Using SlideShare as Marketing Tool for Business

Slideshare is a great tool which every business should know about. They have recently upgraded their look and feel, much the way YouTube has, to improve functionality and add some great new services.

Endorphin Advisors is on Slideshare, and you can learn more about services and news there.

Visit Endorphin Advisors on SlideShare at www.slideshare.net/ebunaes.

For more news and information about Slideshare, you can visit Slideshare blog at http://blog.slideshare.net/

Details on Slideshare (from “About Slideshare”):

SlideShare is the world’s largest community for sharing presentations. With 60 million monthly visitors and 130 million pageviews, it is amongst the most visited 200 websites in the world. Besides presentations, SlideShare also supports documents, PDFs, videos and webinars.

SlideShare features a vibrant professional and educational community that regularly comments, favorites and downloads content. SlideShare content spreads virally through blogs and social networks such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. Individuals & organizations upload documents to SlideShare to share ideas, conduct research, connect with others, and generate leads for their businesses. Anyone can view presentations & documents on topics that interest them, download them and reuse or remix for their own work.

Some things that you can do on SlideShare

• Upload presentations publicly or privately
• Download presentations on any topic and reuse or remix
• Embed on blogs, websites, company intranets
• Share on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn
• Zipcast: free, no download, 1 click web meetings
• Leadshare: generate business leads with your presentations, documents, pdfs, videos
• Slidecast: sync mp3 audio with slides to create a webinar
• Embed YouTube videos inside SlideShare presentations
• Use SlideShare PRO for premium features like branded channels, analytics, ad free pages etc

What say you, are you using Slideshare? How has it helped your business?

Connect With Us

LinkedIn Insights: Step-by-Step Guide to Becoming a LinkedIn Power User

By Erik Bunaes, president, Endorphin Advisors and Endorphin Business Center LLC

Let’s put aside for a moment any preconceptions you may have with social media. In this step-by-step guide, we’ll show you first the true value of LinkedIn as today’s ultimate online rolodex (for those that even remember those!). Next, we’ll show you the specific steps to take to turn yourself into a LinkedIn power user.

Let’s start with a solid understanding of what LinkedIn is today.

LinkedIn is not like Facebook. Not even close to it.

Linkedin power users don’t post pictures of what they ate for lunch yesterday or cute photos of their pets on LinkedIn. Wise professionals do not post jokes or their political views on LinkedIn. That is stuff for Facebook (if at all).

LinkedIn is all about business, connections, careers and selling, all in a sleek system that continues to attract new members, develop new capabilities and build its value to business professionals and career-minded individuals.

LinkedIn is a powerful, effective business tool

Whether you are a dedicated, social media convert or a skeptical bystander, If we simply list some of LinkedIn’s characteristics, benefits and capabilities, we create an image in our mind of a truly valuable business tool:

1. Online rolodex (combined with an attached resume)
2. 24-hour (speed) networking machine
3. Open avenue of communication directly to our connections
4. By its “opt-in” nature, a pool of social, connective-ready professionals
5. Continuous “water-cooler” conversations, to tap in to current happenings
6. Competitive research system
7. No cost marketing venue (or low cost, laser-guided target advertising system)
8. Free editorial distribution platform

We have not even mentioned the career-enhancing possibilities of this system.

Did we mention that it was all available to you 24/7, from wherever you are, and for free?

So, why are you not spending some quality, career-oriented, time with LinkedIn? Is your career or business just not that important?

Ok, now that we’ve covered the “what it is” part, let’s address the “how to” part.

Generally, there are three (3) major business uses of LinkedIn:

1. Sales (find target individuals or companies who will purchase what you sell)
2.  Marketing (promote your products and services so your target market finds you)
3.  Career & Employment (build connections to find next job)

In this article, we are focused solely on the first two of these uses.

Using LinkedIn for Sales

LinkedIn is a powerful tool to find and research individuals and companies, learn more about them, and to easily connect you with those sales targets.

1.  Research companies (find companies that interest you)
2.  Research people (review what individuals say about themselves, and follow what they are saying across all of LinkedIn)
3.  Make connections (Once a connection is made, you have a direct line to these people)
4.  Track companies (Maintain a flow of information and news from companies of interest)

Using LinkedIn for Marketing

1. Establish presence for individuals (make direct connections)
2. Establish presence for companies (enable passive connections, indirect/mass media channel, create information repository)
3. Distribute information about your business (marketing & communications channel)

Marketing a Business on LinkedIn (Getting Started)

Here are some of the first, basic steps in getting started on LinkedIn.

