As the title says, I'll be posting on the Small Business Branding Blog for an unknown amount of time so this website won't be updated as readily. Hopefully though, the plans which I had hoped to put into place on this blog will be used more effectively on the SBB website.
As that site is more developed I will be posting more advanced articles. The first article I'd like to post is an introductory one on branding. I hope you like it and keep visiting the website to see more marketing advice for small businesses.
Monday, July 31, 2006
Sunday, July 30, 2006
10 Ways To Get Incoming Links To Your Website
The following Article is written by James Woodley. I found this information TOO GOOD not to share. I hope you enjoy it and visit his website down below...
Obtaining incoming links to your website fulfills two main
objectives. Firstly it increases the traffic you could
potentially receive to your site because the more links you
have the more traffic you should receive, and secondly, by
obtaining links from pages with a good page rank you can
increase your own page rank which, although not the deciding
factor, will help boost your ranking in the search engines.
Listed below are ten ways in which you can obtain these
sought-after links.
1. Exchange Links With Other Websites
This process, known as reciprocal linking, is common place
on the internet, and is something most webmasters do.
However, while it's something you should do, it's important
to note that search engines place more importance on one-way
links than two-way or reciprocal links.
2. Submit Your Website To Directories
This is a good way of getting one-way links to your site (if
a reciprocal link is not required). There are numerous
directories you can submit to, offering both free and paid
submissions. When deciding on whether paid submissions are
worth it, you should look at the page where your link is
expected to appear and see if it has a reasonable page rank,
and the number of other links that appear on that page, with
the fewer the better.
3. Build A Network Of Websites And Interlink Them
When building multiple websites it makes sense to interlink
them, preferably from a home page link for maximum benefit.
This can be very beneficial if each of your websites is on a
different server, but be careful if they are hosted on the
same server, as the search engines will think you're
deliberately manipulating their results, and will most
likely prevent you from achieving higher rankings.
4. Write Articles
This is a very powerful method of obtaining a lot of
incoming one-way links to your site. By submitting your
articles, which include the all important resource box with
the link to your site, to multiple article directories you
can pick up backlinks from not only these article
directories but from other websites who pick up your
articles and include them on their website or blog.
5. Write Press Releases
Writing a compelling news-worthy press release about your
site or related topic, can also result in multiple websites
and news sources picking it up and linking to your site.
This is a very effective way of obtaining numerous one-way
links very quickly, but doesn't offer the long-term benefits
that articles do.
6. Create A Blog
Blogs are very easy to create with multiple websites
offering free services, so there is no excuse for not
creating a blog related to and linking to your main website.
You could post anything - your thoughts, articles, or
affiliate program reviews, for example, but make sure you
include a link to your site in the links section, and at the
end of each post if appropriate.
7. Leave Comments On Blogs And Guestbooks
You've got to be careful with this method that you don't
abuse it and start spamming other people's blogs or
guestbooks. Leave legitimate comments, and make it look like
you actually have something to contribute. For example, just
saying “Great Blog!” and then leaving your link is rightly
considered to be spam, and will also damage your reputation
in the long run.
8. Post On Forums That Allow Sig Files
Sig files are the line(s) that appear at the bottom of each
message and act as a discreet way of advertising your site.
You won't get a great deal of benefit in terms of page rank,
as most forums do not have a high page rank for their
threads, but you will build up a good number of links, and
as forums generally tend to get spidered by the search
engines regularly, they will follow the links to your site
and subsequently spider your site on a regular basis.
9. Write Testimonials
By writing and submitting testimonials to websites that you
have previously purchased products or services from, you can
get high-quality links to your site, often from the home
pages of the sites in question.
10. Buy Links
The final way to obtain incoming links is by simply buying
them. This can have a dramatic effect on your page rank and
subsequently your search engine rankings if you can get
links from PR6+ sites, however the only problem with this is
that most links for sale are often for a set period of time,
usually a month, and so you have to keep buying them to
maintain your higher page rank and rankings.
James Woolley is a full-time marketer who runs a website and
newsletter dedicated to helping people make money online
through internet marketing.
Obtaining incoming links to your website fulfills two main
objectives. Firstly it increases the traffic you could
potentially receive to your site because the more links you
have the more traffic you should receive, and secondly, by
obtaining links from pages with a good page rank you can
increase your own page rank which, although not the deciding
factor, will help boost your ranking in the search engines.
