Discover the Value of Your Company and Brand Like a Pro
In: Branding| Build Value
26 Oct 2009Branding is one of the most important aspects of marketing your business - it helps create trust between you and consumers, which is key when setting out to attracting customers.
The more consumers see your brand and value, the more likely they are to return to you when in need or recommend you to friends.
One place to focus your attention …
Brand name - while it’s possible to brand pretty much anything, it’s definitely less time consuming to start with a name people will remember - that is, a name that’s unlike anything else. Consider these top few brands :
- Starbucks
- AOL
It’s safe to safe those companies started with a name unlike anything else in the market at the time.
If you’re brand name shares it’s name with other companies in other industries, don’t worry; there’s been plenty of success with this type of brand as well. The key here is value. Perhaps the best example of this can be seen with a little company in Silicon Valley.
- Apple, Inc. (originally Apple Computers)
Apple, Inc. started up in the wake of Apple Records, the company behind The Beatles, yet if you ask anyone what Apple is all about, they’ll most likely tell you they’re the makers of the awesome computers and phones and iPods.
This is because between the two brands, Apple, Inc. and Apple Records, Apple, Inc. is responsible for providing the most value to our daily lives. This is not to be confused with saying “The Beatles are less.” The Beatles is a whole different brand.
When first starting out, consider the brand you hope to build and whether or not it’s similar to any other companies out there.
Regardless if you share a name with another company, you need to consider the value you’ll be bringing to the table with your company - it’s what will make all of your branding efforts worth while.
10 Ways to Beat the High Cost of Advertising
17 Oct 2009Most business owners will most likely think about advertising when talking about increasing the exposure of their brand, product, or service - probably because we live in world in which we encounter hundreds of advertisements daily.
If you’re like most business owners, you’ve probably explored a few options here or there, such as print ads or search engine ads. The possibilities are endless, right? Not so much.
Advertising is expensive.
Don’t let the cost of advertising discourage you from marketing your business - advertising is only one of the many facets of marketing.
Ways to Beat the High Cost of Advertising
There are plenty of free alternatives to advertising that effectively increase the exposure of your brand, product, or service.
1. Launch a website or two or three
The first thing you need in order to beat the expense of print advertising, is an online presence - the best place to start creating that presence is with your own website.
For those new to the web, there are a few major attractions a business site should host for its visitors.
- The front page - this is where you’ll be promoting your various services or products. This area is designed to hook your visitor’s attention and get them to click further into your site for more information. For an awesome example, check out Apple’s website.
- The about page - this is usually the second most visited page on a website, so it’s important to create one. They key here is to create the tone of your company. For small business owners, this page is a chance to win a customer from a larger brand. The way you do this is by being transparent yet professional - reveal who you are by including a tasteful picture (preferably one that makes you look successful), a little background, and what you do. In addition, you might want to consider creating a mantra or mission statement for the company - especially if you’re trying to do something in addition to make money.
- The product or service pages - If you’re promoting your goods to visitors on the front page, then you’ll want to have a place to send them when they click your promotions with interest - this place should be your produce or service pages. Here, you will reveal the specifics about your goods. For an extensive example, check out Apple’s product page for the iPhone 3GS.
- The contact page - This is perhaps one of the most important areas on a website; without it, you wouldn’t be hearing from customers no matter how exciting your products or services were. The best way to put yourself out there is to include a contact form with a captcha image (a test robots can’t pass)- this way, you don’t risk the chance of encountering debilitating spam. In addition, you might consider making it known where else you can be contacted or found online, such as Twitter, Facebook, or Digg.
- The blog page - Whether you host your blog on a third party site, such as WordPress or Blogger, or on your own site, you should make it available and known to your visitors. Including a link from your front page can increase the page rank of your blog, so be sure to include one either in the header, sidebar, footer, or body of the page. A common method of linking to a company blog without distracting visitors from product or service pages is to place your link in the footer of your website - visit our front page to see the link to this blog in the footer. This brings us to the next step in creating your online presence.
2. Write a blog or two or three … regularly
There’s a lot of debate as to whether or not blogging is an effective way to attract readers and customers - I’m here to tell you that you shouldn’t blame the blog, you should blame the blogger.
Blogging opened the doors for everyone to publish to the web - it’s both a gift and a curse because not everyone is qualified to be publishing work.
