Increasing brand awareness using Twitter

For those who use Twitter, you understand the power that it can have on building and expanding your brand. For those still on the fence as to whether or not Twitter can be used for business purposes, I will share 2 quick examples that we just recently experienced.

One of the advantages of Twitter is that your brand can very quickly and easily be promoted to other, larger networks. In both examples, this was certainly the case.

In our first example, I received an email from a former colleague who launched a new website. He was looking for some general feedback - and also wanted to let me know the website was live for my viewing pleasure. I checked out the site and was very impressed, so I tweeted about it to our 600+ followers (certainly not a huge following) and encouraged them to check out the site because I truly felt it was of value to them.

What happened next illustrates the power of twitter for brand exposure. One of our followers retweeted (RT) my original tweet to his network of 5,500 followers. And then another one of our followers retweeted it to their network of 450+ followers. So, in a very short time over 6,000 people were exposed to this new website. Certainly not a bad thing for a start-up site looking for increased exposure.

The results of these efforts (which took no real effort at all) was an 80% increase in website traffic. Admittedly, it didn’t send millions of viewers to his site but I don’t think any business would complain about that type of return on their marketing effort.

The other benefit was that my former colleague had the opportunity to post a “thank you” reply to those who mentioned his site, which creates goodwill amongst all parties and opens the door for future engagement. You can see how over time each of these small touch points can have a positive effect for a brand. After all, isn’t it the little things that make the big difference?

Tomorrow I will share our second example of how Twitter can increase your brand exposure. Do any of you have examples of Twitter success? If so, please share them in the comments section below.
Read more
Author: Jeff Coon

8 Starter Tasks to Join the Inbound Marketing World

Article originally written and published for Inbound Marketing University

Read more
Author: Jeff Coon

Email Marketing Subject Line

Litmus has launched a free tool to help email marketers craft the perfect subject line.  The tool previews your draft subject line across several common email clients.  

litmus subject line
Read more
Author: Brian Brinkman

Speed up your Mac

One way I've found to cure a sluggish Mac is to limit the amount of fonts loaded in OS X.  By default OS X loads a number of fonts that aren't required by the operating system.  On top of that, Microsoft Office and Adobe's Suite of applications add several fonts that aren't required.

extensis font management
Read more
Author: Brian Brinkman

Safari Extensions Integrate Social Media and Much Much More!!

By updating your Safari browser to version 5.0.1 you now have access to Apple's Safari Extensions Gallery.

safariExtensions
Read more
Author: Brian Brinkman

Home Run Derby Supports YMCA of Milwaukee

Today we had the opportunity to attend the 2nd annual “AirTran Airways Big Fly Derby” hosted by Ryan Braun.  The home run hitting contest was for Milwaukee media to benefit the YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee. The two-round slow-pitch softball derby was held at Helfaer Field right next to Miller Park today with Milwaukee Brewers announcer Davey Nelson pitching.

Read more
Author: Steve James

Google Image Search Gets a Face Lift

In case you haven't seen it yet, Google has changed the formatting of their image search. Personally, I like it a lot. The images load quickly and are very easy to see in the new layout. It is comparable to that of Bing, but the images aren't as spread out and the thumbnails seem to be larger. Also, you don't have to click to see the next page of images, simply keep scrolling and they're all there. Below are a couple examples of the new Google image search.

Read more
Author: Steve James

3 Must Have Marketing/Social Media Email Subscriptions

Everyday I get so many e-newsletters that I've created a script in mac mail to filter them right away out of my inbox and into a different folder (here's the blog post on how to filter mac mail). However, when these three email subscriptions below come into my inbox, I have to stop and read the headlines and see what they have to say. These are great sources of marketing information and tips/how-to's for any marketing professional looking to keep up with social media and marketing.

Screen shot 2010 07 11 at 9.33.15 PM
Read more
Author: Steve James

4 Marketing/Social Media Podcasts Every Marketer Should Check Out

Here's four podcasts (video and audio) that I try to listen to each week through iTunes to keep up with everything going on with online marketing and the evolving digital landscape. Each one tends to stay with the formula of interviewing other marketers or experts in the marketing industry as well as discussing trends and case studies. If you have any other favorite podcasts please share and leave a comment below.

1. HubSpot TV - Inbound Marketing
Hosted by Karen Rubin & Mike Volpe.

Hubspot TVHubspot is a software development company that's product features Closed Loop Marketing, Social Media Monitoring, Lead Nurturing and Content Management System. HubSpot TV is their weekly video podcast covering all the inbound marketing news of the week. The show is hosted by Karen Rubin & Mike Volpe and many times involves a guest of the week (someone in the industry doing it right in terms of inbound marketing practices ). It's a live show and you can tweet in questions/comments during the show at #HubSpotTV . They also have all of the shows archived on the site.
http://www.hubspot.tv

2. Duct Tape Marketing Radio
Hosted by John Jantsch

John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing has developed a small business marketing system and Authorized Coach Network and he is a marketing coach, social media publisher and author. The weekly podcast features interviews that provide information on small business marketing tips and resources. The podcast is mixed in with blog posts and can be found on the Duct Tape web site.
http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/podcast.php

Read more
Author: Steve James

Photoshop - Export Layers to Files

On a recent client project I had a Photoshop file that I had to transition to Flash for a banner ad.  The Photoshop file had over 30 tiny layers that needed to be exported.  Rather than do all this work manually I used a pre-built Script in Photoshop to create separate files from layers automatically.  Go to File > Scripts > Export Layers to Files ...

Export Files to Layers
Read more
Author: Brian Brinkman