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Archive for the ‘Networking for Small Business’ Category
Monday, March 16th, 2009
Small businesses provide services and products that keep the world going ’round. Many small “potatoes” later grow into big businesses because they were ahead of the curve and provided something new that filled a need. Enter the World Wide Web. You’re a small business, but now, you have the chance to be viewed by millions. That’s impressive, by small business standards. People have questions, and you’ve got answers, and one of the best cites for people who have questions is Yahoo Answers–and that’s where you come in.
Yahoo! Answers is a great place to share what you know and help folks out. It’s an active communitiy and it does have a devoted following. Yahoo! Answers is now the the second most popular Internet reference site–second only to Wikipedia.
On Yahoo! Answers, people from all over type in a question, and it’s categorized on Yahoo! Answers, and people like you find those questions and answer them–and these are your potential customers who have just “found” you–because chances are, if you have one question, you might be in need of a product or service. These questions are short and to the point–and your answer should be as well. You can spend as little as a half hour to a couple of hours a week answering a few questions, which will lead people back to your website/blog where they can learn more about you.
Yahoo Answers is easy, and many people use it as an alternative social media site–for networking purposes. As on any site, be polite, be helpful, cite your sources (including your own website and blog)–and be professional. Also check under varying categories. People are supposed to ask questions and then place them in the appropriate category, but let’s face it–things get misplaced, so check around.
Yahoo! Answers Basics:
You must open Yahoo! ID, using either a Yahoo! avatar or Yahoo! 360° picture. You can also create a profile that will contain your website, email, and other info such as your blog.
You can ask a question by having a Yahoo! account–but you have to have at least 5 positive points. Questions are open for four days–unless the poster takes it down–and it can be up for as long as 8 days.
Another interesing aspect of Yahoo! Answers is that you can earn points. The best questions are featured on Yahoo!’s 360° blog page. The points system is weighted. This is meant to help encourage users to answer questions. There are levels that have point thresholds, which then allow great site access. give more site access. “Best Answer” for a question answered gets 10 points, which is voted on by the comnunity, and yeah, you can vote for your own answer. All this is meant to encourage involvement. If you do really well, you’ll receive an orange badge and named “top contributor” in that category–which means your answers are respected.
Is all this worth it? Yes, it is. While some people follow Yahoo! Answers as a social network, other people are really there just to get a questioned answered. There are many categories, and it’s quite likely that you can drop by and answer a few, and then watch your small business website and blog traffic increase–and that’s not a bad thing.
Tags: internet marketing for small businesses, social media marketing, yahoo
Posted in Networking for Small Business, Small Business Internet Marketing, Social Media | 1 Comment »
Sunday, March 15th, 2009
Abraham Lincoln said, “If I had 8 hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend 6 hours sharpening the ax.” In other words, preparation makes a hard job easier. It’s no different when it comes to creating a small business blog. Here’s a few tips to help you get your blog off to a great start.
1. Register your domain name. Don’t just leave it under “www.yourname@freeblogsite.com.” Connect it with your website URL. This is more difficult to do later, so this prep step shouldn’t be skipped.
2. Don’t procrastinate, post! It does no good to sign up for a blog on WordPress or E-Blogger, and then not post. It’s not a blog until you publish something. Don’t make the mistake of getting caught up in designing your blog in lieu of actually blogging, or intimidated by all the techie info you don’t quite understand yet. Content is king in the blog world, so write an introductory post, say who you are, a little about your business, and maybe the direction your blog will take (how-to, helpful hints, product information, etc). It doesn’t have to be long–a paragraph or two is great–just get started!
3. Spread the word. Tell people you have a blog. How? Start with your email contact list. Email everyone you know–personally and professionally–and give them the address of your blog and beg for links and comments. Some of your family/friends/co-workers will support your efforts and get you off to a good start.
4. Be consistent. Once, twice a week is enough to get you rolling. Ideally, you’ll blog every day–at least five days a week, but if this feels overwhelming, then go with once or twice a week. Put it on your to-do list and commit to it. Again, shoot for a couple of paragraphs. Listen at work for conversations that can be turned into a blog post–a question someone poses, a suggestion…you’ll be surprised how many ideas you’ll pick up on.
5. Mention your website–often. Link to your own website–and not just to page one (your landing page). If you have multiple pages (contact page, photos page, products page), then refer to them as well, and link to it from your blog. Do this at least once per post.
