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Marketing

Skynet Solutions Recieves Congressional Commendation

The team at Skynet Solutions was recently honored with a Congressional Commendation by U.S. Representative Jim Bridenstine, in recognition of all the work we have been doing to educate, enhance and strengthen the small business community in Oklahoma. A Congressional Commendation is awarded by a member of Congress to officially recognize outstanding public achievement by those in their districts. One of the most rewarding parts of being an official Google Partner is all the events we get to host and speak at where Skynet Solutions marketing experts get to share their knowledge and interact with other local businesses.

Here at Skynet Solutions, we love being a part of the small business community and using our skills to help other local entrepreneurs succeed as well. Since fall 2015, we have been hosting and participating in “GYBO” (Get Your Business Online) seminars throughout Oklahoma to help small business owners get their businesses online. Thanks to our partners at Google, the REI Women’s Business Center, the Tulsa chapter of SCORE, area chambers of commerce and others, we have been able to help dozens of local business—like yours—improve their online presence in a variety of ways!

We’ve hosted workshops across the state, from Ponca City to Stillwater and Muskogee to Bartlesville and have covered topics ranging from how to use Google Analytics effectively to what S.E.O. is and how you can use it to amplify your business’ online presence. We also covered and held entire workshops dedicated to helping business owners get their business listed on Google Maps and other maps listing services, like Bing and Apple, and other effective tactics to make sure potential customers are able to easily find their business online. We have found maps listings to be one of the most effective ways to help a small, local business grow.

Skynet Solutions also recently co-hosted a special event in May to celebrate and promote National Small Business Week. Along with Tulsa SCORE, we created and hosted the inaugural SCORE Small Business Summit Tulsa, which brought together about 100 mentors, business experts and entrepreneurs from around the region to network and discuss all aspects of starting, owning and running a small business. Speakers from The Small Business Administration, Constant Contact, Tulsa Economic Development Corporation, the Tulsa chapter of SCORE, Skynet Solutions, REI Women’s Business Center and other local and regional institutions discussed everything from email marketing and small business taxes to bookkeeping for small businesses and social media marketing.

It’s hard to overstate the importance of a robust and up to date online presence for a local business; 50 percent of all mobile searches are conducted in hopes of finding local results, and 61 percent of those searches result in a purchase, according to Search Engine Watch. In addition to that, 56 percent of mobile searches are from users seeking local information, like business hours, directions or a physical address for your store—which is why maps listings are so critical. If your business can’t be easily found online, customers are going to go elsewhere. You also have to make sure your business website is mobile friendly.

With the majority of internet searches originating from mobile devices, not desktops or laptops, according to Google, the majority of people who end up on your business’ website are going to get there from a mobile search. The majority of customers believe it is easier to find information on a mobile-optimized site and 48 percent of people who visit a site that’s not friendly feel that the company doesn’t care about their business. That’s definitely not the impression you want to give off to your valued customers!

To learn more about all of the educational small business-focused events that Skynet Solutions participates in and hosts, you can keep up with our blog, follow us on social media or give us a call. In the meantime, you can always get in touch with the experts at Skynet Solutions for help with your online business listing, website development, social media marketing or anything else you need to help make your business succeed. With our diverse range of skills and experience, we are sure to have the tools you need to make 2016 your business’ best year yet. You can fill out our online contact form on our website to get started today. You can also connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn!

