4 Reasons Your Customers Aren't Sharing Your Content on Social Media

Content marketing and digital media strategies often (if not always) include social sharing as a metric for success. Creating highly engaging, widely relatable content is a crucial step towards earning an audience's attention. But while pageviews are important, marketers need a deeper understanding of why people share it to create content that will reach further.

To learn more about sharing motivations, we surveyed more than 1,000 adults and asked them about the aspects of their identities that matter most when they share online. Combined with some research on why users hesitate to share, we now have a better understanding about how audiences use content to talk to each other, and about themselves.

1. 71% of users are reluctant to share content.

71% of Facebook users censor the comments or posts they compose, according to a recent study by researchers at Facebook and Carnegie Mellon University. Over a 17 day study period, they found that 15.3 billion comments and posts were written but deleted before being shared.

There are many considerations that factor into this censorship process. One is a user's concern for how a comment or piece of content may reflect on themselves. Another is the appropriateness of a message for the various social circles--ranging from friends to family to employers to clergy members--who may all be a part of the same contact list, and will thus all see the same post.

Regardless of the cause, the widespread act of self-censorship is a flag to content creators that audiences are highly selective about what they share and actively review and consider the content
they amplify to their friends and followers.

2. Salient identities prompt us to take action.

According to social science, five broad categories encompass the aspects of ourselves that help determine how we behave:
Relational Identity
Personal Identity
Social Identity
Superficial Identity
Collective Identity

We assess the importance of each factor in every social situation we encounter, and prioritize these aspects according to our current circumstances. Collective identity, which focuses on groups we are a part of, may be the most salient identity at a soccer game, but personal identity (which revolves around values and goals) is likely more important during a job interview.

The ranking of these identities is important to understand when it comes to online sharing. The aspects that are most salient when users are on social media determine the type of content they are most likely to share.The more your content can help them amplify the way they want to be seen, the more shares your content will earn.

3. Users want to be seen as being a good friend.

84% of respondents in our survey said that "being a good friend to those I care about" is an important factor they consider when they use social media; 20% said that their relationships are "extremely important." These concerns for relational identity were the most salient across every generation in our survey, but strikingly so among those in the 65 age group.

Content creators will gain the most traction by building campaigns that help people relate to one another when they share it. BuzzFeed has found unique success online by tapping into this very insight, according to Ze Frank, head of BuzzFeed video, and focusing on content that encourages users to share and say "I know you, I like you."

4. Sharing goals and values.

After their friendships, 63% of social media users said that their values, goals, and dreams--aspects of personal identity--were the next most important concerns on their list. This was particularly true for younger generations; both younger and older Millennials ranked personal identity factors higher than older groups.

It's important to note that while values were highly ranked, religion was ranked as the least important factor in this study. In fact, 55% of respondents ranked this factor as "not important" when they consider whether to share content. Content marketers may want to broach content relating to personal identity from angles of inspirational quotes rather than from a standpoint of religious or political affiliations.

http://www.inc.com/kelsey-libert/4-reasons-your-customers-aren-t-sharing-your-content-on-social-media.html

5 Tips to Optimize Your Time as an Entrepreneur

Each morning people wake up and choose how they will start the day. For some, this may mean a quick workout before heading to the office and for others it could mean spending some time with their kids, reading the morning news or catching up on work-related emails.

In reality, everyone is making personal and professional trade-offs -- spending time here versus there. But ultimately being effective is not a matter of finding a balance between two spheres, but rather it's optimizing how you spend your time across the board. It's time that people embrace the notion of time optimization and put the idea of attaining work-life balance to bed.

The secret lies not in weighing opposing priorities, but in planning ahead so as to have time to spend it where you wish.

As 2015 quickly approaches, entrepreneurs should aim to set intentions for each and every day to fully optimize your time throughout the year.

Here is my approach to optimizing time in 2015:

1. Don’t follow a one-size-fits-all system.

Recognize that everyone optimizes time differently. My priorities and the demands on my time will differ from yours, another CEO’s or even those of someone in my family.

The key is to create an individualized plan that works for you based on all the factors at hand -- available minutes in the day, amount of sleep required and work commute. I believe there is no one-size-fits-all approach and that people need to optimize all aspects of their lives on an individual basis.

2. Make time for in-person communication. 

Often, there are lapses in communication over text, email or even the phone. While people think these digital forms of communication are making them more efficient and social, they are actually wasting time deciphering mixed messages and clarifying points of view.

Constant interaction through digital technology prevents people from stepping back and engaging in physical reality. People often forget how much more efficient they can be by stepping away from the computer, meeting with someone in person and working through a task or issue. It’s not just comical when people seated at the same table send texts to one another. It’s sad. 

3. Create a log.

If you feel that your time isn’t being allocated efficiently or are unsure of where the hours in your day are being spent, it's time for a log. Creating a log will help you identify what activities take the most time and will help you identify where you can cut back or shift priorities.

To optimize my time I have been keeping a log for the past 15 years of my life. I can tell you approximately how many hours I’ve spent working, networking, exercising, playing guitar or taking part in social activities. Yes, you can even make time for your social life.

A log, which can be as simple as a well-kept electronic calendar, also provides an honest view of where someone is spending his or her time and is a good way to assess if adjustments should be made. From personal experience, I can say it's far too easy to spend time on activities that preclude you from making the most of every moment of your day. 

4. Plan ahead.

I suggest planning way ahead. I had most of the major milestones of 2015 in my calendar before carving 2014's Thanksgiving turkey. Scheduling big work events such as board meetings or conferences in advance provides anchor points to build the year around. Be transparent in communicating the master schedule so that colleagues can plan vacations and maximize time in other parts of their life.

Integrating these tips as you consider your outlook for the new year can be a defining point in your professional and personal success. Remember, no one is perfect and even if you follow these tips, there will always be distractions pulling your attention away from what really matters.

It's easy to become wrapped up in the highs and lows associated with daily tasks at work or home. Taking a step back to reflect when this happens is an important activity to embrace. In the end, it’s not about counting the minutes of the day but rather optimizing your time across multiple activities and leading a fulfilled life.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/240850

4 Tips for Making Millions Quickly Marketing Through Infomercials

Most of us have heard of the ThighMaster, the Snuggie or the Ginsu Steak Knives as overnight success products that have amassed millions of dollars selling directly to consumers through Direct Response Television (DRTV) commercials.

Warren Tuttle, president of the United Inventors Association of America, has been working within the DRTV industry for decades. He was the person behind the television direct response mega-hit Smart Spin that generated nearly ten million units through a series of successful infomercials. I sat down with Warren to get his top four tips to getting your product to launch through DRTV and be the next mega wonder.

1. Rapidly create national brand recognition

The biggest advantage of DRTV is the ability to create, very rapidly, brand recognition through significant exposure on today's most dynamic advertising medium. Consumers are more likely to shop for a product they have seen six to eight times, through repeated TV ad exposure. Successful DRTV programs can drive significant sales volume and eventually provide retailers with very high sales, rapid stock turn, strong gross margins and increased bottom line profits.

2. DRTV companies focus on different niches

DRTV companies are no different then other industries when focusing on specific niches or areas of differentiation. Some are house and home oriented, while others focus on exercise or personal care. Even the length of commercials are different, as some companies are excellent in developing two-minute short forms, while others better at the 30-minute long format.

