5 Ways to Save on your Marketing Budget in 2011

Posted on February 1, 2011 by suzyfeine

 1. Develop a Plan. Going blindly into the New Year without a written marketing plan can end up costing you thousands of dollars. Not identifying action items and those individuals who will be responsible for those action items results in duplicated efforts. Plus, a thorough marketing plan should build on itself, creating synergy through the action items to get the most bang for your buck.

 2. Plan to Attend at Least one Networking Event Each Month. In this era of decreased advertising effectiveness and increased social media, the “social” aspect of marketing is more important than ever. Networking events are a great way to meet like-minded professionals who might be interested in what your company offers.

 3. Find Local Opportunities to Speak: Small business groups are always looking for knowledgeable presenters who can pull together a presentation for a group. Polish up your speaking skills, create a great PowerPoint and start reaching out to small business group leaders.

 4. Develop a Referral Program. Reward your faithful clients with free products or services when they recommend you. By giving your clients something in return, they will be more apt to sing your praises when meeting other professionals.

 5. Consider Hiring a Consultant versus a Full-time Employee. Besides the obvious cost savings—you don’t have to pay for vacation, sick leave or employee benefits—consultants are ideal if you have intermittent marketing projects that don’t require a full-time person.

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5 Common Marketing Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Posted on February 1, 2011 by suzyfeine

Thousands of businesses make these common marketing mistakes everyday. Is your business one of them?   
 
1. First Impressions: You can implement the perfect marketing campaign , but if you don’t invest in training your receptionist properly, you can give potential clients the wrong impression. As the first person most prospects meet or talk to on the phone, your receptionist needs to be trained in the proper way to answer the phone and greet individuals professionally and consistently every time. 

2. Fishing with Just one Pole: Will you catch more fish with just one fishing pole or with three? The same principle applies to customers. Many businesses try one marketing approach and then, when it doesn’t meet their expectations, scrap the idea and move on to another marketing approach. Building a multi-pronged marketing plan will help you reach more prospects and, ultimately, help you catch more fish.

3.  Contact Me, Please! Do you have a general response email address on your website such as info@mybusiness.com? Who receives these emails and what is the process they follow to respond to inquires that come through your website? If you don’t know the answer, chances are you’re losing business.

4.  A Typo is Worth a Thousand Clients: I see dozens of websites everyday that contain misspelled words, incorrect grammar usage and bad sentence structure. Are your clients seeing your mistakes or your message? 

5.  The Last Word: Many businesses don’t realize the importance of consistent and complete email signatures. Your company should have a standard template for all employee email signatures that includes standard wording, colors and fonts. Email signatures must contain your company’s name, address, phone number and website address since this is a small but significant form of marketing your business. Think about this: If your email contains just your name in the signature field and that email is forwarded to five businesses, how will they get in touch with you?

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The Truth in Testimonials

Posted on February 1, 2011 by suzyfeine

Client testimonials must be believable in order to be effective. When writing client testimonials, follow these 5 tips:

1. Interview your client: Don’t just ask them to e-mail you a quote, interview them in person or over the phone, and then use the best response that showcases your business.

 2. Gain approval: Always send your client the final copy you intend to use and gain their approval to use it. A release form signed by them granting you the right to use their testimonial in all forms of marketing materials is best.   

 3. Always attribute: Quotes that are attributed to “a satisfied customer” or ”a client” can backfire. These attributions are not believable to the general public and are a surefire way to disengage clients. Always ask up front if your client is fine using his name, title and company name in the testimonial; otherwise, find another client to quote.

 4. Maximize exposure: Once the testimonial is approved and you’ve received the signed release form, use the testimonial in all forms of printed materials: brochures, on your company website, in your advertisements, etc. You can even build a press release around the testimonial if it is newsworthy.

 5. Multiply: If your target market is in multiple vertical industries, obtain client testimonials from at least one client in each industry. Proving that you have success in a particular industry will help potential clients in that industry realize you can help them too.

