Thank goodness that’s over.

The Facebook IPO could have been a major disaster for millions of individual investors.

If the stock had “popped” to a truly ludicrous level on IPO day, millions of investors would likely have piled into it, hoping for further gains.

And then, eventually, the hype would have faded, and these investors would have gotten creamed as the stock fell back to a more reasonable price.

As it was, Facebook’s IPO price was not truly ludicrous–it was just extremely expensive. The “extremely expensive” part was why I called Facebook “muppet bait.” And it was why I kept asking giddy IPO buyers what they were seeing that I wasn’t.  The answer, everyone said, was “Facebook’s future potential,” a.k.a., “option value.”

But the trouble with buying and valuing stocks based on “option value” is that this measure is extraordinarily subjective. Depending on the market’s mood, “option value” can be huge… or tiny.

Apple, for example, has enormous potential “option value”… but the market is valuing Apple at only 10X 2013 estimated earnings per share. Meanwhile, at the IPO price, the market valued Facebook at about 65X consensus 2013 estimated earnings per share.

That is extremely expensive.

And now, as many Facebook IPO buyers finally wake up to that fact, the stock is falling.

So, at what level is Facebook a “buy?”

When does the company’s “option value” actually offset the risk that shareholders will get clobbered if the market’s mood changes?

What is Facebook actually worth?

Let’s think about that…

VALUING FACEBOOK

The biggest problem Facebook faces is the deceleration of its revenue. The market doesn’t like deceleration, especially when a company’s profit margins are already as high as Facebook’s. At a 50% operating margin, Facebook’s profit margin is likely to go down not up. So Facebook’s earnings are only likely to grow at Facebook’s revenue growth rate–or slower.

Facebook’s growth rate in Q1 was a modest 45% year over year. (See the red line in the chart here. Click for ginormous chart).

That’s down from 55% in Q4 of last year, which itself was a sharp slowdown from the prior quarter.

Advertising revenue growth in Q1, meanwhile, was an even less impressive 37%. This for a company that many people keep saying is a huge threat to Google. For the record, Google’s display-ad business, which competes directly with Facebook’s display-ad business, is growing faster than Facebook’s.

For further comparison, Google’s revenue is also 10X as big as Facebook’s. And Google has more cash flow than Facebook has revenue. But the market is still valuing Facebook at 1/2 of Google’s value.

Facebook’s free cash flow, meanwhile, has gone negative: The company is now burning cash.

Why?

Because it’s spending so much on data centers.

If Facebook’s revenue growth doesn’t reaccelerate in the rest of this year, it could end up posting revenue growth of less than 40% for the year. That’s impressive growth for a normal company, but it’s not all that impressive for a company trading at this valuation.

If Facebook’s growth doesn’t reaccelerate, but, instead, continues to decelerate, there’s no reason Facebook should have a multiple that is so much higher than that of other tech leaders, like Apple and Google.

Apple is trading at about 10X 2013 estimated EPS.

Google is trading at about 12X 2013 estimated EPS.

Estimates for Facebook’s earnings for 2013 range from about $0.40 (BTIG) to $1.00 (my “aggressive” estimate). So Facebook is trading at about 40X-100X 2013 earnings.

In other words, Facebook’s multiple is VASTLY higher than Apple and Google’s even when you use very aggressive future estimates.

Yes, Facebook is on a roll. But so is Apple. And so, still, is Google.

Facebook is smaller than Apple and Google, so if things continue to go well, it should be able to grow earnings faster than Apple and Google. But no one has explained–or, arguably, can explain–why Facebook should trade at such a premium to two of the sexiest technology companies on the planet.

So where SHOULD Facebook trade?

Listen, I don’t want to be apocalyptic about this, but if Facebook’s revenue growth doesn’t reaccelerate, it wouldn’t surprise me at all to see Facebook eventually trade at, say, 20X-30X forward earnings estimates, or lower. That would be a perfectly reasonable price for an exciting, reasonably fast-growing tech company.

If Facebook can earn $1 per share next year, therefore, it could presumably trade at $20-$30 ($50 billion to $85 billion) based on that.

