InSights Group

We are doing company launches, brand management, running companies, and in general trying to keep up with you in changing the world!

Yearly Archives: 2010

What are you grateful for today?

What are you grateful and thankful for today?

It almost sounds too simple to feel important, but understanding the power of gratitude can change your life forever.

Sarah Breathnach said it best…

“When we choose not to focus on what’s missing from our lives
but are grateful for the abundance that’s present…
we experience heaven on earth.”

So sit back, relax and turn up your speakers to enjoy our 2 minute inspirational movie from Learning to Dance in the Rain. The words, the photographs and the music are beautiful!

Just click here to watch.

Remember to pay it forward, by sharing with friends, family, and co-workers. They’ll thank you for it!

By,

Mac Anderson
Founder, Simple Truths

Reasons your company should blog…even if nobody reads it…

We’ve been telling our clients for quite a while now that a blog is a must have in a company’s marketing mix. There are reasons, fresh content, Google likes it, sometimes you’ll hit on something a customer or client wants to see, when you automate Facebook and Twitter will get a link back to your site, blogging helps you clarify your message (with yourself) and I could go on and on.

Here’s another list of 10 reasons why your company should blog.
So my question to you is: are you?

How many tags should I use on a post?

Tag strategy: you don’t want to over do tags. By nature a wordpress blog is very seo friendly, tags do add more weight to certain words. When you get to 10+ tags, when the sites are being crawled they actually might give you a minus credit if there is overuse because you are trying to call attention to too many things.

I recommend 3-5 tags per post max.

Here is a post at WordPress.com with a note about tags (and other things).

Here is another on tags/categories (this recommends no more than 2-3 tags per post).

As long as you are using the keywords that are applicable in your posts themselves, and choosing a few tags per post, you will get the max benefit from the blog.

2 things to keep in mind with Facebook

Are you 100% a facebook virgin? Well, maybe you’ve peeked over your child’s/spouse’s/best friend’s shoulder once, but it was latin to you and you didn’t pay attention. But now, you need to.

The two most important thoughts to have when beginning your journey; Take it slow, and don’t think of it like another chore that you have to just get done.

Don’t be afraid. You don’t need to learn everything all at once. You don’t need to comment on every of your 300 friends’ or fans’ (all those you gained all in the first day) statuses and pictures and quiz results. Take a step back, let it flow. Like any new hobby or routine in your life, take things in steps. You didn’t learn that the integral of 2x^5 + 7x^3 – 4x was 10x^4 + 21x^2 – 4 without first learning that 5×2 =10 and 5-1=4. Did you? J

Also, it’s easy to perceive “Facebook” as something to work toward when really, it’s not just a billboard sign, once up, stays up. Facebook exists long after you make it, but it’s up to you to keep it fresh. This medium has the ability to grow with you and your customers or friends. If you can figure out how to see it as possibility and enjoy its potential instead of as a chore, you’ll be able to value it and not put it off. Half-heartedly doing it, or neglecting it, then binging for 5 hours is not as effective as 15 minutes a day to check out what others are doing, comment, and update your actions to keep you fresh in one’s mind.

Yes you may be doing this to further yourself or business, but remember to have fun with it! Actions done in the right spirit can’t help but result with the desired effects.

The InSights Group works with entrepreneurs, small businesses and dental practices on successful social media marketing strategies.

Specialized social media strategies

Specialized social media strategies are currently in development from the InSights Group, and industry specific updates are pending  for the legal profession and dental offices. So many people are using social media, businesses that have used traditional methods in the past are recognizing the power. In the last Boot Camp held at the InSights Group there were many representatives from dental offices, and dental consulting firms from around the US. There are so many great ideas for how a dentist and staff can have a strong social media presence. The notes from class are being compiled into a resource guide, and advanced strategies are being developed!

We’ve also recently consulted with several offices in the legal professional world. There are even more strategies for connecting with people via social media than we could discuss in a two day seminar. Watch for specific updates coming your way. Who have you recently noticed that seems to have some new strategy behind their posts?

Having a social media account is not the same as having a social media strategy.

How can we help you develop yours?

How many hours a week would I need to spend…

to keep my business Facebook and Twitter site up and fresh?

I would try to touch each of these sites at least daily, if not several times a day. You want to start with blogging, which can automatically update each of the sites.

Check in with your profile. Update events that you will be attending. Share thoughts of things that you have done today. You can update via your cell phone while you are out and on the road.

The best part of social media is that you can decide when to check in and which sites. The rest can be working for you even when you are not there. What time of day and day of the week should you be most active? It depends on who your audience is, and who needs to see your updates. Let us know if we can help you strategize on what will be best for you, and how much time you should be spending on social media.

Your tagline

Try to sum up what you do in 6 words or less. Can you? We think that we have ample opportunity to share what we do – and we are right. It is also important to be able to summarize as the need arises.

I encourage you to make a list of all the words that describe your business. Then whittle it down to 6. Which ones win?

Here’s a great post about writing awesome website taglines

Do a google search for taglines and look at the images tab. Very cool what comes up.