If you are like every other entrepreneur out there, you are probably wondering how to generate more business for you and your company. With the economy weak and the level of competition high, how do you make yourself stand out from the crowd? Believe it or not, customer generation is not as hard as you may think. You don't have to have a million dollars to acquire new business. The issue with so many people having difficulty finding new customers is that most entrepreneurs simply don't know the correct way.
OUTWARD FOCUS
How to make business better - First and foremost, you have to be an outward focused company and individual. If you take a look around you will quickly realize that most entrepreneurs are "Me, Me, Me." 'Come check out MY Facebook.' 'Come check out MY profile.' 'Click MY link.' You get the picture.
Instead, you should be proactively going to other people and focusing all your energy on them. I've said this many times in past blogs - people don't care about you; they care about themselves. You have to go to their turf, their house, their place of business, etc. Once you are there, you must find commonalities and figure out how to connect with them. You have to get to know your customer inside and out.
CONNECTING WITH YOUR CUSTOMER
How to make new business - Once you have gone to visit them in their space, you will then, and only then, begin to understand exactly what your clientele's interests, desires, concerns, and dislikes are. The process is never-ending because like any living organism, change is inevitable.
The best way to connect with your customer is to ask questions. The more questions you ask, the more you can learn from someone. In fact, the more questions you ask, the more your customer will feel appreciated, important, and listened to. Don't blabber on about all the cool features of your doodad. No one cares about the technical jargon.
When I was in the technology field, I use to confuse people all the time. Although I didn't sell computers, I'm sure most of you can relate with the following example:
This product has a two gigahertz quad-core processor, with 256 MB of Ram, two HDMI outputs, six USB ports, a 16x DVDR/CDR Burner, etc etc.
Most people don't have any idea what most of that means. They just want to know how it BENEFITS them. Here's an example most people would understand.
This product is really fast which will allow you to multi-task much better than before so that you can get more done in less time. You will be able to make CDs to back up all your important files and keep them in a safe place; you can also make home movies of your family and loved ones to share with later generations; and, you will also be able to watch your favorite movies in high definition any time you want.
Talking to people this way, you will quickly begin to see the 'Ah ha' moments in their eyes. More people will take to what you have to say because they are connecting emotionally and envisioning how your product will benefit and even change their lives. This will be very challenging in the beginning, but the more you do it, the more you will see results. I guarantee it!
We write for small business marketing and development - giving you tips and tricks to assist you with growing your business, increasing your revenue, sales, and ultimately, income.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Friday, January 27, 2012
How to Talk to People and Break Down Barriers - ISSUE 20 - 1/27/12
The process of communication and talking to people is a learned skill that you must practice over and over to become comfortable. People will talk, and as a current or future business owner, you probably already know that you must learn how to communicate otherwise you won't be able to grow your business.
Becoming comfortable talking to people can take years of practice, but if you're like most people, learning how to communicate can be quite stressful, and because of this, you avoid social situations. The good news is that talking to people doesn't have to be scary at all. With a little hard work and motivation, you can be just as comfortable talking to potential clients and in front of groups of people as you can talking to your best friend.
IT'S ALL IN YOUR HEAD
Most of your fear and negative emotions of talking to people are not real at all. In fact, most communication barriers are made up in your head. Believe it or not, your thoughts can be your best asset or your worst enemy. This is why your arch nemesis oftentimes is yourself. Obviously, you should have learned to effectively communicate when you were younger, but if your parents didn't teach you then you will have to teach yourself. The best way to get those negative thoughts out of your head is to practice saying positive self-affirmations in the mirror every day.
EXAMPLES:
TRIM THE FAT
Next, you have to trim the fat out of your life. By this, I mean that you have to make a valiant effort to get rid of all the negative people in your life. It's apparent that you can't get every negative person out of your life completely, but you definitely don't have to socialize with those people. There are multiple barriers to communication and you may not realize this but most people are negative because they're either jealous or don't believe in themselves so they try to bring you down to their level. You'd be amazed how much better your life becomes once you get all those people out of your life.
Getting the negative people out of your life significantly helps you to talk to others because you become less and less afraid that you will be ridiculed by the person you are speaking with. After years of practice each time you are confronted by the negative people, you can easily ignore their remarks and comments because you have had positive interactions with others the other 99% of the time.
