Weekend Special : Free Wi-Fi

IF ONLY

Ok, this one is going to be short, nothing really stood out this week but here it goes.

Free Wi-Fi is not hard to set-up and it is not a massive cost. Yet it’s amazing how few shopping centres, shopping strips, markets, etc have actually provided the service for their customers. Customer service, is after all the key point of difference between the traditional bricks and mortar business and its new online cousin isn’t it?

I actually heard one really enthusiastic reason from a retailer this week, why you shouldn’t provide Wi-Fi and it went something like this ‘No because then they’ll sit in my cafe for an hour on their computer and buy just one coffee. ‘ Well, you know what, that customer if they had the laptop in arm, probably would not have walked in to your cafe anyway. A $3.50 coffee x 3 times a week x 40 weeks of the year = One really happy customer that gave you $420 worth of business that they wouldn’t have previously. And with that laptop in arm, they have told their entire network of Twitter followers, Facebook friends, LinkedIn connections that your business is great.

So here is my (extended) argument why it is worth looking into providing Free Wi-Fi for your customers: (Not necessarily just cafes but retail precincts)

In light of these points and my own appreciation for Free Wi-Fi, I would like to give our friends at the @prestonmarket a plug. They have recently set Free Wi-Fi up and are directing users straight to Preston Market Facebook page.

INFOGRAPHIC OF THE WEEK

This one has done the rounds this week but in case you didn’t see it, please check it out. It gives you a picture of some of the impressive social media numbers across a variety of campaigns. ‘Social Media Marketing by The Numbers” published by Mashable.

HANDY LINKS/TOOLS

There are a whole heap of Twitter tools out there of varying use, here’s one that I’ve just started using and seems real handy ..bufferapp.com allows you to simply add tweets to your buffer account whenever you like and it will schedule them for you at the optimal times for your followers.

Add the Chrome extension and if you’re like me spending a couple of hours straight reading blogs, etc then you can simply click the Buffer icon in Chrome and it will schedule it for you. You will get one Twitter account free.

A POST WORTH READING

1. ’3 Organic SEO Secrets for Small Business’ - via Social Media Today
2. ’10 Most Popular Facebook Marketing Presentations’ - via Jeff Bullas
3. ‘Google Unleashes Expanded Sitelinks : How You Should Cope” - via Search Engine Journal

And an extra from our friends @HTAAdvisory who have published their first post ‘How To Start A Business: A Guide for Small Business’ ..Please check it out and follow them on Twitter for some handy business advice.

DID YOU KNOW

…That each year, Google rolls out 500-600 changes to its search algorithms? If you’re a small business don’t think this doesn’t apply to you, it very much does. Know that Google are making changes to make sure that no-one, repeat no-one gets ahead of them and can manipulate search engine results. So when you are told by someone they promise you the top of Google, don’t believe them.

All the best for the weekend….

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