***One for the road: Keywords. Remember developing your webpage and researching those keywords–words that people use when they’re searching? Be sure to use those keywords as you blog. You should naturally–they’re what your small business/products and services are all about. Keep them in mind as you write your blog. Sound natural, as if a customer were standing in your store chatting with you.
These five keys help you prepare for creating and maintaining a successful small business blog. It won’t take long until blogging is an easy, economical way to market and network with your clients–and potential clients.
Tags: biz blogging basics, Blogging for Small Business, keywords
Posted in Blogging for Small Business, Business Writing, Networking for Small Business, Small Business Internet Marketing | 1 Comment »
Saturday, March 14th, 2009
Remember when going to buy an auto part meant driving a couple of miles, going into a store–and hanging out for a few minutes? You’d meet other weekend mechanics, teens and old-timers, and you’d chat (brag) about what you were building, ask a question, and even show a picture or two? That’s how small businesses used to operate. They were the local hangout–the gathering place for people who had something in common.
People still need a place to go. What’s changed is that much of the gathering happens online.
They still need to hang out with their “tribe” and ask questions, brag, show pictures, and enjoy getting to know the newbies. You can buy so much online–knitting supplies, spices, building supplies…you name it–but people still have a need to connect. So give them a place to do just that.
If you know how to do it right, your blog, and your website could be that gathering place.
How do you create an online hangout?
Keep a friendly tone. Welcome comments.
Write an article for your website or a blog post about one of your customers–their question, or something cool they did with your product that’s unique.
Ask a question or take a poll.
Answer questions–and solicit them.
Make your comment area easy to access–and encourage people to post and talk to each other.
Consider adding a forum.
Post pictures–your customers, their kid’s birthday pics, a charity event your company participated in–show you welcome community involvement.
Even if you’re an internet based small business, you still have clients who identify with you, your products and/or services. Give them a friendly place to come, chat, ask questions, and hang out.
Tags: Blogging for Small Business, Small Business Internet Marketing, web development
Posted in Business Writing, Local Internet Marketing, Networking for Small Business, Small Business Internet Marketing, website development | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, March 10th, 2009
Isn’t it great when someone suggests something you haven’t thought of that turns out to be a great idea? There are a few surprising strategies that might be perfect for your small business site. Some are so basic you might have overlooked them, and others will come as a total, “How did I miss that?â€
Five Surprising Strategies to Boost Links on Your Small Business Website:
1. Have you registered with your local Better Business Bureau and Chamber of Commerce? Please tell me you have! If not, get going because believe it or not, they’ll provide links to your site.
2. Deep link to your other webpages. If you’re not sure what that means, check out my post on deep links. Refer to different posts so everything doesn’t go back to just one anchor text. Mix it up and use your own great content.
3. Post your services and products on Craigslist and other online classifieds. Even if you don’t get a bite, you get a link. Don’t worry about it being a “no follow†link, just check out Google Analytics and note how many people came to check out your site from your Craigslist post.
4. Comment on other people’s blogs. Be helpful, and always, always sign it by listing your website—even refer to a post they might find useful.
5. Join Squidoo. It’s a user-generated website (sort of a community of webpages called lenses that are placed in subjects/areas of interests. They can hold photos from Flickr, blogs, YouTube videos, eBay auctions, Google maps and various assortment of links. The best part is that Squidoo is huge—in the top 500 most visited sites worldwide (in the top 250 sites in the U.S.). Google loves Squidoo, and you get to list your website on it. Oh, and it’s free.
Take the next few weeks and try just one of these strategies. You’ll make new connections, expand your market, boost links, and hopefully increase your traffic to your website.
Tags: google analytics, internet marketing for small businesses, website traffic
Posted in Local Internet Marketing, Networking for Small Business, PR for Small Business, SEO for Small Business, Small Business Internet Marketing, Tools for Small Business, website development | 1 Comment »
Saturday, March 7th, 2009
Brand recognition is important–for big and small businesses. It’s everything from the font you use on your website and store front–to the icon that’s on your stationary and business card. The key to branding is to stay consistent and use your brand “look” everywhere–so you become instantly recognizeable.
There are lots of tried and true methods to create brand recognition–and now thanks to the Internet, there are fresh ways to utilize all your hard work.
Tips for Creating Your Business Brand:
1. Pick a font and color for your company name and look–and stick with it.
Font matters. You don’t think it does, but your business card, web pages, blogs and posts should all have the same font. It’s a subtle identification of who you are.
