Google Points to Guidelines, Improved Communication

Since Google launched the controversial Panda update in February, anxious webmasters and publishers have been waiting for the day when it would go from just a U.S. change to a global change. That day came this week, as Google announced it had expanded the "search quality" algorithm worldwide for English language users.


Many sites were reported to have lost major traffic and search rankings as a result of the U.S. roll-out. We've expected these sites to be further devastated as Panda made its way to more countries.

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7 Social Media Tactics for Explosive Results in Your Business

By Tinu AbayomiPaul (c) 2009


First, let's define the term Explosive Results for our usage.

A standard social media campaign helps spread the word about you and encourages other people to as well.

An explosive social media campaign has inherent viral exposure, inspires community driven communication, helps make the web a better place, and even brings joy to people, however fleeting.

When you share in social media, if your goal is just to get more people to see your links, you're on the right track, but at the same time, you're limiting your potential. You may think that getting explosive results from social media will take more time, energy and money, but this doesn't have to be the case.

If you're a business owner, you know that working harder doesn't necessarily mean better results - what if you're working hard on the wrong thing?


Sometimes the remedy is working smarter. Here are a few small changes you can make to your social media approach that can propel your social media results from lukewarm to smoking hot.


Explosive Social Media Tactic #1 - Hot Content


The cornerstone to any social media campaign is the content. If you get this component wrong, it doesn't matter if all other elements are perfect. Study what's going hot in your targeted topic and find a unique angle to tailor your content into what people already like, without stealing their ideas.


Explosive Social Media Tactic #2 - Niched Network Nuances


The more tightly focused your submissions to social media sites are, the more likely they are to go viral, whether they are links you share by other people or yours. Here's the logic.


People follow other people with similar interests. They're on sites like Google, Yahoo, StumbleUpon, Delicious and Digg actively looking for new content. Put those two things together and you have a whirlwind of clicks happening. The only question is, will it be your link that gets clicked or passed over?


Having 5000 connections on Twitter or Facebook is useless if you are connected to people who don't want your broadcasts, and you're just as useless to them if you don't want theirs. If my interest is in improving my existing business and you're trying to get me to sell your network marketing products, it doesn't matter how many times you ask me. If I'm not interested, your continued broadcasts will be ignored, or worse yet, blocked completely.


It's about the perfect balance of quality AND quantity.


And if I'm not paying attention to you, I can't and won't spread your message. If you are in network marketing, why not go after people who love the network marketing concept but can't seem to find the right company? That's a perfect match, and can dramatically cut down your search for the right partners and prospects.

Explosive Social Media Tactic #3 - Simplify Sharing


It amazes me how many people miss this one.


You've got great content. You've got a massive, niched network.


Why feed them content that's hard to share? Does that report have to be in PDF format? If so, does it have to be behind an opt-ín wall if you're spreading it among people who have Already opted in? Anyone connected to your business through its Facebook page, or your Twitter stream is also part of your opt-ín list. Yes, it would be best if they were on your email newsletter list, but what faster way to get them there than to show them you don't need to hold them prisoner there?


If your whitepaper is of such high value that you don't want it to spread, well, that's something different. But if you're sharing it so other people will spread it, make it easy for others to share.


Send your su.pr link so all they have to do is click the Thumbs-Up button.


Put a few sharing links on your page.


Make it easy for them to Retweet.


The easier it is for them to share, the more likely they are to do it.


Explosive Social Media Tactic #4 - Consistency


And now we come to the area I fail at the most. It's one of the things I know I need to do, but I haven't quite gotten the hang of how to brainstorm, create and distribute quality content consistently, and still give the best possible service and support to my customers and clients. I always err on serving people who have bought from me, figuring that next blog post can wait until tomorrow.

Then at some point, I noticed a decline in return traffic - people weren't coming back because they'd already heard everything I had to say. The solution? I got help for my content creation process. The ideas are still mine, but I was able to barter help for research, transcribing, and editing. I am also able to get audio and video polished much less expensively than I thought, though I don't always use this option due to time constraints.


The other thing that helped a lot was getting over my perfectionism complex. Release your content as soon as you can. I can't tell you how much money I've left on the table from my old fear of the typo and grammar police. Not to mention the fact that I felt like I was leaving my audience hanging.


You subscribe to something because you want to get regular updates. If your favorite daily news show started coming on once a week, you'd probably switch channels. If you're inconsistent without explanation, your audience numbers will drop and your network will fade.


Explosive Social Media Tactic #5 - Think Engagement


Measuring your results by page view alone is a thing of the past. When the web was mostly text and images, it made some sense that how many pages a visitor viewed at your site was a true measure of engagement.


Nowadays this isn't the case. You want to look instead at how long people are at your site. The exception, of course, is when customers are coming to your site to buy, and the order processing system takes them off your page. But if people aren't leaving your site because they're ready to buy or subscribe, you truly must look at why they aren't paying more attention to your content, and what changes you can make to get them to stay.


This is critically important in understanding which content will go viral naturally. What posts are people staying on your site to comment on? When do they take a few extra seconds to retweet? Are they watching your videos all the way through?

About The Author
Can you really get up to 27,000 visitors in a week from social media? I did and I can show you how to do the same without cheating the system, or spending 20 hours a week on social media sites. Find out how in this free video at http://www.freetraffictip.com/27kvisitors and see the proof for yourself, today.

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Social Networking for Business Guide

By Erica Erwin (c) 2009

It seems like there's an over-abundance of social sites nowadays. For a newbie, it can be quite intimidating when first joining a network or two and building a community. A handful of questions may run through your head:

• Which networks to join?
• How to participate?
• What's enough, or too much?
• How will it help my business?

So, to answer some of these, I'd like to present my "Social Media For Dummies" overview. First, a quick recap of my favorite networks and what they're about.

Facebook - The ultimate platform for keeping up with (stalking) friends. I joined Facebook way back in 2005, you know, when it was just for college students and before you could even share photos (gasp!). I've witnessed the evolution of this mega-network over the years, and it has become, not only the 4th largest website in the world, but the best place to find people, keep up with them, and inform them. It is the son of Classmates.com on every possible steroid ever ingested by humans. The ability to share and communicate with friends and colleagues is seamless. Overall, Facebook is a great place to start your social networking endeavors.

LinkedIn - A must-have in every business person's arsenal of tools. If you are (or hoping to be) in business of any sort, LinkedIn is a great place to set up shop. Very similar to Facebook, minus the annoying applications, plus job postings and resumes. This is where you network with those in your industry, join groups, research companies, and prospect clients. Build your credentials by asking colleagues for recommendations or head to the "Q&A" section to provide advice.

Twitter - Share, Learn, Meet. I wouldn't be surprised if Webster adds a new definition for "tweet" this year. Within the first half of 2009, Twitter has gone from nearly 5 million users to over 23 million. It is the social media platform of choice at Fortune 100 companies. Easily share links, pictures, videos, articles... Oh, and personal updates... with followers. Twitter is kind of like the cocktail party of social networks. Here, you can easily reach out to strangers by tuning in to their tweets or quickly replying to them. A limited amount of customization keeps annoying advertisements and outlandish profiles at bay, unlike the outdated MySpace.

Digg, del.icio.us, StumbleUpon, reddit, etc. - Social Bookmarking to share and store your favorite links. You just read an article over at NYT.com that you loved. Use one or more of these bookmarking sites to share it with the world. Looking for information or articles on a certain subject? Head to one of these sites and search your topic, you'll be able to peruse a list of articles or sites that others have found useful or interesting. Not only are these great for sharing, but storing sites for later use as well. Say you have a home desktop, a netbook for travel, and a work computer... customize your bookmarks and easily access them on each computer without updating each machine.

