By now you have heard that Facebook is a great vehicle to promote your business in Social Media. But of course there are so many variable to consider, and so many unknowns in local business owners many of us still don't take the time to get stated.
The Team over at Digital Marketer have developed some really good tips and advice for marketing on many digital platforms. Yes they sell their services, but unlike many in the industry who ar writing about this stuff they actually are making money with it and practicing what they preach. Check out Matt Coleman take on Facebook Call to Action Buttons.

Valet Marketing today announced the launch of a new hyper local targeted media company in its portfolio of audience  development and marketing channels.
Sierra REC Media is targeted to business owners who are branding their products and services to the visiting  and local recreational crowds that enjoy the Sierra Mountain Range from Lassen volcanic National Park to the North, Reno / Lake tahoe Region in the Central Sierra and through Mono county, Yosemite National park & Sequoia National Parks to the south.
Supported with anew news service sierrarecmagazine.com , Sierra Rec Media will use digital distributon methods as it's core funtion for developing niche audience profiles and marketing opportunities. 
" Our goal is to create a unique and custom nimble marketing program for all our partners. Realizing that the audience and the timing is crucial to their marketing success" ~ Charlie Pankey Ceo of Valet Marketing and Sierra REC Media.
The Attached  media kit will help local businesses get a glimpse of the direction  and targeting opportunities available through Sierra Rec Media.
For more information please contact us at 775-392-1289.

Join us for Google Partners Connect
We're hosting a live stream Google event on February 11th, and you're invited to join us.

It's a great opportunity to learn about how to grow your business from Google experts. We'll provide refreshments—all we need is you.

Please RSVP as soon as possible, space is filling up.  Click Here to Register

February 11, 2015 
9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. PST
Please arrive early for snacks and refreshments.

Valet Marketing is a Local Marketing agency in The Carson Valley that specializes in 1 to 1 custom agency work for their clients. From SEO and Web Redesign services to AD Word and Social Media Development plans Valet Marketing will coach your business on how to stay on task to your goals in 2015.  CEO - Charlie Pankey has over 20 years of local marketing expertise. Our goal at Valet Marketing is to help you reach the right audience at the right time with the right message and tools.  Call us today to discuss how we might help you in 2015 be more effecient with your marketing channels moving forward.. 

Have you sat down this month and started thinking about your marketing goals in 2015? Which target audiences are you going to focus on and when? which channels are you going to use and when? Are you going to need help in order to reach your goals in 2015?

These questions never really change over the years but the solutions and options definitely continue to move forward and expand. In the last few weeks with my accounts the topic has been on building our content and marketing plans for 2015.  Scheduling out the topics, the frequency of content and the channels we are going to use.
Here are 3 tips to help you in making your 2015 marketing plan if you have not already started.

1. Hire good help and focus on revenue production. Far too many small business owners are not doing the proper marketing because hey are trying to do t them selves and just don't have the time to do it efficiently or properly. There are many companies now offering social media and digital marketing services that allow a business owner a bring on a media consultant that will help them reach their individual goals in business for under $500 a month. Small business owners need to stay focused on revenue production & local connections. Instead of focusing on your content and marketing, get a professional to become part of your trusted circle of business people and turn them lose.  
2. Use the right tools - If you are diving into social media marketing this year, take a look at the tools that are out their to make you more efficient and that can help with lead generation. Tools such as Hootsuite can help you organize the services and make keeping up on multiple channels quick and easy daily process. Plus if you hire a professional they can either join your team on a service like Hootsuite or you can put then in charge of the service. Another of our favorite is Sniply. If part of your content plan is to share informative articles or websites from your industry, then Sniply is a must have. This service will help you bring readers back from this trusted source back to your website or landing page, which is where we want readers to be in the first place. Content Planing documents are a must have. No longer in Social media or digital marketing can you jut be reactive. You must sit down and plan a content strategy. Yes re-tweeting, sharing others content etc.. can still be done, but adding a focus and direction to your digital marketing efforts with a simple plan will make you efficient, will allow your readers to gauge your value in the connection to their life  and make you lok and fee like an expert.
3. Focus on your websites mobile experience. You would have to have your head in the sand if you don't know that majority of your website traffic is and will be coming from a mobile device in 2015 and beyond. Getting your website mobile friendly is only the beginning, but it is so important.  Mobile responsive designed websites are getting easier and more affordable. So there is little reason not to update your site ASAP. Secondly, in the world of digital media if your site is not changing and offering new information to the consumer regularly in 2015 then our business will be loosing relevance daily. It wont matter if you are a plumber or a florist ~ A Lawyer or a manufacture. the world of digital demands tat we be active, that our communication channels reflect the modern technology and is represented well on the readers favorite device. Reality is, that this is not that hard and it can be very affordable for a small business. A Small business owner can have a mobile responsive website for s little as $100-$1000 with a little research depending on their ability to help in the design or launch. Adding additional mobile strategies to your website will become important, and your marketing professional should be able to help you with that, but for now just make sure your website is ready for their visit.

In Northern Nevada, the channels for marketing are continue to develop. because of our older generations that are just starting to get involved digitally, traditional medias like newspaper, TV, radio and magazine are still relevant marketing options. But things on the digital side re growing. Reputation still matters but consumers are wiling to search out local experts on social media, blogs, web services, in doing business locally. Your business needs to be represented in their favorite channels and devices. Even if it is only a billboard directing the consumer back to your website or another channel. At least you are acknowledging that you see them and their channel and you would like to connect elsewhere.

Make 2015 the ear that you get your digital solutions in order and start to provide your customers an experience digitally that fits their lifestyle.

