You can’t control what’s being said about you online, and that can be worrisome for businesses. But you CAN help influence the conversation.

Here are some ways you can build a positive online reputation for your business:

• Blog. A blog can have many benefits, including helping with search engine optimization (SEO). But it’s also a way for you to provide customers and prospects with useful information that will make them see you as a helpful resource. You can also seek out guest blogging opportunities with influential blogs related to your business or region.
  
  
• Ask for reviews. Ask your happy customers to provide a review on one or two online review sites such as Yelp, Google Maps or Citysearch. Make it easy by emailing them your request with links to the sites after you complete an order. 
  
  
• Use social media. Set up professional accounts for your business on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google Plus. Focus on engaging your followers with information, video and pictures they will find interesting and valuable.

Taking these steps to create helpful content about your company will go a long way in building goodwill and a positive online reputation.

Do you have a strategy for building a positive online reputation? Please share your tips in the comments!

Check out the first episode of our new “PromoMatting Logo Mats — Community Outreach” series on YouTube, a little spoof on “The Office” that shows the fun side of our company. Enjoy, and please leave a comment to let us know what you think!

Realtors need long-lasting, memorable promotional items, and custom floor mats are the perfect fit. In fact, there are several ways your realtor clients can benefit from floor mats

• Entrance mats with the agency’s logo add a professional look to the office while keeping floors clean and safe.
• Outdoor welcome mats are a great thank-you gift for clients. New homeowners will remember the realtor every time they step through the door, and be more likely to provide a referral or repeat business. And commercial clients will appreciate an entrance mat or water-control mat that keeps floors clean and safe while featuring their logo.
• Counter mats with contact info are a great marketing tool for realtors who use referral partners such as local retailers and restaurants.

Be sure to check out our past posts on selling floor mats to schools and banks, too!

What type of client would you like to start selling custom floor mats to? Let us know in the comments and we’ll provide tips in an upcoming post!

PromoMatting offers two environmentally friendly custom door mats.

Our Cocoa customized mat is made from all-natural coconut husk fiber with a vinyl backing. It can be used indoors or outdoors in areas with moderate traffic, and is available in custom sizes.

We also offer a synthetic version, the Cocoa Eco mat. It’s made from 94% recycled materials, including a recycled rubber backing. The very durable solution-dyed polypropylene fiber won’t shed and resists mildew, mold and stains. Like our Cocoa mat, Cocoa Eco is available in custom sizes.

And all of our custom door mats are made right here in the USA, reducing the environmental impact of shipping long distances.

Help your clients show some love to their floors — and the environment. Contact us for details today!

Flocked mats have precise, sharp images. Here’s how a PromoMatting flocked logo mat is made:

1. We make a screen to reproduce the logo.
2. We screen print colored adhesive onto the mat, then apply the flock. The fibers are electrostatically charged, causing them to stand up vertically when they are propelled into the adhesive. This causes the logo to be slightly raised and gives it a velvety feel.
3. The mat is put in a drying room for six hours so the adhesive can cure. During the curing a chemical process called cross-linking occurs, bonding the logo and mat together permanently.
4. After the mat is dry, we vacuum it and pass it to Quality Control for inspection.

PromoMatting flocked mats can be used indoors or outdoors and are perfect for entrance mats. And with their clean, crisp images flocked logo mats are a great branding tool for your clients. Contact us to learn more!

Voicemail doesn’t have to be a dead-end, though. We at PromoMatting have put together some tips for making voicemail messages work for you:

• Be prepared. Write out a short but effective message before you call. If possible, mention any connections you have — a referral, mutual acquaintances, or a conference you both attended.
  
  
• Include a call to action. Offer a key piece of information, free report, or another compelling reason to call you back. Just be careful to not give them enough information to make a decision without calling.
  
  
• Use the person’s first name twice. Any more than that will sound unnatural, as will using their last name.
  
  
• Mention your phone number twice. State it slowly and clearly.
  
  
• Keep the message short and make a key point within the first five to 10 seconds.
  
  
• Practice, practice, practice. Practice your message until it sounds natural, not like you’re reading it. Be professional, but let your personality shine through, too. You want to come across as genuine and personable. It may sound corny, but smiling while you’re talking on the phone really works.
  
  
• Don’t call at odd hours. Recipients will suspect that you were trying to avoid talking with them directly.
  
