Week #12

Well when considering all other marketing tools, you also must consider in for budget such as can I afford this or that or will I have to settle for free. So as for my business, I don;t honestly see a need yet to be fancy with my marketing tools. At least the expensive ones. There are tools, advanced ones, for twitter which help either in searching just in general or for more for business type things. As I've seen with some business twitters or even twitters not necessarily related to business they have apps which can track customers habits and what they click on and like or dislike. By using simple habits and specialized apps like this I feel I could confidentially keep track of my business and it's customers and make sure they don't complain or have issues that I can't help them with.

Week #11 Using social media for free

You can easily, to an extent for free. To start with you can have a business Facebook page and a twitter page and so much more. Mainly by using basic things as a Facebook business page linked up to a twitter page to allow cross posting. You could also set up a business YouTube or Tumblr and have it post to your twitter which might in turn post to your Facebook. Simple sites like these could help boost your business and gain more customers. I know that xbox has a twitter support page, but if they use it for free that I'm not sure off but from what I know twitter is a free site

week #11 Ads

As far as ads are concerned, they can be useful no matter what platform your using. When video game companies like Game Stop use ads, as east from what I've seen, they use normally only two form of advertising, maybe three. The first type of advertising they use is a weekly paper catalog of sorts. This way they can allow you to see whats new each week from sun-sat and also with a web based email newsletter. This way even if your not subscribed to a actual paper newspaper you can still receive email newsletters. However you have to be subscribed to their email, to receive the letters.  So as for my business Id follow the same path of a weekly, possibly every other week to save a little and of course and email newsletter sent out weekly. But lets not also forget a comercial or two, short ones, about my business. If we ever opened a store. Now as far as Facebook is concerned, I think my business, at least in the beginning, would do fine with just a business Facebook business page. With twitter I could cross post, in a way, to both the twitter and Facebook, never missing a chance to let my clients in on the latest video game whatever it may be. Any ads I'd make, I'd make more twitter friendly and post them to my twitter knowing that my Facebook clients would also receive as well.

Week #10 Newsletter

For a newsletter it would be hard for me, as the owner of a video game businesses to come up with one but after thinking it over there are a few parts I would use. First off I have to remember this is a video game business and that text alone won't do it, I'd need images as well. When I would send this newsletter would have to be only monthly, unless we were having a special event or maybe more then one. I would divide the news letter into three to five sections. The 1st would be the table of contents because without this, no one knows where anything is. The second section would be for new things, whether they be for games or consoles or parts ect. My third piece would be to remind everyone about whats currently happening and some old favorites that seem to be very popular. The last part, the 4th piece is where I'd bring up old items and ads for other companies/places to find parts, pieces, games ect that I might not have. Of course Id include photos with most of this. Gamers for instant don't just like to read but they also enjoy the visuals. Let's them know what they are getting into gaming wise. If I were to add a fifth section it would include maybe a section of favorite photos of peoples collections from around the world.

Week #9 catagoires

When using categories it is important to only use them when needed. That being said if it is needed, use them in a manner which not only keeps you organized but also in a way so any potential customers, businesses ect don't get confused and receive mixed signals. For my business, Video Game Haven, categories are something that should be used but only a few. The categories I would use are: Related Businesses, Gamers and Business Gamers. When mentioning any of the, or all of the categories, I'd be very clear and leave a little legend or explanation if you will of what they mean. Related Businesses to describe posts related to mainly other companies like Sony, Microsoft, Gamestop ect. Gamers when I'm mainly referring to customers that buy to play and Business Gamers when I wish to post and have it be related to each "side". By using these categories, I'd be able to keep everyone organized and hopefully attract more business via word of mouth or social networking.

Week #9 Being Personal

When writing a blog, it is important to know when to be personal and when not to be personal. Most of the time, especially for a business blog. You should try to leave personality out of it, unless it can help. For instance if you need to put in some personal experience with a product or service. Otherwise personal stuff should be left off a blog. However if your blog is more of a business that's helping with personal issues and such like one say geared towards Aspergers adults and children then your blog can include more personal issues and experiences. In the end it's geared more towards what exactly your blogging about and what your service or product is.

Week # 8 Twitter

When looking for people to follow for my Video Game Haven account I already knew several businesses and potential customers I could follow. When using the advanced key word searches I did two types of searches. The first search I used mainly to find people I knew as gamers and who could benefit from a business as such. The second search I used keywords, mainly usernames I knew, of gaming company's, help lines and the like to find the rest of who I would like to follow as my business.Now as far as lists go, I crated two. One that I called "Potential Customers" and the other I called "Helpful businesses,"  I created both of these lists not only so I can keep track of everybody but also to keep track of customers only and businesses only so I don't get confused. By writing lists your organizing your twitter more and trning what could be a jumbled mess into something organized and helpful. The best time to post a tweet would be between 9-6 when most people often check social media.