The key to blogging successfully is to write high quality posts that help the reader (your customer) by offering a solution to a problem … on a regular basis. Providing value is what it’s all about in the blogosphere, so once you understand what your customer wants you’re ready to start providing help through your blog.
A few things you should know about blogging:
- Blogging takes time - Simply because you built it, doesn’t mean they’ll come in the blogosphere. It takes time to get use4d to the medium; it takes time for Google to index your content; it takes time for visitors to find your site. Blogging takes time, requires dedication, and requires patience, so be sure you’re prepared when embarking on the long journey. Keep at it and you’ll taste the rewards of free brand exposure, high traffic levels, and additional customers.
- Search Engines - Google just reported that 82% of people use search engines to find what they’re looking for - you need to understand what search engines like in terms of content. Check out Google’s webmaster guidelines.
- SEO - Once you have a good idea what the search engines are all about, you can then decide where you stand in terms of SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Do you think it’s necessary to hone your content for the search engines, or hone your content for your readers? Perhaps a balance of both is best.
- Driving Traffic - Naturally, this is what you’ll be after when learning about SEO. The secret here is to create valuable content your reader needs and wants, create compelling titles they can’t resist, and let them know through various outlets, including social profiles, social networking, and email.
Blogging is a lot of work, but it’s one of the best ways to get your brand and profile out there organically. The more you blog, the more likely you’ll see more traffic. Remember, blogging is all about value to the reader. Provide people with free help upfront and they might just become paying customers some where down the line.
3. Build an email list
Email marketing has become one of the most effective methods of advertising, second only to search marketing, due to affordable cost, speed of delivery, and the ability to build a list of targeted leads.
The idea behind an email marketing campaign is simple - capture email information from people interested in learning more or hearing from you in the future and send them compelling information designed to get them to do what you want (buy a product, visit a website, donate, etc.).
The more emails you capture for your list, the better the chance your message will reach the right pair of eyes and you’ll succeed in reaching your goal motivating your email campaign.
There are three popular ways to do this: the opt-in, the newsletter sign up, and the email feed subscription.
Here are a few advantages to email marketing:
- Its inexpensive compared to direct mail or newsletters
- You can track statistics and response metrics
- Delivery time usually takes seconds
- Exact ROI (return of investment) can be tracked
- It supports the green movement
- Advertisers are able to push their message with publishers
- Email lists ads value to a web publisher’s advertising worth
- Email marketing is paper-free
- Email marketing helps build your brand with repetition
- Allows people to unsubscribe easily without hassle
4. Create a social profile or two or three
Chances are you’ve heard all about social media and why it’s important to get involved as a business owner - but have you? A recent study reveals up to 76% small business owners have yet to get involved with social media. Here are two more numbers that might encourage you if you’re wondering what all the hype is about:
- Twitter has over 12.1 million users
- Facebook has over 200 million users
Those are just two of the many social sites online - think of those user numbers as potential customer numbers.
While 76% of small business owners have yet to get involved with social media, Google recorded roughly 82% of people (as a whole) user search engines to find information. The bottom line here is that people have adopted the web as a form of major communication they use on a daily basis.
Creating a social presence for your business is crucial if you hope to connect with your customers in a more personal way, which is something people value about companies today more than ever - this is what transparency is all about.
In addition to connecting, your social profiles will also increase the exposure of your brand and your profile as a pro in your field, so it’s a good idea to explore a handful of social sites when getting involved - just be careful not to go overboard by joining too many sites to manage … start with three.
There are a few types of social profiles, each focused on a certain function in the social webosphere - take a glance:
- Networking - This is probably the most commonly known thanks to sites such as Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, and more. This type of social site enables its members to connect with each other, send messages, post links, publish photos, and more. This is the best way to connect with people and build a following - especially with such functions as Facebook Pages and Groups.
- Micro-Blogging - This is the runner up thanks to one site in particular … Twitter. This type of social site enables its users to post short updates, jokes, pictures, videos, and more and puts the micro in micro-blogging by capping how many characters a user can use when posting - in Twitter’s case, the cap is set at 140 characters. This type of site is great to spread the word about new posts, what you’re reading or watching, what you’re up to (if exciting … no one cares that you’re eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich), and what you’re doing. Keep it fresh, compelling, and regular to effectively harness the power of the micro-blogging medium.
