8 Online Advertising Techniques For Small Businesses Far too many small business owners believe that it is ok to treat marketing like a car service and carry it out every 6 months because they have to. A targeted and intelligent marketing strategy will provide far more effective results than an off the cuff and occasional push will. The idea needs to be that your customers have your business so close at hand that they can contact you before they even start shopping for the product or service. This will put you one step in front of all of your competitors and enable you to snatch the sale before they get a chance to. This article will consider 8 simple low-cost methods of advertisement. 1) Make your business easy to find People use countless methods to find what they are looking for, so you need to hit as many of these sources as possible. By engaging in Facebook marketing, putting an ad in the Yellow Pages, advertising in local sources, and making yourself as easy to find as possible, you will be able to reach many more customers searching for your services. 2) Provide business cards to customers If you can provide your customers with a good quality and professional looking card with all of your details on it, they may well keep it in their wallet. Having your details so readily at hand will almost undoubtedly make you the first port of call for services. 3) Ignore break-even customers Whilst this sounds like the wrong thing to do it is too easy to get lost in numbers of customers rather than profits. You are far better off concentrating your marketing on the customers who bring you the highest profits because they are the ones who make your business run. Still make sales to these customers; just target the bigger customers more pointedly. 4) Build an email list Build an email list for your customers so that you can easily and swiftly communicate with them. When writing to customers it is important not to be too pushy and to offer them a reason to come back by themselves. If you offer a 5% discount then you will be able to draw customers back and make some more sales. 5)Treat the customer right Customers really value being treated properly and being cared for. If you put in extra effort to make them happy then they will come back for more. A dissatisfied customer is not a returning customer. 6)Combine business, pleasure and charity Hold events for your partners and key stakeholders which raise money for charity, offer a social occasion and promote your business, all in one fell swoop. Customers will appreciate your actions and you will benefit from an increase in business as they are then more likely to suggest you to other potential customers and they will definitely remember your business. 7)Court local media When carrying out charity events or even when offering sales, it is prudent to approach the local media with the story. Media companies appreciate being given stories because it makes their jobs easier and this can become free advertising for you. Provide press releases with your web address on will allow them to easily access the information and turn it into an article. 8)Provide a newsletter A good way to network your clients and partners is to provide a newsletter at least once a month to keep you business on their minds.  By providing a newsletter you can talk about your business, talk about your clients and partners business which will increase your presence in your area, make the clients and partners happy and to increase your SEO.   We all want to talk about our business and have it thrive in this “Down Economy” but we also want to help our partners out. By doing this, it will help your business in the long run by networking their businesses which will potentially give you more business. Do you need a business Loan for your company?  Are you over extended and cannot get a loan through a Bank or Private Funding? If so, this is a great opportunity to expand your business, pay off debt, buy that vehicle you may need, buy more inventory or just use the money for what ever you may need it for.  What’s the catch?  None, just have a credit score above 600, no collateral needed, no signup fees and cash within 7 business days!   For more information click here.   We want to help your business grow and thrive during this “Down Economy”.
View Separately

8 Online Advertising Techniques For Small Businesses

Far too many small business owners believe that it is ok to treat marketing like a car service and carry it out every 6 months because they have to. A targeted and intelligent marketing strategy will provide far more effective results than an off the cuff and occasional push will. The idea needs to be that your customers have your business so close at hand that they can contact you before they even start shopping for the product or service. This will put you one step in front of all of your competitors and enable you to snatch the sale before they get a chance to. This article will consider 8 simple low-cost methods of advertisement.

1) Make your business easy to find

People use countless methods to find what they are looking for, so you need to hit as many of these sources as possible. By engaging in Facebook marketing, putting an ad in the Yellow Pages, advertising in local sources, and making yourself as easy to find as possible, you will be able to reach many more customers searching for your services.

2) Provide business cards to customers

If you can provide your customers with a good quality and professional looking card with all of your details on it, they may well keep it in their wallet. Having your details so readily at hand will almost undoubtedly make you the first port of call for services.

3) Ignore break-even customers

Whilst this sounds like the wrong thing to do it is too easy to get lost in numbers of customers rather than profits. You are far better off concentrating your marketing on the customers who bring you the highest profits because they are the ones who make your business run. Still make sales to these customers; just target the bigger customers more pointedly.

4) Build an email list

Build an email list for your customers so that you can easily and swiftly communicate with them. When writing to customers it is important not to be too pushy and to offer them a reason to come back by themselves. If you offer a 5% discount then you will be able to draw customers back and make some more sales.

5)Treat the customer right

Customers really value being treated properly and being cared for. If you put in extra effort to make them happy then they will come back for more. A dissatisfied customer is not a returning customer.

6)Combine business, pleasure and charity

Hold events for your partners and key stakeholders which raise money for charity, offer a social occasion and promote your business, all in one fell swoop. Customers will appreciate your actions and you will benefit from an increase in business as they are then more likely to suggest you to other potential customers and they will definitely remember your business.

