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We have posted previously in our Internet Marketing category about Uneke Furniture and the success they have had simply by being involved in online forums, it was that post that lead us to the second re-development of http://www.unekefurniture.com.

For the second time round working with Uneke Furniture, 101 has not only created a fresh new design we have developed the business’ social media strategy for the next 12months. The social media strategy is leveraging the power of viral marketing, along with developing an online following with Twitter, Facebook and their regular online newsletters to subscribers.

The new website can be found at http://www.unekefurniture.com or Google phrase Canberra Custom Furniture.

With 101 on hand to support the mechanics of the strategy Uneke Furniture is well placed to further build on the exceptional reputation of this Canberra based business. If you would like to discuss your social media, internet marketing or search engine optimisation strategies please contact 101 Web Technology.

Normally we don’t post about our new projects until they are complete and launched. But this one is a bit different, we are excited about the build for Top Cat Charters in Batemans Bay. This site is really going to a great example of tying in all elements of internet marketing to give this business a fresh new face. The owners of the business have recently taken over and are keen to move the business into the next phase.

A major component of this build is the social media management which utilises Facebook and Twitter. Everyone that goes out on the boat whether its for a day of game fishing, whale watching or sightseeing, love the experience being on water is calming and people want to share those memories. Top Cat will be capturing those memories as tweets and status updates to share the experiences with past and new clients.

A big success factor for any business is the repeat and referral trade. As they say, give good service the client tells one person, give bad service they tell 10. Well why not tell 1000 people at the one time your great story with pictures. That is what 101 Web Technology will be enabling for Top Cat Chaters in Batemans Bay.

If you can’t wait for the new site you can take a look at their site here: http://www.topcat-charters.com.au/ (Just a holding page to get you to pick up the phone at the moment.)

From my Apple feed this morning:

Apple today announced that in less than 48 hours since its launch on Wednesday, more than one million users have joined Ping, its new social network for music. Ping lets users follow their favorite artists and friends to discover what music they’re talking about, listening to, and downloading. “One-third of the people who have downloaded iTunes 10 have joined Ping,“ said Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president of Internet Services. “As many more people download iTunes 10 in the coming weeks, we expect the Ping community to continue growing.“

I think this shows the full potential of social media and how quickly a product can be grown and obtain such exposure in such a short amount of time. People like to interact with each other and social media provides that interaction albeit via a computer. The medium provides users a platform to quickly find information from their friends, stay in touch, share and learn. I think the sharing and learning is the key to peoples take up of the medium with people learning and being exposed to different experiences, which they may not have ever experience if it wasn’t for a friend of a friend.

Apple is a company that has seen the potential of social media and it will be interesting to watch the growth of Ping and how it evolves the Apple product line.

Yes Im an Apple convert, but for good reason.

After a 2hour Skype session with my mate at UnekeFurniture.com discussing how we are going to re-design his site and what social media can do for his online marketing, I was really inspired to hear his story, which I will share with you below.

My mate was looking to set up a home theatre in his house and was researching products, after a bit of time on Google he stumbled across a home stereo enthusiasts forum. After jumping in and taking a look around grabbing some good information about products and different configurations. He decided to start a new thread, “What do you think should be in the perfect entertainment unit?” Now here is the thing, my mate makes custom furniture and it is hot stuff (check out his site).

Not thinking anything of it apart from getting some information about what these guys would like in a cabinet, which he could build into his. Within under an hour there were 37 replies all from people with great ideas, my mate jumped in as part of the conversation offering his thoughts, suggestions and alternatives to other ideas from an expert cabinet makers point of view and the community really took to it.

Within a couple of days of being a member of the site, he had many enquiries and additional traffic to his site and within a couple of days had booked a job, making a perfect entertainment unit. Now this wasn’t the intent of his post, nor being on the forum in the first place, but what a great outcome.

This was very interesting to me, this story highlighted the value of social media and building your online networks. Getting involved in community forums is a great way of referral promoting your products and/or services. Being an active member of an online community can help you to learn new techniques in your industry, share your information, engage directly with consumers to find out what they like, desire and think they would pay for and like Twitter be known for being an expert in your field. Im not advocating spamming online communities, though I feel if you have something to contribute you could see benefits to your business, be it in selling products or simply gaining a new perspective.

What I would like most to share out of this story is just how little effort and money it took for my mate to promote his services that resulted in a sale. Word of Mouth or referral marketing is a powerful tool for you business and shouldn’t be under-estimated. Our business was built on it, still to this day we do not pay for over priced advertising and 101 Web Technology continues to grow. Lets Skype sometime or follow me on Twitter @phil_at_101 to find out what social marketing can do for your businesses bottom line.

Takeaway pizza company Domino’s Pizza has increased online sales to £56.9m in the first half of 2010, boosted by an increase in online marketing activity. The company also states that over 30% of its UK sales are now completed online.

Embracing social media the company launched their Foursquare promotion in May, which encourages users to check-in at their locations. Their Facebook page has over 37,000 fans so stated CEO Chris Moore in the companys earnings statement. Starbucks is another great example of using social media to its best, during their Free Pastry Day the company was able to attract $1million people to their stores.

Both of these are great examples of how a company embracing social media has seen real and measurable growth, not to mention the brand awareness. The question I would pose to you as a business owner is what would an increase in 30% of profits mean to your business?

The potential of social marketing is massive and is limited only by your imagination and creative ways you embrace an utilise the technology.