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Archive for the ‘Small Business Internet Marketing’ Category
Sunday, January 22nd, 2012
There is one trend in society that smart marketers are starting to use to their advantage. That trend? The prominent use of cell phone cameras.
The camera in a cell phone today is far superior to some of the best digital cameras of five years ago. The use of these cameras is so dominant that, on most days, there’s a news story on one of the TV networks that includes a story with pictures provided by a local using their cell phone. In fact, you can often see video footage of an event that was taken via cell phone. So how are marketers using this to advantage?
High end fashion brand Marc Jacobs recently asked followers to share their favorite family moments by using pictures taken through a cell phone. They then featured those photos through a collage on their website for all to see. General Electric went a step further with a contest that involved photos uploaded to Instagram, then shared to Facebook for voting. That was a novel way to connect two social media platforms for marketing purposes.
Instagram has proven to be a popular photo sharing website, and the use of cell phones whereby users can take a snapshot then instantly upload that shot from their phone to Instagram is proving to be a hit. One popular coffee outlet regularly publishes photos of customers (with their permission of course) sitting down and enjoying a cup of their favourite brew.
Photos and the instant sharing of photos may well be one of the major activities by users over the next twelve months. Smart marketers may be able to take advantage of this increased activity by incorporating the photos taken by customers into their various online activities. People love to show off, so if you advertise a campaign that encourages those traits, you may be able to build and further develop your brand.
Tags: cell phones, Social Media
Posted in Small Business Internet Marketing | 12 Comments »
Monday, January 16th, 2012
To be successful at anything, you need discipline. When it comes to the online world, discipline is what separates the successful from the unsuccessful. In its broadest terms, marketing is the single most important aspect of an online business. I say broadest since SEO, PPC and many other activities could come under the marketing umbrella. Why is discipline important?
Discipline affects your mindset. If you are sitting down to write PPC ads, then you need to have the discipline to follow your planned approach. A lack of discipline could see you easily swayed to change your mind – that’s never a good idea without research. The same can be said for a blog or a social media campaign. If you have planned your approach, then stick to that plan.
Humans are emotional creatures and we have a tendency to look at what others are doing and then trying to replicate their actions in our lives. For small businesses, that can have some limited success in the offline world, however, the online world can be very different. This is where discipline becomes an important attribute. Before trying to replicate what someone else is doing, you need to be able to examine and perhaps measure, or predict, how that action will affect your online business. We often see “fads” in the SEO and social media marketing world that work very well for one business but do absolutely nothing for another business. Sometimes they backfire and cause more damage than good.
Small business Internet marketing requires a well planned approach. Once you have that plan, you need to have the discipline to follow it through. That doesn’t mean your plan is stagnant – you still need to measure, review and make changes where necessary, however, that too is a disciplined approach that takes all the variables into account before making a move.
If you are disciplined in your approach, you are giving your business the best chance of success. Of course, discipline will do little if your marketing plans, products, or service are rubbish to begin with. If they too are spot on, then a disciplined approach should lead to high success rates – and that normally means more profit.
Tags: blog writing, marketing, PPC, SEO
Posted in Small Business Internet Marketing | 4 Comments »
Sunday, January 8th, 2012
Think about commercials on television. Which ones can you just not forget? You know, the ones you catch yourself singing their theme song or repeating verbatim parts of the commercial? Those are the ones that are constantly on the TV. Every time you turn around, they are showing the same commercial again. This is a good market strategy.
Yes, they are annoying to us. However, they are bringing in money for the company by inundating the viewing public. That is what small businesses need to do with their online marketing campaigns.
It’s sort of like brainwashing. For instance, if you are constantly hearing in the background about a certain cold medicine. You are not really listening because you don’t need it. But, when you get sick, your subconscious is going to quickly remember all the commercials you have heard about this certain cold medicine. And, you are sick enough you want to try it.
Online marketing needs to be out there on a regular basis. Not just one ad all the time. Mix it up and have different ads going all the time so that your brand, products and website are getting ingrained in people’s minds. This is one of the oldest forms of advertising and still one of the most effective.
Since you are already thinking of new advertising campaigns for this year, think about how often you can afford to place ads all over the internet and especially social network sites. You just never know where your next customer will come from.
Tags: advertising, facebook, google, internet marketing, online marketing
Posted in Small Business Internet Marketing | 1 Comment »
Friday, January 6th, 2012
Just as in the old days, word of mouth was one of the best forms of advertising. It is basically the same today in cyberspace. Online reviews about your business, yourself or your products can and do go a very long way in bringing customers in.
The way it works is that if you put your website on other sites for review, consumers will be able to review your site and make comments. As others come to the site, they will read the reviews and will be influenced by what they read. It’s just like word of mouth.
This is an easy way to market your business and put it in a glowing light with consumers, providing you are providing a good quality product, interact with your customers and are available to your customers.
On the other side of the coin, if you don’t provide good customer service, or your products are always shipped late or your website is just not user friendly, you will get bad reviews. This in turn will keep potentials shoppers from your site which will be bad for business.
Between reviews and social media sites, your on line presence will grow and so will sales. Give the review sites a chance. Try something new. You never know, this strategy may just boost your business better than you ever thought. And, every business needs a boost now and then.
