Real-Time Streaming Search in Google

Well - if you thought maintaining a Web site is hard, you ain't seen nothing yet! The introduction of Google's real-time streaming search is going to show "real-time" conversations from social media sites (think Twitter, FaceBook, Yahoo! Answers, etc.) at the top of the search results.

We've known for some time now that your content needs to be optimized to be found and that it needs to grab your visitor's attention. That's still true. If you haven't engaged with social media yet, now is a good time to get started!

You should now be thinking about using these social media outlets as everyday (real-time!) marketing. Leverage these outlets to engage your customers with your brand by taking advantage of Google's massive search audience. Your sites will need to go from stagnant to, as HubSpot puts it, "mini-publishing houses". Don't be left behind. It's never been easier to interact with your customers than now!

Read more about Google's Real-Time Search and watch a short video demo at HubSpot's Web site.

Here are some good tips from HubSpot that will help you begin getting in the habit of creating real-time content: 5 Tips for Creating a Content Culture

As always, please feel free to contact me with your questions or comments by using the options below this post.

Ciao for now, Paula

Someone Has Visited Your Web Site Once, What About Again?

I'm working on this for my own business and I've had some success, but there is always room for improvement!

What is more important, a unique visitor or a repeat visitor? I totally agree with a friend of mine, Sean D'Souza, when he says that your repeat customer is your bread and butter.

I have a membership in Sean's marketing community and love his unique take on marketing your business. He always has an insight I hadn't thought of or a pearl of wisdom to impart. Since I can't say this any better than he, I've added his article here for you to read. It contains tactics for your Web site that will surely put the focus on your customer!


===================================================
Is Your Website a Super Magnet?

Ok, so you've got someone to visit your website once. What if you wanted them to visit again, and again, and again? Ooh, that's hard, isn't it? Not really. Find out how to attract them back without begging with this simple internet marketing tool.

First, The Myth.

Ask most web designers what is more important: a unique visitor or a repeat visitor? Most will choose, the former. I tend to disagree.

Let's analyse a unique visitor. They could just be browsing, like shoppers in a mall, or they could be a potential customer. Now, don't get me wrong. Unique visitors might be important, because they are like new customers. However, with new customers, the onus is on you to prove your credibility.

Existing customers already know what you do and how you do it. You do not have to prove yourself over and over again.

Why Is It So Important To Retain Existing Customers?

Because, it costs eight times as much to get a new customer than it does to retain one. That alone should make you want to keep them. Also, since you've developed a relationship with them, it's now easier for you to do business, to re-sell, up-sell and get referrals (really, really important). If you play it right you can use your website (amongst other communication material) to stay top of mind with them.

My Customers Have Already Seen My Website: Why Should They Go Back?

Precisely! Most websites are about me, me, me and me! Ever notice how tons of websites have an About Us page. Frankly, who gives a damn about you? No one! Everyone who gets to your business or your website or reads your brochure wants to know what's in it for them! Yet, all communication that goes out is based on me.

Do something constructive. Put your ego in cold storage and start re-engineering your website and your internet marketing to give information to your customer.

How Do I Go About Giving Them Information?

The system is amazingly simple. You know everything (or rather a lot) about your business. Your customers will never know quite enough. If, you provide them with a steady stream of information, you are already two steps ahead of the competition. You are taking the time to educate your customers and you are keeping in touch with them.

Take a look at this website for instance. It's essentially a power marketing vehicle. With minimal effort it gets existing customers to have a look at it repeatedly, simply by giving them information that would help them in their business or their jobs. If you are a casual browser, your curiosity will be aroused, and you will find yourself wanting to read more.

Once you're through with the How To section, it's almost natural to move on to the Client Results section. At this point in time, I am no longer selling. You have begun to sell the concept to yourself.

How To Use Email To Retain Customers And Get New Business.

Everyone needs to know more than they currently do. So, how about asking your customers if they would like some more information that will help them understand stuff better. In my case, I send out monthly articles to do with marketing and communication. Detailed, incisive insights that the customer wasn't thinking of before. Then I ask them to visit the website so they can read other articles.

It's important to stop and see what we're doing here. Many may not have the time today, but may have the time next week, or when your next helpful e-mail goes out. The first time the action is done, and they benefit, they are hooked. That's it. You've achieved visibility and top of mind consciousness.

