Lorac Virtual Solutions

Archive for the ‘social media marketing’ Category

Why would you need to worry about social media if you are a “brick and mortar” type business? You own a dry cleaning service and the local residents are your customers. You probably advertise in the local newspaper or place flyers in mail boxes but are you marketing yourself online? Are you aware that most of your customers actually do their shopping online, searching for deals, products or services?  Why would you ignore the huge potential of increased business by not targeting one of the biggest markets there are?

When the term online marketing or social media marketing is presented to many business owners their eyes glaze over and their brain tend to shut down.  They think that online marketing is too complicated and probably too time consuming and expensive.  They also believe it’s only for big businesses with huge budgets. They are wrong.  Online marketing is a major part of a community building strategy for every business.

What are your objectives for marketing your business?  Do you want to increase sales?  Do you wish to gain new clients?  Do you want to create an awareness that your business even exists?  It’s important to know what your objectives are.  As an example my objective is to let the people in my region know of Lorac Virtual Solutions and to gain new clients. That is why I am choosing to use social media tools to “broadcast” my objectives and reach my target audience.

That leads us into the term “target audience”.  Sometimes terms used by others can be confusing and they shouldn’t be. Target audience is who you believe to be a candidate as a new client or someone you wish to reach. The dry cleaning business owner is probably targeting potential new customers or maybe suppliers who can help him become more “green” with his products.  Be very clear as to who you are targeting.  What do you believe are their needs and how could you help them?  It’s important to know that by providing a service or a product we are attempting to meet the needs of our customers or clients.

By knowing who we wish to target and know what they potentially need we can now create an online strategy using available social media tools. When researching who your target audience is you probably discovered which social media channels they were using.  How will you reach them?  How will you reach your objective? What social media activities do you already participate in?  Are they working well?  Are you measuring your progress?  If you haven’t heard of http://www.meetup.com, http://www.nearbytweets.com, http://www.yelp.com or http://www.foursquare.com then you had better start researching these social media sites because that’s where your customers are.  The big three are Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Connecting with your clients is not about selling.  It’s about developing a meaningful connection and building community. By connecting and interacting and offering assistance or information you will establish a presence.  You will become someone they trust.  They will then turn to you when they need a service or product you can provide. It really is no different that connecting with other business owners at chamber events. It takes time and diligence to develop a positive brand recognition and add new customers. 

An example of this would be if the dry cleaning owner decides that there is a large population of seniors in his area but he is only getting a small percentage of their business. He could advertise locally but he could also find these seniors online (they all have computers) and create a blog and start interacting with them via Facebook or Twitter.  He could start a newsletter they could sign up for – or he could start an online membership campaign giving discounts on certain days of the week just for seniors.  By posting these regularly on his blog or twitter account people will start looking for this information and his customer base will grow.  Restaurant owners have found twitter to be a creative way of letting they customers know what the specials are each day.  Every business has potential online targets – you just have to know what your objectives are, who your target audience is, where they hang out (online) and connect. It really doesn’t have to be complicated.  By creating a plan or strategy with clear measurable goals every business will naturally create an online presence. Social media marketing is for everyone. What are the social media objectives of your “brick and mortar” business?

All the best,

PS:  Interested in learning more about Social Media training?  Visit VAClassroom or contact us at Lorac Virtual Solutions.

Lorac Virtual Solutions announces Carol Ann Quibell’s successful completion of the Social Marketing Specialist 2010 Edition Certification at VAClassroom.

Carol Ann Quibell, Virtual Assistant and co-founder of Lorac Virtual Solutions, announces that she has successfully completed the 2010 Edition of the VAClassroom Social Marketing Training Program, a cutting edge, business-building program offered to VAClassroom members seeking to develop current and competitive Social Media services in today’s market.

Since VAClassroom’s first Social Marketing Training Program was launched in November of 2008, a number of factors have changed the Social Media landscape, requiring Virtual Assistants to update their skills to stay current. First of all, Social Media has continued to grow and evolve at a rapid rate. For example, Facebook has experienced exponential growth from 200 million members in 2008 to over 350 million today, adding an additional 250,000 daily.

In addition, new Social Media tools and applications are constantly emerging, and even local businesses are beginning to seek ways to leverage them and promote their brand. That is why Lorac Virtual Solutions is excited to be adding updated Social Media skills to their business, having gained cutting edge tactics, tools and knowledge that they can apply immediately to their work with new and existing clients. “We are really excited about creating a much more effective online presence for our clients by using applicable social media tools”, said Quibell.

 In VAClassroom’s 2010 Edition of the Social Marketing Training Program, Quibell was given an overview on the outlook of Social Media Marketing in 2010 and beyond and learned how to perform effective Social Media Strategic Planning that addresses the current trends. She also learned how to maximize Lorac Virtual Solution’s clients’ potential in popular Social Networks like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. In addition, she received training on how to leverage Social Media for local businesses and how to build effective online Social Communities. She also gained expertise in Social Media Measurement and Analytics, Video Marketing Strategy and Content Distribution in the Social Media realm. Most importantly, with advanced and updated Social Marketing skills, tools and strategies, Lorac Virtual Solutions is now better equipped to guide their clients through the rapidly evolving Social Media landscape and can lead them to the fastest path to success.

