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Building Applications to Promote Your Business

One of the best ways to promote your business and your personal brand is to develop a free online application that people can download. This is another great way, like the ebook that we previously mentioned, to help you get potential client's contact information, provide them with something valuable and deepen your connection to them. Today it's easier than ever to build a free online applications for your potential clients' phones and with a good application, to become a part of their day-to-day phone usage--improving your online reputation and brand recognition.

According to Mashable, one of the best online DIY application builders is Google's App Inventor. Using Google's free program you can create free Android applications that use all of the Android phone's best applications -- GPS, SMS and more. If you want to build an application for iPhone users, AppMakr, or SwebApps, are great options that make it easy to build iPhone applications that are beautiful and easy to use. If you prefer to target both the iPhone and Android market at the same time, you can use the free online program called Sociallight.

When you plan your free application, make sure that you have a clear idea and strategy that integrates well with your business. You want to make sure, especially if you're managing the business by yourself, that you don't waste too much time in building the application. And if it's too complicated to do it yourself, that you find a freelancer who will build the application for an affordable price. While developing mobile applications can seem simple, hiring a professional who works in mobile marketing can save you a lot of time and make your product really stand out and give you a strong return for your time and energy.

Improve Your Online Reputation By Crowsourcing

Crowdsourcing is all the rage and one of the best ways to develop an exciting product or marketing tool that many of your potential clients, followers and supporters can be a part of. If you haven't yet become a part of the rage, for your information:

Crowdsourcing is the act of outsourcing tasks, traditionally performed by an employee to a large group of people or community (a crowd), through an open call.

The term has become popular with businesses, authors, and journalists as shorthand for the trend of leveraging the mass collaboration enabled by Web 2.0 technologies to achieve business goals.

One of the best, most recent examples of crowdsourcing is Johnny Cash's most recent video, The Johnny Cash Project. The Johnny Cash Project enabled fans to create a drawing online to contribute to the video. Once the drawings were submitted, they were pieced together in a moving and beautiful music video that's gone viral and had tons of press coverage.

These kind of crowdsourcing projects get people to interact with your business and your brand, building a stronger bond and in fact contributing to it. Once you become a part of something, you inevitably feel that it's more important to you, so giving people the chance to help you market your business can be a great way to make new contacts, strengthen old ones, and put together truly remarkable, meaningful marketing materials that improve your online presence.

 

 

Improve Your Online Reputation with an Ebook

Ebooks are becoming one of the most popular ways of disseminating information and are a good digital alternative to paper books. They are a great way to improve your online reputation because they can be easily spread and linked to, especially if they are a free, low cost source of information that people want to get their hands on. While the most popular ebooks are still self-help ebooks, ebooks can be produced to serve a number of different audiences.

When planning your ebook, the first and most important question you're going to want to answer is what type of content should be in your ebook. Depending on whether your business has a corporate or personal brand, the tone of your ebook will be different. However, all ebooks should have useful information that will captivate their readers and keep them flipping page after page.

Another thing to consider when planning your ebook is the length. While traditional books are typically over 150 pages, an ebook should be shorter since today's readers prefer to consume information quickly and have a much shorter attention span. In addition, you should consider that your ebook is going to be read in front of a computer or on a telephone, so you'll want to make sure that you pack the most important information into every page and don't make your sentences too long or wordy.

You also must consider your ebook's layout carefully. Today there are many different ways to lay your ebook out online that are either free or very affordable. While most people still prefer PDF's there are many creative ways that you can publish your ebook so that it will be easy and fun for people to read. In addition, if you want your ebook to stand out, you can hire a graphic designer for a very affordable price. They will help you create a unique layout for your ebook and make sure that each page is visually pleasing and easy to read.

Lastly, you'll need to consider how you get your ebook to people. Ebooks are a great bait for getting people's email addresses or as a prize for completing a simple online survey. Ebooks can also be sold online at many venues that allow for self publishing, making them more accessible than paper books by far.

Ebooks are a great way for you to connect with new clients and to give your existing clients something from your business. Ebooks bolster your brand and your business and are a great way to improve yoru online reputation. Just make sure you take the time to carefully plan your ebook and market it to the right people. With this combination, your ebook will be sure to be a worthwile investment for your online reputation and business.

From Crisis to Improving Chile's Reputation

For the past two months the world has been captured by the story of the Chilean miners trapped nearly half a mile underground. While their survival is surely a testimony of incredible human surivival, Chile's president has used the event as a public relations opportunity to show the world how incredible the Chilean government and their rescue team is. This is an excellent example of crisis management, instead of focusing on the failure of the mine, the world has been captivated by the struggle of the miners and their government to bring them back to earth, to rescue them from the pits. 

One example of the how the Chilean President Sebastian Pinera has been able to use this event to push a positive message about Chile is this quote below from Fox 13 News:

"These miners have shown, as have the victims of the earthquake and the people that are working to rebuild after the earthquake have shown that Chileans unite in adversity and we are capable of great things and that, the souls of our country shows the best of itself when we're seeing adversity," said Pinera.