Sometimes it will happen instantly and at other times it may be several months later. What you can be sure is, that it will happen!

Why The Website Is Such An Important Tool For Your Business.

It's dynamic, that's why! Say, you printed your cards and brochures last month. You spent a small fortune on them. But now you discover you need to add something that will dramatically change what you're communicating. You can't throw out a thousand brochures or cards, but updating a website is easy-peasy! Simply tweak it, and you're on your way.

Remember, customers aren't always willing to buy when you're willing to sell. By keeping them informed and in touch with your website, they can reach out to you whenever they are ready!

How To Match Information And Credibility.

Credibility is important. So you definitely need to have the About Us factor. What you need to do, however, is to tailor it in such a way that the customer understands what you've done, why you've done it and how you can help them. You can still strut your stuff, just make sure you're doing it with your customer in mind.

That alone will change the way you write it and present it. It will make the difference between it being read or being ignored.

If You Don't Have Testimonials, You're Missing Something.

It's brief, underestimated and really powerful. Remember, people are looking at your business from a monitor! They don't know if you're reliable, smart or just a dork. Obviously clues within the site will indicate these things, but why not go for the kill.

Why not get yourself a testimonial and completely rid them of that niggling doubt? It's pretty nasty if you don't have testimonials but totally unpardonable if you don't go out and get them!

When you do a great job and the customer says, 'Great work!', ask for a testimonial there and then. It's the best time and customers tend to gush more than 6 months down the line, when they can't even remember what you did!

A Word Called Discipline.

No one said this was going to be easy. Having to update your website, sending out helpful e-mails, and keeping in touch is going to take time and effort. You will need to read more, so you learn more. Then you will have to write. And write reasonably well. You can do it yourself or get a freelancer to do it, but do it you must. Marketing your business must take precedence over everything else.

When times are good, we tend to slacken on the marketing. If you disclipine yourself to read one book on your subject and write at least one article a week, you are now starting to build up content. It can be done. And as Nike says, 'Just Do It'. It's the only way.

What you will need.

1) A totally updateable website. You should never have to learn html or a html coding programme. Your website should be such that you can update both pictures and text from a cyber cafe while vacationing in the Bahamas!

2) At least 6 articles that can help your customer. That's a good start, but invariably you will have to write more and post them on your website and/or e-mail them to your customers. If you can't do it yourself, write down the points and get someone else to do it for you. But do it!

3) Minimal, fast loading graphics. If you have no time, neither does anyone else. Make sure your website is as lightning quick as possible. Check it out either by cleaning out your cache or by checking it out from different computers. If it's not screaming fast, you have a problem on your hands.

4) A credibility section. Get your portfolio out there with the customer in mind. And get those testimonials!

5) Iron discipline.

It's your business. If you don't do it, no one will.

Next Step: Read more Internet Marketing and Website articles. Create your own internet marketing strategy using these tactics.

©2001-2009 Psychotactics Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Article written by Sean D'Souza.
Wouldn't you love to stumble upon a secret library of small business ideas. Find simple, yet electrifying ideas,on website strategy, marketing strategies, copywriting, public speaking, article marketing, sales conversion, psychological tactics and branding. Head down to http://www.psychotactics.com today and judge for yourself.

Poll: Please help me out by answering 1 question

I'm collecting ideas for developing some affordable products for small business owners and I'd really like to hear what you need.

QUESTION:
What is the #1 thing you want to learn how to do with your Web site?

Use the comment field or click the email image and send me a quick note with your answer.

Your 2010 Search Strategy

This is a quick 2-minute video by Google's Managing Director, US Sales, Bonita Stewart speaking about how visitors have been using search, and how they will use it into 2010.

Give a quick listen to learn how you can position your business to be ahead of the pack.

Are You Up On New FTC Rules About Testimonials and Endorsements?

The new FTC rules on testimonials and endorsements are effective December 1, 2009. Pay particular attention to these areas of your Web site which may need some tweaking to comply.

If you have a partnership with another company or have a system in place where you earn a commission for referred sales, or if you have customer testimonials, then you will need to be sure you're including a bit more information. The rules are made to protect consumers from unrealistic expectations, unverified results' claims, and endorsements that are untruthful.