Many companies don’t have a cute lizard selling their product–they simply state their name in a color that is clear and definable. IBM, Xerox, Subway, Barnes & Noble are great examples. I say these words and you can instantly see their name in your mind. IBM is blue. Subway is yellow and light green. Barnes & Noble is a darker green. You see them clearly–all the way to the ones whose letter slant and those that don’t. It’s as simple as color and font–and it’s used in everything they do.
You argue, you have a font and a color aready–great–but how much are you capitalizing on it?
2. Use your name (and the colors and font you’ve chosen) on all of your promotional materials.
Let’s go with our Subway example. Not only can you see Subway in your mind on the lighted sign outside the restaurant, you also see it on the paper they roll and tuck their sandwiches into–and their napkins–and the shirts their workers are wearing, and the door you opened to walk into the restaurant. Just as an experiment, the next time you walk into a fast food chain (and you know you will), count how many times you’re exposed to their name (or mascot) in the first five minutes. Brand recognition comes after the public is literally inundated with your product “look” everywhere they turn.
3. Use your brand name and color on the web.
From your website to your social media networking, to your blog posts, repeat your brand look everywhere you go. You don’t have to point out the fact that our colors are red and gold, simply make something on your website–gold–and something else red. Use this idea on every webpage, and if you have a product or a company log line (a phrase that you use–it usually goes under your name), make sure it follows you wherever you go.
4. Are “you” the brand? Is your name, face part of your business? For many local brick-and-mortar companies, this is true. You’re part of the community, and you need to carry you, the brand, with you into “internet land.” Put a picture of yourself on the webpage and as your avatar when you’re on various social media sites. Just like Colonel Sanders or the Mac and PC guy, you become synonymous with your product. When you become the brand, and then use it wisely. People trust in you–they want you to be consistent–and part of consistency is showing up on the web just like you do at the store.
Small businesses can learn from the corporate giants who have learned the importance of brand recognition. Brand recognition leads to brand preference, and brand preference leads to brand loyalty–and that’s a goal worth aspiring to.
Tags: brand marketing for small businesses, internet marketing for small businesses
Posted in Branding, Networking for Small Business, Social Media, Tools for Small Business, Traditional Marketing for Small Business, Uncategorized, website development | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, March 4th, 2009
While social media is a great way to…socialize, small businesses can utilize this online marketing tool for so much more. But you’ve got to do it smart. Social media can also be a big time-waster if you’re posting that you’re having pizza for dinner, so here are a few tips to make sure you’re social media savvy.
How Businesses Approach Social Media:
1. Who is your online audience? Are you leaning toward your local market who will in turn, link you to their community friends? Are you looking to make professional contacts? You’ll approach each segment of the market differently, so define this before you open your online account.
2. Have a goal: How will you know if it’s worth the time and effort unless you have an idea of what you’d like to achieve? Are you going for contacts or sales? Is your focus to build your online presence and send traffic to your website? List at least three goals to start with and then create a plan of action.
3. Make a plan: Take a look at those goals and figure out how to achieve them. What online tools work best with your brand? Are you going to announce your podcasts? Streaming video? Promote a contest? Consider customer/client interaction at every turn. Encourage comments, questoins, and suggestions–and then respond. People like to know they’ve been heard.
The best way to figure all this out is to look at other companies who have already blazed the trail. The same principles that work for the big boys–or your competitors–might work for you. Go on a major social media site such as LinkedIn and look for companies you’re impressed with–what do their accounts look like? What’s new? How many people are responding regularly?
Innovative Ways Small Businesses Can Use Social Media:
Ask for customer opinion–have them name a new product or welcome their comments about your website or store design. Post photographs–and not necessarily of your dog–but do feature your products, or a star customer or employee. People like to know their input matters. Ask them to visit your LinkedIn profile the next time you email them or send out an e-newsletter and assure them their voice counts.
Offer helpful tips and advice on your social media site–but don’t go for the hard sell. Let it be a service to the community, and you can and should always list your website. Is there something you can add or change seasonally? Remeber to add fresh content.
Got a sense of humor? Humor goes a long way online, so share those crazy office antics, or link to YouTube if you find a great video to share (be sure to give attribution). Check out a public domain cartoon or joke site for fresh material that copyright free.
Contests and promotions are made for social media exposure. If you’re offering a great prize and you mention it on a social media site, it’ll get around. You can even create a scavenger hunt/”Where’s Waldo” dynamic by having them visit your website to gather clues in order to enter the contest. Clever way to get a hit, huh?
