HahnConsultingGroup.com

2011-07-09T22:23:00.000-07:00

2011 Business Recognition Program is Underway!!

The City of Aurora has established Business Recognition Awards Program to acknowledge businesses in our community that have contributed to the city’s economic vitality.
The City of Aurora will also choose one Aurora businesses that demonstrates a commitment to Sustainability, energy efficiency, renewable energy, waste diversion, water conservation, and/or social responsibility.
Selected businesses will be presented with their award at a celebratory event hosted by the City in December of 2011. To be considered by the Business Advisory Board Selection Committee, this application must be received by the city no later than Friday August 12, 2011.

Fill able PDF form | Online version

Google Plus: Do we need another social networking site?

2011-07-09T22:09:00.000-07:00

By Shafey Danish (TimesWireService.Com)

This is Google’s first full fledged attempt at taking on Facebook. I guess Larry Page and Sergey Brin didn’t quite like the fact that Mark Zuckerberg has overtaken them on the billionaires list, and are now getting back. More...

Google+ and circles of friends

2011-07-09T22:05:00.000-07:00

From Timeswireservice.com

Google has launched social networking site Google+ and its circles are attracting the users to join it making the site very simple and user friendly.

Google has tried to provide many facilities to the users in a very simple way. Google+ has a look similar to Facebook. Like Facebok it also has navigation tools in a bar on the left. It also streams information in the main panel in the middle and links to connect with friends on the right.

Creating A Memorable Elevator Pitch

2010-12-11T15:26:00.000-08:00

Article by SuzanMarie Chin on November 13, 2010

I thought this was a good refresher for an elevator speech.
Having a great elevator pitch in your arsenal of marketing tools is essential for networking and personal marketing. Making it clear, concise and memorable can often be challenging. Here's a few quick tips for creating your perfect 30-second speech. More

Google Changes Search-Results Page, How Merchants Can Benefit

2010-05-31T17:46:00.000-07:00

May 25, 2010 · by Bill Hartzer

Google has made some major changes to its search results recently, adding more options for searchers. These are not changes to search algorithms, which determine the websites that show up, and where. Rather, the new changes give searchers options that allow them to tailor the type of search results that they see. To help you navigate through these changes and what it really means for your ecommerce business, let's look at sample search results and focus on what your site can do to appear in them. For example, let's focus on one keyword, "toys." Read more

SEO in Your Press Releases

2010-05-15T10:51:00.000-07:00

Are You Using SEO in Your Press Releases?

Written by: Melanie Rembrandt with StartupNation

I thought this article really hit the nail on the head.

Optimize your press release with SEO keywords.

Now, this may seem foreign to many of you. But if you have a little extra time, you can get a lot more out of your press releases in just a few simple steps:

Customer Service Makes "Cents"

2010-03-14T06:15:00.001-07:00

I love the chambers ...Here an example from the Wallow County Chamber

There is plenty of information discussing the impacts of poor customer service on a business. The Harvard Business Review reports that if you can prevent 5% of your customers from leaving you, you can increase your bottom line profit by 25 – 95%.

Upon further investigation, the US News and World Report completed a study revealing that the average American business loses 15% of its customer base each year. From this number, 82% of these customers stop buying from one business and go to another because of poor or indifferent ser-vice. Another 14% leave because they are displeased with prices and ~5% go elsewhere based on recommendations. So, with the Harvard Business Review saying that you can increase your bottom line profit by 25% - 95% if you can prevent 5% of your customers from leaving, and U.S. News and World Reports says 82% of customers leave one business and go to another because of customer service issues...then it becomes clear how serious customer service is to a business. One other detail pointed out in these studies is the sad fact that most of these customers don’t bother to complain.
It’s been shown time and time again that getting new customers into your store is one of the most expensive things you can do to grow your business. Once we have them, we simply can’t afford to lose them.

