Creating and maintaining a Facebook Page
August 31, 2011 By Dave Koehler

Facebook Pages, as opposed to Facebook Profile pages, are for businesses and organizations. They are relatively easy to create, and provide a great opportunity for businesses to connect with their customers.

To create a Page, simply go to http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php, and follow the simple instructions. Help is available here and here. Facebook even has a Facebook Page about Facebook Pages.

Generally, you should upload a logo or photo to use as the main profile image. Be sure to pick a name you are happy with, Facebook does not let you change that once it has been established. Facebook has areas for your business contact information, and a description of what your business or organization does. You can make changes to your profile information at any time by clicking the "Edit Page" button in the upper right corner.

Once your page is set up, you can begin to post on the "Wall." This is the main area where you can interact with current and potential customers. Basically, you'll want to post a sentence or two about things happening with your business or organization, or things that may be of interest to you customers. For Princeton Online, we post about our site, our clients, local events, and general things of interest to people living in and around Princeton. You can view other local and/or popular Facebook Pages on the Discover Facebook Pages page (lots of "pages" in that sentence).

More information:

• How to Market Your Business With Facebook
• Top 10 Tips for Successful SMB Facebook Pages
• 9 Rules of Facebook Promotion Every Small Business Should Know

I'll be posting about more advanced Facebook techniques at a future date. In the meantime, if you have any questions or additional advice, leave comments below. And don't forget to visit us at our Facebook Page - http://www.facebook.com/PrincetonOnline.

If those search engine ranking promises seem to good to be true, they probably are.
August 19, 2011 By Dave Koehler

In the world of Search Engine Optimization (SEO), there are legitimate companies, and then there are the rest. You've probably seen the ads and billboards with amazing promises like "Guaranteed #1 Ranking". The question is, ranking for what search terms? Probably not anything that real people would search for when trying to find your business. It's not hard to get the number one ranking for Princeton Jello Shoes.

Unstuck Digital has a helpful list of 8 SEO Scams That Won’t Die. Guaranteed rankings, and submitting to thousand of search engines are number 1 and 2 on the list, but the important factor is the same as with any service you are going to pay for -- use a legitimate business with a history of satisfied customers. The scammers can only prosper as long as people buy their services.

The truth is, basic SEO isn't that difficult. Effective page titles & meta-description tags, good site structure, and well-written copy on your pages will get you most of the way there. Google even offers a nice guide for anyone wanting to go the DIY route. I would also be happy to answer any of your questions. Simply directly, or post a comment below.

Is Groupon worth it?
August 15, 2011 By Dave Koehler

For those of you who don't know, Groupon is a Website that offers coupons to a group of people that can be used at local businesses (Group coupon. Clever, right?). When a minimum number of people agree to the specific daily offer, everyone in the group gets a certificate for the discount. There are a number of competitor sites that have sprung up including Living Social, but Groupon is still king of this category.

Groupon makes makes money by taking half of the cost for themselves. If you are selling a product or service for $40, and the Groupon is for 50% off, the consumer pays $20. Groupon gets $10, and the business gets $10, and hopefully a lot of new customers.

And there are the issues. First of all, that's quite a big discount when the business is only getting ¼ of the regular price. In addition, it may not be new customers that redeem the Groupon, and even if they do, there is no guarantee that any of those people will become regular customers.

Clearly, it is up to the business to make sure the customers are getting something worth coming back for. However, there have been a lot of complaints that many businesses are taking a big loss, and not seeing much, if any, increase in business.

So, is Groupon right for you? I'd say no for most businesses, and maybe for some. This site offers some good ideas to consider before you jump in. You might also just offer a discount for everyone that “likes” your page on Facebook, or follows you on Twitter. It's a simple way to reward your loyal followers and attract new ones. And of course, what marketing plan would be complete without and ad on Princeton Online. ;-)

If you have used, or are considering using Groupon, I'd love to hear about it in the comments.

Seven Useful Facebook Features Marketers May Not Know
August 08, 2011 By Dave Koehler

If you have a Facebook page for your business, you may be wondering how to make to most of the features that Facebook has to offer. Blogger Niall Harbison offers seven ideas that you could use to improve your interaction with your Facebook Fans. Read about it here.

Welcome to the Your Connected Business Blog!
August 04, 2011 By Dave Koehler

The purpose of this blog is to take online marketing news and information for businesses, and slice and dice it into nice understandable bite size chunks. Much of the information on the Web about using social media, email marketing, search engine optimization, etc. is written by experts for experts. I hope to filter through all of the noise to find the key elements of the story, and then show how small and medium sized businesses can effectively market online without breaking the bank.

Any comments or suggestions can be made right on this blog.