Why should your organization have a web presence

Why should your organization have a web presence By: Aaron Gustafson Owner Computers N’ Stuff

Inexpensive Advertising • Facebook is FREE!!! • Youtube is FREE!!! • Twitter is FREE!!! • Google Plus is FREE!!! • Website hosting is as low as 40$ a YEAR, that’s less than 3.50$ a month.

What is Social Media • so·cialme·di·a noun 1. websites and applications used for social networking. • Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, Google+, Instagram, Foursquare, Myspace, LinkedIn

Why should you utilize social Media? • Branding • Social Media can create a recognizable identity for your Organization • Word of Mouth Marketing • Social Media Marketing can create a recognisable identity for your product or service. This is extremelyimportant for a small business. Social Media tools can get the word out aboutyour brand in a way that promotes online conversation and creates buzz.

Reputation management • Social Media tools let you keep an eye on what other people and sites are saying about your name, company, or brand online. You can then use the insights to fix any problems, if need be. You could use forums and message boards to answer questions professionally, honestly, and correctly, which will earn you respect as an expert in your niche. People will look to you for answers.

Find out what works and what doesn't • Your organization does not move forward unless you understand your prior faults. Social media gives you a chance to look at your prior engagement year over year, to find out what worked and what did not work. By doing so, you can review your social media metric tools and engagement score.

Helps with search engine rankings • Social media also helps you move up in the search engine rankings because of links. Many social news sites and social networking sites have “follow” links in their profile pages. These “follow” links can provide your online properties with a higher ranking on search engines such as Bing.

Cost-effective marketing and advertising alternative • Social media marketing shouldn’t cost a small business nearly as much as traditional advertising. And, if you do it yourself, it might not cost a dime. However, it will cost you time. Depending how much your time is worth, it might be worthwhile to hire someone to help with the social media marketing. But, all in all, social media marketing is just a fraction of the cost of traditional marketing and advertising.

Ok, so now that I know WHY I should have a social media presence which one do I choose?

Facebook is one of the most popular Social Media Websites available today • Youtube is THE most popular website visited currently, Youtube is great for video advertising • Instagram is good for posting pictures • Foursquare is good for organizations with a permanent address • Google Business Pages is good for For Profit Businesses

Facebook Business Pages • Your Facebook Page makes your business: • Discoverable: When people search for you on Facebook, they'll be able to find you. • Connected: Have one-on-one conversations with your customers, who can like your Page, read your posts and share them with friends, and check in when they visit. • Timely: Your Page can help you reach large groups of people frequently, with messages tailored to their needs and interests. • Insightful: Analytics on your Page will give you a deeper understanding of your customers and your marketing activities.

Facebook Groups • Create a private space • Have things you only want to share with a small group of people? Just create a group, add friends, and start sharing. Once you have your group, you can post updates, poll the group, chat with everyone at once, and more. • Control who sees your group • Secret: Only members see the group, who's in it, and what members post. • Closed: Anyone can see the group and who's in it. Only members see posts. • Open (public): Anyone can see the group, who's in it, and what members post

Ok, so I’ve got social media why do I need a website too? • Old School Professionalism • A lot of middle aged and older generation users and clients don’t have Facebook, a website catches that traffic as well • Establish A Presence • More Advertising for Less Money • Save Time with Answers to Frequently Asked Questions Online • Educate Your Customers • Get Email

Establish A Presence • More and more people are looking for services and products on-line than every before. Peoples' habits are changing. People move to a new area and very often rely solely on the Internet to learn about the new area, research and find out who to go to for what. • Many people research and find their homes and jobs over the Internet. Most people are coming to expect that any professionally run business will have a web site. With a well-designed site your small business becomes a real player both on and off the net. • Add your web address to your stationary, business cards and other advertisements and you'll have visitors knowing exactly where to go for answers to their questions and where to send their friends to for great service. • The more people know about you and your company the greater the chances you have for attracting new customers. More is generally a good thing when running a business, unless you're talking about expenses!

More Advertising for Less Money • With a web site you can have pages of full-color advertisements that run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week! You get to present yourself and your services to your customers using many descriptive pages, images, interactive elements, etc. This tends to build peoples' trust, which in turn, makes them more likely to purchase your products and services.

Save Time with Answers to Frequently Asked Questions Online • Do you spend time answering the same types of questions for each of your clients? Well that may never stop but there may be some hope! With a web site you can put the answers to these frequently asked questions online and have your customers visit these pages for a little self service. You can even email them out a link to these pages. Your customers will appreciate the knowledge that you will be providing them and it will not require much more additional time than sending them an email or recommending that they read your Frequently Asked Questions page.

Educate Your Customers • The first step of any sale is getting the client familiar with what you are selling. In this day and age more and more people are looking on the Internet to get the information they need to make educated buying decisions. • Include articles of interest telling your potential clients about your services. When they call you to discuss your services, half the sale is already done; you've already given them your "pitch". You will even save time (and money) because the ones who do call are interested, warm (and sometimes hot) prospects, not just someone calling to gather information.

Get Email • With your web site you will also get email addresses for your business. On your site will be a link where people will be able to email you for additional information. This is a fast and effective form of communication that enables you to communicate very efficiently with potential customers. Time is money in a small business; with email you'll be saving both.

Examples of Websites • http://www.nationalcpaa.org/ • http://www.texascpaaa.org/ • http://www.tcpaaconvention.org/index.html • http://www.eulesstx.gov/wp/ecpaaa/ • https://www.cor.net/index.aspx?page=497

Examples of Websites I’ve built • www.WacoFireCorps.org • www.DriskellsCarpetService.com • www.Computersnstuff.co • www.Gustafson-Family.com • www.ElitePhoneRepairWaco.com • www.PegasusBallroom.com • Ww2.WacoScottishRite.org

Average Cost of Advertising • Billboards • Between $300 and $8000 a month • Newspaper • Website is malfunctioning :P • Facebook • Between 0 and 8000$ a month • *You can buy advertising or just rely on word of mouth • Website • Hosting averages around 40$ for the first year and 70$ each year after that, and website design averages between $400 and $1200 one time fee.

Why should your organization have a web presence