I’VE GOT A GREAT WEBSITE… BUT I GET NO TRAFFIC!

So you are a business owner, and you are trying to increase your sales by offering your products or services on a website. You spent a pile of money paying a designer and a programmer to get your site up and running. The day finally came that your site went live, and after all of the fireworks fizzled, you discovered the fact that you have a little bit of a problem… YOU HAVE NO VISITORS!

The buildup and letdown described in this scenario is a common occurrence with brick-and-mortar business owners that are trying to increase their cash flow with web-based sales. Most will turn to SEO “expert” consultants or other marketing consultants and spend yet another considerable amount of hard-earned money to fix the problem and bring the much-needed traffic to their website. But the fact is, they are overlooking the most effective and cheapest solution to the problem… Twitter marketing.

Twitter just happens to be the fastest social media community on planet earth for attracting and retaining new potential clients within a specific geographical area. There is no other way to accomplish such a feat on any other platform on or off the internet. When properly implemented, a Twitter marketing campaign can start bringing in targeted customers within days of getting started. To tap into the ever expansive reservoir of potential clients dwelling within the Twitter community, follow these simple steps:

1. Create A Friendly Twitter Presence – If you don’t already have an account, get one now. Post your picture so people can identify with you as a person. Make several well thought-out tweets to introduce yourself to the community, and tell everyone about yourself and why you are there.

2. Create An Inviting Profile – Your profile should be clear about your business intent, but it should also let people know that you are a human being who likes to interact with others, have fun, and give back to the community.

3. Link To A Custom Landing Page – Create a special Twitter landing page just for your Twitter visitors. Focus on selling yourself before your products or services. By doing this, you will create long-lasting relationships that will translate into sales from life-long customers instead of one-time buyers.

4. Use Twellowhood.com To Find New Prospects – Use www.twellowhood.com to find people in your local target market to follow. Introduce yourself and get involved! This will create the bonds that you need to grow a loyal following of new clients for your business.

5. Post Every Day - Don’t let a day go by that you don’t post to Twitter. Give more to the Twitter community than you take by sharing meaningful information and interact with your followers. This will give you the best long-term return for your investment of time!

For advanced ideas on aggressive Twitter marketing, check out my Twitter Turbo program at my blog site, www.carltonzone.com!

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GETTING BACK TO THE BASIC ELEMENTS OF TWITTER MARKETING

In today’s podcast episode, I’ve decided that I need to get back to the basics of Twitter marketing for business owners and sales professionals. The night I recorded this podcast, I received about 25 new follows on Twitter from various marketers and business owners. 25 out of 25 of these new business followers were absolutely failing the test of grabbing my attention and engaging me. I saw so many basic violations of fundamental Twitter marketing, I decided I needed to devote an entire podcast to the basics of Twitter business marketing.

In this 10-minute podcast, I give several examples of some of the things you do NOT want to do if you are a business trying to make an impression on the Twitter community. When you violate some of these fundamental marketing rules, you turn people off. It can be hard, if not impossible, to reverse the effects of a negative first impression. With that in mind, it is very important for you to take heed to the advice given in this podcast if you are new to Twitter marketing. I hope you find this helpful, and as always, if you have any questions or would like to comment on the topic, you are welcomed to share your input and opinion on the blog post below!

For my local friends in Jefferson City and Columbia, Missouri, don’t forget about my free audio CD offer for February, 2010. I’m giving way copies of my social media marketing seminar CD entitled “The Seven Secrets of Revolutionizing Your Business Through Social Media Marketing” just for the asking. Contact me via Twitter or just give me a call to request your copy, and I will personally deliver it to your place of business. If you’d like, I will even shoot a video interview and feature your business on my blog!

Excited about your success in marketing,

Carlton Flowers
Marketing Strategist
(573) 893-9498

Play Now:

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SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING AUDIO INSTRUCTIONAL CD OFFER!

