graphic credited to www.sciencebuddies.org

Here is a reminder of the scientific method with the spin for a social marketing strategy:

Steps of the scientific method:

1.    Ask a Question -what goals are you trying to achieve with your on-line marketing efforts? On-line branding, customer service, online PR, increase traffic, increased visibility, increase website ranking, better conversion, marketing a new product or service….

2.    Do Background Research -we research your competition, identify what keywords are best to use, and formulate an online marketing strategy/ plan tailored around your particular business model (this can NOT be a one size fits all approach to on line marketing!)

3.    Construct a Hypothesis -based on our research/ assessment- we hope to achieve these types of results with this on-line marketing campaign…

4.    Test Your Hypothesis by Doing an Experiment -we will assign the right team, implement the strategy, and market test and confirm our on-line marketing campaign (either 100% outsourced or a joint effort (best results are achieved with a joint effort- we do training, coaching, and educational instruction on who does what in the on-line marketing strategy)

5.    Analyze Your Data and Draw a Conclusion -quarterly reports using analytics, benchmarks, deliverables, goals met, and other ROI measurements compared to alternative marketing efforts

6.    Communicate Your Results -we will report to the executive team what results were achieved, areas we suggest for improvement, and best approaches moving forward.

We work in these 4 capacities:
Hourly Consulting
Monthly Retainer
Per Project Basis
Monthly Subscription

See if your corporation qualifies for starting a social marketing campaign by clicking here: http://www.socialnetworkingsandiego.com/free-website-evaluation/

Want to see some actual Case Studies for existing clients?  Click Here for Case Studies

CEO JustinRFrench

P.S. Here are 4 tips on how to choose the right social media marketing consultant

What type of results are you producing for your clients in social media marketing, social networking, and on-line marketing campaigns?

I am constantly asked- “so what are the numbers companies can expect with on-line marketing campaigns? Is it worth it? What will be my ROI?”

Well, first off, every industry is different. Think of your on-line marketing system like a gas pedal- the harder you press on the marketing machine (the more $ you spend the harder we step on the pedal) the greater your reach, exposure, and potential for more business.

I just refer them to our current case studies (see below) and a blog post i did here http://www.socialnetworkingsandiego.com/blog/
which states WHY companies need to formulate some type of on-line marketing strategy revolving around social networking and social media. Otherwise they will keep trying off-line approaches like direct mail, telemarketing, and radio and TV that are producing diminishing returns.

So i ask my audience- what are some of the returns you are producing for your customers? would you mind sharing below some of the challenges your facing in providing various consulting services to your customers? This way i can formulate more case studies for the industry. Your feedback is greatly appreciated

JustinRFrench CEO
Social Networking San Diego
http://www.twitter.com/justinrfrench

Social Networking San Diego:
Actual Existing Client Case Studies
Company names kept confidential due to confidentiality agreements

Company A
Start Date: 2/01/09
Website Grade prior to campaign: 43/100
Traffic Rank (Alexa) Top 16.91% (or 5,195,184)
Inbound Links 0
Blog (None)

Current Date: 3/31/09
Website Grade: 65/100
Traffic Rank (Alexa) Top 16.24% (or 4,547,459)
Inbound Links 151
Blog (off-site)

26% increase in traffic in 2 months!

Company B
Start Date: 1/28/09
Website Grade prior to campaign: 62/100
Traffic Rank (Alexa) Top) 4.81% (or 1,475,807)
Inbound Links 0
Blog (None)

Current Date: 3/31/09
Website Grade: 71/100
Traffic Rank (Alexa) Top 4.29% (or 1,316,909)
Inbound Links 53
Blog (off-site)

27% increase in traffic in 2 months!

Company C
Start Date: 2/01/09
Website Grade prior to campaign: 53/100
Traffic Rank (Alexa) Top 5.72% (or 2,857,215)
Inbound Links 0
Blog (None)

Current Date: 3/31/09
Website Grade: 91/100
Traffic Rank (Alexa) Top 1.33% (or 373,541)
Inbound Links 466
Blog (on-site)
75% increase in traffic in 2 months!

Contact me here http://www.socialnetworkingsandiego.com/free-webinar/
for a FREE Webinar and start forming your strategy Today-
and see if your firm is ready to discuss some of your on-line marketing challenges and what we can do to address these like we have been for MANY of our clients.

