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Use Facebook To Promote Your Business In 5 Steps

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Facebook Statistics GraphFacebook can be used to promote your business by building an Official Page. You can open a Facebook business account that has limited privilege or you can use your personal account to create a Company Page, such as the TurkReno Facebook Page. Facebook only allows an individual one account and it is a violation subject to your account being terminated if you create more than one account.

If you choose to attach a business page to your personal page, you can promote your business to your friends by suggesting that they “like” your page.  Whether you use a personal or business account, you can promote your business with ads.

You can mix your personal and business page by sharing posts, photos and sharing with friends or you can keep them completely separate. This is determined by your security settings, how you post information and who you confirm as a friend. If you worry about what family or high school friends are going to post on your wall, consider keeping your accounts separate by not sharing information between them. For more information on business accounts, go to Facebook Help Center.

Now let’s get down to business promotion:

  1. Create your Official Page. This page can be linked to your personal page or can be created as a business account. Business accounts have limited privilege. In order to make an official company page, you’ll have to have a Facebook account business or personal.  If you currently use your Facebook account to connect with family and personal friends, consider keeping the pages separate. It is possible to have all your “friends” under the same Facebook account by managing security settings, but it requires that you manage your account. You don’t want items posted to your wall that are not appropriate for your business friends.
  2. Create your Official Page for a local business, product or group. Keep in mind your brand as you add character to your page. Your business summary and logo are essential to branding. You can add more detailed information and photos to give more personality. You can be formal, keep it light-n-lively or anywhere in between. If you need ideas, go to some other Official Pages of businesses in your industry or area. Don’t try to be just like another page or site, just use as a way to spark you own creativity. If your page will be a group effort, make sure you establish the ground rules and that one person is charged with brand monitoring.
  3. Post to your Company Wall. If you have a blog, you should link or add your posts to Facebook using a Facebook application such as NetworkedBlogs.  If you have decided to post photos, upload flattering photos of company events individually or in albums.  Keep it interesting and mix up the types of  posts to appeal to your fans.  The frequency of posts is up to you, but once you start make sure you are consistent.  Start with once or twice a week to test the required time commitment.
  4. Promote your Company Page by suggesting to your friends.  Facebook recently replaced the “Become a Fan” button with the “Like” button.  Not everyone likes the new terminology and the debate continues on what it is to be a fan or like a page.  For your Company Page, the important point is to get people to like and visit your page.  Provide useful information and use as a way to drive visits to your blog or website.
  5. Promote your Company Page with an ad.  You can purchase impressions or clicks and choose your target audience. You can create variations of ads to test your marketing campaign using different logos, text and demographics.

These are 5 easy steps to start promoting your business with Facebook.  Experiment to see what gives you the best interactions. The Insights box, visible to administrators, gives you an indication of the amount of interaction with your business “friends.” You’ll also begin receiving weekly e-mails with updates that give helpful insights. And one good like, deserves another. Go to the businesses you know, favorite their pages and like their posts to get the ball rolling.

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Pizzeria Ozio – 697 US Hwy 98 Daphne AL 36526 – Pizza, Cocktails and More

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If you’re just passing through or new to the area, you may miss this jewel called Ozio located in the southern part of Daphne on US Hwy 98, but it’s well worth actually stopping in and grabbing a bite to eat for dinner or lunch. We chose dinner and found a selection of gourmet pizza at its finest.

We arrived at Ozio shortly before 7PM to find an almost packed house lined up to enjoy fine wine, mixed drinks, cocktails, live music by Jeff Glickman on acoustic guitar and, most of all, pizza. It took a moment, but we were greeted with a smile and the absolutely most attentive and polite waitress that we’ve ever had to date.

Both reviewers had un-sweet tea but were offered wine, mixed drinks, and Coke-Cola products as an alternative. We started off our meal with the calamari appetizer, which was served lightly battered with a very delicate but spicy lemon butter dipping sauce unlike any we’ve ever had. One reviewer stated that the calamari was unique enough to be a highlight of its own for the restaurant.

