Archive for August, 2010

1208.10

Not sure where to start with Social Media? Try here!

Posted by Amanda in Company News, Online Marketing, Social Media

Social Media ‘Starter Kits’

Social Media can help you create sales opportunities like you’ve never imagined. It can help you engage with clients and prospects in a new and innovative way. We’ve developed a number of ‘starter kits’ which will help you build your business on these exciting platforms.

There are hundreds of social sites out there so we’ve picked on four of the biggest which will get you up and running and on your way to social media success. Here is a brief outline of what each ‘kit’ covers:

Twitter

  • Help with starting an account/choosing a name (if applicable)
  • Designed/Customised Twitter Background – Make sure your Twitter Background is in line with your brand. E.g. http://twitter.com/optixsolutions
  • Download and Setup Tweetdeck – This fantastic tool helps you monitor phrases for your business and filter the useful information that you can get with Twitter, an essential for anyone serious about using this tool well
  • 1 Hour training session on the basics of Twitter – We’ll cover ‘how to get started’ – Twitter etiquette, do’s and don’ts and how to engage with others/start to build a following
  • Integration with Facebook (if applicable)
  • Do’s and Don’ts document for Twitter to take away
  • Social Media Policy for you and your staff – helps everyone understand the implications of Social Media in business and how important it is to have guides if you’re letting your staff do this on your behalf.

Facebook

  • Creation of Facebook Page for your business – we help you setup and create a business page for you to then take on and manage. E.g. http://www.facebook.com/optixsolutions
  • 1 Hour training session on the basics of Facebook – We’ll cover ‘how to get started’, Facebook etiquette and how to engage with others/start to build fans. We’ll also cover how to create events & groups
  • Integration with Twitter (if applicable)
  • Quick introduction and explanation of Facebook Pay Per Click Program
  • Do’s and Don’ts document for Facebook to take away
  • Social Media Policy for you and your staff – helps everyone understand the implications of Social Media in business and how important it is to have guides if you’re letting your staff do this on your behalf.

LinkedIn

  • Help with creation of LinkedIn profile page – we help you setup and create a LinkedIn page for you to then take on and manage
  • 1 Hour training session on the basics of LinkedIn – We’ll cover ‘how to get started’ – LinkedIn etiquette, do’s and don’ts and how to engage with others/start to build connections.
  • Integration with Twitter (if applicable)
  • Intro to LinkedIn Groups – Explanation and examples
  • Intro to LinkedIn Answers – Explanation and examples
  • Social Media Policy for you and your staff – helps everyone understand the implications of Social Media in business and how important it is to have guides if you’re letting your staff do this on your behalf.

YouTube

  • Creation of branded YouTube company channel – we design and create a YouTube channel for you to then take on and manage: E.g http://www.youtube.com/OptixSolutions
  • 1 Hour training session on the basics of YouTube – We’ll cover ‘how to get started’ – do’s and don’ts
  • SEO basics for YouTube
  • Social Media Policy for you and your staff – helps everyone understand the implications of Social Media in business and how important it is to have guides if you’re letting your staff do this on your behalf.

Contact our team today on 01392 667766 to find out more about the starter kits, and how you can apply for our limited edition offer of a FREE HD Flip Camera (Great for using with all the social media sites, especially YouTube)

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Posted in Company News, Online Marketing, Social Media | 2 Comments »

1008.10

Do your understand your brand?

Posted by Optix Solutions in Design, Online Marketing

Creating and establishing your own unique brand is a very particular and complex challenge for business.

A brand is much more than a logo. A brand is made up of multiple strands and layers, from products and packaging to customer service, and it is sometimes difficult to work out if your own understanding of your own brand bears any resemblance to that of your audience.

As your brand is all about an external perception of who you are, what you do and how you do it, you yourself are often too close to it, too embroiled in its detail, and it can help to bring someone in from outside to examine and work on it, offering a perspective that you, as the brand creator, can’t see.

At Optix Solutions we are great believers in creating industry networks and sourcing expertise from the most innovative local companies, working in areas that compliment our own.