THE NUTS AND BOLTS
Now that you have all the negative thoughts and negative people out of your life, communicating with others is going to become a breeze. If you're wondering how to start a conversation, then believe it or not, the very best way is to either ask the person a question about him or herself or just to say, "Hi!"
By nature, people will have their guard up when you first approach them because they don't know you or your intentions. However, if you show them that you are a nice person and that your intentions are good, they will quickly and easily open up to you.
The best way to practice talking to new people is to talk to everyone you can without the intention of wanting anything from them. For example, if you are in the live at the grocery store, make a comment to the person standing behind you about the weather. Or, if you are at a restaurant, ask the person next to you what they ordered and whether or not they would recommend it to you. See! Easy!
Becoming comfortable talking to people can take years of practice, but if you're like most people, learning how to communicate can be quite stressful, and because of this, you avoid social situations. The good news is that talking to people doesn't have to be scary at all. With a little hard work and motivation, you can be just as comfortable talking to potential clients and in front of groups of people as you can talking to your best friend.
IT'S ALL IN YOUR HEAD
Most of your fear and negative emotions of talking to people are not real at all. In fact, most communication barriers are made up in your head. Believe it or not, your thoughts can be your best asset or your worst enemy. This is why your arch nemesis oftentimes is yourself. Obviously, you should have learned to effectively communicate when you were younger, but if your parents didn't teach you then you will have to teach yourself. The best way to get those negative thoughts out of your head is to practice saying positive self-affirmations in the mirror every day.
EXAMPLES:
- "You are smart."
- "You are successful."
- "You are happy."
- "You are the best."
By repeating these self-affirmations every day for at least 18 days, you will soon begin to believe in yourself and your abilities. Just in case you are wondering, I said "18 days" because it takes approximately 18 days for something repeated to become a habit.
TRIM THE FAT
Next, you have to trim the fat out of your life. By this, I mean that you have to make a valiant effort to get rid of all the negative people in your life. It's apparent that you can't get every negative person out of your life completely, but you definitely don't have to socialize with those people. There are multiple barriers to communication and you may not realize this but most people are negative because they're either jealous or don't believe in themselves so they try to bring you down to their level. You'd be amazed how much better your life becomes once you get all those people out of your life.
Getting the negative people out of your life significantly helps you to talk to others because you become less and less afraid that you will be ridiculed by the person you are speaking with. After years of practice each time you are confronted by the negative people, you can easily ignore their remarks and comments because you have had positive interactions with others the other 99% of the time.
THE NUTS AND BOLTS
Now that you have all the negative thoughts and negative people out of your life, communicating with others is going to become a breeze. If you're wondering how to start a conversation, then believe it or not, the very best way is to either ask the person a question about him or herself or just to say, "Hi!"
By nature, people will have their guard up when you first approach them because they don't know you or your intentions. However, if you show them that you are a nice person and that your intentions are good, they will quickly and easily open up to you.
The best way to practice talking to new people is to talk to everyone you can without the intention of wanting anything from them. For example, if you are in the live at the grocery store, make a comment to the person standing behind you about the weather. Or, if you are at a restaurant, ask the person next to you what they ordered and whether or not they would recommend it to you. See! Easy!
Monday, January 23, 2012
What do you really know about SEO? - ISSUE 19 - 1/23/12
Whether you are an "expert" in Search Engine Optimization or an amateur, this blog is for you. As always, I'm trying to grow my knowledge of being a professional marketer and I'm still amazed at all the new things I learn that I thought I knew everything about. I thought I knew what the most important aspects to SEO were and I thought I was doing everything right. But, even after all that, I wasn't seeing the results in website traffic that I knew I should be. So, just as you may have guessed, I sought out the information that would allow me to produce the results I should have been producing.
Now that you have your website up and running, how do you maintain and grow your excellent store front? What on Earth are people looking for that will lead them to find you?! You hear people saying all the time that it's all about "getting ranked high in the search engines." What does that mean? It's simple. Everyday people all over the world are looking up information on the Internet. Google uses their very sophisticated algorithmic formulas to determine which websites are the most relevant to the questions people are posing within the search box.