If Facebook’s earnings come in as low as Wall Street currently thinks, meanwhile, it could trade below that–possibly well below that.

If Facebook traded at Apple and Google’s valuation based on Wall Street’s current estimate for Facebook’s 2013 earnings ($0.60), for example, it would trade at $6-$7.

And, remember, the market is still very excited about the prospects for Apple and Google, especially Apple. So I’m just hard-pressed to come up with reasons why Facebook should trade at a multiple that is so vastly much higher than Apple’s.

But!

Won’t Facebook’s revenue accelerate?

After all…

• Facebook is “just starting to monetize its users.”
• Facebook “can roll out dozens of new products that will generate billions in revenue.”
• Facebook “could go into payments, or apps, or platforms, etc.”
• Facebook “will soon have 2-3 billion users!”

Yes, all that is true.

But before we give Facebook a humongous premium multiple based on all that, let’s acknowledge a few things:

• First, Facebook is NOT “just starting to monetize its users.” Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s business boss, has been at the company for 4 years. Four years is a long time. Google was much bigger than Facebook four years after its business really kicked in.
• Second, Mark Zuckerberg has been extraordinarily clear that he cares more about Facebook’s social mission than its business. Unless he has a major change of heart, he is not going to suddenly reverse course and start larding up the service with crap just to generate revenue.
• Third, Facebook’s next 2 billion users will be a lot less valuable monetarily than the first 1 billion. The world’s richest people are already on Facebook. And those are the people advertisers want to reach.

Bottom line, Facebook has had all these potential business lines for many years, and it has been monetizing its users for years. And, right now, the business is still decelerating.

But, fine, let’s assume Facebook pulls a few rabbits out of hats and its revenue reaccelerates.

What’s it worth then?

If Facebook achieves 50% revenue growth for the next two years (a modest acceleration), it will post revenue of about $5.5 billion in 2012 and $8.3 billion in 2013. At the same extraordinary operating profit margin that Facebook achieved last year (50%+), this will produce earnings of ~$1.8 billion (~$0.65 EPS) this year and ~$2.5 billion (~$1 per share) next year.

At $38, here’s what those multiples look like:

2012E EPS (“Aggressive Case”): $0.65   2012 PE: ~60X
2013E EPS (“Aggressive Case”): $1.00    2013 PE: ~40X

For comparison, again, here are the multiples for another red-hot tech company, Apple:

2012E EPS: $44        2012 PE: 13X
2013E EPS: $50        2013 PE: 10X

So Apple’s trading at a P/E of 10X next year’s estimated earnings, and Facebook’s trading at a P/E of 40X using the most aggressive estimates I can come up with.

A P/E of 40X isn’t ridiculous, but it’s expensive. And remember that that PE is on next year’s estimated earnings, which are still almost two years from possibly becoming reality. And remember that that estimate is aggressive.

So, what’s a “fair” value for Facebook?

Given Facebook’s size, importance, and option value, I’d be willing to pay a modest premium multiple for the company relative to Apple and Google. Those companies have already shown us what they can do, and maybe Facebook really hasn’t even stomped on the gas yet. And, yes, Facebook does have the ability to roll out new products that we haven’t seen yet.

(So do Apple and Google, of course, but let’s ignore that for now).

Bottom line: I think a fair price for Facebook is 20X-30X 2013 estimated earnings.

To be (modestly) conservative, I’ll assume that those earnings come in between Wall Street’s current consensus–$0.60–and my “aggressive case” estimate–$1.00. I’ll use $0.80.

So, a fair price for Facebook might be between $16-$24.

Will it get there?

We’ll see.

Probably not without a couple of disappointing quarters.

But there are about 7,000 other stocks you can buy. So unless it suddenly becomes clear that Facebook is on the way to rolling out amazing new products that we haven’t yet seen, I don’t see what the rush is to pay much more than that for it. Especially when you can buy Apple for 10X earnings.

sourced from http://www.businessinsider.com/

Social Media is all About Building Relationships.