Keep in mind, though, that not all products are well suited for DRTV success. It is a rapid roll out process, where a product generally moves through a short selling life cycle at a highly accelerated pace. Some products require a slower burn to get to market and succeed, while other products are more platform oriented with a line up of SKUs that need to be appropriately showcased. Products need to be highly demonstrable. Not all successful products are, so it may be better to introduce some types of products to market through a traditional retail roll out and avoid the DRTV model altogether.

3. Do your homework interviewing DRTV companies

Each DRTV company needs to be researched and vetted. Inventors need to do their homework and find out what success stories each DRTV company has been responsible for, in what industry they specialize and how they have treated the individuals who have brought them products in the past. Inventors need to fully vet each company's history and reputation, since there are companies that have scammed inventors in the past.

Make a point to attend one of the industry trade shows such as The Response Expo or the Electronic Retailing Association Tradeshow as these shows can provide a great opportunity to find resources and build connections for your product launch.

4. Avoid upfront costs launching your DRTV product

Many successful DRTV companies will provide the necessary capital, along with creative production and manufacturing resources to test products and roll out successes and simply pay the inventor an ongoing royalty. Patents are generally helpful and typically command a higher royalty but are not always necessary. It depends upon the product and the DRTV company, so it is critical to align correctly. Working prototypes that prove function are also of value and can also be used to film an audition video.

The other items that are important is the creation of a professional pitch and a descriptive sell sheet. Royalties typically run from 2 percent to 6 percent of wholesale. A successful TV roll out will generally last about 18 months.

In an ever increasing competitive environment where capital is often a deal breaker to launching a product, DRTV can be the perfect solution.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/240328

Do You Know Where Your Buyers Hang Out Online?

The Internet is a pretty big place, going from a single website in 1991 to more than 1 billion in 2014. At the same time, the number of users online has jumped more than tenfold from 1999 to 2013. If you’re a business owner, the challenge of finding your buyers online in order to deliver the most targeted advertisements directly to them has never been harder!

If you’re currently struggling to match your online activities to your buyers’ Internet habits, give the following three strategies a try:

1. Social-networking sites

According to the Content Marketing Institute, social media and blogs account for 23 percent of all time spent online. So there’s a good chance that, no matter what types of buyers you’re targeting, you can find them on some type of social-networking site.

Of course, the recent flight of teenagers from Facebook demonstrates that not all demographics participate equally on each of these popular sites. If you want to know where your specific buyers are, you need to familiarize yourself with the group-usage statistics associated with each platform.

One of the best sources of this type of information is the Pew Research Internet Project’s “Social Media Update 2013” (the most recent year this information has been made available).

If your target buyer persona is female, you might note that Facebook and Pinterest show promise, as more women than men are active on each site. However, if your buyers tend to be older, getting active on Facebook might be a better choice, as 45 percent of online adults ages 65 and older maintain profiles on the site, while only 9 percent of this group is active on Pinterest.

The Pew study includes demographic data on Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn that are worth a look. However, while you should use these statistics as a rough guide, they shouldn’t be the “be all, end all” of your buyer identification efforts. Instead, use these numbers as a jumping-off point to determine where you should begin engaging, but be sure to measure your performance on each site to see when and if you need to change course.

2. Authority blogs

Every industry has authority bloggers, and if you can find the ones that are popular in your niche, you have a number of opportunities to connect with your target buyers -- from submitting guest posts for publication, running display ads, to responding to reader questions in the comments.

You might already know these sites, and if you do, use the techniques listed above to make your presence known. If you don’t, here are a few strategies for finding them:

• Go to alltop.com and search for your industry. Any of the blogs listed might be authority blogs, though you’ll want to qualify them further by checking for recent, consistent publication and active social profiles.
• Go to Topsy and enter your target keywords. Filter your results so that you’re viewing a week’s worth of popular links -- there’s a good chance these have come from authority blogs.
• Find one authority blogger and open his or her Twitter profile. Look for any other sites whose content is being retweeted -- these are likely authority sites as well.

3. Message boards

Message boards might sound like a dated Internet convention on par with webrings and chat rooms. But the modern message board -- think Reddit -- can actually be a hotbed of target-buyer activity.

Here’s how to find these resources:

• Google “[your niche] message board.” It’s a straightforward approach, but it works.
• Find the subreddit that caters to your industry. Not only can this be a good place to share your content, it can reveal a number of other authority blogs or message boards you should target within the other links that are shared.
• Look for public Facebook Groups. The extent to which Facebook has been adopted across groups makes it a good fit for just about every target buyer. Conduct a few searches on Facebook to find the public Groups where your buyers are hanging out and then get active there!

Bear in mind that message boards can be particularly sensitive to activity that’s deemed too self-promotional. Become an active member of the community before you start sharing, and keep your eyes open.

The constant expansion of the Internet means that new hot sites will always be popping up, while former favorites will die out. Use the strategies above to keep your finger on the pulse of your industry's online activity and use this knowledge to your advantage to get your message in front of your target buyers.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/239565

Social Media Karma and the Golden Rule

Have you heard of the golden rule? Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. In other words, treat other people in the way you’d like to be treated. This same rule applies to the world of social media.

So think before you tweet. Here are a few etiquette rules:

Don't embarrass professionals.

Journalists, writers, bloggers, content creators, whatever you call them, they all are trying to get their work out there. One way they do so is by spreading the word on social media. And this strategy is a win-win, as the author is able to market her posts in a simple fashion and people can easily discover new stories. But because of how fast the world of media is moving, sometimes errors occur, like typos, grammatical errors or incorrect information.

Do you point out the mistake publicly to embarrass and shame the writer or author? Or do you private message the individual so they can correct the mistake as quickly as possible? I choose the kinder, quieter route because it does not serve you or the other party to be mean and spiteful. Be gracious, and the author will be thankful and you’ll probably gain a friend for life. 

And another thing: Don't dismiss the person immediately when you see a typo or mistake. Read the article to the end, as you may find it useful and may benefit from the piece. Dismissing a writer’s credibility completely because of a single typo seems inflexible to me. 

Give credit where credit is due.

It’s standard procedure to give credit to the photographer if you use their images. If you see someone using your photos, and they haven’t given you photo credit, private message them. It’s possible that they may not really understand the protocol. Be gentle and you will be surprised to find that it is an innocent mistake.

But keep in mind that everyone doesn't just want a photo credit. Images are copyrighted, so the best route is to ask before you use.

Don’t be a bully or a tattletale.

I have seen so many forms of bullying over the years on social media. I usually hang back, watching carefully and not reacting immediately. Whether the attack is directed at you or at a friend, assess the situation first and don't fire off a tweet or comment immediately. Also, don't go ganging up on the person -- we’re not in high school. The drama and gossip will get back to the individual and probably come back to haunt you.

Analyze and process the situation. Is this worth your time, your energy or even a tweet? When you re-tweet them or call them out, it gives the person validation and the situation momentum, especially if the person has a decent following. 

So whenever I completely disagree with an article or a tweet, I chat off line rather than give the article or that individual any more attention than is necessary. Of course, one can have a productive healthy discussion -- just keep it professional.

Anonymity is not carte blanche.

