Things I don’t like about Twitter:

1. An overwhelming majority of my connections are people I don’t know.
2. It seems like everyone on Twitter is a guru of some sort; there are SEO, Social Media, Business Coaches and Consultant galore.  This is like attending a networking event and finding that everyone there does the same thing. (and maybe even the same thing as you do!) Continue reading →

After creating my Twitter account about a year ago, I gave up rather quickly, feeling frustrated that I couldn’t get lots of followers quickly and that I needed to be on it for hours a day in order for it to work.  I now know that I was wrong, and have recently started really getting back into Twitter.  Now I think I get it much better than previously, and have vowed to give it another shot.

I have noticed a few things, though – there is a lot of clutter on Twitter.  It seems like everyone there is a social media or SEO expert, giving advice on how to succeed on Twitter.   Those who aren’t are selling programs for getting tens of thousands of followers.  I like to think that I’m smart enough not to fall for that.  How can there be any quality from buying your way to followers? Continue reading →

One of our clients recently started a jewelry business and created a fan page on Facebook, so to support him, I became a fan.  Within minutes, I received the first status update: “I’m excited to announce my new jewelry business!  We offer a wide variety of gold necklaces, rings, and bracelets for any occasion.”  An hour later, I received another update which was very similar.  A few hours later: “Hi everyone!  One of our items would make a perfect gift for your loved one’s birthday!”  And so on for a few days, with much of the same on Twitter and LinkedIn. Continue reading →

“I need to get on those social networking websites…I need to quickly start generating business from them.” Working with websites and Search Engine Optimization, I hear this very often. Many business owners feel that they are missing out by not joining sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. These sites are somewhat of a mystery to many who have heard them mentioned so much in the media lately but really don’t know anything about them. This leads to an unrealistic expectation of what these sites can do for them. Continue reading →

Sometimes it makes sense to have more than just one website, even if they are all for the same company and have lots of similar content. Why would you want to do this? If you can get two or more sites ranking well, then you have basically blocked out the competition and diluted search results a bit.

Say you sell garage doors, and have a really good site that ranks well. Then you add another site with a different url, which has different content, but still about your company. Once this site starts ranking well also, you can target a different set of key words, so now you have a much broader set of key words, or you can rank for the same key words as your first website. If someone searches for garage doors, if both sites show up, you increase the chances that someone will visit one of your sites – it’s that simple. Continue reading →

Personal Networking should always be a part of your marketing plan, but now more than ever this is THE time to get out there and network!  Join your local chamber, or referral group such as BNI.  BNI is the largest referral and business networking organization in the world. Continue reading →

It’s hard to believe that I wrote my last article on this topic about a year ago, but I guess recession fears were brewing even last March.  Now we already know that we’ve been experiencing a real recession for several months.  I have never owned a business in this type of economy, and I’m sure many business owners would say the same thing; so it’s a bit hard to know how to navigate through it.  I believe that, as always, careful planning and sensibility will get you through it, so here are some ideas: Continue reading →

I just got a nice holiday card from a vendor…opened it up, and his business card was enclosed! I don’t know about you, but to me, this is a bit of a turn-off. What this commuicates to me is, “I’m sending this card as a way to remind you to do business with me.” I think this message would have been much more effective had it not included a business card.

One thing I learned long ago – do things without being salesy and you will stand out from the crowd. When I meet someone at a Chamber function, I send them a nice letter saying how nice it was to meet them, and that I look forward to seeing them again at future events. That’s it. No card, no “please let me know if I can be of service..” Why? because that’s expected – because that cheesiness is what everybody does, so I just send a letter saying “Nice meeting you,” and by doing that I think I look like I am more genuine and have more integrity.

Just send a Holiday card! No need to always be selling!

Search Engine Optimization seems to always have been about tactics. Website owners are constantly asking, “What tactics can I employ to get ranked higher on the major search engines?” Some tactics include peppering web pages with key words, adding a long list of links on the bottom of each page, adding another long list of cities served on the bottom of a page, and similar “tricks” which focus mainly on search engines, not human visitors. While many of these tactics work, they are short-sighted and can often backfire. I’ve seen so many websites rank well, only to wonder why they’re not generating any sales. Continue reading →

You know those little icons that appear in your browser next to a url when visiting a website, and the ones you see next to the site name when you bookmark a page? Well, if you want to create one for your site, it’s pretty easy. All you need is the graphic you’d like to use as the icon, best in .jpg format. (It’s best to make it a simple and small icon, since it’s so small when it appears on your site’s url.)

Then, go to this site: http://www.chami.com/html-kit/services/favicon/ to convert the .jpg file to a .fav file, and then upload it via ftp to your site’s root directory, and your done. In some cases your favicon may take a few days to show up, and please note that certain older versions of Internet Explorer may not show them for some strange reason.