First, here is a quick glimpse on some revealing social media statistics:

Facebook – According to ExactTarget, the primary reason why people “LIKE” a Facebook page is to establish a sales relationship with a specific brand, through the following: to receive promotions and coupons (40%), derive instant updates on upcoming sales (30%), and to show support for certain brands or companies (30%) 

Twitter — According to Edison Research, 40% of the total time people are on Twitter are spent on learning about certain products and services or reading/getting feedback from what others have to say about them as well as share personal opinions and experiences.

Social Media is all About Building Relationships As more and more companies and brands readily include their product offers in the social media experience, a growing number of consumers have grown increasingly comfortable with the idea of social commerce. Given the promising potential of social media, it is important to have a flexible marketing strategy in place that can grow and adjust with the ever changing trend. By taking time to develop processes from both the corporate and the individual standpoint, you will be able to sustain healthy social engagement activities over time. You can do this by building communities and relationships by listening, responding and creating value.

7 Essential Steps for Creating a Successful Social Media Strategy According to the Social Media Marketing Report for 2010, an estimated 67% of marketers have actively increased and strengthened their social media channels. As more and more companies work on integrating social media into their corporate marketing and communication plans, there is a growing emphasis for creating a winning social media strategy. Without any semblance of a plan or strategy, your presence might as well be nonexistent or muted.

But how do you exactly develop a strategy to best cater to the unique behavior and characteristics of your niche? Here is a 7-step guide to make sure you hit the ground running on your social media campaign:

First, An Important Prerequisite If you are working for a big company or organization, before you start formulating your social media strategy, it is absolutely critical for the stakeholders of the business to believe in the potential of social media and that the primary goal is not just to simply sell products and services.

Your company should not launch a social media campaign to join the bandwagon and in response to the fact that everyone else is doing it. Social media is not a temporary marketing gimmick or project with an expiry date, but a long-term commitment with invaluable benefits. It is important for organizations to recognize that constant testing and experimentation are required every so often to study the effectiveness.

Now that we have that covered, here the 7 critically important steps to guide you through developing your very own social media strategy:

1. Define Your Goals and Objectives. Determine what are your specific social media objectives and goals and how they complement and support the overall goals of the company.

2. Research, Research and More Research. Don’t make the mistake of simply jumping the in with a sea of competition and discerning consumers without having any clue. Research is very important as basis for execution. This will include the action plan for the 5 major social media platforms. Take time to check out what’s out there, scope the competition and understand your target audience.

3. Prepare a Database of Contacts and Content. If you go about your social media campaign correctly, social relationships will start to develop naturally. Start establishing connections by following conversations relevant to your branding. Make a list that will identify the key influencers and power users that play important role in your industry.

4. Join Conversations to Start Developing and Forging Relationships. Start answering questions relevant to your industry, give your opinion and join a community. This will not only help you start your network, it will also help you build your reputation as an industry expert and a thought leader.

5. Strengthen Your Social Media Relationships. Don’t just hide behind an avatar or brand, make your presence known by attending events that encourage face-to-face interactions. This includes offline events that are relevant to your industry.

6. Take Time to Measure Results. You have already established your goals and objectives, right? It is equally important to measure your success. Among the most common goals include:

** Enhance brand presence across social media platforms

** Increase traffic to company website

** Increase positive consumer sentiment and perception towards brand

** Develop relationships for potential partnership opportunities in the future

7. Analyze, Adjust and Improve. Once you have measured your success and progress towards your goal, you need to analyze and identify key areas that need improvement, adapt to changing trends and improve your overall social media campaign. Remember, it is not always a straight road ahead, so you need to constantly evaluate and adjust.

Facebook Timeline:

“Some marketing strategies work just as well or even better in hard economic times… what I share with you inside are the strategies that are absolutely thriving and can only get better! So regardless of the ups and downs of the economy, I’m totally confident you can’t help but get more leads, more sales, passive income & BIG profits in 2012 and beyond with what your learn inside GUARANTEED!

When you practice branding you need to ensure you are targeting the right audience demographics.  Logos are important but they are not your selling point.  They just make a statement.  Use a tagline along with a logo or with an advertisement only when you think it will grab the attention of customers in a positive way.