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Marketing

Helping Local Entrepreneurs Find Success

Small Business Week 2016 is over and we’re happy to announce that the SCORE Small Business Summit Tulsa 2016 was a huge success! We got great feedback from presenters and attendees and already have requests to bring the summit back next year! Skynet Solutions partnered with SCORE to collectively collaborate with multiple other local and state sponsors to offer Tulsa area small business and prospective small business owners an unprecedented networking and learning opportunity. This action packed small business summit was a great opportunity for small business owners and prospective small business owners from around the Tulsa area to network with and hear presentations from influential local business leaders and get personalized business consulting in a variety of areas. We had about 100 local entrepreneurs, small business owners and prospective small business owners who all came out to network with and hear presentations from speakers with The Small Business Administration, Constant Contact, Tulsa Economic Development Corporation, the Tulsa chapter of SCORE, Skynet Solutions and REI Women’s Business Center. These awesome speakers presented on a variety of topics including email marketing, small business taxes, bookkeeping for small businesses, social media marketing, how to create a business plan, small business structuring, search engine optimization principles and much, much more! The number one question most small business owners have is about marketing and how they can best utilize marketing principles to drive their business. This event brought together a variety of marketing experts and mentors to talk to small business owners about different marketing tactics and how they work so business owners can see what will be most successful for their business. The great part of this event was that it allowed entrepreneurs to talk directly with the people they need to know to get their business off the ground or take it to the next level. Unlike some other industry events we’ve been to which have so-called “experts” with no real world experience explaining how business owners should secure loans or incarnate to get the best tax benefits, the SCORE Small Business Summit was full of industry experts who could give sound advice to curious business owners. If someone wanted to know what documents they would need to secure a small business loan, there was a lender there for them to ask directly. If someone wanted to know what was the best use of their marketing budget, there were social media and email marketing experts there for them to consult with. National Small Business Week Every year since 1963, the President of the United States has issued a proclamation announcing National Small Business Week, which recognizes the critical contributions of America’s entrepreneurs and small business owners. Small businesses are the backbone of the American economy, creating about two-thirds of all the new jobs creating in the United States each year. About 50 percent of Americans in the workforce own or are employed by a small business. This year, National Small Business Week was from May 1-7 and as part of this, Tulsa SCORE organized a day full of discussion, networking and other opportunities that benefitted the local small business community. The event was designed by small business owners, for small business owners to equip them with the information and tools they need to make their small business as successful as possible. The Tulsa area has increasingly been recognized as one of the best places in the country to start a business. We want to continue to help foster this business-friendly environment by working together with the local business community to provide entrepreneurs with the resources they need to be successful. To learn more about the events that Skynet Solutions participates in and hosts, you can keep up with our blog, follow us on social media or give us a call. In the meantime, you can always get in touch with the experts at Skynet Solutions for help with your online business listing, website development, marketing or anything else you need to help make your business succeed. With our diverse range of skills and experience, we are sure to have the tools you need to make 2016 your business’s best year yet. You can fill out our online contact formon our website to get started today. You can also connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+and LinkedIn!

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Marketing

11 Apps Every Marketing Pro Needs

Alushta, Russia - October 25, 2014: New phone iPhone 6 Space Gray with apps on screen lies on the table. iPhone 6 was created and developed by the Apple inc.

As every marketing and social media professional knows, managing a successful marketing campaign is a 24/7 job. No matter what kind of campaign you’re running, you need these 11 apps to keep you organized, connected and ahead of the curve, no matter where you are: Hootsuite/Buffer/Sprout Social:whichever social media scheduling tool your company uses, make sure you have the app so you can schedule social media posts anytime and anywhere. You can also follow up on already posted posts to see their reach and respond to any comments. Mention:this is one of the best social listening tools available and should be a staple for every social media marketer. Mention tracks your brand’s—you guessed it—mentions all over the web from blog and social media posts to website content and anywhere else you show up based on preset keywords you select. It’s a great way to stay on top of what customers, competitors and leaders in your industry are saying about your brand and how your name is getting out there. MailChimp:we love MailChimp for email management and running email campaigns and the mobile app makes it easy to manage email lists, view statistics and edit campaigns from anywhere. Evernote:if you don’t have Evernote yet, it’s time to take the plunge. It’s basically the ultimate to-do list which automatically syncs between all your devices. You can take a note on your tablet while you’re at home and it’ll show up on your work desktop, your smartphone, anywhere you need it. You can also save pictures of a hand-written note or list and Evernote will extrapolate the relevant information from it. If you upgrade to Pro or Premium, you can also store emails, voice memos and access your info offline. GoToMeeting:this is a great way to stay connected with your office and with clients while you’re on the go and to meet with clients who are far away. GoToMeeting not only allows multiple people to conference from multiple locations, but it also allows you to share screen so you can see each other’s presentations. Nimble:this contact-managing app integrates your connections on social media to your phone’s contact list. It will suggest new social media accounts for you to friend or follow based on your contacts and will also add more detail to each of your contact’s listings in your phone based on their social media profiles. News:pick your favorite news source, whether it’s Mashable or The New York Times or BuzzFeed and download their app. Check it routinely to keep on top of the day’s big stories and find interesting things to share that are relevant to your audience. WiFi Finder:when you’re in a time crunch and you need to find a place to get work done, this app will show you where the nearest free (and paid) WiFi networks are to your current location. Eventbrite:if your company hosts any kind of event or conference, Eventbrite is an easy way to manage registration and track attendees. It also makes it easy for people who come to your events to register and find information like time, location and directions. Google AdWords:Google released a Google AdWords app last year that allows you to manage pay-per-click campaigns from your phone. We won’t say it makes AdWords fun, but it is nice to be able to check your campaigns from anywhere. Official Apps for Social Media Sites:this one should be a no-brainer, but we’ll add it in anyway. You should download the official app for every type of social media site you manage. There are apps for Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, YouTube, Snapchat, Tumblr, Vine and literally every other social media network in existence. If your social media accounts are getting too tangled for you to manage, you can always call the experts at Skynet Solutions for all of your social media and marketing needs. We also have a talented development team who can build you anything from a basic website to custom software. With our diverse range of skills and experience, we are sure to have the tools you need to make 2016 your business’s best year yet. To get in touch with us, you can fill out the online contact form on our website. You can also connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn.