Just remember, tweeting from a smartphone or a computer screen does not give you the right to be unkind. Being friendly and helpful to people goes so much further than a public attack. Guess what? It reflects back on you. People may not acknowledge your action openly, but they will go “radio silent” on you. What does that mean? No more shares, re-tweets or engagement.

Social media seems like such an expansive universe but really it is a small, small social world. I believe that in social media, that “six degrees of separation” connects us in a way that we were never connected before. So think before you blast out your spiteful tweets or comments. These connections bind us together by our shares.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/238142

4 Specific Focused Tasks Equals Profits

Entrepreneur Uses Low Tech Methods to Build a Fortune

Paul Sowinski has been keeping a low profile for the past 6 years with other priorities — getting married and having three kids. Home Business Magazine first profiled him back in 2003 and recently caught up with him again to see “where he is now.” At 34, he’s back to his “old self,” building his home business and being “'entertaining” and having some fun while doing it.

When Paul originally started Simple Toner in 1998, he had a grand vision. Within a couple months of his 19th birthday, he went from bagging groceries to running a thriving business selling toner cartridges to other businesses.

In his first year. Paul processed $40,000 in sales. By year two, he doubled sales by literally working twice as hard. Then “the grind” set in. After the initial boost, sales slowed and he needed to jumpstart his company. Over the next several years, Paul tried everything to build his business: trade shows, cold calling, attending networking events, passing out flyers, and even hiring a skywriter at the height of the dotcom boom. Some things worked, many didn’t.

Paul’s big break came when he figured out that the key to success was simply doing certain very specific, focused tasks every single day: #1) making 250 phone calls; #2) working out at the gym; #3) reading to his kids; and #4) practicing computer coding. Every single day, Paul does these four specific, focused tasks (with the exception of phone calls, which he only does during the normal work week.)

This obsessiveness and focus sometimes drives Melissa, his wife of five years, crazy. “The thing about Paul is that most of his focus is on printer toner cartridges. But every day, he works with our kids teaching them how to improve and compete in their own worlds. I respect him for that," says Melissa. Paul adds, “For years I tried many different things. My world changed when I started simplifying. I don’t have to think about my schedule. I don’t have to plan my day. I just do four things every day and it’s taking me in the direction I want to go.”

Sowinski wants to be the largest supplier of toner cartridges to small business in the US within the next three to five years.

http://www.homebusinessmag.com/businesses/special-types/4-specific-focused-tasks-equals-profits

7 Habits of Highly Successful Entrepreneurs

Success is not an overnight phenomenon. It requires a unique set of skills built over time. While there is no manual outlining what makes someone successful, the most successful entrepreneurs in the world seem to share these 7 habits.

1. They set goals and outline specifically how to reach them.



Ben Franklin was known for his brilliant inventions and maybe even more so for embodying the modern American entrepreneur. His ability to do so was not a fluke; he planned it.

Research has shown that when an individual sets measurable goals for themselves, they are more like to achieve them. Set specific daily, weekly, monthly, and even yearly goals for yourself and your business. Not only should you write down what your goals are but also determine the optimal path to get you there. In doing this you are able to visualize the path you must take to get there. Consistently review your goals and plans to achieve them on a regular basis.

2. They reflect on their day.



As one of the most powerful women in the world, Oprah Winfrey has shown us that it is possible to do it all. She has conquered television, movies, magazines, and more. What does she credit to her success? The ability to reflect on her day through meditation.

All too often entrepreneurs rush through their day as if it were a sprint, trying to cross off everything on their "to do" list as fast as possible. This can easily lead to a common business-killing phenomenon - burn out. Learn to take time out of your day to reflect. Meditation can come in many forms, all of which are cathartic activities that help you stay grounded and prevent burning yourself out. For some this can be as simple as taking a twenty-minute walk. For others, try writing in a journal.

3. They form mutually beneficial work and personal relationships.



One of the most important things I've learned being an entrepreneur is the ability to culminate relationships with others in your industry that benefit you on both a personal and business level. Ferriss provides us the perfect example of this lesson with how he marketed his book and became friends with others in his industry. When writing his best-seller, "The 4-Hour Work Week", he created chapters he knew certain bloggers would find interesting. This led to an abundance of organic blog mentions, fueling the success of his book and, in the process, helping him create meaningful relationships.

Try to associate yourself with other successful entrepreneurs as much as possible. Doing so will help you learn from them, make you a more capable entrepreneur and possibly lead to more business opportunities.

4. They know how to promote themselves.



Derek Halpern, of the popular psychology/marketing blog SocialTriggers.com, reveals one of the key obstacles holding back most entrepreneurs - they don't know how to promote themselves. There is a fine line between arrogant bragging and (what I like to call) humbly promoting yourself. In order to show people your success without coming off as a pompous jerk, you must master the art of self-promoting.

"Context is everything," says Halpern. Rather than bringing up your accomplishments first, wait for the perfect opportunity, when someone else raises the topic first or provoke them to do so. This makes boasting of your success seem more organic and natural to the conversation you are having.

5. They work for more than money.



Steve Jobs, who has become a legend among entrepreneurs, attributes his success not to chasing money but to the desire to change the world for the better. In doing, so he created some of the world's most brilliant products.

Entrepreneurs that allow their focus to be 100% on financial gain neglect long-term well-being which leads many business owners to feel unfulfilled and depressed. Just as you should have a diversified portfolio of assets, you should diversify your well-being (i.e. spiritual, mental, emotional) in regards to your business.

6. They start before they feel ready.



What holds back many people from even starting their own business is the preconceived notion that they need more experience. The truth in that matter is that there is no "right" time to venture into the world of entrepreneurship. In fact, many (if not all) new entrepreneurs have no idea what they are doing - even the world's most successful such as Richard Branson. Starting a business is like reading a Choose Your Own Adventure book. There are various different ways to reach the end...just be willing to finish the book.

7. They learn from their failures.



Resilience and being able to reflect on your failures is what separates good entrepreneurs from the great ones. The ability to get knocked down over and over while maintaining focus on your end-goal requires tremendous mental fortitude. We often see the most successful business owners invite failure into their lives. A common mantra in the tech world is, "fail fast, fail often". In doing so you spend less time actually failing and more time learning about what got you there so you don't repeat your mistakes.

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/daniel-scalco/7-habits-of-highly-succes_b_6062278.html

10- Point Checklist For An Effective PPC Campaign

Just because setting up a blog is easy doesn’t mean everybody who blogs is an all-star. Along the same lines, just because Google and Bing make it easy to set up a PPC campaign doesn’t mean every advertiser is doing it properly. In fact, the low barrier to entry means a high number of PPC advertisers are doing it wrong.

This is good news! If you understand how to set up an effective PPC campaign, the odds are good you will outperform competitors who haven’t learned the value of following this checklist.

10-Point Checklist For Effective PPC Advertising

1. Have a clearly defined goal. Without one, how will you know if you are spending too much or not enough? A well-defined goal includes both a target number of leads generated by the campaign, and also a time frame in which to obtain them.

2. Understand the value of a customer. If the ROI calculation of your PPC campaign is based only on the value of the conversion, you may grossly underestimate your results. For instance, a PPC campaign may revolve around a $100 introductory offer that generates $20 of profit. But if the average lifetime value of a customer is $1,000 of profit over five years, what is the true value of your PPC conversion — $20, $5,000 or something in between? Define value with care.