1. Sign up for free account at www.linkedin.com
2. Create and maintain a professional profile
3. Add tools to increase distribution and interaction pathways (see more below)
4. Create and maintain a fully-developed “Company Page”
5. Add tools and applications to increase content, distribution and reach
6. Use targeted LinkedIn advertising to promote your products/services directly to target market(s) with pinpoint accuracy and control

Professional Profile (Tips & Tools)

Now that you have started with LinkedIn, let’s add some of the power-user tips.

1. Complete your profile (to 100%)
2. Add professional portrait photograph
3. Add education, certifications, skills, contact info (phone) in appropriate sections
4. Use customized public profile URL
5. Seek recommendations
6. Add custom anchor text to links (to company website, blog, Facebook Company page)
7. Optimize key words in summary section (and in all of profile)
8. Link Twitter account to profile
9. Use Slideshare application to upload and share PDF documents such as brochures, news, press releases, product/pricing sheets, work samples, etc.
10. Link blog (WordPress) and most recent blog posts will automatically display on profile

Company Page (Tips & Tools)

Whether you work for yourself or an established business, you should build, maintain and consistently use a LinkedIn Company Page.  Here are some basic tips for getting started with a Company Page.

1. Complete Company Overview
2. Add company logo
3. When you create Company Overview, add promotions to highlight one or more specific product or service offering(s)
4. Use “Admin Tools” to add Product or Service information
5. Share Products or Services via status update, Twitter, Groups or to individuals
6. Use “Admin Tools” to Promote Product or Service

LinkedIn Groups

Once you are all set with your professional profile (for yourself) and your Company Page (for your business), some of the real power of LinkedIn comes from getting involved in LinkedIn Groups.  There are Groups for a wide variety of subjects and interests, and you can use the search function to find Groups of interest to you and your professional interests.

1. Consider creating a group (around a topic, not named after your company)
2. Join Groups (up to 50 are allowed with free account at LinkedIn)
3. You can adjust your Group settings to specify if you want to get update from groups, if you want to display group logo on your profile, etc.
4. We recommend setting group email setting to “Weekly Digest” (to minimize emails)
5. Review each email and if something is of interest, post a substantive comment/reply

Building Your Network of Connections

Another important aspect to get the most out of using LinkedIn is to get into the habit of building your network of connections. You can search for people by a wide range of criteria, add email addresses to invite people directly to connect, or you can invite people that you find in LinkedIn Groups. Here are some useful tips to getting started with building a strong network.

1. Start with people you know (and then see who they know)
2. Get introduced to people you want to know
3. Continually build your network (Get into habit of inviting new business connections to connect on LinkedIn)
4. Tell people you are on LinkedIn and are interested in building your network (if that is truly the case, you will have no trouble adding new connections, meeting new people, and building valuable, new business relationships)

Become & Remain Active on LinkedIn

Like many other things, you get from LinkedIn about what you put in to it. Therefore, start to use LinkedIn on a regular basis and use it to interact with others on it. Remember, people on LinkedIn are generally there to network, learn, build connections and interact. Take advantage of that willingness and be helpful to others while you are at it.  Following the “helpful and polite” rule of thumb, and you will find yourself building a strong and useful network of professional contacts.  Here are some helpful tips.

1. Update your status regularly (weekly is a good start)
2. Review weekly email of “Status Updates”
3. Review Group emails and comment.  Get involved in the discussions.
4. Feel free to simply post a message to a group introducing yourself and saying that you are interested in networking and building your network. People are open to that as this is a networking function like any other
5. Share blog posts, news, special offers, job postings in your status and in groups

Good luck and keep your eyes peeled for more useful information from Erik Bunaes and Endorphin Advisors.

Connect with Erik on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/erikbunaes.

Any questions? Don’t hesitate to contact Erik at erik@endorphinadvisors.com or 518.250.9035.

For more business training, consider our range of business workshops at the Endorphin Business Center, a Business Skills Center Serving New York’s Tech Valley.  See www.endorphin-business-center.com/ for descriptions of workshops, schedule and online registration and follow us on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/endorphin-business-center-llc.

# # # #

About Endorphin Advisors

Endorphin Advisors is a unique management consulting firm and marketing agency. We help businesses develop and implement short and long-term strategic plans, while also providing day-to-day business development, marketing and financial forecasting services to select clients committed to innovation and aggressive growth. We generally serve business-to-business and service-focused businesses.

