Virtual tips for the savvy business owner!

We’ve talked a great deal about the need for a blog as part of your overall marketing strategy. Now, to make that blog really worthwhile, it’s necessary to optimize it for search engines just as you do your websites. Let’s look at some easy ways to make sure the search engines fall in love with your blog.

· Ping the Search Engines: This one is very important, so hang on for a quick explanation. There are two different kinds of search engines as far as blogs go, blog specific ones such as Technorati and general ones like Google and Yahoo.

It’s possible to “ping” those search engines and let them know you have new content ready to be indexed. The good news is that Google indexes Technorati’s pages, as well.

o Automated pinging: the major blog applications have a setting for auto-pinging. Look at your blog’s settings for something that says “Publishing” and then “Notify” and turn that setting on.

You can also use auto-pinging services like www.pingoat.com or www.pingomatic.com to get the word out.

o Manual pinging: To let Technorati know you have something wonderful to be added to their listings, sign up for a membership and then use the link http://www.technorati.com/ping to notify them. Caution: You don’t want to be obnoxious about this! Pinging every single thing you write will earn you a big frown in the blogosphere.

Here’s a great blog post on the topic of pinging your blog: http://www.blogdoctor.me/2006/12/pinging-simplified.html

· Tag Your Posts: Be sure to use the tagging function provided by your blog host to make posts more searchable. Also, add your Technorati tags right on your blog page to make indexing easier.

· Use Your Keywords: Use the same keywords you use for your websites within blog posts, but don’t be heavy-handed. Work them in naturally as you’re talking to your audience.

· Offer Valuable Content: Blog readers are looking for content they can use, not your every thought on a topic. Link to valuable resources. Give them ideas for solving problems. Talk about current events in your industry. The more valuable your content, the more search engines will love it.

· Comment on Other Blogs: Find great blogs related to your content and start commenting. Your blog’s link will be in your signature line, and you’ll become known as an expert, which increases blog traffic and search engine interest.

These are just a few of the ways to attract the search engines to your blog. Implement them as soon as you can, and use the traffic tracking tools provided by your blog host to see which ones help most. With some conscious effort toward optimization, anyone can soon have a blog the search engine spiders will love.

In a perfect online marketing world, every website reader would automatically buy your products, or at least want to learn more about them. In the real world, however, it takes a little more direction from you, the website publisher, to get potential customers to take the next step. That direction is known as a “call to action” and every online business owner should know how to craft a great one.

What’s the Point?
In a nutshell, a call to action is persuasive text that compels your readers to want to know more, buy now or sign up. A quick tour of Internet marketing sites will show you some examples of the good, the bad, and the just plain silly! Look at these examples and notice what they direct the reader to do.

Call to Action #1: Xavier College wants to help you complete your degree quickly and affordably. Click here for more information.

Call to Action #2: Acme Internet Marketing guarantees you’ll be a millionaire by this time next year. Enroll now in our Mega-Wealth Seminar!

Call to Action #3: Stay ahead of your competition with up-to-date industry information. Subscribe to our weekly podcasts.

Each of these examples tells the reader how to take the next step. If your website visitors aren’t sure what to do next, they’re probably clicking away to your competition.

Why Should They Take the Plunge?
Something else great calls to action have in common is spelling out plainly the benefit of buying your product or service. Practice writing a one-sentence capsule of why someone should take the plunge and buy.

Will they be thinner, happier or richer? Will their children be better behaved or their lawns greener? That concise statement may be all they read, so tell them clearly what you can deliver.

And now that you’ve persuaded them, what do they do next? Whether they should click, call or download, it must be clearly stated and easy to do to keep them interested.

Is it Easy to Find?
Here are some effective strategies for making your calls to action stand out on web pages:
•    Use clickable buttons: You may want to embed links to your sign-up page within the text of your call to action, but somewhere on the web page, use clickable buttons that lead them to the next step, as well.
•    Position a call to action in several places: Don’t make your prospects read an eight page sales letter before they find the link to buy. Give them the ability to purchase, subscribe or get more information several places on your website, to match each prospect’s attention span.

What Happens Next?
And, finally, when you’ve captured their attention and they’re ready to buy, learn more or sign up, what could possibly shut down the momentum? A link or clickable button that doesn’t work!