3. Define what you are willing to pay for a validated lead. Once you have established the value of a customer, the next step is to determine how much you are willing to spend to obtain a new customer through your PPC campaign.

4. Have an appropriate budget to support your goals. A lofty goal plus a shoestring budget equals disaster. A significant ad spend is necessary – probably much more than the $500 per month many advertisers view as their ceiling – to generate enough conversions to make the campaign pay.

5. Make sure the market is viable. To some extent PPC is a numbers game. If enough people aren’t searching for your products or keywords to generate a critical mass of conversions, your campaign will never get explosive results. Do preliminary keyword research to make sure sufficient keyword search volume exists for your target terms.

6. Create landing pages for the campaign. Sending PPC visitors to the home page of a website is a huge mistake. Instead, craft customized landing pages specifically designed to convert visitors into sales leads.

7. Have resources to make site changes and manage the campaign. PPC campaigns involve systematic testing that leads to continuous refining and adjusting. To execute properly, a firm needs talent and experience in both managing campaigns and making changes to landing pages.

8. Have sales people ready to answer phone calls and emails immediately. Many potentially blockbuster PPC campaigns are destroyed by inept follow-up. When a PPC visitor converts, responding quickly and effectively is absolutely imperative.

9. Don’t give up too quickly. Several months are required to establish valid PPC performance benchmark data, and to know whether PPC is a good fit. In the early months of a campaign, conversions may be few and far between – but this does not necessarily mean you’ve failed. What you learn during those early months will help you adjust your campaign in terms of budget, the offer and the keyword targets. As the campaign is refined, conversions may well improve, and improve dramatically.

10. Track and validate phone calls and emails generated by your campaign. Without tracking, you cannot know whether a phone or email inquiry was generated by your PPC campaign, making ROI calculations impossible. But tracking is not enough: A firm must validate leads to separate true leads from other types of inquiries such as misdials, sales solicitations and customer service requests. If you consider all inquiries to be sales leads, you will greatly overestimate the effectiveness of your campaign.

Stay Actively Involved At All Times

Most of the points in this checklist require ongoing attention. Besides monitoring things within your control, such as the nature of your offer and the keywords you target, you must take into account things beyond your control that can change the dynamics of your PPC campaign. Competitors change strategies in ways that affect your results. Keyword volumes change as user behavior changes and as buzzwords come in and out of fashion within a niche. Thus, bonus tip, #11, is to conduct a strategic review of your campaign, preferably every six months, but definitely once each year. A fresh strategy will make your tactical proficiency that much more productive.

http://socialmediaimpact.com/10-point-checklist-effective-ppc-campaign/#

10 Tips on How to Choose a Domain Name for Your Business

These days, choosing a domain is one of the most important things you can do for an emerging business. In fact, until you have the domain name set, you may not want to get too cozy with that great business name idea you had. You can have the perfect name idea for your business, but if you can’t get the right domain, you’re probably going to want to scrap it and start over.

So before we get too far ahead of ourselves, let’s look at 10 tips for choosing a great domain name for your business.

1. Avoid Seemingly Spammy Characters

If you’re wondering how to choose a domain name for SEO, this is it. It used to be that you would stuff a bunch of keywords in your top level domain and that would help your site rank. These days, that doesn’t matter nearly as much as it once did. Today, you’ll do well if you focus on avoiding things like numbers and hyphens that appear spammy to the search engines. Keep in mind, though, that this isn’t a hard and fast rule. There are reputable websites that use these characters and can rank on the search engines, but just know that using them may put you at a slight disadvantage – especially if you’re over-using them. www.dont-overuse-hyphens-or-123s-in-your-url.com.

2. Keep it Short

Here’s another way to help with SEO. Whether you’re trying to learn how to choose a personal domain name or how to choose a domain name for your blog, keep it short. Long URLs often appear to be keyword stuffed and don’t tend to perform as well. Even if you’re not worried about SEO, don’t you want your domain to be as memorable as possible? Keep it short.

3. Make it Memorable

Keeping your domain name short is one way to make it memorable, but here are two more: Avoid names that can be pronounced in many different ways, and avoid misspellings (even if you think they are clever). Unless you plan to put a lot of marketing money behind your brand, it’s going to be difficult to get that name to stick in people’s minds.

4. Consider Choosing a Name with Relevance

This step is completely optional. Some of the best sites have the most random-seeming names. It’s okay. In a world where everyone has a website, it’s difficult to register a descriptive name for your business. But if you can choose something that relates to your business, it will help new customers easily understand what you’re all about.

5. Make a List of Great Names

Start brainstorming. This is the fun part. Just jot down every idea that comes to mind. Don’t be embarrassed if you think it’s silly. Just keep those ideas flowing directly from your brain through your pen (or keyboard).

6. Use a Domain Name Generator (If You’re Stuck)

If you are having trouble picking a domain name off the top of your head, look for domain name suggestions. Selecting a domain name isn’t easy, and you’ll likely go through many before you choose one that works.

7. Check Availability

Now, don’t even bother narrowing down your list. An availability check will do that for you. Head to a domain name registrar, such as Domain.com or Register.com, and start typing in the names on your list. Cross off the ones that are already registered and put a star next to those that are open. From here, you should be able to narrow your list to a shortlist of available domains.

8. Look for Similar Domains

Take that shortlist and think about how people could misspell or misunderstand those names. Now, check the misspellings and misunderstandings. If they point to a competitor’s site, it’s a definite “no go.” If it points to a non-competitor, you’ll have to decide if you can live with that. Ideally, any common misspellings or misunderstandings should be available, so you can also register those.

9. Check Availability Across Popular Domain Extensions

Many people will register their domain on the three most popular domain extensions: .com, .net and .co. When you’re ready to register, keep in mind that it can be done at any registrar, but they are not all the same. Prices and services vary among them, so be sure to do your homework. We often recommend Name Cheap and Network Solutions, but there are many choices.

10. Register Your Domain

Now that you’ve learned how to choose a domain name in 2014, you’re ready to take the plunge and register. You can check availability and register at any of the registrars mentioned in this post or at 123 Reg or United Domains. Selecting a domain name is the hard part. Choosing a domain name registrar is easy.

 

http://www.toptensocialmedia.com/social-media-how-to/10-tips-on-how-to-choose-a-domain-name-for-your-business/

Google Dynamic Remarketing Ads Rolling Out To All Advertisers

Ads automatically feature the products users visited on advertiser websites across the Google Display Network.

Back in June, Google launched dynamic remarketing for retailers in on the Google Display Network and said it was testing the ads in the travel and education verticals. This week, the company announced dynamic remarketing is rolling out across all verticals including education, hotels, flights, real estate and more.

Dynamic remarketing (or retargeting) ads that automatically insert product or items related to those that users viewed on a website. The service is not unique to Google, but now AdWords advertisers can run dynamic retargeting campaigns within the platform. Advertisers create one ad that can be personalized automatically right when an ad impression is served.

A travel package site, for example, can retarget a visitor who was looking at Mediterranean cruises, could automatically show that user an ad with a special deal on the package they viewed but didn’t book.