Obviously, your next question will be, "how do I do that?!" This time, my answer will be... "It's not so simple." You will have to work very hard and consistently to grow your business and your following online. You must never stop because within a very short period of time of doing so, you will be obsolete in the world of the search engines. Believe it or not, a very large factor of your relevance is how fresh your content is. By keeping your information current and up-to-date, you will always be at the forefront of your competition.
Put yourself in the shoes of a visitor to your website. Let's say you are someone who has never seen your website before and let's say for example, it looks like the website hasn't been updated since 1998. What is the first thing you are going to do? That's right! You're going to push the BACK button and move onto the next because you believe there's no way the information is going to be relevant to you. In case you didn't know, the BACK button is the third most used feature on an Internet browser. You want your visitors using this button only when necessary.
Now that you're updating your website on a regular basis, the next aspect to SEO that's most important for you to focus on is who trusts you and perceives you as an authoritative figure. In other words, the more people that link to you and your website, the more relevant you will be to the search engines. Link-building is not an easy task and will take a lot of work on your part, but it will pay off ten-fold in the long run.
As a whole, there are only a small percentage of people out there to assist you with link-building but they have the most impact on your success. People link to other websites for six primary reasons: anger, pride, excitement, surprise, envy, and sharing. It's your job to determine what message you want the public to see, but you always need to be thinking about this when you are maximizing your website. Regardless of the quality of your content, no one is going to share it unless they have a reason to and/or it benefits them.
Following is a list of on-page correlations based off importance:
Now that you have your website up and running, how do you maintain and grow your excellent store front? What on Earth are people looking for that will lead them to find you?! You hear people saying all the time that it's all about "getting ranked high in the search engines." What does that mean? It's simple. Everyday people all over the world are looking up information on the Internet. Google uses their very sophisticated algorithmic formulas to determine which websites are the most relevant to the questions people are posing within the search box.
Obviously, your next question will be, "how do I do that?!" This time, my answer will be... "It's not so simple." You will have to work very hard and consistently to grow your business and your following online. You must never stop because within a very short period of time of doing so, you will be obsolete in the world of the search engines. Believe it or not, a very large factor of your relevance is how fresh your content is. By keeping your information current and up-to-date, you will always be at the forefront of your competition.
Put yourself in the shoes of a visitor to your website. Let's say you are someone who has never seen your website before and let's say for example, it looks like the website hasn't been updated since 1998. What is the first thing you are going to do? That's right! You're going to push the BACK button and move onto the next because you believe there's no way the information is going to be relevant to you. In case you didn't know, the BACK button is the third most used feature on an Internet browser. You want your visitors using this button only when necessary.
Now that you're updating your website on a regular basis, the next aspect to SEO that's most important for you to focus on is who trusts you and perceives you as an authoritative figure. In other words, the more people that link to you and your website, the more relevant you will be to the search engines. Link-building is not an easy task and will take a lot of work on your part, but it will pay off ten-fold in the long run.
As a whole, there are only a small percentage of people out there to assist you with link-building but they have the most impact on your success. People link to other websites for six primary reasons: anger, pride, excitement, surprise, envy, and sharing. It's your job to determine what message you want the public to see, but you always need to be thinking about this when you are maximizing your website. Regardless of the quality of your content, no one is going to share it unless they have a reason to and/or it benefits them.
Following is a list of on-page correlations based off importance:
Highest - Lowest
- Website URL
- Title
- Body
- Alt Text
- HTML
- Bold
- Meta Description
- Emphasize
- Meta Keywords
- Italics
- H1, H2, H3
- Out Anchors
Thursday, January 19, 2012
How you can create a Worldwide Rave about your business - ISSUE 18 - 1/19/12
You are probably wondering how you can make it big in business and how you can make your business go viral? There are some best practices I would like to share with you that will assist you in the process, but I can only show you the door; it's up to you to walk through it. You must be dedicated and consistent with your efforts because whether you like it or not, there's someone out there willing to do more than you.
