What 's In Your Marketing Plan? A Small Business Guide To Online Marketing

Many small business owners make the mistake of thinking, "If we make a website using a few keywords, search engine algorithms will guide customers to us." But these days, everyone has a website, every website uses keywords, and it 's not difficult to hire web designers to create good-looking, perfectly functioning websites. Online marketing is becoming more difficult and more competitive, particularly for small business owners who seemingly can't compete with huge companies in search engine results.

How does a small business generate hits to its website? Is it possible to use the Internet to increase your market size? If search engines persistently bury your website on page 12 of their search results, there are solutions.

Think about it -- what are your potential customers looking for? Whatever your field, it 's likely that they're looking for expertise, intelligence, and creativity. And your customers are discerning -- they can tell when a marketing technique is phony -- and the only reason they so often go with the bigger companies is a perceived lack of alternatives. Many small businesses, in an effort to attract customers, try to emulate the marketing practices of larger companies, thus neglecting to show their own, knowledgeable perspective.

So, how does a small business show that it 's not only more personalized and trustworthy than larger companies, but also smarter and more dynamic? You have to speak to your potential customers. You must show them that you have the brains, the ability, and the creativity to suit their unique needs, far better than larger companies can.

In the age of the Internet, there are few things that people respect more than a well-written, informative article. If you're a small business owner, then there 's clearly at least one area in which you are more knowledgeable than anyone else. This is what makes you good at running your business -- yet why not also use this knowledge to increase the size of your market?

If you search the Internet for "how article marketing works" you'll find some very good article distribution services that can help you link your website in all corners of the Internet. There are thousands of websites that are always looking for fresh, informative content, and that would be pleased to publish your work.

First, though, you must write your article. Write it carefully, and make it informative; people love to learn new things. But remember, both publishers and readers can recognize a sales pitch, so don't mention the name of your business unless it is truly integral to the content of your article.

The important thing is that each time an article of yours is published, it will come with an "About the Author" box, which will contain a link to your website. Everyone who learns something from your article will want to click on the link. Your article will be like a tease; they will seek more of what you have to offer on your website.

So start writing as soon as you can. And remember, after you sign up for an article marketing website, you'll be asked to categorize the articles that you've written. Don't do this hastily; think hard about the categories customers would associate with the services you offer.

If the service suggests revisions to your work, try not to be offended. They are experts, and to make the changes they suggest is in your own best interest. Your goal is to increase your market size. They want to help you do it. Trust them.

Few businesses are aware of this marketing tactic, so it 's best to take advantage of it while you can. With the millions of businesses now marketing on the web, it 's important for the small business owner to realize that to simply include a few keywords on your website is not enough anymore.

Plus, through article marketing, you can generate thousands of clicks to your website, which moves your website higher up in the rankings of search engines such as Google and Yahoo. By writing informative articles, and having them distributed throughout the Internet, you can work your way up to page 1 in the search results.

About the Author

Tiva Kelly is an expert at article marketing and offers support to authors at Article Marketer, a highly popular article distribution service. Learn how to market your small business when you submit articles through Article Marketer.

http://www.articlemarketer.com

Article Source: Content for Reprint

10 Reasons Your Small Business Needs A Technology Services Provider

Can your small business get both affordable professional-class IT service and peace of mind? The secret lies in having a technology services provider handle your technical solutions.

To stay competitive, small businesses must make the most of current technology. But it 's expensive, time consuming, and inefficient to maintain a full-time IT department like larger companies. A true Professional Technology Services Provider offers on-demand talent, depth of experience, deep resources and huge economies of scale. Here are the top 10 benefits you'll see.

Benefit #1: Stay Focused On Core Business Functions

People are happiest doing what they do best. And they get frustrated by tasks that distract them from it. Researching solutions, implementing new technology and fixing IT-related problems are extremely inefficient for non-IT professionals. Free up internal staff for revenue-generating functions and the business of business.