Started in 2005, we help start, manage, grow, finance and, where appropriate, to sell businesses.

Our strategic marketing services focus on generating new business through the Internet. We specialize in closed-loop Internet (“inbound”) marketing; the use of relevant, useful content (widely distributed across web, blog, email and social media properties), targeted offers, landing pages and analytics.

For more information, please visit www.EndorphinAdvisors.com or call 518.250.9035.

Follow on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/companies/endorphin-advisors.

Follow on Facebook: www.facebook.com/EndorphinAdvisors

# # # #

About Endorphin Business Center LLC

We are committed to providing superior educational and training opportunities to help business professionals achieve more. More success. More prosperity. More opportunities. More satisfaction.

Workshops will cover topics such as marketing, bookkeeping, corporate structures, financing, human resources and legal, tax, compliance and operations issues. Some are introductory workshops while others are intermediate or advanced-level workshops. All workshops are open to anyone.

We are an Albany-based organization serving New York’s Tech Valley, and sponsoring Capital Region Sponsor-A-Scholar™.

To view schedule of workshops, and to register online, please visit www.Endorphin-Business-Center.com or call 518.250.9035.

Follow on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/endorphin-business-center-llc

Follow on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/EndorphinBusinessCenter

# # # #

Connect With Us

Content Marketing: Build Business with the Knowledge you Have

Here’s a diagram showing the steps to producing a content marketing strategy:

Breakdown of the eight (8) specific building blocks and the type of information or deliverable for each block in a content marketing strategy:

Level 8 – Web Hub (Web site or blog – engagement, conversations, lead nurturing, conversions, all search engine optimized)

Level 7    - Media Mix (Email, social media, video, content marketing, search engine marketing, seo)

Level 6    - Offers (Samples, trials, discounts, coupons, specials, workbooks, white papers, ebooks, tools, calculators)

Level 5 – Content (Managed by strategic editorial calendar. Articles, announcements, press releases, research, survey results, questions, white papers, ebooks.  Includes “content curation.”)

Level 4 – Information (Trends, research, news, tips, training, regulations, data)

Level 3 – Expertise (Unique expertise in defined field of specialization)

Level 2 – Strategy (Communication with target audience in tone, frequency, quality and quantity of information)

Level 1 – Goals (Create measurable goals and methods of measurement.  How will you measure performance and success?)

Follow link for more about our online marketing strategy services at Endorphin Advisors.

Contact Us Today to discuss your needs and goals

Connect With Us

Email Marketing Training Outline (for recent client)

On October 21, 2011, we conducted an Email Marketing Training for the leadership team of a new client (a Tech Valley, New York-based chamber of commerce).

Here’s the Agenda:

Agenda: Email Marketing Training

1. Email marketing best practices
2. List segmentation & chamber segments
3. Email marketing strategy:  Theme & voice diversity, development, strategies,  Content development (types of content),  Editorial strategy & content calendar,  Integration with social media properties (online only items),  Analytics tracking and analysis
4. Email editing demo
5. Media (images, video), Fonts,Lay-out,Templates
6. Review Constant Contact survey & event tools (Best practices)
7. Q & A

Let us know if you are interested in online marketing training for you or your team.

Follow this link for more about our Email Marketing Services.

Connect With Us

Business Blogging, Done Right, Will Make You Famous!

At least it will help you connect with more of the people that are interested in what you say.

A good business blog can help your business in so many more ways than most small business owners think. While many people will agree with that, most business owners will also say they don’t know how to do it, don’t have the time or don’t have an interesting subject to cover.

Balderdash! (Pardon my French!).

It’s just like saying eating your vegetables will make you healthier, exercise is good for you and cold calling results in new sales. They are all clearly truisms that are inarguably beneficial for you in ways that are truly important to you (and your business). Yet, they are often overcome by other “good reasons” not to employ them. Excuses, really. Excuses!

Business Blogging – An Essential, Foundational Marketing Tool

Business owners would be wise to shift the paradigm of blogging so that it looks and feels to them like writing an email.  That’s about how difficult it is, once you have the right tools in place.

Use your business blog to announce news, share new information about your industry, regulations, products or services, recent customer successes or just to talk about some cultural values or goals (perhaps your value propositions and mission?) that are important to you (and your customers!).

