Do you like to impress people?

Last week, I was invited to join a panel at the LA Business Expo with 3 other Internet marketers – we were requested to discuss how small business owners can use Internet marketing to increase sales. After the discussion, each panelist left his business card on the table for the audience of about 100 to pick up – I couldn’t help but grin when audience member after audience member commented on how nice my business cards are. They were impressed.

Our business card is made of silk stock material, has a spot uv for a shine, and is bright yellow  on one side (just to make sure it is noticeable on a messy office desk.)

Because it stands out, it conveys our attention to detail, and is a tangible example of our ability to create extraordinary marketing collateral.

We have to give credit to Emanuel Separzadeh, of Trimax Capital Group – one of my early mentors who gave me a crash course on   starting a business. He harped on us to create a business card that differentiated our company from others. I said  ”wait a Yellow Business card? Won’t that turn off the older business demographic?”

No. He made it clear that it will define our company’s position as a progressive marketing and public relations firm. Its true, we embody our cards, we are young, cool, and love to impress people!

Can your brand design impress people? How can it define your company?

Let us know.

5 Websites That Will Meet Your Marketing Needs

Evernote

http://www.evernote.com/

If you’re like the Infinite team, you must have a million things going on at once. With Evernote you can capture and organize web clippings, emails, pictures, voice notes, written ideas, and tasks on all of your computers and phones – your notes sync to your phone and computer! And yes it is free. Watch a great video explaining Evernote: http://g4tv.com/videos/27990/evernote

Hoostuite

http://www.hootsuite.com/

Hootsuite is a tool for Twitter that allows users to organize tweets, schedule tweets, shorten links, track statistics, monitor keywords, and much more. It is a must for those using Twitter for business. And no it doesn’t cost you a dime.

Alltop

http://alltop.com/

Alltop is a resource website that aggregates blogs, online magazines, newsletters, websites and more on one platform. You can organize the information based on the topic of your interest. The site is known as the “online magazine rack” of the web.

Grammar Girl

http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/

If you are uncertain about punctuation or need help with word choice, then making a visit to this site could be very helpful.

TED: Ideas Worth Spreading

http://www.ted.com/

Sometimes in business you need information, inspiration, or just want to watch “Riveting talks by remarkable people.” The site features speeches and talks from thought leaders such as best-selling author Malcolm Gladwell, Apple CEO Steve Jobs, and many more business experts.

According to the Association for Psychological Science, first impressions occur in the blink of an eye. This means that your business may be judged by its appearance in a matter of milliseconds – especially when viewed online.

Here are 5 tips that should shape your online marketing:

1. Quickly define what your company does.

Unless you’re Coke or Apple, your logo will not define your company. This means you need to develop a clear and concise message defining who you are and what you provide.

2. People love visuals.

People surfing the web have a short attention span so you have to visually captivate them. Consulting with a web expert about layouts, color schemes, shapes, and other design elements are a must.

3.  Personalize it.

Use your name, face, and personal messages. In the online world where trust is hard to gain – having a personality behind the company makes a huge difference.

4. Expertise.

For your website to have value, it must contain your expert knowledge in an easy-to-read format – bullet points and lists are highly recommended.

5. Drive people to your website.

Unless you are driving visitors to your website, tips 1-4 will be useless – successful online marketing starts offline. Are you attending Chamber events and driving people to your site? Are you sending out email newsletters, as well as participating in forums, chat rooms or social media to share your expertise with people who need it? These are a must.

The Internet can be a gold mine but only with patience, persistence participation, and the right marketing strategy.

Here are a few tips when looking for how to
pick the right internet marketing firm:

So do your research and be patient because SEO takes time. Feel free to contact us to see what we can do for you.

Earning and converting web traffic

Your site has to be viewed as a resource of information for whatever you do and has to clearly communicate what you can do for people interested in your services. A very important question to ask yourself — Is your website engaging enough to convert this new influx of traffic generated from SEO? What’s the point of increasing traffic if visitors are unimpressed with your site, and fail to take the next step? Keep an eye on your bounce rate; if you don’t have an analytics tools in place there is no point of doing SEO, because you wont be able to measure performance and how you can improve results.