Benefit #2: Tap Economies Of Scale And Purchasing Power

Due to a single focus on IT, sechnology services providers achieve greater efficiencies and economies of scale. They consolidate purchasing power and have access to deep and broad knowledge bases. Using developed best practices, tasks are completed more efficiently than small businesses can do on their own. The means real cost savings-- both in time and money.

Benefit #3: Reduce Cost and Control Operating Expenses

The business value of technology services providers results in very hard dollar savings. In almost all cases, small businesses will spend 25% to 50% less than the cost of even one mid-level IT professional. Then take recruiting, training, vacation, sick days, turnover and other management issues out of the equation to see even more savings. Costs are budgeted, predictable and controlled.

Benefit #4: Access Highly Specialized Talent

Small businesses cannot cost effectively achieve the scale and flexibility to properly support their technology environments. Even a very experienced and dedicated IT employee has limits to skills and avenues for help. Professional technology services providers offer access to teams of IT specialists that deliver the cross-sectional IT knowledge needed to provide both on-going and critical support for small business networks.

Benefit #5: Get Services On-Demand

Many small businesses face the challenges of growth and the burden of scaling back. Both cases present a genuine HR problem when relying on in-house IT resources. Small businesses need the agility of just-in-time resources for emergencies and the flexibility to adjust technology support levels. With a professional technology services provider, sudden changes won't affect the livelihood or morale of employees.

Benefit #6: Help Employees Innovate and Stay Productive

Communication, collaboration, and knowledge sharing allows employees to innovate. These capabilities are delivered through a multitude of technologies including file servers, central databases, broadband connectivity, mobile platforms, email communications, and many others. However, true productivity and business benefit can only be realized when this complex technology is properly planned, implemented and maintained. The best practices and comprehensive experiences around planning, implementing and maintaining such systems allow technology services providers to successfully deliver these productivity improvements.

Benefit #7: Reduce Downtime

Even a few minutes of systems downtime carry enormous business costs. Maximizing uptime must be a high priority. Small businesses can longer afford issues with internet connectivity, email communications, corrupt data or systems failure—the cost of reacting to these events is just too high. Professional technology services providers offer planned, measured approaches to pro-active systems maintenance, security, backup and disaster recovery.

Benefit #8: Get A Technology Edge Over Competitors

Don't just level the playing field: take advantage of new technologies for a competitive advantage. Technology services providers keep up with the latest solutions through ongoing training and real-world experience. They know how to implement the latest hardware, software, and network applications available. Just as important: they know which technologies are not worth the investment.

Benefit #9: Attract and Retain Employees

Employees want to work in an environment where their computers are up and running. Employees want to be competitive with their rivals and they want the technology tools that really help them deliver. Potential new talent will weigh your company’s technology prowess. Utilizing a professional technology services provider allows small businesses to meet these expectations and increases the ability to attract and retain employees.

Benefit #10: Access Otherwise Unavailable Vendor Support

Access to manufacturers is crucial in effectively supporting complex technology. When available, technology manufacturers traditionally provide basic or unreliable direct end-user support. With a well-established professional technology services provider, small businesses enjoy the benefits of priority access to Microsoft, Cisco and thousands of other technology vendors.

About the Author

Nick Pegley is VP Marketing for All Covered: Technology Services Partner for Small Business, providing IT consulting services in 20 major U.S. metro areas.

Article Source: Content for Reprint

Effective Time Management and Your Small Business

Effective time management becomes one of the most important things you must do on a daily basis if you own a small business. For some people it doesn't seem to matter how long their day is. They just never seem to have enough time. The clock is ticking and it 's ticking too fast for comfort. It feels like they have a million things to do, a couple thousand of which were actually due last week and every new task is urgent and can't wait...