Branding requires you to use media outlets to your benefit.  You must be proactive in your methods of branding.  You can hire someone to do the branding for you.  A business has complete control over their brand and their image.  The goal of branding is to get into the minds of customers in a positive way and help them realize your business offers a beneficial product to them.  You have something that they need.

Branding requires you to separate yourself from the competition proving why the business is the best option to purchase from.  There needs to be a clear picture what makes you different, unique, and why a customer should choose you over the competition.

The thing to remember about branding is that it helps produce an image about a business.  Consistency is very important.  You cannot perform branding by creating a logo on a website and walking away.  Branding requires proactive approaches of exposure through article writing, press release distribution, public appearances, products with logos, and much more.  Trust and credibility must be built through the branding process.  By using these techniques you can be off to an amazing start of building a trustworthy brand that customers can rely on.

Also, always follow through with promises you make to customers through a mission or any statements.

If your brand is experimenting with this tactic, analyzing it against other content types is an effective way to measure performance and determine if FITB should be incorporated into your content strategy.

Using JetBlue as an example of a successful FITB posting strategy, we’ll break down how you can test and measure it as part of your ongoing content analysis.

Read the full story here

Consistency is the most important factor when you reinforce.  It shows that you are serious about your brand and your product. It is important to be consistent to show credibility with the customers and the public eye.  When a company is not consistent it looks bad for a company as if they are disorganised or have problems.

Reinforcing your brand needs to be done on a regular basis.  You should practice constant branding techniques that work for your company.  Schedule them weekly or monthly if you have to.  For example, try to send out at least two press releases a month to numerous media contacts.  Let them know how you are doing and what is going on with the company. Make announcements about ways you better the community and people who use your products.

Reinforcement works for a business with the media also. When you are continuously in contact with the media it will benefit you when something bad happens.  Having the media on your side is very important.  They will help you with damage control when a customer makes an accusation or if you need assistance with a bad situation.

Reinforcing your brand means that you back what you say you are going to do.  You need to prove to the customers that what you say you will do is true and continuously reinforcing this will brand the idea into their minds.

The consumer world today is rapidly changing. Long gone is the era of passive consumerism, these days consumers want to have their say on every product and service they invest in. And with the cutthroat competition, companies are actively seeking ways to gain more leverage through innovation. With the birth of a whole new universe of social media, businesses play an entirely different ballgame.

Is Your Business Social Enough?

Today, social media platforms have invaded and taken over public consciousness. It has become a big part of day to day routines and an indispensable communication tool for people to connect and stay in touch. Consumers have used social media presence as one of the integral basis of a company’s legitimacy, reliability and viability. Businesses today are judged based on their Facebook or LinkedIn profiles, and consumers expect companies to respond to the concerns and queries they have tweeted within the day or within the hour.

Suffice it to say, social media has managed to steal the thunder away from traditional marketing methods. Modern marketing strategies today have a mix of social media tactics as its integral component for reaching business goals. Discover the Social 5-Pack

Highly competitive companies have taken the aggressive path and actively pursued the “Social 5-Pack”, made up of: Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn and YouTube. This is in line with the aim to engage their target market and existing client base in order to fill the top of the sales funnel as well as understand the prevailing consumer preferences and behaviors to ensure brand loyalty.

However, signing up and maintaining multiple accounts on all social networking sites is not as easy as it seems. Jumping right in without any in-depth understanding of the social media process can prove to be potentially detrimental for a company, which can lead to exposing its online presence at serious risk and leading it towards an unproductive direction.

Take the Reins of Your Online Presence

Given the power of social media, it is critically important for businesses to work through their strategies and develop processes to lead to scalability, efficiency, and successful social engagement. This eBook provides you all the necessary information to understand the full potential of social media, as well as how your business can harness its latent power so you can make smarter decisions on how your organization can effectively incorporate it into your company’s marketing and communications mix.