We can argue that rural areas should not be compared to metro economies. This may be true. Nevertheless, the forces that drive customer behaviors are fairly universal. Exceptional service includes: trustworthy relationships, clerks and employees attentive and courtesy to your customers, and the willingness to go the extra mile — proactive service (page 4). We live in an age of Internet, Wal-Mart's, Costco's and catalogs. You may or may not loose a customer to another local merchant; instead you might loose them to the Internet. ―Shop local‖ and ―customer service‖ are intertwined and both must be present in order to keep our local business community alive and thriving.
Do you know what customers think when they enter your business? How are customers treated in your business when you are not there? Are your employees knowledgeable on how to deliver great customer service? Or are you possibly loosing customers (that 15%) due to poor service or even no service?

Thanks Wallow County Chamber !

Why Social Media Is Critical To The Success Of Your Business

2010-03-13T15:56:00.000-08:00

From Allbusiness a D&B Company by Mike Kraus

When brands like Pepsi drop out of Super Bowl advertising and funnel that money (and it's a lot of money) into social media, or when J.C. Penney stops producing its catalog to focus on its nearly one million Facebook Fans, you know something's afoot. A change just isn't gonna come, a change has come, and it's time to jump on board or risk falling behind.

Let me throw a few suppositions out there.

Twitter is the new word of mouth

We're approaching 10 million tweets a day. That's a lot of mcnuggets of information being exchanged. All it takes is one of those to be retweeted throughout the Twitterverse and you've created an enormous amount of word-of-mouth, simply by writing 140 characters. That's a powerful (and cheap) marketing initiative that you could never get through traditional media.

Facebook may make the need for your website irrelevant More...

Do It Yourself Small Business Marketing

2010-03-13T15:20:00.000-08:00

From Small Business merketing
Do it yourself small business marketing does not have to be lame, it just takes more effort than hiring it out. So if you are a do it yourself kind of small business owner this post is for you.

7 Ways to Write Irresistible Headlines

2010-03-13T11:12:00.000-08:00

A great article from Jonathan Fields
In the advertising world, it’s commonly agreed that the headline is responsible for about 90% of an ad’s effectiveness. Same thing in the book world. The title does nearly all the heavy lifting. And, it’s no different in newspapers and social media, especially places like twitter where all you’ve to sell the click is the headline. Or digg.com, where a brief glance at the headline makes or breaks your shot at hitting the front page. Read More...

Thanks Jonathan!

2010-02-13T07:47:00.000-08:00

Adding a LinkedIn Profile Button to your Webpage

from Matthew Donald

Here's how to add a button to a LinkedIn profile onto your webpage.

Log into LinkedIn
Click on "Edit My Profile" in the left-hand menu
Click on the "Edit Public Profile Settings" link
Under the "Public Profile", click the "customized button" link
Choose a button
Cut-and-paste the code onto your webpage!

Words to the web-wise

2009-11-08T09:03:00.000-08:00

Metrics are everywhere in our lives--from our heart rate, to our bank balances; from our weight to the gas mileage on our cars, and if we don't pay attention to these numbers, we create the risk of a heart attack, being overdrawn, or running out of gas.

They say that what you don't know won't hurt you, but nothing could be further from the truth when you run a small business. Not having web site metrics is like a guessing game with your business success at stake.

“You can't manage what you don't measure.” Unless you measure something, you don't know if it is getting better or worse. In order to improve or optimize your web site, evaluate the data.

However, you need the right data. As an example, the number of visitors or the amount of traffic your site receives is a worthless metric unless it’s the right traffic, your target market.

Use web site metrics frequently; it’s market research for your business.
Watch for trends, and see what pages are working the best – and which might need a tune-up.

If you don’t have good web page metrics, I would recommend you look into the free services below. I like them all, but prefer Google Analytics. It is free and may be better than some of the analytics with a price tag.

A Sample of the Weak–Good–and Productive Metrics

Forget About These Metrics:
Web Counters - Useless
Top Operating System – who cares?

Basic, But Good Metrics:
Page views – Clients interested in your content
Unique Visitors – 1st time visitors to your site

Critical Metrics:
Bounce Rate – Are they leaving so fast that they get
nothing from the site?
Repeat Visits – Yes we love them coming back - - even better if they buy from us!
Conversion rate – This is the money metric - -
They’re buying!
Traffic sources – Where are visitors coming from?