Listed below are ten ways in which you can obtain these
sought-after links.
1. Exchange Links With Other Websites
This process, known as reciprocal linking, is common place
on the internet, and is something most webmasters do.
However, while it's something you should do, it's important
to note that search engines place more importance on one-way
links than two-way or reciprocal links.
2. Submit Your Website To Directories
This is a good way of getting one-way links to your site (if
a reciprocal link is not required). There are numerous
directories you can submit to, offering both free and paid
submissions. When deciding on whether paid submissions are
worth it, you should look at the page where your link is
expected to appear and see if it has a reasonable page rank,
and the number of other links that appear on that page, with
the fewer the better.
3. Build A Network Of Websites And Interlink Them
When building multiple websites it makes sense to interlink
them, preferably from a home page link for maximum benefit.
This can be very beneficial if each of your websites is on a
different server, but be careful if they are hosted on the
same server, as the search engines will think you're
deliberately manipulating their results, and will most
likely prevent you from achieving higher rankings.
4. Write Articles
This is a very powerful method of obtaining a lot of
incoming one-way links to your site. By submitting your
articles, which include the all important resource box with
the link to your site, to multiple article directories you
can pick up backlinks from not only these article
directories but from other websites who pick up your
articles and include them on their website or blog.
5. Write Press Releases
Writing a compelling news-worthy press release about your
site or related topic, can also result in multiple websites
and news sources picking it up and linking to your site.
This is a very effective way of obtaining numerous one-way
links very quickly, but doesn't offer the long-term benefits
that articles do.
6. Create A Blog
Blogs are very easy to create with multiple websites
offering free services, so there is no excuse for not
creating a blog related to and linking to your main website.
You could post anything - your thoughts, articles, or
affiliate program reviews, for example, but make sure you
include a link to your site in the links section, and at the
end of each post if appropriate.
7. Leave Comments On Blogs And Guestbooks
You've got to be careful with this method that you don't
abuse it and start spamming other people's blogs or
guestbooks. Leave legitimate comments, and make it look like
you actually have something to contribute. For example, just
saying “Great Blog!” and then leaving your link is rightly
considered to be spam, and will also damage your reputation
in the long run.
8. Post On Forums That Allow Sig Files
Sig files are the line(s) that appear at the bottom of each
message and act as a discreet way of advertising your site.
You won't get a great deal of benefit in terms of page rank,
as most forums do not have a high page rank for their
threads, but you will build up a good number of links, and
as forums generally tend to get spidered by the search
engines regularly, they will follow the links to your site
and subsequently spider your site on a regular basis.
9. Write Testimonials
By writing and submitting testimonials to websites that you
have previously purchased products or services from, you can
get high-quality links to your site, often from the home
pages of the sites in question.
10. Buy Links
The final way to obtain incoming links is by simply buying
them. This can have a dramatic effect on your page rank and
subsequently your search engine rankings if you can get
links from PR6+ sites, however the only problem with this is
that most links for sale are often for a set period of time,
usually a month, and so you have to keep buying them to
maintain your higher page rank and rankings.
James Woolley is a full-time marketer who runs a website and
newsletter dedicated to helping people make money online
through internet marketing.
Keeeping Up With Consumer Consumption Trends
Perhaps the best way to stay ahead of the market is to keep up with marketing news and this site I am going to show you is definitely amongst my favourite sites for finding out whats going on in the marketplace. The site is TrendWatching.com.
This month's brief is hardly surprising but its still quite interesting if you're looking to use innovative methods for advertising and retaining customers. Basically, personalisation and customisation in consumer products and services have been around for a long time. However, now websites and businesses are creating entire worlds in which customers interact with the company and also other customers.
This medium is especially useful for targeting young men who play in these worlds to escape their own reality. As you might have guessed, this is very useful to place advertising in.
So, if your brand suits online gaming, then maybe you should consider advertising on one of the many sites out there. Here is a handful:
Hopefully you have gained some insight from this post.
Rob.