 

Valet Marketing is a full service agency serving Northern Nevada since 2008. CEO Charlie Pankey has over 20 years of traditional and Digital Media experience in helping local business owners build creative solutions to attracting local customers  and building new business growth.

E-Pub 3  App Development Program for Magazines

The Development of highly engaging, interactive Apps for magazines is something often spoken of in publishing circles, but rarely seen. Valet Marketing in excited to announce a new partnership with Zoomifier Publishing in Pleasanton, CA in the launch of sales and training efforts for magazine publishers across the nation.

Introducing the E-Pub 3 Magazine App experience from Zoomifier Publishing. In partnership with Zoomifier Publishing, Valet Marketing now provides a highly affordable, development and training program for magazine publishers looking to create an interactive highly engaging magazine experience on tablets and mobile devices through a branded app.

Understanding the need for magazine publishers to move from basic PDF flip editions on mobile apps and web platforms to a more engaged, streaming effect for their readers, Zoomifier Publishing earlier this summer started changing their digital platforms from a traditional PDF format to the new E-Pub 3 Digital platform.  The new Zoomifier Publishing platform provides publishers to easily add interactive video, story streams, slide shows, Gallery images and more to their current content, and in most cases without the addition of extra staff or equipment.

Valet Marketing, based out of Minden Nevada has been helping publishers in newspaper and magazine publishing for the last two years develop app programs that introduce their readers do digital branded experiences. We are excited to see the engaged solution that Zoomifier has created and believe they have come to the market with a very affordable solution for our clients.
For more information or a demonstration of new E-Pub 3 Digital APP Solution  contact Valet Marketing at 775-392-1289. 

Carson City, Nevada --  Northern Nevada Development Authority (NNDA), Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada (EDAWN), and Nevada Industry Excellence (NVIE) have partnered again to bring the 2014 Manufacturing in Nevada Conference, an official 150th event, to Northern Nevada. This year's conference will be held on October 1-2, 2014, at John Ascuaga's Nugget in Sparks. The event has been expanded to accommodate an Unmanned Aircraft Systems/Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAS/UAV) conference with some of the field's top experts, as well as showcasing exhibit booths both days. One of the highlighted exhibit booths is the Challenger Learning Center, where participants can experience simulated space exploration in a digital dome planetarium, sponsored by NASA. All exhibit booths are open and free to the public.


The Manufacturing Conference will address topics all manufacturers consider vital to the pulse of their company; Operational Excellence, Human Resources, and Business Growth and the UAS/UAV Conference will address topics such as Value Supply Chain, Workforce Supply and Demand, and Markets for Unmanned Aerial Systems.

Keynote speaker, Joe Quinn, Senior Director of Public Affairs and Government Relations at Walmart in Bentonville, AR., will be speaking on good manufacturing practices, the stagnation in middle-class working Americans, competitive lower labor cost, and the process of making United States companies globally competitive.

Keynote speaker, John E. Nelson, Workforce Specialist, for ACT in the western states, will be speaking on his direct experience with companies and state agencies on the implementation of testing programs such as Work Keys to evaluate both current employees and applicants to assist with highly cost effective ways to put the best people in the appropriate position. 

Keynote Speaker, Paul McFarlane, Lead Flight Director, Challenger Learning Center of Northern Nevada is a National Merit Scholar, 4.0 Herz Gold Medal Winner, and has trained at the Challenger Center, NASA Houston and as far afield as Oxford University and the University of London. McFarlane is responsible for Challenger Center programs, development, and technology for our state, while Challenger Center and will be speaking on how the Challenger Center is helping prepare America's next generation of scientists, engineers, and industry leaders. 
 

The Sponsors helping to make this possible are: Amerijet, American AVK, Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority, NV Energy, Southwest Gas, Greater Nevada Credit Union, Cushman Wakefield, First Independent Bank, Nevada State EB-5 Center, and Anthem.  A very special thanks goes to Nevada Manufacturing Association and JA Nugget.

For more information and to register for the conference or reserve an exhibit booth, please go to www.ManufacturingNV.com or call Jojo L. Myers at 775.883.4413  ext. 130

Consumer trust, it is a key variable in our marketing efforts. Is the channel I choose to market my business or services considered reputable and trusted by consumers.  All of us understand that word of mouth advertising although often elusive, is the most dynamic marketing any of us can achieve. However recent surveys suggest that we don't trust our friends like we used to.

According to a survey we found at Statista.com Americans are starting turn a sharp ear toward personal recommendations. 8% drop in consumer trust since 2011. This study does not say why, but is it to much of a stretch to believe the proliferation of social media sharing and promotion have started to erode our confidence in our fiends and communities ability to judge what is good or bad for us?

A further look at this study finds that Word of mouth is the only category with a negative growth pattern in consumer trust. Now to be fair 82% of people still believe it is the most trusted source of information which is 15% higher then the next group of trusted resources (online Directories and Newspaper editorial content).

It is obvious that no matter the size of your company or focus of your brand, just having a website is no longer enough. Building Mobile strategy and adjusting your mobile touch points are critical for separation of your brand moving forward.  As user habits and application data is recorded on all these mobile devices, it is intuitive for us to realize that by changing our brands look, usability and functions for each device will be advantageous in creating stickyness and appeal. 
 

In creating Digital Campaigns I find many businesses still use traditional marketing solutions in design. With the revolutionary advances in mobile every thing we do in digital including ads, emails, interstitial etc need to be designed with the mobile user in mind.
I found this tip sheet today on the AARP web solutions page and just thought it was worth sharing.

Nice work AARP.