For the rest of the month of February, 2010, I will be giving away a copy of my instructional audio CD entitled “The Seven Secrets of Revolutionizing Your Business Through Social Media” to any local Jefferson City, Columbia, or Central Missouri area businesses and sales professionals that ask! This audio instructional CD is valued at $29.95, and will help you charge up your marketing efforts using low to no-cost methods. You will not want to miss out on getting this information! The ideas, tips, and strategies presented are very simple to understand and even easier to implement. If you are a business owner, sales professional, organizational leader, or even elected official, this is something that you will have an immediate use for.

Here’s some of what you will learn in this 7-part program:

• the single most critical marketing factor that will cost you your business edge if you don’t pay attention to this marketing trend
• the undesirable result of not taking action if and when your competitors learn of these before you do, and what you must do to stay on top in your field
• how to hack down your advertising & marketing budget, and replace it with something that gets measurable results
• the low-cost and highly effective alternative to “grapeshot marketing”
• a new free service that the majority of households are now discovering and accessing while you continue to dump money into “Stonehenge Media” sources
• a new trend that most large businesses have not discovered that is becoming the most effective form of advertising and brand-building
• a new way to increase your exposure and add potential clients in rapid-fashion like never before

All you have to do to land this valuable information is to contact me via Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/carltonf) or by calling me at (573) 893-9498 and I will be glad to hand deliver a copy to your place of business. I will even post a picture on my blog and include your business name for added exposure! So don’t delay… once the special offer is over, I will have to charge the regular price to continue producing the CD’s. Contact me now, and I will look forward to seeing you at your place of business!

To your success,

Carlton Flowers
Marketing Strategist
(573) 893-9498

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WILL THE RECESSION ELEVATE SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING IN 2010?

“The Great Recession” has brought hard times to businesses in just about every sector, and has everyone re-thinking and re-prioritizing business expenses and operating strategies like never before. During economic “high times”, waste abounds. But during tough times, deep thought is put into every aspect of business. Couple this with the fact that we are seeing a trend where more and more people are moving away from television and traditional media, and we have a problem worth paying attention to. As a result, companies think twice before dumping the usual amount of cash into traditional media marketing and advertising.

Unless a certain traditional advertising method is tried and tested and producing positive results, it’s risky business to throw large amounts of cash at new untested marketing ideas. However, testing new concepts and ideas can now be done relatively free of cost through social media communities. And the good news? There’s a huge audience waiting on sites like Twitter and Facebook to participate in your marketing and advertising ideas.

High levels of participation can normally be achieved, and the success of testing the market in this manner is due to the insanely large percentage of people participating in social media communities. Just today, it has been reported that Facebook alone has registered 400 million users worldwide. This figure is up 50 million from the last estimate I read just one month ago. Another staggering statistic is the fact that 50% of the registered users check in on a daily basis. This creates an enormous opportunity for businesses.

The goal in advertising and marketing is to get your message and/or brand in front of as many people that you can, and to engage your audience accordingly. Common sense would tell you to take your message where the majority of the people are gathering and paying attention, which just happens to be Facebook and Twitter. Does it make sense to spend advertising dollars in a declining media market? Of course not. That’s why social media marketing is making more sense by the day.

That gets me to my main point. I see social media marketing becoming a cost control measure in the coming year as companies and agencies slash budgets vehemently to survive. Pulling money out of the declining traditional media outlets and doubling down on social media marketing is a complete common sense cost cutting strategy that we are already seeing, but you can bet your bottom dollar that it will become a strong trend in 2010.

Have you observed an increase in the use of social media for marketing purposes among small businesses, corporations and government agencies in your area? Tell us about it in the comments section below!

Carlton Flowers
Marketing Strategist

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ARE SOCIAL MEDIA & BLOGGING JUST A FAD, OR ARE THEY A REAL TREND?

