Ideas for Business

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.

We talk a lot about Search Engine Optimization or SEO. That is one of the most important things a small business website needs. Optimized search engine results. It’s all about content and keywords.

Not only do you need your content about your business on your website, you also need regular content updated often. This means maybe add a blog to your site. Then add articles, or blogs to that section of the site. And, don’t forget back links. Link to other content on your site so that you can keep readers on your site.

Whether you write them or you use content providers (contract writers) it’s important to have content added at least three times a week. Even better if you add content every day. It does need to be something relevant to your business and not something that will make people think you have lost your mind.

Keywords are just as important. Your keywords need to be words that people will use in a search. Use keywords that mean something to your business and your products if you have that for sale on your site. You don’t have to use a ton of keywords for each content article or blog you post, but you do need to mix them up and use about 4-6 for each post. That way you have a few, it doesn’t look like spam and you will get people coming by using different keywords.

It’s a very simple concept and one that anyone can do. It just takes a little time and effort and everyone knows that it takes time and effort to run a small business in the first place.

21 Social Media Marketing Trends for 2012

Curious to find out what 2012 could have in store for online marketers?  This presentation from DreamGrow shares 21 predictions on what 2012 could look like.

Highlights include:

• Social CRM making inroads
• Social media influencing more sales
• Social commerce on mobile devices

Facebook IPO and Most Popular Social Sites:

Social Media: Disasters

“Ocean Marketing vs. Penny Arcade: Paul Christoforo PR Disaster Goes Viral” Documented via email and enacted on numerous YouTube videos, this might be one of the most reprehensible exchanges in the history of customer service. A PR/Marketing contractor representing N-Control, a maker of modified game controllers for hardcore gamers and disabled people has been accused of insulting a customer, plagiarism, extorting a past client and shady SEO practices. Could it get any worse? Yeah. Domestic abuse.  Via International Business Times.

“Social media, rumors might have fed melee at MOA”  On Sunday December 25th it was rumored that rappers Lil Wayne and Drake were going to be making an appearance at Mall of America in Bloomington, MN.  In the afternoon mayhem broke out involving more than 200 young people, one of the most serious disturbances at the mall in over 15 years with 10 people arrested.  Via StarTribune.

“Top 5 Most Common Networking Mistakes”  Good networking is an art and a science.  While some people may not have an innate networking skill this article points out basic mistakes and how to avoid them.  Via Inc.

Network Growth: Exceeding Expectations

“Pinterest: Crazy Growth Lands it as Top 10 Social Site”  Pintrest has grown 4,000% over the past 6 months marking it as the number 10 social media site.  While most traffic comes from California and Texas, Pinterest also receives unusually high traffic from states like Utah, Alabama, and Tennessee.  Via cNet.

“Instagram Becomes the Largest Mobile Social Network” In the past two months Instagram has added over 2 million new users.  While currently only available on iPhone, Instagram is poised to outpace Foursquare, the largest mobile focused social network available today.  Via Social Fresh.

“Google+ may reach 400 million users by end of 2012”  Google+ is on average adding 625,000 new users per day.  While the numbers are reflecting total users not active users, there is no denying that Google+ is growing.  Via LA Times Blog.

Cashing in on Christmas:

“Final Christmas Push Propels U.S. Online Holiday Spending to $35.3 Billion, Up 15 Percent Versus Last Year”  Spending reflected in this report takes into account the first 56 days of the November – December holiday season.  It is said with certainty that Cyber Monday 2011 ranked as the heaviest spending day of the season for the second year in a row.  Via ComScore.

Battles In the Court & On the Screen

“A Dispute Over Who Owns a Twitter Account Goes to Court” How much is a Twitter follower worth?  In a world where social media influence can mean the difference between a new customer and a fruitless cold call, one company thinks it’s worth a lot.  The question remains, can a company claim ownership of an employee’s social media account, and what does that mean for employee’s posting during work hours?  Via NY Times.

“YouTube Slam Begins Video Clip Battles for Users’ Votes”  Each week YouTube will put user submitted videos head-to-head to battle it out on screen.  Users will be asked to submit a vote for their favorite video.  This contest is designed to keep visitors on YouTube for longer periods of time and deepen their connection to the site.  Via BBC.

Online Marketing News You Can Use = TopRank Team Edition

Ken Horst – “Google Will Change Web Marketing in 2012”
Google has designed a new method for websites to structure data so that its crawler can pull better information. These plans revolve around metadata that will allow Google to access more rich data about a topic.  This may be a wakeup call for marketers and web masters to start looking at the new data and plan for the deployment of the new code in order to improve or maintain rankings.  Via Harvard Business Review.

Emily Conley – “The 22 Best Infographics We Found in 2011”
This is a compilation of some of the best infographics released in the past year.  I thought this was a pretty cool trend feature to reflect on the past year and gear up for 2012!  Via Co.Design.

Alexis Hall – “77 of Top 100 Brands Now Have Google+ Pages”
This article from Marketing Land discusses the fast adoption of Google+ by businesses, since its launch on November 7th.  According to BrightEdge’s December SocialShare report, 77 of the top 100 brands now have Google+ pages. This adoption rate will likely continue to increase in 2012 as big and small businesses begin to leverage Google+.  Via Marketing Land.

Ken Horst – “Will Clever Sense Help Google Become The Perfect Search Engine?”
Google is beefing up its voice search capabilities with the recent purchase of Clever Sense.  Similar to Siri for Apple, Google’s new voice search app will remember things it learns about the user so that future search results are even more targeted.  As more people use voice search on their mobile devices, online marketers will need to learn what it takes, other than location, to acquire a high ranking in the SERP.  Via Search Insider.

Happy Birthday TopRank Online Marketing Blog!

We’ve celebrated our 8th year of blogging this week. Thank you to everyone who has subscribed, shared, linked, commented and reached out over the  years. It’s an honor to be a part of such an amazing community and in this world of information overload, we appreciate your attention a great deal.  Thank you!

Have A Safe Holiday Weekend!

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© Online Marketing Blog, 2011. | A to Z Internet Marketing News: Happy Birthday TopRankBlog!, 2012 Marketing Predictions, Social Disasters, Cashing in on XMAS | http://www.toprankblog.com

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.

Due to the current job market crisis, more people are working from home than ever before. There are a lot of opportunities to work from home or to work for someone else from home. Whatever you choose, you will still have a small business working from home. What have others found out about balancing home life with your job sitting on the kitchen table?

Anyone can have a small business out of your home. Once you have the basic business set up out of the way, you then need to consider to balance the two. A small business still needs to operate as a small business and family still needs to be family.

Be sure to set yourself boundaries. It is very easy to get lost in your work on the computer or the phone. But, don’t lose sight that it’s still a job. You need to make a schedule for the business. This way you still have your home life.

For example, let’s say you want to work your business from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Then, set an alarm that will remind you when 2 p.m. rolls around. No matter what, stop as soon as you can, close up shop and return to your “home,” even though you are still in your home.

It needs to be just like a regular job. When your time is up, you go home. You also need to make sure you take breaks to stretch your legs and back and to just step away from the computer for a few minutes.

And, remember, don’t feel guilty. Rest assured, the emails, the voice mails and any other related work tasks will still be there the next morning when you return to “work”.

You too can be successful operating a small business out of your home. Look at it this way, you will have the freedom to be your own boss, have your own business and still make money.