Tags: advertising, Branding, internet marketing, local business, online marketing
Posted in Small Business Internet Marketing | 4 Comments »
Monday, January 2nd, 2012
If you look at several websites, you will see different links that will take you to related content. This is a great way to pull your website into the related content. How do you do it? It’s actually quite simple and you will be amazed at why you have not used links more.
There are a lot of different techniques but the main one is using document sharing sites. On document sharing sites like Scribd, you can upload your documents into a pdf file. They can then be distributed all over the Internet. Create links in the document back to your website. This increases your chances of getting found in the search engines.
At the same time, you can also search for relevant content to add to your website. This is a great way of sharing information and using various ways of getting back to your site.
It’s also important to link to previous content within your own website. You may have written an article or something a couple of years ago. But it is still relevant and will get readers to read that as will.
Link building or link marketing has been around for a while but it is still a very resourceful tool for your online business. You can always visit with consultants to find out which link building technique or sites that are best suited to your needs.
One thing to remember, where you get back links is more important than what you do. Be sure to use multiple sources to get the best exposure.
Tags: content, internet marketing, link building, links, online marketing, small business
Posted in Small Business Internet Marketing | 5 Comments »
Thursday, December 29th, 2011
Some small businesses think there is too much competition on line for any effective marketing. That is completely wrong, however. Small businesses just need to use different tactics than, say, the bigger corporations. So, how do small businesses compete against the big guys?
For starters, small businesses need to use different SEO tactics. Search engine optimization uses keywords for internet users who are searching for something. An example would be herbal products. Most of the big guys will have herbal products listed as a keyword so their websites will pull into the search.
Because of this, it does make it harder for a small business to use the very same keyword as it will be difficult to get to the first page that way. A way around that is to make your keywords mean the same, but different. Instead of using herbal products, list the actual brand name or a key word, like supplement.
With a little practice you will be able to see which keywords are more effective for your products so that you can move through the pages and compete against the big guys.
In actuality, small business have an advantage over the big guys as they can use as many keywords and variations as they like in order to sneak in under their radar. It is an easy way to get where you want to go, which is the first two pages. It is a good estimate that most searchers will not go past the third page very often. If they can find what they are looking for in the first three, that’s where they will go.
Spice up your keywords and try your hand at different variations. See what helps and use those more often than the same ones everyone else is using.
Tags: business, internet marketing, keywords, search engines, SEO
Posted in Small Business Internet Marketing | 7 Comments »
Saturday, December 24th, 2011
For most, it’s simple enough to understand that a small business needs a website. Alright, now that you have a website, how do you market it and what do you do with it? This question comes up a lot because it takes more than just having a website to make the site profitable to you.
You also hear a lot about search engine optimization. Once again, you understand it, but how do you do it? In order to drive more traffic to your website you have to continuously add content to the site. Even though you may be selling products, you don’t want it to just sit and become stagnant without visitors to the site.
Creating content, or information, or articles, or blogs, whatever you want to call it needs to be done on a regular basis. Talk about your business, talk about your products, give advice or how to steps about something that your business offers. Customers and visitors love information and will come back to you again and again if you have good content on a regular basis.
Social Media sites are wonderful places to market your business, but your website also needs your attention. You have spent a lot of time making it look nice and getting everything in its spot. It can be very depressing knowing that no one visits your site.
In order for the search engines to find your site, you have to have a lot of information on your site with good keywords. The more information you have, the easier it will be for the search engines to find you when someone does a search for something in particular.
You can always consult with internet marketers to have them help you if you are just not sure how to go about getting the right content on your website. Several are available. Just make sure that the right internet marketer is working for you and putting your best interests first instead of just taking your money.
Tags: blogging, content, internet marketing, SEO, website development
Posted in Small Business Internet Marketing | 3 Comments »
Friday, December 23rd, 2011
With the economy and the job market in the shape that they’re in, more and more people are learning to start their own small work from home business. The work from home business has been growing by leaps and bounds. No longer is it just about selling candles or crafts online. Many top businesses are hiring people to telecommute and others are building a business based on their expertise.
Many companies are now hiring contractors to work from home. That includes secretarial positions, writing jobs and email support specialists. In addition, computer website design, management and troubleshooting positions are available.
Instead of worrying where your next job is, take the initiative and start building your small business on the Internet. Start a website to market your expertise and start looking at job boards for available positions that are needing just what you have to offer. It may be slow going at first but many people are now earning a decent income simply by trying something new and becoming a success at it.
As with any job, there are good ones and bad ones. But, there are truly legitimate positions to be found on the Internet. A good rule of thumb is that if a website expects you to pay something up front, then it’s probably not going to be financially successful for you.
Build your website and brand. Use the social media to get your message and availability out there. Also, check out sites such as Odesk.com, Indeed.com and many others. Many are free to sign up for and search for available positions. Once you build your brand and name recognition, the days of worrying about a “job” will become distant.
Keep in mind that the pay structure is a little bit different working on the Internet, but when you compare the money saved by not driving to a job, money for meals, fuel and upkeep on your vehicle, you will basically be making the same as a traditional job. Check out the Internet today and look for something that you are good at. It beats sitting around worrying. You will at least know you are trying.
Tags: Branding, small business, Social Media, telecommuting, website development, work from home
Posted in Small Business Internet Marketing | 18 Comments »
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