Not Having a Blog Is Not An Option

If your business doesn't have a website, it doesn't have a chance.

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What If Text Linking Could Be Optimized? With LinkSmart, It Can Connecting content together through links is really what began to shape the Internet into what it is today. Fortunately for publishers, multiple tools have been developed to make the process of creating and posting content simple and seamless. They've also had tools that allow advertising to be strategically placed around the content. Still, what's been missing is the ability to manage and optimize the links that are inserted into the content. But now, thanks to LinkSmart, the game is changing. LinkSmart launched late last month in an effort to solve this challenge for publishers. According to Pete Sheinbaum, the company's CEO and also the former CEO of DailyCandy, he encountered this problem personally and wanted to do something about it. As a result, LinkSmart introduced its Total Link Management (TLM) solution to provide publishers with a way to optimize their in-text linking and make what was formerly a very manual and stagnant process into an efficient one. "LinkSmart was born to think about links in a brand new way," he said. "We wanted to provide publishers with tools that analyze exactly what people were doing in and around the links, what they were clicking on, where they were going, [and] how often they were doing so; but more importantly, give them a software service tool based in the cloud that starts to manage and optimize these links in real-time."

Thursday, Aug 30, 2012 If your business doesn't have a website, it doesn't have a chance. And, I'm not even talking about a professionally designed and optimized one. If you don't have even a basic website up and running these days, your prospective customers and clients are going to have a hard time seeing you as being relevant. And, if you don't have a blog attached to your website, those same prospective customers and clients aren't going to have a chance to learn about your expertise, and about the human side of your business. 55,000,000 That's how many blogs there are (in the world) at the time of this writing. And, those are only WordPress blogs. There are millions of other blogs that are on other blogging platforms like Typepad, Drupal and Tumblr. Now, you can let that number motivate you, or you can let it freak you out-it's your choice. (Personally, I hope that it gets you motivated to get a blog up and running right now.) Blog Benefits Visibility Your visibility-especially online, will increase with a blog. The more you write, the better the chances are that you'll get noticed. And, not just by your potential customers/clients. Reporters, writers, and PR people read blogs too. SEO Search engines love fresh, new content. Search-engine spiders-those little robots that are scouring the web, 24/7, get energized when they locate something new…especially if it's closely related to the words that are being searched by your customers/clients. Active blogs…ones that have at least 1-2 original posts published weekly, provide that fresh, new content that search engines crave, which in turn, can increase your company's chances of being found online by your target audience. Cred You need some. If you don't come across as being a credible source of information, your customers are going to have a difficult time opening their wallets up to you…your business. A great way to show just how much you know is to write about it. These days, there's no better way to do it, then on a blog. (It doesn't even have to be done on your own blog. See #4.) New opportunities Once you've been writing posts-articles of your own on your own blog for a while, you can start approaching others in your industry, or even a related one, and write a blog post for them. (A guest post) Writing an article on someone else's blog can provide you an opportunity to showcase your knowledge to an entirely new reader base. (And, possible new business opportunities and/or strategic partnerships.) Just make sure that your post is informational and helpful in nature-not promotional. (You'll get an opportunity to promote yourself-your company at the end of your post, along with a link to your website or blog*.) Keeps your head in the game There's something to be said for writing your thoughts down, as opposed to verbalizing them or keeping them in your head. You know things that others don't. Why would you want to keep those things inside of you? Do you have an idea that potential customers/clients can put to good use right away? Share it through a blog post. Do you have some opinions about your industry…and what needs to be changed to make it even better? Consider sharing those opinions on your blog. (Only if you're comfortable doing so.) Having an active blog keeps your head in the game-your game…your industry. You want some more? Check out these 9 hidden benefits of blogging. Thousands of articles…blog posts…have been written over the years on the importance of having a blog. If you don't have one yet, what are you waiting for? No more excuses If you don't consider yourself to be tech-savvy, have no fear. There are literally thousands of talented designers and programmers that can help you set-up your blog. It's not expensive either, so scratch that one off your list of excuses of why you can't do this right now. If you haven't written anything of substance for a while, don't sweat it-I have a solution. Start a blog, and start writing. You'll get better. Just keep writing. And, if you think that no one will read it, you're just plain wrong. Do you have any friends? Ask them to read your blog. Do you have employees? Do the same with them, and ask others in your industry to read it, too. Add a link to your blog on your main website. Do you have a LinkedIn account? Add a link there, too. Think of some other places that you can include a link to your new blog. And, before you know it, you'll have a handful of readers. That's all you need at the beginning. The more you write the more interest you'll garner. Your early readers will start to share your posts with others. They may start reading your blog…they may even subscribe for free to receive your newest blog posts. Have I succeeded in convincing you to start a blog? The Franchise King®, Joel Libava, is the author of Become A Franchise Owner! He's on a mission to create a new generation of super-successful franchise owners. He provides much-needed advice to individuals interested in franchise ownership with his top-notch advisory services and to the masses via his award-winning franchise blog. He's on Twitter constantly @FranchiseKing. Comments » Comment on this article About the Author: John Jantsch is a marketing consultant, award winning social media publisher and author Duct Tape Marketing and The Referral Engine. He is the creator of the Duct Tape Marketing System and Duct Tape Marketing Consultant Network that trains and licenses small business marketing consultants around the world.