In the past 3 years, we have seen the explosive growth of the social media scene. Facebook has garnered over 350,000,000 active users worldwide, Twitter has attained roughly 45,000,000 users, and there have been 130,000,000 blogs indexed by Technorati since the year 2002. In 24 hours alone, over 900,000 blog posts are created. But even with these staggering statistics, there are still those who believe that the social media explosion is a fad, not a paradigm shift.

I strongly believe that social media represents a paradigm shift in the way that we as a people communicate and interact with one another. When the fastest growing sector on Facebook is the 55+ age group, you don’t have a problem believing that this is a definite all-encompassing shift. But the sheer numbers of people participating in social media communities and blogs does not determine the long-term viability of the trend alone. What makes me boldly state that the social media trend is “boldly going where no man has gone before” and will show no sign of weakening is one thing… monetization.

Tech Trader Daily states that as of January 20th, 2010, Facebook is valued at roughly $14 billion. Twitpic is said to be worth more than $10 million.  MSNBC’s Motley Fool states that search monster Google could be worth $200 billion. The Tech Observer believes Twitter to be valued at around $1 billion. That’s just a sampling of a few of the major players on the social media scene. But this is not what made my mind up about the strength of this trend. What aspect of monetization makes me so confident, you ask? The local search market. Heres why…

In this day and age, nobody is reaching for the Yellow Book to find a pizza joint for dinner. They are using Google. Not only are people Googling restaurant ideas on their home computers, they are using their smart phones. The smart phone trend is getting bigger by the day, and people are becoming more accustomed to using their smart phone devices as their primary internet portholes. The use of Google for researching purchasing decisions on the local level has captured the attention of small businesses and professionals. Instead of relying solely on the radio, newspaper, and the declining television market, they must now “optimize” their presence on the internet to take advantage of local searchers by maximizing their online visibility. This has created a cottage industry that we call “Search Engine Optimization”, or SEO for short.

Now it’s time to tie it all in. What is the fastest way to optimize your business presence on the web in order to facilitate ease of indexing by search engine giant Google? It’s social media platforms and blogging. Using micro blogging sites and social media communities, business owners are able to conquer search terms related to their niche and achieve indexing for their local search market within hours, in some instances. People can pay consultants hefty fees to optimize their searchability (my new word), or they can do it organically by blogging, using targeted keywords, and interacting with people on a one-on-one basis within the most popular social media communities.

The fact remains that social media is a societal trend, not a fad, and the money tied up into this trend both on the national level and the local level is proof. So the next time you hear someone telling you that social media marketing is a farse, and the social media communities will be gone before long, just think about the hundreds of thousands of grandmas out there who are spending hours a day tending to their virtual farms on “Farmville”, and picture this obsessive activity disappearing. I don’t see this happening within my lifetime.

by Carlton Flowers
Social Media Strategist

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TWITTER TURBO NEARS COMPLETION – VIDEO UPDATE

I’ve been at the helm pounding away at the keyboard and finalizing the Twitter Turbo seminar software CD for release in February of 2010. I’m three months late on my projected release, but I’ve had so much more great information to include in this project that I just could not let it go a minute too early. Several sales & marketing professionals have expressed interest in the program, and several others are asking for information on what the program covers. This video includes a basic explanation of how Twitter Turbo will benefit you as a business owner or sales professional in layman’s terms. In the video, I encourage viewers to sign up for the email list to have immediate notification when the product is ready for release. You will need to go to the Twitter Turbo page and enter your email address at the bottom of the page in order to do so. Questions, comments, or discussion? Feel free to post them below! I’ll look forward to hearing from you!

Click Here to view the video!

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TWITTER TRAINING COMING TO CENTRAL MISSOURI!

Today I was blessed to have been interviewed by the awesome David Lile on KFRU Radio in Columbia (1400AM). David is a very charismatic gentleman who carries quite a large following with his radio broadcast. He had some great questions waiting for me, and admitted that he has not spent much time at all on the social media front, nor was he entirely motivated to do so. But by the end of the interview, he saw value in social media participation for business owners and professionals, and even stated that he may look into getting on Twitter and Facebook himself!

