While many customers look at your website for key information (location, hours, how to contact you), there are other people who would like to know a little more about WHO you are and WHAT you stand for. If you can engage them in one of the following ways, you might stand a better chance of making a sale.

Humor
A little can go a long way – and it is best to underuse this than overuse it. Lean towards the light humor, especially if it reveals something about your approach to life or your personality. A good example of that can be found on the home page of Higinbotham’s Bed and Breakfast http://www.higinbothams.com/. The first page begins by describing owner Mary Jo Higinbotham  in the first paragraph and then moves to her husband and their property.
It reads, “Jim, her willing but kitchen-averse husband, has renovated the house over a 3-year period with the help from a variety of experts.” The sentence is designed to give many married couples a chuckle of recognition of the sorts of divisions of duties that are shared in a marriage. She loves the kitchen, he hates it. He handled the renovations but recognized his limitations and relied on the experts.

Accessibility
In your contact information, it is important to give as much information as possible. Directions to your location are wonderful – as is a link to a mapping site like Google maps. If you can take phone calls on either a landline or a cell phone, and are willing to give both numbers, just seeing them both on the website can let a customer know that you really care about hearing from them. If you are often with clients or otherwise unavailable, a promise to return phone calls within 24 hours can place you head and shoulders above the rest. Just BE CAREFUL to only make that pledge if you can meet it. A broken promise is worse than no promise.

Photographic Images/Videos
These can do so much. Once a customer sees the landscapes at Beech Springs Farm http://www.beechspringsfarm.com, they want to jump in the car and go visit. But the note that the farm is only open to public by appointment tells the customer that yes, they would love to see you, but yes they do have too much work to stop and visit with drive-by visitors.
Images can also subtly convey messages. On the McIlhenny Banner website, for instance, http://www.mcilhennybanners.com, the first image shows President Obama standing in front of a banner at Arizona State University. It shows that the work done by the Gettysburg company gets to be associated with some important people and important places. 

One of the best ways to harness Twitter is by participating in chats, scheduled hashtag discussions that focus on specific topics. Small businesses can utilize chats to develop a social media plan, discuss brand strategy, and take advantage of free legal advice.

Here is a list of chats for small businesses. To join the conversation, search the hashtag at Twitter during the chat’s scheduled time. You can also use a Twitter-client such as TweetChat orTweetDeck.

1. #bizforum. Each Wednesday #bizforum provides a place where people with varying points of view on trending business-related topics can present those views and debate the pros and cons with other business leaders. Time: Wednesdays at 8 p.m. Eastern U.S. Time.
   
2. #Blogchat. Founded by @MackCollier, #Blogchat is a weekly discussion to help you improve your blogging results. Co-hosts frequently join the conversation. The popular chat also streams at live events. Time: Sundays at 8 p.m. Central U.S. Time.
   
3. #BrandChat. #BrandChat focuses on brand development. Brand themes for each week explore big businesses, non-profits, small businesses, personal brands, and general information and open-chats. Time: Wednesdays at 8 a.m. Pacific U.S. Time.
   
4. #CustServ. Hosted by @MarshaCollier and @JeffreyJKingman, #CustServ is a weekly discussion on customer service for all organizations, large or small. Time: Tuesdays at 9:00 p.m. Eastern U.S. Time.
   
5. #CXO. #CXO is a weekly discussion on customer experience optimization for professionals and enthusiasts. Time: Mondays at 12 p.m. Eastern U.S. Time.
   
6. #DIYchat. The #DIYchat is a discussion for those with do-it-yourself businesses. Entrepreneurs and creative visionaries have no shortage of ideas, but they often need help creating a master plan for accomplishing their biggest goals. Time: First Thursday of the month, 7 to 9 p.m. Eastern U.S. Time.
   
7. #HBRchat. Hosted by Harvard Business Review, #HBRchat presents three questions related to a topic raised in a recent article, blog post or other type of content. HBRchat participants are invited to share their thoughts, ideas and opinions. Time: Thursdays at 1:00 p.m. Eastern U.S. Time.
   
8. #InfluenceChat. Hosted by Alan Berkson, #InfluenceChat discusses influence and related issues. The InfluenceChat blog posts a variety of related articles, as well as chat tweets and topics. Time: Tuesdays at 12 p.m. Eastern U.S. Time.
   
9. #Innochat. Each Thursday, #Innochat presents a lively, informative and inspiring discussion on innovation. Guest moderators discuss innovations in product development, brand management, and more. Time: Thursdays at 12:00 p.m. Eastern U.S. Time.
   
10. #KloutChat. Klout, the company that measures your influence, now hosts #KloutChat. The chat is an ongoing conversation about influence measurement and social impact. Time: First Wednesday of every month at 6 p.m. Eastern U.S. Time.
    
11. #Legaltweetmeet. If you are a small business owner, chances are you have legal questions.#Legaltweetmeet is a chat that allows business owners and the general public to take advantage of free business and legal advice from Kendrick Law Practice LLC. Time: Thursdays at 8 p.m. Eastern U.S. Time.
12. #LinkedInChat. Every Tuesday night, #LinkedInChat explores way to utilize and leverage yourLinkedIn business network. The chat sessions are for all types of LinkedIn users, from brand developers to business lead hunters. Time: Tuesdays at 8 p.m. Eastern U.S. Time.
13. #MMchat. Hosted by @JeffAshcroft, Marketer Monday chat, #MMchat, features a special guest expert every week, as it explores marketing and social media marketing. Time: Mondays at 8:00 p.m. Eastern U.S. Time.
    