Social media for small businesses is a great tool–it offers exposure and networking possibilities. Do it smart by knowing your audience, having a goal, and making a plan.
Tags: networking, Small Business Internet Marketing, social media marketing
Posted in Blogging for Small Business, Local Internet Marketing, Networking for Small Business, Small Business Internet Marketing, Social Media, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Monday, March 2nd, 2009
Planning an online event to promote your small business and small business website is much like planning any event–start early, pay attention to details–and deliver.
Nothing gets your name out there by generating a buzz. Contests, discounts and online promotions are a great way to reach the public.
Planning a Big Event:
Real world promotions allow you to promote your contest or other event at your brick-and-mortar store and in your own community. Call the local paper (circulations) or radio, hand out flyers with every purchase, post them in business windows, or create a banner for the outside of your store–and don’t forget to cross promote with other community businesses.
Online promotions cover the rest–create an e-news release (basically a press release), promote it on your website and ask if you can promote it on other websites. Use your email list or e-newsletter to get the word out, and be sure to promote it on your blog and blogs you visit.
This is what social media is for! List your contest, discounts, and other promotional events on Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Twitter, and all of your social networks. Encourage others to pass it along.
Don’t forget there are internet radio, streaming video, podcasts, and YouTube, as well as chat rooms, forums, and websites that focus on nothing but contests and discounts. Check out ContestHound.com, ContestAlley.com and ContestGuides.com. Don’t forget to list it on local internet directories and community calendar sites.
Have you ever planned an in-store event that went really well?
Can you repeat that success online? What do your customers seem to respond to?
Look for partners.
Could you barter with another company for a prize?
Could you offer your services or products to a bed and breakfast in exchange for a free weekend get away as your grand prize? Prizes are important, so don’t be stingy. Be the talk of the town.
The more you solicit other company’s involvement, the more you gather in terms of audience and prizes. Cross promotion means that these other companies will utilize their email lists, mailing lists, and word of mouth–getting the word out to customers you might not have been able to access.
Include audience interaction. Contests should be more than putting your “name into the hat.” Include a trivia question, a short essay (for the grand prize), a photograph they have to submit–something that gets people involved.
Consider inviting a local celebrity. Newscasters, the mayor, a local sports celebrity can really draw a crowd. Include a charitable element in with your promotional efforts. Let any prize or raffle money go toward a charity and you’re helping out a worthy cause both in monetary terms and giving them a chance to share their message.
Keep your word. Nothing is worse than not hearing back on the advertised date. Let everyone know who won and make a big deal about it. Post their picture, a quote–people like to see themselves and they’ll tell everyone they know to visit your website.
Promotional activities generate excitement and should always list your website, logo, email, and contact information. Take the time to prepare–and follow through with delivery, and you’ll see site traffic that gives you and your small business much needed exposure.
Tags: contests, online networking, promotions, social media marketing
Posted in Blogging for Small Business, E-mail Marketing for Small Business, Local Internet Marketing, Networking for Small Business, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Podcasts, Social Media, Tools for Small Business, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Sunday, March 1st, 2009
iPods and other .mp3 devices are quickly becoming people’s most valued possession.
These devices are allowing people to download music, books, and helpful information they can listen to at their convenience–whle jogging, in the car, or working out.
So why not offer them a podcast? You might offer some how-to hints or a great interview about what you and your small business has to offer.
You don’t need fancy equipment to create a podcast, and uploading it to the web, including podcast directories, and to your website is easy and quick.
What exactly is a podcast?
• A podcast is an audio file you can create on your computer that’s in an .mp3 format.
• A podcast is an audio file and is a recording, much like a radio show–in fact, many radio shows use podcasts.
• You can upload a podcast with an RSS file to a server—and place it on your website or other websites.
• Anyone who wants to listen to your file simply has to download a podcast program that will allow them to hear your podcast—any time the like.
“But I don’t have anything to talk about!†You protest.
Sure you do. You own a thriving small business.
You help customers and clients all day.
You offer products, service, advice—people ask you questions, you have to explain instructions…
If you can do this in person, you can do this on a podcast.
Visit Podcast.com and spend some time listening to other people’s podcasts.
Listen and note what you like. Are you drawn to an enthusiastic speaker who opens with a joke?
Or would you rather go with a more “expert-in-the-field/professional tone?