Hmm… Do you every wonder why there are so many articles on the internet about internet marketing? Is it any different than ordinary marketing and why? I mean, if you are planning to sell your products on line then a little marketing becomes essential to ensure that people buy your product. But other than setting up a website what else can you do?

It’s not that simple! Large companies have now learned that no matter how good your product, you have to be connected with the latest information and any other events that are happening within your industry circle. You also need to ensure that your product and your website is promoted on different blogs, and even free video sites like Youtube to get regular traffic or customers. And you don’t want just any customers; you want customers who want to buy and are serious about sales! And that’s what an outsourced marketing campaign can do for your website. It can get you “friend” connections with people of the same industry, high level relevant traffic of customers from the same industry and even contacts with a buyer or wholesaler from a completely different country. Outsourced marketing campaigns if done by a professional company like can Social Networking San Diego boost your business trends and make you many more useful connections in the industry over night.

Social Networking San Diego is a professional company that will help you implement the perfect marketing strategy based on the company’s specific needs, costs and budgets, marketing and sales department structure and various other requirements. They will also help you in social networking as they have a special internet marketing department staffed with professionals just for that purpose.

It does not matter if you are a small or big business; setting up an internet marketing campaign can be cumbersome due to the complexity of the World Wide Web. Blog marketing is a intricate balance between outright selling and plain content. And readers have come to expect valuable and reliable content from blogs. Direct selling by large companies through vigorous blog promotions can confuse readers and sometimes even put them off completely. Why waste so much time when you already have a niche internet marketing professional ready to help you out in an instant? It may cost you a small amount but its well worth it in the long run! Social Networking San Diego already has the network, the professionals and the expertise to do your work for you at a minimal cost!

this is a social media road map i found

I keep getting asked by fellow business professionals on linked-in discussions the following questions regarding social media and social networking for business.

1. How are you successfully using Twitter, microblogs, blogging, etc. in your corporate environment?

Justin’s Answer- personal branding, product/ service branding, customer service, industry news, trends, event promotion, competitor analysis, building BUSINESS relationships, etc.

2. How do you convince those that don’t “get it”?

Justin’s Answer- I tell them go get educated and come back to me in a year when your ready to build an on-line marketing strategy around your products or services and have it done right. Once companies wake up and start realizing 1-2% returns on direct mail and telemarketing is NOT working. Why do you keep doing things that don’t work? Stop throwing good money after bad ideas and work with an innovative marketing company. Maybe they should get educated on one of our many webinars about social networking, twitter training, or linked-in training for business. I don’t have the time or patience sometimes to deal with business people that “don’t get it”. Time is money!

3. How do you measure successful ROI?
We measure ROI for our customers with our own proprietary methods and software systems we have developed and it works great! We have paying customers, they see results, and we show them monthly reports. We have to measure the success of our clients online campaigns and report to them monthly or they wouldn’t be spending thousands of dollars per month with us!

4. I’m interested in hearing successes, failures, and strategies.

We have MANY success stores (see my blog http://www.socialnetworkingsandiego.com/blog/ or customer testimonial videos.

Failures; just know you will make some mistakes, get over it- just jump it try it, learn, and learn from your mistakes most importantly of course. You will learn, test, and refine the strategy. Try to have a plan at least. The alternative is to do nothing and fail. Need Strategies- see my blog or book some one on one consulting time with me and lets formulate an online marketing strategy together.

We even have an internet consulting team I can dedicate to your next on-line marketing campaign. Don’t have time to do all this social networking stuff yourself? No problem- we’ll do it for you. Give us a shot and we GUARANTEE we can increase traffic to your website IF you partner with us, sign up, and take our recommendations. It’s worked for these clients (see videos to the right) so maybe your business is ready to jump on board.

Is your business ready? What is your understanding of social media and social networking for business? Take the social networking IQ test here: business evaluation

Cheers
JustinRFrench twitterholic
Tweets by JustinRFrench

Executives Must READ-

Research, Education, Attitude, and Drive

These are the only ways to survive in today’s market place.

The Internet is NOT going away so get educated! Education is the #1 failure of internet marketing strategies so don’t let your corporation fall short. Take a competitive edge and gain first mover advantage. There are some very knowledgeable internet consultants out here in San Diego so grab a hold of one of us and start formulating a plan. Remember, business professionals don’t plan to fail, they fail to plan!