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Taking the Mystery out of SEO

Posted on February 1, 2011 by suzyfeine

Top Free Website Monitoring Tools Online

When it comes to SEO, many companies have gone to great lengths to create a sense of mystery around the topic. Granted, no one really knows how Google’s search engines work except Google, but there is enough evidence to support the claims that meta tags, backlinks and keywords play a vital role in your website’s ranking. And understanding how Google ranks these elements using the following free tools is the first step to optimization.  

SEO Centro’s Meta Tag Analyzer is a free tool that offers a wealth of information about your website’s meta tags. Simply plug in the URL from any page in your website and SEO Centro will deliver detailed stats on page title, description, load time, anchor tags and more, all of which can help you fine-tune your SEO strategy.

Yahoo Site Explorer is another useful, free tool that tells you how many backlinks point to your website. Enter your website’s URL in the field at the top to add it, then click the Explore button to see how many backlinks you have and where they’re coming from.

Google’s Keyword Tool is the best tool for determining the optimal keywords for your website. Simply type in a few keywords or phrases, and Google will tell you how many searches were performed monthly for those words and also the level of competition. Your best bet: Locate keywords in your industry that have a high monthly search ranking and a low competition rate.

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5 SEO Updates You Can Do

Posted on October 3, 2010 by suzyfeine

 Simple website changes that you and your webmaster can implement to increase your ranking with Google

If you’re scratching your head wondering what all the hype is over Search Engine Optimization (SEO), it’s time you learn a few things about your company’s website and what you can do to promote it. 

 Many SEO agencies want to charge you thousands of dollars to add a few simple SEO techniques to your website; however, most won’t guarantee you’ll end up on page one of a Google search result, which is where everyone wants to be.   

 Did you know that you and your webmaster can make a few minor tweaks to your website that can increase your results? I, too, won’t guarantee that these changes will put you on page one, but they will definitely help move you up the list.

1. Sign up for Google Analytics: Google Analytics is a free website analysis tool that helps you analyze traffic patterns on your website. By adding a small section of code to each page in your website, you can easily track your daily hits, see which pages are most effective and which pages cause visitors to leave your website.

2. Track your Status at Google Webmaster Tools: This free website tool helps you see your website just as Google sees it. Detailed reports will alert you to problems Google finds with your website, tell you which keywords Google finds prevalent on your website, and much more, to help you make changes that can maximize SEO.

3. Determine Your Optimum Keywords: Another helpful Google tool is the Google Search-based Keyword Tool. By inputting your website’s URL and a few key terms, this tool will tell you the top search terms you should include as keywords on your web pages. 

4. Double Check Your Meta Tags: Once you begin to understand your current website through these Google tools, you can start refining your meta tags so that Google can better understand the content of your website and display it when certain search terms are keyed in. 

5. Rewrite Your Content to Reflect Your Findings: If Google is not tracking the keywords you intended, you’ll need to rewrite the content. For example, if your business is photography, but the top keywords Google finds do not include words related to photography, a rewrite is in order.

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Put Your Business in the News: 5 Benefits of a Press Release

Posted on September 24, 2010 by suzyfeine

Gone are the days when a press release was written just to notify the media of news occurring at your business. Today, a press release can have a tremendous impact on your lead generation strategy, Google ranking and website traffic. In fact, a keyword-heavy press release that is distributed over the Internet can be more effective than many other forms of marketing or advertising. Here are five reasons why you should consider incorporating press releases into your company’s marketing strategy:

1. Showcase Your Business: Before the Internet, press releases were printed and mailed to the media. Today, online press releases can include video, keywords, links to your website and more, all of which can highlight your company’s service offerings and drive more traffic to your website.

2. Search Engine Visibility: With strategically placed keywords, a press release can get picked up by Google News, Yahoo News, Bing, MSN, and more, resulting in Google high rankings for your vertical market.

3. Backlinks: Your company’s SEO strategy should include building backlinks (credible sites that link to your website), and a press release is one of the best ways to build them quickly and effortlessly.

4. The Multiplying Effect: Just one press release can result in thousands of news items on the Internet when it’s picked up by websites and blogs that run RSS headlines.

5. Potential Media Coverage: Members of the media receive news feeds from all across the Internet to keep them up to date on what’s new and exciting. Your press release could easily end up in an editor’s inbox.

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