SEO is an ongoing process; your site has to earn high rankings. Rankings should not be your primary concern, converting your traffic into sales should! You have to work on building more traffic and doing so takes time. New content should be optimized and added to your website on an ongoing basis. Otherwise, you will loose traffic and rankings to your competitors who are implementing ongoing SEO!

Incremental growth is good growth.

After a couple years of continued attention to your website, you will see that your growth in traffic has increased exponentially. Some keywords you optimize for can rank within a few weeks if your site has already been indexed, but it all depends on the level of competition for any given keyword.

Consistent results can take 3-6 months, and even longer for more competitive terms. You should optimize for long tail keywords as well because it is unreasonable to expect you will be one page 1 of Google for a broad competitive keyword any time soon. There are sites that have been optimized for years and are considered authority sites that have earned their spot on the first page. A small 10-20 page site cannot come close to competing with sites that have 100’s to 1000’s of pages and that have been optimizing for the same broad competitive keyword you expect to show up on the first page for.

Get Creative.

You have to get creative with the way you optimize your keywords. The time it takes also depends on if you are doing local optimization – where you are targeting local customers within a geographical vicinity – or if you are targeting nationwide or world wide. You can compare this to offline marketing… it’s quicker and cheaper to disseminate flyers out to your local area, versus sending more flyers across the entire nation.

In conclusion, you have to ask yourself if you want to take this on yourself and try to learn SEO or do you want to focus on your business and hire an Internet Marketing Firm that specializes in SEO?

NEXT WEEK WE HELP YOU DECIDE –  “How To Pick the Right Internet Marketing Firm.”

Feel free to contact us to see what we can do for you.

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the process of increasing quality traffic to a web site from search engines’ organic (natural) search results.  Search engines such as Google have computerized “spiders” that index and analyze your website every couple of weeks, determining the relevant keywords of your website. Search engine optimization is not an over night process, it’s a long term and ever-changing strategy. You not only need years of experience and developed skills to implement SEO strategies, you also need to practice patience.

SEO is a long-term solution, and unlike pay per click (see Pay-Per-Click VS. SEO), your search engine listing can be clicked all day with no incurred click cost. Case studies have proven that organic listings tend to receive more clicks than the sponsored ads.

Elements of Successful SEO

Here are just a few of the things that go into making your SEO campaign a success:

• Keyword Research – researching and determining the relevant keywords people are searching.
• HTML Optimization - Most websites are developed using HTML code, and successfully optimized sites start with optimized HTML. Optimized HTML takes longer and requires advanced knowledge to program compared with a non-optimized website.
• Optimized Title Tags - Title tags are the words that appear as the clickable link on the search engines, these need to include appropriate keywords.
• Optimized Meta Tags – The information that describes what your website is about – it is inserted in the beginning section of the site code.
• SEO Friendly
 Coding – Ensuring that the method your site is programmed does not hinder search engines reading your website.
• Ongoing content creation – A properly optimized website starts with quality content that includes relevant keywords, and is updated on a consistent basis.
• Link Building - Your site should receives links on older and highly reputable websites.
• Local Online Optimization - This is including your local area on your site and making sure your business location is registered with search engines and directories.
• Off-site optimization - Embedding video on video sites and having a social media presence as well as many more off-site tactics will improve your search engine rankings.
• Blogging (see the Power of an Optimized Blog)
• the list goes on…

Why does SEO take time?

There is no way that all of the tactics listed above and the ones not listed can be executed appropriately if it is done quickly. Even if some of these methods are completed quickly you still have to wait for the search engines to crawl and re-crawl your site and position it for a given search result. Search engines typically crawl a website every couple weeks to a month. The more incoming links you have the process will speed up a bit but they have to be quality links from relative sites.

Your focus should be building your content, optimizing that content correctly to show Google, Bing and others that your site is worth better placement for a variety of your targeted keywords. You have probably heard “content is king” for search engines, and when you optimize original quality content you will start seeing a rise in targeted traffic….. search engines are smarter than you think!

NEXT – SEO Takes Time Part II: Earning and converting web traffic, incremental growth is good growth, and how to pick the right Internet marketing company.