Here's the brief overview:

Testimonials

• Verify that the person giving the testimonial has actually achieved the stated results

• Verify the typical results that can be expected and state them

• If you make a change to the product being endorsed, verify that the testimony still stands 

Endorsements

• Disclose "clearly and conspicuously" compensation in exchange for endorsing a product or service (Compensation can be construed as a freebie in exchange for a review.)  

As usual with all government rules, there are many gray areas. :) 
Bottom line - even if you are already doing business ethically and honestly, now you need to STATE it! 

 

Here is the link to the official guide: FTC Guides Concerning the use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising

Title Tags

The title tag is one of the most important factors in achieving high search engine rankings, and is just one of three things that are given algorithmic weight by the search engines. Equally important is your visible text copy and the links pointing to your page. The title tag is often overlooked when attempting to optimize Web sites for targeted search engine traffic.

Title tags should contain specific keyword phrases. Be sure to do your keyword research to find the best phrases. If you provide products or services that are strictly local, you can be even more specific by adding geographical modifiers to your title tags, such as "New Prague Auto Repair". Try to use 2 or 3 of your most important keyword phrases. I find that using 10 to 12 words works best.

What format do you use to put your title tag together? Does your company name and/or phone number belong in the title tag? These are both common questions. It's fine to place your company name and/or phone number in the title tag. If your company is already well-known, then it's essential. This doesn't mean that you should put JUST your company name; even the best brands will benefit from a few good descriptive phrases.

There is not one right formula for writing it. Don't make yourself crazy trying to create the perfect title tag, because there is no such thing. The best thing to do is to test different ones to see which brings the most traffic. In the end, it's really a personal choice.

Here are some examples that will work just fine:

• Words separated by hyphens:
  New-Prague-Auto-Repair

• A complete sentence:
  We provide auto repair services in the New Prague, MN area.

• Strictly a list of factual keywords in order of importance:
  auto repair new prague mn 555-555-5555

• Written like an ad (my preference):
  Need your car fixed? | Call 555-555-5555 | Quality Auto Repair New Prague, MN  

How your listing appears in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) is crucial. After all, if you have a high ranking but visitors are not clicking through, it won't do you much good. My preferred method is to write a title tag like an ad - with a compelling headline and a description that contains a call to action. Let's pick mine apart (from above):

Compelling headline: Need your car fixed?
It addresses the searchers' problem and asks a question.

Contains a call to action: Call 555-555-5555

Contains important keyword phrase - quality auto repair

Contains a geographical modifier (if applicable) - New Prague, MN

Don't worry if some of your visible title tag gets cut off when the search engines display your information; they are still indexing all the words.

Last, (but should really be first), use your visible text copy (the text on your page) as your guide. Create your title tags after the page copy has been written and optimized. It's much easier to see how the keyword phrases have been integrated into the text, giving you a better place to begin. If you've done a good job writing, you should find all the information you need on the page. Choose the most relevant keywords from the copy and write a compelling title tag. If you can't get a handle on the most important key phrases or words, then you probably need to rewrite your page content. Or better yet, hire a professional web copywriter; one that knows how to write for visitors as well as search engines.

Keep these things in mind when you are gathering information from your copy -

• don't use an exact sentence pulled from your copy;

• don't use the exact wording of your page's headline; but

• do use a unique sentence that contains keyword elements from your copy.  

If you are using software that automatically generates the title tag, in some instances the default is the exact same title tag on every page. This is the best way to kill your rankings because the search engines will only see one page. Remember: search engines index pages, not Web sites; each page has the ability to be displayed on the results pages. If the exact same title is on all pages, the search engines will think you only have a one page site. If you have a unique title tag for each page, then each page has the chance to be indexed. If you cannot customize your tags easily, then you'll want to find new software or a new Web developer.

7 Tips To Get Your Business Ready For The Holiday Shopping Season

The holiday shopping season is coming up fast. During a trip to a favorite home improvement store several weeks ago, I saw all the Christmas stuff out! It will be here before you know it, but it's not too late to have an impact on your holiday revenue. See which of these you can apply to your business to maximize your holiday income.

1. Web Site Review

Take a quick review of your site and fix anything that isn’t working right. This is a critical time to find anything that slipped through the cracks.