Free metrics tools:
Google Analytics
Woopra
Crazy Egg

With the right metrics, you can incrementally build up your page ranking, conversion rates, and website results. Measure what matters to you and your company so you can make good business decisions and take action. When used this way, web site metrics enable a firm to seize a competitive advantage.

10 Effective Steps to Increasing your Business Profits using Facebook

2009-08-09T18:54:00.000-07:00

I thought this was a great post from Virtual Business Solutions

As an Internet marketing VA, I not only promote Facebook as an excellent marketing tool, but I use it myself. Facebook is powerful when used as a marketing platform. The possibilities for reaching business success are endless when you learn how to effectively optimize your Facebook profile.

Mari Smith, a renowned social media coach and the world’s leading expert on using Facebook for business, has developed 10 steps for maximizing your business performance using Facebook. With these 10 steps, you will attract your target audience and establish a loyal following, build your brand and increase your business profits.

I would like to share these 10 steps with you Read More

Link Building... Time-intensive. Frustrating. Sometimes confusing

2009-08-08T11:23:00.000-07:00

I thought this was an interesting article!
Source: Online Forums...
Link Building... Time-intensive. Frustrating. Sometimes confusing. Yet Unavoidable. Because ultimately, it's still the trump card for higher rankings.

Many of us have been hoping that it would go away. In Brett Tabke's 5/18 Robots.txt entry, he echoed a sentiment that many, many webmasters hold on to as a hope:

What happens to all those Wavers that think [i]Getting Links = SEO[/i] when that majority of the Google algo is devalued in various ways? Wavers built their fortunes on "links=seo". When that goes away, the Wavers have zero to hold on to.

Read the enitire article

Making Your Small Business Look Big

2009-06-28T19:16:00.000-07:00

I (Hahnconsulting Group) enjoyed this blog post... I think you'll get a lot from it.

by Janet Holian, President, VistaPrint Europe

As a small business, your budget is tight and your time is even tighter. But you still have to compete with larger organizations that have big budgets and even bigger staff. Let’s face it image is everything and if you can’t look big, prospective customers will go elsewhere.

How can you make your small business look big without breaking the bank? Start with these five time and budget friendly ideas. In no time you’ll be competing head-to-head with the larger organizations in your market.

1. Powerful Logo – the logo of your company is often the first thing that someone sees. It doesn’t have to be expensive, but don’t take it for granted. It should communicate the values of your company – strong, dedicated, customer focused, etc – and be on all of your marketing materials

2. Business Cards - Don’t underestimate the power of the business card. It’s often the first thing someone sees when you meet them for the first time and they are you when you aren’t there. Make sure your business cards are high-quality, full-color and make an immediate impact. Distribute them freely to ensure that your name gets out there often. Give a stack of cards to colleagues who will pass them along to potential customers.
Read the rest

Online press releases: 8 powerful reasons to keep using them

2009-06-27T06:56:00.000-07:00

Joan Stewart writes an intereting article on online press releases...

(1) With all the focus on social media, you’re probably scampering to create new content for sites like EzineArticles.com, Facebook and Twitter.

You may be writing articles, creating tips lists, and offering quizzes.

That’s great. But don’t make the mistake of abandoning online press releases, which is all too easy to do when you’re consumed with posting every day to Facebook and Twitter.

Here are eight reasons why you should continue posting them to your website:

1. Optimized press releases pull in traffic.
Make sure you use relevant keywords in the headline and throughout the body copy. But don’t stuff the release with keywords, or that will be a red flag to the search engines. Take advantage of StomperNet’s excellent seven-day free email course on search engine optimization. Each lesson in “7 Deadly SEO Mistakes” takes just a few minutes to review.

Read the rest of the article...

Twitter No-No #1 (Shameless) Self-Promotion

2009-06-22T20:03:00.000-07:00

Hahn Consulting Group read this article and really liked it!

Twitter No-No #1: (Shameless) Personal Promotion By joe kneale

I currently follow 77 individuals on twitter. This number changes from time to time, of course, but I have found that if I follow much more than that I cannot access all of the information I would like to in the time I have alotted for twitter (low utility tweets get in the way). I could always devote more minutes, but my time is valuable just like anyone else’s! (opportunity costs of twitter, Tweetonomics pt 1)

So, what to think about individuals whose time is worth 5-10 times more than mine that follow 15-30 times more people than I do?