First of all, you have to forget all the old methods of marketing (for now) and adopt new age marketing tactics. The old rules were simple: you buy attention, you beg for attention, or you bug your way in by selling. How many times have you dropped everything to buy something you saw on a commercial? How many times have you answered the phone when you knew you were being called by a Telemarketer? How many times have you let the guy at your door stand and talk about his product for thirty minutes? I'm willing to bet that the answer to all of those is simple... you haven't! If you won't give them the time, why would you waste your time beating a dead horse?
The old ways of marketing focus time and energy to nameless, faceless people. While this has worked in the past, it no longer holds up. You must focus your marketing efforts on those "Buyer Personas" or "Real People" who you are trying to sell to. You have to figure out how to connect with those people on a personal level and you have to appeal to their wants and desires, not yours.
Now, let's take a look at the new ways of marketing. You must "Earn attention by Publishing your way in." You heard it. You have to become a writer! If you don't like writing, you have to become a Reporter. Either way, you have to become known as the expert in your field within your community. Remember from a previous blog, I said that a community is any place that people gather.
You may already know of many ways to become Published, but if not, here are some examples:
If you are still uncertain how to go about asking your Buyer Personas, just look at what other people are doing in your industry. You may want to start by writing a blog or you might want to call your current clients over the phone. Ask them for a few minutes of their time and let them know that their opinions are really important to you. Not only will this 'Wow' them, but don't be surprised if you begin to see more sales, more clients, and more growth because of it. You will be getting very valuable information and at the same time, exponentially increasing your Public Relations perception. Be creative in your efforts - find multiple ways to connect with your clientele.
Most business owners make the mistake of always talking about themselves and their products. People don't care about you and your product. Instead, they are selfish and only care about themselves and how your product or service can benefit them. An example of this can be found on the websites of most Hotels. Take a look. You will see that almost all hotels show you the same "stuff." They show you the rooms, the fluffy pillows, the food, the swimming pools, the bar, etc.
What they need to be showing you is how you can connect to them. A great way to do this would be to have a portal with multiple people engaged in some sort of activity. They could have a businessperson on the phone in the lobby with his laptop. Or, they could have a picture of a couple organizing a wedding outside on the beautiful grounds. You get the picture... I hope.
First of all, you have to forget all the old methods of marketing (for now) and adopt new age marketing tactics. The old rules were simple: you buy attention, you beg for attention, or you bug your way in by selling. How many times have you dropped everything to buy something you saw on a commercial? How many times have you answered the phone when you knew you were being called by a Telemarketer? How many times have you let the guy at your door stand and talk about his product for thirty minutes? I'm willing to bet that the answer to all of those is simple... you haven't! If you won't give them the time, why would you waste your time beating a dead horse?
The old ways of marketing focus time and energy to nameless, faceless people. While this has worked in the past, it no longer holds up. You must focus your marketing efforts on those "Buyer Personas" or "Real People" who you are trying to sell to. You have to figure out how to connect with those people on a personal level and you have to appeal to their wants and desires, not yours.
Now, let's take a look at the new ways of marketing. You must "Earn attention by Publishing your way in." You heard it. You have to become a writer! If you don't like writing, you have to become a Reporter. Either way, you have to become known as the expert in your field within your community. Remember from a previous blog, I said that a community is any place that people gather.
You may already know of many ways to become Published, but if not, here are some examples:
-
Write a blog
- Blogger
- Write an ebook
-
Social Networking
-
Video Blog
- YouTube
- Online Workshops
If you are still uncertain how to go about asking your Buyer Personas, just look at what other people are doing in your industry. You may want to start by writing a blog or you might want to call your current clients over the phone. Ask them for a few minutes of their time and let them know that their opinions are really important to you. Not only will this 'Wow' them, but don't be surprised if you begin to see more sales, more clients, and more growth because of it. You will be getting very valuable information and at the same time, exponentially increasing your Public Relations perception. Be creative in your efforts - find multiple ways to connect with your clientele.
Most business owners make the mistake of always talking about themselves and their products. People don't care about you and your product. Instead, they are selfish and only care about themselves and how your product or service can benefit them. An example of this can be found on the websites of most Hotels. Take a look. You will see that almost all hotels show you the same "stuff." They show you the rooms, the fluffy pillows, the food, the swimming pools, the bar, etc.