Double check your contact form and any other elements that are in place for customers to reach you.

Review your visitor log files (site analytics) and look for any missing file errors (404, etc.), broken links or missing graphics.

Your home page (or your most active page) is a good place to include links to route holiday traffic to your seasonal offers. Your customers probably have different buying habits during the holiday season than they do any other time of the year. Modify your internal linking structure to reflect seasonality. Put additional links (containing keyword-rich anchor text so that these shortcuts pass PageRank) to your popular holiday categories and products. If you have great holiday gifts, create a Gift Ideas page and optimize it placing it one click away from your homepage.

If you are promoting a holiday sale or specific holiday product, don’t forget to polish that page's META description. That way holiday shoppers/searchers will find seasonal search phrases to encourage them to click through to your site. Including a call-to-action in the META description will also help ensure they click through to your site.

2. Shoppers LOVE “Free”

In this economy, we're all looking to save a buck. You can provide real value by offering free gift wrapping or free shipping. Now that's a great call to action for your polished META description! Also include the "free" text in your title tags and your web page's body copy.

3. Gift Cards or e-Gift Certificates

These are great for your last-minute shoppers, for someone who can't decide, or for someone who'd like the recipient to make the choice. If you have the ability to offer this, feature it prominently on your site and in your bricks-and-mortar store (if applicable).

4. Blog

Hopefully you already have a blog. If not, make it your New Year’s resolution! Your blog is a great way to connect and communicate with your customers/readers. Share a story, a favorite recipe, or helpful packing and shipping tips. Blogs are great because you can lend your own voice by adding conviction, humor, personality, and value. Your readers come to know your authentic self.

Don’t have time to blog yourself? Try recruiting a passionate customer as a blog author or compile a small group of contributing authors and run a "group" blog.

I've had success mapping out my blogging and putting it on my calendar. If you're a retailer with regular sales at given times of the year, you can plan those posts now and start working on them for publishing later. In both Blogger and WordPress, I can submit my posts and post-date them to maintain an active publishing schedule. This works great for me if I'm pressed for time or need to take some time off. I write when I'm inspired creating several posts at once for future use. The goal is to publish regularly and frequently.

5. Get Social

If you're participating in any Social Media (i.e., YouTube, FaceBook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.), publish a list of gift suggestions and "share it".

6. Use Video

The #2 search engine isn’t Yahoo, it’s YouTube! Use a video for products that require complicated assembly, need "how to" instructions, or for things you need to hear like music clips or concerts and performances. It's so easy to make a video these days. Most digital cameras have a video function, you can purchase a Flip for about $160, you can use your web cam, or you can use your home video recording device. Don't get hung up on producing a professional video - just produce a simple one and post it to YouTube. Who knows, maybe you'll be famous! ;)

7. Connect Offline and Online Marketing

Make sure your web address appears in all your mailings, advertisements, and anywhere else you may be marketing offline. If you have a bricks-and-mortar location, remind people that you have a Web site.

TV news, radio stations, and newspaper reporters are often looking for interesting holiday stories. Come up with an interesting story idea and you may not only get valuable airtime or print mention, but possibly even a link from their site to yours.

Recession or no recession, people will shop. There’s still time to maximize your revenue this holiday season.

Ciao for now,
Paula

75% Doing, 25% Learning

I try to apply this principle to my business because it's awfully easy for me to get caught up in all the 'new' things I can learn, and never apply them or put them into action!

I take one day out of each week and I've deemed it my Business Development Day. I set all other things aside and I focus on learning something I need to know to move forward. Then during the other days, in addition to my other projects, I put it into action or at least I take one baby step toward my goal or the end result I want.

I don't know if you're like me, but here's what happens when I attempt to move my business to a new level: I get overwhelmed by how large the task is, suddenly all kinds of distractions get in my way, I get an uneasy feeling because I'm usually stepping out of my comfort zone, etc., etc. The result - NOTHING! It creates inaction in me and I dawdle with it forever and can't seem to get started . My Business Development day allows me to get out of my own way.

Here's something else I learned by setting this time aside. Often, I'll revisit materials/books I have, and lo and behold, I've seen things I didn't see the first time. It doesn't hurt to go back to some resources you think you may have learned all you can from. What I found is that different things jumped out at me because I'm in a different place now than I was then.

