Today we will talk about to do list.  Every business owner needs to stay on task to make sure that his or her business will succeed.  Some people use sticky notes, others may use something more sophisticate like Microsoft Outlook to do list.  Some of the people just rely on good old pen and paper.

In the digital world it becomes more and more important to use something that you would have access to 24/7.  Many of us have our smart phones with us at all times.  While there many apps available to keep track of the to do list,  it is helpful to be able to sync it with your computer and other devices you might be using.

For the last six month we’ve been using Producteev.  While they offer few “paid” plans for those who need to work on team projects, producteev has a great free plan that allows up to 2 users and 100MB of free storage.

Ycu can learn more about their pricing here.

There is no point in having a promotion or experimenting with marketing ideas if you don’t have a way to track the results.  Make sure that each promotional piece has either a special coupon code or has a special web site address or phone number.  Finally make sure that every time some calls you ask one simple question:  How did you hear about us?

Having a Facebook page becomes increasingly important even for a very small business that wants to interact with their clients.  Getting a Facebook page is very easy.  To start you will need to go to www.facebook.com/pages and click on “Create a new page”.  After that just follow the prompts.  Make sure you upload your logo and update your business information.

Custom URL

You will have to have at least 25 Fans (or people that “Like” your page) before you can create a custom URL for your page (Facebook.com/yourbusiness).  Having a custom URL will make it a lot easier for your clients to find you on Facebook.  To get a custom url you can visit http://www.facebook.com/username.  Make sure the name you pick is the name that you are planning on sticking with, Facebook won’t let you change it in a future.

Promoting

It is important to actively promote your page.  You can do this by adding a link to it in the signature line of your email, adding it to your business card and marketing materials, posting it on the walls of your business and offering “Fans only” specials or giving extra savings/products for initially “Liking” your page.

Updates

You can use your page to keep your clients updated about things that happen with your business.  For example you can update them about sales that are coming up or new products that you are planning on offering.  Some businesses also choose to make their business pages more personal by updating their “Fans” about family vacations, pets and other personal news.

Whatever way you decide to use your page is up to you, but make sure to keep it consistent.

Things to look out for

Facebook made it very easy for people to “Like” your page, but it also made it very easy to “Unlike” it.  Having your client’s (or potential clients) asking for updates from your business is a privilege make sure that you dont’ abuse it.  These are some of the rules that we abide by:

• Don’t update more than twice a week.
• Keep in mind that you have client’s and potential clients “Liking” your page.  Think of ways and promotions to keep current clients coming back into your business and attracting new clients.
• Don’t SPAM your fans by sending messages through page interface.
• Give ways for your clients to interact by asking questions instead of just telling people about new promotions.
• Provide more than information about specials.  Include useful information that your clients can use, for example:
• Landscape business can give advice about the care of the flowers.
• Grocery store can have a weekly recipe.
• Winery can talk about food/wine pairings.
• Computer Repair Store can talk about viruses and keeping computers safe

Keep in mind that pages are great for small, direct messages.   If you are giving advice, make sure it’s right to the point.  You can also link your blog updates to your posts.  We will talk about blog marketing in a later post.

Other Uses

Facebook page can also be used for promotions.  You can offer specials to those who “check-in” into your business.  We will cover those in future posts.

If you are looking to promote your business on Facebook, we would love to help.  We are web design/consulting company based in Des Moines Iowa.  Aside from affordable web design and custom wordpress theme design we offer social media consulting services.   Please visit our web site to learn more:  www.IowaWebSolutions.com