- Bookmarking - For business owners interested in driving traffic, this type of social site will interest you. Sites like Digg, Reddit, StumbleUpon, and more enable users to post links to interesting content from around the web, including news stories, blog posts, services, photos, videos, and more. Post your blog content or article links on these sites and you might just see a spike of traffic. The more people “Digg” or “like” or “thumbs up” the content you added, the better the chance it has of reaching the front page, which has been known to send hundreds or even thousands of new visitors your way.
Reach out to the millions of people using social media and provide them with value - the more you help people for free, the more likely they’ll see you as a dependable source for information and help, which will lead to more paying customers in the future.
Avoid spamming people with advertising or sales pitches - this is a fast track to damaging your brand, your business, and your online presence.
5. Add your website to directories
Once you’ve created and launched a website or web presence of some sort (social profile, free blog, etc.), consider spreading the news to those interested in your niche by adding your website to directories.
There are all sorts of directories online, including our very own yellow pages directory here at Dapeem.com, so do your research. The key here is to find smaller directories that rank well in the search engines - adding your info to one of these might actually increase your traffic.
Here are a few types of directories that can be used to increase the exposure of your brand or profile:
- Website directories - Host to a wide collection of websites and blogs.
- Blog directories - Specifically for those contributing to the blogosphere.
- Article directories - Host to an array of articles in all categories - usually uploaded by those interested in article marketing. Uploading an article to one of these extends your reach, exposes your brand and profile, and builds an incoming link to your web presence.
- Business directories - Host to business and organization listings organized by category and location - add your business to the Dapeem.com yellow pages!
Browse around the web and consider all the different directories and their purpose - similar to social profiles, the best way to yield the power of the directory is to choose one, two, or three to start.
6. Publish a PDF or eBook
If you’re interested in extending your reach beyond the article here and the blog post there, consider producing content packages, such as PDFs, official reports, and eBooks. This might sound like a major process, but it doesn’t have to be - one way to do this is to package a few related posts from your blog together and make it available as a downloadable PDF.
While a reader could easily visit a tag or category page to view this content, the chances are slim that they will. In addition, packaging content adds additional value, even if it’s recycled content. Packaged content feels more substantial to readers because it’s something they can easily print, take with them, and share.
Here are the basics:
- PDF - This is a file format created by Adobe - for more on this, learn more about PDF on Wikipedia.
- eBook - This tends to be more extensive than a basic PDF report - including everything from a table of contents, chapter list, and forward by the author.
PDF reports and eBooks work best when made available without charge - at least in while building your brand and profile online in the beginning. By making these helpful supplementals available to those interested for free, you’re positioning yourself as an expert in the niche - this can pay off down the road when the people you’ve helped along the road become paying customers.
7. Produce a video or two or three
You can do some pretty amazing things with video these days - the most obvious being the ability to share and spread video online.
With social sites focused on video sharing and hosting, people can upload their videos (or even record directly to the website), customize the page on which the video appears, and start sharing it using the auto-generated link or embed code.
A few video sharing sites you should check into:
- YouTube - duh
- Google Video
- Vimeo
A few video ideas for businesses might include the following:
- Promotional videos - This will be most effective when embedded into your own site. Check out the promotional video for Google Wave here. These videos are designed to show the viewer what something is all about, the motive behind the subject, and how the viewer can get involved.
- Viral videos - These are hard to pull off, but if you can manage it you’ll experience an awesome amount of traffic if your campaign is carried out carefully.
- Video tours - Usually led by the CEO, owner, or other member of staff, these focus on sharing the work space, office, or restaurant with the viewer in a personable way similar to a behind the scenes featurette.
- Video podcast - This involves an dedication to produce and release a series of videos about a certain subject. Unlike a collection of videos uploaded
Video is the hot spot on the web these days - it requires less work from the web viewer searching for info, it’s more visually interesting than an article of text, and it’s spreadable.
8. Share compelling images
Much like video sharing sites, image driven sites can increase your brand’s exposure, your personal profile as an expert in the field, and even act as a viral ad for your services or company.
A few things you can do to increase exposure with images:
- Controversial ads - create a bit of viral imagery
- Eye-catching design - simple, different, compelling
- Logo - spread your logo around the web to help brand your company
- Share photos of your work place
Overall, creating images to increase the exposure of your brand or profile is effective thanks to such services as Google image search, Flickr, and others.
9. Create an affiliate program
One way to spread your brand around the web is to create an affiliate program for one of your products or services.