Sounds familiar? Well if it does you might be one of those people who just don't have a very good relationship with time. It is often a sign that you're not in control of your own day timer. You may have some things on your to do list that you set out to accomplish, but anything and everything that you come across interferes with your plans. Someone or something else seems to be claiming your time to the extent that you never seem to get anything done. You might be asking yourself: "How can I possibly get everything done?" Good question. The answer is very simple: "You can't and you shouldn't want to".

Wanting to get everything done is probably the main reason why so many people are short on time. They're trying to do too many things and fail to realize that there are only so many tasks that one person can accomplish in a day. Instead of focusing on getting everything done, focus on those things that really need to get done. Separating what 's important from what 's not important will help you prioritize your tasks. And once you've done this, just remember that priorities are in order. That means that when you're working on something with a high priority it is okay to turn down someone asking you to do something that has a lower priority.

Time is an area where we can be absolutely sure that everyone is treated equally. No matter where you're from or what your background is everybody has the same amount of hours in a day. The difference is in how we choose to spend those hours.

Every night before your head hits the pillow, take a piece of paper and write down the 5 most important tasks you must accomplish the next day. Write them down in the order of importance. Then the next day start on the first task and don't move on to the next task until the first has been finished. Then move on to the next item on the list. If you get sidetracked just come back to your list as soon as possible and move on.

Some pointers that may help you in this direction:

Become more efficient in your communication. This means: on the phone, in emails or letters, and of course in face-to-face conversations. A lot of time spent in communication is very inefficient. This is especially wasteful because you're not just wasting your own time but also somebody else 's .

Touch everything only once. This can be a really great time-saver. Every piece of information should preferably pass through your hands only once. This goes for mail, email, but also things like certain websites, articles, newspapers and other sources of information.

In order to do this successfully you will need to learn how to make decisions quickly. Some decisions just aren't worth too much of your valuable time. The ability to make decisions is one key to becoming successful anyway. So why wouldn't you want to speed that process up a little.

Effective time management will make your day more enjoyable because it allows you to be more in control of your time. Once you master this there is nothing you can not do to make your small business operate more smoothly.

About the Author

Sites-Plus.com offers small business grants and everything you need to start run your own small business. For small business training visit our website: http://www.sites-plus.com

Article Source: Content for Reprint

Do You Have What It Takes To Start A Small Business

Are you cut out to start your own small business. Some people are better off working for someone else then they are to take the plunge and start a small business of their own.

Statistics tell us that over 45% of small businesses fail within the first two years of starting up. On the other hand, millions of self-made business owners have gone on to become millionaires. So what do you need to become one of the successful ones? Don't worry if you don't have everything it takes. Training can develop many of the so-called essentials. All you really need to know are which ones are your strengths and which are your weaknesses. Here are some traits you'll need. It 's up to you to decide if you've got them, or if you'll work on getting them.

- Common sense. If you're not sure whether you've got it, ask your family. It 's the ability to make sound judgments about all manner of life issues. It can be a combination of past experience and knowledge and will help you get to the core of a problem by simplifying it.

- Specialized knowledge of your field. It 's no use jumping into something about which you know nothing. Most successful businessmen have gained much valuable experience in their trade well before they went into business for themselves.

- Self Confidence. When you start out in small business, the buck will usually stop with you. You are the one who has to make difficult decisions and wear the consequences. This is not always something you either have or don't have. You may have it in one area or situation and lack it in another. Training will help you to get it.

- The ability to get things done. This is actually self-discipline. It 's no use deciding to take the day off because it 's sunny and the surf 's up. There are things requiring your attention and if you leave them they won't get done. On the other hand, it 's no use being on the job if you fritter the time away on menial talks that should be delegated.

- Creativity. Sure it 's been done that way since Adam, but there could be a better way to do it - one that will save you time and money.

- Ability to lead. Do you get along with others or is there a long line of dissatisfied staff, customers, clients, friends and relatives behind you? Your ability to lead and get people to do great work is paramount to your success in business.