The latest epiphany from my most recent business development day - deal with or handle your business AS IT IS, not how you think it should be. OMG - light bulb moment for me. My tasks will take MUCH less effort this way! This can apply personally as well as professionally. I can't tell you how many times (as a woman and a mother and a former people-pleaser), that I approached things as I thought they should be rather than how they really were. I'm pumped about how much more productive I'm going to be. :-)

Have a great week! Paula

Be Wary of Free Internet Marketing Courses

I received *FREE* tickets to a local "Internet Marketing" conference in the mail recently. Please be very careful about such offerings as they are usually scams, or at the very least, nothing but pitch fests to try and get you to buy their products.

Here's some clues that this is probably NOT worth your time:

• They are giving away a TON of free stuff in the hopes that you'll buy something.
• They give you free tickets including a meal (again, so you'll buy something).
  
• They don't tell you any REAL information, you'd have to buy what they're selling to find out the real gems.
• If they are resorting to this kind of publicity, they must be hard up for sales. Why would a company from Orem, UT need to pull names from our local phone book and do a mass mailing to get customers?

Yes, there are ways to earn a part-time or maybe even a full-time income online. But I would be cautious about these "seminars". You'd be better off learning from a reputable, trustworthy source instead.

Why Your Business Needs to Engage in Social Media

Social media can get you noticed when SEO (Search Engine Optimization) can't. Businesses that don't have a Web site are mostly invisible. Today, almost everyone has a Web site, but new sites are not found on the Internet without a little help; social media can give you that help early. It can give you an immediate boost, while continuing to optimize for the search engines will help for the long haul.

Figure out which social media is right for your market and start gaining visibility now! Here are a few of the most popular social sites as of this writing:

FaceBook (personal and business)
LinkedIn (business)
Twitter (microblogging; personal and business)
MySpace (personal or business)

A Simple Way to Innovate and Differentiate

I LOVE this! John Jantsch of Ducttape Marketing writes about a cool concept a pizzeria in California is using to great success. See if you can find something you can simplify to differentiate your business, and create a buzz! Read the whole article on John's blog.

Google Reader adds “Send To” feature

Matt Cutts tells about a new feature for those of you that use Google Reader where you can send items directly to Twitter, Blogger, FaceBook, and a bunch of other places New Google Reader feature - see the information below for how to add this handy feature. That's how I blogged this! Really easy.

To enable it, click on “Settings” in Google Reader and then click on the “Send To” tab to choose which services to add. Note: make sure you disable pop-up blocking so that Google Reader can pop-up a new window on twitter.com (or wherever) to share your item. You can even add custom services:

Suppose I subscribed to a bunch of different blogs, or subscribed to the Twitter feeds of a bunch of people. I could make a custom link that sent individual items to (say) a custom web service that I wrote. For example, any time I saw someone report a Google bug, I could send that to a web service that might let appropriate people triage or vote on that bug. I love the flexibility behind this feature. Thanks to the Google Reader team for adding it!

Traffic Tips eBook

I'm working on putting together a digital book (or 'ebook')that can be downloaded instantly to your computer and read or printed) It will have approximately 15-20 different ways to generate traffic to your Web site or business.

Not all the tips may be right for you--the idea is for you to choose a couple that will work for your business and market, then begin putting them into use.

As always, this is not a "get rich quick" tool. It's tips you choose and put into practice on a regular basis. Then as time goes by, you'll slowly build traffic to your site - and be on the forefront of your customers' minds.

I hope to have it available for purchase on or around December 1. It will be affordable for small business owners (under $50).

Stay tuned for more details in the near future.

Optimizing a Landing Page

A landing page is the first page a visitor to your site sees. I find myself reminding small business owners to keep their pages focused to one (2 at the most) things you want your visitors to do on a page. Since Seth Godin says it better than I, read the full article here.

10 Tips for Being More Productive

I’ve used many of Rich Schefren’s time management strategies – here’s a top 10 list from his blog.
10 Tips To Become A Super-Productive Entrepreneur

Finding Your Purpose (John C Maxwell)

Identifying Your Strengths and Going for Growth

This is really a great article by John (known for his books on leadership) for Success Magazine. He writes about how knowing your passion can be an energizer, knowing your strengths, striving for excellence not average [I LOVE IT!], and how to stop giving attention to your weaknesses.

