One of the problems is that using free tools it means you often have to log into many services to create your daily monitoring programme. An alternative solution is the new social media monitoring and publishing platform from American Express OPEN called YourBuzz.com.

YourBuzz.com is a free platform which will help small businesses manage their online presence, learn what is being said about them and their competitors, and connect with customers in the places where they are vocal on social media and ratings and review sites.

YourBuzz.com is especially relevant for US based local businesses as it aggregates conversations across highly influential review sites such as Yelp and CitySearch, and social networks such as Facebook, Foursquare and Twitter, to ensure listings are accurate and engage with customers.

Some of the functionality includes:

Managing Your Online Presence

- View existing business listings

- Claim and edit business listings

- Create new business listings

Learn What Customers Saying About Your Business, Products And Services

- See how you stack up against your competition

- View an aggregation of customer reviews and online mentions

- Respond, re-tweet, take actions or create a new conversation on major social sites

- Get recommendations on different actions to take

Manage Online Connections

- Import customer profiles and contact information to segment direct marketing efforts

- Highlight influencers in your Social Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

- Market to these contacts directly based on available public information.

You can watch my video review of YourBuzz.com below or access the video direct here:

What social media monitoring tools do you like to use and how you do create your online dashboard?

Check out BizGrowthNews for more articles by Krishna De

The campaign was all about how to create a great first impression – just as Dell believe that the Dell Vostro V 130 does as a lap top for the business traveller. the Trade Secrets campaign encouraged Dell customers to share their own ‘secrets’ to making a good first impression. This was done through Twitter where people were encourages to share tips using the #tradesecrets hashtag or directly on the Dell Facebook Page on a Trade Secrets app.

At the beginning of the campaign to boost awareness and kick start the conversation, several Dell Vostro V130’s were sent to bloggers who connect with small businesses in the US and UK who were invited to join the programme with a personalised video invitation and a fully loaded and ready to roll Dell Vostro V130 and they were invited to share their opinion of the laptop.

I had first hand experience of the campaign when I attended an event in the UK hosted by Dell and at the event we were invited to share our opinions of the Dell Vostro V 130 through Twitter – you can see the collection of my eight tips here. As a result of my engagement in the campaign, I was also one of the lucky winners of a Dell Vostro V 130 (which you will see if you ever meet me at one of my digital marketing or social media workshops). I have to say it’s been a great laptop to work with and I’ve been super impressed about how quickly it boot’s up – especially helpful if you want to get a session off and running fast!

What I particularly like about the Dell Trade Secrets campaign is that as the programme is coming to a close, Dell have created a lasting reminder of the tips shared by people who engaged in the campaign. Yes there are blog posts that have been created and online video reviews – see one of my favourites below from Heather Taylor who has created a video that I think is one of the most interesting un-boxing video’s I have seen.

To date there have been over 1500 contributions to the Trade Secrets programme across Facebook, Twitter and blogs – Dell have not yet released what that has meant in terms of sales of the Dell Vostro V130 but I am sure that it has increased visibility of the product online and with the reviews assists people who are considering purchasing a laptop in making a decision based not only on Dell information, but from people who have first hand experience of the laptop.

As a lasting reminder, Dell has created a crowd-sourced ebook with a selection of the tips that have been shared throughout the campaign (they did ensure that permission was obtained from contributors signing a release document – I know as I am included in the ebook). It’s a little like the 100 Voices in Business ebook I created as part of the celebrations of International Women’s Day earlier this year.

Watch Heather’s clever ‘unboxing of the Dell Vostro V130 video here:

The tips shared include bite sized advice on preparation and research, appearance, introductions and handshakes, initiating a dialogue, adding value and virtual meetings. It also includes tips from people who are authorities in helping small businesses – here are some of my favourite tips from the collection:

When you’re discussing setting up virtual meetings with colleagues or customers, remember that phrases like“tomorrow morning at 10am” or “next Tuesday afternoon at 3” may not be that for them if they’re in different time zones to yours. Avoid confusion and make yourself look professional by being specific and clear, e.g.,“Monday Jan 24 at 2:00pm GMT.”
-Neville Hobson of nevillehobson.com

Google them before the meeting. This way you will have relevant things to bring up that hit a chord regarding achievements or recent experiences. Also, pop over to http://google.com/news and pick out a few key stories to bring up saying, “Did you hear about?”