FriendFeed - All of your networks in one place. FriendFeed lets you put all of your networks in one big stream. Users can see your Facebook status, latest Tweet, pictures posted on Flickr, blog post, bookmarked article and much more when they follow your feed. Much like Twitter, but a whole lot more.

These are the networks that I tend to spend most of my time on and are probably some of the key ingredients that should be in the pot. Every person and business is different and may need to change their recipe accordingly, but the key to all of these is to contribute and become a part of the conversation.

Now What?

So, now that we've covered some of the major players in the social networking field, it's time to discover how we can use them. As a person in business, especially an industry with a significant amount of its target market online (which is really all of them now), you've got to understand that these networks are an integral part of their lives. Just like in previous decades where television commercials were considered a major part of any advertising/marketing plan because every one watched TV... now, as many are leaving cable in the dust and turning to the Internet for their information and entertainment, it's more crucial than ever to join the ranks of the digital pioneers.

However, the people using these networks are smart. They don't fall for blatant advertising traps like they used to. They want to know that there's something in it for them. If your product isn't it and that's all you're talking about on Twitter, then they'll ignore you. Social networks aren't about advertising - they're about building relationships.

Say you run a small business, maybe you own a restaurant, a clothing boutique, a PR firm or a chiropractic firm... What is in it for you?

• Take a look at your customers or clients when they're in your office or store. Are they on their iPhone or Blackberry checking email? Did they mention finding you online? Did they hear about you from a friend? If you can answer "yes" to any of those questions, then you're missing out on connecting with your customers and should probably put on a pot of coffee, cause you're going to be here for a while.

• Social media is a chance to be at your market's finger tips when they look at their phone or get online in a friendly and non-obtrusive way.

• You can quickly address customer service issues by communicating directly with the customer.

• Prospect new clients.

• Learn about trends in your industry, stay up-to-date with competition and network with power players in your industry.

• Provide existing customers incentives, coupons or interesting information to keep them tuned in to your brand.

Many people will pay thousands of dollars trying to get these things with traditional techniques. Social media is free... despite, of course, any operating costs like time and possibly design fees to add a professional touch. You need to be on here... Do a Google News search for "small business social media". BusinessWeek, LA Times, NY Times will be some of the publications insisting you buck up and make it happen.

How to Participate Effectively:

• Do not start a social media campaign if your intention is free advertising. No one will listen and you will waste your time. Period.

• Take a minute and figure out what you want to get out of being involved in social networks. Research how other businesses have been successful. Make a plan. Mashable is a great place to learn about social media.

• Twitter is a great place to find people in your area, geographically or by industry, and interact with them. Start a conversation, always give if you ever want to receive and don't constantly advertise. No one likes spam... so don't spam your followers with pleas to go to your website or go into business with you. Provide your followers a coupon or discount if you're hoping for business from them... Keep them up-to-date on any changes to your menu or services... Share fun pictures from happy customers... Follow-up with an unhappy customer or use your competition's bad customer service as a great way to introduce you into their lives. Just remember to keep it real, be you, because every one wants to know that there's a human behind your username.

• Facebook is generally most successful for companies with a large following or customer base. But that doesn't mean you should skip it... create a personal profile so you can network with friends and family. By being there, you can instantly share things about your business with people who already like you and will probably listen more than the average stranger. By keeping your brand in their mind, they'll be more likely to spread the word and pass you along to their friends, and so on. Word of mouth, my friends...

• LinkedIn is a must for anyone in business. Very straightforward here, like a virtual resume on steroids. It's always good to network with past and present colleagues and continue to build relationships, because you don't know when you may need them or vice versa.

Last Words: Keep your brand consistent among all of the networks you decide to join. Monitor your brand using tracking tools. And remember to Collaborate, Communicate, and Participate.

About The Author
Erica works with marketing online, social media and public relations for a small-business improvement firm. Visit: www.webplus5.com www.businessways.com

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Do You Need A Dedicated Server?

If you currently run or are planning to start up a website that deals in ecommerce, or runs any kind of service, you may want to think about your hosting requirements.

You will probably be expecting a great deal of traffic and you will want to make sure that your customers have a great online experience of your business, so perhaps you should consider using a dedicated server.

What is a dedicated server?

Normally when you buy hosting from a company, you use a shared server, which you share with other webmasters. You will each have a certain amount of bandwidth and disk space, as specified when you sign up for hosting.

The problem with this is that if you are expecting a lot of traffic, your visitors may experience delays and your site may have difficulty loading with extreme traffic. In these cases it is wise to invest in a dedicated server. This means that you do not have to share the server with anyone else. It is just for your website.

This has a number of advantages:

1. Security

Since no one else is sharing your web space, a dedicated server is far more secure. If you are trading in large amounts each day this kind of extreme security can be vital to protect you and your customers.

2. Storage

Of course you will have much more space. You can have far more images, videos and all sorts of other features.

3. Bandwidth

The bandwidth is all yours, so traffic coming to your site will have no problems accessing your site at full speed.

4. Control

Your own server means more control. There are no other webmasters to worry about, so you have many more control options.

5. Software

The possibilities for using various scripts and software are endless with your own dedicated server.

6. Speed

You will find that a large site with many features will load very quickly, as the server is all yours, so no other websites are loading from it.

Are there any disadvantages of using a dedicated server?

I expect you have already guessed what the big con in all this is. The cost. Yup, a dedicated server is a lot more expensive than regular hosting options.

I suppose you just need to think of the large difference it will make to your site. After all one security slip up and your ecommerce site could suffer far bigger losses than the cost of a dedicated server.

Is it time for me to upgrade to a dedicated server?

You will know when it is time for you to think about this option, when you begin to approach the limit of your current hosting option.

If you only have a basic hosting plan it may be possible for you to simply upgrade to deluxe and meet your needs, but if you already have the top package a dedicated server may be what you need. It is also an important consideration if your company deals with secure information, such as credit card details.

About the Author:

Catherine Smith - For more information about dedicated servers check out, http://besthostingsolutions.blogspot.com. You can also find out more about different hosting providers.

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How to Pitch Media Members for Free Publicity

After optimizing your site for search engines and pursuing other marketing efforts, it's time to use the power of the press to boost sales, awareness and credibility cost-effectively. But how do you pitch your story to a reporter?

Here are some quick tips to help you through the media process:

1. Know Your Targeted Media Members.

Before you even reach out to a reporter, you should know what that person writes about and what he or she will be interested in discussing. Do your homework before contacting a specific reporter, and you'll have a much better understanding of what you should say (and the topics to avoid).

2. Have Talking Points Ready.

With point #1 in mind above, write down all of the benefits your business has to offer. Know why a reporter will be interested in what you have to say, and practice giving your unique story angle. Then, when the time is right, you'll be ready. (You may even want to have your talking points written on an index card by your phone.)

3. Be Newsworthy.

Try to think of a way that your business fits in with current news and industry events. Develop a story angle related to something newsworthy and current. Then, approach a reporter with your idea.

4. Be Unique.

Media members want fresh, interesting stories. Try to stand out from the crowd and provide your opinion about a current topic, unique statistic or story angle that no one else can offer. By conducting some research and offering something different, you'll get much farther with your publicity efforts.

5. Be Succinct.

Reporters are on deadline. Get to the point fast. Practice what you are going to say in advance. Then, speak clearly and succinctly. Mention the most important benefits of your story-angle first. Reporters will appreciate your sense of urgency and respect for their time.

6. Know Your Industry.

Become an expert in your field and know the most current news, events and activities within your industry. Share your news with reporters. And soon, they will come to you for the latest industry updates.

7. Offer Expert Advice.

Without pitching your own products and services, introduce yourself as an expert to targeted media members. Comment on a current news item, provide a special report and offer your help with a future article. Reporters will appreciate the fact that you are willing to provide assistance and may add you to their list of resources.

