I recently presented this topic to my colleagues at the Oakville Networking group, and they found it very informative and helpful, so I thought I would repurpose it and share it with you – not to mention it’s a long overdue blog post for us at Sydcam! Here is Part 1 of a two part series on this topic.

The Customer is King

So what has changed so much in marketing to make it such a different playing field that it has been historically? Simply, the consumer has evolved into a position of power, if not even control by many of the developments in the last 10+ years. The era of the internet has provided consumers with something they never had before – easy access to a plethora of information on virtually every topic under the sun.

From product information to customer feedback and ratings on products and services to direct feedback loops via social media to retailers and manufacturers etc., the consumer has real influence over the marketplace and the products and services offered to them for consumption.

Being “Social” is more than Social Media

Many who read this blog’s title may assume that I was just going to talk strictly about social media and its influence on marketers. Wrong! While social media is an integral part of the many ‘social’ changes affecting society today, it isn’t the only one.

Being social touches on social media but goes much farther. In general, it influences marketers in its ability to enable active engage with your customers, the ability to add value to this relationship on a regular basis, and to broaden the reach of your marketing and communications messages – both on social networking platforms along with other mediums.

Use this engagement to learn more about your customers, and what they need or want from you. Encourage  them to collaborate with you to build better products and services, and to share any ideas and unfulfilled wants they might have.  You’ll build brand awareness, customer loyalty and a whole lot more!

Part 2 of this blog post will follow shortly in February, so stay tuned!

I’d like to thank the following Oakville Networking members for attending my seminar on using business blogging, social media networking and email marketing to generate leads and turn them into clients. Please connect with them to hear their testimonials about my seminar, and to learn about how they could help you grow your own business.

• Margareta Laffoley, independent associate with Max International, who also brought her husband Eric
• Sona Khanna, the lady who brings Splendor and Spice to your home and corporate entertaining
• Cheryl Scoffield, the Follow up Coach who will teach you how to get the most out of your contacts
• Olin Vañek, our eco friendly carpet cleaner

If you were not able to attend this month’s seminar, I will be hosting the next one on April 27, 10am-1pm. Be sure to mark your calendar to attend.

Did you know that 80% of all sales now start as research on the Internet – are you doing your best so that your next ideal client can find you?

Join me and a small group of local business owners for an intensive 3-hour training session in Oakville.

After the seminar you will have learnt the A-B-C of my Contacts 2 Clients™ Integrated Marketing System. The A-B-C doesn’t mean “the basics”, but rather, you will be equipped with the knowledge and systems to:

• Attract Contacts by creating an effective online presence, using your blog site as your home base. I will show you how to create traffic to your site, how to make Google your new best friend, and how to use places like Linkedin, Facebook and Twitter to create followers and leads.
• Build Relationships by following up with your contacts, using automated email marketing messages; engaging in a conversation on social media sites; by unselfishly sharing your expertise and resources with the people who are interested in hearing what you have to say.
• Close More Deals By using email marketing strategies, and simple, but effective online ecommerce systems to sell your knowledge, services and products.

The training event is scheduled for March 23, 10am-1pm. Visit this page to learn more about my live business training event in Oakville today!

See the comments from the last seminar.

At the end of the seminar I will draw one lucky winner of a personal web site design and hosting package worth $110!

As a member of my networking circle you can save 20% by using this promo code in the shopping cart: network20

Boris Mahovac R.G.D.

Sign up for my next Contacts2Clients Business Seminar

Let's connect:

Google is planning on updating their indexing algorithms in 2010 to add more emphasis on social bookmarking. In other words, Google will now not only look at how many quality back-links lead to your pages, but will also take into account the number of Twitter mentions, Facebook updates and Linkedin status updates which link to your pages (so, please, retweet this using the link in the upper right corner of this post).

One thing you need to add to your site (blog, preferably) are simple ways visitors can “share and bookmark” your pages (blog posts) to places such as Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter, also Digg, Stumbleupon and others. This is easy if your site is a blog, there are a number of ways to add this functionality by adding a plugin to your WordPress-powered blog. Other blogging platforms also have similar solutions you can readily use.

If you have questions about blogging and social networking, you can start by reading this low-cost introduction. I’ve arranged a special $10 OFF for you as my networking buddies! For only $17 you will find easy-to-read information about basics of business blogging and online marketing.

Boris Mahovac R.G.D.

Sign up for my next Contacts2Clients Business Seminar

Let's connect: