Get Noticed: Promote Yourself With The Right Marketing Tool

As a freelance writer there is one thing I have learned and that is the importance of being seen; the more companies that notice you and know about you, the bigger your business grows. Now this may sound obvious, but these days we are all so technologically driven, we’ve forgotten about getting back to basics. Ways to promote ourselves without the internet as our back bone.

Is the Internet the Right Marketing Tool for You?

My business is internet based and I couldn’t survive without the internet. I have customers from around the world contacting me on a daily basis, so I do use the internet as a tool to get noticed.

A great website, informative blogs and constant social media updates ensures that I am always fresh in a customer’s mind when they think of writing a press release, updating their website pages or even when they think of starting a new blog.

Knock and Drops

I don’t want my customers to only be international. I am based in the UK and a majority of my customers are UK based. I achieved this through hard work and interestingly enough, away from the internet although the computer did help me somewhat here.

Handing out pamphlets made from A5 card combined with a stunning design and basic information on the services I provide has proven to be an excellent marketing tool. The card isn’t too expensive and I designed a stunning design with my contact details clearly shown.

I didn’t just shove these through letter boxes because doing that just gives the person an opportunity to throw them in the bin. I actually took the time to wander around the city, knocking on office doors and explaining what I do and handing them the A5 card with my company name and contact details.

You’d be amazed at the response that I got from handing out these cards as people actually appreciated me taking the time to introduce myself in person.

Charity Events

Another of my marketing explosions is taking part in charity events in my area. You may wonder how a writer can gain business from a charity event, but you’d be surprised the people you meet at these functions.

I arrange with the organisers to write a press release around the event for free as long as I can do some worthwhile marketing. Armed with a table, chair and my A5 card pamphlets I sit in wait, introducing myself to everyone attending the function and ensuring they don’t leave without my details.

The Phone

Lastly I use the phone, when I started my very first job many moons ago telemarketing was a top choice for finding new work and it still works today. While we are all still so engrossed in the internet and using online resources, the old fashioned ways can still bring in great business opportunities if you are willing to make the effort and put some time into it.

I’ve picked up many customers over the phone, on getting their names and details I always post off one of my A5 card pamphlets, this way I know they will always have my details on hand.

You’d be completely amazed how often I use my pamphlets; they are used for knock and drops, charity events and in the mail. The A5 card is affordable and comes in a range of colours, which was great because I could pick the colour that best matched my design.

A basic colour printer is the only other thing I needed, so it’s the cost of paper and ink and I have an affordable marketing option away from the internet and a marketing option that has afforded me a large percentage of my business.

Gem Wilson is a writer who understands the importance of promoting and marketing your business. She recommends printing a design and your contact details on A5 card to hand out to potential customers in person as this gives you a way of starting a conversation with them.

 

 

Comparison of Freelance SEO and SEO Companies

BY

HIMANSHU SWARAJ

 

Freelance SEO specialist- as it is very clear that freelancers work as independent consultants in other words we can say that freelance SEO’s can work with clients from anywhere because their self-employed and client base is frequently restricted.

SEO companies- SEO companies provide a similar consultancy services but they consist a large team. The size of an SEO company can be anything from two people to hundred or more than that. They always offer other internet marketing services for example- pay per click advertising, web design or display advertising and SEO as well.

Search engine optimization is a technique of marketing that is used in improving the traffic of website and search engine rankings. As soon as a website gets more and more visitors the probability of escalating popularity and sales also grows. This is the target of every website owner and that is why they take the assistance of SEO specialist. SEO specialists increase the sales and profits of their websites by optimizing that. Freelance SEO specialist and SEO companies are two different type of specialist .so being website owners it depends on you, who you to want hire for the optimization of your website and who can provide you more profit.

According to the comparison the rates of freelancer SEO services are cheaper than the established SEO companies so if you want to hire cheap SEO services you may think of freelancer SEO services. But in the world of business you can’t believe on anyone blindly so before hiring a freelancer SEO services for your business known their work experience and principles in website optimization. Ask for the advice and reply from their earlier clients. Inquire his or her preceding projects and ask them weather their campaigns were succeeded or not. By the help of all these instruction you can easily figure out whether that person is proficient to do the job or not.

In the above passage it has been mentioned that freelancer are little dangerous to hire because of lack of experience but SEO companies are already recognized in this work. They do everything so satisfactorily because of having so much experience regarding to this work and they prove themselves best SEO companies on the other hand are already established in this line of work. They know what to do and they do it well. So many people think that SEO companies are very much costly to hire but it is not true for every one there are lot of SEO companies that provide cheap and reasonable SEO services and it is a big true that hiring a SEO company is less risky than hiring a freelancer company. SEO companies are already tried and tested that is why they deliver good results.

FREELANCE SEO SERVICE, SEO TIPS | 

 

 

Importance of Content Marketing to Publishers

Publishers, brands and businesses, are realizing the essence of content marketing; thus, allocating resources and support towards creating quality content. Quality content often boosts customer loyalty and brand awareness, which is critical in any business. Consumers are increasingly shutting off the traditional techniques of marketing and are now adept at surfing online. The new epicenter of marketing has changed drastically where a great majority of consumers hardly trust advertisements. Classic advertisements are being marginalized where consumer uses DVRs technologies to bypass advertising. Today, most customers prefer being entertained and informed by brand via content marketing. As such, organizations are dedicating enormous resources to content marketing and publishing content.

Value of Content Marketing Strategy

Today, creating an effective content marketing strategy is more than ever becoming the difference between losing and winning against rivals. For instance, SolidEssay.com, a college paper writing service, has over years been succeeding and betting big with its content marketing techniques. Successful brands attribute their success to great content via owned media. Content marketing employs the idea of curating, creating, sharing and publishing original content. The most effective mediums for content marketing are social media platforms and email newsletters as they present reliable conduit for sharing information online. Publishers with platforms such as websites, multiple social media networks and blogs find it easy pushing content out without relying on press or media; thus, saving on the cost.

Publishers specializing in visual content marketing make their brand more appealing and attractive by using a variety of aspects that include images, font and design. In modern times, Internet is increasingly fascinated with visual imagery as retina and crystal clear screens becoming more and more popular. It is possible for publishers to make arresting images as the centre of their social media and email campaigns. This trend of content marketing is likely to grow as clients are increasingly opting for strong communicative brands rather than wordy copies. Prior to creating and distributing materials, authors should develop a platform around content marketing, which would offer the readers an opportunity to acquire information. A content marketing publisher can use research tools, such as Google Trends, to identify potential markets. Content marketing blog facilitates in building relationships with other influencers.

Content marketing is gaining momentum as it provides a platform where small and large corporations can reach potential customers. Content marketing encompasses a strategy of distributing and developing valuable and pertinent content to attain, slot in and attract a noticeably understood and distinct target audience. The decisive objective of content marketing is to impel profitable action of the buyer. Content marketing entails engagement with prospects and regular customers by providing information necessary in decision making. It is fundamental for the publisher to embrace content marketing in order to identify client’s needs and preferences.

Author Bio: John T. contributes his education related articles to SolidEssay.com, a professional term paper writing service providing students with qualified help.

 

You Need Help With Your Social Media Useage

by Andy Beal

We generally fall into two camps. There are those of us that are either scared of, or indifferent toward, social media, and there are those of us that can’t get enough of it. Either way, we’re either not spending enough time leveraging social media for our businesses or we’re spending so much time talking about our business, we’re forgetting to run it!

I really enjoyed Tim Ferriss‘ The 4-Hour Workweek and have read it three times. What most people don’t get about the book is that Ferriss is not saying you should get your working hours down to just four a week, but instead, you should get it to the point that you could get by with just four hours a week—if you needed, or wanted to.

That’s the same approach I like to take with my social media work. Sure, there are some days that I don’t feel like tweeting at all. While others involve so much time spent on Facebook or blogs, that I don’t know where the times goes! Still, I believe a 4-Hour Social Media workweek is something we should all consider and I’m here to help. Here are four easy ways to get started.

10 minutes a day for listening

This is the time you set aside for monitoring and listening to the conversations about your company. As a social media monitoring dashboard vendor, you’d think I’d advocate allocating much more time to this task. But, with the right platform, you really don’t need to agonize over these conversations. Remember, this is just the listening stage. You’re looking to identify the conversations that may need a simple “thank you” or “sorry” or a more lengthy investigation and response.

Total time: 10 mins x 5 days = 50 mins

15 minutes a day for replying

OK, this is where you get to respond to tweets, blog posts or Facebook questions. Really, it can be done in such a short amount of time—at least on most days. You could set aside just one 15 minute block, but I’d recommend splitting it so that at least twice a day you check in and reply. That way, urgent items don’t go 24 hours without a response.

Total time: 15 x 5 = 75 mins

10 minutes a day for sharing

Your company is so interesting. Everything you say, do or create is worth tweeting about in all caps, right? No, not really. Pick the one thing that you feel benefits your company and customers, and let them know about it. Aside from that, there’s no need to go digging through your archived posts so that you can post them to Facebook for the umpteenth time. Your customers do want to hear from you via social media, they just don’t want to hear from your PR machine 24/7.