8. Follow-up Accordingly.

Media members are busy people, and you will probably need to make an effort to stay in touch with them. If you are waiting for a pending story or a call back and haven't heard anything for a few days, feel free to contact the media member directly. Try not to be a pest, but conduct the appropriate follow-up when necessary. This is essential to obtaining clips and maintaining professional, media relationships.

Hopefully, these tips will help you pitch your story to media members and get results. By "thinking like a reporter" and offering beneficial information in a timely fashion, you'll definitely increase your chances of obtaining some good media coverage that will make a difference on the bottom line.

About the Author:

Melanie Rembrandt helps businesses boost sales, awareness and credibility through publicity and online copywriting efforts at Rembrandt Communications®, LLC. For your valuable, free tips and information, visit www.rembrandtwrites.com.

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Is Branding Relevant to Small Business?

Most small business owners/operators would probably agree that developing a stand-out brand identity is an essential part of the marketing package for corporates and large companies.

Many would add that branding is not that important for small businesses and see it as an additional expense on the P&L. So they head off to the local printer or graphic designer who designs a logo (sometimes even for free) that gets used on stationary, vehicles and other marketing materials.

From our experience in this field, we find that most logos designed for small businesses are simply graphic devices and not actually brands in the true sense of the word, and portray little about the value proposition of the company, its personality and service promise.

In actual fact, development of a meaningful, representative and outstanding brand identity is just as critical for small businesses and if properly executed, can actually be a powerful competitive advantage.

For corporates, an effective and powerful brand is a 'must-have', simply in order to be in the game.

It may not necessarily differentiate them but it does at least give them parity with their competitors.

Unfortunately, some corporates still don't understand the value of a great brand and have cruddy logos that are, in short, embarrassing and doing nothing for their businesses.

But there is significant value to the small business that has the vision and commitment to invest in having a professional marketing agency develop a meaningful and appropriate brand identity.

A brand identity is more than just a visual symbol or logo design - it defines your company's unique service promise, builds lasting brand recognition and invokes positive recall.

A strong brand enhances your company's credibility by integrating your brand strategy with consistent graphic application across all market and customer contact points.

Think about this - if most small businesses have weak branding, then by developing a compelling and effective branding package you can position your company ahead of your competitors in the mind of your target market.

A strong and effective brand can definitely be a competitive advantage in the cut throat world of small business.

To develop a strong brand identity, your marketing agency needs to work closely with you to understand the needs of your customers and prospects.

They need to explore suitable graphic elements and branding metaphors for the logo device, develop appropriate colour palettes and provide guidance on how to effectively apply your branding and logo design in specific applications.

Your goal should be to ensure complete brand integrity. If the brand development process is executed correctly then your company will stand out from the mass of small businesses that simply couldn't be bothered, or more likely, don't know any better.

Professionally designed brands, usually most visibly represented by the logo device, tell the market a visual story about your company.

It speaks of attention to detail, professionalism, pride and investment in your company, presents your unique value proposition and helps you to stand out above your mediocre competitors.

About the Author:

Wayne Attwell is the founder and senior brand strategist at Bold Horizon. He has over 25 years of international marketing and business experience across large corporates and SME's. Initially trained as an industrial designer, Wayne also has an intuitive feel for great design and presentation. For more marketing, brand development and internet marketing information visit www.boldhorizon.co.nz.

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10 Secrets to Using Twitter to Attract More Followers and Get More Clients

By Donna Gunter (c) 2008

I do wonder at times if some Twitter users have any time to get any work done. Several of the more prolific ones that I follow swear they spend no more than 30 minutes a day on Twitter, but I really find that hard to believe. Many times it seems they are twittering just to say something, like "Good morning Twitterverse" when they begin their day, give more details than I want to know about what they had for lunch, what their children said to them, or when they take a nap.

I realize that this is part of the "like, know, and trust" process that enables people to get to know each other, but sometimes it's simply too much information..LOL. I'm Twittering primarily to market my business. Consequently, I try and limit my personal twitters to no more than 2 per day. My clients, who create Twitter accounts for marketing, as well, tell me, "I'm signed up. Now what in the world do I Twitter about? How do I market my business with this tool?"



Here are 10 strategies that I use regularly to market my business and my expertise via Twitter. Remember, you have only 140 characters for your tweet (Twitter post).



1. How you're helping clients. Talk about specific ways that your business helps clients and use their Twitter ID if you have their permission, i.e. "Just finished @clientname brainstorm great Internet marketing plan for 2009" or "Finally finished setting up Quickbooks for local hardware store -- now they can invoice their clients"



2. What you're doing in your business. This is a perfect time to tell others when you're blogging, writing an article, creating your weekly ezine, recording your podcast, i.e. "Had great interview with Jane Smith today on speaking to grow your biz. Great ideas! Subscribe to podcast & listen here (URL here)"



3. Useful tool or resource you've found. I run across these all the time in my daily activities, and Twitter is a perfect place to share,. i.e. "Found great new Firefox plug-in to monitor & check multiple Gmail accounts at same time at (URL here)" or "Read great blog post on workíng at home with kids under 5 at (URL here)"



4. Ask a question. Need some ideas or some quick brainstorming? Twitter is an ideal place to gather opinions, i.e. "Help! Desperately seeking new laser prínter. Recommendations?" or "How do I find training organizations online?"

5. Conduct a survey. What do your Tweeps think about a particular issue? Ask them via Twitter, i.e. "Quick poll: Do you get more clients from Facebook or Twitter? Respond at (URL here)"



6. Report on live events. The latest Twitter trend seems to be tweeting what's happening at conferences or workshops. In order for Twitter users to follow a particular event, it's usually referred to by a name preceded by a # sign, as in #JVAlert, for example, to make it simpler for people who want to follow those posts. So, if you were at an event, you might tweet "#JVAlert John Smith speaking on affiliate programs. Just got great idea on training affiliate managers!" Just don't get so wrapped up in tweeting that you ignore the content delivered in the conference!



7. Product or service launch. If you're about to launch a new product or introduce a new product, let your Twitter followers know, i.e. "Pre-launch pricing for new DVD set about how baby boomers can start an online biz. Get $100 early bird discount at (URL here)"



8. Responding to others with advice or answers. The way to build professional relationships on Twitter is to help your tweeps. So, if someone asks a question, comments about something to which you have a response or an idea, or you want to ask a followup question, this is the perfect place to do so.

9. Acknowledging new followers. I've noticed a recent trend of acknowledging people who've decided to follow a Twitter user in the past day or so. I initially thought that others were doing this as a measure of popularity, but what I've come to realize is that it's actually helping out the new followers because it exposes their Twitter profiles to others who may have never heard of them and who might like to follow them. So, to thank your followers, you'd tweet, "Welcome new followers @twittername, @twittername, etc."



10. Automate your tweets. Many of my tweets have been automated and connected to other things I do. TwitterFeed turns all of my blog posts into tweets. aWeber turns each ezine issue into a tweet. EzineArticles.com tweets my followers every time I publish an article through their service. Typically all that's involved here is connecting the particular service to my Twitter account. Once all the services are connected, I get free and automated Twitter posts with no additional effort on my part.



Twitter can be a great time-waster or a wonderful way to market your business and leverage your expertise online. Follow these 10 strategies and you'll begin to attract more followers and get more clients through social networking.

About The Author

Online Business Manager and Online Business Coach Donna Gunter helps independent service professionals learn how to automate their businesses, leverage their expertise on the Internet, and get more clients online. To claim your FREE gift, TurboCharge Your Online Marketíng Toolkit, visit her site at OnlineBizU.com . Follow Donna on Twitter: http://twitter.com/donnagunter

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Should Small Businesses Invest In SEO During A Recession?

By Mike Tekula (c) 2008

These are tough times, no doubt. The pinch is on every business to cut unnecessary costs and improve efficiency. Those businesses that were squeaking by to begin with are now in danger of closing their doors.



Advertising is usually one of the first items on the chopping block (though it shouldn't be). You've got to cut costs, and you certainly don't want to lay off any employees if you can help it, so you start looking a bit more closely at your marketing budget to see where you can rein in ad spending. It's a natural reaction to a tightening budget, and there is a good reason for it.

Most business owners know that you need to advertise. Sure, word of mouth is great - there's nothing like a referral from a happy client to instill trust in a prospect - but you still need to be proactive in getting the word out. The trouble with advertising in the traditional sense is that it is difficult to know whether your efforts are working and what is generating the best value for your dollar. The uncertainty makes it hard to keep throwing money into your ad spend. When your budget tightens it is even harder to justify the cost when the benefits are fuzzy at best.



But marketing on the web is different. The costs are lower, return on investment can be much higher and traffic data allows you to chop out the dead wood and optimize your budget. Search engines are a primary driver of traffic on the web (second in use only to email according to a report by Pew Internet & American Life Project and comScore). Search engine optimization (SEO), as a result, has receíved an increasing amount of well-deserved attention.



For most small businesses, SEO is new. Some have considered it, perhaps even done a bit of research on the topic, but haven't yet invested in it. Others have invested in it in the past and found themselves disappoínted with the results. A few have found real success.



In this economy, why should a company consider a new marketing channel like search when they're already looking to cut their budget? What about the risks involved in such a new endeavor? What if it doesn't work? These are all valid questions. For those who spend most of their time building and maintaining their businesses and systems, reading up on what makes search engines tick is unlikely. Understanding SEO enough to truly leverage it for growth can seem a long way off.



So Why SEO, and Why Now?

1. Unparalelled ROI

A 2006 MarketingSherpa survey of 3,053 client-side marketers determined that SEO was viewed as the most valuable marketing solution in terms of ROI, even higher than email marketíng to in-house email lists. ROI is everything - especially in uncertain economic times.

2. Targeted Traffíc

Traditional "push" marketing/advertising options often have you publishing an advertisement in a place where you're hoping it will get a lot of eyeballs. That's great, but the real question is: who owns those eyeballs? Are they the right people? Do they want or need what you're offering? With SEO, up front keyword research can tell you a lot about your market and what kind of language they're using. When you choose your keywords and optimize for them, you're addressing an existing need or desire - and you know that at least a good portion of visitors referred from search engines through your target keywords are looking for exactly what you're offering. In short, SEO helps to drive high quality traffic to your website and gets your message in front of the right people at the right time.

3. Precise Tracking

Web analytics allow you to track your users with a great deal of granularity. The most basic and easy to set up analytics platform is Google Analytics - and it's free. Out of the box, Google Analytics will tell you where visitors are coming from (including what search engines and keywords), what pages bring in the most users, what keywords have the lowest bounce rates (the measure of users who immediately leave your site after viewing one page), what keywords drive the most pages per visit and average time on site and a lot more. With basic conversion tracking you can even tie keywords to conversion rates - an incredibly valuable way to identify the most valuable keywords and focus on them. Bottom line: with web analytics you can identify the dead wood in your campaign and focus on better opportunities to optimize your marketing budget in real time.

How should you approach SEO?



If you're considering investing in SEO as a marketing channel there are two basic options:

1. Take the SEO work on in-house

2. Hire an agency or consultant and outsource SEO

The In-House Option



Hiring for an in-house SEO position is often out of the budget range for small businesses - in this economic climate especially. Existing employees, on the other hand, can play an important role - especially those who are already regularly updating your website. It requires careful research, planning and execution, but with the right training and guidance much of the work required can be handled in-house.



There are also some simple things you can be doing in-house to improve your SEO.

• That company you partner with - do they have a website? If so, consider asking them to link to you (after you link to them). Links are a powerful way to improve your search engine rankings.
  
• That trade organization you belong to - do they have a directory on their website where they list and link to members? That could be the source of a quick and easy link.
  
• Thinking about starting a blog? It's a great way to build content on your site and bring in attention and links - just keep in mind you've got to be serious about it and actually post regularly.

Search engines are very complex, but in the end the websites they reward with high rankings are those that get the simple things right: they feature interesting content on a regular basis, they stick around with the same domain name and with the same topic for years and they build links over time and from other relevant and trusted websites.



The Outsourcing Option



Full disclosure: I am biased. I run a search engine marketing agency. But I hope you'll hear me out anyway.



Hiring an SEO agency to either handle the full scope of work or to consult on research and strategy and delegate to your web developer makes sense in many situations. SEO agencies usually spend a great deal of time researching strategies and tactics and compiling resources - all of which can help you hit the ground running with your SEO campaign. But you need to find the right agency.



Let's be clear: no SEO agency can guarantee you rankings or growth. If they tell you they can, they're being either dishonest or foolish, or both. The bottom line is that SEO experts don't control the search engines. Changes to Google's algorithm can, and usually do, come unannounced. That is out of our hands.



This doesn't mean, however, that the burden of risk should fall entirely on your shoulders. Failure of a campaign shouldn't mean you lost your investment, the agency "did their best" and it just didn't work out. Smart agencies recognize that the best thing they can do is share the risk with the client. How? Simply: they set specific goals and benchmarks and stick to them. That may mean they continue working at a discounted rate if they don't reach a goal. On the other hand, they may choose to work on a performance-based contract from the start so their compensation will be linked directly to the return on your investment. The point is, it should be more of a partnership than a client/vendor relationship. That is as important now as it ever has been.



SEO is scalable - you don't have to throw everything and the kitchen sink into it. Sometimes just taking a few small steps here and there over time adds up to success. Other times you need a one-time overhaul of your site, or maybe a long-term relationship with an expert who can help chart the course. It will depend on the goals you set for your website and how realistic they are given the limits of time and resources. But search engines are going to remain the primary driver of traffic and sales on the web for the forseeable future. SEO, for that reason, shouldn't be an afterthought to your marketing plan, even in tough economic times - indeed, with such a high potential return on your investment, it should be a priority.

About The Author

Mike Tekula is the President and Founder of Unstuck Digital, Inc., a Long Island SEO company that provides clients with effective and affordable search engine marketing strategies.

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Five Key Marketing Strategies for Web Business Growth

If you expect to achieve sustained growth for your Web business and you don't have a plan in place to get you there, you might as well forget it. Growing a profitable Web Business is a strategic process that requires long range vision, careful planning, precise execution and patience. It's vital that you know exactly what you want to accomplish and that you have a detailed blueprint to follow.

Of course you need to have a website that is optimized and tested to convert traffic, and then you need to devote time to developing and executing short-term and long-term promotional strategies. These strategies must stand on their own as well as work together to get you the best results.

Here are five key strategies you can use to advance your business and improve your profit margin:

#1. Always Look For Opportunities to Increase Sales

Let's face it, sales drive business and sales come from customers; therefore, the hunt for new customers should be phase one of an ongoing three-phase marketing approach that every online business owner should embrace.

Phase two is to follow up with these new customers from time to time, and introduce them to additional offers. The objective of this second phase is to get them to buy from you more often.

The final phase of this three-pronged strategy is to offer expensive items, or bundle multiple items into higher-priced packages. This will give your customers more opportunities to make larger purchases.

#2. Find the Best Use for Your Marketing Budget

After you have identified your market demographic, fixed your goals and decided on a promotional strategy for reaching potential customers, the next step is to figure out how to maximize your budget and get the job done without over spending. Even though the exact process will vary from business to business, the principle remains the same.