Use your blog to share other pieces of information too, like product line cards, samples of your work, videos from you, staff or clients, photos of events or staff.  There is no limit (except professionalism and good tasted, of course) on what you can and should put on your business blog.

Now, the important part! Once you write it on your blog, simply post a link on all your social media sites, email a link to it and link to it from other places too.  Have you thought of posting a link to your latest blog post in your email signature block?  Hmmm, good idea, eh?

Some Tips from the Metaphorical Factory Floor

Here is an excellent discussion from our knowledgeable friends at the Social Media Examiner on some blogging mistakes and ways to avoid making them.  Several of them follow a similar theme which is to ensure that you are speaking in a consistent, professional “voice” that is aimed at the needs of your desired readers, and focuses on what is important to them (not what is important to you!).

Read on and enjoy: 21 Dangerous Blogging Mistakes (and How to Fix Them).

What is your favorite mistake and how to avoid it?

Connect With Us

Social Media Marketing: So now it’s a strategic imperative?

Business executives are catching the social media marketing buzz: "Social Business is increasingly perceived as a strategic executive imperative in the enterprise, with 78 percent of the executives surveyed admitting that having a social strategy is critical to the future success of their businesses."

In this new study, released June 29, 2011 by Jive Software of Palo Alto, CA, it seems that large and medium sized enterprises have finally awoken to what has appeared relatively clear to many others, that social marketing is an important component of communications with customers.

From the report, “The Jive Social Business Index 2011,” three key findings emerged:

1. Social Business is a top executive strategic imperative;
2. App Stores are gaining traction in the enterprise; and
3. Email usage is growing but is not solving communication challenges in the enterprise.

“Fifty-three percent of executives believe they must adopt Social Business or risk falling behind”

The herd instinct is strong, too, as there is an awareness that other businesses – the competition – are taking advantage of social business models and that if you don’t adopt social business you’ll be left behind.

Do you have a strategic plan which includes social business as a core element? You certainly should, as your competitors more likely than not, are putting more and more weight into their social business efforts.

If you want to learn more about leveraging social business principals and practices in your business, please contact us to discuss your needs.

Connect With Us

Positioning Your Business: Are You a Ghost?

Successfully Differentiating Yourself Should Be A Clear Priority

In the eyes of potential customers, you look just like your competition.  You’re a mechanic, acupuncturist, insurance broker, banker, PR pro, IT guy, consultant or designer.  You are broadly defined – like a ghost – and there are lots of you to choose from.

That thought should scare you and keep you awake at night.  I’m not kidding.  If that is how your customers think of you, your chances of winning business are truly slim.

First impressions stick, so you need to carefully craft the image and message that you present about yourself and your business.  Even more challenging, this message must be consistent, dynamic and effective coming from you, your partners, your staff and even your customers.

“If you stand for everything, you stand for nothing.”

It is better to put stake out a very specific service or type of customer you serve, than try and cover all the possible services you provide and customers you might serve.  Even if you think it is too narrow and doesn’t include all the great services you provide, you need to identify something particular that people will identify with you, something by which to remember you.

What “variables” can differentiate your business?

Here’s a quick list of possible differentiators:

1. Type of customers you serve (industry, size of company or any other attribute)
2. Lifecycle of company or industry (new/start-up, growth, leader, mature)
3. Services you provide
4. Level of services (First class service included in price or no-frills)
5. Cost structure (high, low or market)
6. Focus on new clients or existing clients
7. focus on fast-moving, aggressive clients or more conservative or old-fashioned clients
8. Geographic area of service
9. In-person service, store-based, virtual or phone
10. fast sales cycle or slow sales cycle

There are almost an unlimited number of ways to describe your company and services, your customers, and how you serve them.  You can even call yourself a pioneer in a field, if it is specific enough, and there are few, if any, competitors in the field you describe.

Defining your marketplace is critical but can be very liberating.  Why not try to become known as the best web designer serving personal lines insurance agents, in California, servicing high-tech companies, with less than 5 employees?  Sure, that’s an extreme example, or is it?

About Endorphin

Endorphin Advisors is a unique management consulting firm and marketing agency. We help businesses develop and implement short and long-term strategic plans, while also providing day-to-day business development, marketing and financial forecasting services to select clients committed to aggressive growth.

Endorphin Advisors specializes in Internet (inbound) marketing; online lead generation and nurturing strategies; content development strategies; and development of the web properties required for effective inbound marketing, including web sites, blogs, social media and email marketing tools.