Lorac Virtual Solutions provides virtual assistance to business owners, offering a wide range of niche services, including writing, marketing, administrative, scheduling and general office support. Having received the Social Marketing Specialist 2010 Edition Certification, they are pleased to add cutting-edge Social Media services and tools to their business. This certification also entitles Quibell to ongoing training as technology develops so Lorac Virtual Solutions will continue to offer quality up-to-date Social Marketing skills to their clients.

We have added a brand new service – Social Media Network Marketing – Read our press release ~ Lorac Virtual Solutions Helps Small Businesses Reach Customers Through Social Networking 

I took my training with VAClassroom and can only say good things about their programs.  Read my review to see how their courses can help you grow your business.

 A Social Media Marketing Specialist Certification has been earned by Carol Ann Quibell of Lorac Virtual Solutions.

Current business strategies must include internet marketing by engaging in social networks like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn and through content distribution. A marketing plan must include a variety of Social Media Channels and tracking tools evaluating their effectiveness. 

Lorac Virtual Solutions www.loracvs.com  provides professional guidance and administrative services to businesses and individuals across North America as a Virtual Assistant service.  Providing a Social Media Marketing Services to their clients comes at the right time as many small businesses struggle with marketing their businesses over the internet.

“It is much more than just having a blog or twitter account” says Carol Ann Quibell. Each client’s needs are assessed and analyzed and their specific goals are pre-determined to create a strategy.  Their profiles must be set up and managed to build a brand and online business presence using pre-determined networks that are appropriate for their business. 

Online reputation management is also part of the strategy by tracking, reporting, engaging and evaluating to determine the social media marketing success.  

Lorac Virtual Solutions work with their clients to create a plan using Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. They specialise in content marketing for maximizing content distribution through a variety of Social Media Channels, creating a game plan for blogging, press releases, articles and the distribution of each.  

“Business owners from all sectors such as the transportation industry, realtors, human resources, coaches, trainers, contractors, doctors, lawyers or even job seekers should have a social media strategy” said Quibell. Lorac Virtual Solutions offers its clients a wide variety of services  that now include social media marketing. All the best,

PS:  By achieving my certification through VAClassroom I think I can honestly provide an excellent recommendation for their programs.  Their customer service and products are first rate.

Before you start blogging all over the internet advertising your product or service you definitely need an action plan.  Why?  How do you plan on reaching your goal?  What is your goal?

Goals:

v  Ultimately we wish to increase traffic to our website

v  Increase sales by 10%

v  Improve search engine listings

How to reach these goals:

v  Create a blog on your topic

v  Set up Social Media accounts like Facebook and look for special interest groups that have a common interest with you and your products.

v  Become involved in the groups and interact with others but not as a sales pitch – make suggestions, gets to know others with similar interests, respond to questions others may have and ask questions yourself to relevant topics.  Be sincere, truthful and accurate.  People will get to know you and will start looking for you and your assistance.  This will help drive traffic back to your site.  After you become known you can make suggestions as to how you could help or your product may help them.  People like to do business with people they know and since you have developed a relationship with members of your group they know you and will probably do business with you.

v  Join Twitter and LinkedIn and follow the same strategy as Facebook.

Videos:

v  Use Video marketing and post these videos on YOU Tube targeting specific markets.  Make them relevant and provide something to your target – maybe some free information or product.

Evaluate:

v  How successful has your campaign been?  Did you meet your target goals?  If not, you may have to go back and evaluate where and when you made your mistakes and correct them.  Did you regularly post relevant information?  Did you participate?  Were your offerings beneficial to others?  Remember this exercise is not about you – it’s about your target market and how you can help them.

If you aren’t comfortable with the above strategy I suggest that you take a Social Media Marketing course with Vaclassroom ~ Craig Cannings from Vaclassroom provides courses that make sense and are easy to follow. They offer programs that you can work at your own pace or courses that are interactive.  I have taken several courses with VAClassroom and have not been disappointed yet. Anytime I had any questions or concerns they were addressed immediately by either Craig or his wife Kelly.  I highly recommend any of their programs.   If you aren’t comfortable blogging check out their mini course on blogging tips – it was economical and relevant. 

 VAnetworking.com: “A Virtual Assistant (VA) works independently at an arm’s length, via the Internet, utilizing the latest technologies, to provide immediate professional support, services and skills to busy entrepreneurs and business managers.

Partnering with a VA reduces stress, protects cash flow, eliminates administrative hassles, and enables business people to find the success they originally set out to achieve.”

All the best,

  PS:  See our Cost Comparison sheet to see how you can save money by hiring Lorac Virtual Solutions as YOUR Virtual Assistant.