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Social Media Not Good for Local Business

December 17, 2011 By 5 Comments
Social Media Logos

If you're running a small business and your market is primarily your local area, then social media may be of little value to business success. The Pew Internet Study A recent Pew Internet study looked at where people are getting information about local businesses.  They found that most people are turning to the interent (51%), over newspaper (31%), word of mouth (23%), and TV (8%).A small business website is critical for the success of your business.  Since the turn of the century, the most important component of your small business has been a website.  With … [Read more...]

Filed Under: WordPress

Successful Business Lessons From Spider Man and His Amazing Friends

December 2, 2011 By 12 Comments
Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends

Successful business lessons can come from some of the oddest places.I have a son who is really into Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends, the old 1960's version.  He discovered them on Netflix and has watched them over and over.As I've sat and watched these classic shows with him, I've began to notice some very interesting parallels between what makes Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends successful and what makes small businesses successful.So, the purpose of this post is to provide three business lessons you can learn from that classic children's … [Read more...]

Filed Under: HOW TO, Small Business Website 101

The “Be First in Google Search” Myth Debunked

November 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Being first in Google has been the 'Holy Grail' for SEO.  After all, nearly 42% of all clicks go to the first position in Google search.  If it is that important, then we all need to work to get there.But a recent SEO Moz study indicates that the number one position may in fact have less importance than once believed. The Myth The generally accepted rule of thumb on SEO ranking is that you MUST earn the number one position for your search term to get significant traffic.  This is the result of years of research and repeated studies.  After all, search … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Local Search, marketing

8 Simple Solutions to Secure a WordPress Install

October 5, 2011 By 1 Comment
Hacked by Coldplay Hack Team

Protect yourself from predators!  They come in all shapes and sizes.  Some with big fangs and others with pocket protectors.  If your website is build using WordPress, there are some things you NEED to do to make sure it is secure from predators, a.k.a. HACKERS! se·cu·ri·ty (si?kyo?orit?) noun1.  The state of being free from danger or threat.2.  The safety of a state or organization against criminal activity such as terrorism, theft, or espionage. Simple Solutions to a Secure Wordpress Being hacked is never a good thing.  It makes us feel violated. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Small Business Website 101, WordPress

6 Steps for Successful Business Ideas

October 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Business Ideas

You have a business idea, but you don't know if it has potential for success.  How do you go about determining if you might have a successful business idea?I know that was one of my biggest questions when I started.  Will this business work?  Are there enough potential customers to make a living? The First Step Before you can know if you have a good idea, you need to do some basic market research.  If you are brick and mortar business, you probably did some research before you setup shop.  You should have looked at competition, potential customer base, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: marketing, Promotional, Small Business Website 101

How To: Add MailChimp sign up form to your WordPress sidebar

September 30, 2011 By 7 Comments
Mail Chimp

If you use MailChimp for your email marketing efforts, you need to have an opt-in form on your site in multiple places.  One primary location is the top of the sidebar.  This should be prominent and easy to find.To add the Mail Chip form, log into your account and go to 'List.'  Select the list you want to add to your page by clicking 'View List'.Click on the 'For Your Website drop down and select 'Sign Up Form Embed Code.' You will have three options for how your form will display.  Select the form you want and make any necessary … [Read more...]

Filed Under: HOW TO

This is embarrassing, don’t look!

September 30, 2011 By 1 Comment
Facebook Timeline Header

I told you not to look! Facebook Timeline will Embarrass You There are changes coming, again, to Facebook and this one promises to be significant.  Besides making drastic changes to the open graph, along with changing our layouts, the new Timeline feature is going to be BIG!If you've been under the proverbial rock and don't know what 'Timeline' is all about, let me share with you the basics.  Facebook timeline is a chronical of your life on Facebook.  All of your FB content is organized and listed in a single long timeline.  You can scroll to specific years … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Facebook, Social Networking

Demographics are Dead

September 5, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Demographic Data

One of the most important task of any business is to gain a better understanding of their target audience. Demographics: A Thing of the Past Demographics has been the marketing instrument of defining a target audience for most of the last 100 years.  It was an attempt to cluster large groups of people into simple boxes so companies could pitch products and services.Marketing typically divides groups according to age, gender, ethnicity, income level, etc.  These are large segments of the populations that fit a similar characteristic.During the rise of mass … [Read more...]

Filed Under: marketing

Not Using WordPress will Destroy Your Business

September 5, 2011 By Leave a Comment
ShakingHands

Your online business success is absolutely critical!If you are still waiting on someone else to update the content of your website you are loosing money.  Your customers are getting out of date information and you are having to pay third party to change your website.Unless you have experience with advanced applications for web management, you are relying on a "webmaster" to manage your website.  This is not BEST for business. If you are not using WordPress, you are destroying your business! If you are like most small business owners, you are working long … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Small Business Website 101, WordPress

Know Your Ideal Customer

June 21, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Know Your Customer

Building a business requires you to finding customers.  If you want to really GROW your business, its about finding the RIGHT customers.  After all, the old saying still holds true, it's not what you know, it WHO you know. We are social creatures.  We develop relationship.  We want to connect with people that have similar interest and speak the same language.  We are created with an innate desire to connect and form meaningful relationships.This reality of human nature is not voided by business.  We do business with people we trust.  We rely on … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Customer Service, marketing, Small Business Website 101
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