When planning a successful call to action, test the entire sequence as though you’re a consumer. Tweak the process until doing business with you is a pleasure.

A great call to action can make the difference between a hugely successful campaign and a disaster. Take the time to perfect yours and find out for yourself what giving directions can do.

Paid search services such as Google AdWords can be a great boost to online business. But if you’re betting the farm on that single strategy, what will you do if their prices go sky high? Listen up as we unfold a more stable marketing strategy, helping you to avoid the paid search gamble.

Diversity’s the Key
You probably learned early in business to develop more than one product to attract more business. The same applies in marketing. Rather than rolling the dice on one marketing tool, promote your website with a diverse range of marketing channels.

You can still invest in Google AdWords, but keep in mind those highly-visible ads do nothing to improve your search engine ranking. They’re simply advertisements. Long-term success online always depends on consistent search engine ranking.

There’s another reason to broaden your marketing beyond pay-per-click. Sponsored search ads offered by sites like Google, Yahoo, and Kanoodle allow you to set a budget for what you’ll bid per click. But what if other online retailers set the bar beyond what you can afford? Do you really want to scramble to create new content to match the keywords within your budget?

It makes more sense to build a broader base for marketing, so you’re attracting new customers several different ways. Here are some of the ways you can avoid the pay search gamble while still building business online:

1.    Social Media Marketing: Use sites like Twitter, Facebook, Digg and LinkedIn to create an online following. It takes commitment to update your content frequently, but building a social media network can really pay off in new inbound links and sales.
2.    Connect the Dots: You may already have several marketing avenues, but haven’t connected them completely. Are your blogs linked to all your websites? Do you have links to your websites on your Facebook page? Does your Twitter profile provide a path to learn more about your products? Connect the dots for a more cohesive presence.
3.    Talk to Your Audience: The blogosphere and online forums have made marketing even easier. Connect more closely with your audience by taking off your “marketer” hat and learning to talk to your audience. Find the online forums they frequent and start talking. Create blogs relevant to their interests and keep them current. It really can pay off without costing you anything but time.

Buying AdWords each month or budgeting for Yahoo sponsored ads is one way to attract new business. Smart online website owners, however, have learned to avoid the paid search gamble by using diverse marketing channels that play off each other and pay off in sales, as well.

We all hope to be successful on the Internet. That’s why we spend so much time perfecting our websites and learning what works online. It’s not enough, though, to create a great website. To really start making money online, you may need to use tools such as Google’s AdWords and AdSense. Here’s a quick lesson on each, so that you can decide if they’ll work for you.

•    Google AdWords: This is simply a group of advertising programs through Google that allow you to advertise your website on Google.com searches and/or their content network. Sound complicated? Let me break it down into two basic programs:
•    Pay-Per-Click Ads (PPC): Pay-Per-Click ads are placed at the top or right hand side of search results on Google. As an advertiser, you bid on specific search words or phrases. Here’s the great part—you only pay if the search engine user actually clicks through to your website. That’s called a “click.” An “impression” means they saw your ad in their search results, but didn’t click.

Google helps you set your PPC budget by estimating the search volume for those specific words or phrases. You decide how much per “click” you can afford to pay. There are numerous free tools from Google to help you select the right search keywords for your website content and track your AdWords activity.

•    Content Targeted Ads: Some advertisers want to expand beyond Google search engine results, while maintaining control of their advertising through a single site. Google allows website publishers to target specific content, geographic locations or other demographics through targeted ads on their partner sites.

If you choose this option, your ads will appear on web pages most likely to attract readers who will also like your products. For example, if you sell running shoes, you could choose to have your ad appear next to an article on how to train for a marathon. Again, you only pay if they click through from the ad to your website.

If you have more questions, here’s the link to information straight from the source: Google AdWords Details.

•    Google AdSense: AdSense puts you on the other side of the Google advertising equation by allowing you to make money by accepting other people’s ads on your blog or website.

As we discussed above under “Content Targeted Ads,” AdWords users can ask to have their ads placed on relevant websites in hopes they’ll attract customers. When they appear on your site, those contextually targeted ads can create a whole new income source for your business without any further expense.

There are several ways you can make AdSense work for you:
o    By allowing AdWords ads on your blog or website, you’re paid whenever someone clicks through on an ad (called Cost-Per-Click).
o    By adding search capability on your website. Google search results will appear as relevant, and you’re paid each time someone clicks on an ad.
o    By allowing AdWords ads on your mobile web content, RSS feeds or unused domains.