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Marketing

Social Media Hacks: Getting Your Business on Instagram

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Alushta, Russia - October 28, 2014: Woman holding a iPhone 6 Space Gray with social networking service Instagram on the screen. iPhone 6 was created and developed by the Apple inc.

When Instagram was released in 2010, the photo and video-sharing app rapidly took off with teens and young 20-somethings. Initially, it was seen as a platform for teens to share selfies. By the time it was acquired by Facebook less than two years later, it had 100 million active users worldwide and was valued at $1 billion. It has only continued to grow since then and now boasts over 400 million active, monthly users. It has one of the largest and most engaged audiences of any social media network with the average user spending 21 minutes a day using the app. With the majority of its users in the coveted millennial age group and an even split between male and female users, it’s a marketing platform you can’t afford to overlook. Here are some tips for setting your business up on Instagram and hitting the ground running: Create Your Strategy: if this is your first social media account, you’ll have to start from scratch; if you have others, you can adapt those strategies to your Instagram account. Make sure you have a clear goal, whether that be brand awareness, website clicks or whatever you want it to be, and center all your posts around that. Make sure all your posts are consistent to your brand’s feel, your message and the rest of your social media accounts. Learn from Example: Instagram provides “case studies” of about 80 companies who have been extremely successful on the app. Find some that are similar to your business and look at what they did to become so successful. Sign Up: there is no separate sign up for businesses on Instagram like there is on Pinterest or Facebook, but they do have an Instagram for Business page that explains how to get the most out of your account, so make sure to read it. Use your company name as your account name and your company logo as your profile picture. If you use other names or pictures, it could be really confusing for customers who are used to seeing that name and logo associated with your business. Let People Know: let people know you’re now on Instagram. Put a button on your home page, share a link from your other social media accounts and write a blog post about it (side note: if you don’t have a blog, you should. And there’s no time like the present to start). Find People to Follow: spend some time searching and finding customers, competitors, suppliers and other industry leaders to follow. Also make sure to follow accounts of other prominent members of your community—like popular sports teams, schools or local news outlets—they provide great posts to share and if you interact with these accounts, people might recognize your name and follow you as well. Once you find people to follow, make sure to engage! Like their photos, comment on them and generally be active. Social media interaction is a two-way street; you want your followers to be active with you, so you need to be active with them, too. Start Posting: when you’re starting out and getting adjusted to the platform, it might be helpful to have a posting schedule to make sure you don’t forget about it. Check and see what times of day are good to post and stick to it. Whether it’s every day at noon or once at 10 a.m. and once at 5 p.m., do some research and create a schedule for you and your employees. Make sure your images are high-quality, cleanly-edited photos or videos and tag your location and any people who appear in the photo (if they’re customers, make sure to ask permission first). Instagram also allows you to use a variety of filters on your photos, but unless your business has a creative, edge vibe, try to ease into these. As you use the account more and see what your customers like and respond to, you’ll start to see what works better for your particular audience and you can tailor your posts to that. Write Captions: believe it or not, one of the most important parts of a good Instagram post is a great caption. Yes, Instagram is a visual platform and your image has to be interesting enough to make the user stop scrolling. But often it’s the caption, not the image, that leads to a conversion for a business. A great caption is difficult to write but the rule of thumb is it should be two sentences or less, include a brief description and call to action, and direct customers to where they can purchase or order. Hashtags are also very important on Instagram so make sure to find hashtags that are relevant to your customers and your industry and jump on them. In the meantime, you can always call the experts at Skynet Solutions for all of your social media and marketing needs. We have an expert team that can build you a social media strategy that will work on any platform or any combination of platforms that you choose for your business. Whether you’re targeting specific customers or just want to spread the word about your new business, we can handle it. We also have a talented development team who can build you anything from an e-Commerce website to custom software. With our diverse range of skills and experience, we are sure to have the tools you need to make 2016 your business’s best year yet. To get in touch with us, you can fill out the online contact form on our website. You can also connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn for more information about our services, updates from our blog and marketing tips and tricks.

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