An affiliate program is something that enables other web publishers, including bloggers, website managers, and even the regular social profile user, to make a little money by recommending your product or service to their network of contacts.
Here’s how it usually work:
- Business owners create an affiliate program
- Web publishers sign up and promote your product or service as an affiliate member (usually in the form of a recommendation)
- The affiliate’s network listen to their recommendation and follow unique affiliate links back to your site
- When a customer arrives at your site via affiliate link and makes a purchase, the affiliate earns a percentage for their contribution to make the sale possible
Affiliate programs are particularly attractive to web publishers interested in making extra money for helping promote a product or service they believe in.
For the business owner, affiliate programs help achieve two major goals:
- Sell your product or service
- Brand your company
Imagine the extra exposure you could get with the help of five affiliate program members - then imagine the massive exposure your could be getting with 20, 50, or even 100 affiliate program members!
Consider this method like a marketing “street team” dedicated to promoting your products or services all around the web - the higher the percentage you pay affiliates, the more affiliate you’ll attract; and the more affiliate you attract, the more product and service you’ll sell.
You might want to consider getting your attorney involved with this method when drawing up the legal and financial agreement for your future affiliate members.
10. Design an app or two or three for the App Store
The Apple App Store exploded onto the scene in mid 2008 and created a billion dollar industry with the help of affiliate developers in little over a year. With the ever growing popularity of Apple’s products, including the iPhone and iPod touch, it’s time for business owners to hop aboard the app train and bring something new to the table - you never know, it might be the next hit app.
While there are several platforms to develop your app for, Apple’s App Store is the original and by far most popular - with over a billion (1,000,000,000) apps downloaded in just one year.
Apps are designed not only as an alternative revenue stream, but as a way to brand, attract, and make your services or products available on a mobile device.
Some call this web 3.0 - the ability to use an app on your mobile device to achieve something or get the value of a site without having to visit the site.
Starbucks recently published their app, which enables users to build their custom drink, find nearby stores, explore different drinks, and share your favorite drinks with friends. In addition the app reveals the nutritional value of your creation and enables you to save your friends drinks as well, which can come in handy if picking up for a friend, co-worker, or boss!
There’s been a long-running rumor that customers will even be able to place their Starbucks order using their mobile device.
The best way to get involved with this is to hire a professional developer - they’ll know the ins, out, and what’s hot. consider browsing the App Store on your Apple device for an idea of what developers and companies are publishing. Every app usually includes developer information - if you see one that sparks your fancy, contact the developer for more information.
To give you an idea of what’s out there, here’s a quick list of categories:
- Games
- Entertainment
- Utilities
- Social Networking
- Music
- Productivity
- Lifestyle
- Reference
- travel
- Sports
- Navigation
- Healthcare & Fitness
- News
- Photography
- Finance
- Business
- Education
- Weather
- Books
- Medical
Overall, the success of Apple’s App Store goes to prove that people want more not only from their mobile device, but from companies and websites as well.
For more on this, check out the App Store page at Apple and see how your iPhone gets better with every new app.
So many possibilities!
I hope this post proved there are plenty of alternatives to advertising for those interested in marketing their business.
Start your marketing campaign simple - a profile here, a business listing there - and take it from there.
Get started right here on Dapeem.com - add your business to our yellow page directory - with a team of SEO professionals, content specialists, copy editors, and administrative staff, it’s one of the best directories online.
How are you marketing your business online?
Share how you’re marketing your business online in the comments form below and whether it’s working!
4 Twitter status update styles that work
In: Twitter
14 Oct 2009The social web has created a niche in which users share updates with the collective web throughout their day to day routine. These updates include a wide range of content, including everything from personal commentary and humor to business promotion and marketing links.
To business owners, this niche of the web can be a valuable form of marketing when interested in sharing content, resources, and other valuable material designed to drive traffic to a particular website, blog, or social profile.
While the content is always the primal factor of driving traffic, I’d like to explore a few ways to structure your updates in order to encourage re-tweets, more sharing, and more linking from your readers.
Twitter update styles:
- Earlier: 34 things to blog about - http://bit.ly/P5bpQ
- NEWS: Your post here - exmaple.com
- What should I blog about when I don’t know what to blog about?