Imagine you are at a networking event, a chamber of commerce function, or an industry conference and you just stand in the corner the whole time…nothing gets accomplished, right? Well if you are not contributing your knowledge in the online world, then you my friend are standing in the corner and missing out on your opportunity to retain your next customer.

Tomorrow or the day after, you are going to meet a potential prospect that knows they need your service but has no clue about the intricacies or the complexities of what you do. They want to learn more and when you meet them, you might have a minute to initiate a dialogue – but typically that’s not enough time to truly establish the value that you can add to their business.

Here’s a great example:

There are two tax services companies at your local chamber of commerce and as a striving business owner you know you need to hire one.

Tax service company rep A and B are both nice people, both seem trustworthy, and both are referred by other members. At the end of your conversation they leave you their business card with a web address.

Company A’s website has a whitepaper, a “how-to” guide, an updated blog, links to helpful websites, and more information than can you probably handle.

Company B has a nice looking website but no extensive information other than their company address, a few stock photos, and the typical tag line about how they are reliable and that they provide solutions.

Now, which company will you call first? Exactly. It’s officially time for you to join the party.

Before the popularity of Internet, testimonials were typically found on your company’s print brochures, press kits, and even print ads. Now that the Internet is extremely popular (to say the least!), there is an ever-growing platform to help prospects further their consideration of purchasing a product or service from you.

In order to leverage your testimonials successfully in today’s web-hungry world you must make sure to they are seen by more than just visitors to your website. But before you learn where to place your testimonials online, it’s vital to know how to craft an effective testimonial.

1. What Does A Great Testimonial Look Like?

All testimonials are not created equal. Some are full of fluff and a waste of space. A good testimonial provides the individual with a quick route to the great, dependable, safe buying decision they really want to make.

Unique Selling Proposition (USP) – This is where your company offers a differentiation that sets you apart from your competitors. People like to buy stability and consistency. And when your USP is emphasized over and over again with testimonials, it shows there is consistency and longevity associated with your brand and its promise.

Hard Value – Is measurable, you can express it in numbers or percentages. For example, has the individual generated greater revenues by “X” as a result of your business relationship?

Soft Value – These are a little bit more difficult to measure, because you aren’t expressing the values as numbers or percentages. Utilize descriptive words and phrases like “Greater piece of mind,” “Enhanced brand recognition,” “More security and stability” …etc.

Time Element - People want to hear how long it takes to the results of your product or service. It is one deciding factor for them.

Loyalty & Future Business – You want your customers to say they are continuing to work with you now and in the future. Your company is the one they trust and theres no reason to go with any other competitor. This will leave a powerful impression for people and they will be eager to become your next customer.

2. Where Should You Place Your Testimonials Online?

Capturing  a great testimonial won’t mean much unless it is effectively communicated to the right person at the right time. In the ever-growing online world, people will very likely come in contact with your brand in more places than just your website. Here is quick list of places you should considering putting your online testimonials.

Website Homepage – Potential customers will most likely see your company homepage before any other online material. You have just 2-3 seconds to convince them they should not leave. By placing a brief, powerful testimonial  in an easy-to-read area you are multiplying the likelihood of the visitor’s consideration to contact your company or purchase what you are offering.

Blog – Sidebars and columns can be a great place to add company testimonials. They can also be placed effectively under blog posts as comments (if your blog allows other to leave comments).

LinkedIn – In this business-heavy social media platform, testimonials can go a long way in promoting your individual brand or company’s credibility. You simply ask for recommendations from others within your network. You can even choose which testimonials you choose to publish for others to see, so don’t be afraid to solicit recommendations from your network!

Facebook – From research and other people’s reviews – case in point! – there doesn’t seem to be any spectacular Facebook apps for soliciting and retrieving testimonials yet. However, if you have a Company Facebook Fanpage, there is tab labeled “Testimonials” you can easily add in your profile settings.

Video/YouTube – Internet video is growing at a rapid rate. The power of an individual explaining your benefits and products in a story format is huge! By using the right tags and keywords to optimize your posts, you can even use these video testimonials as a way to increase traffic to your site.