Google says that during beta testing, advertisers across verticals on average saw conversion rates double and cost-per-acquisition drop by 60 percent with dynamic ad retargeting.

Advertisers have access to a library of templates in AdWords that automatically resize across mobile and desktop devices.

Bidding optimization tools available in AdWords can be used on dynamic retargeting campaigns as well. Google explains the optimization works “by calculating optimal bids for each impression in real-time. This means if you sell an $800 camera and a $20 flashlight, AdWords will automatically prioritize winning more of the $800 conversions than the $20 conversions.”

For these new verticals, the ads pull product images and/or names from advertisers product feeds uploaded to the new Business data section within Google AdWords. Retailer products pull from feeds uploaded to Google Merchant Center.

Dynamic remarketing will be available to all advertisers over the next few weeks.

 

http://marketingland.com/google-dynamic-remarketing-rolling-advertisers-102476

Social media experimentation is start-ups’ rocket fuel

Brands must validate their existence on social media to win the hearts and minds of their customers

After a series of experiments, Jeremiah Gardner found Twitter to be the best platform for his audience. 

In a world where customers are smart, competition is fierce, and change is easy, business success cannot rely on a tight message, a pretty promise, and a large megaphone. Instead, success depends on inviting customers on a shared journey toward creating real value.

We all know that social media has transformed the communication landscape. If the conventional approach to branded communication was akin to an American football team’s play-reset-play-reset cycle, today’s brands must act more like a Premiership football club; constantly evolving, adapting and iterating different strategies, tactics and players to create value that delivers on your goals.

The challenge for businesses, no matter the size, is clear: deliver value or fail.

Lean branding, in short, is about discovering how to build a passionate, value-centered relationship with an audience through experimentation, validation, and iteration.

Experiment, validate, iterate

Social media is an incredibly powerful tool that enables businesses of all sizes to not just communicate in one direction (traditional media ‘broadcasting’) but platforms like Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and Yammer, have shifted communication to multi-directional.

As Brant Cooper, Bestselling author of The Lean Entrepreneur, says: “It is both synchronous and asynchronous, it is both real-time and time-lagged, it is one-to-one, one-to-many, many-to-one, and many-to-many. You have to exist on multiple channels and prepare (if not invent) the next one.”

To find success, an organisation must discover the most effective channels and the strongest mediums in which to connect with its customers. This means before you develop a strategy for Twitter or a content calendar for Pinterest, you must validate (through experimentation) the influence of the specific channel you’ve chosen to reach your chosen audience.

To be most effective, narrowing your choices down to one or two highly influential channels, where the demand for the content being delivered can be demonstrated, will create the most traction.

Validated channels = more customers.

Lessons from the frontline

Recently, this principle was taken to task. In anticipation of launching my crowdfunded book, The Lean Brand, we were faced with the challenge of developing an audience around a completely new concept – lean branding. Without a “product” to show, a pre-set audience, or a familiar topic to rely on, we turned to experimentation to learn how to foster this new relationship. Social media marketing was integral.

Step 1

To start, we worked to discover which channel to use by delivering the same posts, over time, across multiple channels and measuring the result. Was the message received? Did people engage with it? Did they share it? If so, why? After a few iterations on our experiment, we found that for our campaign, Twitter showed the most engagement and had the most passionate audience in terms of the many retweets, shares, and direct conversations coming from those first few posts.

At this stage, we had validated the channel, but not the content.

Step 2

To validate content, we began to experiment with different types of posts: sentences from the book, quotes from other authors, photos, blogposts, and other articles we found interesting. We wanted to learn who our audience was, what they were passionate about, and what they were interested in learning from us.

The result?

People loved to have candid connection with us directly. They wanted to hear about the progress on the book, they wanted to ask direct questions, and they wanted to get to know me, as a person, more intimately. So, we followed their lead. If I wrote a sentence for the book that I felt was great, I’d turn to Twitter to test that sentence out. If we found a particular article to be relevant, we’d share it and measure the result.

The learning we gained through our experiments enabled us to build, in real-time, a passionate audience around the book. (That passion was clearly demonstrated with the funding our crowd-publishing campaign at 184% of our goal).

No matter your endeavor, experimentation will illuminate the path to success. No “Top 10 Tips,” or recommended best practices can lead you to building the passionate audience you intend to build.

As much as traditional marketing experts may flinch at the notion, control has shifted into the hands of brands and entrepreneurs willing to experiment, validate, and learn in pursuit of building real relationships with their audience

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/sep/08/social-media-experimentation-is-start-ups-rocket-fuel

Top five tips to launch a business with a new baby

Launching a business is always hard work but it’s even more of a whirlwind when you have a new baby.

 

Despite the extra challenge, entrepreneur Chloe Brookman says new mums should seize the opportunity of flexible time and a period of change and just go for it.

 

“If you wait for every element to be in order before you start then you will be waiting a very long time. Get started. Launch right now,” she says.

 

“Launching a new business while being a full-time mum is hard work, I'll be the first to admit it. But it's so very doable as many women have shown, it's just a matter of being passionate, organised and focused.”

 

Brookman founded baby furniture company Olli Ella in 2010. They now distribute across the world to a wide range of retailers and directly.

 

She shared her top five tips with StartupSmart below.

 

1. Don’t fret about the perfect business plan

 

A new business is a lot like a new baby. You may understand what it could entail but it’s not until you’re dealing with the day-to-day challenges and changes that you get a feel for what you’re nurturing.

 

“A business plan is just that: a plan. We never did one, and I think that this one of the factors that has enabled us to propel our brand; we were completely flexible,” Brookman says.

 

2. Set goals to stay nimble and sharp

 

Setting goals in six month batches helps an evolving start-up stay nimble and on target.

 

“We knew where we wanted to be in the next six months and once we got there, we reassessed and set loose goals for the next year,” Brookman says. “A very basic plan with an outline of your business vision, goals and next steps is all you really need, that is unless you are going to be asking for outside investment.”

 

3. Start small and self-fund if you can

 

Once you take on investors, your flexibility is limited by external expectations that need to be met.

 

“If you can, self-fund your business venture without seeking outside investment,” Brookman says. “Have a look at your business, a good honest look and you will see that doing it yourself is actually doable.”

 

Olli Ella chose to manufacture their products locally to make it more manageable.

 

“We had two options: to manufacture overseas in high volumes, low cost but with large profit margins for us. This would involve hefty start-up capital, a warehouse, costly trips overseas – the list goes on. Our other option was to manufacture locally in small volumes, high cost and low profit margins for us. We opted for the latter,” she says.

 

4. Build the right community around you

 

For new business owners, surrounding yourself with the right advisers is the most important thing you can do.

“Whether or not you are an expert in your field or, as in our case, are entering a new field in your new business, you will need advisers. Speak to as many people as you can who are experts in their field, write out a list of questions, and sit down with these experts and pick their brains,” Brookman says.

 

Developing a supportive community goes beyond just advisers. It should also include a network of business owners.

 

“Navigating the launch of a new business is daunting at best; it's unknown waters and can be very lonely, even when working with a business partner. To help combat this start your own network of fellow female entrepreneurs; these can be people that you know, meet at networking events, or find through Gumtree or Facebook,” Brookman says.

 

She adds that keeping the group to fewer than 10 people and meeting monthly creates a sustainable approach.

