Beth Martini Mastermind Consulting

Facebook exceeds Google in Weekly Visitors

bethmartini — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 17:06:17 +0000

Are you using Facebook to reach your customers? Facebook has more that 450 million users and surpassed Google in March to become the most visited site in the US. You may be surprised to see who the facebook users are – they really do include both men and women and all age groups.

US User Statistics
Gender
Male	43,932,140	42.6%
Female	56,026,560	54.3%
Age
13-17	10,680,140	10.4%
18-24	26,075,960	25.3%
25-34	25,580,100	24.8%
35-54	29,917,640	29.0%
55+	9,763,900	9.5%
unknown	1,057,780	1.0%

Have you found a reason not to use facebook to promote your biz? Share your experience!

Statistic Source: Facebook Ads Social Platform

Facebook Escapes – What You Need to Know

bethmartini — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 15:54:59 +0000

You need to know that facebook has announced changes that will allow it to interface with any website in a couple new ways. The familiar “like” button and the thumbs-up icon may be added to any website on the internet. If you click on these buttons, even on sites outside of facebook, your facebook profile will be updated just as if you had taken these actions within facebook.

And on some websites your facebook friends’ preferences may influence the results of your search, unless you specifically indicate that you don’t want it to use this information.

Additionally, if you have indicated a “like” for an internet page your profile picture may appear on that internet page as a recommendation. Who sees that picture will be determined based on your facebook privacy settings, at least for now.

To check your privacy settings in facebook, choose the “Account” tab at the top right corner. Choose “Privacy Settings” from the drop down, and then select “Profile Information”.

Check the “likes and interests” setting, you probably don’t want it to include “everyone”.

Be aware of what you are allowing facebook to share. And recheck your children’s settings, as well.

This is your sign

bethmartini — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:00:49 +0000

Another sign that the economy may be picking up…..GM’s CFO Chris Liddell announced today that GM has a reasonable chance to post a profit for 2010.

Happy Saint Paddy’s Day!

Spring Thaw in Downtown Brighton

bethmartini — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 02:16:40 +0000

It’s so nice to see new businesses in downtown Brighton. It’s such a hopeful sign that the economy might be picking up, like the first robin you see in the Spring. I’m going to check out the new businesses tomorrow and see what they have to offer.

Have you seen any signs that the economy is improving?

Loving Pandora Radio

bethmartini — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 17:21:25 +0000

You know, sometimes you’re in a mellow mood. And sometimes you aren’t. I really love Pandora Radio to support whatever mood I’m in. Pandora Radio is a free online radio website where you create the stations based on an artist who plays that type of music. My son has a station called Metallica, I have a station called Jackson Browne!

Pandora takes it one step further and allows you to give each song either a thumbs up or down rating. If you give a song a thumbs down rating they will never play it on your station again. I love this!

Personal service, I know it’s automated, but hey it works! Do you know of any other good (free) online music?

Feed Your Blog to Your Friends

bethmartini — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 18:12:34 +0000

It’s easy to feed your blog posts to your facebook profile or business page! You may want to import your business blog to a business fan page in facebook, or import your personal blog into your profile. This is what it takes:

Add the Notes Application to your profile.
From the Notes tab, select ‘Import a Blog’ from the Notes Settings box.
Finally, add the link to the feed from your blog.

The imported blogs appear in both the News Feed and on Profile Walls.

Geocaching: Bring the game to your backyard

bethmartini — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 15:12:10 +0000

Geocaching is a great way to learn more about an area, or bring geocachers into an area. Someone familiar with the area hides a container (cache) and records its coordinates on the geocache website: www.geocaching.com. Then geocachers use their GPS to find the cache. Many of the descriptions contain interesting facts about the location where the cache is hidden, some are just placed for the fun of the game.

I was just in the Pittsburgh area for New Years Eve. Every year we meet friends from New York somewhere in the geographic middle. We either rent a house or stay in a hotel. We’ve developed a routine in which there are certain activities that we do wherever we are, like bowling and roller skating. But, we like to find activities that are specific to that year’s location.

This year I was able to find out some very interesting facts and fun places to explore using the geocache website. Check out this building that was next to the hotel we stayed at, quite a contrast to the brand new Homewood Suites. I have to admit that I was a bit disturbed when I learned that parts of the movie Silenceof the Lambs was filmed there! This cache was placed at the end of November and had 12 logged visits in December. There were probably more visitors to the location that didn’t find the cache, or didn’t log their visit. Each of visitors to this sight were also visitors to the surrounding new development of Southpoint, they would have driven past the Iceoplex and restaurants, maybe for the first time. They might have even stopped for lunch…

Geocaching is a growing hobby for hundreds of thousands of people. State and National parks have started renting GPS systems to tourists like me who are hooked on this global hide and seek game. They even hold geocaching events.

Are you looking for new ways to reach new clients? Is there a cache hidden near your business? If you hide one, people will come!

Get Out!

bethmartini — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 19:51:20 +0000

It’s just a couple days before Christmas. I’m in pretty good shape for Christmas, just a few small things left to get. The easy stuff that I just haven’t made time for, yet. I’m having Christmas Eve dinner at my house, along with Christmas Day dinner so there is a bit of planning, shopping, preparing, cleaning, and cooking left to do.

But today I went to Island Lake to walk the trails in the sun and the snow. It was absolutely beautiful and refreshing! I was listening to Christmas songs on my mp3 and it worked to put my mind at ease and prepare me for the work to come. I wasn’t alone on the trails, there were several runners and mountain bikers enjoying them as well.

Do you take time to recover from and prepare for the hectic times in your life? What works for you? Have you been to Island Lake?

The Cowboy Rule for Timeliness

bethmartini — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:12:09 +0000

-The Cowboy’s Rules of Life…
Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain-dance. (Unknown)

I noticed that the Coffee Beanery advertises that they will open at 3:00 am on black Friday. I also saw another business specifically targeting hunting widows earlier this week.

Both of these are great sales boosting activities because they announce that they know what their customers are currently facing in their lives and seek to help. Considering the season, the weather, and the school year and how these impact your customers. Ask yourself what sort of special activities you should schedule for these times. This planning should occur strategically looking at least a year in advance.

What other things do you consider when planning special events or marketing?

Give and Get at the local jewelers

bethmartini — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:20:40 +0000

I noticed a bulletin at Scranton Middle School today announcing Cooper and Binkley Jewelers offering a super deal. The deal is called Give and Get. The purchaser gives $10 to either the Brighton Area Schools or C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital – in return they get a $20 gift certificate to Cooper and Binkley Jewelers.