  
• Always leave a message. Don’t hang up and hope to reach a live person next time – it’s not likely to happen.
  
  
• Don’t take it personally if your calls aren’t returned. With today’s increasing workloads, many people don’t have time to return calls. Craft a new message that gives them another compelling reason to call you back, and then follow up.
  
  
• Be ready to reach a live person. If you’re making a lot of calls, voicemail can become rote. Make sure you’re ready in case someone actually answers!

Experts recommend leaving three voicemail messages and sending one or two e-mails over the course of a month (provided you have permission to e-mail them, of course). Anything beyond that can come across as too aggressive, but you can stay in touch by periodically sending an article or other information the recipient may find useful.

Hope to see you there!

Whether you’re active on all the major social media networks or don’t have a website, this is one step you can’t skip. Because whether or not you’re active online, your customers and prospects are. And there’s a good chance they’re talking about you.

Today’s prospects are increasingly turning to the Internet to learn about companies and make purchasing decisions. The explosion of blogs and sites with user-generated content, such as review sites like Yelp and Citysearch, has made this easier than ever. Companies need to stay on top of what’s being said about them so that they can respond quickly and appropriately.

The first step is to set up Google Alerts, an easy and free tool. Go to www.google.com/alerts and enter the keywords and terms you want to track, such as your business name, your competitors’ names, and key industry terms. Google will email you whenever one of these terms is mentioned online.

The second step is to have a plan for how you will respond to both positive and negative comments. If someone posts a positive review or comment about your business, a quick response will show that you value feedback and are listening to your customers.

For example, if someone writes, “Promotional Company A was extremely helpful in getting my rush order filled on a very tight deadline,” you can respond by saying, “Thanks! We appreciate your business and your feedback. We take pride in fast turnarounds for our customers.”

If someone posts a negative comment, you can demonstrate that you care about customer service by posting a thoughtful response. Say that you’re sorry they had this experience and that you’d like an opportunity to fix it, then provide your contact info and encourage them to contact you directly.

You can also find opportunities for new business by using Google Alerts to monitor what people are saying about your competitors. Let’s say someone posts that your competitor surprised them with unexpected charges at the end of their order. You could respond by saying that your company has a no-hidden-fee policy and provide a link to your website.

Once you’re following these steps, you can also work to proactively build your reputation online. You can do this as part of your ongoing social media strategy. We’ll discuss this in an upcoming post.

Are you monitoring your online reputation? What steps or tools do you find helpful? Please let us know in the comments!

Here’s the schedule:

Monday, 3/19 – Montreal
Tuesday, 3/20 – Ottawa
Wednesday, 3/21 – Toronto
Thursday, 3/22 – Burlington

Hope to see you there!

Here are 10 easy and low-cost marketing ideas for promotional product distributors:

1. Contact customers who haven’t purchased from you in 12 – 24 months. Let them know how they can benefit from any new products and services you’ve added. You can also offer a discount or other special offer if they place an order within a certain time frame

2. Say thank-you to your active clients. This can take the form of a quick personalized email, phone call, handwritten note, or helpful article. Consider sending your top accounts a nice thank-you gift or exclusive offer.

3. Find ways to stay on your prospects’ radar. This may be monthly email blasts, quarterly newsletters or weekly blog posts. Make sure your content is informative and helpful, and not just a sales pitch.

4. Use direct mail. It may seem old-school, but it works. You can send out a postcard, flyer or sales letter highlighting a special promotion, new product or key advantage you offer.

5. Ask happy clients for feedback and use their testimonials throughout your marketing materials, including your website and brochures.

6. Share client success stories through social media or your blog or newsletter.

7. Solicit referrals. Whenever you complete an order, ask the customer to refer you to a colleague if they were satisfied with your service.

8. Enter an industry or business award contest. This can be a great way to get some free publicity. It can also get you thinking outside the box, which often leads to new ideas and initiatives that can drive sales!

9. Don’t overlook what’s worked in the past. With all the focus on the latest and greatest marketing methods, it can be easy to ignore the tried and true efforts that have paid off before.

10.  Be a thought leader. Write articles that demonstrate your expertise and contact the editors of your local paper and business publications to see if they’re interested in running them. You can also use the articles on your website and social media outlets.

What low-cost marketing efforts have worked for you? Please share in the comments!