This month's brief is hardly surprising but its still quite interesting if you're looking to use innovative methods for advertising and retaining customers. Basically, personalisation and customisation in consumer products and services have been around for a long time. However, now websites and businesses are creating entire worlds in which customers interact with the company and also other customers.
This medium is especially useful for targeting young men who play in these worlds to escape their own reality. As you might have guessed, this is very useful to place advertising in.
So, if your brand suits online gaming, then maybe you should consider advertising on one of the many sites out there. Here is a handful:
Hopefully you have gained some insight from this post.
Rob.
Saturday, July 29, 2006
The Winner's Marketing Mindset
Have you ever wondered what kinds of beliefs it takes to make ridiculous amounts of money? I was reading an interesting collection of posts this evening which gave a lot of insight into this age old question. I don't claim to know the best three beliefs for a marketer to have but these are the points that I came up with:
Oh, and I'd kill to hear what YOU think of these, or to provide some more examples of good beliefs.
- There is no such thing as failure in life - only feedback. Every response you get, no matter how good or bad it is serves as feedback on which you can base future decisions upon.
- Give yourself permission to succeed in whatever you pursue. Just accept that you are the only person who will be able to draw success in your life and there may come a time where you have to make a decision to pursue your goals at the expense of a comfort.
- Find your purpose in life and anything is possible. People al have different strengths and weaknesses, some are more developed than others. Position your life around your strengths and match your skill with appropriate challenges.
Oh, and I'd kill to hear what YOU think of these, or to provide some more examples of good beliefs.
Friday, July 28, 2006
On Writing a Winning Business Plan: 1. Introduction
1.0 Introduction
Perhaps the shortest and most definitive piece of a business plan is the introduction. That's because in this section you identify what sort of company you will be and why you are in the business. Below is the outline of the introduction and what I personally reccomend when writing each section.
This section defines the basic details of the company including the name, adress, contact details and basic industry it is looking to compete within. For the 'Company Name', if you don't happen to have one already, choose something you like but keep the following points in mind when selecting it:
Finally, a good name will be short, simple and memorable, these three points go hand in hand with each other. A good example of this is 'Google' - Its Incredibly short, its brain-dead simple and it is memorable as it is derived from the word meaning "A number with one hundred zeros after it."
Members
This section should clearly define who is part of the comapny and what their role is. Although I won't go into detail in this part, I will tell you one thing. Make sure you clearly define who will be taking what roles, becuase the last thing you want in your business is job ambiguities tearing your business apart.
Company Background
This section is also quite important, in that you describe your business's mission, vision, objectives and responsibilities.
Mission Statement
This is a statement of the organisation's purpose for existing. It should outline the position you want the company to take and what it strives to do. Here is an example of how to write a good business Mission Statement. Another good website which shows examples of mission statement by the leading world organisations can be found here at Man on a Mission. Make sure you keep it realistic and true to your organisation's and employee's core values, as they will be the people who your customers communicate with (both directly and indirectly).
Vision Statement
This statement is different from the organisation's Mission, in that it details the goals of the organisation and as Jay Ebben writes, "... the vision should state what the founder ultimately envisions the business to be, in terms of growth, values, employees, contributions to society, and the like..." This is a powerful section because it allows the company to pursue goals instead of flying aimlessly throughout the corporate world. Once again, you will find excellent examples of these on Man on a Mission.
Objectives
Depending on the type of plan you want to create, you can add different objectives in. For a marketing plan, you might like to use what are called S.M.A.R.T. Objectives. For those of you who don't know it stands for:
By writing objectives, it gives your company a focus in which you can direct your resources to achieving the desired result. Furthermore, by writing S.M.A.R.T. Objectives, you are driving your company towards following objectives which are possible to be met and are strategically important in growing your business.
Corporate Governance
I have left this until last because it isn't exactly required by a company but it certainly helps their community image. This is basically a statement of what the company or business believes are it's responsibilities in society. An example of this is how MacDonald's has the Ronald MacDonald Children's Charity. This reduces customer's perceptions that MacDonald's is a big corporate brand and can even give them a better image within the community it is helping. Once more... Man on a Mission has great examples of this, and while I don't particularly like to use the same source over and over in the same article, I believe this is a fantastic resource when you are looking to write the Introduction to your business plan.
That's all I have for you guys this week, I hope you all find this information as useful as I have in the past.