Read the full article.

Are You Using Online Coupons?

Those of you who are subscribed to my email list or have been working with me know that it's important to be listed locally in the major search engines so your business can be found. And for those of you who actually took action to create your business listings, then you may have a listing in MerchantCircle.

MerchantCircle is a great local resource for your bricks and mortar business, as well as your online business. In addition to creating a listing letting others in your area know where you are located and how to get a hold of you, you can create coupons. Online coupon use is on the rise! Shoppers are proactively searching for coupons before they shop. This past weekend I was visiting family in Wisconsin and we wanted to eat at a local restaurant (not a chain either!). We searched online and found a $75 coupon off our dinner if we spent $150 or more. That worked for us since there were 7 of us eating. Pretty cool and a great way to still do the things you love at a discount. :-)

To learn  more about MerchantCircle and how you can participate, click here.

But wait - there's another REALLY cool thing MerchantCircle has just introduced! For those of you using Twitter for business, MerchantCircle pushes all the coupons created on their site to the appropriate LOCAL Twitter account. For example, if you are in Minneapolis and you have created a coupon using MerchantCircle, they push (tweet) your coupon to your local city Twitter page. This allows you to gain new exposure to an audience who may not be searching for your business name, but searching for deals in their location (the search engines list these results). Plus with the retweet feature, Twitter users can pass along your coupon to their followers. This is word-of-mouth advertising at its best!

Top 11 Emotional Triggers That Convert Prospects Into Customers

I listened to a teleseminar yesterday that went covered the top 11 emotional triggers in the sales process by Sue Painter of ConfidentMarketer.com

Sales are made on emotion, not logic. So MANY times, I write my Web copy from a logical perspective. I'm such a logical person that I think others are the same as me. That's a mistake! You need to put yourself in your customers place and find out what motivates them to buy your products/services.

Your sales approach or Web copy should include 3-4 of these triggers. So before you begin to write, sit down with a piece of paper and identify/"answer" 3 or 4 that apply to your target market, then write your copy so that it provides a solution for these.

There are more than 11, but these are the top in order of importance. Your customers can be motivated by:

1. Saving time
   
2. Saving money (wouldn't you have thought this would be #1?!)
3. Making money
4. Avoiding effort - they want EASY
5. Increasing their happiness
6. Finding success, accomplishment
7. Being pain free or in better health
8. Having fun
   
9. Gaining praise
10. Feeling safe and secure
11. Feeling liked, loved, popular
    

Identify your customers passion or pain and tell them why your products/services can help them.

All of us have a tendency to sell the "features" of our business rather than the benefits. Features are your credentials, trustworthiness, testimonials, etc. These do play an important part, but they are NOT what makes a sale. Benefits answers the "What's in it for me?" question for your customer. Bottom line, that's what they want to know - how it's going to solve my problem?.

Sue says "...if you can't identify any emotional benefits, you don't have a business!"

Are your sales where they should be? If not, then your message or your Web copy isn't connecting with your customers. Triggers change over time - evaluate constantly to see if you are feeding your customer's emotional triggers.

Join me as I continue to change my thinking process in an effort to grow my business. If you are logical like me, it will be a challenge and a learning process! But one I look forward to.

Ciao, Paula
Links to my other Web sites are in the side bar to the right of this post, under the Blog Archive section.

If you are on Twitter, you can see more of the conversation around this subject and teleseminar at #clientconversion.

About Sue:
Sue Painter, The Confident Marketer - Everything you need to conquer fear or uneasiness over marketing and networking for your business is right here. You’ll learn the how-to’s, answer the what-if’s, and create marketing strategies that build your business and your bottom line.

Small Businesses that Blog Get 55% More Visitors

This HubSpot study of 1,531 of their customers showed that those who blogged, got more visitors. That's significant!

The average company that blogs has:

• 55% more visitors
• 97% more inbound links
• 434% more indexed pages by the search engines

Look at the graphs and more information that support the #'s in this study at HubSpot's Web site.

Creating DIY Products for Web Site Promotion

Wow, has it really been 2 weeks since I added a small biz tip? Sorry for the delay!

