Virtual Neighborhood Personal Use Ebook

Table of Contents

Introduction 4
Branding – What Is It?……………………..5
Decide Who You Want To Be Online and Brand Accordingly 6
Brand To Attract Your Audience…………7
Use Content That Reinforces Your Brand………………………..7
Using a Blog to Build a Community Around Your Brand……………………….9
The Importance of Business Blogging…9
Traffic……………………9
Conversions…………10
Establishing Authority……………………….10
Continuing Results Over Time……………11
The Importance of Blog Commenting.11
Some Best Blogging Practices………….12
Takeaways for This Section……………..13
Using a Forum to Build an Online Community………15
When to Create a Forum………………..15
Why You Should Consider Creating a Forum………………….15
Ease of Communication…………………….16
Building Trust……….16
Crowdsourcing Support…………………….16
Tips on How to Create the Best Forum for Your Brand…….16
Takeaways for This Section……………..17
Build an Online Community with a Facebook Fan Page………………………19
What is a Facebook Fan Page?…………20
Why Your Business Should Use a Facebook Fan Page………20
Best Practices for Your Facebook Fan Page……………………22
Takeaways for This Section……………..22
Other Options for Your Virtual Neighborhood………24
Google+…………..24
Reddit……………..24
Takeaways for This Section……………..25
Conclusion 26

Sample Content Preview

Introduction

If you own a business, or you plan on owning a business, do you know what your business is all about? Do you have a plan on how to shepherd your organization towards continued growth? Do you have an overarching vision for the future, a vision that will maintain creativity and competitiveness? In short, what is your philosophy or approach? If you don’t have ready answers to these questions, you should. How you think about your business directly affects its performance in the marketplace. The most successful businesses, in the long run, will be the ones that have a plan for the future and who clearly understand where they are going and why.

In general, there are two basic approaches when it comes to business philosophy. In the first way, the business is all about itself and what it does. The people who own the business, their ideas and the products or services that they choose to provide to the buying public provide the business with its identity. This type of philosophy requires the business to communicate with the public in a monologue. In the relationship with the marketplace, the business is a vocal and active participant and the customer base is largely silent and passive.

In the second approach, the business is all about the public and what it desires. The needs and wants of the buying public provide the owners with the ideas for future products and services. It is the customer that gives the business its identity. With this philosophy, the business is constantly communicating with the public in a dialogue. This active and two way communication means that the customer base is a vocal and active participant in a conversation about the business’ future.

There is a temptation for a business owner to think about their business in terms of themselves that gives rise to the first approach. After all, the owner is the one that started the business. He or she nurtured its growth. They bear the risks associated with running a business and they earn and enjoy the rewards of success. For the countless business owners who give into this temptation of this approach, there is no difference between themselves and the business they run.

In their minds, they literally are their business. The problem with this type of ego driven thinking is that it is dead wrong.

The second approach sees this mistake and avoids making it by providing a vision that understands that the customer is paramount. An owner with this philosophy sees that their business is made up of customers. It is nothing more than the sum total of these customers’ satisfaction or dissatisfaction. It can choose to engage these customers in order to attract their interest, support and, hopefully, their continued patronage or it can ignore the same at its peril. In the end, however, the business is nothing more than what its customers decide it is, no matter what the owner believes to the contrary.

Smart business owners who adopt the second approach realize that their continued success and growth depends upon an engaged and interested customer base. They actively seek out and court this customer support by building a community around their business and brand. This community is, in a sense, a virtual neighborhood or club whose members share an interest in the business and its brand. It is this virtual neighborhood of customers and potential customers that provides the smart business owner with an incredible advantage over their competitors who have chosen to view and treat their customers in a more impersonal, as well as imperious, manner.

This book will teach you, the smart business owner, how to gain this advantage over your competition by building a virtual community around your business and brand. In the end, a good business is profitable precisely because it provides value to its customers first. It is this “customer first” approach that leads to continued sales and growth. However, before we get to the specifics of creating a community around your brand, let’s take a closer look at a couple of primary concepts involved in basic branding.

Other Details

- 10 Articles (PDF)
- 2 Ebooks (PDF), 26 Pages
- Checklist, Posters, Infographic
- Year Released/Circulated: 2015
- File Size: 5,554 KB

License Details:

[YES] Can be used for your personal use.
[NO] Can be given away.
[NO] Can be sold.