- Adria Richards of butyoureagirl.com

Think about others, in addition to yourself, and share knowledge with everyone around you. Be active in the social media space and consistently provide great value.
-Tamar Weinberg of techipedia.com

You can access the complete ebook with all the tips – it’s worth downloading and reviewing as I am sure you will get some great ideas for creating a great first impression whether you are hosting a meeting, speaking at an event or attending an interview. I’ve uploaded the presentation which you can access here:

So if you are in a business to business market I hope you get inspiration from the Dell Trade Secrets campaign about how you can engage your customers and create advocates for your brand.

Remember though – as i always say – model don’t copy the campaign – how could you build on this idea?

What other campaign’s have you seen recently in the business to business market that have caught your attention in terms of online word of mouth and advocacy programmes?

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But just what does it mean for us as business owners? That’s the question that I put to 6 SEO experts in a brief webinar last week – if you don’t follow me on Twitter you might have missed the opportunity to join me for the webinar (I did not have the time to promote the webinar across my newsletter or blog as we organised the event in very little time). However you can watch the recording below.

WEBINAR SHOW NOTES

00:00   Introduction – Google Instant – What It Means For Your Business?

04:09   What is Google Instant and why does it matter?

09:28    What are the conversations and reactions from those in the current roll out areas?

11:32     How will users be affected by the experience and the revised default Google Search settings?

13:21     What are the implications for people using Google Adwords – will Google Instant be good for the user or good for the advertiser?

19:30     SEO perspectives – ranking keywords and long tail/short tail searches

22:12     Q+A: (Panel) What is the one thing we should do in the next 90 days as a result of Google Instant rollout?

26:19     Q+A: Will liewed words be pushed by Google as part of a query?

28:11      Q+A: When will Google Instant be rolled out in Ireland?

29:11     Q+A: Are the key terms suggested by Goole Instant to become more popular because they show up infront of a user?

33:05     Q+A: Availability of Google Instant and Personalised Search when logged in/not logged in

34:30     Q+A: Google Instant on different browser versions other than Chrome

35:32     Conclusion, contact details and resources

Many thanks to the guest experts including Ann Donnelly who helped organise the webinar, Joost de Valk, David Quaid, John Ring, Jill Whalen and Jessica Bowman. (Jessica was not able to join us live but provided input to the webinar.)

Here is a fun video from Google demonstrating it to a Bob Dylan classic:

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

If you found this video helpful remember to subscribe to Biz Growth Express, my free ezine for details of future webinars to help you achieve your online visibility and digital marketing goals.

An introductory video from Google about Google Instant.

A video from Google about how users experienced Google Instant.

A video from Google about the ABC’s of Google Instant.

A video from Google of the Launch event for Google Instant.

Change your Google preferences online here if you want to turn of the default preference for Google Instant which is set as ‘on’.

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One of the great ways is to read other peoples business blogs – and not always blogs in your own business niche as you can be inspired to develop content learning from others.

So here are seven ideas that might help you develop a content strategy for your business blog:

1. Get ideas from your RSS feeds – remember to model not copy articles respecting the copyright of the original site where the content is posted and always give attribution and a link to the source article

2. Explore the blogs listed in the Technorati blog directory HERE or in other niche directories

3. Review the list of business blogs that are listed in other peoples blog rolls – the list that many bloggers have on the side bar of their business blog

4. Do a search within Google using the Google Blog search engine to find other business blogs for inspiration

5. Review your email, your Facebook Page or Tweets that you receive for questions that your people ask you and turn those answers into blog articles

6. Think about the questions your clients and customers have asked you over the last 3 months and turn those questions into articles – but make sure that you don’t disclose confidential information about your clients

7. Look at award winners of business blogging competitions – for example the short list of the Digital Marketing Awards which was announced recently and hosted by Ashville Media – you will find the shortlist HERE or the list of blogs nominated for a blogging award for Best Business Blog with the Irish Blog Awards