I've been thinking about adding some do-it-yourself, downloadable products that small business owners can purchase (affordably) that will help them with their overall web presence. I need your input!

What are the top things you'd like to know how to do for your own Web site? Please add your comments and I will consider them as I develop new products.


Thanks, in advance, for your input :-)
Ciao, Paula

Customer Service: In Search of Excellence

Here's a link to a recent Star Tribune article (Minneapolis/St. Paul MN) that I thought was worth sharing. Harvey Mackay writes about customer service from a retail standpoint (bricks and mortar store), but we can also apply these good practices to our web sites. For some small businesses, our web sites are our point of contact with a customer - good customer service applies here just as much as if you have a customer face-to-face in your store.

http://tinyurl.com/StarTribune07292009

Ciao, Paula
Links to my sites are in the side bar to the right of this post.

How I Manage My Time

This is an excellent article by Donna Gunter. I adopted this long range planning a couple of years ago and it works well for me. My weeks are broken into the three categories she speaks of - Rest days, Business Development days and Profit-Generating days. My schedule looks like this:

Monday: Business Development
Tuesday - Thursday: Profit-generating
Friday - Sunday: Rest

I stick closely to this most weeks. And because I have a home office, I don't keep the regular "corporate hours".  I work an hour or two and take a break and as you saw, I don't work even 5 days a week. I'm trying to scale that back to even less days and still get stuff done! Ever heard of the 4-hour work week? I'm going to look into it.

Read on for the details as Donna writes below...

One of the primary issues about which my clients complain is that they never stop running their businesses. They say their day is an endless cycle of completing tasks for clients, having conversations with prospective clients, and networking to find clients. They know that they need to find some time to plan what they're doing and where they're going in their businesses, and the only time they manage to carve out for themselves to do this is late at night with a glass of wine in hand, on Saturday morning in the midst of a child's soccer game, or on a Sunday afternoon at the dining room table when the kids are working on school projects. How productive can anyone be in that kind of environment?

Normally, when you think of time management, you're told to put your tasks in 3 categories (A, B, and C) based on priority, with the As being the highest priority, and then do all the tasks the A list. Poof -- time management -- done! If it were only that easy!

The time management system that I'm currently using is a bigger-picture system, focusing on the overall plan of how you structure your time rather than on the actual tasks, although that does come into play. In this system, you have 3 kinds of days: Rest Days, Profit-Generating Days, and Business Development Days. You can set as many (or as few of these) as you like each week, as long as the total number adds up to 7 for a full week.

I've purchased a large laminated wall planner for the current year and a set of colored sticker dots to graphically represent on this calendar my Rest, Profit-Generating, and Business Development Days. I've found that having this hanging on the wall in front of me helps tremendously in my planning, and when presented with an opportunity, helps me determine how viable it is in relation to the time I have available.

On your Rest Days, you are free to do anything at all except work-related tasks. You can meditate, veg on the couch, spend time with friends and family, go for hike, or take a vacation. The goal on your Rest Days is to revitalize and rejuvenate your spirit and not think about business, work, or money. This is the first set of days I'd like you to plan for yourself. Yep, you heard me right. Repeat after me, "Pay yourself first." What works with money also works with time! Currently, for me, that translates into 2 Free Days per week. I then have a number of longer vacation periods kicking in and 3 and 4-day weekends. Remember, all work and no play makes Jill a cranky girl....

Next fill in your Business Development Days, which is the time when you're working ON your business, not IN your business. The Business Development Days are the most important days for a business owner because they're serve as your business management days, or time when you focus on finances, marketing, sales, resources, and personnel.

Let me repeat -- this is the most important day of your week. You can't grow and market your business while you're doing the actual work of the business, so devote at least one day per week to developing and overseeing your business. Even if you're a solo entrepreneur, Business Development Days are vital to your success. Your business will not be able to grow and prosper without regularly scheduled business development time. My business development day is sacred, and I guard it like the Hope Diamond. Only in extreme emergencies do I let other things interrupt my Business Development Day.

The most compelling reason that Business Development Days are vital to your existence is because without that time, you don't have any of the third kind of day, the Profit-Generating Days.

