The Three E’s of Social Media
According to the Nielsen Company’s recent Social Media Report, social networks and blogs reach nearly 80 percent of active internet users in the U.S. Social media has not only become a medium by which many people have shared their life stories, but more and more businesses are also using social media to share their brand’s message. Because social media is still a fairly new medium of marketing, businesses have yet to fully understand how to make a deeper, more personal connection with customers or potential customers via these platforms....
read moreCommitment is Critical to Social Media Success
Try as you may, you simply cannot avoid the presence of social media in today’s society. Everywhere you look, you see the familiar icons of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social media applications on a variety of different informational outlets, from Web sites and blogs to more traditional marketing pieces such as print advertisements and television commercials. What started as a venue for people to communicate amongst themselves and share information with family and friends has turned into an increasingly important marketing...
read moreBusiness Tips to Make 2012 a Huge Success
No one could argue that our world isn’t changing fast—and I don’t mean just technology-wise. Consumers aren’t spending like they once did, manufacturing and shipping costs are fluctuating wildly, and the age of the environment is slowly (finally) being ushered in. On top of that, the Internet has finally really changed the way people shop and buy – not to mention the way we entrepreneurs market our businesses. If you don’t change your business, and your marketing, to keep up with changing times you can easily become another failure...
read more30 Ways to Make Your Business Stand Out From the Crowd
Let’s face it, starting a business can be very easy, but stayingin business can be very difficult given that our customers have too many choices on where to spend their hard-earned cash. So the question I posed to small business owners was “How do you make your business stand out from the crowd so that people will choose to spend their dollars with you?” Here are 30 of the best responses that I received from businesses located all over the world! I hope there’s a few that resonate with you. 1. Give ‘Em What They...
read more5 Ways To Generate More Sales This Christmas
With the amount of Christmas online spending continuing to grow each year and the competition in the search results being at its most intense, what can you do to make sure you increase your sales and take a bigger slice of that Christmas spend? In this blog post I’ll highlight some changes you can make to your website, their desired effect and some examples of how they work in practice. At this time of year it is more important than ever to make your customers feel reassured with their purchase. 1. Create a dedicated Christmas section on...
read more3 Effective Ways to Overcome Frustration
Home business professionals: we are a strong bunch. We’re smart, resourceful and most of us own our own business. We are also tenacious about figuring things out on our own. At some point, though, there is a level of frustration with a task or project. Overcoming frustration can be a matter of perspective. Here are three tips when you’re ready to throw up your hands and give up: 1. Recognizing that we do, in fact, have limits of knowledge. Oh I know, you can do it all. I get that. I’m not insulting your intelligence...
read more3 Ways to Boost Search Marketing Results
The great news is that the e-commerce sector continues to grow. In fact, findings from Forrester Research point to an anticipated compound growth rate in e-commerce of 10 percent from 2010 to 2015, when it is expected to reach $278.9 billion. As this market sector continues to grow, online marketers are constantly looking for ways to seize more of the large e-commerce pie while boosting ROI. One of the most effective ways to do this is through search marketing. Yet if everybody’s applying similar techniques, how can you stand out among the...
read moreCompanies Use Social Media For What?
While almost every company uses social media, the top initiative for doing so may be different than one might think — recruitment. The “ROI of Social Media in the Enterprise” survey from SelectMinds — a developer of social recruiting and community management solutions — shows that while 86 percent of firms are using social media in their organizations, the top social media initiative is recruiting/talent acquisition, at 72 percent. According to the survey, 81 percent of the participating HR professionals claim to use social networks...
read moreHow To Drive Customers Your Way Online
You’ve listened to the experts and other successful business owners. You’ve developed an interactive website with all of the functionality one could ask for. You’ve launched an engaging blog. You’ve established a social media presence by creating Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn pages. And you’ve provided customers with online tools that can make their lives easier, such as online appointment scheduling, payment processing or customer support. You sit back and wait for them to converge on your website, blog and social media properties...
read moreThe Social Influence on Consumer Behavior
A new report analyzes social media trends and patterns, including the influence of social media on consumer behavior. The report, by the Neilsen Company, a provider of consumer insight and social media analysis, shows that social networks and blogs dominate people’s online time by accounting for almost a quarter of total time on the Internet, Americans spend more time on Facebook than any other U.S. website and most adult social network users also shop online. Additional statistics show: Americans spent more than 53 billion total minutes on...
read moreSecrets to Searchandising Success
For decades, brick-and-mortar retailers have successfully increased their sales through merchandising – displaying seasonal items at the store’s entrance, using end-caps to feature discounts or carefully sorting products by price, category and popularity, to name just a few examples. When new technologies in site search introduced the strategy to online retail several years ago, the term “searchandising” became one of the most oft-used words in e-commerce. Merchants loved the fact that platforms could allow for new methods of...
read moreWhat is a QR Code?
