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Posts Tagged ‘blogging’
Monday, January 9th, 2012
One tool that has helped many new bloggers and article writers is to create a writing plan. Some people call it a publishing schedule. It doesn’t matter what you call it. It’s a useful tool.
Your writing plan is a pre-scheduled list of blog posts or articles that you plan to write over the next month. It’s best to put them on your calendar so that you don’t push them to the side. Put them on the calendar and mark them off your list as you write them.
So what details should you include in your writing plan?
First, note the date you want your article or blog post to be published. That’s important because if you want to publish it to coincide with a particular event you have planned, then you’ll have to write it a few days before you publish it. If you wait until publication date, your article won’t be as strong and you may find that you don’t have the time to complete it.
Secondly, include your keywords. What keywords will you target for that content? That’s important because this tells you how you will write the article and to an extent how you will publish it.
Next, include a one sentence summary of your article. What do you want it to say? What’s the primary message? If you can summarize the article or blog post in one sentence, then you have clarity. That sentence could go on to be your opening sentence or thesis statement for the article. Then all you have to do is write the article and publish it.
Focus is the name of the game. If you have a writing plan, you’ll be more focused and you’ll be able to produce more content at a faster pace.
Tags: articles, blogging, online marketing, writing
Posted in Business Writing | 2 Comments »
Friday, December 30th, 2011
We talk a lot about Search Engine Optimization or SEO. That is one of the most important things a small business website needs. Optimized search engine results. It’s all about content and keywords.
Not only do you need your content about your business on your website, you also need regular content updated often. This means maybe add a blog to your site. Then add articles, or blogs to that section of the site. And, don’t forget back links. Link to other content on your site so that you can keep readers on your site.
Whether you write them or you use content providers (contract writers) it’s important to have content added at least three times a week. Even better if you add content every day. It does need to be something relevant to your business and not something that will make people think you have lost your mind.
Keywords are just as important. Your keywords need to be words that people will use in a search. Use keywords that mean something to your business and your products if you have that for sale on your site. You don’t have to use a ton of keywords for each content article or blog you post, but you do need to mix them up and use about 4-6 for each post. That way you have a few, it doesn’t look like spam and you will get people coming by using different keywords.
It’s a very simple concept and one that anyone can do. It just takes a little time and effort and everyone knows that it takes time and effort to run a small business in the first place.
Tags: blogging, business, content, keywords, online marketing, SEO
Posted in Blogging for Small Business | 5 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 »
Thursday, December 22nd, 2011
One of the best ways to market your business at a low cost is to use social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. However, because of the sheer number of users who practically live on Facebook all day, it can be hard to market the one business you have and get a lot of hits to your status posts and website in general. So how do you go about it? The following tips will help you build your business on the social media sites.
- Have a website or a blog. There are a number of free sites where you can start a website and/or a blog. The sites are customizable and easy to use. Not only will you be able to put your products on the site, you will need to keep information up to day in the form of a blog post or article. Once that is done, link your site to all the social media sites, including Facebook, Google + and Twitter. Link to as many as you feel comfortable doing on a daily basis. Alternatively, you can also hire a business consultant who will help you get a website set up and give you pointers.
- Emails and Comments. Stay in contact with the people who visit your site. If they make a comment, be sure to respond back. The same goes for emails. Emails are a great way to build a client base and to market sale items. At the same time, put a status on the social media sites about the sale or a comment about the new post for everyone to read.
- Third Party Endorsements. Search for online magazines or journalists who typically write about the brand and/or products you have. Ask to be interviewed, don’t wait to be. There are thousands of small businesses out there and you may never get noticed. If you have a third party endorsement, it will go a long way in building integrity for your business.
All it takes is thinking about a different way to brand and market your business. It’s a new world with new ideas, so jump on the bandwagon and try your hand at standing out from other businesses in order that your on line presence will grow.
Tags: advertising, blogging, Branding, business, facebook, google
Posted in Social Media | 3 Comments »
Wednesday, December 7th, 2011
In the business world, advertising is everything when it comes to keeping a business going. Especially small businesses. Yes, large corporate companies advertise all the time and spend large amounts of money to do so. A lot of people can’t do that when running a small business on a budget.
That does not mean you should ignore advertising altogether. Far from it. A small business has to get their name out there in order to thrive against the large corporations. One way to do that is online. Advancing technology is where advertising lies right now. So what do you do? The following tips will help you get more exposure. Which in turn, will bring in more business and will not cost you an arm and two legs.
- Start a free blog about your business. You don’t have to have an expert copywriter do this (although, you can – wink wink). WordPress, Blogspot and other free blogging platforms offer step-by-step tutorials for setting up your business on a blog. You can then write something regularly about your business. You can post your blog to several websites that will send your blog to many areas of the internet. You will have people reading about your business from half a world away.