Total time: 10 x 5 = 50 mins

10 minutes a day for creating

Are you writing at least one blog post a week that shares something of value with your target audience? No, your press release announcing that you hired a new CTO does not count as “something of value.” In 50 minutes a week, you can easily write and publish a blog post of 500 words packed with tips, advice or news that helps your customers. You’ll gain more loyal fans by being valuable to them, than by shoving your news down their throat.

Total time: 10 x 5 = 50 mins

If you’re keeping score, you’ll see that we still have 15 minutes left in our 4-Hour Social Media Workweek. That’s not a mistake. That’s the time you can split for checking-in over the weekend. That way, you won’t come in to work on Monday and be blindsided like Motrin was.

At this point some of you are thinking, yeah, I can do this. Others of you are scoffing at me, because you couldn’t possibly do all you need to get done in just four hours a week. And, you would both be right. If you’ve not jumped into social media yet, this is your chance to dip you toe in the waters. If you’re a social media maven for a Fortune 500 brand, then sure, you wouldn’t dream of spending such little time on something so important, but here’s the kicker: If you really wanted to, really needed to, you could get it done in four hours.

 

Breaking Bad Reviews: How to Protect Your Small Business Online

 

It happens all the time: The hard-working crew at a small business loses customers thanks to the sour grapes of one person.

It could be a disgruntled employee, an angry customer or even a competitor, says V. Michael Santoro, coauthor with John S. Rizzo of Niche Dominance: Creating Order Out of Your Digital Marketing Chaos (www.NicheDominance.com).

“Anyone can post a bad review online and hurt your business,” says Santoro, who is a managing partner with Rizzo of Globe On-Demand, an internet technology company. “Unfortunately, most business owners are not even aware that these bad reviews are out there.”

Seventy-two percent of buyers trust reviews as much as personal recommendations, and 70 percent trust consumer opinions posted online, according to a recent Nielsen Global Trust in Advertising Survey.

“A bad review published in a newspaper, or broadcast on radio or TV, is short-lived, but a bad review posted online can live indefinitely,” says Rizzo. “With consumers now researching an average of 10 reviews before making a buying decision, and 70 percent trusting a business that has a minimum of six reviews posted, business owners need to be proactive in developing their online reputation. You need several positive reviews.”

Online searches have been streamlined, combining reviews with maps, pay-per-click advertising, local business directories and Facebook Fan pages, Santoro says.  As damaging as bad reviews can be, positive reviews can be equally constructive, he says.

Rizzo and Santoro offer an Internet marketing strategy called “reputation marketing,” described in the following steps:

• Develop a 5-Star Reputation: Begin by having your happy customers post great reviews about your business. Strive to have at least 10. Have each post to one of the following: Google Plus Local, Yelp, CitySearch, SuperPages, YP.com, your Facebook Fan page, etc. This needs to be a continuous process. Proactively ask your customers to post reviews.

• Market Your Reputation: Once reviews are posted, use a well-designed online marketing strategy to drive targeted traffic to your website. Ensure that your website can convert this traffic into customers. Additionally, showcase these third-party reviews on your website.

• Manage Your Reputation: Regularly check that the reviews being posted are positive. You can use Google Alerts for your business name; however, you will need to check the local directories, too, since they’re not picked up by Google Alerts. By building up the positive reviews, you can counter a poor one by sheer volume. You should also quickly post a reply to a negative review if they occur. Always be professional and indicate what action you have taken to remedy the situation.

• Create a Reputation Marketing Culture: Train your staff to proactively ask customers for reviews and to deal immediately with any customer who appears unhappy. A positive culture will encourage customers to post positive reviews about your business.

About John S. Rizzo & V. Michael Santoro

John S. Rizzo obtained his bachelor’s in business administration and spent three years as a consultant for Amazon.com’s publishing group. He has assisted several businesses with digital marketing strategy and has served in leadership positions for multiple initiatives for the Charleston, S.C.-Area Chamber of Commerce.

V. Michael Santoro has more than 10 years in the digital marketing field. His prior experience includes international senior marketing positions in technology fields. He has a master’s degree from Central Connecticut State University and an undergraduate degree from the University of New Haven. Santoro was an adjunct professor with the computer science department of Western Connecticut State University.

 

 

Top 5 Silliest Management Books of All Time

This post takes a satirical look at the business management book genre, specifically looking at five of the most ridiculous titles and how they often lead to bad management.

Reading Up

While the old cliché that “managers are not made, they are born” can in some degrees be argued to be true, it is also worthwhile acknowledging that you can often pick up a number of tips and ideas for your own leadership style from the vast plethora of management guide books available.

While there are undoubtedly some gems, some of them just give a ridiculous message, ridden with management speak that is often regurgitated verbatim by the reader when at work, under the misguided premise that they are now a great leader.

We looked at five of the most ridiculously titled management books there are.

1.Management in 10 Words

If it is possible to sum up management in 10 words, then why on Earth has this been extended out into a 320 page book? Surely each word does not require an average of 32 pages for an explanation of why it is such a great management tool. If management really can be defined in 10 words, then a piece of A4 paper should suffice just nicely.

2.Who Moved My Cheese?

There is also another similar book called “Why is my Iceberg Melting,” however the essential message is the same. How can you and your business survive and thrive in changing conditions in an evolving world? Well, the answer is somewhat obvious in that you too must also evolve to meet the demands of the world. There is really no need for a book that likens the business world to a mouse trying to survive by looking for cheese. The scariest thing about this book is that it is an all-time best seller. Is it any wonder the global economy is a mess?

3.Getting Things Done

There is a whole series of books carrying this title, with various sub-titles based around being productive and having a stress-free work life. However, the message after 250+ pages of reading is always the same. If you want to get things done, write it down and have a plan. Simple really.

4.The One Minute Manager

For me, personally, this was the first management book I ever read. Unfortunately, it had little bearing on me, as having read it I immediately realised that the manager who had borrowed it to me was the human manifestation of the book, a product of what he had read. Basically, the book is centred around managing everyone for a minute each day, based on the old business cliché that “my most valuable minute is the one spent with my people.”

5.How to Lead

If ever there was an expensive tick the box exercise, this is it. Although it does contain a lot of leadership advice, the main purpose of the book is to tick off everything that applies to you, then go away and get the skills needed to tick the rest. Perhaps if you spent the time leading rather than reading and ticking boxes you would acquire the skills easier.

Posterita is a revolutionary POS software, and its free point of sale software can show every aspect of that.

 

Revolutionary Ways to Advertise Your Business Online

It can be a bane of life to select the appropriate channels for marketing the online business. The effectiveness of a sound marketing channel or medium cannot be put aside as it can lead you to an increased number of sales. If you are confused about what to consider while promoting the online business, then you must check out the following mediums (including SEO marketing) for marketing your business online. Niche advertising, Google AdWords, social media advertising and SEO marketing are all revolutionary methods of advertising that can take your business to the next level.

Niche Advertising

Once you are setting up an online business, you must keep a niche in mind. Determine the accurate and exact niche you want to go with, which should comprehend your online business. When you focus on a single niche, then your chances of increasing the ladder are increased rapidly. You can increase your Google ranking in a quick span of time, if you focus on just a one niche at a time. It would make you build trust, which would pave way for you doing online business in other niche as well. Many options are in front of you, once you determine the niche you would like to work on. You can go with article marketing on various article directories such as Ezine etc. Sticking to just one niche at the start helps a lot.

Google AdWords

Again, a great place for newbie to show their talent. As a start-up online business, you must look to market your services or products through Google AdWords. Competition is high at this place, but you need to stick to the guns, and wait for the results to show. Sheer knowledge of SEO marketing strategies can also come handy, when you are looking to market the online business through a proper channel. Get it started at Google AdWords with the help of flyers. This is kind of a test drive that can let you with an idea of possible future outcomes.

Advertising on Social Media

Social media has become a part and parcel of lives of almost everyone. If you advertise properly on social media, then it can let you do the trick. Sites like Facebook and Twitter simply pay you dividends in connection to marketing the business online. Thousands of people are associated with such social media sites, and your ad can attract huge traffic, provided you do the basics of internet marketing in a required manner. You need to come up with an interesting and catchy tagline that can attract potential customers to check out the ad you have posted.

StumbleUpon

Increased traffic to the website is considered as the main goal. To achieve this, stumbleupon is a handy tool that guarantees increased traffic to the site. This medium of online marketing lets the visitors to stay on the page for about 5 seconds, which are enough to market the business at the first glimpse. If your services or products sound interesting, then the visitors would definitely spend at least couple of minutes on the site. Many subscription plans are there when you go with stumble upon. Select the right one keeping in mind the status of the online business.

Taking Advertising beyond Tradition

The traditional methods of advertising for brick-and-mortar businesses included expensive television commercials, billboard signs and magazine articles. Online marketing through such avenues as StumbleUpon and SEO marketing can strengthen your business’ online presence to unfathomable height.

Bough SEO is a SEO marketing company that has worked with various clients to promote online growth using SEO techniques.

 

Is Your Business Seen and Remembered?