Clearly, they are using twitter as a mostly one-way “push” medium. Sure, they may respond to @replies or direct messages from other twitterites – and maybe they participate in #hashtaggable conferences, but they are demonstrating that they do not care about the tweets or thoughts of their hand selected follows. How? Because anyone who follows 2,550 people is just NOT spending much time digesting the information in their feed. How could they possibly afford to?

But, it is not a crime to use twitter for promotion so long as the creator is capable of creating content valuable enough to organically attract an audience. That said, when does one-way communication cross the “shameless” line?

Simply put, when it becomes SPAM. Self-promoters who follow individuals hoping that the action of following will catch attention are spammers (”name: your horny kitten — bio: check out my web cam”). Slightly more subtle and equally more insidious are self-promoters who rely on the social convention of “a follow for a follow” to build their audience (”he didn’t follow me back, he must be a twitter-snob”). The most shameless of the bunch are users who pay or scheme for followers (”twitter-train rocks!”). Spam wastes our time and destroys value.

The bottom line is simple; respect your audience by being transparent with them, you can’t fool anyone with a fake follow. Always remember; if you only intend to use twitter to receive little and push out lots your content had better be worthwhile. Speech might be free but audiences aren’t — spammers are born the minute self-promoters can’t get enough attention through valuable content and try to cheat.

5 Hot Ideas to Take your Summer Marketing from Fizzle to Sizzle

2009-06-19T13:45:00.000-07:00

From next day flyers:
Ah, summer. Swimming pools, the beach, a nice cold drink on a sweltering day. No worries, right? Well, when the current economic times are combined with a potential summer slump, you might have a few marketing woes. To help turn your summer ROI from naught to a lot, here are 5 hot ideas. More

The Tweet Smell of Success

2009-06-15T20:36:00.000-07:00

Hahn Consulting Group Presents

By NOAM COHEN and BRIAN STELTER

Mr. Rogers had many neighbors, but was always looking to add more. On Facebook, people who have hundreds of “friends” still collect them avidly: “Will you be my friend, we already have 15 in common?”

Twitter, the social-networking site of the moment, traffics in a different currency — “followers,” who presumably are loyal to you, fascinated by you, enthralled by you. Imagine what you could accomplish with an army of followers, the lands you could conquer! More

Why Now is the Best Time to Start a Business

2009-06-15T20:22:00.000-07:00

Hahn Consulting Group showcases

NYS SBDC Research Network Chances are, after reading the title of my blog, you think I am insane. That's okay. The numbers that we see printed everyday in the business section show that not only are we in a recession, but very few economic indicators have started to turn around and become positive. I would like to argue that the same numbers that make most people cringe are the reason why you should start your business right now. Unemployment is at 9.4% for the country and there are 5.4 individuals for every job posted. So why don't you change from being someone who is unemployed and applying for the same job as 4 and a half other people, and start your own business. More

Five Strategies to Grow Your Business

2009-06-14T13:44:00.000-07:00

By CorePurpose - Joan Koerber-Walker's Blog

Growth Strategy #1 - Call a customer today
Call a customer you have not talked to for a while and ask how things are going. Find out what can you and your company do to support them in achieving their goals. It is a great way to get MORE business.
They already know you and trust you. Having done business with you before, they may need what you have again. Even if they don’t have a requirement today, they’ll remember that you checked in and offered to help them. Read the rest at Joan's Blob

7 tips for the perfect Twitter profile

2009-06-13T14:49:00.000-07:00

By Jason Baer

People are drinking the Twitter Kool-Aid like it's the last day before Prohibition. It's fantastic that so many are finding value in something so simple that can be so powerful.
But many experienced marketers who've joined the latest wave of Twitterers seem to be overlooking a fundamental premise of the Twitter follower/following paradigm -- people only know as much about you as you tell them.
Having a succinct, compelling profile is more critical on Twitter than anywhere else. More...