Alder and Alder founder Jonathan Alder says: “With a new brand you start with a blank piece of paper, but with an existing brand it is often a bit like doing a jigsaw puzzle; all the pieces may be there but some help is needed to put them together in the right order.

“We have four basic touch points that form the basis of brand; communications, products and services, the people who shape the organisation and the location and environment you work in.

“For an online business the website is not only about how it communicates but it is also the location. The website has to reflect the personality of the business, be easy for the visitor to find their way around, find what they want and get the help they need.

“Social media now allows even the biggest businesses not to be faceless, but to engage in a more personal way with their customers and build loyalty and brand awareness.”

Once a brand is established Optix Solutions specialise in tailoring websites for its clients that reflect the brand, particularly in the case of a new company or product, make the website itself an integral part of the brand.

“It takes a lot of experience to successfully translate a brand into a website, the first essential being to get a feel for and understanding of the business and its customers by talking to and meeting them,” says Optix Solutions director James Dawkins.

“When you design a site there are conventions and usability considerations that have to be adhered to make it work properly. You wouldn’t put the steering wheel of a car on the roof, but beyond that everything stems from the brand, so we have to develop a really thorough understanding of what that is.”

“It’s a creative process incorporating basic elements such as matching imagery, colours and fonts, making the site as easy as possible to use and including lots of trigger and contact points.”

“But it is also about building relationships, presenting information and knowledge and selling the positive benefits of the company or the product to people genuinely interested in what they do.”

Posted in Design, Online Marketing | No Comments »

0208.10

Blog or brochure site?

Posted by Optix Solutions in Design, Development, Online Marketing, Social Media

Such is the rapid and relentless advance of online technology, it is worth recalling that it was only a matter of a decade ago that business finally acknowledged the necessity of having a decent website at all.

Brochure sites as they are known – sites that basically give the visitor a bit of information about the organisation, details of its products and services, how to buy them and who to contact – were once the standard and are still very much with us.

But for how much longer? The advent of the easily bought set up and managed blog site has redrawn the online landscape for good, fundamentally changing the services that Optix Solutions now offer clients as a result.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), or the art of getting your site noticed and ranked highly with search engines, is the catalyst behind the now firmly mainstream blogging revolution.

Combined with proactive and well thought out social media and online marketing strategies, the engagement with key audiences that a blog produces is one of the keys to SEO success.

Search engines, with Google at their head, are far more sophisticated when it comes to the types of signals and search references they pick up nowadays. They are increasingly configured to reward relevance and consistent activity.

Off the shelf blog site templates, such as those produced by WordPress, are simple to manage and allow even the smallest concerns to produce a steady stream of fresh, up to the minute content which can be targeted at key audiences.

No longer does adding a new piece of copy or an extra page require the time (and expense) of asking your web designer to take something down, put something up, and write some extra code. It can be done from any computer in a matter of minutes.

Some still think of blogging simply as writing personal thoughts or providing information on particular subjects online.

However, blog sites have become far more versatile, providing ample capacity for companies to not only write on the latest developments in their industries or business, but also include easily updatable pages containing products and services, portfolios, images and videos, case studies etc…

The combination of fresh content and the interest this can produce by prompting comments and creating dialogue with visitors, means there is a lot more noise generating from a well managed blog site than its static equivalent, and with it a much better chance of featuring prominently in search engine rankings.

So is the brochure site dead? Optix Solutions director and co-founder Alastair Banks certainly believes they are about to be consigned to the annuls of online history.

“Although brochure sites are still used by smaller businesses who simply want to advertise their services, credentials and contact details, blog sites are a more effective and dynamic means to manage a smaller, say five to ten page site.

“The advantages are enormous. You can now buy a template online for less than £50 and it isn’t hard to learn how to use the technology and content management.

“You can add pages and content and tweak bits and pieces daily rather than waiting for the designer to do it. You can also combine more conventional news with blogs or link the blog to a main website or online shop.

“Blog sites are definitely the way to go for smaller businesses, which is why at Optix Solutions we have concentrated our energies into developing carefully tailored consultancy packages which enable our customers to make the most of the potential of their blog site, instead of producing static websites.”

Posted in Design, Development, Online Marketing, Social Media | No Comments »