If you want to drive your business forward, you need to make sure it stays social, current and relevant in consumers’ consciousness. Discover how social media can become your most effective and influential marketing workhorse. This eBook will equip you will all the important information on how to get started and how you can use social media to your full advantage and rake its long-term rewards.

Creating a competitive edge is another important aspect of branding.  Today, the online world has many methods of branding.  The most popular method of branding and gaining the competitive edge is through the use of Blogs.  Blogs allow a site to increase traffic, improve rank through search engine results, and even helps with credibility building also.

About Blogs

Blogs are websites that use the new Web 2.0 technology which allows visitors to a site to post their own comments, articles, and more.  Giving a user the access to post things to your site allows them to feel a sense of ownership to the business.  They work in many ways which may include forums, discussion boards, or even look like a daily diary in a sense.  They keep the visitors up to date on current events and allow for discussion to take place.

Reasons to Use Blogs

There are many reasons to use blogs for a business.  A business may want to provide a discussion board that allows other customers to discuss troubleshooting tips and tricks.  A company may post useful information about how to get the most longevity out of products, how to repair or fix things, and even how to prevent problems from occurring.

Using a Blog to Your Benefit

If you do decide to add a blog to your company site then there are many things to consider so you get the most out of it.  Some companies allow people to post their own content while others cannot.  Consider things like keywords and phrases, links, useful information, and even contact information.

The primary purpose of blog writing for branding is to gain more exposure to a business and get the word out to people that the company exists.  Blogs are an excellent way to create hype and exposure because the web has millions of businesses and customers.

When using a blog it is important to make sure that you use important keywords that are relevant to the products and services offered by your business.  These keywords and phrases should be the words that will be typed into the search engines when a user is looking for what you offer.  The keywords should be used naturally throughout the content of the blog.  They will work by allowing your blog to be pulled up in the search engine results when users type in the specific keywords and phrases you used in the blog.

Adding links to blogs is a very important thing for two reasons.  They provide an easy method to get back to your site and provide an inbound link.  Users always appreciate an easy way to get to your company.  If you are talking about products and services offered in a blog without links to where the customers can find them then it will do no good.  Customers will only search for a business for a very short period if they search at all.  You have a better chance of a customer when a link is right there in the blog so they can easily click and find out more about the company.

URLs are also beneficial for a business because they provide inbound links. One of the ways that search engines work is that one of the ways they rank a business is through popularity. Popularity can be built up by links integrated within blogs.  The more inbound links you provide inside of a blog the more popularity a search engine thinks you have.  Never forget to place inbound links inside of blogs and content you place on your blog.

A blog needs to provide beneficial information for the visitors and readers.  When there is something useful to the reader they will come back for more.  Blogs give you the opportunity to give the free advice and useful information that will benefit the users and cause you to gain credibility for being knowledgeable about the products and services offered.

Local Media

There are many different local media outlets that you might consider using when you are looking to brand your company or a product.  You can use local newspapers to announce sales, events, and other things.  The television stations are useful when running advertisements or events on the news.

One thing to keep in mind is that public television stations are free and they cannot charge you money to run something on them.  If you are a non-profit organisation looking to brand your organization the best way to do it is through public television stations.  You can announce events like blood drives and other things on public television.  This is great exposure and it is free.

Other methods of local media may be local websites for town members.  Some towns have a site for the community where people can post things like classified ads and other things.  They are free sites and sometimes used more than the newspapers because of this.

Article Writing for Press

Another way you can use the media to your advantage is to write your own articles and distribute them to the press.  This is very beneficial. If the press comes across times they need to fill additional space in their paper they may use them.

Sending articles to the press is free.  The will not charge you to use them.  If you write beneficial articles to magazines in the industry you work in then you may even get paid for the article.

Article writing is a very beneficial way to advertise your business and helps with the branding process.

Sponsors

Looking for sponsors is very important.  It is very similar to getting an endorsement.  You may make a deal with companies to sponsor you that might include putting up an advertisement at a local event or charity you are holding.  Sponsors need to see a benefit in it for them and they are usually willing.  When you find local sponsors it helps build credibility with your business.  You should always look for local or national sponsors.