Marketing Your Business on Craigslist

2009-06-13T14:26:00.000-07:00

Entrepreneur.com From e-commerce websites to furniture wholesalers, small businesses both online and off are realizing the marketing power of Craigslist.org. Founded in 1996 by Craig Newmark, Craigslist.org gets an estimated 10 million unique visitors per day. With an online classified ads format organized by either region or city, Craigslist connects buyers and sellers in more than 300 communities; for the most part, posting on the site is free.Read more

Ten Free Online Tools Every Designer Should Know

2009-06-13T13:48:00.000-07:00

CreativePro.com These free resources help you manage your business, store files, find stock images that aren't copyrighted, explore color, and more.

Google to Launch a Microblogging Search Engine

2009-06-13T13:46:00.000-07:00

Google prepares to launch a service that indexes and ranks content from microblogging services like Twitter. Since it's very easy to post updates and the posts are usually very short, micro-blogging services are great for live blogging, posting real-time information about an event.

If you like Twitter...

2009-06-13T13:40:00.000-07:00

TON'S fo twitter apps and resources here

Creating a Brand Empire Through Social Media

2009-06-08T19:20:00.000-07:00

From MarketingYP.com :
There are massive amounts of people just flocking to all of these new social media sites that are popping up everywhere. It is incredibly important that you are able to get your business name and your product as visible as possible by these people. This is something that even the new President Barak Obama ’s campaign was well aware of because in 2008 his campaign was the number one followed Twitter and boasted a FaceBook account of over 5,000,000 followers.
Now of course President Obama has a slight advantage over your everyday average online entrepreneur. However the reasons that his campaign exploded was due to a couple of primary factors. More

Ping-O-Matic

2009-06-08T19:16:00.000-07:00

Ping-O-Matic is a service to update different search engines that your blog has updated.

INTERNET MARKETING: How To Do It, And How It Can Work For You

2009-06-08T19:10:00.000-07:00

By Chris Aplin. Chris is an Internet Marketing consultant based in Seattle, WA.

Says Chris... “I love Internet Marketing. I am sitting here on my laptop typing away, trying to answer a few questions when it comes to Internet Marketing.Contrary to popular belief, Internet Marketing is not cheaper, more effective, or even better than any other form of marketing. To be successful, a business must use the power of all marketing forms. Direct mail is still a powerful tool, so is cold-calling, and door-to-door. Internet Marketing is probably one of the most impersonal forms of marketing there is, therefore in most cases giving you the worst conversion rates possible. More

HOW TO: Build Your Personal Brand on Twitter

2009-06-05T04:47:00.000-07:00

Great article...

Today, Twitter has roughly 6 million users and is projected to grow to 18.1 million users by 2010. With all those people, the chances for networking are endless and connecting with new people can lead to career opportunities, so it is essential that your personal brand exists on the service. Last month we showed you a step-by-step process for building your personal brand on Facebook, and today we’re going to show you how to do the same thing on Twitter. By leveraging the Twitter platform to build your brand you can showcase yourself to a huge and growing audience. More...

Dan Schawbel is the bestselling author of Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success (Kaplan, April 09), and owner of the award winning Personal Branding Blog. Follow him on Twitter() @DanSchawbel.

8 Tips To Remember What You Read

2009-05-31T07:35:00.000-07:00

We can all use this one in our busy lives!
By Dr. Bill Klemm

Despite television, cell phones, and Web “twitter,” traditional reading is still an important skill. Whether it is school textbooks, tech manuals at work, or regular books, people still read, though not as much as they used to. One reason that many people don't read much is that they don't read well. For them, it is slow, hard work and they don't remember as much as they should. Students, for example,may have to read something several times before they understand and remember what they read.
Why? You would think that schools teach kids how to read well. Schools do try. I work with middle-school teachers (see http://peer.tamu.edu) and they tell me that many students are 2-3 years behind grade level in reading proficiency. No doubt, television, cell phones, and the Web are major contributors to this problem, which will apparently get worse if we don't emphasize and improve reading instruction.
Some of the blame can be placed on the fads in reading teaching, such as phonics and “whole language,” which sometimes are promoted by zealots who don't respect the need for both approaches. Much of the blame for poor reading skills can be laid at the feet of parents who set poor examples and, of course, on the youngsters who are too lazy to learn how to read well.
For all those who missed out on good reading skills, it is not too late. I summarize below what I think it takes to read with good speed and comprehension.
1. Read with a purpose.
2. Skim first.
3. Get the reading mechanics right.
4. Be judicious in highlighting and note taking.
5. Think in pictures.
6. Rehearse as you go along.
7. Stay within your attention span and work to increase that span.
8. Rehearse again soon.
Read the detail...

