Archive for January, 2010

Restaurant Owners, What’s on Your Social Media Menu?

Tuesday, January 5th, 2010

A few weeks back I was having dinner at one of my favorite local restaurants, Spatola’s Pizza in Lansdale, PA. It’s really a hidden gem as Spatola’s has great food for unbelievable prices. Being that it’s right around the corner from my place, I’m there quite a bit. For some reason, during this trip I noticed their specials menu that sits on every table. Check out the image below (taken with my iPhone – the quality isn’t the greatest).

Sitting there reading the daily specials made something click in my mind. Why don’t restaurants offer a Social Media Menu? Each table can have a similar menu setup, but instead of sharing the daily specials, or in addition to sharing those specials, also use the opportunity to let your customers know what social networks you frequent. People always ask how they can get more traffic to their social media sites, well ideas like this are how you do it.

If you’re on YouTube and Ning, then let your customers know that. Provide your URLs on your social media menu. Then offer a few promotions to entice your customers to sign up for your social sites. These days the majority of your customers are going to have smart phones, which means they can access the Internet right from the table. A few examples could be:

  • Use the video recorder on your phone to shoot a quick video of you in our restaurant – post it to our Ning for a free appetizer
  • Sign onto YouTube and add us as your friend to receive 10% off your bill tonight
  • Promote our Ning network on your Twitter or Facebook page to receive a free dessert

Check out the example Social Media Menu below. How long do you think it would take you to create this, print out a few copies, and place one on every table in your restaurant? Probably an hour, if not less. Costs? Close to zero.

So, all of you restaurant owners out there I ask you this, what’s on your Social Media Menu?

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Posted in Small Business | 8 Comments »

Add the ReTweet button to Your Small Business Blog

Monday, January 4th, 2010

Do you have a blog for your small business? I hope the answer is “yes”. Blogging is a great way to spread your ideas, get the word out about your business and your business philosophy, as well as, position you as a thought-leader in your industry. Blogging definitely takes time, but the results can be very effective for growing your small business. A question that I get a lot about blogging is, “once I create a new blog post, how do I get people to read it?”

A great way to promote your blog is through Twitter. Twitter is an unbelievable information sharing tool. If you’re not on Twitter, you need to be, but that’s a blog post for a different day. If you have a blog, then you should have a ReTweet button on each blog post you produce because chances are, many of your readers are already on Twitter. There are two great pieces of software out there that you can utilize: TweetMeme and ReTweet.

Here at Catalyst Marketers, we use ReTweet, but it’s really just a personal preference. The button allows readers, who have Twitter accounts, to share your article on their Twitter profile. A few reasons to add a ReTweet button to each of your blog posts are:

  • Allows your readers to promote your posts for you
  • Your post gets in front of more new readers
  • The post gains credibility in the minds of new potential readers because someone they follow on Twitter, so someone they trust or share similar interests with, has taken the time to ReTweet your article
  • There’s a counter on the button, so each time the post gets ReTweeted, the counter increases, which shows new readers that many people have found this post informative

Embed the ReTweet Button in Your Blog

  1. Go to ReTweet.com
  2. Copy the appropriate javascript code
  3. Go to your blog’s source files and select the Single.php file
  4. Paste the javascript code into the appropriate area of the Single.php source file – A good place to put the code is in the top left side of the post (see this post for an example)
  5. That’s it, you’re all set

Check out the image below to see where our javascript code appears in our Single.php source file. Feel free to use the Comments Section of this blog to ask any questions that you have OR go to the Catalyst Marketers Facebook fan page and post your questions to our wall. Definitely don’t let the coding scare you off. Adding the ReTweet button to your blog is an absolute must if you want to drive more traffic.

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Posted in Online Marketing | 2 Comments »

Catalyst Marketers is on Facebook. Are You?

Friday, January 1st, 2010

In 2001 Facebook started as a tool soley for college students. At that time I just happened to be a freshman at Bentley College in Waltham, MA. Everyone was on Facebook. We used it as a way to connect with other students. Now, almost a decade later, Facebook is open to everyone, including business owners.

Facebook fan pages are a great way to connect with customers and have a meaningful dialogue them. Facebook fan pages allow businesses to show their true brand identity, while learning about their customers interests, needs, and wants. Facebook fan pages also allow customers to obtain relevant information from their favorite businesses. Fan pages give customers a way to communicate directly to business owners and employees. Catalyst Marketers is on Facebook. Are you?

We use the Catalyst Marketers Fan page as a place where business owners and social media experts can converge to exchange ideas around using social tools to grow their business. At the time of this post, we have 34 fans and counting. We have 48 favorite pages that we frequent. Many of our fans are small business owners and social media/e-marketing experts. Together we discuss all things business, with a focus on using social tools to reach more customers, build relationships with those folks, and ultimately drive sales.

There are a number of great resources on our Facebook wall, which is always evolving – from awesome blog posts to instructional videos. Our fans join in the conversation regularly, which makes for a very social conversation. It’s not just a one-way street where Catalyst Marketers promotes their services every 15 minutes. We do share our blog articles and even talk about our services when they are relevant, but we also share countless articles and videos from many people, even some that could be considered competitors. We simply want our fans to have access to the best possible information, even if that information doesn’t come from us.

Find Catalyst Marketers on Facebook and become a fan to join in the social media conversation. You can also click the “Become a fan” button on the Facebook widget on the right sidebar of this blog. We look forward to exchanging ideas with you.

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Posted in Catalyst Marketers | No Comments »