I assure you, there is no easy answer and no get rich quick scheme to internet marketing for business purposes. Myspace and Facebook are not just for personal use anymore! There is a BUSINESS use and us on Linked-In are well ahead of the curve. It just takes the right strategy and approach, and then my favorite- execution.

Its not if but when. Its not why but how. Its hard work believe me, and developing relationships just like in the off-line approach is where we as marketing professionals need to help educate the local business community.

But the firms must but be willing to “invest” in their online marketing strategy. its not an expense. I look forward to assisting you any way i can-

I would appreciate any executives or professionals you may know who are ready to turn their company around with a proven internet marketing strategy. We work strictly through close referral (off line and online of course)

Cheers,

Justin

“We consult and educate our executive level clients how to form a strategy on using social media and social networking sites like twitter and linked in to build business relationships and brand awareness in the digital online market place, which in turn increases traffic to company websites and increases sales.”

Please help me spread my message! I do Webinars, Internet Consulting for Business, Twitter training, Linked-In training, Social Networking Packages for businesses, and also Speaking engagements in educational facilities and corporations on this growing trend.

Justin French President
Social Networking San Diego
“We use social networking to grow your business”

All of the followers of Social Networking San Diego know we support the awareness, education and assistance to the business community on the power of social networking for business purposed by building your product or personal brand on-line. Successful hip hop icon P-Diddy (Sean Combs) who is a VERY SUCCESSFUL business person I have admired for quite some time on his accomplishments explains it best for those non-savvy and non-teccy business people.

Check out the video of P-Diddy on the Ellen Show here:

If your business is ready to jump on board and formulate an internet marketing strategy around your business model- then click above on the FREE website evaluation so we can see where you at in the whole “internet” puzzle. I look forward to hearing from other business professionals, entrepreneurs, and small business owners! Basically put- Social Networking San Diego functions as your virtual marketing department

twitterholic justinrfrench (follow me)

Need more help? Contact me on linked in-

By now, if you are a business professional, have a linked-in account, and know what “twitter” is, then I applaud you. I would even be willing to give you a gold star for excellence if you have an actual internet marketing “plan” of some sort. Or maybe you’re marketing budget (though limited right now, just like trying to get a small business loan) which may or may not include some internet or social media sites, you are still ahead of the majority of your competitors.

Most small to mid-sized businesses (even some fortune 500’s) actually don’t even know what “social networking” means let alone have some type of on-line marketing budget. Those baby-boomers however are just starting to see an actual business value in conducting business on the internet, or at least they see how popular social networking sites like myspace, facebook, or twitter have become part of the local evening news topics. You may want to even scroll down and read some of my previous posts on the importance of why your business should start doing some form of internet marketing. Some companies try to provide ad words or you tube videos, but have they proposed an over-all strategy that over-time becomes an “organic viral marketing campaign?” (Don’t know what that means- Google it)

Let me talk directly (no B.S.) to those firms who are still baffled with this new on-line business phenomenon- “strap on your seat belts because if you thought forming an OFF-line marketing strategy was tough, then you aint seen nothin yet!” Wait till you find out what REALLY goes on behind the scenes. And if you think for a SECOND there is an easy way or get rich quick scheme out there to marketing your business online that will work for $199, then just give ME the $199 and I’ll at least draw up a plan for you to execute and I’ll even email it to you!”

Allow me to give you 1 simple tip to add to your internet marketing strategy, or at least pointers on getting started because you will quickly learn just how overwhelming, tedious, complex, and time consuming this whole internet marketing thing really is. And the local “teen” might not be the right person fit to build your on-line brand. I have spent 8 years of training, business schooling, Microsoft & Cisco certifications, countless nights of research, and testing software to form this proven proprietary system. (those close to me can attest for those long nights of me researching) But time is money and If you think I am just going to give you a magic wand to wave over your business that will make your website appear #1 on Google the next day then we may not be a good fit in doing business together.

I would at LEAST suggest you sign up for a $99 1 hr. internet consulting strategy session with me to identify some foundations to get you going at the least. This might well be the BEST under $100 business and internet marketing consulting session you spend all year. But if you really appreciate value & TRUST in someone’s expertise, understand your business is lost and needs help, has a marketing budget, then I suggest we speak.

Business Owners- Remember, “He/ She who fails to plan, plans to fail.
If you don’t have an on-line marketing plan yet, then you are failing.”

