Creatability

Social Media Training – Feb 23rd

creatability — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 22:47:27 +0000

Top 4 Social Media Resources You Should Know About

True or false: “Every business needs to be using social networks, nowadays…”

As with everything else in business, there’s no “one size fits all” answer. If your business sells birdhouses to your local retired gardening and bird watching community and that specific group is absolutely not computer savvy, chances are they’ll think “Twitter” is the call of the Olive Warbler. If this is the case and you absolutely know it to be true for every member, you probably don’t need to use social networking.

For the rest of the world, you do!

“But social media takes so much time and there are so many sites – I don’t know what to do !” The key is to focus on the top four social media platforms and that is what we are going to do in this, the second of three seminars in the LO SO MO series, on getting your business found online.

Already know you want to attend? REGISTER NOW Admission just $5*

* to cover room cost

What you will learn:

Which 4 social media platforms to consider
Which ones YOU should focus on
How to set up accounts – the do’s and don’ts
Tools available to help you
How to manage your social media strategy

Here are the details:

WHEN:

Thursday, February 23rd, 12 noon to 1 PM

Please feel free to bring a lunch snack with you.

WHERE:

Creatability – Training Room

4695 Chabot Dr., Ste 200 (2nd floor)
Pleasanton, CA 94588
(925) 558-2282

COST: $5 per person (to cover room costs)

Seating is limited so please RSVP asap. We will repeat this seminar if demand is high

New Helpdesk launched today

creatability — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 19:39:53 +0000

Based upon customer feedback we have instigated a new Helpdesk site today.

The original helpdesk, while it worked, the ticketing system was less than satisfactory and was confusing to some clients.

Like the original it has a knowledge-base of over 60 videos to help client quickly get answers to common issues. However, its the new ticketing system that has been introduced that be most noticeable. Instead of just an email, clients now receive a trackable ticket number for each help request. Also clients can indicate the product or service that their request relates to, reducing the number of communications required and reducing the time to issues resolved.

Access the Help Desk here

Announcing IMD – our new monthly digital magazine

admin — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 17:43:57 +0000

We are happy to announce our new monthly digital magazine – the Internet Marketing Digest or IMD for short.

Each month this 30+page publication will give information about the latest trends and techniques to help businesses get the most out of their online campaigns.

Check out the first edition now!

Has your site been HACKED?

admin — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 20:20:57 +0000

What would you do if someone took over your site?

How often do you check to see if your website is still functioning properly?

There are many businesses who never check or update their site. Any website can fall foul to hackers who want to takeover your site and hosting service to send out spam email and, or use it for phishing. Either way people won’t be happy with you if they think it came from you. A client might try to visit your site and get a warning that it’s unsafe – do you think they will continue or be just leave?

… and just make things worse you also stand the chance of getting site blacklisted by Google and the other search engines. Now, not only will you lose customers but it can be difficult to get the site re-listed as safe.

Think this is not happening? We get calls regularly from clients and their referrals asking if we can can help. Fortunately the answer is almost always YES*.

We can scan the site to identify the problem and in most cases get it cleaned without even taking the site down.
We can also monitor the site for an small annual fee and catch any future attacks before it does damage to your site and your business.

So if you want to be sure your site is clean and safe contact us. We will do a free scan and send you a quote to protect your site. (Hint: it doesn’t cost as much as you might think!)

Request a Quote

If your website is an important part of your business it’s not a case of whether you can afford to do this – it’s really a case of whether you can afford NOT to!

Facebook for Business Training – 2-2-2012

admin — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 05:11:25 +0000

How to leverage Facebook’s almost 1 Billion users to grow your business

We regularly get inquiries asking us how to use Facebook.
So many in fact we decided to create a lunchtime seminar (noon- 1PM) to help businesses get to grips with Facebook, the 800 pound gorilla of Social Media.

Already know you want to attend?

UPDATE Due to the amount of material we have to share in this seminar we have decided to make it two 1 hour sessions. There is no price increase – its the same cost, but now you get 2 hours of training.
The first session will be Thursday February 2nd at Noon; the second session is TBA and will be based upon inputs from attendees. We will make sure everyone receives the training.

You hear and read it everywhere…..

“You need to implement social media into your marketing strategy”

“Why aren’t you using Facebook to grow your business?”

Probably the answer is that you don’t know how. Well now you can get answers to all those questions such as …

Should I be using Facebook for my business?
How do I set up a Facebook account for my business?
How can I integrate Facebook into my other marketing activities?
What can I put on it?
Do I have write something every day?
How do I get people to it?
How do I keep them coming back?
Can I get sales from a Facebook page?
How is it any different to my website?

By the end of this seminar you will have answers to all these questions and be able to decide if you should be using Facebook for your business and if so how to use it to increase your sales.

Who should attend?
Those involved in sales, marketing, or managing businesses of any size, looking to brand their business, increase awareness, improve customer service and retention, and grow their sales.

Here are the details

WHEN:
Session One: Thursday February 2nd 2012 from 12 noon to 1 PM
Session Two: TBA

WHERE:
Creatability Training Room
4695 Chabot Dr., Ste 200
Pleasanton, CA 94588

Tel: (925) 558-2282

Mobile Marketing Training – Nov-17

admin — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 04:08:15 +0000

Mobile Marketing for Businesses
How are you leveraging 5 Billion Phones?