14. #nfiblive. Hosted by @NFIB, an association of small businesses, #nfiblive is a webinar on small business topics, from legal and tax advice to operations information, to help you run your business better. Time: Second and fourth Wednesday of the month at 12:00 p.m. Eastern U.S. Time.
15. #ProdChat. Productivity Chat, #ProdChat, is an hour-long discussion for productivity enthusiasts and those looking to improve their personal productivity, share, and connect with one another.Time: Second and fourth Wednesday of the month at 1:00 p.m. Eastern U.S. Time.
16. #SmallBizChat. The focus of #SmallBizChat is to end small business failure by helping business owners succeed as they start and grow their small businesses. It focuses on emerging entrepreneurs who are less than five years in business. Time: Wednesdays at 8 p.m. Eastern U.S. Time.
17. #smbiz. Each Tuesday night #smbiz is an open chat where small businesses get answers from expert panel members and other small business owners. Meet virtually and help each other out with issues you face on a daily basis. Time: Tuesdays at 8 p.m. Eastern U.S. Time.
18. #SMChat. Wednesday afternoons, #SMCHAT explores topics on the evolution of social media. Show up with your ideas, and jump into the question-and-answer session. Users can also suggest weekly chat topics on the chat’s blog. Time: Wednesdays at 1 p.m. Eastern U.S. Time.
    
19. #SMManners. Social Media Manners chat is a weekly conversation to bring back civility and charm to online communications. #SMManners will help you learn social media etiquette, so that you may develop sustainable relationships and lasting brand presence. Time: Tuesdays at 10 p.m. Eastern U.S. Time.
    
20. #smmeasure. Co-hosted by @marketwire and @sysomos, #smmeasure covers social media and the analytics that surround it. Time: Thursdays at 12 p.m. Eastern U.S. Time.
    
21. #SMOchat. Discuss social media lessons learned, successful tips, and how to optimize and achieve better results. Participants also suggest future topics. #SMOchat is hosted by@Crowdbooster. Time: Tuesdays 12 p.m. Pacific U.S. Time.
    
22. #SocialChat. Every Monday night, #SocialChat discusses a variety of topics surrounding social media marketing. A featured guest is in the hot seat. You ask the questions and contribute to the conversation. Time: Mondays at 9:00 p.m. Eastern U.S. Time.
    
23. #SocialMedia. Every Tuesday #SocialMedia discusses the business of social media, with industry leaders moderating weekly topics. Time: Tuesdays at 12 p.m. Eastern U.S. Time.
    

     · By SIG UELAND

So you think you are not an artist? Not surprising, according to one of the top designers at Hallmark Cards. Gordon McKenzie tells a story about visiting schools and getting the same answer, over and over, when he asked students to raise their hands if they were artists. In kindergarten and first grade classes, EVERY hand went up. By second grade, only about three-fourths raised their hands. By third grade, only a few held their hands high and by sixth grade, NO ONE had a hand in the air.
 
This does not omen well in a world where designers are key to the transmission of messages.
Daniel Pink, author of “A Whole New Mind”, says design is a combination of utility and significance. He says, “A graphic designer must whip up a brochure that is easy to read. That’s utility. But at its most effective, her brochure must also transmit ideas or emotions that words themselves cannot convey. That’s significance. A furniture designer must craft a table that stands up properly and supports its weight (utility). But the table must also possess an aesthetic appeal that transcends functionality (significance)."
 
Two graduates of the Rhode Island School of Design took this awareness of significance to a whole new level when they founded www.airbnb.com In five years, their startup has grown to a company reporting $500 million in transactions. It allows homeowners to rent their spare rooms and has been called the world’s hottest hotel chain.
 
They did many thinks “backwards”:

• They did not start with a business plan; they started with an idea and designed a package to hold it.
  
• They did not focus on sales generation; they focused on helping customers get better images of the rooms they had to rent.
  
• They dealt with a marketing nightmare (a client’s home was ransacked by a guest) by introducing a $50,000 liability guarantee.
  

So if you are NOT a designer like Airbnb founders Joe Gebbia and Paul Graham, make sure that the designer you hire is someone who “gets” your vision and your product. 

It’s no surprise that Twitter headed the pack in Fast Company’s list of Top 10 Media for 2012. And it is a no-brainer that “The New York Times” is in the top three. But Red Bull as number two? How can an energy drink be on the same court as those other two giants?
Easy – creativity and a company founder who “knew that success would be in how you market the product as much as the product itself,” according to Red Bull Media House managing director Werner Brell.

Yes, it is important to have a good product, but having the right materials and media can provide the energy to catapault a company into the big time. One of the things that Red Bull Media does religiously is capture images of every event and project they sponsor or support. Remember the old saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words”? In today’s world of social media and visual representations, it is not enough to have a good logo or an interesting website. Companies that document their successes (and maybe even their failures!) along the way can SHOW potential customers what they have to offer.