Pondering Some More About Online Advertisement

We've gone over Blogs and Twitter, which is just barely touching upon the many ways that you can use the Internet to promote a business. Two other massive sights that you can use to spread the word about your company are Facebook and YouTube. For the business I am involved in, we are putting off creating a Facebook page for the time being. Why? A big part of Facebook is photographs, interests, and statuses. Since we are just starting out, we do not have any professional photos. As primarily food based company, we decided that it would not be in our best interest to create a Facebook until we can show the general public what it is that we do. Not just tell them about it, but show them. For a text based site such as Twitter, beginning one early is fine. But Facebook seems to have moved away from text and many people use it host pictures with interactive discussions. Without proper photographs, we feel as though we would be jumping the gun a little bit with Facebook. Perhaps causing a bit of a negative response. (We don't want people to think we are arrogant.)

We have also been considering creating instructional videos once we are a bit more established, (as mentioned in my previous blog entry). If this is done they will most likely be hosted on a blog. But there has been some thought about creating a YouTube channel. There have been concerns raised (including my own) on whether or not that would be the best move. YouTube definitely does not have a professional feel to it. We were wondering if this would be in our best interest. But that one is still out in the open.

Thanks for reading!

Blogging as a Professional

There are many things that you must do when starting a business. One of the most important is spreading the word. Luckily with today's technology there are a million ways to do just that. Speaking of which, blogging is a great way to get information out there. If you want to begin a blog for your business, many of the same rules apply that applied to Twitter (see previous blog entry for that one). Use proper grammar, spelling, no foul language, and so on and so forth. I would say that if you would not use it in a professional paper for school or report for work, do not use it in your blog. The exception being using first and second person. I like to believe that it helps to engage the audience and makes the reading of a blog a bit more of an intimate experience. In this way, you get all of the professional qualities of a paper and all of the intimacy of general conversation.

One main concern for professional blogs is what on earth could you blog about? It may take some brain storming and do not be afraid to get your peers in on the process. Collaboration is extremely important in getting the word out about a company. For example, for the catering and food product line company I am working for, I am going to be proposing that we begin a blog specifically to introduce the company to consumers and tell them what the company is all about. Since it is food based, I plan on having our gourmet chef (my boss), provide cooking instructional videos and easy recipes that people can make at home. These videos and recipes will be posted on the blog as well as status updates on the company and what our mission is. These updates will also occur on our Twitter page so it is only logical that we promote the Twitter (and later Facebook) on the blog and vice versa.

How to Tweet Professionally

Modern technology is quickly changing the face of business.  If companies and organizations wish to maintain appeal to modern customers, they must go to where the customers are:  the Internet.  Maintaining a professional Twitter is a fantastic way to interface with many customers.  Let's face it, everybody uses the Internet.  Reading this blog is proof of that!  Here is a podcast I put together to help you create a professional Twitter account and Tweet like the professionals.


colarussoPodcast.mp3

Starting a blog!

Originally I intended to use this blog for keeping track of techniques and methods that I learned at my new job at a gourmet catering service. I will still be using this blog to keep track of things for my new job, but with a new twist. The gourmet catering service is just one of three parts of the new company. The other two are a gourmet, organic food line and a consultant service (for parties, receptions, et cetera). One of my jobs in the company is promotion and marketing. Since I have a background in technology and computers, I decided to use that knowledge and apply it to my new responsibilities. I also plan on using some of the web 2.0 tools that I have been introduced to in ED530 to further advertisements, promotions, and generally spreading the word.

I must mention that I do not want to let people know about the company, I also want to let people know what the company is all about. This includes subjects like what organic really constitutes and what we will be doing to assure customers that the food truly is organic. In order to do this, I will have to do more research into what organic really means. I have a good general idea, foods that are grown and produced without pesticides, dyes, bleaches, and other chemicals. But I want to know if there is more to it than that.

Thank you for reading!