How To Create A Modern Press Release

2009-05-31T06:57:00.000-07:00

I love the press release. It's simple yet effective!

In SitePoint's latest book, Online Marketing Inside Out, this excerpt from the book, Brandon Eley explains what makes up a 21st century press release.

The marketing landscape has changed dramatically in recent years. The reliance on the mainstream media to break stories about companies and products is waning, while the number of press releases grows daily. It’s increasingly difficult for small and medium-sized businesses to gain mainstream coverage from conventional media forms. So, rather than narrow their focus towards journalists in the hope of hitting the publishing jackpot, small and medium-sized companies are now producing press statements that target web site publishers and bloggers relevant to their niche, as well as targeting customers directly. Read the article...

Top Ten Myths About Google Analytics

2009-05-30T10:56:00.000-07:00

From Google Analytics Blog

Thursday, May 28, 2009
We've noticed some misconceptions about Google Analytics floating around, and we thought we'd take a shot at correcting the most common ones. Without further ado, here they are, the top ten myths about Google Analytics debunked.
MYTH 1: "You get what you pay for." Google Analytics is free, which means the system is down a lot.
Read the rest...

Brands & Branding: Take the 10-point Brand Quiz

2009-05-30T10:49:00.000-07:00

By Tom Marin of MarketCues, Inc. -- Converting Magazine, 5/29/2009 3:19:00 PM

How do you know how well your brand is communicating to your key target audiences? Is your brand underperforming? Is it considered a leader in your brand category?Take this simple test (as honestly as you can for accurate results) to determine what shape your brand is really in. On a scale of 1 (lowest score) and 5 (highest score), evaluate your brand based upon the following brand assessment characteristics and attributes we typically use when valuing a brand. These characteristics can also establish some guidelines to building a healthy brand.

The 10 points

Google Wave + Twitter = Tweety

2009-05-30T10:46:00.000-07:00

Techrader.com How Google is bringing email, IM and Twitter together

Announcing Google Wave at the Google I/O conference, Lars Rasmussen showed off Twitter integration using an add-in called Tweety.

Many of the cool features in Wave like contextual spell checking and live translation are done by 'robot' plug-ins that integrate with Wave (using Yahoo's JSON wire protocol).
Tweety lets you sign in to Twitter, read tweets from your friends and post a new tweet directly from Wave (in effect you create a new wave that just happens to be a tweet as well; Rasmussen called this a 'twave'). Read more...

Make customer retention priority No. 1

2009-05-30T10:42:00.000-07:00

By Rhonda Abrams, USA TODAY
In this economy, when small-business owners ask me what to do to survive, I always advise, "Whatever you do, make sure you do whatever you can to keep your current customers."
Customer retention is absolutely critical. That's why I'm embarrassed to admit that I just lost a major customer. And for the dumbest reason: We just failed to stay in touch with them regularly.
Read more...

Where Is Your Internet Marketing Headed?

2009-05-30T10:40:00.000-07:00

By Frank Reed - Fri, 05/29/2009 By Frank Reed - Fri, 05/29/2009

I just spent the past two days at the Inbound Marketing Summit in Dallas. While I am no expert on social media, I am also not a novice so there was plenty for me to learn. Chris Brogan's New Marketing Labs puts on the event and they did a great job. The roster of speakers spanned nearly every area of Internet Marketing with a strong emphasis on social media which is no surprise whatsoever considering the source. Read more...

Keyword Density

2009-05-30T10:37:00.000-07:00

By buxp / May 30, 2009

is an indicator of the number of times the selected keyword appears in the web page. But mind you, keywords shouldn’t be over used, but should be just sufficient enough to appear at important places.