You want to expose your product or service, as often as possible, to consumers who will derive the most benefit from it. Studies show that the average consumer will see a promotion about five to seven times before taking action on the offer.

So instead of blowing your budget on a single opportunity to reach your select group, it is much wiser to get everyone's attention with repeated promotions. Use as many different forms of advertising as you can afford and squeeze the most out of your marketing dollars.

#3. Invest in a Virtual Assistant

This is an opportunity to outsource various redundant tasks to someone who is capable, reliable and trustworthy. The big advantage to you is you'll have more time to devote to activities that generate income and help you grow your business.

A virtual assistant works from his or her office as an independent contractor and is responsible for whatever administrative or operational responsibilities you assign. Compensation can be agreed upon at an hourly rate, per assignment or by retainer.

If you are not yet at the stage where you can afford to pay a virtual assistant, you can consider a suitable barter arrangement with a subscriber or a customer. You can also ask a family member or a friend for help. You can't do it all yourself and you shouldn't even consider that option for the longterm.

#4. Use the Power of Email to Convert Visitors Into Customers

Email marketing is one of the most economical and reliable ways to build a relationship with visitors and eventually convert them into buyers. It is an effective tool for staying in touch and developing the level of comfort and trust that is necessary before they will agree to do business with you.

You can use email to convince your subscribers of your expertise in your niche. The more they come to accept you as an authority, the greater your credibility will become and the easier it will be for you to make sales.

Plus, email is a very handy tool for keeping customers abreast of new products, special promotions and the latest announcements about your business.

#5. Develop a System for Everything You Do

Make sure to design methods and procedures that simplify and expedite important aspects of your business operation. Very often these systems will evolve from trial and error, but when they have been perfected they should become standard procedure.

The most efficient systems are those that get you to your objective as quickly as possible, for as little money as possible and with the least possible effort.

The above strategies are vital to the success of any online business. Together they save you time, money, effort, and provide a pathway to sustained growth and expansion. Just be consistent in the marketing practices you implement and the results will come out in your favor.

About the Author:

Hermas Haynes is the founder and webmaster of eBizInfoCenter - a popular resource where you can find many more marketing strategies, tools, articles and ideas for advancing your web business.

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Who are you? Your customers really want to know.

Who are you, really?

Your brand, I mean.

What do you want other people to think when they think about your business, your service, or your product?

Do you want them to think your brand is the life of the party, or the designated driver? Is it a trusted friend, or a glamorous rock star? Are you a Volvo or a 'Vette'?

So I repeat...who are you?

You may already know this, and if that's the case, I congratulate you! Many small businesses struggle with this. If, however, you need a little help in defining yourself, here are a few questions to ask yourself:

1. How am I currently perceived by my customers?

If you don't know, do a quick focus group with a target segment of your market (10 - 20 people), customers and non-customers. Have a list of questions ready to ask.

2. How do I want to be perceived by my customers?

Realize that your brand needs to reflect and resonate with your target market. If you want to be a sports car, but your customer wants you to be a sedan, you should probably reflect what your customer's value unless you're trying to attract a different set of customers.

3. How far apart is how I'm currently being perceived to how I want to be perceived?

What will it take to bridge the gap? Do I really need to bridge the gap, or should I enhance my current image?

Once you've got a general idea of perception, time to make your personality more definitive. So, ask yourself these questions:

4. What are my brand's human characteristics?

As crazy as it may sound to you, many branding experts suggest you do this in order to put your brand on a level everyone in your organization can understand. Is your brand male, female? Old, young? Rich, poor, middle class? Where does it work? What does it do for entertainment? These are just starter questions...you can think of a lot more yourself!

5. If my brand was an actual person, what would be its name?

Think about it, when you hear someone is names "Biff," an immediate picture comes to your mind. I bet you can think of a dozen such examples! Pick a name that personifies your brand. Paris, Tom, Jane, Inga, Ian, Jeff, Elsa...

6. What is my brand's "life story?"

Biff needs to know where he came from, so create a brief, fictional biography of your humanized brand.

Once you figure all this out, consider building a Personality Board. This is very helpful in giving your brand a visual personification. Cut out pictures, stories, headlines, or any other visual reference you think would work to define your personality. You may even want to find a photograph of someone who is the image of your brand personality (your Biff) and place it in the middle. Display it proudly, and make sure your employees know what it is.

Now, when you create your advertising and marketing materials - from print ads to tv and radio spots, from websites to packaging, and beyond - you know what personality they need to reflect. And you will be on your way to delivering a brand with which your customers can identify.

About the Author:

Donna Williams is the founder and creator of BusinessBurrito.com - a website dedicated to helping small businesses grow to their maximum potential. She is also a 25-year advertising / marketing executive, creative director, writer, and producer. Together, Donna and her husband currently own and co-own five small businesses. To learn more about Donna and read more of her articles, visit her website at http://www.businessburrito.com.

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Your Online Reputation

Does integrity really matter in online business? The owners of PCS Productions in Texas would likely say, "Yes!"

This company began in 1995 and has worked to develop quality audio and video productions. Their services extend to web design and hosting, audio streaming and print media projects.

This company has worked diligently to establish integrity in each form of media they present. Many of those media specialties interact with other forms of media so they must make sure they can transfer branding ideas from one concept to another.

I think what may be most impressive about this company is they have an extraordinary track record. Client testimonials are glowing and well respected.

If you are known by the company that you keep then this company visibly has a sense of integrity. Their staff has been sent on assignment to virtually every continent in the world and their work is called upon repeatedly by existing clients while others also seek them out for their skills.

So is this a puff piece about PCS Productions? No. In fact I don't know anyone who works there, nor have I visited with anyone. So, I guess you could say I am not promoting a service, but pointing to some interesting parallels I often find in the best businesses.

This company has a good reputation and that's the point of this article.

As an online business you need to work to establish a reputation that is used as a calling card for potential customers.

The web already has enough scam artists and fly-by-night operations so when I find a point of positivity I cling to it and then point it out to others.

The establishment of a strong work ethic combined with consistently providing the best possible service can do wonders for your business in the long term.

Someone once told me, "You really should take the high road. There's a lot less traffic." At first I smiled, but it's true. We all know someone who is adept at cutting corners. Perhaps we have encountered a business that left us high and dry after they got our money. We like those 'high road' companies.

What we want as business owners are those glowing testimonials that profess the depth of our commitment to excellence. These are words that may well encourage others to buy our product or use our service. Those precious words will not come if the customer is just another dollar figure.

As a business owner you place your name and reputation on every order you ship out. You stake the trust others would like to place in you on the way you handle issues that come up.

It's a whole lot easier to lose a reputation than it is to gain it back. Reputation is an investment in your future. It's an investment that can go away if you don't protect it wisely. What that means for a business owner is you have to put your customers first. Their concerns need to be a concern for you. Their issues require you be a problem solver. Deliver more than you have to and show absolute respect to your customers. After all, they are the ones you serve.

About the Author:

Scott Lindsay - Make A Website or Make Your Own Website Fast at HighPowerSites.com. Start a Home Business and Sell Ebooks at BooksWealth.com.

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[Inside AdSense] Relating AdSense to AdWords

We think it's important for all publishers, both new and veteran, to understand the role they play in our ad network ecosystem. While AdSense is designed for publishers to monetize their websites with Google ads, it's also designed to extend the reach for our AdWords advertisers, providing them with ad real estate whose value is close to that on Google Search results.

If your website performs well for advertisers, there may be increased competition among them to fill your ad spaces. This means we'd have a wider variety of possible ads to display, so the ads you see on your site may be more relevant to your site content and your users' interests. This may lead to more clicks from your users, more placement-targeted campaigns geared towards your site, and increased advertiser bids. Overall, you're likely to earn more revenue with your site if advertisers are generating conversions and receiving quality leads from your site.

