Branding Business via Celebrity Marketing Strategies

SUCCESS (magazine) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Success Magazine has a great article, "Celebrity Marketing", in their February 2012 issue.

This article got me thinking. What can celebrities teach me about marketing or branding my business? Even though you may not agree with celebrity strategies, there is still an underline message that can apply to any business. These tips are great for college graduates, and for new network marketers.

1) Celebrities personally connect with their fan base. Celebrities don't only focus on the products they offer, they learn more about their fans and build relationships. Social network marketing is the MOST POWERFUL path for communicating with the masses! This path is a two-way street. Many celebrities make time to respond, and are sending their own tweets. Take this lead from the celebrities! Learn about your "fan base" problems, build a relationship, and respond to them. By responding you become a 'real' person. Through the relationship you can explain how your product or service will solve their issue.

2) Create an emotional attraction. People typically stay loyal to a brand because the brand promise meets or exceeds their expectations. They can also become emotionally connected by how it makes them feel. Harley Davidson enthusiasts are a perfect example. Their emotional touch point is the open road, personal freedom, and for some, rebellion. These enthusiasts feel so connected, many are willing to tattoo the company logo on multiple body parts.

This is way over the top for me! However, what type of emotional connection attracts your "fan base"? These emotional connectors can easily be connected with their problems. For example, a woman has a weight problem. To lose weight, she attends zumba classes. Now even after she lost her weight, she still attends zumba classes because it makes her feel; more energetic, younger, and sexier. So she started zumba to fix her problem, and then became emotionally attracted because the way it makes her feel.

3) Live & breath the brand. This means you must love your product or service. You must love it so much, that you use it. When someone is using a product regularly, it is only natural for them to tell others. You can't attract customers if they don't know about it. When owning a business, don't be shy or act like the "wallflower" at a school dance. If you want a your business to grow, then get to talking.

There are many other success strategies in the Success article. These are three that I think are very helpful to a college graduate getting involved with network marketing for the first time, or a stay at home mom trying to start a home business.

If anything, realize how important utilizing social network marketing is for your financial success!

Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success. ~ Dale Carnegie 

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Marketing Music Online for Musicians

Lady GaGa concert (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The music industry is enjoying robust ticket sales. People are willing to pay a hundred and up for a single ticket. Many say that what the industry is losing in record sales, it's making up in merchandising and concert attendance.

"It's not good, but better than a stick in the eye," said one music insider -"or at least better than yet one more illegally downloaded track." But is this current model of generating funds via monster rock tours one that the industry can truly look at as its savior? It's doubtful. One look at the acts that are bringing in the huge crowds and brisk hundred-dollar-and-over-per-seat seat ticket sales to a floundering industry, and it becomes painfully obvious that this is not a sustainable model unless the players shift dramatically and soon.

The big draws in music are not the new or breaking acts. Lady GaGa is a relatively new phenomena and player, but she is far from the norm. The big draws in the rock world have been there for decades and a new crop with the same drawing power does not seem to be in the offing. The superstars that are selling out stadiums are getting to be a bit long in the tooth. It's not Spoon that is selling out stadiums at over a hundred dollars per ticket, it's the old guard; it's Springsteen, the Stones, McCartney, Madonna and James Taylor. Ironically, U2 and the Chili Peppers are considered relative newcomers in this crop and Cold Play and Radio Head signal the new faces, although they've been around for years.

Income from live performances, sponsorships, along with revenue from publishing and online streaming is offering some counterbalance to the loss in record sales. Free music streaming services are beginning to bring in some revenue. Music is also being licensed to companies such as Nokia which bundles it into its overall price. Still, without the benefit of radio support and the star making machinery of the past, it's going to be difficult to launch this generation's Arrowsmith or Guns and Roses. The mold is broken and it's doubtful that it can be replicated, at least not until a new model is created

There will always be the Taylor Swifts, Kings of Leon and Justin Biebers who breakthrough, but more and more those type of mass market artists are going to be the exception. They will be corporately designed entities, or winners (and sometime losers) of TV talent shows. Apart from those avenues there are few ways that acts can be exposed to millions of fans.

So, what's a new band or musical artist to do? How does this new crop reach the masses? Maybe they don't. Perhaps the focus of new musicians should shift from mass to niche. At least for the present, this is not the time to shoot for the mass market.