 

5. Learn from your mistakes

 

“This is the greatest adventure that you are about to embark on. Love the lows as much as the highs, welcome mistakes because you will grow from them.”

 

http://www.startupsmart.com.au/home-based-business/work/life-balance/top-five-tips-to-launch-a-business-with-a-new-baby/2014020611635.html

Why “Going Viral” Means More Than Getting Pageviews-Digital Marketing Summit at SMX - Sara Critchfield of Upworthy

Growing Your Million-Dollar Network

As a business coach and consultant, I’m often asked, “How were you able to get major corporations, celebrities, presidential candidates, millionaires, and even billionaires to partner with you and champion your business, products, and services when you were first getting started?” The next question is usually, “Is it possible for me, as an average person, to also build a multi-million-dollar business network?” You bet it is!

Nearly anyone can build a multi-million-dollar business network if you understand two key insights:

• Insight #1. Everyone is accessible if you raise your value to that person or company and approach them with enough “polite persistence.”

• Insight #2. Always focus on what is in it for the person or company that you want to help you. 

Four powerful tips for building your network

1. Target leaders and early adopters to achieve maximum results quickly

People generally fall into certain categories: leaders, early adopters, followers, and then everyone else. If you need assistance, start by targeting the leaders in your niche. Next, move on to the early adopters, and lastly, the followers.

• Visionary leaders and companies who are known for innovation and being on the cutting edge should be your first target. They are more likely to take risks on new ventures and individuals. As key influencers and opinion molders, their endorsements will carry significant weight, which will help your project or venture quickly gain momentum with the media other major players and the general public.

• Early adopters (those individuals who are always the first to try new things) should be your second target. Early adopters typically have large networks. If you can solve their problems, they can give your idea, project, or company a strong push early on. 

• Followers should be targeted last as they need social proof before making decisions. Since they require validation from others before taking action, it will take longer to receive a “yes” from them if you do not already have a significant track record and major endorsements.

2. Identify and raise your value to get more people to help you

Most people make the mistake of seeking help with an “I need” or “I want” mentality. Instead, you should focus on the value and benefit that you can create for the people that you want to help you. Take inventory of the skills, assets, and contacts that you bring to the table which can help them. You should not ask or expect “something for nothing.” You will have much greater success when seeking partners if you appeal to their self-interest rather than their sense of obligation or good will. Even if you don’t have upfront cash to compensate people, you can always:

• create an income opportunity for them

• refer business to them

• generate publicity for them

• connect them with influential people in your network

• help support their favorite cause or charity

3. Offer turnkey solutions to avoid resistance

You can significantly increase your income, credibility, and odds for long-term success by offering turnkey solutions. By presenting well thought out, ready-made, and proven solutions that require little to no work on behalf of your mentors, colleagues, joint-venture partners, and customers, you can dramatically increase your buy-in, support, sales, customer retention, and referrals. Profit lies in reducing the amount of work that others must do to receive the benefit that your idea has to offer.

4. Follow up with polite persistence to get a “yes!”

Successful individuals and decision makers in major organizations are very busy people. They have many issues and opportunities competing for their time. So, when approaching these busy individuals, you will often hear “no” initially. Don’t be discouraged. Many people will need to see your marketing message up to nine times before they take action, which is why education-based marketing campaigns are so important and extremely effective.

Ultimately, 80 percent of your success will be the result of your soft skills-;your ability to network and form mentoring relationships, strategic partnerships, joint ventures, and political alliances. Those with limited networks are always the last to know and the last to be helped. Without question, your network is a direct reflection of your net worth. Leverage these four great tips now to expand your relationships and your business and income opportunities.

http://www.inc.com/visa/growing-your-million-dollar-network.html

Facebook Boosts Event Visibility With New Ad Format

The new format is designed to help brands bring awareness to their events within Facebook’s network. How can business marketers get the most out of this offering?

To enable businesses to reach even more people, Facebook is introducing new tools designed to help Pages better promote their events.

Previously, event listings were only shown in Facebook's right-hand column on desktop. But now, brands can display their events in both the desktop and mobile News Feed, as shown below:



Page owners can create this new type of event ad in both the Ad Create tool and Power Editor.

In addition, hosts can now access some metrics in the right-hand column of an event Page, including the number of people who've seen a link to the event on Facebook, the number of people who've viewed the event, and the number of RSVPs (joins, saves, and maybes) to the event.

Commenting on the new event response ad, Gary Stein, senior vice president (SVP) of agency Sterling Brands, says, "Anything that can get a brand into the News Feed is a good thing," as Facebook has been limiting brands' ability to get into this "prime space."

While Stein believes Facebook's "Events" feature presents a big opportunity for business marketers, he says few brands have tapped into this offering.

"Events really draw focus to a brand and not enough brands take advantage of it," Stein notes, saying that brands should think about the things they have been doing and decide if they can add events to their strategy.

"[An event] also creates a new call to action (CTA), which is to attend. That is an easy thing for people to say yes to, especially if it is just to tune in online or something," Stein adds.

How can marketers get the most out of Facebook's "Events" tool? Use it judiciously. Brands shouldn't bombard consumers with events just to get attention, Stein says. "Only create events for things that are momentous and meaningful. A brand should try to not create too many events or events for trivial things," he says. "That will just get people grouchy."

This new events ad format will be available in the coming weeks to Page owners around the world.

 

http://www.clickz.com/clickz/news/2362627/facebook-boosts-event-visibility-with-new-ad-format

How to Ensure Your SEO Strategy Delivers the Right Traffic

When it comes to SEO, achieving first page rankings and getting more traffic is one thing, but what about ensuring those rankings deliver the right type of traffic to your website, traffic that will actually convert into new customers?

Here are three steps to ensure that your SEO campaign delivers the right traffic to your website.

Step 1: Identify Your Target Audience

You know your customers. So, identifying your target audience should be the easy part, but when it comes to SEO, this isn't always the case. If you offer different service or product lines, your target audience may comprise of a number of different segments. This makes identifying your target audience for SEO purposes much more difficult.

 If you attempt to go after every possible customer in one fail swoop, your SEO strategy will most likely fail. Instead, methodically carve away the different segments, and target them incrementally. When you achieve success with one segment, then move onto the next. This is necessary because depending on the type of business you're in, each segment may have very different needs and wants.

 How do you identify which segment to target first? It's a good idea to start with your most profitable and least competitive segment, so you can quickly start generating a return on your investment.

Step 2: Select the Right Keywords

Once you've identified which segment you want to target, the next step is selecting the keywords those prospective customers will use when searching for your product or service.

When selecting keywords, don't just look for the ones that deliver the highest search volume. Put yourself in your customers' shoes, and look for keywords that make sense from their perspective. There is a lot of "advice" out there about choosing keywords that have an ideal combination of search volume and competition. However, all of that is irrelevant if you fail to choose keywords that prospective customers will actually use when searching for your products or services.

In addition to choosing relevant keywords, take the purchase intent of those keywords into account. You can have two very similar keywords that indicate very different intentions by the searcher. Keywords with high purchase intent are more likely to convert than keywords with low purchase intent, and are typically long-tail keywords, with lower search volume, and less competition.