We all use the internet these days to buy products and sell items; it’s become a way of life. This shows that internet marketing is important, but people do not live on the internet all day every day, they drive down the street, the play in the park and they go on vacation.

This means that there are a host of other marketing opportunities which you can use to ensure your business is seen and remembered. You should bear in mind the more visible your business brand name is, the more likely people are to remember it when they need to buy something or order a service; you need to be in their face as much as possible, get deep into their brain and ensure you are remembered for years to come.

There are three ways you can achieve this:

Online Marketing

Online marketing is the easiest and most affordable option of marketing. With a great website, regular blog and constant social media updates, you can stand out and be remembered. Bear in mind this form of marketing is a lot of work and doesn’t offer overnight results, yet in the long run you will start to see the rewards of your efforts as your website traffic improves and your website starts generating sales.

Banners

Banners are a very popular way to promote your business. I’m sure you’ve seen them used at your local Tesco store or by your real estate agent. These are a way to advertise your business when potential customers are out and about; they come in a variety of choices from roll up banners to mesh banners.

You will need a good design, add some colour and ensure your company name is clear. The design is printed in the highest quality on to the banner which can then be placed outside your building or in a customer’s yard, visible to passing traffic and easy to remove when you want to move it to a new location.

Pamphlets

Pamphlets are a useful tool if you have something to offer, maybe offer a discount or some other promotional offer. The thing I noticed with pamphlets is the times I just throw them in the bin, but I always glance over them first. If it’s just promotional blurb it heads straight into the bin, if there is an offer I take more time to read it and then make the decision.

Using the three ways of marketing you can ensure you are seen by thousands of potential customers and be remembered for years to come. www.fastbannersuk.co.uk/ offer banners to businesses across the country helping them ensure they are seen and remembered.

 

Olympic London has lost the plot – well it was always going to happen…

by trixfred30

I’m trying not to become a GB (Games Bore) but this I could not resist. London Olympians are being treated to ‘Olympic Lanes’ – dedicated traffic lanes only officials and athletes can use when driving to and from events.

Like it isn’t hard enough to get round the Capital anyway! However the chaps and chapesses that have come up with this amazing logistical solution seem to have cut a few corners:

As usual the Daily Mail picked this little tidbit up pretty quick.

Where the hell is the average driver going to go (the lane for normal traffic is the bit in the middle)? Down the left? Can’t its a Bus Lane (£130 fine). Down the right? Can’t – will crash into oncoming traffic. Down the centre lane? Can’t its the Olympic Lane – £130 fine.

But its okay – what you do is just keep driving and as you reach the point at which the two dashed lines converge you are transported via a portal to your destination. Apparently.

Its quite fun – up until a week ago all preparations for the Games have gone according to plan and the media has been quite disappointed – no disasters, no cock-ups. But now with a week to go the security firm has admitted its security staff don’t exist and chaos is building on the roads.

Bring it on!

 

How to Use Google Plus for Your Business

There are a lot of things that businesses can do to boost their online profile and get more traffic to their websites. One of these things is taking advantage of the social media craze. By jumping on the social media bus, companies ensure themselves that they will get in contact with people on the internet who are geographically close to them and who are somewhat interested in the goods and/or services that they provide. Google Plus is a great social media website that can help you and your business take off! If you are thinking about using Google Plus to help advertise your business, then here are a few things that you should keep in mind as you go about creating the online profiles that you will need in order to do so.

Get Your Feet Wet

The first thing you should do is register and explore! Google Plus is a pretty intimate social media site where the things you share are very specifically stored and kept track of in the Google Plus profile that every user has to create. You need to look around the website and see what you like about it. Because there is so much to it, it might be necessary to keep a main focus at the center of your business Google Plus website and feature a link with more information about specific things that some people might want to know about. Google Plus is the perfect place to find people in your area who have already expressed interest in your line of business. You can add these people to your Circle of Friends. Once they are added to your Circle, they can access all the information on your Google Plus page. If it so happens that they hope to get more information about your company, they can just click the link and be taken straight to your website.

The website is the most important part of an online marketing ploy. You have to make sure that your company’s website is both engaging and aesthetically pleasing. If it is too boring or hard to manage, then people will get tired of working with it. If it is ugly or difficult to read because of brash color schemes and too flashy graphics, then the people who are brought to the website from Google Plus will be turned off by the appearance and exit out of it.

Working With a Pro

If you aen’t very up to speed on web design, there are web design companies that will do what they can to create a great website for you. By hiring another company to do web design for your website, you can be sure that the website you end up with will be everything that you need it to be.

Micah Castro is a freelance writer for Skyhook Internet Marketing who specializes in Web Design Phoenix and interactive marketing.