On the other hand, if your website performs poorly for advertisers, they may be less inclined to display on your site. This means that the ads our system displays on your site may not be as relevant to your site content and your users' interests, leading to fewer clicks and decreased advertiser bids. As a result, you're likely to earn less revenue with your site if advertisers are performing poorly.

To maximize the value for advertisers displaying on your site, we recommend focusing on developing a high-quality site with original content that's valuable to your users. For more information, please consult our program policies and Webmaster Quality Guidelines for reference.

Posted by the Google Ad Traffic Quality Team

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Keep the Sale

Keep The Sale - Does this sound familiar?

After dozens of phones calls and emails as well as several face-to-face meetings, you finally reach an agreement with a prospect who is intent on buying your service, product or solution.

"Whew! Another sale done," you think to yourself.

But, wait. Before you start counting your commission it is critical that you keep the sale. Just because a prospect has agreed to move forward it does not mean that the sale will move forward, especially if you sell a complex system or solution. Dozens of things can happen to derail your efforts.

Your key contact may change companies or positions. The person you are dealing with gets cold feet, loses interest, or decides to change vendors. The company may be acquired or sold. A competitor may approach your prospect with a better offer. There is no such thing as a guaranteed sale even if you are holding a signed contract. That means you need to ensure that you keep the sale. Here are several strategies you can incorporate into your business that will help you achieve this.

1. First, send some form of acknowledgement or thank-you. I know this sounds like an elementary concept but most sales people think of doing this. They take the sale and move on to the next prospect. However, if you send a thank-you card immediately after you confirm the sale, you differentiate yourself you're your competition. You can also use postcards. The key is to show your new customer that you value his or her business and thanking them is just one small gesture that demonstrates this.

2. The next thing to do is regularly update your new customer. Keep them informed about things like delivery or shipment status and installation dates and schedules. If you sell a highly customized product, make sure you advise them on the progress of the development of their product. Frequency of updates will depend on a few factors.

- What does your key decision-maker expect or want? If they are detail oriented person they will require more frequent updates than someone who is less detail-oriented. The easiest way to determine this is ask this question, "How often do you want me to send you updates?" A simple question but one that will give you tremendous insight into your customer's expectations.

- Another factor is the length of time that occurs between the time of your agreement and when your services will be rendered or your product will be delivered. The more time that elapses between these two, the more important it is for you to update your customer. For example, in my particular business, it is not uncommon for a company to book me for a keynote speech or training workshop up to a year in advance. During this time, I try to send them some form of update so they know I have not forgotten about their event.

3. Send them additional information of value. This includes articles, magazine and newspaper clippings, or other information that is relevant to their business. You could send them an article that mentions a strategic move one of their competitors is about to make or an article on a topic that relates to your key contact's interests. You may come across a newspaper article about their company-clip this article and send it your client. It does not matter if they have already read the article because your gesture shows that you are paying attention to their business. And most sales people do not do this. One word of caution. Do NOT send information about your product! This is not about you! It is about giving your new customer a reason to keep the sale with you.

4. Depending on the size of the sale, you could send a book that will help them with their business. There are a multitude of books on the market today, addressing virtually every business situation. If your client enjoys reading then it makes good business sense to send them a book that will help improve their results. I have sent books to my clients that focus on communication, leadership, sales, and customer service. Attach a brief note explaining why you sent this book.

5. Lastly, reinforce their buying decision. The easiest way to do this is to send them testimonials from satisfied customers. An even more effective approach is to ask one of your existing clients to call your new customer. People want reassurances that they have made a sound buying decision so just imagine the impact if they heard a voice mail message from one of your clients stating how satisfied they were with your product, service or solution.

These may sound like simple concepts. However, I can guarantee that very few sales people actually use them. Integrating these strategies into your routine will not only help you differentiate yourself from your competition, you will increase your odds of keeping every sale you make.

About the Author:

Kelley Robertson, author of The Secrets of Power Selling helps sales professionals and businesses discover new techniques to improve their sales and profits. For information on his programs contact him at 905-633-7750 or Kelley@RobertsonTrainingGroup.com.

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Build Customer Confidence with Testimonials

Every person in America has bought something that either broke or stopped working after a few days. Because of this, today's customers want to feel reassured that you are selling quality products and services. Customers do not want to lose money or feel like they've made a bad decision. The best way to do assure customers is to have good, strong testimonials.

If a business has happy customers and a lot of return clients, it should have testimonials. You wouldn't hire a contractor to remodel your house without checking references. Therefore be proud of the work you do and get some testimonials. Customer testimonials will help increase sales as well as boost the confidence of potential customers.

The Difference Between Good and Better

In order to have testimonials work for you and increase clientele, you must be careful how you phrase them. Testimonials are a marketing effort, which means that they need to be geared toward making your company look spectacular. For example, instead of writing "I love their vitamins", write "Taking these vitamins everyday gives me lots of energy and keeps me feeling great all day long." The latter testimonial is a lot more eye-catching and will be more effective in gaining a customer's confidence than the former. Ask customers who are willing to write testimonials to be specific.

Cherry Pick Your Testimonials

If you don't have any testimonials, check your company's email inbox for customers who sent compliments. If you can't find any ones you like, look at your client list and find out who is buying your products and at what frequency. Call or email a handful of your best customers and ask them to write a specific testimonial. Have them send a picture as well. This will give potential customers further reassurance of the validity of the testimonial.

Testimonials will not only improve your business, but will also improve your company's image as one that values customer satisfaction. So make the effort to get some strong testimonials.

Four Tips for Effective and Eye-Catching Locations

1. Once you have the testimonials, you need to figure out where to put them on your site. Placement is key, particularly when using flash. You want your testimonials to give maximum impact. The most common place on a website is for them to have their own navigation button titled either "Testimonials" or "Rave Reviews". This way more testimonials can be viewed on their own page.

2. Another option is to use flash testimonials on a sidebar on the homepage along with the customer's name, job title and company or logo. If you are using the testimonials in the masthead, they should rotate every 7-10 seconds then stop after all testimonials are shown. You don't want a testimonial to be so distracting that it takes the emphasis off of the content and what you are selling or offering. By having the flash cycle stop, you are allowing viewers to see the testimonials and then freely look at the content without the excess flash.

3. An alternative way to present testimonials is to sprinkle them throughout the site, highlighting them within the content using graphics, such as a color block background, upper and lower bar, etc. These visual stops are equally effective in reinforcing your credibility and can act as an additional selling point for specific products or services.

4. If you have the option for audio or video testimonials, this can be very effective in boosting your company's credibility. Audio is easy to record using Audio Acrobat. Video, on the other hand, requires more thought to positioning and angles. If you are at a trade show or with a client, you may want to pre-plan these testimonials for more impact.

Remember that in order for a testimonial to be effective, it needs to be specific, believable and placed in a credible location. With these three tips in mind, your testimonials will build customer confidence and web success.

About the Author: Converting visitors to buyers is the ultimate objective of most websites. The Web Success Team has an arsenal of online direct response marketing techniques to entice visitors to take action while on your website. Contact the Team today and we'll show you how to beef up your online marketing efforts make your website capture more buyers and generate more income for your products and services. http://www.websuccessteam.com

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Interview with a New York Web Design Company

By Scott Jason (c) 2008

As a Web optimization specialist I spend a good deal of time seeking out the best designers from around the country and around the world. We swap industry insider tips. They teach me about Web design and I show them how to get their beautiful sites to the top of Google, MSN and Yahoo. It's a match made in heaven. The most recent collaboration was a huge success that helped both of us get just what we wanted so we decided to publish our findings for anyone interested. That said; here is an interview with a New York Web design company.