Robert.
Perhaps the shortest and most definitive piece of a business plan is the introduction. That's because in this section you identify what sort of company you will be and why you are in the business. Below is the outline of the introduction and what I personally reccomend when writing each section.
- Company Name and Details
- Members
- Company Background
- Mission Statement
- Vision Statement
- Objectives
- Corporate Governance
This section defines the basic details of the company including the name, adress, contact details and basic industry it is looking to compete within. For the 'Company Name', if you don't happen to have one already, choose something you like but keep the following points in mind when selecting it:
- Keep it Short
- Simple
- Memorable
- Relevant and;
- Distinctive
Finally, a good name will be short, simple and memorable, these three points go hand in hand with each other. A good example of this is 'Google' - Its Incredibly short, its brain-dead simple and it is memorable as it is derived from the word meaning "A number with one hundred zeros after it."
Members
This section should clearly define who is part of the comapny and what their role is. Although I won't go into detail in this part, I will tell you one thing. Make sure you clearly define who will be taking what roles, becuase the last thing you want in your business is job ambiguities tearing your business apart.
Company Background
This section is also quite important, in that you describe your business's mission, vision, objectives and responsibilities.
Mission Statement
This is a statement of the organisation's purpose for existing. It should outline the position you want the company to take and what it strives to do. Here is an example of how to write a good business Mission Statement. Another good website which shows examples of mission statement by the leading world organisations can be found here at Man on a Mission. Make sure you keep it realistic and true to your organisation's and employee's core values, as they will be the people who your customers communicate with (both directly and indirectly).
Vision Statement
This statement is different from the organisation's Mission, in that it details the goals of the organisation and as Jay Ebben writes, "... the vision should state what the founder ultimately envisions the business to be, in terms of growth, values, employees, contributions to society, and the like..." This is a powerful section because it allows the company to pursue goals instead of flying aimlessly throughout the corporate world. Once again, you will find excellent examples of these on Man on a Mission.
Objectives
Depending on the type of plan you want to create, you can add different objectives in. For a marketing plan, you might like to use what are called S.M.A.R.T. Objectives. For those of you who don't know it stands for:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Achievable
- Realistic and;
- Timely
By writing objectives, it gives your company a focus in which you can direct your resources to achieving the desired result. Furthermore, by writing S.M.A.R.T. Objectives, you are driving your company towards following objectives which are possible to be met and are strategically important in growing your business.
Corporate Governance
I have left this until last because it isn't exactly required by a company but it certainly helps their community image. This is basically a statement of what the company or business believes are it's responsibilities in society. An example of this is how MacDonald's has the Ronald MacDonald Children's Charity. This reduces customer's perceptions that MacDonald's is a big corporate brand and can even give them a better image within the community it is helping. Once more... Man on a Mission has great examples of this, and while I don't particularly like to use the same source over and over in the same article, I believe this is a fantastic resource when you are looking to write the Introduction to your business plan.
That's all I have for you guys this week, I hope you all find this information as useful as I have in the past.
Robert.
The Best places for promoting your website
How would you like to increase your traffic without spending a penny? Well, I'm compiling a nice list of websites you can submit your sites to, to increase your page rank, traffic and most importantly - PROFIT.
- The Million Dollar Blog Site - Free Pixels
- BlogBurst - Free Content Syndicators
- Submit Express - Free S.E. Submission
- Blogspot - Free Blog to Link to Your Website
- Information Blog Directory
- Use your site as a Signiture on your favourite forums.
- Get reciprocal links to and from your friend's sites.
- Combine your site with complimentary sites.
- More to come...
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Vital Ingredients for making TOP SECRET Business recipes...
If you ever did a business degree at University you would have no doubt have written countless Plans for business. Plans are extremely useful for the success of any business and you could reduce your risk exponentially, just by having an effective plan for starting or managing your business. I myself find that there are only SEVEN tools you need to have, to devise a successful Business/Marketing plan. That is, you need:
Look out for them!
- Introduction
- Situational Analysis
- Marketing Mix
- Promotions Plan
- Organisational Structure
- Budget and Plan of Action
- Conclusion
Look out for them!
Why SEO experts are almost pointless.