This may no longer be a time when an A&R rep finds a band and creates a superstar, but more than ever now, bands and musicians can reach their fans and create a market on their own. The following are some marketing and business approaches to consider.

1. Create a website that reflects who you are and showcases your music
2. Start a blog about your music and your journey. Make it interactive. Let others communicate with and connect to you
3. Begin a concerted social media outreach that includes Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Digg, youTube, etc.
4. Focus on targeted local gigs and promote them
5. As you grow, focus on targeted regional touring
6. A creative PR outreach to the local, regional and national media.
7. Submit your music to be played on TV shows
8. Submit your music and your band for product and commercial tie-ins or support
9. Start a small merchandising outreach including downloads, CDs, T-shirts, and the like.

There are new creative ways for artists to grow and thrive. Think niche markets. Find an audience that understands and enjoys your music. Build a following and a tribe. You need to be creative, persistent and think like a marketing maven as well as like an artist. But with the right tools, approach and gameplan, you can succeed.


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Interactive Social Media Marketing Strategy for MLM

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Social medial marketing is has turn out to be the principal means of promoting in the preceding few years.

Media sites similar to Twitter, YouTube, MySpace and Facebook have blown in to the main-stream and developed into

the most trafficked sites in the world. Facebook drives more traffic per day then the largest search engine Google. Not anything similar to this as ever existed that is available to ordinary marketers like us to their message to the world at very little cost through merely a computer and internet access. This is the reason interactive media marketing is so eye-catching.

Nonetheless there exists a dark truth to interactive media. Certainly it costs no money to advertise on, although you sacrifice something ultimately more valuable, your time. A large amount of MLM owners do not know how to employ social media marketing strategies well and in an competent manner, if they are knowledgeable in interactive media strategies, some may realize how to utilize it in a useful manner but don't use it in an efficient manner. This is the reason social media sites have turn out to be colossal time wasters for a lot of network marketers and a stumbling block to creating their MLM success.

Now don't misinterpret, I'm not slamming social media, I for my part adore interactive marketing media. In truth it is not the interactive media that is the issue, it is how interactive media is used ineffectually by most marketers. There are oceans of network marketers advertising their business opportunity and products to an audience that really don't give a hoot opportunities. Individuals on social media don't couldn't care less about your business opportunity or how splendid you compensation plan is. Social media is about you, who you are, what value you offer, how you can stimulate greatness.

The most effective social media marketing strategy is to advertise yourself by offering value, sharing the good and bad with your followers. When you build your business around you, your name and create a following of people interactive media marketing will work. That's because social media is a technology that is entirely based on the practice of growing relationships and that the reason it's taking over the internet. Your answer to creating you MLM success story will be found in the closely controlled use of these interactive media marketing as a instrument to achieve trust and connection with your followers.

Take into account that social media and marketing is not about your MLM opportunity its about YOU! Are you a leader who can inspire greatness and mentor business partners to accomplish success, being the one who gives value is of significant importance when attempting interactive media marketing strategies.

If you really plan to grab the social media bull by the horns I advocate you go out and begin learning additional information on internet marketing. Start produce brief instructional videos, not about your company or products but about marketing, tips and tricks you acquired from marketing, personal development or about your lifestyle. Even if its something plain as being with your family on a week day while almost everybody else is at at work. Make sure to all the time have a solid call to action at the closing, that lets your audience what you would like them to do, so that you can collect your MLM success.

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Using Instagram App to Increase Engagement

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By now, you no doubt will have heard of the popular photo tool Instagram. This is an app available for smartphones that allows users to add visual effects to their pictures before sharing them through social media. Recently, Instagram has also emerged as a useful business engagement tool. It has excellent digital PR potential, so here are five ways brands can use the app to increase engagement.

Photo competitions

One great option for brands using Instagram is to hold photo competitions and encourage users to enter. The app is very easy to use and plenty of people have access to it, so there's every chance you'll get a good response - especially if there is an attractive prize on offer for the winner. This sort of competition can also lead to greater exposure, particularly if entrants share their photos on their own social media pages.

Brand marketing

Companies can also use Instagram pictures for their brand marketing. For example, as well as engaging a SEO agency to make sure a brand can be found in search engine results, a company could add extra appeal to their marketing with eye-catching Instagram pictures of products. These can be integrated into a social media strategy in order to encourage engagement.

