For SEO purposes, having an XML sitemap is extremely important. An XML sitemap is a page of code which is downloaded onto your web server where your website files reside, and its purpose is to alert Google’s spiders of all of the pages of your site which exist. Without the sitemap, it’s possible that Google’s crawling bots may miss some of your pages, but the sitemap says, “hey, look here – here’s a list of all of the pages on my site that you should crawl.” Continue reading →

Do you have a backup of your website files? If your website goes down and the hosting company cannot bring it back up, will you be in deep trouble? While most hosting companies back up their servers regularly, it’s still a good idea to back up your files. If you own an e-commerce site, you especially should back up often, since your hosting company’s backup may be several days old, and you risk losing all of your more recent transactions. Continue reading →

A friend of mine recently asked me to recommend some good books on sales and business. I thought it would be good to share that here. My list is far from perfect, and there may be many great books missing from the list – but these are the books that I helped me grow personally and professionally.

The following should be read by any salesperson or professional: Continue reading →

In the course of making cold calls, it’s inevitable to be asked to send your info via e-mail so that the prospect can look it over before making a decision. Although this can be frustrating to the telemarketer, who obviously prefers to make an immediate sale, this can be turned into an opportunity.

Rather than just send the e-mail and do the normal follow-up, why not compile all these e-mail leads, and use them for e-mail marketing? Add them to your monthly or quarterly e-mail newsletter list. E-mail marketing is extrememly effective, and some prospects may respond better to that medium. Plus, if they’re not ready to commit now, your e-mails will keep you on their mind and when they are ready, they will remember you and you will likely get the sale.

Remember, though – getting someone’s e-mail is not your goal on the phone – making a sale is. But when you have no choice but to get the e-mail, do not despair – send them your info, and then keep that e-mail on file for future use!

A few thoughts to follow up my entry about e-mail addiction – the reasons why I think e-mail addiction is so bad:

The obvious – e-mail addiction is a compulsion, and this is enough to drive you insane.

The less obvious – clients who receive extremely rapid e-mail responses from you will be conditioned to always expect this. This is problematic for 2 reasons: Continue reading →

We recently did some SEO (Search Engine Optimization) work for an insurance website. This company sells auto, home, life, and business insurance, and has several branches throughout Florida. We did some keyword research and came up with a strategy for their meta tags. After consulting with them and agreeing on the key words we were targeting, we implemented their meta tags, submitted their site to a nice amount of directories, made some minor content changes on their site, and waited about 8 weeks to see the results. Continue reading →

Hi, my name is Amir and I’m an e-mail addict. Well, actually I’m a former addict. I was deeply entrenched in e-mail addiction – checking e-mails countless times throughout the day – clicking on Outlook’s Send/Receive button every few minutes, anxiously looking for new incoming mail. Those who sent me e-mails came to expect a quick response, and were even amazed at how quickly I got back to them.

My Blackberry kept me plugged in even when I left the office. I’d check it several times during lunch, not wanting to miss any important e-mails. The same pattern would continue in the evening. My family came to expect it and tolerated it, but I know my wife hated it – my mind was on work all the time. Not on any specific work or project, but on e-mails in general. These e-mails were often unimportant and could’ve waited until the next work day, but I felt the compulsion to always know what lay in my Inbox. Continue reading →

We all dread doing it. We make excuses not to do it, we procrastinate, delay, we put it off. We even consider paying someone else to do it. I refer, of course, to the dreaded cold call. Why do we fear it so much? Fear of the unknown, fear of rejection.

Most people tend to shy away from it because it’s often not a fun thing to do, since you have to hear “No” many times until you get a “Yes.” But there is no question that cold calling works, and is also one of the most cost-effective ways to get business. Continue reading →

One great way to get some good leads, many of which will turn into clients is to have an annual referral program or contest. I’ve done this regularly at Watt Media almost every year, and have had great results.

Here’s the basic idea: I send out e-mails and faxes to all of our clients, old and new, letting them know how much we appreciate their business over the years, and that if they send us 3 referrals, they will get something for it. Continue reading →

Your booth should be simple but effective. People should be able to tell what you do in 3 seconds, or you well lose them as they walk by. This has been particularly challenging for us in the on-hold business, since it’s not a service that everyone knows about.

Have a show special. Waive your start-up fee, give them a one month free trial – whatever – but give them an incentive to sign up right there at the show. Continue reading →