If you repeat your keywords with every other word on every line, then your site will probably be rejected as an artificial site or spam site.
Keyword density is always expressed as a percentage of the total word content on a given web page. Read More

Make Your Web Analytics Actionable in 5 DIY Steps

2009-05-14T20:08:00.000-07:00

FutureNow Post Thursday, May. 14, 2009 at 11:08 am
By Jeff Sexton May 14th, 2009

Jeff writes: I’ve written about this before, but new reports keep reinforcing the point that most organizations don’t know what to make of their Web Analytics, meaning they can’t take action to improve their site based on the information they have. And while the best bet in these situations is simply to hire an expert guide, that may not be an option for you (or maybe you’re just a hard-core DIY-er when it comes to website improvement). If that’s the case, here is a quick and dirty 5 step process to get you started: More

New Book Claims Soft Sell Marketing Strategy Best Suited During Global Financial Meltdown

2009-05-14T20:02:00.000-07:00

From 1888 Press Release

(1888PressRelease) May 14, 2009 - LAS VEGAS, NV - Coming into Internet marketing just four years ago, spiritually-oriented husband and wife psychotherapy team and best-selling authors Judith Sherven, PhD and Jim Sniechowski, PhD (better known as Judith & Jim) felt like aliens in the world of hard sell that surrounded them in the online money making community.

Determined to succeed at their new career online they set about to examine why they felt so displaced and why so many other emerging Internet marketers who were also spiritually-oriented service providers felt much the same. More

Small businesses missing an opportunity with SEO

2009-05-14T19:56:00.000-07:00

Thursday, 14 May 2009 17:21 From Brafton Tailored News

Small businesses should consider search engine optimization (SEO) when launching their website
The internet is often thought of as the great equalizer as it can often level the playing field for some small businesses, but in order for it to work entrepreneurs need to get involved by using tools like search engine optimization (SEO).In an interview with bMighty.com, Andy Leff, CEO of 7 Mainstreet, says a lack of search engine optimization (SEO) is one of the biggest mistakes small businesses make when they launch a website."Just because you have a site doesn't mean that the web crawlers are going to find you and you'll show up in Google, Yahoo, or MSN," he told the news provider. "You need to take into account the search engines and build your site accordingly."
More

The Perfect Pitch

2009-05-12T20:29:00.000-07:00

From Youngentrepreneur
I have always found that throughout the course of a day, I am certain to meet up with someone who asks ‘So, what do you do?’, whether this be online, in person, or on the phone. Every encounter that you have is a business opportunity. That’s why having a 15-second pitch that tells about yourself and what you do is a must. A 15-second pitch is a business essential. It will sell your business to potential clients, serve as an effective introduction at networking events or seminars, and be the grabber that attracts an investor’s attention. More

When Should You Optimize Your PPC Campaigns?

2009-05-11T18:32:00.000-07:00

From the Microsoft Ad Center
In a perfect world, advertisers would continually be optimizing their pay per click campaigns by tweaking their ad copy, removing underperforming keywords and add new keywords to the mix.
However, not many of us live in that perfect world and we tend to turn on an ad campaign then ignore it until we notice that conversions have dropped or the credit card charge reminds us that we should login and check things out.
And while we all know that we should be optimizing our campaigns, how frequently should we be checking and tweaking things? Once a day? Once a week? Once a month? ::Cough:: never?
Well, unless your role in the business is strictly doing pay per click, chances are good that with all the other hats that fall on a regular "SEO/SEM" webmaster, that you currently fall in the range of once a month and never... but I will give you a hint, that isn't really the right answer ;)In a perfect world, advertisers would continually be optimizing their pay per click campaigns by tweaking their ad copy, removing underperforming keywords and add new keywords to the mix.
However, not many of us live in that perfect world and we tend to turn on an ad campaign then ignore it until we notice that conversions have dropped or the credit card charge reminds us that we should login and check things out.
And while we all know that we should be optimizing our campaigns, how frequently should we be checking and tweaking things? Once a day? Once a week? Once a month? ::Cough:: never?
Well, unless your role in the business is strictly doing pay per click, chances are good that with all the other hats that fall on a regular "SEO/SEM" webmaster, that you currently fall in the range of once a month and never... but I will give you a hint, that isn't really the right answer ;) more