The pizza we ordered was called “Gardinio”, created with fresh red and green peppers, Crimini mushrooms, sliced red onions and arugula. We later found out that the dough of the pizza is not actually tossed. Instead, it is kneaded by hand into the delicacy that it will be once baked. Made as a 14 inch pie, this pizza was both light, healthy and filling all at the same time.

As you can see from the picture, it’s a delicious, hand-made pizza that is served fresh. We didn’t ask if it could be made to order. But judging from what we saw in the kitchen it wouldn’t be hard to get your pizza exactly the way you prefer, given some time.

Ozio provides an atmosphere that’s available for special occasions, a reason to be romantic and families. When you consider the quality at the same price, if not a better price than the corporate chains that really never put that extra care into the experience like Ozio does, you know for sure that you’ve found a keeper.

You can find Ozio online at:

Twitter: @PizzeriaOzio
Facebook: Ozio

Ozio is easily the dining that you’d wished you’d always knew about – a best kept secret of the Eastern Shore and Daphne, if you will – for an absolutely world-class and stellar experience. The service alone was enough to want to go back, not just the food.

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Action CAT – We are STILL CHARTER FISHING in Orange Beach, Alabama!

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From our Client – Action Charter Service – 05/16/2010:

We’ve gotten a lot of calls since the oil spill happened and it’s put everyone on pins and needles. But, truth be told: We’re still fishing and the catches couldn’t be better! We’ve been commercial fishing east of the spill and went out on 3 different trips this weekend alone. We’d like to just share with you a few quick facts that seem to be misunderstood across the web (This is from the Gulf Shores Conventions and Visitors Bureau):

Gulf Oil Spill Update, Sunday, May 16, 11:30 a.m. – http://www.gulfshores.com/issues

  • Beaches across the island are clear. Sporadic quantities of tarballs were found washed up on the beach Tuesday in areas between Lagoon Pass in Gulf Shores west to Fort Morgan. Contracted crews immediately went to work to clean the affected areas.
  • There have been no reports of oil odor along the beaches of Gulf Shores, Orange Beach or Fort Morgan. At its closest point, the slick is approximately 50-60 miles away from the most western tip of our island.
  • The Alabama Department of Public Health and Alabama Department of Environmental Management stated that there is no foreseeable need to close beaches and, short of a drastic change, they have no plans to do so.
  • Tarballs travel independently of an oil slick and are not an indication that the slick itself will travel in the same direction or to the same area. The oil slick still has not reached the beaches of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach and, according to NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) forecasts, is not expected to for at least 72 hours. Forecasts beyond 72 hours are not available.
  • According to NOAA, tarballs DO NOT pose a health risk to the average person. However, beachgoers are advised not to pick them up if they encounter any on the beach.
  • NOAA is providing daily updates to the closed fishing area, based on changes in the size or direction of the oil slick. To view the most recent map, visit http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/.
  • Although NOAA has closed commercial and recreational fishing in a limited area between the mouth of the Mississippi River and Florida’s Pensacola Bay, there is a large area of the gulf still open. Charter boats are leaving Orange Beach, Gulf Shores & Fort Morgan every day to fish areas up to 25-30 miles out and in our inshore waters.

We would absolutely love to take you out on either one of our boats, the Action CAT or the Emerald Spirit. Either boat can make sure you have the best vacation possible while visiting the beautiful Alabama Gulf Coast. Give us a call and let us give you a memorable vacation you’ll want to return to year after year!

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Does Running a Web Consulting Business Mean No Bank Holidays

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Here I am sat in front of the computer waiting for one of my business partners to arrive and I start to think, ‘Does Running a Web Consulting Business Mean No Bank Holidays?’

Well, the truth is out there, as the saying goes, and take a look at any successful network marketer and they will tell you one thing. You never stop.

