Marketing Your Business

10 RULES FOR WRITING YOUR HOME PAGE

2008-08-04T13:06:00Z

By Susan Greene ( susangreenecopywriter.com ) Because the home page is the first page most of your visitors will see, it’s also the most important page. Its purpose is to grab the readers’ attention and help them find information quickly and easily. If your home page lacks facts or is confusing, your visitors will click off before they ever gets a chance to know you. Here are some tips for ensuring your home page is effective: 1. Keep it concise. Today’s web surfer has a short attention span. The...(read more)

Turn A Phrase To Turn A Head

2008-06-13T23:51:00Z

There in front of me sat the unusual "tip" jar, with a twist. I stood at the new coffee shop in town ordering the usual concoction to quench my caffeine craving when I noticed sign on the jar. The sassy and delightful gal named Nadean went to fix my brew and there I was, left to consider the tip offer. Instead of the usual jar for leaving tips that you see in nearly every coffee joint from Starbucks to the local hang outs, there sat this jar with an offer facing me. Instead of the of the everyday...(read more)

The Most Ignored Key To Website Traffic!

2008-05-17T00:46:00Z

My Web Site is Built - So Where's the Traffic and Business? Your website is built and sitting pretty. So where are all the people you hoped would come over to play? You need traffic for your site to be effective and to start generating leads. Now that you know that just having a website won't necessarily drive business to you, you should consider the most important thing most people miss in this effort. Here are the 3 factors that need to be in place for a successful website and successful business....(read more)

Why Bother With "LinkedIn" or "Facebook"?

2008-05-11T17:51:00Z

That's what I used to ask myself as numerous acquaintances kept tagging me to be part of their realm of contacts in FaceBook.com or LinkedIn.com. It seemed a nuisance until I sat down with an old contact, Don Tinney from EOS Worldside (EOS=Entrepreneurial Operating Systems). Don is an EOS Implementer whose job is quite simple. He says simply, "We make millionaires out of owners of small to medium size companies". I was in both LinkedIn and FaceBook and didn't see the significance. My business was...(read more)

Organic SEO Top 10 Myths

2008-04-13T00:33:00Z

By Seomul Davis (c) 2008 There are many SEO myths circulating on the Internet. These misconceptions are often crazy and while some are based on partial reality, others have spread due to the lack of being proved wrong. Here is an example: Let's assume you make a change to your website content. Maybe after a few days you notice that your Google ranking for a certain keyword has altered. Now, it would be natural for you to assume that your content change had led to change in ranking. However, it may...(read more)

7 Easy Ways to Romance the Google Bot!

2008-04-09T13:32:00Z

By Natalie Revell (c) 2008 For most of us, Google is a hard nut to crack. Efforts upon efforts are put forth to increase your site's SEO and while your efforts are working in other search engines, they just seem slow when it comes to Google. So what do you do? Try romance! Yes, romance. Who isn't looking for romance? Non-human bot or not, the Google Bot also wants it. It wants to be romanced and feel the love from your site. If it doesn't, oh, look out! Just like a scorned woman, you are going to...(read more)

Using a Higher Price as a Tempation not a Turn Off

2008-01-13T17:44:00Z

Lock this concept into your mind: The higher the price, the higher the perceived value and quality . With that higher perceived value comes the temptation, for those who can afford either choice, to step up the quality that price promises. A higher price creates the perception which in turn creates the satisfaction in the buyer once paid. The Case of Gibson Guitars I was privileged to have been raised in Kalamazoo, MI, the home of Gibson Guitar. I have never played the guitar but over the years it...(read more)

Take Your Advertising Money and Give It To Your Customers

2008-01-11T20:15:00Z

In early 2003 Amazon.com did something very revolutionary and stupid, or so it was thought at the time. Funny how people who do things truly innovative are thought to be crazy, at least until it works. His decision was to eliminate all advertising and instead take that advertising money and give it to his customers in the form of free shipping. This was not "free" shipping as in "increase the price $4 and make it look like free shipping". No, it was actual money cut from the bottom line and essentially...(read more)

How Do People View Your "Expertise"?

2008-01-08T18:50:00Z

Just because you think something to be true doesn't necessarily reflect the real truth. More often than not in my life it has reflected self delusion between those two extremes. In studying the field of business marketing I have finally discovered a number of "truths" that should have been obvious to me years ago had I not just accepted the commonly held beliefs . Here is a quick list of a few eye opening things I've discovered that may trigger some fertile ground in your mind as well. People usually...(read more)

Enough About You - Let's Talk About Me

2008-01-08T16:55:00Z

Harry Beckwith relates insightful keys to business relationships in his book, "The Invisible Touch". One of them is the need to constantly remind ourselves about what the customer really thinks is important. To illustrate it he recalls to mind the movie The Fugitive when Harrison Ford shouted his insistence the he did not kill his wife. Standing in that water drain ready to leap out into the dam he got Tommy Lee Jones' true feelings on the subject, "I don't care!" When it comes to your business,...(read more)

The Complete Value of a Customer

2008-01-07T12:57:00Z

When you consider the complete value of a customer to you and your team – the lifetime value – the importance of having a sense of "selling urgency" should skyrocket. Every money hour * not invested in sales activities can delay (or completely eliminate) potential revenue to you and your company. And, it can go far beyond the dollars made with the initial sale. Depending upon what you sell, you may also have... upgrade revenue – revenue derived from future upgrades renewal revenue – revenue derived...(read more)

Is Your Website An Asset Or a Liability?

2007-12-03T14:03:00Z

Is Your Website An Asset Or a Liability? By Nick Yorchak (c) 2007 Remember back in the good ol' days when having a website was something every company needed and wanted? Websites were the wave of the future, and the dream of transitioning to conducting business online filled our heads with visions of a revolution in the way commerce was conducted. With a website, a company could reach clients and interact with potential customers on a global scale. A website was indicative of a company's technological...(read more)

Sales Success - Don't Allow Permission Based Failure

2007-11-12T12:41:00Z

From justsell.com Bottom line... sales success is based on dollars ultimately generated There are certainly several additional organizational contributions that the salesperson can (and should) make, but when evaluating a salesperson's value... sales results are primary... and results are best achieved when goals are formalized (no epiphany here). So, commit now, to winging it no longer. Don't allow yourself to say, "What happens... happens. I'll just do the best I can." Don't listen to those who...(read more)

Websites: It's The Experience Stupid

2007-11-09T13:31:00Z

By Jerry Bader (c) 2007 The other day I picked up a book that was sitting on my night table for over a year. It's just a small book and seemed like an easy read, perfect for falling sleep. It was called, "The Invisible Touch" by Harry Beckwith. Mr. Beckwith has written several books and is an expert on positioning, branding, and client relations. I wasn't sure if I was going to bother reading it or not, but after looking at the introduction I was hooked. This guy knew what he was talking about; he...(read more)

Brand New Websites: A Search Engine Optimization Company Perspective

2007-11-08T13:47:00Z

By Scott Buresh (c) Medium Blue 2007 It's an unfortunate fact - no matter how good your search engine optimization company or in-house talent is, brand new websites have a more difficult time achieving search engine success for competitive phrases than their older counterparts, particularly on Google. However, the worst thing that a new site owner can possibly do is presume that they are "too late to the game" and decide not to pursue this marketing channel at all. A good search engine optimization...(read more)