Event promotion

Another way to encourage engagement using Instagram is to harness people power around upcoming events. By tying in with pre-defined and branded hashtags companies can invite users to upload their own photos of the event along with the relevant hashtag thereby igniting conversation amongst your target audiences.

User photos

At the start of 2012, Instagram had 15 million users. Now it has 50 million. This rapid growth, plus the fact that many people love to share photos through social media, means that you can easily find social media users who also use Instagram. Sharing cool user photos on Facebook and Twitter can be a good way for brands to engage with new people and let them know that they're appreciated. For instance, as well as running the more traditional photo competitions discussed above, you could get people to send in their favourite pictures on the understanding that you'll share the best - giving your users publicity as well as helping to promote your brand.

Behind-the-scenes info

Finally, some brands are also using Instagram to share behind-the-scenes pictures of their offices to give people more insight into what they do and help spread a more human image of their brand.

A growing number of social media agencies are using Instagram to promote their brand, and so it's definitely worth checking it out to see what the app could do for your company.

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Twitter Marketing Tips for Business Entrepreneurs

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Twitter is used far and wide to promote small and big businesses today. Although believed to be effective, it cannot serve the purpose you expect it to perform without the proper techniques. Listed below are some Twitter marketing tips which can help make your tweets more convertible to profits.

Always Lend A Helping Hand - This is the same as sharing quality content to your followers. Companies are often aggressive in posting links to webmercials which often offer products or services. If you want loyal customers coming your way, provide links to content that will address the issues that concern them at the moment. Through this, you can be assured they will be hungry for more information from you. Use the right words to make your tweets resemble your personality or the brand you are promoting.

Optimize Keyword Use - One of the Twitter marketing tips often left unnoticed is keyword placing. It is the same with the procedures with full-length content. From your keyword list, select ones which would sound perfect for your posts. Make the most out of your 140 characters. Google is now giving high regard to the content of social media accounts since more and more people are turning to them as source of information.

Build Connections - Gaining many followers is not enough. Starting with a few which you can engage in a meaningful conversation is more important. With that, you can fetch insights about your brand. Observe the concept of give and take. Take time to search for those who talk about your business. Besides thanking them, return the favor by re-tweeting their posts. Should you come across questions related to your niche, provide a ready answer.

Utilize Available Tools - Hootsuite and Summify are two of the best tools used in effective Twitter marketing strategies these days. They are both great in categorizing different tweets and trending topics. They make it easy for you to track tweets related to your niche. They can also lead you to questions which you may answer with tips that showcase the benefits of using your products or services.

Tweet About Your Blog Posts - This step is as easy as inserting the link to your new blog post in your tweet. Do this in a regular basis and you will be surprised to see a generous amount of traffic flowing to your blog or website. If you are looking for a reliable lead generation program through social media, this is one procedure which you must not miss.

Sync Your Twitter Account With Your Facebook And LinkedIn Accounts - This will make your tweets more relevant to your business. As you share content simultaneously across networks, you are able to save time and effort. More so, you will get easy updates with the Twitter activities and posts of your clients.

These are just a few of the Twitter marketing tips which you can take advantage of for successful advertising. As advancements continue to rise, a few more procedures may be added to this list.

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Using Instagram to Market Your Business

NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 09: In this photo illustration, the photo-sharing app Instagram fan page is seen on the Facebook website on the Apple Safari web browser on April 9, 2012 in New York City. Facebook Inc. is acquiring photo-sharing app Instagram for approx. $1 billion. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)

Photo sharing has been given a major social upgrade thanks to introduction of Instagram. The Instagram platform has become hugely popular with more than 80 million users, who enjoy altering their photos with special effects and cool filters before sharing them with friends and followers.

Businesses can start using this new type social media as a way to market their company and build up a following. People love strong visual images, so posting pictures of products and even employees will make them feel closer to you. This type of marketing is what helps forge brand loyalty.

So how can your business use Instagram for marketing? Here are some examples:

Geotagging

In Instagram's latest update, users now have the option to tag a specific location with their images, which are saved to a personal photo map. These can be shared with your followers.

This is great if you have a physical location or even if you travel around the city, state or country. If you have booths at local craft fairs or other vendor events, then you can snap a photo and tag your location to let your followers know where you can be found.

Inside Look

The whole idea behind social media is sharing. Your fans and followers are giving you a chance to reach them on a more personal level so make sure you are giving them the same. Take pictures of the staff in the office. Snap shots of upcoming products to give them a sneak peak. If you're on the road, take some pictures along the way. Give followers a real sense of how things are behind the scenes to help them feel like a part of the brand.