What they need to be showing you is how you can connect to them. A great way to do this would be to have a portal with multiple people engaged in some sort of activity. They could have a businessperson on the phone in the lobby with his laptop. Or, they could have a picture of a couple organizing a wedding outside on the beautiful grounds. You get the picture... I hope.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
The benefits of creating a Facebook Fan Page and a LinkedIn Group - ISSUE 17 - 1/17/12
Now that you know how to be successful with Social Networking from our previous blog, we would like to focus your attention on two specific social networks you are probably already familiar with - Facebook and LinkedIn.
Facebook
Although Facebook was originally designed by college students to connect with one another and to socialize on the web, it didn't take long for businesses to catch on to the idea that they could also socialize and connect with other people and potential customers via the web. In the beginning, there wasn't such a thing as a Facebook Fan Page specifically for a business to promote their product or service, but now that there is, you probably should have one.
A fan page is one of the best ways for a business to connect with their current and future customers because almost everyone has Facebook and this connectivity allows for customers to rave about their experiences and to express their questions and concerns not only real-time, but in front of the eyes of everyone else connected to this page.
I remember one time in particular where I had a bad experience with a company's bad customer service. I wanted to maintain their service but wasn't able to because of the location I was moving to. I pleaded with multiple people to waive my early termination fee, but they wouldn't budge. I loved their service but I was livid and swore that I would never do business with them again in the future. To say the least, you bet I was on their fan page letting them have it. I finally gave up because I knew I couldn't win, but they lost a customer for life because they weren't a little flexible and didn't listen to the customer.
Another great way for a business to utilize a fan page is by reaching out to its followers to get customer feedback about a specific product or promotion. For example, let's say a toothpaste company just launched their latest and greatest toothpaste. This toothpaste makes claim that it will not only whiten your teeth beyond the leading competitors, but it will also guarantee that you will never have to go to the dentist again. First of all, WOW! Don't we all wish?! But, second of all, this would be such a fantastic opportunity to learn whether their claims are holding up in the eyes of the public.
After the first thirty days, the company decides to ask its followers via their fan page whether they feel and/or believe the product is living up to its hype. This can be done by posing an open-ended question or by conducting a poll, although the highest response rate will most likely come from creating a poll.
LinkedIn
LinkedIn is another social media website which is for business owners and this is an area you should definitely focus as much time as is cost effective for you. In fact, all Fortune500 CEOs have LinkedIn accounts.
By creating your LinkedIn page you are creating a public and more formal profile whether it be used for potential clients or even possibly to get a job. You can post all the professional imagery on the site as you wish as well as writing the words to create your brand. I say formal because most people are on LinkedIn to network for business purposes rather than personal purposes. It tends to be a more formal atmosphere the way you would conduct yourself within your profile and when connecting with other people.
When you are looking for those connections via LinkedIn, you will also want to ensure only to befriend those who will provide value to you. Don't request people just to connect. There's nothing wrong with networking, but make sure to engage the other person in conversation and connecting with them as much as possible in a professional manner.
And lastly, LinkedIn can allow you to exponentially grow your business if you conduct the right behaviors. Always look to answer people's problems and questions, and pose your own questions, as well. Become known as the authoritative figure in your domain. Attract people rather than chase people. Always remember that.
A fan page is one of the best ways for a business to connect with their current and future customers because almost everyone has Facebook and this connectivity allows for customers to rave about their experiences and to express their questions and concerns not only real-time, but in front of the eyes of everyone else connected to this page.
I remember one time in particular where I had a bad experience with a company's bad customer service. I wanted to maintain their service but wasn't able to because of the location I was moving to. I pleaded with multiple people to waive my early termination fee, but they wouldn't budge. I loved their service but I was livid and swore that I would never do business with them again in the future. To say the least, you bet I was on their fan page letting them have it. I finally gave up because I knew I couldn't win, but they lost a customer for life because they weren't a little flexible and didn't listen to the customer.
Another great way for a business to utilize a fan page is by reaching out to its followers to get customer feedback about a specific product or promotion. For example, let's say a toothpaste company just launched their latest and greatest toothpaste. This toothpaste makes claim that it will not only whiten your teeth beyond the leading competitors, but it will also guarantee that you will never have to go to the dentist again. First of all, WOW! Don't we all wish?! But, second of all, this would be such a fantastic opportunity to learn whether their claims are holding up in the eyes of the public.
