• Stacy-Ann Hayles
• On August 1, 2012
• http://www.stacyannhayles.com

Blogging - Blogging is a surefire way to get your business noticed and probably the easiest way to establish your business/brand as an authority in it’s field. Since the blogging game is fairly new in Jamaica (the ones who do it, do a lot and the ones who don’t barely know it exists) and the blogging-for-business game is virtually non-existent, not only would you be considered a pioneer in your field but in the general world of online marketing.

Carlette DeLeon, Smile Jamaica host and tech writer, does a good job of this on her simple, clean, well laid-out website. As I said before, virtually non-existent. (PS. If you know of others, let me know).

Social media

You knew I was getting to this. There is a reason so many businesses are singing praises to social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Foursquare- they work! But only when executed effectively. Setting up a presence online is not enough and pushing advertisements through these channels is suicide. You need to constantly interact and engage fans, talking about things that matter to them. In short, businesses who become ‘friends’ with their social media fans and much morelikely to get the attention they want. And after developing a community of persons who love your brand, it’s almost like they are doing all of your work – nothing works to your favour like brand advocates. Businesses doing great at social media in Jamaica – Jamaica Pegasus, Usain Bolt’s Tracks & Records, Rough Rider Jamaica, Palace Amusement Co – to name a few.

Share information with/from others

The world doesn’t revolve around you. Make sure you acknowledge the people that came before and the people that are doing it well. If you find information elsewhere that is relevant to your business, share it with your audience. Not only will you show that you respect other people’s work, your page or blog will become a hub for great content, even if it’s not yours. Another great way to share is to guest post on other blogs and have other people relevant to your industry guest post on yours. Mamachel does guest posts on a regular basis on her blog.

Establish your home

Make sure you have one set hub of information online that you can refer persons to if they want to know more about your business. This information should be as detailed, complete and current as possible. While I recommend having your own website for this, if you are not prepared to maintain a website, the second best place for this is a Facebook Fan Page. They give you enough slots to put in any info that may be relevant to your business.

Make your avatar your billboard

Avatars are those little (generally square) images that you see on most social media sites and website hosting services such a Blogger or WordPress. Many underestimate the power of these little images. By using your business/brand logo in these images, you are increasing brand awareness and recognition each time you tweet, post a Facebook message, check in on Foursquare or make a comment on someone’s blog. It is important to note that if you are using this approach, make sure the logo fits well in the avatar and that it can be seen/read clearly. Also, be careful of brand association. If you or your partner/employee speak about drastically unrelated topics (read: dirty), you may not want your brand to be associated with your personal account.