By: Tim Haas Owner/Web Developer Haas Consulting Marketing & Web Development Services View Our Webpage

• Marketing Management
• Marketing Plans
• Graphic Design
• Web Development
• Online Marketing
• Search Engine Optimization
• Printing Services
• & More!

We are a full service Marketing Firm. From creating a marketing plan to layout, design, and seamless execution, our goal is to help you make the most out of your marketing!

• Visit our website to view web designs by Haas Consulting.

Did someone forward this newsletter to you?

All you need to do to subscribe is complete this Contact form

Tell us who you are and give us your e-mail address. Please read our anti-spam policies at the bottom of this newsletter.

Welcome to our new and current subscribers! This newsletter is published monthly by Haas Consulting. It is here to be a source of information for anyone who would like to learn about webpages, marketing, and other business related topics.

Please feel free to email us with topics you would like to learn more about. You may view past issues at www.thaas.info/articles.php. Enjoy!

Click here to send this link to a friend!

Social Marketing: More Than a Trend

Social Marketing is a new term for many people and for good reason; it is a relatively new concept in marketing. Social Marketing is the practice of marketing through other people's online networks.

The goal of social marketing is to create more traffic to a website by:

1. Achieving higher search engine rankings for specified keywords
2. Generating a higher link popularity from sites linking on their own initiative
3. Creating more activity on your blogs, more commenting and other interactivity
4. Becoming known as an expert

This in turn is meant to create:

1. Increased numbers of subscribers
2. Increased online sales
3. Increased conversions, leading to increased sales offline

The issue we face is the fact that most people don't understand how to properly handle social marketing and are quickly overwhelmed. They end up standing like a deer on a dark highway staring hypnotically into the lights of oncoming traffic.

It is important to understand a few things about social marketing:

• It isn't for everybody: There are businesses that are well suited for social marketing and there are those that are not.
• Put one foot in front of the other: Step by step you can achieve real results. You do not need to commit all of your time to this . . . let your momentum build.
• It doesn't happen overnight: Success is worked for and is often slow in coming. In fact when success comes too quickly it may be short lived.
• It does take time & work: You must take time to get to know social networks and how they work. You will need to do some blogging and become active online.
• "You" doesn't necessarily mean you: You can enlist younger employees who are already heavily involved in social networking.
• Honesty is the best policy: Many big companies have tried to "fake out" social networkers. You need to put something together that is interesting and honest. They can see a phony coming a mile away
• Social marketing can work locally: Keep your goals in mind and reality in check. A successful social marketing campaign for your company will most likely vary from other social marketers.
• It doesn't come without risk: You are trying to get people talking about you . . . the risk involved is that you can not control what they say about you.
  • But don't let that scare you, it isn't always in what they about you  . . . sometimes it is in how you deal with it!
• It isn't a purely online beast: Many aspects of social marketing tie into personal one on one experiences that people take with them online.

Yes social marketing is a new concept, but it is one that will last. Take a moment to think about it; having your online articles, blog entries, forums, website URL and the like passed around other peoples personal networks and talked about is a little like having someone give you a personal referral.

In fact, the more you think about it the more you may realize; social marketing is nothing more than good old fashioned "word of mouth" advertising with a new twist.

We are a full service marketing firm and would welcome the opportunity to explain how we can help you make social marketing work for you.

Please feel free to pass this article around or talk about us within your networks.
;-)

Click here to send this link to a friend!

Babe,s Blossoms. Spring is just around the corner. Babe's Blossoms is a commercial green house located 7 miles north of Hector and 7 miles south of Cosmos on State Highway 4. If you are into gardening you will want to check out their greenhouse and website.

Additional Links of Interest *

FaceBook.com  Facebook is a social networking site that has hit the news a few times lately. They started out 3 years ago for high school and college students only. They have caught on that they can make a great deal of money expanding to the general public as well; so they have. This is a top quality social networking site. I am a member . . . look for me and add me to your list of friends!

Stumbleupon.com  This is one of those social networking sites. The concept here is to stumble upon fun and interesting websites. It is a cool idea. You can set up a personal profile to help you stumble upon things that interest you. You can also suggest sites for others to stumble upon.

* By providing these links we are not endorsing the services or products being offered. We are only offering links to other websites that may be of interest to you

Anti-Spam Policies

Plain and simple; Haas Consulting does not condone or participate in the use of spam e-mail. You have received this newsletter at your request. If you wish to remove yourself from this mailing or feel that you have been included by mistake; contact Haas Consulting and ask to be removed from the list. All requests will be honored with no questions asked. Please include the email address you wish to remove within the request.

Statement of Copyright

The contents of this newsletter are the property of Haas Consulting. You may use all or part of the content of this newsletter provided you follow these requirements:

• You provide credit for where the information came from.
• You provide a link to Haas Consulting's Home page at http://www.thaas.info
• You do not use the material in a way that will harm the image or reputation of Haas Consulting.
• You do not violate any laws in anyway shape or form.
• You agree to hold Haas Consulting free of all liabilities in relationship to the use of materials gathered from this or any other newsletter.

Please contact Haas Consulting with questions regarding reproduction of the contents of this newsletter.

2005 © Haas Consulting all rights reserved