Example

For example, let's say a contractor that specializes in kitchen remodels is considering the following keywords, "kitchen remodel" and "kitchen remodeling contractor." The keyword, "kitchen remodel" is much more attractive initially because the data shows that it receives significantly more search volume than "kitchen remodeling contractor."

However, there are two reasons why "kitchen remodeling contractor" is the better choice. First, it has far less competition, and the contractor actually has a shot at achieving first page rankings. Second, someone searching for "kitchen remodel" could be looking for a number of things, not necessarily a kitchen remodeling service. They could be looking for pictures as inspiration for a future potential remodel, or a how-to because they intend to attempt a remodel themselves.

While it is possible that someone using the "kitchen remodel" search term could become a customer in the future, someone searching for a "kitchen remodeling contractor" is likely ready to execute their remodel, and is simply looking for the right contractor.

Step 3: Provide Content Your Customers Care About

 

The next step to ensuring the right visitors find your website is by providing them with content they find relevant and useful. Your website's content should be able to answer your customers' questions. So, think about what your customers typically want to know prior to doing business with you, and make sure your content answers those questions.

 

Here are a few examples of how this can be achieved:

1. Are you selling a service that requires a high level of expertise? Publish posts to your website's blog regularly to show that you're an expert in your field

2. Do your customers typically want to see examples of past work? Provide a project gallery to showcase your previous projects, and supplement it with testimonials to reinforce trust and credibility.

3. Do you sell a product that your customers typically like to compare against other products? Provide a product comparison review that shows why your product is the better choice.

By providing content that your customers care about, you're not only satisfying their needs by answering their questions, but you're also giving them an avenue to find your website.

Conclusion

To ensure that your SEO strategy delivers the right traffic to your website, identify your target audience, select high purchase intent keywords your prospective customers will actually use, and provide them with relevant and useful content that answers their questions.

 

http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2356679/How-to-Ensure-Your-SEO-Strategy-Delivers-the-Right-Traffic

8 Problems That Startups Are Lucky to Have

Starting a business is never as simple as you think. Businesses are increasingly diverse and countless metrics and variables need to come into effect for channels to work for the long term. Entrepreneurs and startups have to be smart and they need to be open to endless solutions. In fact, if you don’t think ahead, you can be buried in the success your business creates or possibly wrapped up in an endless supply of unforeseen work that can lead to dwindling profits.

 

All businesses face challenges in the beginning, but here are some “problems” facing startup entrepreneurs that might not be so bad after all:
 

1. Too Much Ambition

You need this. Are you starting a business so you can sleep in late or to create something real? Think long term and very smart, all the time.

2. The Industry Is Too Large

With luck your industry is a behemoth. Not that it has to be, it just helps when you’re trying to capture revenue from a $250 billion global block. Competition is a good thing and should not detour potentials from setting up shop.

3. Too Much Information

What type of business it is? Are you revamping mobile payments or are you bidding on city garbage contracts? You can find information on both. On the latter, there will be competitors and neighboring businesses that you should be able to contact and discuss. You have to like learning. There’s no such thing as a lazy entrepreneur.

4. Your Industry Needs Growth

Read forecasts and pay attention to industries. We are in a global world now, and global events change prices on commodities. Money is a necessity. If you don’t want overhead, don’t own transport buses. Maybe your industry is way behind, just make sure the business idea itself it not super easy to replicate (i.e., Groupon).

5. Too Few Professional Reqs

Remote workers? Why not. Make your office a large meeting and collaboration area. Overhead needs to be at a very low cost ratio. Maybe it’s an eCommerce site. These are businesses of the future. To a degree, you may need accountants and staff accounts, but be creative and outsource what you can, when you can, so long as you don’t lose quality.

6. Too Much Money

Holding out for revenue for five years only happens to a select few, and thankfully so. Take the startup scene of Chicago, for example. Many entrepreneurs are revenue-centric and place an early emphases on this. If you do the same, you’ll be glad you did.

7. Too Many Skills

If revenue doesn’t come early, you’ll still need funding. Ideas are cheap and often a red flag for the very beginning stages. If you have the skills, make it happen. You should be able to figure it out. Some of the most successful companies bootstrapped their finances and made it big. Maybe you need to ramp up one company while holding down another job.

8. Too Much Planning

You are obsessed and hyper-driven, checking your schedule at midnight to ensure efficiency and that you’re on top of it. There’s a healthy balance to it all, but everyone knows that hard work at the onset leads to better peace of mind. While you can’t control everything, you can control what you know and how you act during the most important times. Common sense will always be your friend. Would you start a French M&A company in Kansas? Perhaps you would if there were a high density of French conglomerate owners. Market research is key, but more so when your thoughts are analytical, logical, and wide encompassing. If you are the one in charge, you have to be the one leading the way, and you have work to see what others miss.

 

http://experts.allbusiness.com/8-problems-startups-are-lucky-to-have/1642/

Dot.com-ing Your Business

Eight Elements of a Successful Online Marketing Plan

Whether you’re excited, apprehensive, or both, you’ve decided that the best thing for your business is to get tapped into the opportunities available to you online. But where do you even start?

From building your own website to setting up social media profiles, joining directories, advertising, and more, your digital checklist is more than a little overwhelming.

One of the main challenges small businesses face in terms of influencing—or even joining—the online social conversation is that there is simply so much information out there. It’s difficult to know where to start, where to focus, and where to invest the marketing dollars and time you have. And as you may suspect, the stakes are fairly high: If you don’t connect with consumers in the right ways and invest in the right social channels, your efforts could very well have no impact—or worse, a detrimental effect—on your business. The following are eight specific tactics to help you establish and grow your company’s online presence:

1. Clean out the skeletons in your online closet. If you’re a newcomer to the Internet scene, you may be surprised to find that it’s already familiar with you. Specifically, one of many online business directories has probably pulled your physical address and other information together into what’s called a “skeleton profile.” The problem is, many skeleton profiles contain inaccurate or incomplete information. The same website (such as Google, Bing, or Yelp) might even have two or more different profiles for the same business.

That’s why your first task should be simply searching for your business on various online business directories (like Citysearch and Google). Make a list of the skeleton profiles you find and note any changes that need to be made. Most online directories will allow you to log in and claim your page. From there, you can report and correct any errors and merge duplicate pages. As you’re working, make sure that every online entity you manage displays your business information in exactly the same way to avoid accidentally creating more duplicates.

2. Set up an online storefront… As you first develop your online presence, you may not have much free time or extra money to devote to this task. That’s okay, it’s perfectly fine—even advisable—to take a minimalistic approach when building and furnishing your online storefront (i.e., your website). Bells and whistles aren’t nearly as important as making sure your website is professional, accurate, and representative of your offline storefront experience in terms of general tone and branding.

Specifically, your site needs to convey reliable, accurate, and up-to-date information. It should have a prominently displayed way to contact your business that allows browsers to easily get in touch with you if they want to. It should also have a trouble-free way for customers to read and write testimonials or reviews about the service or product you provide.

Most importantly, your website needs to have the right keywords (and enough of them) located throughout the main and secondary site pages to ensure that you’ll rank in the first few pages when prospective customers are searching for what you offer. Think about the terms customers might use when searching for a business like yours. For instance, if you own a heating and cooling repair company, you’d want to sprinkle words and phrases like “central heating,” “A/C repair,” “HVAC,” “broken heater,” etc. into your website’s copy.

