FlashPoint Network

Leading By Example

Submitted by Jay Almers on Sun, 02/13/2011 - 00:47 inEating Our Own Dog Food, Facebook, FlashPoint Network, Marketing, Twitter, Web Strategy

More often than not, businesses that sell knowledge-based services tend to spend all of their time and energy working on projects or jobs for their customers and neglect the marketing strategies for their own company.  This holds true for FlashPoint Network as well.  We have been wrapped up in turning out sites and consulting with customers about their short and long-term marketing goals, that we have neglected our own marketing tools.  Well, my friends, now is the time for us to tame that beast.

We have had accounts with both Twitter and Facebook for a while now.  They, like this Web site, have quietly and patiently stood by while we completed the projects that have somehow been finding their way onto our plate.  Though business has not stopped altogether, it has lightened up to the point of us having some spare cycles.  This granted us the ability to focus our attention on our own needs so that we may A.) reach more people, B.) streamline our workflow, and C.) to ultimately make more money.

There were three main goals for us to be closer to  where we wanted to be in terms of our overall marketing strategy.  We needed to rework our site, keeping up with today's technology and presenting our potential customers with a site that is representative of the quality that we promise.  Additionally, we needed to dust off our social networking accounts and try to get them working for us.  And finally, keep up with our blog and get in the habit of posting relevant content to our core services and the industry as a whole.

Step 1 - Revamp the site
We have been running a content management system (CMS) as our back-end for quite a while now.  The ability to quickly and easily modify every piece of content on our site is undoubtedly one of the most important things a Web site owner will need to do.  Not all, but for the most part, Search Engines like to see fresh, relevant content that is considered useful (tracked by the number of visitors) and popular (tracked by the number of other sites linking to yours).  It is our belief that not only should the content be fresh, but the layout should be as well.  For a Web site development company, "wow factor" is a big part of our business.

Step 2 - Let someone else do the work for you
It seems nowadays that almost everyone has any number of "Social Networking" accounts.  These electronic communities allow people from all across the globe to communicate and share ideas with minimal effort.  Posting in a centralized location, visible to countless visitors just makes good business sense, especially if it is free.  Sites such as Twitter.com and Facebook.com are some of the most common for these purposes.  They allow businesses to convey a short message, invite potential and existing customers to take advantage of special offers and sales,  or announce upcoming events...all without tapping into their advertising budgets.  The great thing is, there are services available that make posting these things across multiple sites a breeze.  We setup an application on our Facebook page that uses a feed from our Twitter account to update our Facebook status.  Everytime we post on Twitter, it immediately shows up for all of our Facebook fans to see.  Two birds...meet my rock.

Step 3 - Do less, earn more
Most of us have heard the phrase "work smarter, not harder" at some point in our life.  That same phrase can hold true for you in the Web world as well.  The Internet has allowed us to target our advertising budgets to specific demographics while reaching, and delivering, a greater amount of information to the rest of the world with minimal investment.  By including a Web site address on your business cards or advertisements, you are decreasing the amount of information you have to convey in a finite amount of space.  Technology has grown feverishly since 1996 and more and more of the population is becoming heavily attached to the digital world.  Cell phones don't just call other phones now.  They can be used as bar-code scanners that translate into a company's entire business profile including directions, hours of operation, and reviews.  Learn to take advantage of these tools that are available and you will find that you are in a far better spot than without them.