Shannon's thoughts on marketing, public relations, social technology, entrepreneurship and other things

Necessity
Work?
I don't have to work.
I don't have to do nothing
but eat, drink, stay black, and die.
This little old furnished room's
so small I can't whip a cat
without getting fur in my mouth
and my landlady's so old
her features is all run together
and God knows she sure can overcharge-
Which is why I reckon I *does*
have to work after all.
--Langston Hughes
Montage of a Dream Deferred, 1951

As Langston wrote 60 years ago, there are very few "have to's" in life; however, in business there are a great number of "need to's."

You need to market your business.
You don't have to have a Facebook page (Gasp!).

You need to find your customers.
You don't have to have a Twitter account (Get out!).

You need to generate revenue.
You don't even have to have a website (Blasphemy!).

There are a number of "old school" marketing tactics you can employ for your business. None of them are better or worse than any other, all of them require different levels of commitment and resources and all have been successful in one form or another. It is a question of which one(s) will work for you, not which one(s) you have to do. 

Some "Old School" Marketing Tactics

• transportation advertising (signs on buses and at bus stops)
• posters, flyers and postcards
• radio, television and print advertising
• movie advertising
• newsletter and program advertising
• referral and word-of-mouth
• incentive programs
• sponsorships
• networking
• billboards
• promotional items
• tradeshow exhibitions

These are a few methods for getting your message out; however, the best marketing campaign is the one that works for you in meeting your business objective. Before you begin expending valuable marketing resources, consider the following:

What is the goal of my marketing campaign?
Do I want to generate revenue, increase brand awareness or intimidate my competitors?
What marketing tactics are my competitors using?
What are the direct (capital) and indirect (time) costs?
Who is going to manage the campaign?
How long will the campaign last or run?
How will I know if the campaign is working?
What do success and failure look like?
Is the campaign going to reach my target audience?

However you decide to market yourself, remember, the only silver bullets are time and consistency.

This is a great tool from The Unbounce Blog. Use the scorecard to see where you can make improvements to your landing page.

via unbounce.com

How well does your landing page score?
Do you see where small changes to your landing page can make substantial improvements to your site's conversion rates?

Additional Resources:
The Top 10 Converting Websites
7 Ways to Improve Your Call to Action
7 Elements of a Winning Landing Page

Twitter chats are vehicles to share information with your audience, demonstrate your subject matter expertise to new audiences and learn from your tweeps. However, as with all events, prep work is required to make them educational, interesting and valuable experiences for all involved.

The Hashtag
The hashtag is fundamental; it is the key, the focus and core of the chat. The best chat hashtags are simple, relevant and easy to remember. They convey the chat's topic and don't take up too many of the precious 140 characters. Some good examples are #blogchat, #brandchat and #measurepr, and some examples bad chat hashtags are #beginnerbloggingchat, #marketingandbrandingyourbusiness and #measuringyourpublicrelations. The former are easy to remember and you immediately know the chat’s topic; the latter are disastrous.
Nugget of knowledge: KISS – Keep It Succinct & Simple

Schedule
Setting a regular day and time for the chat is the key to participation and growth of the audience. Many of the established Twitter chats occur weekly. Newer chats start off bi-weekly or monthly, then become weekly as their audiences grow.

Website
As this is a Twitter chat, a Twitter account is the ideal place for information about the event; however, you can only put up so much information there. A static site or blog provides space for all of the chat’s pertinent information: the what, where, when, why and how of the event. A  Facebook Fan page or LinkedIn group are good alternatives or add-ons as well.
Nugget of knowledge: Always keep SEO in the back of your mind, even for marketing your Twitter chat.

Format
Currently, there are two basic formats for a Twitter chat, open mic and moderated. Open mic is just like it sounds, the chat’s host will start the conversation with a question and then the crowd sourcing begins. Tweeps answer, ask other questions, answer and ask follow-up questions. During a moderated chat the host serves as the event’s facilitator, there’s a guest subject matter expert and questions are fielded via the facilitator.

Recognition
It is important to remember, the Twitter chat is only as good as the tweeps. Replying, retweeting and acknowledging them during the chat are great ways to show appreciation for their participation. You can also list them on the website/blog or create a Twitter list for the chat.

Archive
Saving the chat discussion is as important as choosing the hashtag. The archive is a valuable resource for people to review post-chat. It is full of links, authors, books, dos & don’ts, how tos and tips, and most participants will have missed a lot of the information. The archive is also there for those who were unable to attend.
Nugget of knowledge: A Twitter chat archive is chock full of business ideas, potential blog topics and future influencers.

Additional Resources:
What the Hashtag?!
10 Steps to Creating a Successful Twitter Chat
Twitter Chat Calendar