What makes a New York Web design company any different from other Web design companies? That's easy... Competition. Just look at how many design firms there are out there and you will see what I mean! In the city or outside, someone seeking high quality Web design in New York faces hundreds of choices in an area of just a few city blocks. Now that's competition!

If you are not from the area it can be difficult to envision. This might help... Imagine typing "New York web design" into Google's search box and getting hundreds of pages with thousands of links of returns. Instead of clicking on those links however, you're walking into hundreds of offices; each offering their own unique flavor of Web design.



But, with the competition comes a competitive edge that is critical in a struggling economy. Of course we all want to look good on the Internet, but when you're competing with your real live neighbors in addition to those online; you have to step it up a notch.



With that said, I provide some inside advice from a successful New York Web design firm. Let's focus our attention on Website usability. This has the unfortunate distinction of being both the most important yet generally least considered aspect of design all too often and the Website owners suffer for the oversights.



First off, most people do not really read a Web page at first glance; they scan it to see if there is something worth actually reading. You need to get their attention right away and keep it. Here's how...



1.) Jump in with your most powerful content right off the bat. Grab their attention immediately and keep it. Don't save the best for last unless you have something nearly as good to lead the reader there.



2.) Make sure your functional areas are consistent, as much as possible, throughout your site. This is especially true of the navigation links (top, left, right, etc.) search fields, logins, and anything else needing user interaction. The more at ease your visitor feels working through the site, the more likely he or she is to stay for a while and go even deeper.



3.) Embed a link to your homepage within your company logo. This is expected by just about every site visitor who has been on the Web for any length of time. It's a safety net many users rely and to deny it could result in major inconvenience to your visitors.

4.) Add a search box in an easy to find, consistent location. And be certain it searches ONLY within your Website. Having a search feature that offers to "Search The Web" gives your visitors an invitation to leave your site. Why would you want that?



Secondly, keep in mind that search engines will also be looking at your site. Making it pretty is not enough. It needs to attract the search engine as much as live visitors if you ever expect those live visitors to find it in the first place. This is known as search engine optimization, or SEO. It's more complicated today than in years past but still quite doable. Here are three "must do" tasks for you to complete if you want your site on top of Google.



1.) Use keywords as anchor text (the visible clickable words) in your links throughout your page's content. This is huge! Allow me to demonstrate how powerful this one element can be.



Navigate to Google.com and conduct a search for the term "Clíck Here" (no quotes.) Take note of two things right away... Number one, there are more than 1.6 billion other (competing) Web pages. Number two, the top match returned is a link to Adobe Acrobat Reader.



Ready for a surprise? The term Clíck Here is not anywhere on the page text or META tags. The page is number one, out of 1.6 Billion pages, because thousands of Web pages supplying a link to Acrobat "Clíck Here" as their anchor text of choice. Amazíng, isn't it?



This is great news for you! You can easily take advantage of that power by linking to and from pages within your Website. Which leads us nicely into Tip number two...



2.) If you deem that SEO is a priority for your site, create a unique page for each of your main keywords. Just be sure to link the anchor text from each page to the page that has that specific keyword as its focus.



Industry Advice: If you are a blog specialist or Web designer by trade, offering SEO as part of your services is a natural fit that can double the value of your work, or more. With so many good SEO products available to help you get professional results with minimal effort, you can usually rely on reputation as a good indicator of potential success. For example, eBay, Motorola and Lexmark all stake their online success on a tool you can get for $250 at iBusinessPR0M0TER.com.



3.) Relevant anchor text should also be at the top of your mind when you are requesting inbound links from other sites. This is what Google uses as its strongest measurement to gauge the quality of your pages.



This is how you can build your brand using your words. Getting visitors there is only half the battle, keeping them is a whole different ballgame.



Now, similar to tip number 2, you want to request specific keywords be used in the anchor text leading to your pages from other sites. And be sure to request each link to the most appropriate page. Just linking to the homepage doesn't cut it anymore.



Warning: Avoid reciprocal link farms like the plague! They are so easy for Google to spot it's a joke.



If you are in need of quality links but don't have time to setup link partnerships yourself, you may want to try a service that facilitates "3 way linking" like the one at 3WayLinker.



It's very simple and really pretty ingenious. Here's how it works... Site 1 links to Site 2. Site 2" links to Site 3. And Site 3 links to Site 1 forming an indirect chain of one way links.



That's all for now. Good luck!

About The Author

Article based on interview with David R. by Scott Jason. Premier New York Website Design is David Radovanovic's passion. After 10 years of success, in 2003 he opened WhatsTheBigIdea.com and more recently CreativeCrib.com . Want great graphic design in New York? See Dave.

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3 Simple Marketing Strategies For Your Small Business Explained

If you're in business for yourself then sooner or later you're going to be asking yourself the following questions:

How do I get more customers? How can I get my customers to spend more money with me? How can I get better quality of leads without breaking the bank account? Is there a better way of targeting my advertising so that I win much more than I lose?

Below are three strategies to attracting more business and making more money:

Strategy #1. - You Must Understand The Lifetime Value Of Your Clients

Every business owner needs to fully understand the life time value of their customers.

This is the total profit that a customer will bring to your business over the lifetime of your dealings with that customer.

The following example will explain why it's important to know this number: Let's pretend you own a book store. If your customer spends $50 every time they walk into your store, and they visit once a month for 4 years, a customer is worth $2400.00. The math would look like this: $50 (average bill) x 12 (number of visits) x 4 (number of years).

Think of how much money you're missing out on if you were thinking of only one transaction?

Let's take a look at another example: John Smith sells a cd plus manual kit on how to self-publish a book. The initial manual set is worth $500. John knows that over the lifetime of a customer, a significant number will spend somewhere between $20,000 and $40,000 with additional products!

By knowing his numbers he can afford to allocate a significant amount of money towards his advertising budget to bring in more customers. Why? Because he is equipped with information that he'll make it up on average over the lifetime of the customer.

Strategy #2. - Build Up Your Customer List

Always collect their names, emails, and other contact information from your customers.

How will you stay in contact with your customers if you don't collect your information? And if you do ask for their contact details on your sales slips and invoices, be sure you are using them!

And if you are wondering how you collect them it is as simple as asking them for it. This is best done during your customers' purchasing process by asking them to fill out a form with their details. There are many successful companies who did this for years and would mail you catalogs in the mail.

Don't you remember getting them? And when you received these catalogs you would find a comfortable place to relax with pen in hand checking off or earmarking the items you would later order. This enabled these companies to make more money from their customers.

Another way to get your customers to give you their contact information is by having a monthly drawing in which a prize will be given. It will amaze you how many names you could collect by doing this.

Let's say you own a restaurant, you can offer a free dessert to everyone who drops their business card into a fish bowl. It's not impossible to collect over 1000 names over the course of a month. How much will a dessert cost? $2 - $3, if that much. If all business owners were to implement this marketing strategy alone, they would be protecting their businesses in the face of stiff competition. They could send out snail mail to their customers with special offers on slow nights and watch them come flocking in.

This can also be done with emails and faxes. You want to generate more business? No problem. Send out a special promotion.

Strategy #3. - Develop A Strong Relationship With Your Prospects And Clients

If you want to generate new business that you can keep for a lifetime then you'd better make it a number one priority to keep in touch with your customers. The reason you'd want to do this is so that you can remain at the top of mind with your clients. When they're ready to buy, you're the one they'll think of first.

It's not unusual to hear cases in which a business will send out newsletters to their customers for years before they buy. You want to position yourself in such a way that when they're ready to buy -- you'll get the sale.

The lesson here: keep communicating and following up with your customers until they're ready to place an order with you.

About the Author:

Yves Marie Danie Baptiste is an expert in small business marketing. To learn how to increase profits in your small business, visit: http://tinyurl.com/5nkul3.