It might seem as though you’re listening when your partner walks into the room, throws a cup of coffee your way and tells you the kids have just climbed up onto the roof and are throwing rocks at the neighbor’s cat for the fifth time this week but the truth is you haven’t heard a word of it and so you smile curiously and say something like, ‘Oh, okay, I’ll be with you in a minute. Thanks for the coffee’.

You haven’t heard a word because you’re too busy looking for that next million. The Internet is taking over your home and there’s nothing you can do about it. So why not make a web site?

And listen, if this is you:

It’s okay.

Really, we understand and we know what it’s like to rush down stairs at 3:47AM because there’s just that something you need to do online because the guy you were talking to an hour ago in Hong Kong promised to get back to you and you’re sure he’s probably online right now waiting for your reply and besides you’re not really that tired.

We understand.

So go do your thing this bank holiday and forget that others around you have different lives. We’re still here giving quotes.

Yours is exactly that so make the most of it.

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Sneaky SEO – According to Matt Siltala

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This is a really interesting article that I stumbled upon by a gentleman named Matt Siltala.  All credit for this material goes to him.  The original article can be found here.

Sneaky SEO

I am calling it sneaky SEO, cause I am tired of hearing it referred to as SEO Overkill. In my opinion Search Engine Optimization and Overkill should never be used in the same sentence. Let me explain why. I have been involved in SEO and internet businesses for the last 9 years and I have never stopped implementing good SEO on my websites. It is not OVERKILL its just good marketing practices.

I know why it is refered to as SEO Overkill, but I want to re-define it and call it what it is SNEAKY SEO.

Lets get more familiar with how users view webpages first. 79% of users scan a web page and 16% read word for word. What are readers looking for?

  1. Headlines
  2. Meaningful sub-headings (not keyword spam)
  3. Bulleted lists
  4. Headers
  5. How the Content is Arranged
  6. Worthless text (for density) or informative text worth reading?

When you have a site that is professionaly designed and full of content worth reading you gain credibility and web browsers will stay longer on your site. Random people I survey tell me the most important things to them on a website are:

  1. Is the layout easy to understand
  2. What kind of font style? (is it the same on all pages)
  3. What kind of font color? (again, needs to be the same-don’t fall into the rainbow text trap)
  4. Font size all the same?
  5. How is the navigation of the site?
  6. Does the site have a site-map?

Write for humans not search engines, and remember that search engines rank pages not websites. Getting back to the SNEAKY SEO, lets list the things we need to avoid on our websites:

  1. Hidden text (any kind, anywhere)
  2. Domain Stuffing (example – www.HowToGetRichUsingTheInternet.com)
  3. Don’t try to get rankings for 400 keywords all at once.
  4. Keyword stuffing folder names
  5. Keyword stuffing page names
  6. Keyword stuffing the title tag (keep it to about 5-7 words long)
  7. Keyword stuffing the meta tag description (keep it to about 25-30 words)
  8. Keyword stuffing the meta tag keywords (keep them to about 10-15 words)
  9. Skip misc. meta tags (they do nothing for you search engine wise)
  10. Don’t over-do visable text with so many keywords its not readable. (write for humans not search engines)
  11. Dont keyword stuff or overuse header tags
  12. Don’t include visible text in places it does not belong.
  13. Don’t keyword stuff your site maps. (site maps are essential, but avoid stuffing keywords and limit the site map to 50 links max.)
  14. To much visible anchor text.
  15. Don’t keyword stuff your link title attribute with keywords.
  16. Don’t keyword stuff your alt tags.
  17. Don’t built up links to fast. (avoid link farms)
  18. Avoid duplicate content by avoiding gateway, or doorway pages.
  19. Don’t stuff your div tables with keywords

Make sure to avoid these tactics of SNEAKY SEO’s, and do your part to keep the term SEO clean. If you play nice, the major search engines long term will reward you. You may find some using these tactics have good rankings, but it will catch up to them so please do everything you can to avoid any kind of SNEAKY SEO practices. You started an internet business for the long term and remember that any time you get tempted to fall to the dark side.

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