- Start a fan page on Facebook. Almost everyone is on Facebook today, or Twitter, or LinkedIn. This is a great way to meet people, talk about your business and get the ball rolling. Once again, post something every day about your business. It will bring customers to the door.
- Craigslist is another freebie you can use to advertise your business. The advertising can be put in different time slots so you have a new ad running virtually all the time. Someone, somewhere is bound to see it.
- Use Google Local to list your business. You can put the pertinent information such as phone number, address and any products you sell. Then when someone wants to search for what you are selling such as flowers in Anytown, USA, your business will pop up in the search results for that particular area. People are using this type of search instead of the traditional yellow pages books.
This is just a small sample of what you can do online to promote your business. Why not take the plunge and reap the rewards of online advertising for your small business.
Tags: advertising, blogging, Branding, facebook, google, internet marketing, online marketing, Social Media, Twitter
Posted in Blogging for Small Business | 11 Comments »
Monday, December 5th, 2011
Everywhere you turn, you can hear someone talking about a blog. Whether they are writing a blog or they are reading a blog, one thing is for sure. Blogs are wildly popular. And one more thing is certain – social networking is the most popular thing on the Internet. You might as well jump on the bandwagon and market your business this way.
Blogs are like websites, but you have social interaction with your viewers. Many blog sites are free and easy to use, too. Each time you post a blog, it looks as if it is an individual web page. This can make for a more dramatic look when viewed by your visitors.
Putting your business ideas into a blog will bring your business more potential customers and an audience who wants to see what you are discussing. Not only can you post your ideas in your own words, you can also have a shopping area where customers can view your products and make purchases.
One of the key things to remember is SEO. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. If you focus your blog posts on the proper keywords and phrases, then you’ll increase your chances of obtaining high search engine rankings. For instance, if you sell gardening products and a prospect Googles “gardening,” if you have a lot of the right keywords (gardening, garden, etc.) in your blog posts, Google will favor your blog posts over those of your competition that are not well optimized.
If you aren’t sure where to start, contact Small Business Mavericks for a free consultation. We have a lot of experience and can get you off to a good start with your new business blog.
Tags: advertising, blog, blogging, content, google, internet marketing, keywords, online marketing, SEO, Social Media
Posted in Small Business Internet Marketing | 8 Comments »
Tuesday, October 25th, 2011
Google has said from the beginning that it plans to integrate all of its services with Google+. Well, that integration is happening right now for Blogger, the Google blogging platform.
I’ve kept it no secret that I’m a fan of WordPress on your own domain name, but there are still people who would rather use Blogger as a free blogging platform. Some of them even go so far as to map it to their own domain name. It’s not as effective in terms of SEO as WordPress on your own domain name, but it’s still a blog. If you are a Blogger user and a Google+ user, then I believe integrating your two accounts will cause a big boost in your blog. No guarantee, but I’d almost be willing to put money on it.
Blogging is still one of the most powerful online marketing tactics. Blogger has done a lot to help new businesses go online. It’s a decent place for new small business bloggers to their start in the blogosphere.
So what’s next for Google+ integration? Your guess is as good as mine. I’m pretty sure that YouTube integration is on the way, but whatever Google has up their sleeve, you can bet it will be an improvement.
Tags: blogger, blogging, google
Posted in Blogging for Small Business | 4 Comments »
Saturday, September 24th, 2011
When it comes to building an online Web business, or putting together a Web marketing plan for your off line business, it isn’t difficult. It takes time and money, both of which you have in limited quantities. But you can take what you have and build a solid Web marketing plan. Here is a template you can follow – a 5-point template that works for any business.
- Your website – Your website is the hub of your online business. Make it look good, fill it with great content, and make it user friendly.
- Start a blog – Let’s face it, you can’t really run a Web business today without a blog. It’s a proven fact that updated websites get better search engine traffic than static websites. So build a website and add a blog.
- Develop a social media presence – It doesn’t matter where you spend your social media time except that you go where your target customer is. Choose a few places that are easy to manage and spend a few minutes each day monitoring and engaging through social media.
- Write some articles – Article marketing used to be about mass submission. Today it’s more about putting out unique content with a few content partners. Not only can it build your reputation, but you can build links to your web properties as well.
- Provide great customer service - You can do all other things right and still fail online if you don’t provide good customer service. You do want your customers coming back, don’t you?
There’s your 5-point plan for online marketing. It works no matter what business you are in.
Tags: articles, blogging, online marketing, Social Media
Posted in Small Business Internet Marketing | 3 Comments »
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