Book Review: Marketing Shortcuts for the Self-Employed

When Patrick Schwerdtfeger contacted PMC through our blog to offer an advance copy of his new book, Marketing Shortcuts for the Self-Employed, I immediately took the opportunity to speak with him. A brief phone conversation led me to learn interesting things about Patrick; earlier he had self-published a book, Webify Your Business, and his new one is essentially an updated version. His first book received such great reviews that John Wiley and Sons, Inc. picked it up and published it. Because Patrick was very down-to-earth, educated in entrepreneurship, and extremely willing to network, I have decided to write a book review for Marketing Shortcuts for the Self-Employed. This book shares valuable information, tricks, and advice for any self-started business.

Social Media Spotlight: Olejo Stores

For today’s edition of Social Media Spotlight, we are highlighting an e-commerce business that has used to social media to build brand awareness, create relationships with customers, and promote products. Olejo Stores was started in 2008 as a way to cater to specialty shopping categories online. Olejo Stores operates specialty home and house ware websites include LatexMattress.com, USBeds.com, MemoryFoammMattress.com, and AirBeds.com. Each site caters to a specialty “boutique” product that can be purchased on the site. Olejo Stores currently has 25 stores under its umbrella, and is expanding rapidly into new product categories, which will debut in the coming months. Let’s find out what has worked for Olejo Stores in terms of social media, and what hasn’t. The Marketing Director at Olejo Stores gives us an inside look at their strategy…

Driving Sales vs. Building Brand Loyalty Through Social Media

What does your company use social media outlets for? Are you trying to obtain a larger fan base than your competitors in the social sphere, jumping on the band-wagon to keep up, or simply trying to increase your sales? If any of these options are your company’s driving factor to having a social media presence, you are going to have to reevaluate your goals. At the end of the day, we all know the main objective is to produce more money for your business. However, social media should be used in a way that will engage your consumers to a point where they will become loyal to your brand. Brand loyalty is more valuable than any one-time sale you made through a tweet or a promotional blog post.

How could a Facebook page produce this thing called brand loyalty? It all comes down to the content you create for your social media sites. By constantly posting discount information, links to your company sites, or blogs about your product, you are overlooking the most important substance: engagement.