Local Business Directories – If your business is dependent on customers from a close proximity (ie, dentist, dry-cleaner, restaurant, gym..etc.) than you should know more people are searching on local directories like Google local and Yelp! than ever before. Encourage your happy customers to leave positive testimonials and high reviews on company pages you set up on such directories.

“Here’s a list of people you should be having lunch with. I want you to run into people – go through old year books.”

This quote is from Herman “Duck” Philips, the new head account executive at the Sterling Cooper advertising firm.  If you have never heard of Duck – as he goes by – it’s because he’s a fictional character on Season 1 of the emmy-award winning show Mad Men.

You might not be sipping brandy at 11am or smoking 2 packs a day but if you are a business owner than you DO have one thing in common with Duck; retaining clients for your company. These 2 simple action items were inspired by Duck, modified by me, and given to you as a guide to attracting and signing more business in the new year.

1. Eat Your Lunch List

Create a list of people you should be building new relationships with and make it a habit of going to lunch with at least 2 of these people every week. Consider including:
• CEOs and top executives in industries where you or your services add value
• Local Chamber of Commerce Members
• College buddies
• Relatives

*This list can AND should be partly comprised of people whom you already know.

Remember, these people may not need your services, but they definitely know people and companies who do. I often have lunch with relatives and past work colleagues to update them about how my team at Infinite Communications is making money for people via Internet marketing. More often than not, my lunch partners are refreshed by my good news, and ready to pass it along to their connections. My goal is for these good people to become evangelists for my brand and refer our company services to people and circles I would have difficulty reaching without them.

I find 100% of the time, that people like helping people they like. For more insights on lunch-based relationship building, I highly recommend Keith Ferrazzi best-selling book “Never Eat Alone.”

2. Connect Via Old-Yearbooks / Facebook

Great news! You don’t have to be making cold-calls all day or forcing yourself to attend networking events every night of the week in order to develop new clientele. People want to do business with people they like and trust, so reaching out to past friends and classmates will place you a step ahead of any stranger. You probably don’t carry an old year book with you, but chances are you do have a Facebook account.

Why not use your Facebook time to reach out to past classmates and see if you could meet for coffee or maybe just start a conversation thread via email? Among the thousands of friends you can connect with, many could be your next client or a valued referral source. As a matter of fact, our company’s first client was a elementary school friend of our CMO, Parham Nabatian. Parham kept in touch and “pinged” the friend often, even after we all graduated until the classmate “graduated” into being our client.

Wondering what to say? How about a startling statistic or a quick success story. For more on creating your own great conversation/update opening, I highly recommend Nance Rosen’s best-seller, “Speak Up! & Succeed.”

Now that New Year is under way, determine who you can connect or re-connect with that might be in need of your services?

Purchasing domain names is usually the first step to take when launching a website. If you are one of those people who purchased dozens of domain names “just in case“, it is time to go through them and decide which ones are the most valuable. We are going to help you decide.

Search engines consider domain names as an important factor in their ranking algorithm, meaning a “good domain” name can help search engines find your website. So, what do search engines consider when it comes to domain names?

The 2 biggest factors: Domain Age AND The Length of Registration

• Domain Age – the longer you had a domain name, usually the better. You can even buy previously used domains that already have some weight.

• Registration Length – buying a domain for as many years as offered is recommended.

If you purchase a domain name for only one year, a search engine may devalue it thinking that this website will only be around 1 year (maybe for spamming purposes); so right off the bat, purchasing the domain for multiple years shows your site is here to stay and that you are not trying to clutter the web with a “get rich quick type of site.”

These are other factors to consider when it comes to choosing a Domain Name:

• Easy & Relevant – Choose one that’s easy to remember, pertains to your service or product, and keep one domain as the primary (The Mothership Website). If you already have a domain or multiple domains, stick with one that will be the primary one and try obtaining links to it.
• Extensions – Start with .com or .net (or .org if you are part of an organization). Try to stay away from .biz,.us, .info or any of the newly added extensions. These are often used for spam or advertising purposes and are rarely ranked by search engines.
• Keywords – If possible, use keywords in your domain (these should be targeted keywords that you want visitors to find your website with).

With that said, choose your Domain Name wisely!