We had 3 callers in the latter half of the interview who all had excellent questions. I was surprised that all were interested in learning how to use Twitter, and wanting to know ways that it could be integrated into their marketing strategy. From the questions that were asked, I get a good feeling that there is a need for fundamental Twitter marketing training in Central Missouri. I plan on helping people get the basics of Twitter marketing by providing basic info in my marketing strategy podcast, and also through live webcasts. In the future, as demand dictates, I will be offering workshops and individualized consulting.

My goal is to help business owners and sales professionals explode their current market base and expand the extent of their reach by utilizing the popular social media networks, thus increasing traffic to their businesses and increasing profits. All of this is possible with the right methods and a solid strategy. For more information on social media marketing, listen to the audio podcasts on www.carltonzone.com/blog and chime in to the discussion.

Do you have a question about using Twitter or Facebook to promote your business or organization? Write in a response to this blog post, or contact me via email at carlton.flowers@gmail.com. I’ll be waiting to help you!

Carlton Flowers
Marketing Strategist

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TWITTER DOMINATES THE NEWS AS SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING CONTINUES TO RISE

For the past few weeks, it seems that Twitter has been dominating news reports, television & radio discussions, and even household discussions. We have finally arrived at the point that it is a difficult task finding someone who has not at least heard much about Twitter. Television stars, radio show hosts, network news reporters, and even top athletes are being turned on to Twitter at an alarming rate. Chad “Ocho Cinco” has even made plans to post a tweet during an NFL football game as a touchdown celebration!

But what does the future hold for Twitter and social media marketing as it relates to the business world?

I think this marks the beginning of what I predicted last November (2008). The groundswell is about to start, and we will see a tidal wave of change in the business community. We’re on the cusp of that 6 to 18 month “gestation” time that we talked about. This is where it will begin to be an exciting time for everyone.

I’m going to step out on a limb and tell you that social media may be one of the few sectors that has a positive effect on reversing the current economic trend. It has the power of leverage, and is generating the excitement needed to attract investors from all levels. The reason I say this is due to the fact that the valuation of the major players has risen to astronomical levels (Facebook, Twitter, Youtube). Facebook is sitting on a market value of about $15 billion. Twitter could be worth a few billion. Both companies are starting to attract suitors.

We saw Youtube get purchased by Google for $1.65 billion in 2006, only 2 years after the site was launched. I believe Twitter is next. And I also believe that Google will be the purchaser, and they will pay a premium. I’m not sure how much it will be, but I look for it to be more than the Youtube purchase price.

This major investment talk is going to trickle down to the business community quickly. When local businesses, both small and large, see the seriousness of the potential buyout, they are going to start paying attention to the power of these social media websites. It’s bound to happen.

Until then, I am going to focus on helping to educate small business owners and professionals on the potential of social media marketing. I have a free audio offer (you just have to pay the cost to have it shipped to you) entitled ”The Seven Secrets of Revolutionizing Your Business Through Social Media Strategy” which is located at http://carltonzone.com/seven-secrets.php. Get a copy of this audio and heed my advice!

To your continued success,

Carlton Flowers

Marketing Strategist

573-893-9498

carlton.flowers@gmail.com

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“The Seven Secrets of Revolutionizing Your Business Through Social Media” Audio CD

Two months of hard work has finally paid off! My new audio CD is now available for local business owners, sales professionals, and company marketing managers. The Audio CD program will be available free of charge for a limited time just for the asking.

