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Posts Tagged ‘internet marketing’
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 »
Saturday, January 7th, 2012
If you look back just 15 years, you would never have thought that you could do all the things you can do with smart phones. You certainly never thought you could access the Internet from your cell phone, right?
Now, technology allows you to do all kinds of things from smart phones or iPhones. Is your website ready to be accessed? It needs to be because more people today are using their phones to access the Internet and you will be left in the dust as far as users to your site go if you are not mobile web ready.
So, how do you do it? It is really quite simple. Your first step is to see if your site is mobile ready. You can do this with a free service called MobiReady. This will give you a report about how easy it is for your site to be viewed.
Then make sure your site is a clean, easy-to-read site. This in turn will make your site faster, which is what you need for it to be accessible to cell phones. It’s also a good idea to not use Flash on your website. It is not necessary for a site, especially when viewed from a smart phone.
Make sure you use HTML phone numbers instead of making users type in a phone number and use voice search. More users are using their voice option on the phone. This is another step to your marketing strategy.
As you can see, it’s quite simple to make your site mobile ready. You don’t want to be left in the dirt when it comes to users wanting to go to your site but don’t because they can’t get to you on their phone. They are not going to wait till they get home, so you need to get up to speed and become mobile web ready.
Tags: internet marketing, mobile web marketing, online marketing, search engines, website
Posted in Mobile Marketing for Small Business | 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 »
Saturday, December 31st, 2011
For small businesses, making more sales is what keeps your doors open. We have talked about a lot of ways to boost your business and get your name out there. It’s been mentioned a couple of times, but mailing lists are one of the most important marketing tools you will have.
It’s important to keep mailing lists up to date with current postal addresses and email addresses. You may only use this list to send out newsletters or flyers every once in a while.
Think about ramping up your mailing list by adding new customers to the list and using it for more than a newsletter. You could make several templates of how-to tips, products, or did-you-know facts. Whatever your business is, use that business for all kinds of ideas you can use in a mailing list.
Most regular customers will expect your mailings as they are used to getting them, but new customers like the feeling of a welcome letter maybe coupled with a discount coupon in appreciation of their business. It makes them feel like you value them, which you do. You just need to do something to reinforce that feeling.
The single most important thing you can do in building a business is to build customer confidence in you and they will come back. Customer loyalty goes a long way in making a business a success. Mailing lists help you do that. You may not see a regular customer but once every month or so. Let them know about special sales that they might be missing in between their visits.
Think about your mailing list. Clean up any discrepancies and ramp it up for the coming year and you will be surprised at how much it will help you and your business.
For ideas or help with setting up mailing lists, visit a small business consultant who can get you on the right track.
Tags: advertising, business, e-mail marketing, internet marketing, small business
Posted in Tools for Small Business | 6 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 »
Monday, December 26th, 2011
The year 2012 is going to be a good year! A positive outlook goes a long way in making your small business grow. The coming year will be new; it’s time for a new look and a new way of doing things.
The first thing to consider is employees. If you have employees and you are growing, think about if and how many new employees you need. Figure out a new budget which includes employees and any upgrades or repairs that need to be done.
It’s also an excellent time to make a new marketing plan, some fine tuning to your website and possibly new business cards. Consider how you want to advertise your business such as online, radio, television, newspapers and the simple newsletters or e-letters.
New technological advances need to be considered as well. Implement a plan for texting, email campaigns, phone apps or video chat. There are now so many ways to stay in contact with clients, suppliers or employees. These new ideas are just the ticket to jump start your small business right into 2012.
Since you are now thinking of all kinds of things you can do or start in the coming year, be sure to organize your files and get tax information ready. That dreaded time of the year is not far off. At the same time, clean up all the old email addresses you keep telling yourself you need to update. Even if it is winter, get the mind set for spring cleaning.
And don’t forget to add social media to your new marketing plan. It’s such a simple and free way to get your business noticed and out to the public, using social media. Word of mouth goes a long, long way in bringing in business.
Tags: advertising, business, e-mail marketing, facebook, internet marketing, small business
Posted in Tools for Small Business | 1 Comment »
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 »
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