- Self reliance. If you can't rely on yourself, whom can you rely on? You need to be able to set goals and do whatever it takes to reach them. Sure you'll have others under you - eventually, but many small business owners need first to rely on themselves. If you want to start a small business, the best thing to do is get in there and have a go. You can learn as you go, but make sure you listen to others advice, even if you don't always follow it. Being open to new ideas and advice is important too.

If you want to start a small business and don't feel like you have the traits to be successful maybe you need to develop them. The traits listed above can all be developed to the point the are habitual. It takes time and effort. Sometimes it comes down to getting out of your comfort zone and as Nike said in their commercials "Just Do it."

About the Author

Jeff Schuman invites you to visit his small business resources
website for everything you need to start and run your own successful small business. http://www.sites-plus.com

Article Source: Content for Reprint

Are You Making These 5 Common Pay-per-click Mistakes In Your Small Business?

Because of the ability to specifically target your unique prospects based on interest as well as geography, the ability to tightly control your ad spend and to precisely measure results, Pay-Per-Click (PPC) is probably the greatest breakthrough to come along in advertising since the launch of television. And, because of those same benefits, it’s much more affordable for the small to mid-size business owner to leverage for their business (as compared with television and many other advertising alternatives).

That being said, PPC is not as easy as it seems at first glance. Business owners looking to launch their first campaign will quickly discover how easily they can spend hundreds – and even thousands – of dollars in wasted efforts while they learn to navigate the PPC waters.

While entire books have been written on the ins-and-outs of pay-per-click advertising, there are 5 common mistakes that I see business owners making when I’m asked to evaluate their pay-per-click campaign strategies. These mistakes are easy to fix, and doing so will dramatically increase the effectiveness of your pay-per-click campaign!

The 5 most common PPC mistakes are:

1. Using your home page as the landing page. No matter which search engine you use for your campaign – Google, Yahoo!, MSN or any other – you can decide where to direct your new customers when they click on your ad. The most common mistake I see business owners make when they launch their PPC campaign is directing those clicks to their home page. The thinking seems to be that their home page is equivalent to the front door of their business, and they want their new customers to walk through – but that’s where they go wrong. With PPC advertising, your prospect is searching for something highly specific – that’s the “keyword” they’ve entered into the search engine. Having them land at your home page is the equivalent of having them ask you for a specific item in your store, and you telling them – “it’s in here somewhere, it’s up to you to find it.” Obviously you wouldn’t do that in person with your customers – and you don’t want to do it online, either. By designing what’s known as a “landing page” – the place where visitors “land” when they click on your ad - you can present your customer with exactly what they are looking for when they come to your site. Your landing page should be tightly focused to the keywords you are using for your PPC ad, with no other links or distractions to confuse your prospect. This dramatically increases their satisfaction with your site, as well as the likelihood that they will make a purchase from you.

2. Not customizing your landing page to your prospects’ keyword searches. The way an ideal PPC campaign works is something like this: a prospect enters a search term – for my business it might be “e-mail marketing.” They are presented with my PPC ad with “e-mail marketing” in the headline AND the ad copy. My prospect clicks on my ad and is taken to my landing page that is all about e-mail marketing. (I will have bid on both “e-mail marketing” and “email marketing” to capture searchers entering it both ways). The likelihood that my prospect will become a customer is high, because there is no confusion about what the page is about – no wondering if he’s in the right place or if we offer what he is looking for. A common mistake I see business owners making with their PPC campaigns is to try to combine several products or services into one landing page. This leads to frustration when your searcher clicks on your ad and lands on a page that they aren’t sure offers what they are specifically looking for. Make sure your landing pages are customized to the keyword your prospect is searching for – and quickly turn prospects into customers.