In this 9-track audio program, I reveal some of my best-kept secrets about social media marketing and why businesses and professionals are turning to this platform at a rapid rate. Here are some of the significant points that are covered:

• the single most critical marketing factor that will cost you your business edge if you don’t pay attention to this marketing trend
• the undesirable result of not taking action if and when your competitors learn of these before you do, and what you must do to stay on top in your field
• how to hack down your advertising & marketing budget, and replace it with something that gets measurable results
• the low-cost and highly effective alternative to “grapeshot marketing”
• a new free service that the majority of households are now discovering and accessing while you continue to dump money into “Stonehenge Media” sources
• a new trend that most large businesses have not discovered that is becoming the most effective form of advertising and brand-building
• a new way to increase your exposure and add potential clients in rapid-fashion like never before

Business owners and professionals in the Central Missouri area can call (573) 893-9498 to request a copy of the audio CD which will be delivered in-person at no charge. For all others, you can get your copy by covering the postage & handling fee of $5.75 and it will be delivered via US Postal Service First Class Mail. Click here to jump to the secure ordering page!

All the best,

Carlton Flowers, Marketing Strategist

573-893-9498

carlton.flowers@gmail.com

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Could One of Our Oldest Habits Be Close to Extinction?

Times are changing, and technology is blazing forward at an astronomical pace. So fast, that our behavior as a society is changing along with it quite rapidly. One of our country’s oldest reference manuals could be headed for the mothball treatment… the Yellow Book.

The big fat Yellow Book has been the mainstay of our soiciety. When we wanted pizza, we dug out the Yellow Book. It stayed in the kitchen, close to the phone. Back in the days of my youth, all phones came from the telephone company. It was a monopoly. Telephone brands and variety did not exist. You had 2 choices… a wall-mounted phone, or a table-top version. About the only exiting thing that came along for a while was the advent of the “extra-long” cord. With this great invention, teens could go around the corner and take their private conversations into the next room without everyone in the kitchen or family room hearing any of the juicy details. But with this “tethered” phone, we also had a tethered Yellow Book. My mother used to attach a string to the book, and tape it to the phone so it wouldn’t be misplaced.

Years later, after the arrival of cordless phones and even “cellular” phones, the Yellow Book was still the staple for searching out local stores for needed goods and services. It’s hard to believe that the internet didn’t even jump on the scene until 1994, which was four years after I graduated college. This marked the beginning for numbering the days of the Yellow Book’s livelyhood.

What shocks me is the fact that it took another fourteen or so years for yet another innovation (other than the Internet itself) to seriously challenge and threaten the kingmanship of the Yellow Book. What was it, you ask? It was Google Local Search.

What took so long for the Internet to threaten the Yellow Book? Simple… typing in a search for “pizza” in Jefferson City, Missouri, would bring results for restaurants in Cleveland Ohio. Even if you typed “pizza” along with your home town and state, the results were still shoddy. This made searching out local services on the net just about worthless… until Google Local Search came along, that is!

The brainy nerds at Google headquarters spent years working on this problem, and came up with the local search system. Even if I type in “pizza” without “Jefferson City Missouri”, I will STILL get a section on page one that is labeled “Local business results for pizza near Jefferson City, MO”. Under that heading, about 10 pizza places are shown ranked by letters “a, b, c, d, e…” along with the business name, phone number, and even a corresponding map to the left side with a pinpoint of each letter to match the result!

What does this mean for the Yellow Book? It means it’s time to get the mothballs out and retire them. With this search feature, why even go to yellowbook.com to search for businesses when you can get them straight from Google with this degree of accuracy? There isn’t. Add to that the fact that we as a society have turned the name “Google” into a verb, which means “to search out on the internet”, and you can just about hang it up! Children, teens, and  adults are using the verb “Google” almost unconsciously now. You even see it on TV, and hear it on the radio… “just Google us for directions to our store, and for our website!” they say. It represents one of the finest examples of branding and name recognition ever created. When your brand name becomes a commonly used verb, you are guaranteed to be a smashing success.

All this spells trouble for the Yellow Book and the Yellow Pages, who both charge some fairly pricey fees for local businesses to advertise in them. Soon, the big thick newsprint version of the Yellow books will turn into a “Stonehenge” of sorts, for advertising media anyway. But what will be most interesting to watch will be the length of time it takes for the big law firms and car dealerships to figure out that people are “Googling” their competitors instead of finding their own companies in the ancient Stonehenge media guide.

Time will only tell.

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