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Jan Kearney explains how twitter can help your business Part 2

Jan Kearney explains twitter

Amplify’d from www.mylocalbusinessonline.co.uk

I have now realised I am not Lady Gaga or Britney Spears.

While I may be a goddess in my own mind, other people do not realise it and are really not interested in me. Or me promoting products all the time. As small businesses we are not celebrities, people don’t join our Twitter following in their thousands to just to see what we are up to.

Don’t let that ego crushing statement put you off! The point is, don’t measure your Twitter success just in numbers of followers or expect to grow your list of followers without some work.

Like any other small business, my time is not best spent sitting in front of Twitter and watching feeds. Managing other peoples feeds too, well that would mean logging in and out of multiple accounts all day…

And, while I do use some automation, there is a real me sat at the keyboard who monitors and responds to tweets.

To monitor effectively, without taking all day, I use a great tool call MarketMe Suite. This tool can monitor multiple Twitter and Facebook accounts with Google+ and LinkedIn planned too. There are many social media management tools out there. I chose MarketMe because Twitter and Facebook are the platforms I use the most and because of the branding options available. It’s important to find a management tool that you are comfortable with, many have low cost or free trials, so give them a try.

The bottom line is – does using Twitter for small businesses work?

Here’s the cop out…

Define work.

I am only speaking from my personal experience. What I have noticed is, I don’t get hundreds of clicks on any promotional links on the rare occasions I do send them out. BUT, on days when I tweet more than my average 2 or 3 tweets I do see mini spikes in direct traffic and searches for my business. I think I will have to look that more closely and do a more scientific study.

Personally, I no longer view Twitter (or any other social network) as sales platform. It isn’t a place to keep yelling your offers. People don’t like being sold to. From a marketing perspective, it helps with the “know, like, trust” cycle that precedes purchases and buying loyalty.

The main benefit of Twitter for small businesses has to be the bigger picture. That is being visible online and being able to respond online.

With search engines using social indicators more, the impact of your tweets is actually broader than the average 12 seconds on someone’s busy news feed. A combination of Twitters geo-location and using local hash tags can enable local businesses to reach out to people in their area without them following directly too.

What I have come to realise is there may not be a “right” way to use Twitter, but there is definately a wrong way. I think I made every mistake with previous accounts. I’m glad now I had the patience to learn from my mistakes and give Twitter another chance.

If you are using Twitter, it would be great to connect there @jankearney Please send me a message directly to let me know so I can follow you back. I no longer auto follow.

I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences of using Twitter in your business. Does it work for you?

Read more at www.mylocalbusinessonline.co.uk

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/a19zmk

#businesses #love #six months #small businesses #twitter

Jan Kearney on how twitter can help you Part 1.

Jan Kearney explains twitter

Amplify’d from www.mylocalbusinessonline.co.uk

Twitter for Small Businesses: How I Went From Hate to Love in Six Months

I’ll hold my hand up here, it’s only fairly recently I have seen the point in using Twitter for small businesses, well honestly, using Twitter at all…

Twitter recently reached its 5th birthday and a landmark 200 million tweets per day. I thought I would share my thoughts on the platform and the reasons why I have come to love Twitter.

Over the last 5 years I have abandoned more Twitter accounts than I care to remember. My view on using Twitter for small businesses has changed over the last six months, since deciding to work full time online. So what has changed?

My attitude to tweeting has changed immensely.

I’ve been online for many years and what I was seeing was this race to thousands of followers and shouting out promotion after promotion. As much as it pains me to admit it, I was affected by classic social proof. When you see something a lot, it’s human nature to think that is how it works. So many people do it, it must work, right?

Now I have admitted I am human, it became very clear to me – that is what was missing. When I set up @jankearney I decided I would make an effort to be more human online.

I stopped trying to be something I am not, stopped the race for thousands of followers, stopped the continuous noise coming from my accounts and started sharing information and links that I found interesting, which are hopefully interesting and useful to others too.

This is another mistake I was making in the past. Most tweets were auto tweeted and I wasn’t sharing other peoples ideas, articles, news or re-tweeting and connecting. I’m definately not alone in that mistake.

Read more at www.mylocalbusinessonline.co.uk

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/a19zmk

#businesses #love #six months #small businesses #twitter

How to help your business

#business #businesses #does twitter #learnt #twitter

Where to find insurance if you are stuck

#article #insurance #outlining #place insurance #standard

Counseling in Cheshire and Merseyside

Amplify’d from www.phoenixcounsellingnw.co.uk

NorthWest Counselling UK covering Cheshire and Merseyside

Book a counselling appointment 0151 257 2704. Brendan House, 10 Victoria Square, Widnes Road, Widnes, Cheshire. WA8 6AD

Counselling in Cheshire and Merseyside

At Phoenix Counselling, we understand that life can be overwhelming at times. We also know that seeing a counsellor or therapist can be quite frightening the first time. If you choose to contact us, your enquiry will be treated in confidence and one of our experienced counsellors will put you at ease. We are human just like you!

Counselling can help you to reflect and work through any problems in an understanding, secure and safe environment. You will not be judged or criticized for who you are or how you are feeling.