Twitterholic- justinrfrench

First – A BIG thank you to those leaving comments on my blog.  Some of the comments are very moving and I appreciate you taking the time out of your busy day to leave your insightful opinions. Sometimes you all just make me want to climb on top of a mountain for a fresh breadth of clean mountain air and enjoy a beautiful sky view as blue as the ocean and say thank you twitter followers! 🙂

Tonight’s post will be short and sweet- but as usual, motivating and educational on the importance of understanding how small businesses NEED desperately to form some type of internet marketing strategy to stay in business. But first and foremost, they MUST understand- what rewards will come if they put in the time to get educated on this growing trend in online marketing or inbound marketing. This is still such a new shift for business professionals to comprehend, but is slowly starting to catch on and gain the public’s’ attention.

Social Networking San Diego is a some-what of a pioneer or first-mover for training businesses how to use social networking to generate NEW business and handling this out-sourced service for them.

1. Global Reach- Twitter has allowed Social Networking San Diego to form alliances in countries such as Canada, Spain, UK, India, etc. All from Twitter. If you need clarification on how to use twitter for business purposes contact us for a complimentary 20 minute training session from me- twitterholic justinrfrench.
2. Put in the Time- I have heard some business people tell me “I don’t have time to network or “tweet.” Well this is why your business is not bringing in any new business because networking and building relationships is required all the time especially during these tough times. Only the strong will survive, and maybe you can identify other professionals struggling with similar issues in their businesses and possibly brainstorm on solutions together.
3. Actual Results- our clients that signed up on packages with us last month are signing up again (video testimonials will be out soon I promise) because they recognize the VALUE, have been educated on what an OVER-ALL internet marketing strategy looks like, how complicated it is, and they have gotten a peek behind the scenes from our consultants.
4. Staying the course- We let the clients know that this is an 8-12 month commitment we make to them, but once those months have been reached, they will be able to see sustained results much better than they used to see with direct mail (remember you must be in front of someone 7 or 8 times to finally get their attention.)
5. Education- Constantly be reading, researching, and refining your message you want to portray about your company brand or personal brand. Sometimes this can be difficult for companies on-line, so maybe having a Chief Internet Marketing Strategist like justinrfrench come into your firm may be just what the doctor ordered. This is very important to stay in front of people, but make sure your message is clear on how you or your product or service will help solve that clients problem/ or pain.

i look forward to your comments on this posting, and would hope you could spend just 30 more seconds on sharing this to your DIGG account or Re-tweet.  All The Best- justinrfrench

This past month has been one of the busiest months I’ve experienced in years.  A little overwhelming and draining but in a good way. It all started from me paying it forward on twitter or (sharing my knowledge and expertise about business, technology, entrepreneurship, etc. with the fellow twitter professional community.)  It was as if twitter had finally enabled me to get my voice/ message heard around the country (even the world) that I had been preaching for the last seven years- “to help small businesses bridge the gap between business and technology.”

This online twitter community is as passionate about business as I am which makes me feel right at home in a virtual networking environment.   Instead of going to the local chamber, twitter is on demand and real-time.  I would suggest we still need both in today’s society.

It seems as if all my ten years of business experience and technical skills have been developed to test me for this moment.  Those close to me say I’m relentless which may be so, but I couldn’t be more passionate about helping businesses make sense of the power of the internet, technology, and how to properly apply these tools for best business practices.  Also who could forget the help of the Social Networking San Diego team and my close twitter followers.

By sharing my knowledge and expertise with the small business community locally in Southern California and globally on Linked-In and Twitter, things seemed to have come back to me ten fold; even to the point where I have had over 400 emails to catch up on, 50 linked-In invitations, and hundreds of twitter messages!  We have even managed to gain the eye of some larger corporations which excites me even more because they need help too just as small businesses.

Businesses large and small struggle to develop a proper internet marketing strategy because of the many puzzle pieces and complexities that exist with the world wide web.  That is where our team of professional internet consultants assist with a so-called
“corporate restructuring”  to help implement the proper solution  based on specific needs, industry, budgets, and department structure.