To Twitter or Not to Twitter

2009-05-10T07:37:00.000-07:00

From Bizthreads.net

It seems like just about everybody has Twitter these days. The President of the United States, Puff Daddy, Larry King, and Howard Stern top the list of the nation’s most renowned Twitterers, just to name a few. Average Joes are also signing up to Twitter in droves. Now all it takes to author original content on the internet is a few spare minutes and the click of a button.

Despite its user-friendly appeal and the magnitude of the audience, is Twitter right for you? Ask yourself the following questions when determining whether to jump on the bandwagon or let this fad pass you by. Read More

2009-05-09T06:25:00.000-07:00

New Twitter search means users must consider SEO in 140 characters

From Brafton Daily news

According to a report this week from CNET, Twitter will be adjusting its search function in the near future which will crawl for not only the text found in various tweets, but the links in those messages as well.
As CNET's Rafe Needleman points out, this should cut down on the number of "re-tweets and low-value content" that currently shows up in a Twitter search.

For companies looking to use Twitter to gain visibility online, this will mean that original content will be just as important on Twitter as it is on their own website.

Noah Mallin at Searchviews.com says these companies will need to consider search engine optimization when tweeting - even if it's just 140 characters.

"For brands who want to use Twitter as a means to reach out to current and potential customers, SEO will be essential to figuring out what content needs to exist on their profile and in their tweets, not to mention what links they share," he writes.

Is Your Website is “lost in the internet?”

2009-05-02T16:09:00.000-07:00

Killer Internet Marketing Strategies

Is Your Website is “lost in the internet?” The Internet has unlocked a new world of opportunity for even the smallest businesses. It’s a great equalizer and allows us to play in a global market place. However I find too often that businesses decide “we need a web site”. Why? “Because someone told me I should”. So they have a web site created for them. They are puzzled or feel hesitant by the idea of promoting their business online. Great, so now you’re on the internet but nothing happens? If I can’t find your website, it’s valueless! It’s about findability then usability. And there is more to the Internet than a website. And once we get our potential customer to our site we only have seven seconds to make our impression. We need to make those seven seconds count. I’ve analyzed lots of website and frankly most are not very good. Amateurish design, weak page architecture, or not making the site “search engine friendly.” Your business website doesn’t need to follow the crowd and getting traffic is more than a website……it’s a strategy. The elements that will promote traffic to your web site are: · Rich content…….. People want content. And by the way, so do search engines. · Powerful links………both inbound and outbound · Effective keywords….no just guessing at them · Updates……A reason for customers, and search engines, to come back to your site · Social media strategy….we’re building a community But how do we know if people are coming to our site? By installing simple but effective metrics will help you understand how people are using, or not using your site. Websites are the most measurable marketing investments that a business can make. But once we’ve gotten the traffic what’s next? Changing them into customers! It doesn’t matter if you are getting thousands of people to your website if they ultimately don’t end up doing business with you. Remember to put our self in the shoes of your visitor: · Focus on benefits before features · Create a great customer experience · Have a “call to action”…we want them to take action · Give an offer…and change the offer frequently. Your web site is a direct reflection of you and your business. People like uncluttered and useable websites with simple navigation.. Remember that people are looking for information. Paying attention to your sites content will have powerful results on how you impact your audience. I see too much sizzle and too little content. Remember ….Content is king Your internet strategy is an on-going process. Adding and updating content, resources, and, contacts is vital! The Internet improves the reach and cost-effectiveness of your marketing. It can help you build your company’s reputation, your brand, and win new customers. It’s good to have friends, and small businesses have a big one with the Denver Metro Small Business Development Center (SBDC). The DSBDC can guide through the steps that will bring customers to your site and convert them from browsers into buyers. You can find us on the internet! Just visit www.denversbdc.org

Just testing

2008-06-22T09:03:00.000-07:00

Just testing

2008-06-22T09:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my new blog I hope you'll enjoy it!