Some of the common issues we encounter are:

Anger management

Relationship problems (couples, families and siblings)

Bereavement and grief counselling

Gender issues and sexuality

Stress, anxiety and depression counselling

Sexual abuse

Domestic violence

Trauma counselling

Bullying

Life changes

Employment issues

Pre and post natal issues

OCD

Eating disorders

Our counsellors are trained in a range of counselling and therapy techniques. We understand that there is no “one size fits all” when it comes to your life. We are all individuals. Our team strives to make the counselling process a tailor-made experience that will suit your unique needs.

Don't face your problems alone. Let Phoenix Counselling help you get your life back on track.

Call Phoenix Counselling today on 0151 257 2704 or email us to book an appointment.

Read more at www.phoenixcounsellingnw.co.uk

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/a1647d

#cheshire #counselling #merseyside #northwest counselling uk #phoenix counselling

Yell.com More Lies

Yell with more lies

Amplify’d from www.mylocalbusinessonline.co.uk

Did I know that Yell.com was the most searched for site in the UK, even more than Google?

No I didn’t.

That’s because it isn’t.

It doesn’t matter what spin the sales guy puts on it, how many thousands of visitors they get each month, Yell.com is not a “top searched for” site in the UK.

How do I know this? Well statistics are great things and you can make tell all sorts of wonderful stories. They don’t beat fact. There is a site called Hitwise and they publish the data results for website usage.

Now perhaps he didn’t mean searched for? Maybe just a top site?

No, I don’t see Yell there either.

Give Yell some credit, they are in the top 100 in the UK, sat at 93 which is pretty good, but certainly not used more than Google. These results are from Alexa.

Then came the best part, the rubbish that really infuriates me more than “Partnered with Google”, more than “top site in the UK”.

Read more at www.mylocalbusinessonline.co.uk

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/a15rae

#business #damn statistics #google #searched #yell small business websites

Yell.com Lies

Amplify’d from www.mylocalbusinessonline.co.uk

Back to Yell small business websites though

I had not one, but three calls from the nice chaps over in Yell Telesales HQ last week and I really could not believe what I was hearing.

The first call was a nice guy who really seemed to believe his sales patter, and if I didn’t know better it was very convincing.

First of all he asked me about my business online, and what did I do. He didn’t seem put off at all when I told him, I help local businesses get found online. Really, alarm bells should have gone off for him at that point – I know what you are talking about, you can’t baffle me with bullshit!

Then he asked me if I knew that Yell had a special partnership with Google and they can get me to the top of the first page in Google.

Really?

That’s rather economical with the truth to be polite about it. OK, let’s not be polite, it’s a lie.

Yell is an accredited Adwords reseller. AdWords are the Google advertisements that you see on the Google search results and on websites that sign up to AdSense. It’s advertising space, nothing more, nothing less. Stop paying and your top “listing” (read advertisement) disappears.

Fact – you do not need to pay Google to get in Googles listings. You may have to work quite a bit to get in the top 10 (or hire someone to do it for you), but you don’t need to pay Google anything.

Google ads can be very useful, they have their place in the grand scheme of things, so I am not saying don’t use them. Just don’t be taken in by the “Partnership with Google” rubbish.

So, the sales guy gave up trying to sell me pay per click ads on Google. The next tactic was to get me to upgrade my free online directory business listing on Yell.com.

Read more at www.mylocalbusinessonline.co.uk

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/a15rae

#business #damn statistics #google #websites #yell small business websites

Yell

Amplify’d from www.mylocalbusinessonline.co.uk

Small Business Websites

Yell Small Business Websites – Lies and Damn Statistics

For a few years now, Yell have offered small business websites and marketing packages to compliment the Yellow Pages directory.

It’s been a while since I have dealt with a Yellow Pages sales call. However, I am taking my own advice and slowly adding my business to the business directories. I claimed my free Yellow Pages listing a couple of weeks ago.

Now, just to go off on a small side track – adding your business to the online directories is good. Here’s the BUT…

You do get inundated with sales calls, so don’t do them all in one sitting or your phone will be ringing off the hook.

Read more at www.mylocalbusinessonline.co.uk

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/a15rae

#business #damn statistics #small business websites #yell small business websites #yellow pages

Prima Designs

Amplify’d from www.primadesigns.co.uk

Custom Graphic Design Samples

Whether you need simple or complex custom graphic design, we can make your imagination come alive.

Below is a small sample of our design work, click the images to see more. Contact Prima Designs to discuss your graphic design requirements.

Custom Graphic Design T-Shirts

See more at www.primadesigns.co.uk

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/a1652r

#custom #custom graphic design samples #design #graphic #prima designs

Exwaive Insurance

Amplify’d from exwaiveinsure.co.uk

Exwaive Insurance provides subsidence excess waiver insurance in the UK including Northern Ireland. In the event that you have a subsidence, heave, landslip or mining damage claim on your buildings insurance, the excess payment is met by the waiver insurance.

In the UK, subsidence insurance is usually included as standard as part of your buildings insurance policy. The policy excess for subsidence claims start at £1000 and can be up to £2500 as standard.

This is a substantial cost, so it does make sense to have an extra layer of protection that excess waiver insurance provides. Our excess waiver policies start at £40.50 for 12 months of cover.

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