Tag Archives: Web Strategy

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Are you confident in your Social Media strategy? I've found that people tend to answer this question in two ways. A large segment of the online businesses will report "Definitely Not". The other largest segment, although a very small total, indicate "Yes". In reviewing the actual programs and campaigns of those segments, there are two overwhelming observations that bubble to the top.

Businesses who are not confident in their social media strategy are well positioned to succeed.

  • They know what they don't know, therefore making them open to change.
  • Their hesitation to jump in opens an opportunity for a strong start.
  • They are watching market trends to identify the best place to start.

Being involved with these companies is a very exciting opportunity. They recognize the tremendous potential the social media channels can offer, and strive to be strategic about their interactions. Many of us would simply laugh at the idea of starting a business with no product to sell, revenue to gain, or plan to get there. Yet, hundreds and thousands of businesses have a "social media strategy" that entails nothing more than having a page or group on Facebook.com or a Twitter.com account.

Businesses who recognize the immense potential of reaching over 120 Million monthly visitors (according to compete.com ) on Facebook requires careful planning. This week, I was speaking with some folks from a great agency located in Michigan, DDM Marketing & Communications. They are an organization that understands the potential of social media for business, and are actively working to set strategies for clients that meet the clients' business needs. To quote the Principal, "Anyone can create a Facebook Page in 15 minutes, our smarter clients understand it takes more than just a page". Exellent observation, which unfortunately is overlooked by many.

What makes a good Social Media strategy that inspires confidence in the business?

  • Understand Social Media is a commitment, not simply a campaign.
  • Align the strategy with the business objectives.
  • Invest time, resource and money into growth.

Businesses who are confident in their Social Media strategy are most often missing trememdous opportunities.

Simply having a presence on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. doesn't mean your strategy is solid. It means only that you've started something.

Measuring your success based on the number of followers, connections, fans or "likes" is an equally unvaluable metric. This only suggests the pool of prospects more readily available to you.

Understanding the visitors, conversions, leads and comments from your social network outreach is a step in the right direction. These often are the start of an effective engagement and monetization strategy, they are only valuable when aligned with the business strategy.

Are you confident in your social media strategy?

If you've read this entire page, you probably realize the expected answer is "no". Regardless, your success online depends on making sure customers and prospects can locate you, wherever and whenever they want.

Contact Spartan today to find out how you can dip your toe in the water in this wide open ocean of opportunity.

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At the core of every business lies the same principle. Customers must generate more revenue for the business than is required to remain in business. Easily said, yet more difficult to accomplish.

Many businesses have relatively simple business models. Customers enter the store, website, etc. and leave having paid for some items. Managing that business model relies on very simple factors.

  • Constant flow of customers
  • Profitable pricing strategy
  • Effective conversion to purchase

Online, we have even more options. Of course we are all familiar with the ecommerce model made popular a decade earlier by Amazon. Yet, on the same website where we hope to produce product sales online, we have other options.

  • Cross-channel revenue
  • Passive-consumer profit
  • Affiliate business

The first step in any online strategy is to define the primary goal of the website. However, this need not be to the exclusion of any ancillary monetization strategy. The beauty here is if you fail at your primary objective, you may still produce revenue from the site visitor by another means.

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Welcome to Spartan eBusiness. Our goal is to create lasting successful business online, with expert and efficient tools and strategies. This is the introductory post, of what will become daily updates. We strive to provide small to medium-sized businesses and authors with the tips, tools, techniques and inspiration to capitalize on the success possible online.

  • Daily Tips for new programs and strategies to try.
  • Case-studies and examples of successful and effective programs you can do yourself
  • Commentary and guidance to bring the ever-evolving technology and strategies into focus

Plus, we’ll do our best to have a little fun along the way as well. Good luck!

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There are two things that always manage to bring a smile to my face. One is when I come home and am greeted with the resounding “Daddy(a)” from the kids as I enter the door. Priceless… The other is when someone launches a new website and expects everyone, I mean all 2 Billion people online, to come to the site. Tell me, why would someone who is interested in finding the best deal on knickers come to your site about where you talk about your latest struggle with the annoying Walmart greeter?

In both cases, the fleeting moment passes. My kids go back to fighting and whining, and everyone else keeps searching Google or Bing to find something useful. If you plan to find a way to make money, increase your exposure, or build a successful business online, it is imperative you find an audience.

There are some very simple steps to online success:

  • Define your audience
  • Create content suitable and interesting to your audience
  • Engage them so they come back over, and over, and over again

Let’s swing back to the kid analogy. I get home at roughly the same time each day. They respond in the same way each day as well. It doesn’t take a rocket-scientist to infer that people respond to regularity in a predictable way. How does this apply online? Very simple – “arrive home” every day at the same time and people will be there to meet you (if they care about you). If you put up new content Monday afternoon, Thursday evening and the Tuesday morning – why would you expect people to come look to see what you have to say?

Try as we might – people will always be creatures of habit. You can either ignore that, and post new items and news when you feel like it. Or, you can embrace human nature, put yourself on a schedule, and be online like clockwork. Trust me, it’s the step one in the recipe to success online.