3. ...and monitor the neighborhood. One of the most exciting—and most frightening—aspects of the Internet is that it opens up a constant conversation among businesses, existing customers, and potential customers. Consumers who have used your product or service can publicly post glowing reviews or scathing criticisms, neither of which you can completely control, and both of which can have a marked effect on your present and future success.

That’s why it’s important to keep an eye on what’s being said about your business, both on and off your website. Positive and negative online feedback is valuable, because each gives you real-time feedback about what’s working and what’s not. Plus, while you often can’t erase negative feedback, you can post information informing consumers how you have addressed the problem. Often, you can even apologize to the original poster directly. An easy way to track what’s being said about your business is to set up Google alerts, which will send you emails when your business name, your name, or any other relevant search term is found on the web.

4. Put yourself on the map. Most likely, you identified a few skeleton profiles when you searched for your business on popular online directories. Now it’s time to strategically augment them. Based on your location, identify the top three online directories that consumers use when searching for the product or service you offer. For instance, social and crowd-sourced sites like Yelp and Foursquare tend to be more popular in major metro areas, while more traditional directories like Yellow Pages, Citysearch, and MerchantCircle are utilized in more rural areas. Make sure you prioritize search engine directories like Google, Yahoo, and Bing.

Once you have identified the top three directories, set up a business profile on each of them. In addition to your basic information, add photos and a business description that tells a story to potential buyers. You can also comment on or address any existing reviews that need attention. Now, you’re in a great position to monitor and interact with your potential customers as time permits. Remember, the value you’ll get out of these online reputation outlets depends almost entirely on the quality of your engagement with customers.

5. Work on your social life. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know how popular social media has become. But did you know that, when used effectively, social media sites can increase your business’s visibility, give you an opportunity to present a more personal side to potential customers, drive awareness through social activity and check-ins, and turn casual buyers into true fans?

If you have the time-and-energy bandwidth to do so, set up profiles for your business on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. A little research will usually show you which sites your target market spends the most time on. And don’t just stick to status updates. Bear in mind that the old saying, “a picture is worth a thousand words” is as true online as it is in the “real world.” It’s been shown that a Facebook status update with a photo and caption generates around four times higher engagement than text alone does, as long as the content is appropriate for the channel and your audience.

6. Do regular maintenance. It’s a given that over time, your business will evolve. You’ll modify your logo, employees will come and go, information and photos will become outdated, you’ll introduce new products, etc. That’s why it’s important to set up a regular online maintenance schedule—doing it at least quarterly—to make necessary updates to your website and various online profiles.

However, there are some updates you should make immediately. If you’ve moved locations, changed your contact information, modified your hours, or made any other change that could make it difficult for customers to find you with existing online information, it should also be updated online. Don’t make yourself crazy doing online maintenance, but bear in mind that the more accurate your website and profiles are, the more useful they’ll be in attracting, informing, and helping customers.

7. Consider hiring pros to boost your reputation. After you have established a basic online presence, the sky is the limit in terms of how involved, extensive, and creative your interactions with consumers can be. But if you’re like most small business owners, the basics are all you have the time and resources to cover yourself.

If that’s the case, don’t worry—you’ve done what’s necessary to set up an online storefront in which customers can connect with you. But if you still want to up the ante, know that there are paid-for services to help you connect even more quickly and effectively with potential and existing customers. For instance, you can invest in “paid search,” which enables you to purchase the rights for a higher display rate when consumers search for specific terms. You can also advertise with business directories like Google and Yelp and post deals directly on your business profile; for instance, offering a discount to first-time buyers.

8. Be smart with your budget. In one very important way, establishing and growing your online presence is no different from establishing and growing your physical one: You need to be financially savvy. For instance, the last thing you want is to blow your overall budget in the course of creating a too-ambitious online marketing plan.

Especially at first, figuring out how much you should allocate to online marketing can be tricky. Start by cataloguing your current marketing allocations, categorizing by group (e.g., direct mail, events, print marketing, broadcast marketing, etc.). Then, figure out which category or categories are least effective. These are the marketing efforts you’ll want to scale back in order to test new online channels. HBM

 

http://www.homebusinessmag.com/marketing/internet-marketing/dotcom-ing-your-business

 

Is it Time to Move Your Business Out of the Spare Bedroom?

Moving from a home office, where occupancy costs are effectively zero, to rented space is a big decision.

Obviously, monthly expenses will increase. You’ll have to pay rent. If it’s not included in the rent, you’ll have to cover utility costs. In some circumstances, there may be other monthly fees for services such as cleaning and grounds maintenance. There will also be one-time costs. You may need to hire movers or purchase furniture, office equipment, or phone systems.

However, there are solid reasons to set up shop in a location other than in your home.

1. Not a home-based business. Regardless of expense, there are certain businesses that cannot be run out of your home for legal, regulatory or infrastructure reasons. For example, you cannot operate a business that produces large quantities of toxic chemicals in most neighbourhoods. Similarly, if the equipment you use in your business requires large amounts of three-phase power, the power delivered to your home is likely to be insufficient. Clearly, some enterprises are simply not meant to be home-based.

2. Revenue benefits from moving out of your home. Consider a business where prospective clients routinely visit you before making a decision to purchase your product or service. There is a perception that rented space is more professional than a home office. Moving may attract additional sales. In fact, the increase in monthly revenue may be greater than the extra cost associated with renting space. In such a situation, you should move the business out of your home as soon as you can cover the one-time costs.

3. Hiring employees. When you decide to hire your first non-family-member employee, a move to rented space may be justified. You may not be comfortable having your new employee come to your home every day, particularly if you have to spend considerable time out of the office. Alternatively, you may find that it’s difficult to hire the type of employee you want while working out of your home. In the employment market, there is a bias against home-based businesses. For instance, many colleges and universities prohibit home-based organizations from advertising positions on their job boards.

4. Space limitations. If you have employees and your business grows, physical space may become the limiting factor. As your enterprise expands, the time may come when you can no longer operate effectively out of your home because there simply isn’t enough space. Still, in these cases, we advise staying in your home office as long as it’s feasible. Moving will mean higher costs with limited corresponding benefit. If possible, allowing some employees to work virtually can slow your need for additional space.

5. Productivity boost. Perhaps your home provides too many distractions that keep you from staying on task. If you find that the ability to work at any time creates a casual or informal relationship to your work, you may need to move. An informal attitude can promote procrastination and other habits deadly to entrepreneurs. Sometimes physically leaving home to go to an office may help you to be more effective. The different environment triggers a “now-I-am-at-work” mindset that will improve your output.

6. People interaction. Working from home can be a lonely experience, especially if you are used to having colleagues. While interaction with vendors and customers can provide some contact, long days spent working alone can wear on your creativity. Co-working space can provide a low-cost, low-commitment option if you are feeling a bit like Robinson Caruso. Co-working spaces often supply printers, internet, copiers and coffee -- essentials for most entrepreneurs. In addition, co-working spaces allow collaboration, interaction and support for start-ups and more established businesses.

Moving your home-based business into rented space will increase expense. However, there are good reasons to make this decision. Make sure you know when the time is right to give up your very short commute and move out of the spare bedroom.

 

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/233331