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How To Make Your Business More Visible Online and Offline

Every so often I get asked if blogging still matters now that we have Tumblr, Facebook and Twitter

How To Make Your Business More Visible Online and Offline August 26th, 2012 http://www.SmallBusinessNewz.com

How To Make Your Business More Visible Online and Offline By: Jim Connolly One of the best ways to increase the number of clients, customers or sales leads you get, is to make sure you are as visible as possible to the right people. That's what today's post is all about. It contains tips and ideas on how to be more visible online and offline! Where are you? As regular readers will know, I live in a small village in South Yorkshire, England. We get a lot of tourists all year round, who usually come for a boating or walking holiday. I see tourists pretty much every day at home – yet for the past week, I have been a tourist myself. My family and I have been exploring North East England and South Eastern Scotland. As a tourist, you see a location very differently. You have little if any local knowledge, so you rely on maps and road signs in order to navigate yourself around. You quickly learn that some places are better signposted than others and that many areas would do a lot more business, if they only realised that they were really hard for tourists to locate. As business owners, we need to ensure that OUR businesses are easy to find. If your business relies on people visiting your premises -- Start by making sure that your marketing material contains crystal clear directions on how to locate you. -- Assure people that they are welcome to call you, if they need directions. Very few businesses make a point of saying this in their marketing material, even though almost all of them would happily do it – so be one of the few who actually says it! -- Tip: Test your directions! A great way to see how effective your directions are is to ask someone, who has never previously visited your location, if they can find you using just the directions you send them. Always try and use someone, who matches your client or customer profile. If your business relies on people being able to find your website Start by making sure all your online accounts (Facebook, Twitter, Google+ etc) point to your site. Don't make any of those social networking sites the focal point of your online presence. Those accounts can be suspended, deleted or rendered useless with a change to their terms and conditions. Build your primary Internet presence on a site you own and control. Make sure your emails all contain a link to your website in your email signature. SEO. Use site building software like the one I use on all my sites, (affiliate) so that your website or blog can have all the core on-site Search Engine Optimisation in place, easily. A well optimised website or blog will help people find your site, when looking for your specific type of product or service. Make your site easy to share. Once someone finds your website, make it easy for them to share it with their friends. Add social sharing buttons like those below this blog post. They allow people to link to your site from their favourite social networks, with just the click of a mouse. If enough people link to your site, you will get the additional benefit of improved SEO. Don't take visibility for granted It's easy for us to forget how difficult it can be for people to find us. Take the tourists view of finding your business and ensure it's as visible as possible. Comments

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Saturday, August 25, 2012 2 comments Read, Savour, Comment, Share – Your Four Step Guide to Blogging Success Make it easy to comment and guess what? Blogging, Share, Social Media 5 comments Attract massively more clients, with these 3 powerful marketing tips Produce better ROI with these marketing tips marketing 1 comment Why Blogging Is Even More Critical In the Age of Social Blogging is critical for social media In Social Media, No One Cares Unless YOU Care The Message is the Key Branding, marketing, Social Media Optimize Your Brand For Digital Media The Ease of Publishing and Interaction Can Mean Huge Opportunities Branding, Social Media 2 comments 7 Essential Stages of Building a Total Online Presence Step-by-Step Guide For Each Stage business, Email Marketing, SEO