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Your Affiliates Can Quickly Become Your Leading Competitors

By Aaron Wall



Because of the low cost of online distribution a company can quickly grow from being one of your affiliates, to one of your leading sales channels, to being the leading competitor. And once they grow into a destination you can't just cut them off without hurting your customers or your brand, as Ryanair will soon find out.



The strategy of starting off with a harmless consumer focused service that can spread far and wide is what allowed Google to create a system where its leading competitors paid Google to market the Google brand across the leading web properties. It is the same set up that benefits new bloggers...most companies don't see them as competitors until after they dominate the market.



In a recent interview Microsoft's Brad Goldberg said:

Today, if you look at search behavior, search actually isn't good around verticals. In many respects it is not in the economic interest of a lot of vertical sites to expose more and more of their content to search engines because then they risk being aggregated in terms of traffic.

At some point Google will reach a logical upper limit. Google OneBox is encroaching on many large verticals, and Google merchant search is not far behind.



At the other end of the spectrum, many marketing companies offer to help you get traffic cheaper than you can get it from Google, but only at the expense of creating competition subsidized by your own pocketbook! Years ago Article Insider was selling traffic for pennies a click, but you had to buy years worth of clicks upfront, and then when they published your content the clicks you were buying were below the fold while they placed Google AdSense ads above the fold - so if you wanted real exposure you were stuck paying Google anyhow. More recently John Andrews pointed out a new Marchex strategy where publishers pay Marchex to develop a domain name that offers them low cost traffic, at least temporarily.

By "partnering" with Marchex, these small business men have handed over a portion of their web presence to a company that has invested heavily in their own market. Marchex acquired - and prepped for local business success - a collection of domains like DentalCareIssaquah.com. Today that domain is offered to this dental practice, but tomorrow when they stop paying Marchex's preferred rate, that domain will indeed be offered to the next bidder. Thanks to Issaqua Dental's continuing investment in Marchex, that hyperlocal domain owned by Marches has increasing asset value in that local market. Clearly Marchex is a competitor. What a great business strategy! Compete with local small businesses while marketing yourself as their partner, collecting a share of their revenues!

If you are going to make a big online marketing investment make sure your site has reached the point of diminishing returns before looking elsewhere. And make sure that when you look elsewhere you are not diminishing your longterm returns by subsidizing a new market competitor.

About the Author:

Aaron Wall is the author of SEO Book, a dynamic website offering marketing tips and coverage of the search space, free SEO videos, and free SEO tools. He is a regular conference speaker, partner in Clientside SEM, and publishes dozens of independent websites.

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The Myth Of Being Successfully Solo In Business

By Mark Silver (c) 2008 Heart Of Business

There's a breakneck pace that many new solo business owners assume. With an infinite number of things to do, and about a dozen hats to wear, it gets overwhelming, fast.


And, that's nothing compared to what happens once the business actually has some momentum under it. That's why one of my clients with a brand-new business was asking me: "Mark, how do you get it all done? Your business has about 100 times more going on in it than mine does, and I'm overwhelmed just with what I'm trying to get done."



Here's my answer: "I don't get it all done."



Which strikes at the heart of the most dangerous myth in business: the bootstrap myth, known in this particular instance as the myth of the successful solopreneur.

Why This Myth is so Dangerous



The myth says that you can do it on your own, you can bootstrap your way to success, and that when you go solo, you don't need anyone else. That's the whole point of being self-employed, or running a personal-sized business, right?



This rugged homage to individualism isn't just in the U.S., as some have claimed. I have seen this myth in action across the globe: Canada, the UK, mainland Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa.



It seems as if it's just hard to get it: we can't do it ourselves.



The Physical Reality



When you're an employee at a company, you get to do your job. And, unless you think upon it, you might not realize how much other people do just so you can do your job.



Who prints and signs your check? Who makes sure the office building gets cleaned? Who stocks the office supplies closet, or goes out and sells to clients so there is revenue to pay you?



It's humbling, but when you become self-employed, all of those functions fall into your lap. And it is impossible, literally impossible, to do them all. If you're overwhelmed trying to make your business work yourself, there is good reason for it.



Frustrating - but don't despair. It may help to understand why it is this way.



The Spiritual Reality



As my Sufi teacher tells me, "Be the earth for your brothers and sisters. If you don't carry them, who will?... When you look into another's eyes, see the reflection of God looking at you."



The depth of this teaching really struck home when I realized that he wasn't talking to me personally - this teaching was for everyone. We're all asked to carry each other. Which means that we also need to allow ourselves to be carried.

When someone offers help, do you say: "Yes!" or do you say: "Nah, I can get it." If the bootstrap myth is operating in your business, there may be a hundred subtle and not-so-subtle ways that you avoid or turn away from help."



Lord knows I do.



And yet we are meant to both help and be helped by each other. This is one of the ways that we experience the Divine in our lives, through the actions, support and love of others.



Yes, I mean you. You are supposed to receive the Divine through the actions, support and love of others. You can't do everything yourself. And that's as it was designed to be.



Watch the wing-stretching and contortions you go through as you learn to receive more help. It will do much more than help your business, it will be a real experience of healing and growth for you as well.



Who can afford to hire an entire company of help?



Of course, not all of the help you get will be free, and there's so much of it to get. And you can't hire it all, especially early in your business. So what do you do?



After going through some big transitions ourselves, having grown up in a small retail business, and having worked with hundreds of clients, let me share some insights into how to prioritize.



Keys to Being a Successful Pseudo-Solo



First, Invest in Information and Learning.



I know, I know - it seems like a lot needs to get done, right now. Remember - millions of people have already done what you've tried to do. So, the best thing to do is to learn from some of them.



Get books from the library, or buy them. Take classes, free or otherwise. Find people you admire who have successfully navigated what you're trying to do and take them to tea or lunch and ask them questions. I've done about a dozen interviews with folks I admire and have them up in our online community for just that reason: The Business Oasis.

Make sure the information resonates with you. As just one example, marketing professionals out there are all saying more or less the same thing, so you can find one that your heart really resonates with and is speaking your language.



Second, Get Help With the Numbers.



I'll say this once: if you're running a business, you shouldn't be doing your taxes yourself. There are too many deductions and pitfalls and details. You want to hire it out, even if you think you can't afford it.



Related to that, as soon as you can, hire a bookkeeper to keep your accounting clean from month to month. Not only will it help you at tax time (imagine filing your taxes in the beginning of February!), but it will also help you understand your business better, simply knowing how money flows in and out.



Third, Experiment With a Virtual Assistant.



You may not be able or ready to hire out help. You also may have no idea how or where to start. I suggest finding a virtual assistant you like, who has strengths in areas that you get overwhelmed by easily, and hiring them for a very small project, maybe an hour or two. Then repeat in a month or so.



Over some months, as you both get to know each other, you'll get more comfortable with asking for help, and receiving it. Your business may need to develop before you hire a significant amount of help, but if you start small, it will be a much easier transition. And you'll get there much more quickly.



Getting help in your business is a huge topic. The trick is to face the simple truth that you can't do it all yourself, and that spiritually it's enormously beneficial to receive help.



Then, first get help by learning through books, classes, and other resources, second get help with the numbers with an accountant then a bookkeeper, and finally practice outsourcing to a virtual assistant in small, do-able, bites.



And watch how much more successful you can be as a 'pseudo' solo business owner.



The best to you and your business.

About The Author

Mark Silver is the author of Unveiling the Heart of Your Business: How Money, Marketing and Sales can Deepen Your Heart, Heal the World, and Still Add to Your Bottom Line. He has helped hundreds of small business owners around the globe succeed in business without losing their hearts. Get three free chapters of the book online: HeartOfBusiness.com

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