Endorphin Advisors was started in Silicon Valley in 2005, and re-located to Albany, NY in 2011. Find them at http://www.EndorphinAdvisors.com

###########

Connect With Us

Relevant Content Strategy: The Biggest Challenge in Social Media Marketing

No one is searching for information about what we do. I focus on referrals. My industry is boring. Too many regulations. Everyone knows what we do. Those deadlines sure come up fast.  It’s hard to come up with new ideas all the time.

Sound familiar?

I regularly conduct seminars on a variety of online marketing topics. During every presentation, without exception, someone raises their hand and says their industry is different and not well suited for utilizing content marketing as a lead generation strategy. In private conversations, many business owners and professionals have said the
same thing.

If you have said this, you are missing a big opportunity to connect with potential customers.

Creative Strategy – Willing to Get Creative?

Here is where your marketing dollars can be money well spent.  Why is that? With some creativity and solid planning you can create an interesting story line, a unique theme, upon which to build a content strategy.

In today’s online world, our customers are bombarded by messages, ads, news and stories. By communicating with potential customers in a unique voice, traversing clear and interesting storylines, your voice will become heard. Your messages and brand image will become well-defined and clear. You will make a name for yourself.

Wouldn’t that be nice, when you are trying to draw in new customers?

Ready, Fire, Aim. Then Question Online Marketing

However, there is evidence that, in many cases, businesses are not building marketing messages from a cohesive theme.  In place of a solid strategy, is promotional noise; a seemingly random stream of messages and information. Then you ask, why isn’t our online marketing not working? Why are we losing market share, seeing decreasing sales, and suffering falling profitability? Why don’t our customers know what we can do?

Must be the recession? Yeah, right.

Relevant Content Strategy

The best practices in online marketing today demand a focused, seamless communications strategy. Some important elements of this strategy include:

1. Clear campaign theme(s) – What makes it unique?
2. Professional, authentic voice and tone
3. Regular frequency and location of information
4. Defined editorial guidelines and strategic editorial calendar
5. Efficient content development strategy
6. Streamlined distribution procedures, guidelines, responsibilities
7. Written communications guidelines and training, to include handling customer complaints, addressing positive and negative comments.
8. Customer service guidelines, granting appropriate authority and options to remedy customer complaints.

There are several advantages to creating a strategy up-front.  These include faster development times, improved coordination, clear communications, better customer service and higher customer satisfaction levels.

Now that would be worth the up-front effort, wouldn’t it?

What is your status?

Do you have a content development strategy?  What are the most important elements of your strategy, and what important lessons have you learned in managing online marketing strategy?

Want to Distribute your Content to a Broader Audience?

Why not become a Guest Blogger at Endorphin Advisors?

Connect With Us

Endorphin Web Marketing Audit

In this video, Erik Bunaes discusses the Endorphin Web Marketing Audit.

Let us help you gain visibility on the web, drive more web traffic to your site, and convert more visitors to prospects, and more prospects to sales (and $$$).

Watch the video now.

Follow this link for more details and to schedule a Web Marketing Audit.

Also, please feel free to contact Erik Bunaes at 415.595.6813 with any questions or to learn more about how this audit can improve your web marketing.

And finally, we are proud to offer the Endorphin Web Marketing Audit at no charge during the month of July 2010.  So get one quick or you’ll be paying $149 starting in August!

Happy Web Marketing!

Certification Achievements

Connect With Us

Web Marketing Strategy – Development, Implementation & Management Services

Endorphin Advisors helps clients develop strategies to drive increased web traffic to their web properties, and then convert visitors into leads, and leads into sales.

We help develop fully-integrated, focused, effective web marketing campaigns, which can be very effective in terms of building brand awareness, driving new web traffic and generating new sales from the web.

We follow a process that helps identify and target a defined segment of potential customers. Then, we create the strategy to broadly market certain information and services to your customers to build awareness and interest, which creates additional web traffic.

Then, we implement strategies to turn visitors into prospects, prospects into leads, and leads into customers, all using a continuous, automated promotional campaign to maintain interest until purchase decision.

Watch the video to find out more from Erik Bunaes of Endorphin Advisors:

If you have any questions, or simply wish to learn a little more about how we might help your business generate more leads and more sales using the web, please don’t hesitate to contact us for a chat.

Call Erik Bunaes at 415.595.6813 today and start growing your sales using the Web!

Certification Achievements

Connect With Us