlines and focuses attention on the real problem - the oil spill.

Greenpeace is doing its best to draw attention on what BP is doing. At the same time, the organization also makes the public aware of the real problems of the oil spill. Greenpeace is currently taking water samples and documenting the devastation in the Gulf of Mexico - with employees, scientists and volunteers.

Behind all these efforts by Greenpeace lies a well-developed strategy. However, just like many other NPOs, Greenpeace has to respond quickly to emerging problems. That means, there is a risk that even though a strategy has been worked out, you have to improvise.

Therefore, NPOs have to develop a basic strategy in order to be able to react quickly. The strategy should include many (different) media: guerilla actions, documented and distributed through the Internet and social media, as well as hands-on activities, which can also be distributed online. Then, of course, the organization should also ensure that the cooperation between employees and volunteers goes smoothly.

Business idea - how to find an idea for your business

You want to start your own business? You want to become an entrepreneur? But you are stilll missing the right idea for your business?

Go through the world with open eyes. Look at what people do and how they do it. Then think about how you could make processes simpler, faster and more efficient. Maybe you will realize what is missing. Then you already have your business idea. Or maybe you had the problem already that something (a product or service) was missing in a particular moment?

A different approach for finding your business idea is to turn what you like (e.g. a hobby) into a company. Do you like knitting? You could develop an Internet platform with information on knitting, where you can also sell your knitting.

Do you have certain skills that you can use to build a business? Perhaps you can offer something that no one else offers - a particular product or a particular service? Through this you could also develop a business idea.

Look out for trends that are just emerging and also for market niches.

A good starting point for developing ideas are your own strengths. Build on your strengths and try to work around your weaknesses. It makes little sense to look for capital-intensive ideas, if there are no prospects for getting money.

In general, business ideas fall into one of three categories:

• Product for which you buy parts / material and assemble the product itself
• Product that you buy from a wholesaler, retailer or manufacturer
• Service you offer

The simplest business ideas are existing products in existing markets. However, here you have the greatest competition.
The most difficult ideas are new products in new markets. Here you have (almost) no competition.

Good methods in order to find ideas are:

• Brainstorming with your friends and colleagues
• Asking others for their ideas
• Reading magazines about the market in which you want to be active

Often, business ideas arise by accident, out of a certain situation or just when you are at the right place during the right time.