More Headlines 1 comment How To Improve Your Focus For Small Biz Success Start With The Basics business, Focus, Improvement Content Marketing Basics What You Should Consider content, marketing 3 comments Social Business Must Deliver Value To All Stakeholders Social business planning is the blueprint for the transformation of an organization Social Business 12 comments What's the Difference Between Marketing and Advertising? The Subtle Art of Marketing advertising, marketing 5 comments Bloggers: Yes, you can write a post in 20 minutes Tip for writing speedy blog posts Blog, content, writing 3 comments Are You Making It Impossible For Yourself To Win? Ask Yourself A Few Questions Contacts, Social Media, Subscribers 2 comments How Much Listening Does Social Media Listening Really Offer? Using Social Media As A Listening Tool Monitoring, Social Media, Tracking 1 comment Social Business Means Thinking Internally First Too many think that social media is all about friends, fans and followers. marketing, Social Media 4 comments How to gain a powerful competitive advantage and grow a massively successful business How can you build value, today? business, Value 4 comments Mashup Your Data And Turn Average Campaigns Into Great Campaigns Turn weak campaigns into raging hulks email, Rapleaf, Rapportive 4 comments Reddit Is The 800-pound Gorilla In The Room Advice and Tips for Getting Reddit Traffic Reddit, Social Media 3 comments What If Your Business Was a Book Approach your content plan as a total body of work Book, business 3 comments The Startup Spouse: On Risks, Trade-Offs And Never Sleeping On The Floor Rewards aren't without risk business, risks, startups 2 comments How To Use Fifteen Minutes a Day to Create a Culture of Accountability To keep commitment high you need to install a systematic approach to meetings Accountability, Meetings 8 comments What Most Small Businesses Are Doing Wrong on Social Media (And 5 Tips For Success) Most try to take advantage of trends, but few reap the rewards Facebook, Google, Likeable, Social Media, Twitter 2 comments Influential Mentions Aren’t the Same as Word Of Mouth Returns The influencer marketing model may be worthless Klout, Kred, Social Influencer, word-of-mouth 1 comment LivingSocial Opens Doors to Offline Facility Daily deals site opens physical location LivingSocial 6 comments Everybody Needs Both Pinterest And LinkedIn Are Your Customers Diverse? LinkedIn, marketing, Pinterest 3 comments 5 Secrets Behind A Strong B2B Content Marketing Strategy How Can Great Content Help You? content, marketing 7 comments 10 Signs You May Have An Unhealthy Relationship With Social Media How much is too much? Social Media 1 comment A Facebook Like Does Not Equal an Opt-in A social brand is not a social business. Read on to discover the differences. Facebook, Likes, marketing 3 comments 5 Questions To Answer Before Growing Your Business Do you have ambitious goals? Entrepreneurs, Marketing Strategy, Referral Marketing

What Is Ambient Social Networking & Why Is It So Hot? Highlight CEO Explains. If you haven't heard of "ambient social networking" yet, get ready, because it's quickly becoming a trend. The concept is also known as social discovery and, essentially, it takes the idea of check-in services a little further. Do you have a business site? Submit your business related site FREE! Accounting Book Keeping, Training... Advertising PPC, Print, Banner... Brick and Mortar Stores, Offices... Classes/Courses Courses, Training... Direct Marketing Mail, Telemarketing... Domains/Hosting Web Hosts, Domains... » Submit your site «

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Saturday, August 18, 2012 In Social Media, No One Cares Unless YOU Care The Message is the Key Branding, marketing, Social Media Attract massively more clients, with these 3 powerful marketing tips Produce better ROI marketing 2 comments 7 Essential Stages of Building a Total Online Presence Step-by-Step Guide For Each Stage business, Email Marketing, SEO 1 comment How To Improve Your Focus For Small Biz Success Start With The Basics business, Focus, Improvement 3 comments Social Business Must Deliver Value To All Stakeholders Social business planning is the blueprint for the transformation of an organization Social Business Content Marketing Basics What You Should Consider content, marketing

