Increase your Visibility

Good search engine positioning is one of the most difficult tasks to achieve. The reason there is a high level of difficulty to achieve this is because search engines like Google and Yahoo change their algorithms every ninety days. This makes it virtually impossible to be at the top of the search engines all of the time. Combining SEO, Blogging, Social Media for the best results These recommendations may increase website traffic as much as 45% when implemented correctly.

• Add approximately 250 words to your home page to give visitors information about your programs rather than just links, and to optimize for search engines.


• Create one or two common fonts across the site.


• Create a CSS (Cascading Style Sheet) to ensure all fonts are the same and to reduce maintenance time.


• Develop a fluid design.


• Create a content management system – this is also considered an RSS which drives traffic because people can subscribe.


• Create fluid navigation with one menu throughout the site.

I’ll add more recommendations tomorrow. Stay tuned and share this with your friends please.

Why Blog

Blogging as is important as talking to your customers. Although, blogging takes time to get a response it is well worth it. It also helps with search engine positioning, because you are giving your customers various points of access. Blogs are on a third party site most generally like blogger or wordpress. Blogging gives you the business owner a chance to receive feedback and allows prospective customers to make new suggestions to your products. Blogging is a simple tool where you can passionately engage with your customers.  Make friends, encourage suggestions and write about what you really know and are passionate about. If you have ghost blogger it is important to give them cues as to what to write about. Although there are not any return on investment (ROI) tools available yet they are coming.

Finding the time to blog

The typical day of a business owner seems like one big blur. Many times we are answering email on the way to work while dodging fender benders and tickets. The fact of the matter is when your feet hit the floor in the morning you hit the floor running. Typically your day starts at 6:00 am and ends when you pass out. So where do you find time for social networking and blogging? It’s difficult when you can’t find the value. John F. Kennedy once said, “In a time of turbulence and change, it is more true than ever that knowledge is power”. This can be related to the constant learning curve we as small businesses are on with social networking.

Top three reason’s blogging is a valuable tool to you as the business owner:

1. Blogging allows you to listen to and read what your customers, competitors, prospective customers and your industry as a whole desires, thinks or dislikes.


2. Blogging allows you communicate with your customers on a personal level; it makes you more human rather than just another corner store, which builds loyalty.


3. Lastly, and most important, blogging allows you to base your business decisions on customer feedback. Any MBA will tell you this is marketing 101.

In short, blogging takes time; you will not be good at it over night. So here’s a tip: write about what you know, author to teach not to sell, and make it personal. Believe in your product and/or service and be enthusiastic.

Part of a Community

Blogging is more about becoming a part of a community and linking back rather than being one blogger. It is very important to interact on other blogs, leaving comments and links back to your site or even mentioning your website in the blog comment you are leaving.

Don’t think of yourself as one blogger driving traffic to your site, think of yourself as a part of the blogosphere helping each other in a common industry reach a common goal. Blogging can become stale and stagnant if you do not interact with the blogging community as a whole.

Remember, it’s not traffic, it is the actual contact us and conversions you get from your blogs. What goals do you have for your blog? How can those goals be translated into dollars? Keep these questions in mind when writing a blog post. Who are you driving traffic to your blog?

• What makes a great blog?
• Ask a question.
• Answer the question.
• Ask for others opinions.

These simple tips with help keep your bloggers engaged.

Mass Marketing

Many times we as marketers are addicted to the quick and easy conquest. We really like the word “mass marketing” when in fact marketing is a very personal activity. There has to be some prescription for that obsession. This is even true for small business owners.

Approaching your customers in the best light is important because it can fulfill all of your marketing needs. In my blog, "Courting the Customer", you can read about building relationships with your customers that will increase sales and reduce turnover in your company. I suggest you take a minute and read it.

If you want to build a successful ad campaign then get rid of the “three calls” practice. Three calls and it should be a sale. This is a rule of thumb in most offices. However, this is not always how it works out. Those customers who you have to call twenty times are usually the best customer because you have earned their trust and their attention. Let’s look at the tools we have available to help us do personal marketing- Twitter, Facebook, Blogger, SlideShare, e-newsletters and many more. Engage, excite, and ignite your brand. You can start by using the twitter tools. Measure your sales by loyalty, not by analytics. Give your customers something they can use.

I will be creating a blog on how to leverage your e-newsletter tomorrow.

Making Social Media Social

Today, I read an article that had some truths and some…well, let’s just say misleading truths. The article discussed how to ignore the basic social media guidelines and still be successful. Many marketing experts say social media has changed everything, but the fact is it hasn’t changed that much. Real marketing still works, but now it works a little better. Back in 2001 the market was so saturated with advertising firms and marketing gurus people felt like you had to be a genius to market yourself. As times have changed, now most social media experts are selling the same line.

The fact is you can create your own road map. Think about who your customers are and where they are. Are they on Facebook? Maybe Twitter, or maybe they are just not into to social media? Some things social media has changed, like the way we communicate and sell to people. The same old song and dance is not working anymore because people don’t know what to believe or what to listen to. You have to make your information shareable. Sure your website can be fun but what you have to ask yourself is this: “Is what I am putting out here worth sharing or am I sharing too much? It’s so easy to share too much like when you are on twitter, your phone updates your location so it looks like you have checked in at a rest stop because the rest stop has WIFI… did the world need to know that?

Think about what is sharable and what is not. Make your information viral, be different, innovate and have fun. After all, social media is fun or at least it should be. If you really enjoy your work and you want to share in that enjoyment with your customers, then take time to understand what you are sharing and where they are.

Personal Selling

Selling your business is like selling yourself. When you are at a networking event, block party, or even standing in line at Disneyland, it is imperative to know who you are, what you are selling, and why it benefits the person that you are chatting with. Here is an example of a missed opportunity, when you visit Chevolet.com you see flashy pictures, performance pictures, and sexy cars, what you don’t see is how they benefit you. I chose Chevy, because I am a GM fan, and I am a very loyal owner. GM makes me feel safe, from past experience. Their website falls short of creating more loyal owners due to the lack of benefit explanation. The three keys to a great sales pitch include who you are, what your business is and how it benefits the customer.

GM explains who they are, and what they sell, but they fall short of telling me their cars won’t overheat in California traffic, their safety ratings will ensure our family arrives safely at their destination, and lastly why I should buy their brand over Nissan. The only edge GM has is that none of the other car makers’ do either.

Case and point, you are a small business owner your employees and customers and yourself should be able to explain in 30 sections or less these three things:

1. Who you are
2. What is your business
3. How will it benefit your customer

This is the greatest marketing tool you will ever create for your business and it does not take a marketing genius to do it. I first learned this trick when I started college for my undergrad long before social media, after reading a book by Paula Peters. She calls it a 30 second sound bite. I call it my secret weapon, “30 seconds of fame” in fact I get really excited to tell people about my business because I know my chances of sales go up for every one person I tell.

My 30 second sound bite – “Hi I am Tiffany, I own a social media marketing business Smart Media Cloud, I use social media tools, such as Twitter, Reddit, Blogger and Facebook in concurrence with traditional marketing, to increase customer awareness about businesses, build brand loyalty, increase sales, and lower operating costs, in virtually any industry. Here is my card.”