• Brown Blog Films
• Caricatures Ireland
• Contrast
• Curious Wines
• Decisions For Heroes
• Garren Denny Lane Interiors
• Ice Cream Ireland
• Irish Mortgage Brokers
• Komplett Ireland
• Krishna De – yes that’s me!
• LouderVoice
• Made In Hollywood
• Moore Groups Blog
• Motorcheck.ie Blog
• MyHome.ie Blog
• Nice Day Designs
• Outdoors Ireland
• Pat Phelan
• PuddleDucks
• RevaHealth.com Blog
• Sabrina Dent
• Sales 2.0 Network
• Simply Zesty
• Sugru
• Toddle
• Wood Ale Designs

Note: If you already have a business blog and are in Ireland you might be interested in being nominated for the IIA Net Visionary Awards 2010 – nominations for best business blog and best business podcast are open along side many other categories through until 26 arch 2010.

What other ways do you get inspiration for content for your business blog articles and content plan?

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Google just might have the answer for you – in this video I go through how to use the Google Wonderwheel search tool to help you with ideas for your topics.

Of course – model NEVER copy someone elses articles won’t you!

What other places do you like to get ideas for topics for your articles? Here are three other ideas that you might find of assistance:

1. Questions that you receive from clients or prospects – how can you turn those questions into an online article, content for your newsletter, an idea for on online video tutorial or podcast episode?

2. Your RSS feeds – if you subscribe to news channels, websites or other peoples blogs, their articles might give you an idea for a topic to write or speak about

3. The calendar – could you write something that is relevant to the time of year either in the annual calendar or the calendar related to your industry or sector?

Check out Google Wonderwheel and let me know what you think – is it a tool you would you could imagine using?

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In the first article we explored under what circumstances we should consider translating our website into another language.

I then went on to ask Mark what the three most common issues people have when looking to implement their website in a different language.

Mark: I think the first issue is that so many Irish business people seem to have this notion that everyone speaks English – and there’s no real need to translate. This shows a very ‘insular’ approach to global marketing and the real purpose of marketing which is to make it so easy for your customers to buy from you. So if selling to Germany – make it easy for the Germans by developing a website in German.

Wille Brandt, the German Chancellor in the 1960’s famously said ‘If I am selling to you, I speak your language. If I am buying, dann müssen Sie Deutsch sprechen’.

So the concept is not new and once someone has understood this perspective, we find that the rest is quite straight forward.

Secondly, budget is naturally a concern at the moment – but what’s important is not to confuse correct marketing strategy with budget constraints. Its possible to match budget to returns, so rather than spending €5,000 to translate your website into one language – why not try four languages – at €1,500 each? Dip your toe in the water first. Depending on results, you can then invest further in the target market that is showing best results.

A third issue we find is that once a website is available in a particular language, it then should be further marketed online. So it would be important to ensure that some Google Ad campaigns or SEO efforts are carried out in the different languages. Perhaps a French-intern in your organisation can start to develop a blog in French? It’s really no different to doing this in English.

And I suppose all these points are relevant once the organisation has developed a professional website in English. Professional does not mean expensive, but it does mean that the website has been well thought-out and have a professional appearance.

Krishna: Thanks Mark – I could not agree more with you in terms of your comment about making it easy for customers to buy from you.

A great question was also asked by Ann Donnelly in response to the first article who said

I do agree that a properly translated site is important if you are targeting such a market. But will visitors expect that you have staff that can communicate in that language? You’d need to manage that expectation so there isn’t disappointment when they come to communicate with you. Any ideas on best way to do that – especially for a smaller business that cannot hire multilingual staff?

Ann – I definitely agree with you that we should not raise expectations so that we are not able to deliver good customer service if we can not then respond in writing or verbally with a potential customer in the same language as the website is translated in. I personally think we have to factor that in when we develop a plan for expanding internationally whether or not we translate our website into another language.

I would recommend that if you don’t have those language skills in your team then if you are a small business you might want to invest in expanding your team perhaps with a virtual office who can pick up queries for you or as I have done in the past and found a strategic partner with the language skills you need.

But what other suggestions do you have – or what have you implemented when expanding your business internationally?

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