More Headlines 12 comments What's the Difference Between Marketing and Advertising? The Subtle Art of Marketing advertising, marketing 5 comments Bloggers: Yes, you can write a post in 20 minutes Tip for writing speedy blog posts Blog, content, writing 3 comments Are You Making It Impossible For Yourself To Win? Ask Yourself A Few Questions Contacts, Social Media, Subscribers 2 comments How Much Listening Does Social Media Listening Really Offer? Using Social Media As A Listening Tool Monitoring, Social Media, Tracking 1 comment Social Business Means Thinking Internally First Too many think that social media is all about friends, fans and followers. marketing, Social Media 4 comments How to gain a powerful competitive advantage and grow a massively successful business How can you build value, today? business, Value 4 comments Reddit Is The 800-pound Gorilla In The Room Advice and Tips for Getting Reddit Traffic Reddit, Social Media 3 comments What If Your Business Was a Book Approach your content plan as a total body of work Book, business 4 comments Mashup Your Data And Turn Average Campaigns Into Great Campaigns Turn weak campaigns into raging hulks email, Rapleaf, Rapportive 3 comments The Startup Spouse: On Risks, Trade-Offs And Never Sleeping On The Floor Rewards aren't without risk business, risks, startups 2 comments How To Use Fifteen Minutes a Day to Create a Culture of Accountability To keep commitment high you need to install a systematic approach to meetings Accountability, Meetings 8 comments What Most Small Businesses Are Doing Wrong on Social Media (And 5 Tips For Success) Most try to take advantage of trends, but few reap the rewards Facebook, Google, Likeable 1 comment LivingSocial Opens Doors to Offline Facility Daily deals site opens physical location LivingSocial 6 comments Everybody Needs Both Pinterest And LinkedIn Are Your Customers Diverse? LinkedIn, marketing, Pinterest 1 comment A Facebook Like Does Not Equal an Opt-in A social brand is not a social business. Read on to discover the differences. Facebook, Likes, marketing 3 comments 5 Secrets Behind A Strong B2B Content Marketing Strategy How Can Great Content Help You? content, marketing 7 comments 10 Signs You May Have An Unhealthy Relationship With Social Media How much is too much? Social Media 2 comments Influential Mentions Aren’t the Same as Word Of Mouth Returns The influencer marketing model may be worthless Klout, Kred, Social Influencer, word-of-mouth 3 comments 5 Questions To Answer Before Growing Your Business Do you have ambitious goals? Entrepreneurs, Marketing Strategy, Referral Marketing 2 comments Facebook Now Has a Post Scheduler and an Admin Hierarchy Marketers Will Welcome This New Feature Admin Hierarchy, Facebook, Post Scheduler 14 comments Online Retailer Implements IE7 Tax Kogan Adds Taxes For IE7 Users IE7, Internet Explorer, Kogan, Taxes 7 comments Six Ways To Create Great Content In Just 15 Minutes A Day Try A Micro-content Strategy Blog, content, Social Media

SMBs Are Prime Targets for Hackers, Says Incapsula As more and more companies are falling victim to security breaches, a lot of businesses are worried they could be next. These concerns reached a new height over the course of 2011 as Sony, Citibank, and even certain areas of the government were hacked. Do you have a business site? Submit your business related site FREE! Accounting Book Keeping, Training... Advertising PPC, Print, Banner... Brick and Mortar Stores, Offices... Classes/Courses Courses, Training... Direct Marketing Mail, Telemarketing... Domains/Hosting Web Hosts, Domains... » Submit your site «

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In Social Media, No One Cares Unless YOU Care

Depending who you listen to or read in the social media space, the best reason to use social media for your brand varies.

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What Is Social Media Really Doing to Society? In a day and age obsessed with social media and technology, it's hard to picture life without them. But, is that good or bad? Or neither? According to Andrew Keen, author of new book Digital Vertigo: How Today's Online Social Revolution Is Dividing, Diminishing, and Disorienting Us, the Internet, and particularly social media, is changing society in a way that worries him. Keen has long been known for the strong position he has taken on the Internet, claiming that it is having an adverse effect on society. After voicing this stance in his book The Cult of the Amateur in 2007, he has been labeled with nicknames such as the "Net's supreme cyber-grump" and the "Antichrist of the Silicon Valley." He spoke to WebProNews and explained that, while he does support the Internet and social media, he is concerned that the publicness of the social age is resulting in "losing something essential about what it means to be human." As he explained, many of our actions on social networks aren't really very social. He thinks that most social networks, instead, represent "just an aggregation of individuals." To avoid a potential harmful impact, Keen believes that the Internet needs to become more civilized and habitable. He also suggests that government regulation regarding privacy protections could help prevent the concerns from getting worse.