- 34 things to blog about - http://bit.ly/P5bpQ
- http://bit.ly/P5bpQ - 34 things to blog about
When - Include the time something posted
For those interested in reminding their following of a new post, or informing later Twitter visitors of the post, consider including the time at which your post was published.
This can apply to pretty much everything, so use your imagination. People are naturally inquisitive, so including this bit of information will add an extra detail as well as let them know that they weren’t a part of something earlier. This might be a good way to subtly let your followers know that they can receive updates via email feed.
Category - Break your tweet down
If you’re writing about quite a few topics, or even sub-topics within a larger topic, consider breaking down and including a type of header with your tweet. This might not work for every post, but it will certainly make it easier for your readers to figure out what you’re tweeting about.
This can add a level of depth to your tweets as you start including more and more re-occurring topics. For example, by including “NEWS” or “MOVIE REVIEW” your followers will know where they can get a dependable source of “ENTER YOUR CATEGORY HERE” on Twitter.
The key here is to continue using the categories you chose - it’s a form of branding your profile, name, or company so use it wisely. This said, be sure to experiment with what works and what doesn’t.
Question - Don’t just talk at your readers, talk to them!
Be careful not to slip into the promo-bot mode, in which you tweet your news, articles, comments, and other content at your followers. The key on Twitter is to tweet with each other - interact as if you’re in the same room. “Hey check out this link over here;” “Watch this video if you’re into SEO;” “Visit my site for more info on the show;”
Consider asking your followers questions. It’s the same idea behind asking your readers questions at the end of your blog posts - you want comments. Twitter isn’t any different - ask your followers questions and you shall receive tweets.
Title - Link
This is probably one of the most common structure for tweets published. Keep it simple with a compelling title and the shortened link. Enough said.
Overall, experiment with different forms of Tweet structure to find what works best for you and your following on twitter.
Remember, the same structures also apply to the majority of the web.
How to Drive Traffic to a Website
In: Driving Traffic
13 Oct 2009With over 82% of people looking to search engines to find local information, creating a web presence for your business is a must in today’s standards. Whether you create a simple website, an online store, a blog, a network of blogs, or a handful of social media profiles, your web presence is your window to the millions of people online.
So what then? Once you’ve built a web presence for your business, what do you do with it?
Drive Traffic
Be careful not to assume that traffic is automatic. Even if you spend thousands of dollars creating a spectacular website, blog, and social media presence, you still need to focus on the next step - if you don’t, creating such a presence would be a waste of time and money.
Here are just a few ways to drive traffic to your web presence
- Write helpful content
- Share links on Twitter and Facebook
- Create a Facebook group focused on a niche in your field
- Advertise with the search engines - PPC enables advertisers to
- Partner with other sites or companies
- Sponsor a contest
- Be active with your social profiles
- Add value to the communities online (reviews, comments, suggestions)
- Contribute to the many forums in your niche
- Donate your help to someone online
- Create an eBook and give it away for free
- Bookmark your content - social bookmarking can create a large spike in traffic, which can help attract a few more steady customers
- Create helpful videos (explain a process or something of great interest)
- Disagree with an authoritative voice in your niche
- Add different values to different social networks - diversify!
The key to successfully making these and other methods of driving traffic work is to focus on your goal.
Think of your web presence as your sales team - they should be optimized and designed to effectively make the correct impression on your visitors and lead them toward a sale. If you find that after your build traffic and you’re experiencing quite a bit of it, yet you’re not making sales, consider analyzing your stats to see what pages have the highest exit rates. This will tell you where people are leaving your site, and hopefully you’ll be able to optimize that page in effort to keep them hooked until their sold on your services or product.
Once you’re site is optimized with a clear call of action and low exit rate, try focusing your efforts online to driving people to your site. Again, see the list of examples for some ideas.
There’s no right and wrong here … just what works and what doesn’t. If you find that one method isn’t working, try another then repeat the process.
34 Things to Blog About
In: Blogging
12 Oct 2009Business owners out there that have successfully established a blog and started reaching out to web users by posting helpful content might encounter a burn out period or blogger’s block where they simply can’t think of what to write - this usually happens after a few hours, days, or even posts of smooth blogging.
So, what can you blog about when you don’t know what to blog about
Keep absorbing content and let it spark inspiration. Check out the list of ideas of what to blog about below to get started:
- Cover what’s happening in the industry - what’s your take on it?
- Create a DIY tutorial your readers can use
- Review services or products relevant to your industry
- Explore where you think the industry is going
- Interview someone … anyone.