My question for my audience this evening is when you fall behind (in a good way) does your brain feel cluttered and if so could you offer some advice on how you re-focus and catch up? That’s how I have felt after this last month and now I’m trying to get back on track.  As professionals, we must sometimes fall behind and no matter how much project management, time management experience, or standard operating procedures we have in place, those feelings of being overwhelmed always come up.  It has been for good reason though because we were able to accomplish a lot though TEAM (together everyone achieves more) work and long hours at Social Networking San Diego.

Please give your thoughts/ advice it would be much appreciated.  Also, the next posting will be on the “Top 5 accomplishments businesses can achieve through twitter, social networking, and internet marketing”

– justinrfrench  Chief Internet Marketing Strategist of Social Networking San Diego

Does your business need help in forming an internet marketing strategy?  Here are some packages to look over

p.s. would you mind sharing this post? (see below) thanks

Okay, I’ll admit it. I’m a strategist. I like to think about things, come up with a plan, work within my clients’ budgets and create marketing strategies that not only make sense, but which will … um, well … actually work for them. Go figure. Ready, aim, fire. Don’t spend money, time, effort or energy until it makes sense as part of an integrated marketing plan. Totally makes sense, doesn’t it? You’d be amazed at how many people forge ahead without a plan, looking for the least expensive “solution,” without any first-hand knowledge about what they’re attempting to undertake and without any understanding at how much potential damage they could do to their brand and brand image as a result of poor execution.

Well, after sitting in one too many meetings, listening to small business owners talk about social media – trying to get their heads around email marketing, mobile marketing and, heaven forbid, something like Facebook or Twitter, it’s my head that’s beginning to spin. And these same business owners just don’t seem to get it. Their eyes glaze over and they shake their heads and say “I know I need to do an e-newsletter, or write a blog, or investigate Facebook, but I just don’t have time. But I have a website!” Well I say “Woo Hoo for you!” Having a website does not mean that you’re on top of your game when it comes to promoting your business. In fact, having a website without doing anything to advertise, promote or draw traffic to it is about as useless as having a billboard in the middle of a corn field. Social media, email marketing, mobile marketing …. all of those things are tools that marketers use to promote brands, products and actually drive sales. Imagine that – doing something that would actually sell your product.

Well, in tough economic times, the gloves come off and it’s time to talk tough love. Don’t cry hard times because your sales are down. Of course they’re down. And the time to do something about it, to allocate some marketing dollars and some savvy tactics and stop the bleeding is now.

Social marketing is and should be a part of any serious business’s marketing and communications plan – especially today. But, the interesting thing is, that so often people (read that “business owners”) think that it’s just the perfect project to sink little Jenni on – you know, the one who just graduated from Community College last year and who just loooooves surfing the ‘net. Or, maybe Johnnie, who’s in college and has a Facebook page – that’d be something he could do for us and we could pay him $200 and save a bunch of money.

People – you don’t get it!

Social marketing is serious stuff and is well on it’s way to replacing the traditional kinds of media that we’ve known and loved. Display ads are going the way of the dinosaur. Who reads magazines and newspapers when you can get instant news and any kind of content you would ever want online – through more sources than I can possibly articulate.

Traditional media, while still an important part of brand management and strategy, is no longer the only game in town.

People are online. They are talking, sharing, opining, recommending, blasting, learning, blogging, ReTweeting and moving at the speed of sound.

The question isn’t “should I embrace this social media stuff and use it as part of my marketing strategy” … the question should be “how quickly can I find the right people to help me integrate this so that I can start taking advantage of the brand awareness – (and sales) that I can generate as a result.”

And the answer is that they are out there. People like my friends, Justin French at Social Networking San Diego (all things social media) www.socialnetworkingsandiego.com and Jason Werner at Opus Media (all things email marketing) www.opusbywire.com are knee deep in what’s going in their respective worlds. And there are a myriad of others – those guys just happen to be great friends of mine, and people that I would trust with my own brand.

Bottom line – DO get involved in social media. DON’T try to do it yourself (especially if you don’t know what you’re doing – and most people don’t). DO hire someone to help you not only do it correctly so that it produces real results, but make sure that it’s integrated with and compliments the other elements of your marketing efforts. And, most importantly, DO it now! And, if you don’t have the resources or know where to look ask me – I’ll be glad to help and/or refer you.

Shelly DeMotte Kramer is a marketing strategist specializing in planning, branding, product launches, creating buzz and awareness through non-traditional methods and is, clearly, a social media enthusiast. shelly@kramerandcompany.com

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