After the first thirty days, the company decides to ask its followers via their fan page whether they feel and/or believe the product is living up to its hype. This can be done by posing an open-ended question or by conducting a poll, although the highest response rate will most likely come from creating a poll.
By creating your LinkedIn page you are creating a public and more formal profile whether it be used for potential clients or even possibly to get a job. You can post all the professional imagery on the site as you wish as well as writing the words to create your brand. I say formal because most people are on LinkedIn to network for business purposes rather than personal purposes. It tends to be a more formal atmosphere the way you would conduct yourself within your profile and when connecting with other people.
When you are looking for those connections via LinkedIn, you will also want to ensure only to befriend those who will provide value to you. Don't request people just to connect. There's nothing wrong with networking, but make sure to engage the other person in conversation and connecting with them as much as possible in a professional manner.
And lastly, LinkedIn can allow you to exponentially grow your business if you conduct the right behaviors. Always look to answer people's problems and questions, and pose your own questions, as well. Become known as the authoritative figure in your domain. Attract people rather than chase people. Always remember that.
Saturday, January 14, 2012
How to be Successful With Social Networking - ISSUE 16 - 1/14/12
As you probably already know, Social Networking has become a worldwide phenomenon but believe it or not, Social Networking isn't exactly what you think. Social Networking isn't just the mainstream websites such as Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn. Rather, it can be defined as any community gathering place including the mainstream sites, but also forums, blogs, and even the social networks of certain businesses.
Another point commonly mistaken about Social Networking is that community's rarely, if ever, form to talk about products. Instead, social networks are formed to help people solve problems or challenges they are facing or even for people to interact with one another to accomplish similar goals. As a business owner, you must realize that a social network is about the people, not you or your goals. Just as when you are at a party, no one wants to hear you talk about yourself. People will instantly run away. Instead, you must ask questions and interact with people on their terms.
Social networks are also constantly changing. By human nature, people will migrate to where other people are located. A perfect example of this is MySpace. In the early 2000's, MySpace was a powerhouse on the web but within a few years, almost all the members migrated to Facebook which is now the big player in the game. The point here is that you must always be humble because a Community is a gift, not a right. If you get over confident about your community, people may very well leave before you have time to blink. You must be a participant and representative of your company rather than think you're the owner and listen to your people as they share their thoughts and feelings about their needs; not yours.
Listening is the most important skill you must learn in order to be successful in business. If you fail in this area, you will fail as a business owner because there's no doubt that your competition is going to beat you. It will just be a matter of time before you're business fails. Also, when people share their thoughts or join your community, you must always acknowledge them as a human being and a participant. Thank them and let them know that you are a person who cares. With technology and the ability to automate mundane tasks, the personal human touch is oftentimes lost and people have become very frustrated customers. Oftentimes, just letting people know you're listening, a potentially explosive situation can be defused within minutes even if you don't solve the person's problem each and every time.
When you join or create a community, you must equip your customers with the necessary tools to become successful rather than to sell to them. You must also be the expert they turn to when they have a question, concern, or comment. Once you begin to do this, you will be amazed at the results. Your business can grow exponentially just by talking to people as people rather than just a dollar sign. People know that you want to acquire their business, but as Jeffrey Gitomer - America's #1 sales authority - has personally trademarked, "People don't like to be sold, but they love to buy!" Once you embrace this mindset and focus on value, you will be amazed at the results you get from your current and future customers.
Here's the 10 Steps to be repeated time and time again for you and your company to be successful with Social Networking:
Another point commonly mistaken about Social Networking is that community's rarely, if ever, form to talk about products. Instead, social networks are formed to help people solve problems or challenges they are facing or even for people to interact with one another to accomplish similar goals. As a business owner, you must realize that a social network is about the people, not you or your goals. Just as when you are at a party, no one wants to hear you talk about yourself. People will instantly run away. Instead, you must ask questions and interact with people on their terms.
