Facebook and WordPress offer an integrated marketing solution
There are many things that I like about WordPress, but by far, one of my favorites is how it can be setup to take care of your work for you. This means that you can do one thing and have it tie in with other marketing venues AUTOMATICALLY!
For example, if you set things up properly, you can write a POST in your WordPress site (NOTE – This doesn’t work with WordPress PAGES, just for POSTS) and have it automatically appear on your Facebook Business Page.
The other night I was putting up a Post for a client and I didn’t need to worry about dealing with Facebook because the Facebook post was created automatically.
Another example is the ability to place a simple widget in a WordPress Sidebar and have it display your recent Facebook Posts or your most recent Twitter Tweets — all automatically.
Let me take a moment to clarify — these options work if you are using WordPress installed on your own domain. I don’t know whether they work on a free blog hosted on the WordPress.com site.
As more and more web sites are built using WordPress, there are more plugins being developed and more functionality being added. If you have a specific need, it is worth checking to see if there is a plugin yet. If there isn’t, just wait a while… 
WordPress – Website Builder and Content Management
Today, July 4, I opened one of my WordPress Websites and discovered that they have just implemented WordPress 3.2 – the Gershwin…
The interface has changed fairly dramatically, but not in a disconcerting way. So far, I have been able to find my way around with no problem and i suspect that once I get used to it, I will like it a lot.
In the WordPress Documentation, they said:
QUOTE:
Version 3.2 is our fifteenth major release of WordPress and comes just four months after 3.1 (which coincidentally just passed the 15 million download mark this morning), reflecting the growing speed of development in the WordPress community and our dedication to getting improvements in your hands as soon as possible.
This speedy development and implementation is just one of the factors that makes WordPress a good bet for small business. and it one of the points I had been planning to make in the article I had logged in to write!
So, without further ado, and using the newest version of WP, let the article commence!
WordPress is an excellent web building solution for small business
Currently, and for the foreseeable future, WordPress is one of the best website solutions for a functional, effective website.
It may not be appropriate for a site needing an extensive shopping cart solution or other complicated communication options.
However, for the majority of small businesses looking for a flexible solution with a fairly easy learning curve, WordPress may be IT!
WordPress ticks several boxes on my GOTTA HAVE List:
- Fairly Search Engine Optimized (SEO), right out of the metaphorical box The SEO can be easily maximized with a few tweaks and plugins
- It is OPEN SOURCE and has surely reached critcal mass in terms of devoted developers.
This means that it is likely to continue evolving for a long, long, time. Unlike solution created by For Profit companies, where a software might be dropped with little warning
- It is extremely flexible
There are thousands of themes available or you can have a unique one created for you.Layouts are also flexible, with 2 and 3 columns being the most common. Multiple navigation options are available, depending on the theme.
- WordPress functionality is also very flexible
Tens of thousands of plugins (both free and premium – paid) add many options ranging from shopping carts to extensive post scheduling.
- WordPress is easily integrated with Facebook and Twitter
This is no small matter, at this point in Web 2.0What it means is that you can take one action and have it extend to multiple sites.For example, a POST made on a WordPress site can also appear on Twitter and Facebook, automatically, if you have everything set up correctly. This is a powerful Three For One for any small business.
- Many WordPress Themes are Mobile Ready with little to no tweakingMobile friendly is an important consideration, especially for brick and mortar business. WordPress offers a number of solutions that can be fairly easy to implement.
All in all, WordPress is a website building, content management solution that deserves careful consideration from any small business owner!
Sharing the Road to Success!
Tink
Urban Knitting makes the News
I just posted this on two of the Needlework Industry business forums I belong to, and it seemed appropriate to post it here as well.
FORUM POST
The flagpole at our town library has a red white and blue sweater sheath, composed of knit and crocheted squares. I admire it on my morning walk.
Now, on a MUCH larger scale, the needlearts have hit Time Magazine!
With COOL terminology – Yarn Bombing! and an interesting personality – Madga Sayeg
This would be a good bandwagon for ANY needlearts website /blog to write about… adding content and keying into *trending* searches…
It doesn’t matter if you are a cross stitch or needlepoint site, this would be a good thing for you, both short term and ling term…for yarn sites, this really is a no-brainer!
Write a medium to long post and Search Engine Optimize the *you know what* about it… and by all means, post on your Facebook Fan Pages
Keywords to include – yarn bombing, Madga Sayeg, Knit Graffiti, Crochet Graffiti, urban knitting
Online, things have changed drastically in the last 6 months and this would be a good way to start coming to terms with the changes.
[aside]
I plan to be posting about these changes a bit later on… and offering some indepth analysis along with Q and A, because frankly, the vast majority of needlework related websites — both yarn and thread– are in severe danger of disappearing in the Search Engines as a result of these changes
[/aside]
Anyway, here is the link… look and enjoy!
http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,2077071_2283023,00.html?hpt=hp_bn8
Here is Madga Sayeg’s site
http://www.knittaplease.com/home.html
Here is Madga Sayeg’s blog
http://knittaporfavor.wordpress.com/http://knittaporfavor.wordpress.com/
NOTE- she is also on Facebook and Twitter (see her website for links) so be sure you Tweet about it and post about it on FB
This is a sterling opportunity to start the work needed to fend off the Google problems looming for most NW sites, no matter their focus!