QR (or Quick Response) codes are two-dimensional bar codes that were originally created in 1994 by Denso-Way, a Japanese corporation. QR Codes were originally used for tracking parts in vehicle manufacturing. Since then, a growing number of companies and individuals are using QR Codes as a way to create linkage between the physical world and the Internet. Consumers with a mobile device and the appropriate software can point their cameras at any QR Code and immediately access additional information via a mobile optimized website. Go...
read moreAdvertise your website for free
The internet was designed to be a free means of communication. As a result, there are a number of resources you can use to ‘advertise’ your business for FREE! Listed below are some of the best ways to advertise your website online: Google Maps/Google Local: Create an account with Google and use Google Maps or Google Local to ensure that your business shows up in the search results on Google.com. When Google infuses these results on its page, it increases the value of its local search and Maps application. ...
read moreTime Management Tips
Everyone thinks and wants to be more productive in their work. You might be spending the entire day in delirium of your activities and might surely wonder why you failed to accomplish what you need. However, time management is the only way to settle up things in your organization and make things much more convenient than ever. Time management is the art of arranging, planning, organizing, budgeting, scheduling ones time with the aim of generating effective work and productivity. It has become a crucial part for the people in...
read moreBoost Buzz with Local Press
If you are a new entrepreneur, one of the best ways to start building buzz is by contacting local media-members. This way, you can practice your pitching skills with a smaller venue and begin creating media relationships to help your business grow. But how do you start your publicity efforts? 1. Research. First, you want to read the local publications and figure out who writes about your industry or “beat.” Check out the archived stories online and also look for appropriate contact information. If you don’t see a particular writer or...
read moreUsing YouTube For Marketing
Marketing takes day to learn and unfortunately a lifetime to master. Retailers and businessmen thrive and rely on their marketing skills to make their company more profitable. There is a new term which has been coined in the world of marketing called viral marketing. Though the term is new, the concept is nothing novel and has been in existence since eons. Viral marketing is just a computerized version of the trusted ‘word of mouth’ philosophy. People try new products and write their mind about their experience with it in blogs,...
read moreProcess Payments on Your Mobile
Are you interested in processing payments through your mobile device? Who isn’t! I can think of about a dozen instances where that might come in handy right now. Sage Payment Solutions just released its Sage Mobile Payments product today and for the SMB’s among us it is most definitely worth having a look. The offering, which is bundled with a Sage merchant account (of course), gives SMB’s the ability to accept credit and debit cards on over 400 types of mobile phones and computing devices like tablets. Pretty...
read moreWhat does your website say about you?
Your website opens doors to contacts you’d never imagine you’d meet. Now more than ever, millions of people have access to your online presence, and whether you like it or not, they’ll immediately judge you upon your site design. What does your website design say about the person or business you are? All too often the impression you think you’re giving is very different to the one you actually are. This is where it’s important to ask the opinions of others. This is a good exercise and one I’d like you to join in with. Take a moment...
read moreHelpful Home Based Business Resources
What do Apple Computer, Hershey Chocolate, Mary Kay Cosmetics, and the Ford Motor Company have in common? They all started out as home based businesses. Over half of all U.S. businesses are based out of an owner’s home. Starting a home based business has many rewards and challenges. I found a few resources that will help you learn more about working out of your house, starting a home-based business, and managing your business within the law. Before You Begin Small Business Start-Up Assessment Are you ready to start a business? In...
read moreDefine Your Business With a Great Logo
When viewers associate a name, slogan or a design with a product/ service, it marks the formation of a brand. The degree of brand recognition being induced by such name/ mark henceforth determines the popularity of a brand. However, the transformation of a name/ mark to a brand takes time. Brand recognition is a process that is not built overnight. It is created with continued use of such products or services along with advertising and media promotions. A brand is a recognizable symbol that relates to a particular product/ service and creates...
read more