Social networks are also constantly changing. By human nature, people will migrate to where other people are located. A perfect example of this is MySpace. In the early 2000's, MySpace was a powerhouse on the web but within a few years, almost all the members migrated to Facebook which is now the big player in the game. The point here is that you must always be humble because a Community is a gift, not a right. If you get over confident about your community, people may very well leave before you have time to blink. You must be a participant and representative of your company rather than think you're the owner and listen to your people as they share their thoughts and feelings about their needs; not yours.
Listening is the most important skill you must learn in order to be successful in business. If you fail in this area, you will fail as a business owner because there's no doubt that your competition is going to beat you. It will just be a matter of time before you're business fails. Also, when people share their thoughts or join your community, you must always acknowledge them as a human being and a participant. Thank them and let them know that you are a person who cares. With technology and the ability to automate mundane tasks, the personal human touch is oftentimes lost and people have become very frustrated customers. Oftentimes, just letting people know you're listening, a potentially explosive situation can be defused within minutes even if you don't solve the person's problem each and every time.
When you join or create a community, you must equip your customers with the necessary tools to become successful rather than to sell to them. You must also be the expert they turn to when they have a question, concern, or comment. Once you begin to do this, you will be amazed at the results. Your business can grow exponentially just by talking to people as people rather than just a dollar sign. People know that you want to acquire their business, but as Jeffrey Gitomer - America's #1 sales authority - has personally trademarked, "People don't like to be sold, but they love to buy!" Once you embrace this mindset and focus on value, you will be amazed at the results you get from your current and future customers.
Here's the 10 Steps to be repeated time and time again for you and your company to be successful with Social Networking:
- Listen.
- Find them where they are.
- Determine what they want.
- Decide if you join their community or make one. or both.
- Introduce yourself.
- Invite them.
- Ask them for goals and hopes.
- Share yours.
- Begin the journey.
- Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Why You Should Incorporate SEO Into Your Website - ISSUE 15 - 1/12/12
Whether you are an online marketer or just a business owner who wants to drive business to her website, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is imperative. People are utilizing Search Engines more than ever before and if you aren't maximizing this, you could be missing out on thousands of dollars of business. In fact, SEO is the most effective online marketing tactic for generating conversions.
In case you are wondering, the definition of SEO by Lee Odden of TopRank Online Marketing states that it is "a set of methodologies that make it easier for search engines to find, index, categorize and rank web content.
Most people are familiar with search engines such as Google or Bing, but do you know how the search engines work? To sum it up, when you visit Google, for example, you are actually seeing a copy of the web, and not the actual web. Google downloads the entire Internet on a regular basis and indexes the information onto their servers all over the world. After they download the information, they use their algorithms to sort the information and place the most relevant information to your search query at the top of the list. If your website can't be seen by Google or your information is not relevant to what people are searching for, then very few people, if any, will be able to find your company's website.
To ensure you are making your website search engine friendly, the following is a basic SEO Checklist:
It's very important that when brainstorming for keywords that you get into the minds of your customers rather than guessing. Here are a few examples of how you might do that:
Information is constantly changing and if you don't change with it, you will find yourself out of business before you have time to blink.
If you're the do-it-yourselfer and would like to learn more about SEO, I highly recommend for you to watch the following video by one of the experts in the field.
SEO Crash Course to Get Found (GF102)
In case you are wondering, the definition of SEO by Lee Odden of TopRank Online Marketing states that it is "a set of methodologies that make it easier for search engines to find, index, categorize and rank web content.
Most people are familiar with search engines such as Google or Bing, but do you know how the search engines work? To sum it up, when you visit Google, for example, you are actually seeing a copy of the web, and not the actual web. Google downloads the entire Internet on a regular basis and indexes the information onto their servers all over the world. After they download the information, they use their algorithms to sort the information and place the most relevant information to your search query at the top of the list. If your website can't be seen by Google or your information is not relevant to what people are searching for, then very few people, if any, will be able to find your company's website.