- Cover an event
- Tweet from an event live, then turn it into a post
- Check out Digg, Reddit, and Stumble for what’s popular - put your own spin on it
- Browse through comments on blogs for fresh new ideas
- Mention the blogs you’re reading at the moment
- Start a simply contest
- Ask your readers what they’re up to
- Review a book your readers will like
- See what phrases are popular search terms using the Google Keyword Tool - create a post targeting.
- Post what’s new at the office - being transparent online is important now.
- Ask a question on Twitter and post the responses.
- Post a video tour through your office
- A top 10 list of resources
- List of people to follow on Twitter
- Exciting new Facebook groups
- Company promotion
- Anything with the word “killer” in the title - “iPhone killer”
- Step-by-step tutorial
- A to Z of something
- 100 words only a (enter trade profession here) would know
- Share the blogs or trade papers that delivery industry news
- Juxtapose two popular topics in your niche
- Share something you found online (contest, articles, etc.)
- “How do I …”
- “Why do …”
- Use the Google options tool to see the most recent content indexed
- Make us of the Google Wonder Wheel to find new ideas
- Post inspiring quotes
- Create a podcast - share your thoughts and voice with your reader
If all else fails, try reading through some magazines, books, and other materials for fresh or old ideas.
5 Ways to Find More Customers
9 Oct 2009I’d like to explore a few ways business owners can successfully find more customers online by taking advantage of the web.
1. Facebook Groups
Let’s keep it pretty specific – Facebook Groups are perhaps one of the most effective marketing options small business owners have at their disposal. Not only are they free – they’re also extremely consumer friendly if approached the right way. Like anything online, there are those who abuse the system and spam their members until they lose them, but when used properly, Facebook Groups can be massive helpers when out to find more customers. By creating a handful of groups focused on a specific issue involved with your niche, you’re inviting interested customers to check it out and get involved. The key to creating a successful Facebook group is to keep it active and alive. Contribute to the wall, invite authorities personalities in your niche to get involved, throw a contest, and make use of every part of the group, including pictures, wall, events, news, and the message board. If used properly, a Facebook group can help create a keen customer base around your brand and send more customers to your site. The more you get involved, the more people you’ll have to email when ready to send out a mass update or newsletter – be careful here though, this is where a lot of good people stray to the dark side and spam their loyal customers.
2. Blog comments
Another super-effective way to find more customers is to target popular blogs your customers enjoy and become active in the comments sections of every post. Again, no spamming here folks – instead, act within the group as a reader enjoying the blog. Don’t promote your blog or product or site … it’s unbecoming and spammy. However, if you post a comment regarding someone’s post and find yourself talking about something you’ve written before, provide a link to the related post and let readers decide whether or not to visit it – never force it by using capitalization, exclamation, and other spamnoying tactics. The reason commenting on blogs work so well is because people tend to check out what the commenter is all about – you can do this by clicking their name in the comments section. In addition to attracting more customers to your blog, you’ll also be able to build your own profile as an authoritative person in the niche. To do this, post comments regularly. Tip – if you’re really interested in seeing a spike in traffic, aim to be the first to comment on a blog post … especially if the blog tends to attract a lot of links.
3. Can ya’ Digg it?
You’ve probably heard that a link from the front page of Digg, Stumble Upon, Reddit, or any other social networking site can send a huge amount of traffic your way, and chances are you’ve given up on the idea of landing that lotto-like position. However, you don’t need to land on the front page to increase your traffic or customer base at all. The beauty of social bookmarking sites is that you’re able to spread your content to the far reaches of the web and enable regular users to find your work, subscribe to your site, and maybe even become a paying customer someday. The key to social bookmarking is bookmarking your content in a few of the major sites as well as a few targeted sites within your niche.
4. Create a web of posts
Starting a blog can be an effective way to attract customers for your business, however, it should be noted that the process takes time depending on how many people you currently have in your network of contacts, email list, and social net. In other words, if you’re starting from scratch, it might take a while before you see a profitable amount of return from your efforts in the blogosphere. This is why so many business people are hesitant to start up a blog – it takes time and time is money. If you’re interested in starting a blog, consider your content like a web – each article or post is like a cross section where two strands of the web meet. The more articles you put out there, the more effective your web will be regarding finding new customers (readers interested in your product, brand, or service). The key to blogging is patience, regular posting, and attracting links from other bloggers and consumers. You might want to consider this option once you’ve effectively built a network of interested people using your Facebook Groups.