3. Using generic ad copy in your PPC ads. The tricky thing with PPC ads is you don’t have much real estate to work with. Google allows just 70 characters; Yahoo allows 190 characters (with spaces) in a text ad. When every single word counts, you can’t afford to use meaningless words like “high quality service,” or “established in 1903.” While these statements may be true about your business, they don’t target the specific searches your prospects are entering to find the products and services they are looking for. A mistake I see clients make in their PPC ads is to include these type of generic statements that don’t set their business apart. When you are writing your ad, you’ll want to include specific keywords that your prospects will likely enter to find what you have to offer. Your headline must be captivating and should include your main keyword. The next line of your ad should contain the single biggest benefit you offer to your customers. What sets your company apart from your competitors? That’s what goes in your PPC ad. The 3rd line of your ad should contain a feature of your product or service or an offer – special discounted pricing or something free work well here. By making your ad specific to the keywords that your prospects will likely enter, you’ll be well on your way not only to increasing clicks, but to turning clicks into cash as well.

4. Not securing high enough placement with your bids. All of the search engines use a slightly different method for determining the position for your ad. Google and Yahoo use a combination of ad relevancy (how relevant your ad is to the keywords you’ve bid on and the landing page you present to your visitors) and bid price. A big mistake I notice my clients making is not targeting their keywords tightly enough and specific enough to their product or service to allow them to bid high enough on those keywords to secure top placement on the search engines. It’s estimated that 85% of all PPC clicks occur on ads that appear in one of the top 3 positions on the page. That means, if you aren’t working hard to find keywords that are specific enough to your niche and not bidding high enough to secure a top spot, you are missing out on a good portion of the clicks that could be yours. Use a keyword tool such as Wordtracker to research keyword possibilities that you may not have considered. Look for a Keyword Effectiveness of 10 or greater – meaning that the keyword has sufficient search queries with the engines to result in significant traffic, without a lot of competitors bidding on the same keyword. When you place your campaign, use these keywords and bid high enough to secure a top spot, ensuring that the people searching for what you have to offer find your website – instead of your competitors.

5. Not testing your ads to determine their effectiveness. While there is a “formula” for crafting an effective PPC ad, slight changes – even changing one word – can have a dramatic impact on your click-through-rate (the percentage of people who click on your ad as compared with the number who see it). A mistake I see business owners making with their campaigns is to choose their keywords and then write only one PPC ad to display. All of the major search engines offer the capability of creating ad variations so that you can test different ad copy to determine what works best. This is known as “split testing” or “A/B” testing, as you are comparing the results of two different ads for the same keywords. Google will alternate the ads for you, and you’ll easily be able to see which ad performs better by looking at your click-through-rate. When you find an ad that outperforms another, that ad becomes your “control” – or the ad to beat. Put the under-performing ad on “hold” and create another version, changing one or two words or possibly just the headline. Then test that ad against your control. This is a continual process – you are always trying to beat your control to improve your number of clicks. Not surprisingly, advertisers who test their ads in this method are more successful with PPC, as they tend to know their customers better and are able to target their prospects with captivating ads that turn into an increasing number of clicks – and customers – for them.

Pay-per-click advertising has enormous benefits for the small to mid-size business owner. Avoiding these 5 common mistakes will help you save money and quickly turn clicks into customers – and increased profits – when you launch your next PPC campaign.

About the Author

Entrepreneur and outdoor photography adventurer Caroline Melberg is President and CEO of Small Business Mavericks, a division of Melberg Marketing. She has over 20 years of experience creating marketing communications materials and writing copy for some of the largest and most successful companies in the world. Her small business columns are syndicated online, and she publishes the popular eZine, "Small Business Maverick Secrets." Learn insider Maverick Marketing secrets you can use immediately to find new customers and increase your sales. When you subscribe, you'll also get a FREE copy of her e-Book, "Local Small Business Internet Marketing Secrets" - learn insider secrets to marketing your local small business on the Web today! Get your FREE subscription at http://www.SmallBusinessMavericks.com.rWant to use this article in YOUR eZine or business publication? You can, as long as you include the complete article along with my bio above!

Article Source: Content for Reprint