Almost every marketing site you visit these days, RAVES about search engine optimisation or SEO. But the reality is, that for many small businesses, this approach to promoting your website is rather short-sighted and pointless when the search engines change their algorithms. In fact, many SEO companies charge from $200 to $1500 AUD up front, with continual monthly fees (not including your advertising expenses)! Not to mention the fact that many don't try to draw profitable traffic to your business.
At the very core, I believe that every organisation should design their site in accordance with Google's, Yahoo's and MSN's Mission Statements for their search engines. Why? Because that is what SEO is all about - Giving the search engines what they want to deliver to their users. Two programs which I have read and endorse, both advocate tailoring your site to meet the Mission statements of Major Search Engines. Those Programs are:
Of course, you should always follow some of the tips many SEO experts use but it's just not worth the trouble of hiring someone to do something which can be easily done anyway. That is:
At the very core, I believe that every organisation should design their site in accordance with Google's, Yahoo's and MSN's Mission Statements for their search engines. Why? Because that is what SEO is all about - Giving the search engines what they want to deliver to their users. Two programs which I have read and endorse, both advocate tailoring your site to meet the Mission statements of Major Search Engines. Those Programs are:
Of course, you should always follow some of the tips many SEO experts use but it's just not worth the trouble of hiring someone to do something which can be easily done anyway. That is:
- You should find out the best keywords you need to use to target your audience
- Write your main keywords into your websites which match the content (but don't overdo it!)
- Link to other high ranked pages which have similar keywords and content
- Get other high-ranked pages who have similar content to you, to link to your site
- (I'll talk more about this another day...)
- Get an affiliate program going
- Submit you site to anywhere you can submit it to, (I particularly like this one here called FreeWebSubmission.com)
Monday, July 24, 2006
On Maximising Your Copywriting: Targeting
It's my oppinion that the most vital part of any good sales site is the use of a good quality copywriter to help communicate the value of your product and brandname to your leads. Think about it... We live in a world of people and just because you have a great product doesn't mean people will be aware of it when they visit your site or just because you say its the best - No, you have to tell them what's in it for them. Furthermore, you have to give them lots of detailed information about it which they will enjoy!
Say for instance you are marketing 'promotional website products' towards grandmothers who want to learn how to use the internet - you don't want to tell them "The three most profitable internet lead conversion techniques known to man!", because they seek another benefit - to learn how to use the internet.
So, in addition to having a good copywriter you ALSO need to identify different key markets and generate targeted traffic and deliver them to websites aimed toward those different segments! This is where it starts getting tricky.
Now you might be asking, "But Rob, how do I generate targeted traffic to segmented sites?". Well my friend you are in luck because I'm going to show you.
Say for instance you are marketing 'promotional website products' towards grandmothers who want to learn how to use the internet - you don't want to tell them "The three most profitable internet lead conversion techniques known to man!", because they seek another benefit - to learn how to use the internet.
So, in addition to having a good copywriter you ALSO need to identify different key markets and generate targeted traffic and deliver them to websites aimed toward those different segments! This is where it starts getting tricky.
Now you might be asking, "But Rob, how do I generate targeted traffic to segmented sites?". Well my friend you are in luck because I'm going to show you.
- Identify several different market segments.
- Write ads which target these segments.
- Place advertising where your target audiences are likely to see them and where google will DIGG your site.
Sunday, July 23, 2006
Search Engine Optimization
It's an unbelieveably simple thing to do. I just cant believe why people can't do it for themselves. Hell! I could do it too. You just have to watch:
Keywords on google
Links and Site Rankings (of the sites you exchange links with)
Titles
Website Design
Copywriting
It couldn't get any more simple than that! Really, all it takes is hiring someone who has enough persistence and good research skills to find quality sites to exchange links with! Besides spending gratuitous amounts of money on an SEO professional to spend days finding people to exchange links with your site you might as well do it "in-house" - With your marketing and techy gurus.
Keywords on google
Links and Site Rankings (of the sites you exchange links with)
Titles
Website Design
Copywriting
It couldn't get any more simple than that! Really, all it takes is hiring someone who has enough persistence and good research skills to find quality sites to exchange links with! Besides spending gratuitous amounts of money on an SEO professional to spend days finding people to exchange links with your site you might as well do it "in-house" - With your marketing and techy gurus.
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