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October 4th, 2009Networking: How I Built My Business
May 26th, 2009Networking Groups
I have built my business from nothing to extremely busy by using Networking Groups. It took more than 60 days (kudos to your Ronnie!) but it is very doable for anyone with persistence. The main local group I use is i Take The Lead – I also attend many free groups and events. My group is having a guest speaker tomorrow – Abigail from Straight Edge Solutions – she has many innovative marketing ideas. I always take something helpful for my business away when I listen to Abigail.
For my local readers – I invite you to come and hear Abigail as well as check out the possibility of advancing your business through Networking Groups tomorrow morning. We meet at Sheri’s near Vancouver Mall – It is next to Azteca. The meeting is from 7:30 to 8:30 am – take an hour out of your morning and learn how to build your customers and client base. 80% of my business comes form groups like this one.
Online Marketing Strategies Similar for MLM and Brick and Mortar Businesses
February 23rd, 2009I often get asked by business owners about Online marketing strategies. Many of my customers find information about MLM or Network Marketing when searching in Google for Online Marketing Strategies, and then ask me what a “real” business needs to be doing to drive Online traffic.
I am here to tell you – the 2 business models have no difference when it comes to Online marketing.
Here is a marketing strategy that I use in my business.
- Write a Blog post
- Create an article
- Go to www.Hellotxt.com and make an update
- Bookmark your blog post
- Create a Squidoo and Hubpage on a similar topic
When you create your Blog post keep in mind that people generally skim blogs and remember to keep the post brief. Be sure to include lists and headings to make the post easier to read / skim. This also gives you an outline for a more in depth article for either EzineArticles, Squidoo, and Hubpages. After completing your post/articles go to HelloTxt.com and make an update referencing your post. This will send your message throughout the social sites that you participate in. Bookmarking your posts is best accomplished by participating in a Digg or Del.i.ous group so that you are not bookmarking (spamming) your own content. Bookmarking sites frown upon listing your own content and you risk the site deleting you account if you get caught bookmarking your own content.
All of these steps will help to drive traffic to your website or blog and it will also get more of your content listed in Google when people are searching for your topic. Be sure to do some deep linking to more of your content as well as relevant content produced by friends/colleagues.
Local Business Profit from Local Search
February 16th, 2009Why do I want to Advertise on the Internet?
I often get business owners asking, “Why should I have my business on the Internet?” There are many reasons but the most important reason is your bottom line. Weigh the cost of Phone Book Advertising, Magazine, TV or Radio Advertising against the cost of having a website. The Return on Investment is mush higher with a website and Internet Advertising.
More and more people are turning to the Internet to find services instead of having bulky phone books. According to Internet World Stats 73% of all North American citizens use the Internet. ABC News conducted a survey of online users – 47% of Internet users make purchases online. If 73% of your customers are using the Internet to get information and make purchasing decisions, and 47% are actually making purchases, then you need to be represented on the Internet.
Companies that do well with local search results are service based industries. With people moving into metro areas they need to find new service providers and are turning to the Internet to find and compare services that are available in their new location.
Two Types of Internet Advertising
The first type is paid advertising through a company like Google. Google’s paid advertising is called AdWords and is known as Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising. The concept is simple – you define your best keywords (through keyword research) then bid on the keyword phrase. When someone types in your chosen keyword phrase then your website will come up in the listings for that customer to click on and go to your site. The cost of this type of advertising is industry specific meaning that is varies by industry. Keywords can sell for pennies or well over $50.00 per click. For business targeting the local market it is possible to take a costly keyword like “Web Design” and put a city or area behind it and get a much better price on the keyword.
The second type of Internet advertising is called Organic placement – these are the sites that are listed in the main area of the search results page. The goal is to get placed in the top half of the first page. There are many variables that come into play for the search engine to decide who gets prime placement. It is all based upon relevancy of the phrase typed in by the searcher to the websites listed. Some factors are:
- Keywords in the title of the website
- Keywords in header tags
- Keywords listed in the text of the page
- Keywords in the URL
- Keywords bolded or emphasized on the page
- The Keywords in the text of inbound links
- How many inbound links
- The PageRank of sites that are linking to your site
That is a short list of considerations made by the search algorithms – but all of those items are in control of the owner of the website. They should all be taken into consideration when optimizing your site for organic placement in the search engines. This is called SEO (Search Engine Optimization).
Starting a Business with No Money
December 9th, 2008Here is an interview by Pat Croce with Mike Michalowicz – author of Toilet Paper Entrepreneur. Speaking on how to get started in business the low cost way by thinking outside the box.
Toilet Paper Entrepreneur (TPE) Review
November 27th, 2008Awesome Business Devlopment Book – TPE
Some of the more thought provoking sections for me are:
- Immutable Laws
- Area of Innovation
- Top 9 List
- Applying the PFA Process to Your Business
Writing my Immutable Laws Read the rest of this entry »
The average business owner is very confused when it comes to Online Marketing. Many see no purpose for Social Sites as they relate to business. I am here to dispel several myths about Social Networking. Here is a list of what people have told me –