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3 Ways Online Reviews Help Your Business SEO

Posted on August 20, 2012. Filed under: Uncategorized |

Listen to the audio version of this article:

Some interesting ways Online Reviews can help your businesses SEO, and launch your website to the top of the search engines

These days, when someone is interested in a business, it is easy for that person to find a LOAD of information on that business just by searching the Internet.

Not only is it possible to browse your business website to get a good idea of what you offer, but potential customers can also use reviews of your business to make the important decision of whether or not they want to work with you.

This has very obvious implications when it comes to earning new customers… but did you know that online reviews can also go a long way in lending to your business website’s creditability, by strengthening its search engine optimisation (SEO)?

How so?

Read More and listen to short audio version…

Ramping Up Your Marketing Efforts

Posted on December 10, 2008. Filed under: Uncategorized |

In the good times, I talked with business owners who were happy with what they were getting.
Prospects were calling and being turned into customers, with very little effort… existing customers were buying more, more often… times were good.

They threw off the idea of marketing, they didn’t see a need for it. They were in the summer of their business lives and all they could see was the sunshine.

But as the great Jim Rohn says… “Life and business is like the seasons”.

As sure as the sun sets at night and rises in the morning… there has to be a winter. And for many that winter has arrived.

They didn’t want to hear about using sustainable marketing strategies and tactics that would keep them ahead of the game, in winter. They only saw the summer.

Now… some of those companies I have been keeping in contact with have let some people go. Worst still… have closed altogether. The layoffs and closures have been so rapid. But you know I wasn’t surprised.

I’m not saying I have all the answers because I don’t. I’ve been running my own business for a long time, and been in marketing for even longer. I knew there was a winter coming, so I was preparing in the summer. Others didn’t and now they’re paying the price.

Of course, some of those businesses that are suffering encountered situations outside their control and there was very little they could do about it. But there was definately some that had the chance to save themselves, but just couldn’t see what was coming. The warnings were there.

So to survive over the next 12 months what do you need to do? Ramp up your marketing activity. Period!

I’m sure people are working hard now and don’t think they can squeeze in anymore time to work on their business. But I say they can.

• If it means, getting up an hour earlier and working an hour later. Then do it.

• If it means, turning off the TV and resigning your favourite radio or tv show. Then do it.

• If it means working till midnight or the wee hours of the morning. Then do it.

• If it means using your weekends, when normally you would be sitting back and chilling. Then do it.

• If it means doing whatever it takes, to ensure your business survives. Then do it.

The extra time you create to work on your business will have to be time well spent. Testing new ideas and approaches to see what works and what doesn’t is going to be very productive.

Using low or no-cost ideas will be the order of the day. Spending a vast amount of money marketing a business is not needed. Some of the really great marketing approaches cost very little, if anything at all.

Nows the time to seek out those ideas and put them to work for your business… and keep on using them, once they’ve been proven to work.

I was too young to remember, my first recession… I was busy playing cricket, football and riding my bike. I was a child and did what children do.

The second one I do remember… because my house was on the line, bills were piling up and money was tight. Very tight.

I had just purchased my first home and then a few months later, house prices dropped like a stone and I was in negative equity to the tune of £16,000.

The recession of the nineties, I worked harder than I had ever worked before and I survived. I got back that £16,000 and moved to a bigger house.

This recession… I’m working harder now, than I did 12 months ago. I’m getting up earlier (2 or 3 days in the week) but I’m always working longer in the evenings. I’ve relegated my favourite programmes (there weren’t that many anyway) and I’m putting my efforts into finding, using, testing and profiting from low-cost and no-cost marketing strategies. And it’s working!

My brother-in-law called me last week and gave me a brilliant quote, which I loved. It read,(words to this effect) “Does a recession cause businessmen to become more fearfull or… do fearfull businessmen cause recession.” – The Law of Unintended Consequences.

I’ve always been of the mind that if you keep your activity high and that activity is the right activity, you’ll reap the rewards. Just by doing something, you’ll get back something in return.

So what if, from today you found 10 marketing ideas that could work and each one gave you 5% – 10% more than what you’re getting right now, what would that mean to you and your business? Would that enable you to feel a little less fearfull?

I’m not sure about you… but the activity I’ve been putting in, working on little proven ways to generate prospects, winning clients and building my war chest, has been making a difference and I’ll continue doing them… and adding more.

We all need to ramp up our marketing efforts, if we’re to survive and thrive.

There Are Some Great Sales Pages On The Web… But Don’t Be Fooled

Posted on October 16, 2008. Filed under: Uncategorized |

I’m on a number of lists from online and offline Marketers. Some information I get is very good and helps me with my own business and others bits of information not so.

But I see a worrying trend developing, where the information I get… is trying to sell me something, more and more often.

That’s fine, we all have to earn money and that is the idea of having a business is all about. But…

Building a relationship with your base of prospects or even existing customers seems to be going out the window. Which is DEAD WRONG!

It’s easy to be drawn in by a very well written online sales letter. What prompted me to post this message was a sales letter I read about a product. On the face of it… it sounded like a must have piece of kit. It was obvious that a skilled copywriter penned it. Or in this case keyed it.

In my mind it was a little miss leading. Why?

Well, some of the ideas being shared are slowing down in their effectiveness. Yes they still work, but not to the extent, they once did. But it made no mention of that. It was like they were just after my money. You have to work harder and harder these days, to seperate a customer from their money, and the one shot deal won’t cut it.

I would have hoped that they were in the business of building relationships and thus down the line, building a more profitable business.

The one-shot, grab it while you approach to building a business has long gone, but these guys, just don’t get that.

So don’t be fooled by what you read, before making a decision, do your research and find out whether what is being shared is actually true. I passed the information I read to a very good friend of mine and online marketing giant.

He told me some interesting things… and I would suggest that you find someone you respect and trust to run things by. That conversation with my friend, got me to stop and think, before taking a financial decision, I may have regretted later.