5. Competitions
If possible, consider throwing or sponsoring a competition of some sort. This will get your brand out there, increase the demand for your product or service, and provide better exposure for you and your company. In addition, this will usually create buzz online, which will attract more customers interested in what you have to offer. Whether you’re giving away a free product or service, sponsoring a site with your donation, or just standing behind a popular competition you believe in, your brand will reach more people and in turn attract more customers.
If these 5 tips interested you, check out these 25 Tips on How to Find Customers.
Small Business SEO
In: SEO
8 Oct 2009Today I’d like to explore whether SEO (search engine optimization) is something small business owners need to focus their efforts toward, or if it’s something of the past.
Search engine optimization has always been a key ingredient to online success - it’s the practice of manipulating how the search engines see your site in order to position yourself higher in the search results. The better your SEO, the higher your listing.
Or, is it?
Google has been in the business of crawling sites for a long time now; it’s safe to say they know what they’re doing. The search engines use what’s called an algorithm to index and update the web - these algorithms calculate hundreds of parameters for each site. As the Google algorithm (also known as “Algo”) grows smarter and smarter with its ability to make decisions based on the parameters set forth by Google’s anti-spam team, the smaller the splash of web publishers’ SEO efforts.
Google recently (as of October 2009) announced that they will no longer be factoring the meta keywords on a site.
That’s one more thing web publishers can scratch off the list of SEO to-do. This section is the most spam-popular meta tag to web publishers because it gives you the opportunity to tell the search engines what your site is about. With this latest development though, Google is forcing the publisher to tell them using their content - that is, you have to prove what you’re blog or site is all about.
This brings us to one of the most well known phrases online:
Content is King!
You’ve probably read about content being king all around the web - that’s because it’s true.
Search engines no longer factor the meta keywords because they don’t them; they can tell what your site or blog is all about by analyzing the content itself, which includes outbound links, inbound anchor text, titles, description, and keywords.
Why?
It disables the web publisher from spamming the algorithm with unrelated keywords the publisher would like the site to rank under.
For example, while the Raymond’s Pizzeria website focuses a great deal on pizza and Italian dishes, the web publisher might include Chinese cuisine, Thai food, Mexican food, and other phrases relevant to food in order to show up in the results when someone searches for them - this tactic is used to distract their attention from what the searcher was originally thinking and convince them that they might want pizza.
However, now that Google no longer depends on user-provided meta keywords, and focuses on the content alone, Raymond’s Pizzeria would only rank for pizza related keywords (unless there were legit pages with Chinese, Thai, and Mexican content as well).
This change makes it easier for the Google user to find what they’re looking for.
So, where does small business SEO stand?
Though Google moves away from enabling web publishers from manipulating the system, there are still plenty of white hat search optimization tactics available. Take a look below:
1. URL
The first element the web publisher can optimize is their actual URL. This is something that needs to happen before you purchase your domain, because one you have it, you’re stuck with it.
Include key words and phrases in your URL if possible - this is said to be one of the most powerful places to optimize. Take a look at the different examples below - see if you can tell which would do better with the search engines:
www.RPPizza.com or www.RaymondsPizzeriaPizza.com
Chances are the second example would rank better due to the included keywords and brand. However, that said, if you do have a site similar to the first, with little no no keywords or phrases, you can still rank well. To do this, you’ll simply need to focus your SEO efforts on a different aspect of SEO, such as link building, anchor text building, and title.
2. Title
Engines look at website titles with great interest due to the importance the title holds to the given site or blog - chances are web publishers aren’t going to spam their title to gain rank. Optimize your title by including keywords, phrases, and other terms you want to rank well for with the engines. For example, Raymond’s Pizzeria might create something like this for their title:
Raymond’s Pizzeria - Authentic New York Style Pizza.
The title effectively brands the company and makes use of commonly searched key words and phrases, including authentic, New York style, and pizza.
3. Inbound Anchor Text
Another place small business owners can optimize their site effectively is the anchor text portion of their site. Anchor text is the hyperlinked text from anywhere online - search engines look at the text people use to link to another site in order to tell what the web publisher thinks the site is all about. Optimized anchor text can effectively target keywords, phrases, brands, names, and more. Search engines pay a great deal of attention here partly because inbound links are usually created by third party web publishers.