To ensure you are making your website search engine friendly, the following is a basic SEO Checklist:
- Content is reachable by search engines
- Content is added often/periodically
- Content is organized logically - themes/categories
- Keywords exist in content and internal text links
- Quantity of quality sites linking in
- Relevant and Authoritative
- Get links coming in to specific products and services
- Monitor, adjust
It's very important that when brainstorming for keywords that you get into the minds of your customers rather than guessing. Here are a few examples of how you might do that:
- Brainstorm based on solutions and customer needs
- Interview or survey customers
- Review current web analytics
- Poll sales and customer service staff
- Review competitor content
Information is constantly changing and if you don't change with it, you will find yourself out of business before you have time to blink.
If you're the do-it-yourselfer and would like to learn more about SEO, I highly recommend for you to watch the following video by one of the experts in the field.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Three Best Practices of Blogging - ISSUE 14 - 1/11/12
In today's world, information is constantly changing and what worked for a business owner in the past for acquiring new business, may not work in the present. You must strive to be the best everyday because if you don't, your competition most likely will. Search engines love blogs, and if you don't blog, your company's online presence will dwindle quickly and soon thereafter be overwhelmed by what other people are saying about you or your company and there's nothing you can do about it.
Before you start blogging, there are some things you need to know about it and some best practices for you to follow to ensure you are maximizing your time and your efforts.
First, in order for your efforts to be worth your time, you must blog on a regular basis. The search engines are looking for the most up-to-date and relevant information. This means that if you don't stay up with it, before long, your information will be outdated and irrelevant to what people are looking for. Depending on the amount of resources you have available to you, you should do your best to dedicate an hour a day to blogging. Before you know it, the search engines will be finding your articles and leading people to your blog which will then lead to more potential clients and therefore, more sales.
Second, make sure you are writing about topics that your potential clients will be interested in as well as topics relevant to your company. A perfect example of this is Best Western's Travel Blog - You Must Be Trippin'. In this blog you can find a wealth of information about travel to anywhere around the globe. In this blog, Best Western does not talk about themselves, rather a topic that pretty much anyone in the world would be interested in.
Lastly, don't forget to add some type of call-to-action and a way to interact with your followers so that you can build the necessary relationships and ultimately, build your business. If you don't then all your efforts will go to waste. One of the best aspects of a blog are that they are already equipped with a Comment section for your readers to share their thoughts and opinions, but since not everyone will be interested or confident enough to share their thoughts, you should incorporate a poll section into the sidebar. This will give you a very good idea of how many people are interested in the topics you write about, as well as the questions you ask.
To get more great business development information, visit www.suitedmarketing.com. We look forward to serving you.
If you would like more insight from the expert bloggers at MarketingProfs, take a look at the following online workshop hosted by the Chief Content Officer, Ann Handley (Twitter - @MarketingProfs), and her associate, Mark Collier.
How to Blog Effectively for Business (GF101)
Before you start blogging, there are some things you need to know about it and some best practices for you to follow to ensure you are maximizing your time and your efforts.
First, in order for your efforts to be worth your time, you must blog on a regular basis. The search engines are looking for the most up-to-date and relevant information. This means that if you don't stay up with it, before long, your information will be outdated and irrelevant to what people are looking for. Depending on the amount of resources you have available to you, you should do your best to dedicate an hour a day to blogging. Before you know it, the search engines will be finding your articles and leading people to your blog which will then lead to more potential clients and therefore, more sales.
Second, make sure you are writing about topics that your potential clients will be interested in as well as topics relevant to your company. A perfect example of this is Best Western's Travel Blog - You Must Be Trippin'. In this blog you can find a wealth of information about travel to anywhere around the globe. In this blog, Best Western does not talk about themselves, rather a topic that pretty much anyone in the world would be interested in.
Lastly, don't forget to add some type of call-to-action and a way to interact with your followers so that you can build the necessary relationships and ultimately, build your business. If you don't then all your efforts will go to waste. One of the best aspects of a blog are that they are already equipped with a Comment section for your readers to share their thoughts and opinions, but since not everyone will be interested or confident enough to share their thoughts, you should incorporate a poll section into the sidebar. This will give you a very good idea of how many people are interested in the topics you write about, as well as the questions you ask.
To get more great business development information, visit www.suitedmarketing.com. We look forward to serving you.
If you would like more insight from the expert bloggers at MarketingProfs, take a look at the following online workshop hosted by the Chief Content Officer, Ann Handley (Twitter - @MarketingProfs), and her associate, Mark Collier.
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