While this event could easily be articulated as an example of human bravery and the ability of human beings to overcome great adversity, the President articulates the miners as nationals and strengthens the image of his nation through their actions. In addition to sending an international message of hope and Chilean perserverence, this event has sparked nationalist uprisings throughout Chile with people celebrating the rescue of the miners and reconnecting to their Chilean national identity.

When in crisis, it's best to think about how you can turn a crisis into a reputation management opportunity. Even though their are several horrific stories like this every year, stories where people are trapped and there seems to be no hope, when the situation turns around, smart leaders will know how to recognize the opportunity to insprire others with not just any message of hope -- but their message of hope.

Getting People to Like You

If you want to get your business and brand message out there, you've got to be on facebook -- by now that's clear. But how to get people to like your fan page and to sign up to get your messages in your news feed, well that can still be a challenge. At the same time, several businesses have found successful "like" campaign strategies.

The most recent "like" campaign that caught our eyes was Corona's New Facebook Campaign. In fact, to get people to "like" their fan page, they created an entire facebook application. After you "like" the Corona page, Corona's facebook application downloads giving fans the chance to upload their photograph to the application and see it appear in the advertisement that Corona will be running in New York City's Time's Square. This opportunity is exciting for many fans, who'd love to see their face in the Big Apple, and encourages them to "like" Corona's facebook page and sign up to recieve lots of advertising messages from the company.

Another way to get people to "like" your facebook fan page is to run a contest. For example, tell existing members that if they refer 20 people to your facebook fan page, they'll be in the running to win an iPad, kindle or some other exciting electornic. This get's people talking and sends them to their friends trying to spread the message about doing something as simple as inviting their friends to click a button -- what could be easier than that.

Lastly, it's easy to get people who you know already appreciate your business or brand to like your fan page, so make sure that you take stock of your existing email database, clients and other contacts and invite them to be fans of your facebook page. This is one of the best ways for you to spread the word about your business and to get more people to sign up to recieve your savvy facebook marketing messages, advertisements and more -- all of which greatly improve your online reputation.

Using Google Maps to Improve Your Online Reputation

Many people overlook one of the best ways online to improve your businesses' reputation -- Google Maps. Today Google Maps is like the yellow pages for businesses, so if your business isn't listed there you're sure to be losing some valuable real estate. In addition, having your business listed with Google Maps will insure that when someone types the name of your business into Google, your business will come up first, greatly improving your Google CV and online reputation.

One of the first things you need to do in order to get your business listed in Google maps is to go to the Google Maps website and search for your business. Sometimes your business will already be listed, so you'll just need to edit the details and make sure that they are correct. If your business isn't already in Google Maps, you'll want to go to the Google places home page and "Add your business". In order to verify that the business is in fact yours, Google will send you a secret PIN via snail mail or telephone.

The Google Maps listing is far more interactive than you would expect. In addition to the name, telephone number and address of your business, you can add the link to your businesses' website, links to videos and photos and more. This will create another central hub that connects all of the important information about your business in one place and improves your Google CV and search engine ranking once again.

Sometimes people think that because their business isn't a shop or store that they don't have a place for it on Google Maps -- but don't shut out your opportunity to be in Google Maps too quickly. Every business has an address, even virtual businesses, and you can still use Google Maps for your virtual business by claiming your home address or other business address on the map.

What Kind of Content Makes People Click?

It’s not enough just to put your content in a social network, on your blog or in twitter and expect people to click – you have to know what type of content is going to get people to take action and adapt your “hook” for the platform you are using. In this article, we’ll discuss three of the main places that people put hooks for content – facebook, twitter and emails. Each type demands a different type message to inspire people to click, so you have to think strategically with every word that you type.

Facebook

Facebook is the most interactive place that you can place a hook for your content. There are several different ways that people can interact with your content – like, comment and click. While this can be good to give people options about how to respond, it can also be distracting. Depending on what you want your readers to do, you have to think about what kind of hook you write. If your goal is to get people to click on the content, and exit facebook, you have to make your hook enticing. If you want people to respond in the comments, your best off if you create an open ended question for people to respond to. On the other hand, if you want people simply to like your statement, make sure that it’s something that inspires people to think, “I like that.” If you study facebook carefully, and the successful hooks you’ll notice what type of content gets likes, comments and clicks and be able to create successful hooks for your links.

Twitter

Twitter is one of the most difficult places to write your hook to your link. You only have 140 characters to express yourself and to inspire people to click. On the other hand, it is very focused, so if you want people to click your link, there really is no other option. There is no distracting like or comment, so people will be most likely to click the link if they find you 140 characters to be interesting.

Email

Email gives you the most space to express yourself. If you have a series of links that are related to each other, writing an email gives you the chance to write a series of compelling sentences to lead people to links. On the other hand, it’s important not to make your emails too long, as today people are flooded with emails and only spend a few minutes scanning your message. This means you should make your hooks short and sweet and disperse your links throughout your message.

If you think wisely about how to get people to click your link and what to put in your hook, you’ll be much more successful at getting people to read your messages and interact with your content in the way you want. This is the best way to build your online reputation and to improve your personal and business brand. Think about the content and the form that you how you will be sharing it to make the most of your message.