Whatever is left of the week are Profit-Generating Days, or the time when you're actually working in your business, doing the work of the business. These are the days that you're working with clients, answering their problems and concerns, or conducting other activities in which you're directly generating revenue. In some businesses this time might be called "billable hours."

So, my current schedule is as follows:

• Saturday and Sunday: Rest Days
• Monday and Tuesday: Profit-Generating Days
• Wednesday: Business Development Day
• Thursday and Friday: Profit-Generating Days

I started this type of long-range planning several years ago, and have found it to be incredibly empowering. I guess I'd fallen into the M-F, 9-5 rut again without realizing it, and spent all that time working with clients rather than spending any time on the business development side and taking a long, hard look at what I really wanted out of my business. What was helpful to me was realizing that I'm not going to always be 100% faithful to this system, as opportunities arise that I can't control. However, I know if I commit to being 80-90% faithful to the system, I'll do just fine.

Start planning time for your business development today. Buy your calendar, set aside some time to map out your year, and begin to experience the power of actually being in the driver's seat of your business.

More info about Donna: Online Business Coach Donna Gunter helps baby boomers create profitable online retirement businesses by demystifying the steps needed to successfully market a baby boomer business online. Would you like to learn the specific Internet marketing strategies that get results? Discover how to increase your visibility and get found online by claiming your FREE gift, TurboCharge Your Online Marketing Toolkit, at == > http://www.TurbochargeYourOnlineMarketing.com

How to Get Free One Way Backlinks Virally

As many of you know, one way backlinks is one of the best and most effective ways to get high positions in search engines resulting in targeted traffic to your site. But getting quality one way links is a big job.

Free Traffic System is a system that helps you to get an unlimited number of one way, top quality links. Free Traffic System has integrated a concept of viral marketing, rewarding its members with bonus one way links. I use the free version - it's a good place to start. There is also a pro version (paid) that will allow you the opportunity to increase the number of backlinks you can receive from each article you post.

Before getting to the viral part of the project, I'll explain exactly where you are getting these backlinks. The backlinks are built inside real blog posts, not in the footer or blogroll - in the very body of a blog post. This is a natural way to build one way links, because you give real unique content to your visitors in the blog posts, and search engines will always welcome it - search engines were created to help people in finding quality information in the Internet. When you submit an article, you can choose up to 30 related and relevant blogs. The blog owners can grab your article(s) for adding content to their blogs thus creating a backlink to your site from the article you created. These are backlinks from relevant blog sites that belong to real people in different niches. It's a natural and smart way to build backlinks for free.You submit one article to Free Traffic System and it converts into up to 60 top quality one way backlinks!

The viral part of Free Traffic System is simple - you get rewarded for referring others.You get a BONUS backlink on every 3rd post that your referral makes. This means you get bonus backlinks on article No 1, 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, etc. of all people who got into the system via your referral. [Inside the system you get to choose your sites and related keywords so that your backlinks appear in relevant blog categories.]

Every article can be republished on up to 30 blog sites in the Free Traffic System, this means that one article with your bonus link equals to 30 backlinks from Free Traffic System. 2 articles = 60 bonus backlinks, 3 articles = 90 bonus backlinks. And this is in addition to the unlimited backlinks that you can build yourself by submitting your own articles.

The final perk of the viral strategy: If you add at least one WordPress blog to Free Traffic System, you will instantly increase the number of bonus backlinks by 7%.

So, you get 3 ways to build backlinks virally:

1. Free backlinks that you build yourself by submitting articles
2. Viral bonus backlinks for referring others
3. Viral bonus backlinks for adding your WordPress blog(s) to Free Traffic System

With this free backlink building power, targeted traffic from search engines becomes just a matter of time. And like with everything else you do to marketing your business online, it comes with consistent effort.

Get more information and details here.

Ciao for now, Paula

PaulaBonelli.com
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10 Questions to Ask Yourself : Should Your Business Tweet?

David Berkowitz of Social Media Insider puts good thought into 10 ways to decide whether your business should Tweet.

There's certainly a lot of talk when it comes to Twitter and I'm still figuring out the best way to use it!.

Many small business owners have asked me if they should be using Twitter. Of course, my first question to them is "Are your customers using this medium?" If they are, then they will probably be open to you communicating with them via Twitter. Read David's entire article here.

You can also read a few more tips on my site.
Ciao for now!
Paula