Sponsors can be used on your website and at your local business.  The most common way to obtain a sponsor is by offering them advertising for their business.

Written Testimonials

Written testimonials are very important in the branding process because they work in two ways.  They help build credibility and trust with the targeted audience.

When you sell products or services to customers it is important to gather as many written testimonials that you can from customers.  A customer can write up the type of product or service they purchased from your company and their experience working with you.  The more written testimonials you have the better.

Written testimonials are beneficial because they create hype.  They increase the excitement about your business and make people want to try your product.  Testimonials tell the public that you followed through on delivering the promise made.  This means that consistency is present and it is very important.

Without written testimonials it is hard to prove that you deliver.  It is hard to build a brand without people to back you like endorsements through public figures and people in the community.

Special Offers

Building a brand also requires you to provide offers and special discounts to the customers.  Customers are always looking for a great deal and when they know they can get it from you they will shop from you.

You might offer discount codes to customers for specific items or even a buy one get one free deal.  These are excellent ways to promote a business.  If you have an online company then you may offer free shipping or other types of discounts to people during a specified period of time.

Special offers work very well with customers.  Free items usually work the best because customers find that nothing is ever free.  Although it is not cost effective to give away free items you may include something free with a purchase of a bigger item.

Referrals

Another media consideration when you are building up your brand is that you need to work on referrals.  Referrals work very well in building up your brand.  This is word of mouth through customers who swear by you.  These can be difficult to build up but when you get referrals it helps with credibility.

You can help with gaining referrals to your business by offering specials or discounts to customers that refer you to other customers.  This may be a $5 discount on their next purchase or something else.  When the customer sees there is a benefit in it for them they will often times refer the company to gain the benefit.  This helps increase a customer base, revenues, and build up your brand.

Inserts

Inserts are very beneficial to brand building and a perfect use of the media.  Some newspapers or brochures may have a cost associated with adding an insert in a newspaper while others may allow you to provide an insert for free.

Inserts in newspapers and magazines allow for more exposure of the company.  Even if a customer doesn’t thoroughly read an insert they will remember the name of the company and your logo.  It creates a stamp in their mind about you and the products and services offered.  This way if they come across a situation where they need a product or your service they will think of the business.  Inserts work well and are very beneficial for getting into the mind of customers.

Donations

Donations do you a lot of justice when it comes to establishing an identity around the local community and anywhere else.  Many companies or non-profits offer plaques with your name on them, engravings in the wall, and other things when you donate money to them.  This gives you exposure.  When customers see your name as a company that made a donation, not only does it look good for you but it gets the company name out there permanently.  This part of the branding process is important because it helps the business build credibility and trust with the customers in the market.

Investments

Investments are very important also.  When you invest in a company it is important to be sure they are in the same industry as your product or service.  Investing helps build a name for your company, give you more exposure and more.  When you invest in a company, one of the agreements you can make when lending your money is that they provide exposure or advertising for you.  Investments are very beneficial and help with the branding process.

Give Free Information

So many companies upset customers because they want to charge money for everything.  This leaves a customer walking away with a bad taste in their mouth about you and only causes you to look dishonest or greedy.  There are things that you can give away for free when it comes to information.  There is no way you can teach a customer everything you know in just a few minutes of talking to them or in a few pages that they can read.

Many people practice giving tips and advice through flyers and brochures.  You may want to place a few useful tips on the back of your brochure.  This will help build credibility and trust with customers that you are not greedy and you are willing to help them achieve certain goals.  It will also prove to them that you actually have the knowledge to perform certain tasks within your company.  You don’t have to reveal secrets of the trade but you can give out helpful information that is useful.

Giving useful information may include offering tips and advice when you are out on a service call in a home.  If your company offers plumbing services and you are on a call that the customer has frozen pipes under their home then you may recommend they leave the water dripping overnight.  This type of advice is useful to the customer and will help them not end up in a situation with a burst pipe.  Although, continuous broken pipes may be a profit for you it is only one customer.