This is you often see sites instructing people to link to them using specific text and web address.
4. Content Keywords
Just because Google isn’t taking into account the meta keywords doesn’t mean you should abandon keyword research - quite the contrary.
Because the search engines are super sensitive to content, you should spend some time figuring out what keywords your customers are using to find services or product in your niche. Once you have an idea of what terms of phrases tend to attract more search queries, you should make a note of it and move on to create your content naturally. Use your keyword research for blog post or page titles. Avoid spamming your own site with a ton of the same keywords - Google can spot this from a gigabyte away.
5. Images
Images are probably the least optimized portion of the web. Consider taking advantage of alt tags and image titles by including target keywords, phrases, and titles.
6. Categories and Tags
If you have a blog, be sure to make use of both categories and tags - these help the search engines figure out what your site is all about and furthermore what the majority of your content is about. It would be my guess that improper or careless category assigning and tagging can harm the way the search engine sees you.
All in all, there is still room for SEO. Small business owners should take advantage of optimization where possible, yet avoid delving into the dark side with black hat spamniques.
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- Tags: Anchor Text, Categories, Content is King, Images, Keywords, Tags, Titles, URLs
Blogging Backwards
In: Blogging
7 Oct 2009I’d like to take a closer look at a method of blogging I recently stumbled upon while writing a few posts here at Dapeem.
The challenge of blogging always comes down to the same thing: knowing what to blog about, having the time to blog, and never giving into bloggers’ block.
One method to accomplish all of the above is simple:
Blog Backwards
If you’re on a daily, weekly, or monthly blog schedule, consider giving yourself however much time it will take to write a few posts to exercise this method of blogging backwards.
Once you’ve written and completed your first post, schedule it as your last post either for the week of month. The idea here is to pump out your content in a Z to A fashion. Now, write another post and schedule it for the week or day before you last.
Why?
Blogging backwards is a way to avoid bloggers’ block, avoid a break in your blogging schedule, and keep your readership growing strong.
This technique, like any, isn’t for everyone. It’s an idea you might want to consider if you’re having a hard time writing every day. setting an hour or two aside to write a few posts for the week or month might be an effective way for you to produce content and avoid any lack of inspiration.
You might also find that this helps you stay ahead of the game and stay on top of your deadlines.
Making Money Online
In: Making Money
6 Oct 2009Let’s face it - most business owners out there are interested in one thing and one thing alone.
Making Money
How can business owners make money online?
Business owners, marketing specialists, and bloggers have found great ways to make money online. Take a look and see if you can increase your revenue by exploring one of the following ways to make money online.
1. Services & Products
This the obvious surface of making money online. Creating a website, blog, or store to attract customers and sell either service or product is step number one. Know what you’re selling and how your customers want to browse your goods. Chances are, people searching for specific products will want pictures, reviews, and other supplemental elements whereas someone after your services might only require a handful of testimonials and samples.
2. eBooks
The eBook is a product that can be purchased and downloaded immediately. Unlike a traditional book, an eBook enables customers to make a purchase online and skip the shipping fees and delivery times. In addition, for the web publisher, an eBook obviously requires no publishing house, which means anyone can write an eBook and sell it. It all comes down to how helpful you are, how authoritative you are in your niche, and what your customer base includes.
3. Consulting
For those interested in bringing in a few extra dollars, there’s always consulting - this is usually attractive in the service providing crowd. Consulting services can be done remotely, via online chat, or meeting in person depending on the service you provide. the question you need to ask yourself is this: Do I have the experience and knowledge necessary to be considered a consultant?
4. Webinars
A webinar is simply a seminar conducted online. It can be a simple as a few people joining a chat room or as complex as thousands of people meeting in virtual reality. An example of the latter was experienced when two filmmakers screened their film in Second Life, an alternate reality driven by members and their avatars.
5. Advertising
Though it doesn’t make much sense for business owners selling product or services online to advertise (diverting potential customers’ attention away from your services or products by directing them toward basic PPC advertising will being in a fraction of what you might earn if you focus on directed them to your own goods), you could manage to make a profit by selling direct advertising on your site.
As with everything online, the aforementioned techniques to making money online should be experimented with. There is no sure-fire formula when it comes to the web, because to some degree the web is an artistic medium.
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- Tags: Consulting, eBooks, Products, Services
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