This year, the Woothemes.com team met for a week-long, working retreat and decided to use the trip as an experiment to connect with their customers by testing out their own products in the real-world. The goal was to get the team together for usual company brainstorming, but they also wanted to practice what they preach and show off their new themes and applications for small business.  They set up a blog, iphone applications, and used Twitter and Facebook to stay connected with customers and fans. The results were a great success, with website visits up 55%, unique visits up 52%, and page views higher by 13%. The experiment in social media generated 5 key takeaways which any small business can learn from:

• Social media doesn’t have to be complicated to be successful
• You can tie social media into anything
• Know what you want to get out of social media before going into it
• Transparency builds trust, and trust can lead to sales
• When you can, practice what you preach

WooThemes.com used their own products in a unique way to make a connection with their current customers, increase their social presence with new customers, and most importantly increased sales.  Read more

To the average computer user, browser extensions and add-ons can be a little mysterious. They suddenly appear when you download a new browser or upgrade your current browser. However, browser extensions allow you to create short cut menus, toolbars and buttons, and help add-ons; they ultimately enhance your browsing experience.  Having recently added Google Chrome as my main browser, I found lots of time-saving toolbar buttons, extensions and short cuts, which make browsing the internet quicker and easier.  The easy to follow video below will help you understand and download extensions.

A landing page is any page on a website where traffic is sent specifically to respond to a call to action or prompt a result. When you send your audience to a landing page, you get direct response, you’re in control, and you get information. The landing page is one of the least understood practices of internet marketing. Many businesses do not realize the power that lies behind a thoughtfully crafted landing page.  Inside the Mind of a Landing Page gives you some useful insight into the value of creating a well-designed landing page.

It’s no secret…We depend on voices of authority for guidance before buying practically anything, and today’s consumers have a wealth of information and choices available at their fingertips. To help buyers make the leap from curious browsers to loyal customers, here’s what they want to know:

• You represent a trusted brand
• You are a knowledgeable advisor and a go-to source of information
• You have your customers best interests at heart

Case Study:

Bell Rock Growers is the pet industry’s pioneer grower and supplier of green nutrition products. The company was the first to distribute live wheat grass to pet stores nationally. Along the way, they realized there was a serious information gap with pet owners.  Many considered wheat grass to be a fun novelty item, but didn’t fully understand the health benefits of including it in their pets’ diets.

To help educate retailers and customers and support sales, Bell Rock Growers worked with Parallel Interactive to develop and market an eBook on the benefits of wheat grass for pets. Key messages from the eBook on the power of green nutrition are also included in their website, ads, press releases, media interviews, trade show booth, store displays, product catalogs, and packaging.   To date, the eBook has received over eleven thousand downloads from Bell Rock Growers’ website, coverage in national trade and consumer magazines and is used as a selling tool with online dealers.

Bell Rock Growers’ marquee product, Live Pet Grass®, has become a leading cat SKU (stock-keeping unit) with major retailers.  They’ve since extended the Pet Greens® products to include a popular line of dog and cat treats and an earth-friendly therapeutic grooming line, all made with nutrient-rich wheat grass.

Want to learn more about the value of thought leadership? Check out the following articles: Why Thought Leadership is Your Most Valuable Asset and Do’s and Don’ts of Thought Leadership Building

Imagine a PC that is always on, travels with you anywhere, contains all your data – personal and professional – and is customizable for your needs.

Now imagine that it only weighs about 5 oz and is probably in your purse or pocket right now.

Smartphones will outnumber PCs approximately two to one within the next few years, according to a December 2009 report from Morgan Stanley. Smartphone sales are expected to grow by year-over-year to overtaking laptop sales.

So what does this mean to traditional marketing companies? A lot. There is an entire new audience out there – one that never visits a website or sits in front of the TV. And there are new technologies for doing things you can only do (or want to do) from a mobile device.

So how do you market for this device? Not by using the traditional dotcom approach.

Mobile users want things fast. They want relevant information – not the whole enchilada (or PDF). They want location-aware services that know they are on the move. They want apps that realize they aren’t using a mouse, can’t usually print anything out, may have limited bandwidth and are using a keyboard the size of a credit card. A different approach is needed designing for this medium. Read more

If you think websites do not have an undue influence on consumer purchasing patterns, you should read Research Shows Websites Influence 97% of Client Purchasing Decisions. This article reveals the extent the results of a recent poll in which almost 100% of consumers admitted being influenced by a company/product website when making buying decisions. The article makes the case that various applications of web technology are now considered essential elements of a fully integrated marketing communications program. Additionally, the article goes on to explain that a poorly designed website lacking clear, cohesive content and navigation can actually hinder business success. Finally, the article contains a link to an intriguing webinar that discusses the way in which outbound marketing efforts should be reduced for inbound ones (using the web and social media). In fact, the author reveals how cost effective such marketing efforts are – showing SEO, social media, and email campaigns to be much lower cost than more traditional forms of marketing – and to offer much higher returns.