Thursday, Aug 16, 2012 Depending who you listen to or read in the social media space, the best reason to use social media for your brand varies. It can be for listening; resolving issues; lead generation; focus groups; recruitment; and much, much more. All good reasons. All good value. And yet... While these are all solid enough reasons to be on social media from a brand's point-of-view, they mean nothing unless you have an audience. Not just an audience, but also one that actually trusts and supports you, and will listen when you speak. Without that, you'll just be another tree in the forest that no-one hears fall. So how do you build that most valued of commodities in social media (and business in general) – identity and trust? Especially in such a crowded space to start with? Thankfully, it's not that hard – but it does take work and stamina. Let's dig in. Step 1: The Message is the Key The big mistakes that brands make when jumping into social media is they see their competitors doing it, so think they need to as well. Wrong answer! (Insert buzzer noise here). For sure – social media can (and does) offer a fantastic additional tactic to add to your existing marketing mix. Yet only if it's right for you – so make sure you're doing it for the right reasons and not because of forced impressions. Once you've gotten that out of the way, the most important part comes next – defining what your message is going to be, and how that is going to build the loyalty and brand identity that will define your success in this space. The core points to consider here are: What's our brand's value proposition, and how do we convey that? Who will be our spokesperson/spokespeople, and in what capacity? How do we want to be perceived – thought leaders, the company that listens, educators, or something else? How will we ensure the message we're sharing is consistent and built to last? These are some of the initial questions to ask, and answers to provide. Without these, you'll be floundering pretty quickly and people will move on to the next brand. Don't let that be you. Think about the above questions, and make sure you have the answers (or know who the person is with the answers). And, for the love of God, please make sure you actually know internally what your business stands for before you go outside! Step 2: It Ain't What You Do, It's The Way That You Do It Once you have your goals defined, and know exactly what will be said and who will be saying it, you move on to the next most important part – building your brand identity with these components. This, probably more than anything, will be the part of the puzzle that either builds your identity and success, or sees you crash and burn on takeoff (I watched Top Gun again the other night, so forgive the gung-ho analogies!). While it's crucial to have the right people and message defined, it's just as crucial (if not more so) to take it to market properly. What you say, and how you say it, is going to be the difference between you and your competitors. And if there's one thing social media has taught all brands, it's that people are always waiting for you to slip up. To ensure your message is understood in the way you want it to be seen, you need to be consistent across every touchpoint: If you're setting up a blog, make the editorial guidelines clear, both for internal bloggers and guest authors, determine the message from the blog, and make that core across all posts. On social networks, the people that will be the "official" voice of your company need to share communications with each other regularly, and know whose role it is to reply to a certain question or issue. Finally, on social media-led promotions that carry over to the offline space, ensure the same people promoting and answering online are attached to any offline teams as well, to keep the message clear and integrated. These are just some of the ways to ensure the messaging from your brand is consistent and clear. That's one of the first steps to building a true identity online. On top of that, obviously you need to make sure that your brand's look and feel ties into this identity too. The last thing you want to do is confuse people when they visit one of your online outposts (blog, social network, Pinterest board, etc.) and find a different colour scheme or look and feel at each place (unless you're building external resources as a separate part of your brand identity, for SEO or thought leadership reasons). Get the message consistent; get the look consistent; the rest will start to fall into place. Step 3: The Long and Winding Road Of course, this is all pre-identity stuff. Or, at least, pre-social media identity (you have identified what your brand stands for internally, right?). That's the (relatively) easy part – the hard part is making sure that message is seen and, more importantly, retained time and time again. And that's where many brands fail, by expecting social media to be the quick fix to all that ails them. It's not. Social media is not a fire sale – it's a long-term investment and tactic, strategy, campaign, call it what you wish. If you're expecting your brand to be immediately identifiable through your actions on social media, you'll be sorely disappointed. Instead, it's the consistency of the message and voice that will build your identity, not the speed in which you bring that to market. Customer loyalty isn't something that can be bought – and the brands that identify the most with their customers' needs will be the ones that are rewarded with loyalty, referrals, and word-of-mouth marketing. Social media can enhance the reach of these referring voices to the Nth degree – but you need to make sure you're deserving of it to start with. Get your identity right by planning it and building it up the right way, and the world (social media or otherwise) can truly be your oyster. The choice is yours. » Comment on this article About the Author: Danny Brown is co-founder and partner at the SRM Group, offering smart marketing and social media business solutions with a socially responsible twist. His blog is featured in the AdAge Power 150 list as well as Canada's Top 50 Marketing Blogs, and won the Hive Award for Best Social Media Blog at the 2010 South by South West festival.

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Small Business Newz is an iEntry, Inc. ® publication - 1998-2012 All Rights Reserved Privacy Policy and Legal 2549 Richmond Rd. Lexington KY, 40509 All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you. Read our privacy policy. Contact us.

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