You may think it will not benefit you to tell them how to avoid problems because then they won’t need you.  However, there are plenty of other reasons they can call you.  Plus, you will be the person they will turn to any time they need something repaired.  In addition, word of mouth goes a long way with customers and the customer may attract you plenty of business your way.

Adding Value to Your Business

When you are branding it is important to add value with everything you do.  Adding value means making yourself valuable to the customers and the community.  This may include giving out free information through tips and tricks, statistics, and other useful bits.

You can make the business more valuable by adding a little extra in everything that you do.  A voice mail message might include a quick tip on fixing something or a way to prevent a computer virus.  The signature on your email should contain more than your name, address, and phone number.  You might include a useful sentence underneath that is a quick tip or useful bit of information.

Making yourself useful adds value to your business and to the customers.  The customers need to believe that they need you and this is a part of proving to them you are useful and the best person to turn to when they need something.

Getting Your Brand Out There

So you have designed a logo, a name, a tagline, and anything else.  Now you need to practice other methods to get your name all over the place.  This can be done with clothing, pens, cups, and other paraphernalia.

Clothing is one of the best things you can get out there on people.  If you design t-shirts with your company name and logo on them people will wear them.  These should be free items that you give away to people as they visit your booth, table, or even take a survey.  You may offer the t-shirts to people if they give you feedback on their opinions for certain things.  They may provide their information or email which also is a contact you just made.  Always hold onto this information as you can use it in an email campaign.  One thing to consider is that when you ask customers for an email address, always ask them if it is okay to contact them via email.  Do not assume that it is okay or you may upset them.  One thing that is okay is sending a flyer, brochure, or coupon in the regular snail mail.

Clothing works in many ways.  People wear free t-shirts all over the world.  They may travel to different destinations like a gym working out, a beach, or a fair.  This is exposure for you for every person that sees this person.  The more t-shirts you get out there the better for your business.

One thing to keep in mind with printed materials as advertising techniques to spread the company name is that you want to create things that are useful for people.  A pen with your company name is more useful than a koozie.  Pens will never be thrown away because someone will use them until the ink runs out.  They are very cheap to make and easy to distribute.  You can give a package of pens to a business that you know spends a lot of time traveling around the world.  Before you know it your pens were left in meetings and other places and now you have people checking out your site from other countries.  It is as easy as that when you distribute items with your company name on them.

You have to get your name out there and create your popularity.  You can do this by designing t-shirts and other useful things for the business.  Try to give these things away for free so you can have the best results with your branding.  Also, make sure that the items created look nice and represent your brand as you want to be portrayed.  Match the scheme.

Get One on One with the Customers

Getting one on one with the customers is very important.  You need to talk to the customers and let them know that you are there for them if they have questions and that you really exist.  Companies need representatives of a business so they are existent.  It is hard for a business to gain exposure when they don’t have someone to actually talk to.

If your business targets a local community then it is important to get out there and talk to the community.  Remember you are looking for the audience who is going to benefit from your product.  These are the people you want to talk to.

If you have a business on the web then you will need to get one on one with the customers by providing access to a direct chat option.  This gives customers a good feeling but they know that someone really exists.  When you offer a direct chat they have the ability to contact a live person rather than talk to a machine.  Customers despise machines, automated phone systems, and more.  They will try to avoid them and it can give them a bad taste in their mouth about the business.  Try to be as responsive as possible with the customers.

Local Business Events

Other local business events are extremely important.  Not only do you want to target your local or national audience but you also want to attend other business events.  You may find a company struggling that may need your assistance.  You might find a company that you can work with together on a project in trade for advertising or even help you build your credibility.

Local business events help you network in the big industry that you may be working in.  It is important to talk to companies and let them know you are out there.  Maybe you will recommend one company while they recommend you.  Always talk to other businesses, let them know about who you are and what you are all about, what their benefit is by knowing you, and how you can help each other.  Give them something to remember you by and make an impact.

When you attend events and network with other companies and people then you provide another form of advertising. Networking works very well because when someone does come across a situation where they could use your product or service they will remember you.  Creating contacts is a very big part of branding.  It also helps instill your company name in the minds of people around the industry.