To find more information on Google AdSense, click here.

Before we finish this discussion, there is something that needs to be said about the impact of Google AdWords or AdSense on your organic search engine ranking. In a word, there is none.

Put another way, even if you’re allowing lots of content relevant AdSense ads on your blog, it doesn’t mean your blog will appear closer to the top in Google search results.

In the same way, although your Pay-Per-Click ads may appear at the top or right hand side of search results, that doesn’t mean that in the normal search results “below the line” you’ll be any closer to the top.

Here’s why: the Google AdWords algorithm is completely separate from that used for organic searches. The spiders, bots and ranking techniques used to decide which search results will appear when a phrase is entered are different than those used for AdWords PPC. So, if someone tells you they stopped using AdWords and their search engine ranking fell, they’re misinformed. The two simply aren’t related.

Use the information and links above to start your research on AdWords and AdSense. You can then make an informed decision about whether they’ll help you make more money on the Internet.

If I visited your website right now, would I be moved to take action? A great website has prospects up out of their seats and ready to buy.  Why not use the following tips to create a website that has them reaching for the mouse, instead of sitting back in their seats?

The secret to getting prospects to take action once they reach your website is to have great calls to action for everything. In other words, make them an offer and then show them how to buy. Let’s talk about how this might look on a website.

Our sample website owner provides hypnosis services for smoking cessation, weight loss and fear of flying. She has also written several ebooks on the benefits of hypnosis and offers a set of CDs with positive affirmations.

If she wasn’t interested in growing her business, she’d have one or two links on her landing page that lead to her products page. Some prospects might make the effort to hunt down her products.

Here’s how she could be sure to have them raising their hands. She could split her offers into separate sections on her landing page and have clickable buttons and a call to action for each. For example:

    Click here to find out how hypnosis will help you stop smoking.
    Follow this link to savings on our latest affirmations.
    See the entire selection of ebooks here.

Each of these calls to action is part of a compelling offer. They’re easy to find, and it’s obvious what the reader should do to go to the next level. No mind-numbing sales page here; this savvy website publisher knows how to hold her prospects’ interest.

So, now that you know what works, it’s time to review your own website. Look for calls to action; if there aren’t any, get to work. Tell prospects what your products can do for them. Show them where to go next. This applies to ezine sign-ups, teleseminar registrations and free downloads, too.

Once your website is revamped, your prospects will know the benefits of doing business with you. They’ll know what to do to get what they want. And, above all, they won’t be able to remain passive.

There’s a lot being said about how to optimize your blog for the search engines. You can ping, tag and archive correctly and see great results. But there are several more organic ways to make your blog popular. Here’s “Blog Optimization 101” to get you started.

1.    Categorize Your Posts: Blog hosts provide a categorizing tool to help make your posts easier to find. This is important because, as we’re going to discuss in a minute, frequent posting makes a better blog. Choose categories that are obvious, so readers can search for what they need. Also, make it easier to be loved by search engines by including your primary keywords as categories. Optimization 101 Takeaway: Use categories, and include your primary keywords.
2.    Use Keywords Carefully: Speaking of keywords, learn to use them carefully in your content. Good, useful, keyword-rich content is the key to blog success. Keyword stuffing, on the other hand, will get you booted from search engines. Use keywords as category headings, and then use those keywords naturally in your posts. Optimization 101 Takeaway: Keywords, used naturally, build traffic.
3.    Create Great Titles: Blog post titles are your chance to captivate readers’ interest. You could, for example, say “How to Shine Shoes” or you could grab attention by saying “Six Ways to Keep Shoes Looking Brand New.” Which would you rather read? Optimization 101 Takeaway: Lead posts with great titles to capture interest.
4.    Keep Content Fresh: What’s sadder than a great blog with no posts for six months? It’s interest-killing to stop posting frequently, especially if you’ve gained an RSS following. Start strong and stay strong so you don’t lose reader interest. Plan your blog posting schedule and topics a month in advance and you won’t have to think about what to write. Optimization 101 Takeaway: Feed followers fresh content often so they don’t disappear.
5.    Keep Content Relevant: You may have lots of thoughts about politics, but your business is selling kites. Start a separate blog to talk about politics, and keep your kite company’s blog on topic. Offer useful tips, link to sites of interest and embed images in your blog posts. Anything you can offer that keeps prospects coming back increases the chance they’ll go in search of your website. (By the way, breaking up your text with images, bullet points or block quotes makes posts even more interesting.) Optimization 101 Takeaway: Stick to topics that relate to your business to keep readers coming back.

