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Research shows 41% – 46% of companies using Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and company blogs actually gain new customers from that method of online marketing:

• Twitter – 41%
• LinkedIn – 41%
• Facebook – 44%
• Blogging – 46%

See the entire April 2010 report by HubSpot.

You can link your blog, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn accounts so that you don’t need to separately add new posts to each website when you write a new blog or post. There are features and applications allow you to automate the addition of new articles/posts to all four websites with one click.

Two Simple Methods to Link Facebook to Twitter and Twitter to LinkedIn:

• Link Facebook Posts to Twitter: Link your Facebook posts to your Twitter account by logging into your Facebook account, then go to http://www.facebook.com/twitter, and then click the button that links your Facebok account to your Twitter account, then log into Twitter and you’re done!
• Link Twitter Tweets to LinkedIn: To link your Twitter account posts to your LinkedIn page, log into your LinkedIn account, then go to Settings, then under Profile Settings, go to Twitter Settings and add your Twitter account. You can choose to display your Twitter posts on your LinkedIn profile page.

“Your first paying customer is always the hardest to get but also the most exciting to acquire.” – Inc.com

1. Develop a business plan. Don’t just tell your potential customers that you can save them money; give them measurable results – show them how much money they can save with you. Don’t just tell your prospects the benefits of your product/service; show them how you can provide a solution to their problem that your competitors cannot.

2. Think local, really local. Look at your circle of friends and family; they can be your first customers – but make sure they provide objective, honest feedback. The insight provided by early customers is much more valuable than the revenue they generate for you. But make sure they do pay – or else they will be reluctant to voice complaints.

3. Branch out. Find the people who adopt new trends through market research panels and offer them a free trial or sample. Network: Attend events hosted by your local Chamber of Commerce or business groups, shake hands and and listen more than you talk. There’s also cold-calling, but people tend to tune out unwanted marketing today.

4. Social media. Done correctly, this can be very effective. Blog every day, or every week. Post daily tweets on Twitter or Facebook posts and follow the pages of potential customers, industry groups and complementary businesses. You’d be surprised how quickly your list of followers grow. Create useful content and share useful posts from those you are following.

I love this little readability calculator! An important factor in your company’s success online is how easy it is to read and understand your website content.

The Flesch-Kincaid Reading Ease score indicates how easy a text is to read. A high score implies an easy text. (In comparison comics typically score around 90 while legalese can get a score below 10.)

The Flesch-Kincaid Grade level indicates the grade a person will have to have reached to be able to understand the text. (E.g. a grade level of 7 means that a seventh grader will be able to understand the text.)

Copy & paste your website content (the more text, the better) into the calculator.

For the past year, I’ve enjoyed HubSpot’s free webinars and research papers on all aspects of Internet marketing, including the new and ever-changing world of social media (blogging, video blogs, Facebook and Twitter).

All types of businesses can benefit from HubSpot’s useful information, including helpful tools to gauge your influence and exposure on social media outlets and website redesign pointers.

Check out their marketing studies, whitepapers & ebooks, their archive of marketing webinars, and marketing tools, all free!

I attended a great and informative (and possibly the most efficient) online marketing webinar last week called The Influencer Project. 60 Speakers. 60 Seconds Each. 60 Ways to Increase Your Influence Online.

Some of my favorite points:

• Guy Kawasaki: Repeat your tweets. He gets the same # of clickthrus every time he repeats his tweets 4x in 8 hours.
• Mitch Joel: People struggle the most when they only focus on their own stuff (as opposed to getting involved with others and filling their needs)
• Dan Schawbel: finding a niche within an industry niche..
• …and the common thread of finding something you’re passionate about and focusing on it.

Get the mp3 of the presentation & listen to it now, plus get the transcript of the entire event!