{!date dayname+0}, {!date long+0} Dear {!firstname_fix} Goodness me...is that another seven days gone? What happened? One moment it was last Saturday, I blinked, and now it's today...! Or at least it seems that way because I have had a really enjoyable week. How has your week been? If you have had fun, fantastic; after all if business isn't fun, it is a chore. And do you really enjoy chores? Thought not. And it is the same online - if we enjoy websites, if they are fun to use, we like them; if they appear to be a chore, we dislike them. What category does your website fit into? Make your website enjoyable and the chances are you'll get and keep more visitors.
YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED: What is all the "fuss" about Facebook Places? Facebook Places is a new service you can use on your smartphone to show people where you are and to find out if any of your friends are nearby. As such, Facebook is, unusually "behind the curve" because similar services such as Foursquare and Gowalla have been available for a year or so. At first sight such "location-based" services appear somewhat narcissistic and time-wasting. Do people really care that you have just "checked in" at a coffee shop? Or does it matter knowing that your friends are a mile or two away? After all, if they really wanted to connect with you and they were just down the road they could call you...! But there are some important reasons for considering all of these location-based services and using them in your business. In spite of the globalisation of online activity, almost all business in the world is done locally. Indeed, research shows us that most online game playing is local - players tend to live within 5km of each other. Even though there is the potential for doing business on the other side of the planet or even though you can make friends in some online gaming centre with an individual in another nation, the chances are you do business with people relatively close to you and you play online games with people you already know in the "real world". So, what this means is the location-based systems, such as Facebook Places, now gives you the opportunity to collect data about the people in your network and their real world activities. Using Facebook Places, or Foursquare, you can identify patterns of behaviour within your customers that would allow you to tap into that and do more business. For example, if most of your customers or potential customers tend to be out of the office on a Thursday, that might suggest it is not the best day for you to send out your newsletter. Equally, Facebook Places could help you identify the best locations for any physical advertising you want to provide. In other words, knowing what your contacts are doing in the real world allows you to engage with them in a much more appropriate way. And, considering that most business is indeed local, this extra data you can collect provides you with the opportunity to enhance your business offering and thereby compete more effectively against your rivals. Far from being a narcissist's tool, location-based services such as Facebook Places are significant developments in a company's ability to understand its customers better - and therefore provide more appropriate connections with them. Remember, you can always ask your question and get it answered in this newsletter by going to: http://www.grahamjones.co.uk/questions
WHAT I LEARNED THIS WEEK: You need to be where your customers hang out In the week when Facebook Places was launched in the UK, I was having lunch with Simon Bucknall, the award-winning speaker - the "European Champion of Public Speaking". Simon joined the Professional Speaking Association a while back and chose me as his mentor. So, every once in a while we get together and chat about his business and personal development as a speaker. Interestingly, the topic of "how to find more customers" came up - a subject which resonates with everyone in business - including me..! I explained how I had used exhibitions to connect with potential clients. Then it dawned on me....! This is what I had done..in the PAST...! Here I was advising Simon to be in the same location as his potential clients, yet it was something I had stopped doing over the past few months. Derrr...! Here's how it works. You consider your target market and then work out which exhibitions they are most likely to attend. Just go to http://www.exhibitions.co.uk/ and you can find a list of events that could be useful to you. Then turn up and mingle with your potential customers. Most exhibitions are free to attend anyway. But by doing this you are in the same place as your target audience - see how location-based activity comes into play again? Being in the same physical space as your potential audience is a great way of finding new customers. And with exhibitions there are hundreds of them around you...! Talking this over with Simon reminded me that I should re-awaken this activity in my own business. What activities have you done in the past that helped your business which you have allowed to become dormant? If you want to check out what else I've been doing for the past week, you can always look at: http://www.grahamjones.co.uk/week
THIS WEEK'S "MUST BUY": Get organised with this special folder
You can buy this folder at http://GJurl.com/43 So, that's it for this week - see you in seven days...! Kind Regards
Graham Jones Web: grahamjones.co.uk Tel: +44 118 336 9710 If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter than you can delete your name from the mailing list by clicking this link: {!remove_web} Affiliate Links: Some of the links in this newsletter are affiliate links providing me with a small commission when you purchase the item. However, I only use affiliate links for products which I personally value. |