Keeping your blogs fresh and interesting can build a following and drive traffic to your websites. Use what you’ve learned in Blog Optimization 101 to create a blog that’s a valuable marketing channel.

Wondering what you can do to attract more interest online? There are actually three very easy ways to increase your impact on the Internet. Let’s look at how blogging, great websites and social media are the path to expanding your online footprint.

Website Content
This is the time to ask yourself, “How am I expanding my online footprint now?” You may be missing potential customers because your website simply doesn’t hold their interest. We’re not talking about adding flashing lights and obnoxious show tunes to your home page!

Think about what best serves the interests of your target audience. Consider adding useful articles, podcasts or video segments to your website. Link to your social media presence and your blog, as well, to give them even more reason to get to know your company.

Social Media Sites
Without a doubt, social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube have changed the way we do business online. Here’s a quick breakdown of how they can effectively expand your online impact.

•    YouTube: You may think YouTube is the realm of bored college students, but it’s an amazingly effective marketing tool, too. Consider this—if someone performs an Internet search for say, spiral staircases, and the first result is your company’s instructional video on YouTube for how to install one, don’t you think they’re likely to investigate?

Rather than simply depending on website content to draw new customers, you can upload videos to YouTube to visually encourage someone to learn more about your company. These video segments shouldn’t be blatant advertisements. Today’s Internet audience is looking for useful content such as how-to videos, interesting presentations or helpful tips. And don’t forget to link to your YouTube videos from your website!

•    Microblogging: Another hot Internet trend that can draw new customers to your website is “microblogging.” Here’s how it works: you create a “human face” for your company, someone who will communicate several times a day to share helpful information, links or updates on issues related to your industry. Using a microblogging application such as Twitter, this person creates a following online. These “tweets” or quick bursts of communication, can be linked to via your website or blog. That’s all there is to it, other than committing to microblogging every day.

•    Facebook: Facebook is one example of the type of social media sites that lean more toward social interaction and away from business. You can, however, gain online interest by creating a Facebook page for your business that links to your website and blog and invites viewers to follow you on Twitter.

Blogging
Many online businesses shy away from blogs because they don’t have writers on-staff. The truth is weblogs (blog) are all about sharing useful content with your audience in a casual atmosphere.

Whether your company makes airplanes for a living or you provide cosmetic services, you have something to share with your target market. Talk to them about innovations in your industry. Share helpful hints for making life easier. Ask them what matters most to them, and respond to their answers. The key to having a great blog is consistent content. Plan your blog topics around events, issues or upcoming product launches, and don’t forget to link to your website, and vice-versa.

Tying it All Together
Keep in mind that different audiences approach the Web in different ways. The key is to have a presence in all arenas, so they’re sure to find you. Get your feet wet in each of these areas, and be sure to link them all together. Your online footprint should soon see some profitable expansion.

A new decade brings change at Champion Assistants!  We are taking our hat out of the “virtual assistant” arena as our core focus over the past year has been web design, eCommerce solution integration and management, social media design and management, and e-marketing strategies.  We considered ourselves virtual assistants insofar as we assisted our clients’ success virtually through our sophisticated service offerings, but we realize this classification just no longer fits!

Our company has grown over the years in terms of team members as well as skill set.  Many of you may not even be aware of all the people behind the scenes, so let me introduce you.

There is Kristi who has been working with all aspects of 1Shopping Cart, email marketing and CMS website maintenance.  She’s got a real flair for marketing, knowing just how to tweak code and build a prospect list.  Kristi’s been with us for 3 years now and continues to be a core team member.

Sarah is our queen of organization.  She works with 1Shopping Cart, CMS websites, email marketing and project management like she could do it in her sleep.  No amount of fine detail or intricate planning is too much for her.  She’s real savvy and we’re delighted she’s been with us for 2 years.