More than ever before, business owners today are faced with a myriad of new and exciting ways to promote and market their products and services.

Older marketing techniques such direct mail are giving way to online marketing such as the web, social media marketing, and video marketing; the list can seem long and often confusing to the average business owner.

Already know you want to attend? RSVP NOW Admission FREE!

So what is the best, fastest, and most cost-effective way to reach the people in your local marketplace? What is the best online strategy that you can use to generate foot traffic in your place of business, create new customers, and stay connected with your existing clientele? Well, if you are looking for a bigger “bang” for your advertising buck then take a look at mobile marketing.

In this the third in our LO SO MO Series, we are going to cover the MO part: Mobile Marketing and why it’s the #1 savvy choice for business owners. Here is what we will cover:

The facts behind mobile marketing
The elements of mobile marketing
- mobile websites
- QR Codes
- SMS / Text messaging
Is mobile marketing right for your business?
Some Dos and Don’ts to consider

By the end of the session you should have a basic understanding of the elements of a mobile marketing strategy and how to get started.

Who should attend?
Any business who is selling a product or service and wants to grow their business and get ’MO’ clients.

Here are the details:

WHEN:

Thursday, November 17th, 12 noon to 1 PM

WHERE:

Pleasanton Chamber of Commerce
777 Peters Avenue
Pleasanton, CA 94566
(925) 846-5858
www.pleasanton.org

COST: Free!

Seating is limited. Please RSVP to Dawn and reference the seminar at dawn@pleasanton.org or (925)846-5858 ext.202

Social Media Training 10-27-11

admin — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 00:32:25 +0000

We held the second of our 3 training events in the LO SO MO Series today at the Pleasanton Chamber of Commerce.

With almost 30 attendees we had a great session where we covered 4 main social networks: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.

My thanks go to the Chamber of Commerce, especially Dawn Wilson and Kate D’Or for helping us organize the event that generate a lot of interest and interesting questions.

Please subscribe to our newsletter (see footer) to receive advanced warning of our upcoming training events.

Social Media Training – Oct 27th

admin — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 20:59:17 +0000

Top 4 Social Media Resources You Should Know About

True or false: “Every business needs to be using social networks, nowadays…”

For the rest of the world, you do!

Already know you want to attend? RSVP NOW Admission FREE!

What you will learn:

Which 4 social media platforms to consider
Which ones YOU should focus on
How to set up accounts – the do’s and don’ts
Tools available to help you
How to manage your social media strategy

Here are the details:

WHEN:

Thursday, October 27th, 12 noon to 1 PM

WHERE:

Pleasanton Chamber of Commerce
777 Peters Avenue
Pleasanton, CA 94566
(925) 846-5858
www.pleasanton.org

COST: Free!

Seating is limited. Please RSVP to Dawn and reference the seminar at dawn@pleasanton.org or (925)846-5858 ext.202

Creating your own website

admin — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 00:23:23 +0000

Tools and Tips to Marketing Your Business Online – Website Creation

We use many proprietary tools to analyze sites, perform keyword research and optimization, however there are a number of free tools that do a great job.

If you are feeling adventuresome then there are some free tools that can be used to edit your existing site or even create a new one.

Kompozer – Easy Web Authoring!
KompoZer is a complete web authoring system that combines web file management and easy-to-use WYSIWYG web page editing.
KompoZer is designed to be extremely easy to use, making it ideal for non-technical computer users who want to create an attractive, professional-looking web site without needing to know HTML or web coding.

Also check out …..
Many web hosting services offer website creation tools free as part of the package. These typically generate quite good looking sites but are template based and offer limited customization.

Final note…
There are many quick and easy website creation tools, HOWEVER, it’s what is behind the site that usually makes the difference to the success of a site.

That is why we offer website design that includes basic on-page optimization.

Blogging Tools

admin — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 00:22:08 +0000

Tools and Tips to Marketing Your Business Online – Website / Blogging Tools

We use many proprietary tools to analyze sites, perform keyword research and optimization, however there are a number of free tools that do a great job.

Create your Own Blog

A blog is a simple form of web site, where you can post information on an ongoing basis. They can be personal journals, business information, news – whatever you want. They can also be a great way to drive traffic to a site. Fortunately, there are some excellent free options to start your own blog.

www.wordpress.com
Takes seconds, costs nada
You can get a blog started in less time than it takes you to read this sentence. All you need is an email address. You’ll get your own WordPress.com address (like you.wordpress.com, you can switch to a custom address later if you’d like), a selection of great free and customizable designs for your blog (we call them themes), 3 gigabytes of file storage (that’s about 2,500 pictures!) and all the other great features listed here. You can blog as much as you want for free, your blog can be public to the world or private for just your friends, and our premium features are completely optional.
[Info taken directly form the wordpress.com site]

www.blogger.com
Bought by Google in 2002 blogger.com offers free blogs. Like wordpress there are tools available to you to enhance your blog.

Did you know….? the frameworks that blogs are built on have become so well developed that many websites are now built on a blogging platform.