Tink
Using Social Media – Facebook and Twitter – in a way that makes sense with how they work inherently
I have dual monitors so I tend to work with my current task on one and then have CNN or HuffPo or something business related on the other — ready to be read while I sit and wait for poor Freddie, my desktop, to grins along.
I was reading an interview with Candace Nelson, one of the chef/bakers behind the concept of the *Cupcakery*
http://eatocracy.cnn.com/2011/05/17/under-wrappers-secrets-behind-a-cult-cupcake/?hpt=Sbin
It was a fascinating read… but the REAL gold was this quote:
How did you create the idea of a “whisper word?” [A word on Twitter and Facebook that is the “secret key” to daily free cupcakes.]
“Part of the idea is that we run a cupcake shop, so it needs to be fun and playful. We are fortunate that we have a good enough business that we can do stuff like that and charitable initiatives. It’s part of us following our passion versus what we were doing before, which was finance.”
The operative concept here is:
“whisper word?” – A word on Twitter and Facebook that
is the “secret key” to daily free cupcakes.
This is an excellent example of using the inherent properties of Social Media vehicles, such as Twitter and Facebook… using them to do what they (and their millions of users) do and build on how they interact.
Certainly EVERY restaurant should be using tactics like this… but I also think that many independent brick and mortar retailers could also be using this in a similar way… not necessarily to give away or discount, but, for example, to announce new deliveries, especially on items available in limited quantities!
How can you use a *Whisper Word* in YOUR business?
Sharing the Road to Success!
Tink
Social Media and New Technology Bring Changes for Small Business
I have been doing a lot of thinking and a lot of writing about 2011 and its significance for small businesses over the last couple of weeks. As I see it, there are several factors which will be making the next year or two particularly important to offline business owners…
This Post is a Sticky Post, so it stays at the top of the page. Please, scroll down for more recent posts.
Thanks!
Tink
Social Media Marketing Opportunities for Small Businesses
I went looking online for a short, easy to understand definition of Social Media and found this analogy…
Think of regular media as a one-way street where you can read a newspaper or listen to a report on television, however, you have very a limited ability to share your thoughts on the matter.
Social Media, on the other hand, is an active two-way street that gives you the ability to communicate and respond.
While Social Media can be a major time waster, for small businesses and offline businesses in particular, Facebook and Twitter have come into their own as effective marketing tools. They are especially efficient now because they can be integrated quite nicelywith a website built using WordPress…
For instance, a WordPress Post can be set to be posted on your Facebook Fan page and Tweet on your twitter account. The Facebook Fan page and its recent posts can be displayed in the sidebar of your WordPress site along with recent Twitter Tweets. All of this can be set to happen automatically, with no additional work on your part.
So you write one thing and have it appear in two other additional venues… automatically and entirely hands off! Pretty efficient!
Mobile Marketing is Changing How We Do Business
Another important change in business is how Mobile Marketing is evolving. More and more, folks are depending on their mobile devices on a day to day basis – finding locations, reading QR Codes, even making payments…
As business owners, we need to keep up, insuring that we can benefit from the advancing technology and making sure that we have a web presence that is Mobile Accessible. As with everything internet related, there are a myriad of options and strategies available, and no one size fits all!
QR Codes Provide a Much Needed Bridge Between Offline and Online
QR Codes (Quick Response Codes) look like tiny black and white mosaics, in a square shape and with a pattern made up of even tinier black and white squares. They are actually 2D barcodes.
They are designed to be scanned by Smart Phones and other mobile devices. the device needs to have a QR Code Application installed, but more and more of them are being sold with this capacity already installed.
QR Codes are a powerful new technology from an offline business standpoint.
- They enable a consumer to do things like download directions to your shop from your website directly onto the consumer’s smart phone.
- They allow you to provide a QR Code at the register and send the customer directly to an email sign up form on your website AND join your email list while you ring up their purchase.
These are just two quick examples. Once you start thinking, I know you will begin to see the possibilities!
WordPress is now a Viable Content Management System for Small Business Websites
My last example involves the web site building software – WordPress.
WordPress was originally and specifically created as blogging software. It is now an excellent choice for many types of small business web sites. In fact, about the only thing it can’t do is run an ecommerce site with more than about 500 products.
In simple terms, a Content Management System is a web site that handles the look and function of the website separately from the actual information/content of the site.
In other words, with a Content Management System, you can make radical changes to the packaging – the theme and workings, without affecting the object inside — in this case, the website information and content.
WordPress does this easily. In addition there are literally thousands of plugins (add-ons) that will add additional functionality to a WordPress site.
WordPress is Open Source so it and many of its related Themes and Plugins are free. But, don’t limit yourself to just free. There are many fine Themes and Plugins which justify their purchase price.
As a last and extremely important point, WordPress is relatively easy to learn and use effectively. This means that a small business owner can actually have control over the company website… without expensive fees!
Look Ahead for Small Business Advantages Online
All in all, I am quite excited about the opportunities now available for small business owners. These options promise to start leveling the playing field between small business and its intimidating Big Business competition!
Sharing the Road to Success!
Tink