Aaron is our graphic designer for both print and web graphics.  I met Aaron when I approached him about doing graphics originally for Champion Assistants.  When I saw how talented he was - both as a creative thinker and knowing how to design for prospects - I made sure to integrate him in the team right away.  Over the past 3 years he’s created some stellar graphics for our clients including product design, business cards, website banners, website buttons, print newsletters,  and ezines.

Newer to the team are Alexander and Vladan who have been with us for a year.  They are truly behind the scenes with their problem-solving minds buried in code and coming up with creative web solutions for our clients.  These guys know their stuff when it comes to website design and build.  They have been building a lot of Wordpress platform sites for our clients lately, but they are also hardcore programmers adept at HTML, PHP, ASP, ASP.net, CSS, Java Script, Ajax, C++, Perl, Visual Basic, and the list goes on.  They handle all the website design and build, eCommerce integration, and ongoing website maintenance.

I continue to dedicate my time to project management and improving business strategies with clients.  My core skills are project management, business development and technology integration.  It’s a real thrill for me to be a part of my clients’ successes.

Now it’s time for us to move forward into 2010 continuing to serve the needs of small businesses.  Our target market is  businesses with 10 - 250 employees looking for distinctive web design and a team to strategize and then execute their online sales and marketing strategy.  We love putting the pizazz in our clients’ online presence and setting them up to reap more sales. You can read some stories of what our clients think of us on our Testimonials page.

Pretty soon you will see us with a new name and a revised web presence.  We’ll be keeping you updated via our blog and ezine along the way!

By now you have likely heard about the new FTC Rulings and how they could affect the way you market yourself, your services and/or your products. The Ruling, which took effect on December 1st, is a step toward ending deceptive marketing tactics.

In the FTC’s efforts to end such aggressive and underhanded schemes it has also made several marketing methods a bit trickier to utilize. Those methods, including: Affiliate Marketing, testimonials, Promotions, and Advertisements can no longer just be cut and pasted from the crème f the crop. These new rulings require businesses to give a clearer picture of what the “Typical” results are and have the data available to back up those claims.

The ideal behind these new rulings is that of transparency. The ability for consumers to more easily see the reality behind the message. What does this mean for you? For starters it means you are going to have to at the least put a notice anywhere you post an affiliate link that you are getting paid for posting that link. If you have a resources page this will be simple as you would only need to put the notice in once for all of the links. If you post those links in social network status posts, it gets a little trickier, but not impossible.

As for the use of testimonials…Many businesses use testimonials to show the potential of their product/service. The ruling means you will have to be a little more honest both with yourself and those who visit your sites about the true “typical” results you provide and there must be sufficient statistical data available to back up those claims should anyone request it. This means more work in the beginning, but it could mean less work down the road as consumers are better able to gauge the best use of your products/services with less interaction from you or your sales team.

The guidelines for advertisements are numerable and if you are concerned that your ads aren’t meeting the new guidelines, it would be advisable to read them for yourself. A full copy of the FTC Guidelines can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/ygcmpfd.

As a business owner, you’ve no doubt asked yourself what your demographic is (if you haven’t, you should stop reading this right now and do some research), but have you spent any time determining your psychographic marketing strategy?

This was a concept that I wasn’t familiar with until I participated in a marketing seminar from Red Slice Marketing last week.

While demographic marketing focuses on tangible features, like the age, location, ethnicity, income or gender of your target audience, psychographic marketing goes beyond this to determine the attitudes, impressions, goals and lifestyles of your target audience.

For example, if you’re selling a product that appeals to a 30-40 year old high level CEO, wouldn’t it be wise to also market this product to the 25-30 year old fast-tracker who has hopes of being a CEO and idealizes their lifestyle?

Psychographics is about tapping into the psyche of your potential customers and trying to discover what makes them tick. While this seems like a simple exercise, you’d be amazed at how deep into your strategy you can go. This can completely change the way you package, advertise, and even talk about your product.

By simply asking yourself, “who would buy this?” you can find yourself answering all sorts of questions that will help your designers and writers develop much easier and more successful campaigns.

Instead of telling them, “I want to market this to men in Bellevue, with incomes of X and an age of Y,” you can narrow it down to, “men in Bellevue with an age of Y and income of X who like to stay healthy and get out of the city on weekends, probably concerned with their carbon footprint and are looking for a relationship.”

For more information, check out this hubpage article, http://hubpages.com/hub/Psychographics-marketing, or www.red-slice.com.