Internet Communications - How to Use in Your Business
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Transcript of Internet Communications - How to Use in Your Business
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E-Communication in the 21st Century
COSE Small Business Conference
October 2006
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Your Presenters
Anita Campbell
Steve Rucinski
Find us at:
Small Business Trends
www.smallbiztrends.com
Small Business CEO
www.smbceo.com
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Choose Your Communication“One-to-Many”
Type Tech difficulty
Customers:
existing vs. new
PR Value
SEO Value
Blogs Low to Medium
Both High High
Forums Low New Low Low
Podcasts Low to Medium
Both Medium Low to Medium
Email newsletters
Low to Medium
Existing Low None unless posted online
Social networking
Low New Medium Low
Listservs Low New Low None
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Blogs
• Chronologically arranged websites (short for web + log)
• Use to communicate with public and customers• Advantages over traditional websites:
– Draw visitors back (fresh content + conversational features)
– Lots of linking to other sites (great for search engines)
– Easy and fast to update– Inexpensive
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Business Blog Example“Me to You”
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Blog Interactivity
Comments by readers
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Blogs LinksMultiple links to other sites
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Blog Software Tools
• Start fast with free, hosted options: – Blogger - www.blogger.com – WordPress hosted version - www.wordpress.com
• Upgraded versions offer more flexibility:– WordPress non-hosted version is free except for
setup and hosting charges - www.wordpress.org – TypePad starts at $5 per month: www.typepad.com – Movable Type also popular - www.movabletype.com
• For more resources,visit: www.smallbiztrends.com/blogging
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Internet Forums
• An Internet forum is a Web site for holding discussions
• There are forums for a large number of different topics
• Also commonly referred to as web forums, message boards, discussion boards, discussion forums, discussion groups, bulletin boards
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Forum Example
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Forums - Get Started
• Use your favorite search engine with the topic of your choice followed by ‘forum’
• Pick a forum with many users and recent activity
• Also check out www.boardtracker.com
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Podcasting
• Podcasting, a combination of Apple's "iPod“ and "broadcasting“
• A method of publishing audio (MP3) files to the Internet
• Allows users to subscribe to a “feed” using special podcatcher or feedreader sites/software, and be notified of new recordings automatically
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Podcasting - Recording
How Does it Work? (Recording)
• Publishers record audio content and then post it on a website for listeners.
• Create or edit an existing RSS feed including a link to the audio file in the "enclosure" field of an RSS 2.0 feed, uploading it to a website.
• Tell the world that a podcast is available.
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Podcasting - Listening
How Does it Work? (Listening)
• Set up a podcatcher or feedreader that supports podcasting or sync a wireless device like an iPod with your computer.
• Enter the URL of the podcast feed into the feedreader or podcatcher of your choice.
• As new items appear, review the podcast's description and listen to those of interest.
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iTunes – THE Place for Podcasts
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Odeo - Easy Way to Record Podcasts
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Gcast – Another Easy Way to Record
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How to Get Started – Advanced
• Secure audio recording equipment
• Secure audio recording software
• Record the audio
• Find resource to host the audio files
• Identify website to distribute audio through
• Create RSS Feed for subscribers
• Market podcast to directories (like iTunes)
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Podcasting Resources
• http://studio.odeo.com• http://www.gcast.com• http://www.podshowcreator.com• http://www.podblaze.com• http://www.gabcast.com• http://www.hipcast.com
• Podcasting Whitepaper (http://tinyurl.com/zlmx2)
• Podcasting for Dummies Ebook (http://tinyurl.com/mca3g)
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Email Newsletters
• Email is not dead• A house list is worth its weight in gold• Newsletters keep your business front and
center with customers• Can-Spam law makes it trickier:
– Penalties for sending unsolicited emails– Email should be opt-in (preferably “double
opt-in”)
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Email Newsletters
• Don’t DIY! Email marketing services:– Improve delivery rates (whitelisting)– Comply with Can-Spam law– Offer advanced personalization and HTML templates
• Recommendations:– Vertical Response: www.verticalresponse.com
– Constant Contact: www.constantcontact.com
– Lyris: www.lyris.com
– Bronto: www.bronto.com
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Email Marketing Example
•Design
•List admin
•Mailing
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Discussion Lists & Listservs
• A listserv is a communication tool that lets members post suggestions or questions to a distribution list (like cc’ing on email).
• You submit a question or comment, which is then distributed to all of the other people on that list.
• Can be public or private lists
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Listserv Example
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Listservs - How to Get Started
• Use your favorite search engine with the topic of your choice followed by ‘listserv’
• Pick a listserv with many users and recent activity
• Complete an application if required, dive in and make a comment or ask a question
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Social Networking Sites
• Places on the Internet where people meet in cyberspace to chat, socialize, debate, and network. Some examples include MySpace.com, Friendster.com, and Facebook.com.
• Business-oriented social networking or community sites include: – Linkedin.com– Fastpitch.com– Jumpup.com – Work.com
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LinkedIn Example
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JumpUp – A New Breed
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MySpace Example
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FastPitch Example
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Social Networking - Get Started
• Start with one of the sites; enter a profile of you and your business.
• Search for and invite others you know to connect with you through the service.
• Update your profile regularly, and communicate with your network frequently.
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Choose Your Communication“One to One”
Type Tech difficulty Expense
Web-based Email Low Free
Email Program (Outlook, etc.)
Low to Medium Medium
PDFs Low to Medium Free to Medium
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Web-Based Email
• Revolution!– Online services – no need to install -- access
anywhere from a Web browser
• Today’s offerings competitive:– Advanced message compose and organizing– Built-in spam filtering and anti-virus– Huge storage: up to 2+ GB– Packaged with other offerings: spreadsheets,
calendar, Web design tool, domain hosting
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Web-Based Email
• Three impressive – FREE - options – GMail – www.gmail.com– Yahoo mail - http://mail.yahoo.com– Microsoft Office Live –
http://officelive.microsoft.com
• Set up a free account and try them out
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GMail – So Much More than Email
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Yahoo Mail – User Friendly
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Office Live – Designed for Small Biz
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Microsoft Outlook Email & Others
• Outlook on the desktop still the biz standard – Contact management– Email – Calendar
• Advanced mail functions:– Mail merge – Elaborate filtering, search
• Other alternatives:– WordPerfect only full-featured alternative– Open-source competitors no match
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PDFs
• Universal document format– Users use free Adobe Reader to view PDFs– Harder to tamper with
• Useful for whitepapers, presentations, eBooks
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PDFs - Creating
• Many free and low cost options now available to create PDFs:– Adobe.com online service - $9.99/month– PDF995.com – free version or $10 to
upgrade– WordPerfect now creates PDFs– Many other solutions exist – search for “pdf
writer” or “create pdf”
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Questions?
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Contact
Anita Campbell
• 330.242.1893
Steve Rucinski
• 330.321.4777