Use Hashtags

If you use Twitter, you know how effective hashtags can be at sharing. You can use the same on your Instagram photos. Use hash tags that relate to your business or industry to make it easy for people to find you. For instance, if you make jewelry, you can use hashtags like #rings, #customjewlery, or #necklaces. Look up popular hashtags that are being used by similar brands and add them to your images.

Encourage User Images

People who are already using your products should be encouraged to snap a photo of themselves using it and tag it with one of your hash tags. This will show people how to use your products and show how many people are happy with your company.

Hold Contests

People love a chance to win prizes and using Instagram to hold a photo contest is an exciting way to give them what they want. You can ask fans to send in a picture of them using your product and then choose a winner from among them. You could also go a different route by asking them to send in a picture that demonstrates something more abstract, like what represents summer to them.

There are any number of ways to get creative and get more followers by holding a contest using Instagram. Your followers will share with their friends who will also want to join in the fun.

Market Your Events

If you are going to be at a trade show or convention, take pictures and tag your location to let your followers know what is going on for your business. If you are holding a big sale, snap a shot of your sales flyer for your followers to see. This is also a good way to make your followers feel more special because you can offer them a VIP discount that only Instagram users can get. Get creative with them!

Instagram was acquired by Facebook for about $1 billion. That is a sure sign that this is an important part of social media. When you implement it in your marketing strategy, it is one more important tool to have.

People love getting involved and sharing with the businesses they love. Take part in this era of sharing and you can broaden your reach and strengthen your branding with a few snaps of the camera.

Are you signed up with Instagram yet? What are you doing to market your business with the latest social app?

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Social Networking Tips for Businesses

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Social networking is gradually evolving, facilitated by the technological developments. This is clearly understood when we visit the websites of companies that have all facilities in place, right from the product knowledge to the promotions, from providing knowledge to collecting responses and suggestions. Besides the major activities like advertising and promotions, companies nowadays indulge in activities like sales promotion incentives on the internet; these companies offer coupons, contest and sweepstakes to spread their social networks.

Social networking allows interaction with professional in an informal way. It's the easiest way to reach hundreds at a time without any expenditure. The power of social networking cannot be underestimated. The best social networking tips for businesses are as follows:

1. Quitting traditional networking mode - The first of social networking tips for businesses is to quit traditional networking mode and use the latest technology. You can set up a blog in your company name and get the feedback of the customers. It helps the company to have access to the global marketplace and identify the target audience with minimal effort. It provides wider reach with personalized messages and two way interactions.

2. Using facebook for business - The second of social networking tips for businesses is to use facebook. Facebook is the recent growing social networking medium. It is being accessed by thousands of people for business networking. You can create a company page and keep on updating it. Make it a page where your fan would go and checkout the page. When it comes to business, face book has always been the first choice of any businessman.

3. Using twitter - The third of social networking tips for businesses is to use twitter. Twitter is a fast growing and powerful tool used for business. It helps to create direct contact with the potential customers and provides them with the quick updates. It acts as an advertising channel and is quite safe and handy.

4. Highlight your expertise on forum - The fourth social networking tips for businesses is to use forums. forums are best networks to advertise your USP. It should be interesting and voice something to create your credibility. Reasonable comments received in it are highly acknowledged and recommended as an expert's advice.

5. Privacy online - The fifth social networking tips for businesses is to use Privacy Online. The top professional sites helps you to provide and offer high privacy setting. Every detail is personalized and is safe here. However the information should be filtered carefully.

6. What is necessary to post and what is not - The last social networking tips for businesses is to understand that there should not be any personal comments about the product. Through the response you receive, it is essential to target the audience of personal interest.

Social networking is used as a weapon, and it creates such a powerful wave of positive feelings that even strongest competitors cannot stop customers from buying their products. It creates a corporate identity in the minds of the people about the product. There are many social networking tools like face book, twitter, privacy online etc which can be used. All these networking tools can help you to build a strong relationship between the customers and the intermediaries. It creates a corporate identity of a person and helps him to face the competitive advantage. Another factor that helps is sponsorship. It is a sort of agreement in which the sponsor facilitates the activity of the person or the team or the organization sponsored. Sponsorships are valued because they contribute towards public awareness and create goodwill by promoting positive messages for the company and its product.

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