Facebook for Business launches

Facebook has launched a new site offering online marketing advice for small businesses.

Facebook for Business offers a series of tips and advice for small firms that want to make the most of the social network.

It provides help with the basics like setting up a page, as well as longer-term tasks like building a community.

Advice is also available on Facebook’s new location-based services, including tips for businesses that want to allow customers to ‘check in’.

Small firms can also use the Facebook Platform to build apps, and further integrate Facebook’s tools with their existing website.

A Facebook spokesperson said: “Facebook allows small businesses to create rich social experiences, build lasting relationships and amplify the most powerful type of marketing – word of mouth.”

Facebook for Business is widely seen as part of the social networking giant’s response to the newly launched Google+.

Read more about Google+ for business.

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Five Ways To Boost Your Online Sales

 

Written by Tomer Garzberg

So you’ve set up a store on your website, but sales aren’t what you expected. The web contains billions of shopfronts, so instead of waiting for customers to come to you, why don’t you get innovative and try new ways to lure customers to your store?

Of course, there are heaps of things you can do, both online and offline, to get your message across. However, the five items mentioned in this article are not only cost-effective, but can bring you a Return On Investment that will satisfy and justify you being online in the first place. We’re moving towards a website-less web, so this trending pattern should be a focus if you plan to stay in the online shopping business into the future.

Read on to learn about five ways to bring your shop to the masses.

Group Buying

This business model offers products and services at significantly reduced prices on the condition that a minimum number of buyers would make the purchase. While it might seem like a fad, this phenomenon is only getting started. With the right product, copy and platform, it’s not uncommon for literally thousands of people to snap up your deal. The reason it works is because of a large discount for perceived value, a time limitation, and social sharing. Pick your Group Buying outlet carefully, as some of them take half your profit. Can the right group buying site generate fast interest, spontaneous sales and an explosion of visitors? Yes, it most definitely can. Some of the biggest Group Buying outlets in Australia are Scoopon and Spreets.

eBay

It’s a little bit like the grandfather of online sales, but eBay still works extremely well and brings in the dollars. Although many of your competitors are already on there, try and compete on something else other than price. Bonuses, incentives and quality are always the key with selling within a saturated market. Regardless, you’re bound to make many more sales on eBay rather than your website’s store just based on the sheer number of eBay’s visitors alone.

 

Facebook

700 million users can’t be wrong. Chances are, they also all have wallets and enjoy shopping. Facebook is undoubtedly the place to be right now. There are a few things you can do to not only get interest on Facebook, but also to initiate sales. The very first step is to create a Facebook Page chockfull of content. Then get a Facebook App developed so that Facebook users can buy directly from within the site. In fact, most Facebook users would rather spend their time inside Facebook. Supplement it with some Facebook Ads and some cross-page marketing and you’ll be set.

Device Applications

As much fun as they are, device apps are serious business. The Internet is being consumed more on mobile devices these days than on ‘traditional’ laptops and PCs, and more people are spending more time using Apps than anything else. That only means two things for you: get an iPhone app, and then get an Android app. These two operating systems command over 80 per cent of the mobile device market in Australia. A couple of thousand free downloads for your App could almost guarantee some consumer usage.

Google

If you’re still in the business of dragging more people to your online store, then you need to market your business to the masses. Get some serious Search Engine Optimisation in place to start getting your site ranked naturally on Google, and supplement that with some Google Adwords for some fast and powerful results. Establishing a blog on your site also means you’ll have more content to push through to Google, meaning more visitors. Ultimately, your sales become a numbers game.

 

Stats:

• More than 75% of Australian purchases made online are bought from overseas
• 6.7 million Australians have purchased a product online in the last 12 months
• Online Retail Spend in Australia by 2012: $33.8 billion
• In early 2011 about 25% of mobile users are shopping online with their mobile, with eBay reporting that an item is bought from a mobile every 15 seconds.
• The online economy is booming for some online markets with revenues increasing by up to 40% during 2010

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