Saturday, November 21, 2009

Social Media VS Web Sites 101 and a half


An interior decorating boutique approached me in October about helping them with their web presence. With the economy still face down they felt that having a web site would help them bring in more customers for the Holiday season. They also wanted my advice on a Facebook Fan page. The gallery has no web presence at all – no website – no Facebook page – nada – zilch – goose egg!  If you Google them, the only thing that comes up is their Yahoo Yellow pages entry.


I had them fill out one of my Website Building Helpers and then had an honest sit down with them. Here was the gist:

1) NPR reported in November that according to projections retail sales in stores would be down 1% and retail sales on-line would be up 6%. Does a web presence affect sales? No doubt. Yes!

2) A web presence is more than a website or a Facebook page. A web presence includes everything that comes up when you Google your name. This includes: Your website, blog, articles that have appeared in print, on the radio or on TV, social media profiles on Twitter, Facebook, My Space, Linkedin, etc.

3) A website takes up to 6 months to start establish. A Facebook presence takes up to 3 months to establish before a “Call to Action,” is effective.

4) The boutique wanted to pay someone to create a website. I recommended against the website and instead told them to take the money and hire a teenager to maintain a blog and a strong presence on Facebook and Twitter presence.

Have things changed for you in terms of how you use your own website? If so, I’d love to hear from you.
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Posted by Slash Coleman at 8:00 AM
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3 comments:

  1. Connecting StoriesNovember 21, 2009 at 12:03 PM

    Changed? why, emphatic, Yes! I work on my blog, LinkedIn profile, fb, and twitter daily/weekly. Sadly, I have forgotten how to update my website with its cumbersome ftp/Dreamweaver/gagillion passwords blah blah blah. Not saying this is good. ALL -website, blog, articles that have appeared in print, on the radio or on TV, social media profiles on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, of these are necessary for web presence to be effective.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Tiffany Glass FerreiraNovember 21, 2009 at 12:44 PM

    I think it's important to have a connection to the people you "friend, fan or follow". If someone else manages your online presence, they need to keep you in the loop and tutor you along the way.

    Building online and offline connections with people takes personal attention beyond amassing a following. Slash ~ this is something you do so well, and continue to inspire in others. Thanks for your post!

    ReplyDelete
  3. TimNovember 24, 2009 at 1:32 AM

    Seriously? As a customer, I would definitely think twice about a vendor that didn't have its own website, but only relied on internet buzz and a facebook page.

    ReplyDelete

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