Study a few of them while you’re in the car and then practice your own.
Start practicing your first podcast by making it short. Anywhere from 1-10 minutes, max.
Many podcast shows offer even a one or two minute clip such as Sixty Second Science, a popular downloadable podcast available on iTunes.
Consider starting with a relevant story that poses a problem (for example, a man with a leaky roof that no matter what he patches it with, it still leaks), and then at the end of the podcast, wrap it up by “solving†the guy’s problem with your product or with the help of your service technician going the extra mile. In between, offer a couple of tips.
Start your podcast with a question, a statistic, or even a joke—if it’s a good one, but make sure you’re offering content. Most people either want to learn something or be entertained, so make sure your podcast falls into one of those categories.
Before the details overwhelm you, know that there are how-to-create-a-podcast programs out there that make this so simple. One of the most well known programs for creating podcasts is Audacity.
Audacity is free, and it’s great for beginners—and even offers more advanced levels for those who like a bit of a challenge. Audacity also offers a Mac OS9 or X version as well as a Windows, Linux/Unix version as well as extensive tutorials.
The next obvious step is that you have to purchase a microphone. You can pick one up at a major electronics store or purchase one online. Make sure your microphone is a unidirectional, dynamic-type, and go with a decent mid-range price range just to get started.
Other sites to check out include: Blog Matrix, Podomatic, Podcast Directory.com, and Podcast Alley.com. All of these sites offer vasts amounts of information about how to create your podcast files, what to feature, and how to market them.
Be sure to mention your podcasts on your social media contacts and in your emails and e-newsletters. There are also many blog radio websites that might consider playing your podcasts, but you’ll need to send a short query email and offer them a sample podcast for them to review.
Your goal is to build an audience, and to do that, you have to let them know when new offerings are available.
With your computer, downloadable software, and a microphone, you can start podcasting.
More and more people are on the go and would rather listen to a short program with earphones or in their car than to stare at a computer screen.
Why not give podcasting a try?
Tags: Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Podcasts
Posted in Local Internet Marketing, Networking for Small Business, PR for Small Business, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Podcasts, Social Media, Tools for Small Business, Uncategorized, website development | 1 Comment »
Saturday, February 28th, 2009
After you get viewers to visit your small business website, your next goal is to keep them there. Deep links do just that.
Deep links are links to other pages deeper in your website.
They refer to content you’ve already created, information they’ll find insightful–and all you have to do is lead (in this case, link) them to it.
Some web designers go a little overboard with this tactic and aren’t striving to link to relevant content. But why do that when you’ve gone to the trouble to create a dynamic website chalked full of helpful tid-bits, contest and discount information, interviews, checklists, and customer features? Why not use your own material?
Any time you’re writing new content, you’re going to be aware of your keywords.
You will write with focus, not manipulation, and it’s only natural to refer to something you’ve already written just as it’s natural to refer to a past conversation when talking with a friend or co-worker. When you do refer to an internal page, such as a post about a previous how-to article, or a great interview or discount, create a link to that page. It’s that easy–and practical.
If your blog is linked to your page, (and you blog regularly, which you should), you’ll have even more material to reference, Visit your own archives and remind yourself of what you’ve written. You can even link to a comment post and create a whole new article based on a question or comment previously written.
Sometimes you put a lot into a post and for some reason, perhaps you didn’t know as much about keywords at the time, or you weren’t indexed properly, that post got very few hits. By writing an article that is a fresh approach to the subject, you can deep link to that original article and breathe new life into your hard work and create even more keyword density.
Why go to the trouble to create multiple web pages if they’re not going to rank well, or no one knows what wealth of information they contain?
One more smart tip is to utilize your social media contacts and link back to a favorite post or article. Don’t just refer to your main webpage, but take the time to discuss something specific and then link to it. If you comment on someone’s blog, don’t just list your main webpage, but link back to a particular article, hot-to helpful tip, or discount that has some connection with their blog or what was discussed.
Viewers type in keywords to find the websites and blogs that contain the information they’re looking for. So why not make it even easier for them to get past your small business introductory home webpage and delve into the heart of the content you’ve created by creating deep links.
Tags: Blogging for Small Business, deep links, keyword density, links, Social Media, web design
Posted in Blogging for Small Business, Business Writing, Networking for Small Business, SEO for Small Business, Small Business Internet Marketing, Social Media, Tools for Small Business, Uncategorized, link building, search engines, website development | No Comments »
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