7)Court local media

When carrying out charity events or even when offering sales, it is prudent to approach the local media with the story. Media companies appreciate being given stories because it makes their jobs easier and this can become free advertising for you. Provide press releases with your web address on will allow them to easily access the information and turn it into an article.

8)Provide a newsletter

A good way to network your clients and partners is to provide a newsletter at least once a month to keep you business on their minds.  By providing a newsletter you can talk about your business, talk about your clients and partners business which will increase your presence in your area, make the clients and partners happy and to increase your SEO.   We all want to talk about our business and have it thrive in this “Down Economy” but we also want to help our partners out. By doing this, it will help your business in the long run by networking their businesses which will potentially give you more business.

Do you need a business Loan for your company?  Are you over extended and cannot get a loan through a Bank or Private Funding? If so, this is a great opportunity to expand your business, pay off debt, buy that vehicle you may need, buy more inventory or just use the money for what ever you may need it for.  What’s the catch?  None, just have a credit score above 600, no collateral needed, no signup fees and cash within 7 business days!   For more information click here.   We want to help your business grow and thrive during this “Down Economy”.

Source: vmswashington.wordpress.com

Social Media A-Z I have noticed that when the  topic of social network is raised, it usually turns to a discussion of Facebook. Granted it is the biggest player on the planet however it is not the only one. Ok, at some point in the discussion it may get to Linkedin, Google Plusand Twitter (which by the way is a microblog not a network but it is so widely used it surfaces regardless of what topic is being discussed). The reality is,  although these are the “Big Four”, there are so many to choose from and depending on “your fancy” or strategy you may want to develop a presence at other networks as a starting point. Now that I have planted this seed in your thinking, where do you start?  There are so many out there – really. So whatever your passion, go and find your network. If it doesn’t exist, hey create one! So for this post, I thought it might be useful  to share what is out there. Or at least start a list to tantilize your taste-buds. There is a good Mashable resource on 350 sites.  However, as this reference is from 2007, I have used this as a starting point, removing the sites that no longer exist and adding new ones.  I intend to keep this as a live rolling list that will be updated regularly. I will attempt to publish biweekly, as I research the sites and add to the list.  Feel free to share any sites with me too! Hey, let’s develop our own community of sharing social networks and the associated reviews! Looking forward to hearing from you. In the interim, knock yourself out with the list below! Books and Community BookCrossing.com – It’s the World’s Library. It’s a smart social networking site. It’s a celebration of literature and a place where books get new life. BookCrossing is the act of giving a book a unique identity so, as the book is passed from reader to reader, it can be tracked and thus connecting its readers. There are currently 980,418 BookCrossers and 8,340,566 books travelling throughout 132 countries. Our community is changing the world and touching lives one book at a time.  Bookins.com – Book sharing website that enables members to exchange used books with each other in real time. BookMooch.com – Users can exchange books with others through points. Users gain points when they give books to others. GoodReads – is the largest site for readers and book recommendations in the world. They have more than 6,500,000 members. Goodreads users recommend books, compare what they are reading, keep track of what they’ve read and would like to read, find their next favorite book and form book clubs. Library Thing - A book network community of over a million members PaperBackSwap.com –  the site help avid readers swap, trade & exchange Books for free.They  only pay for the delivery charges. Read It Swap It – A free service that allows users to exchange books with others. Revish – Revish is  community for book lovers, letting them write reviews of their favorite books,  join groups, and  maintain a reading list. Shelfari – Shelfari is a popular social networking service for book lovers by amazon. Socialbib – Book swapping network between students. Professional Business Networking & Community ArtBreak – ArtBreak is an artist community for sharing and selling artwork. Atomic Reach - Atomic Reach is a social publishing network  that connects companies and brands looking for high-quality content. Blogtronix – Blogtronix promotes corporate social networking, multimedia microblogging and cloud hosting. DoMyStuff – An online community where busy people can quickly find Assistants to complete their chores. The Assistants you’ll find on DoMyStuff.com are individuals and businesses located near you who compete by bidding to run your errands. This bidding system ensures that you find the best people to do your stuff at the lowest price. Doostang – An career community with over 750,000 elite professionals with inside access to thousands of jobs from top employers. Empire Avenue - Empire Avenue is a game platform  and online community where you earn virtual currency for being social — the more social you are, the more virtual currency you will earn. In addition to gaming, there are groups and social networking for a wide assortment of professionals, hobbies or general interests. HR dot Com -  Human Resources Professional social network. members share their expertise, network with other HR executives, continue their education. … iKarma Inc. – iKarma is an online professional and relationship management  network that is focused on attaining customer feedback and ratings for professionals in a social network media. ImageKind – ImageKind is a community and marketplace for professional artists. Jambo – Jambo  provides a Mobile Membership Directory that works like a radar to give any group of people the ability to detect, search, browse, and connect to each other, when they happen to be in the same city and as close as a few blocks away, Jigsaw – An online business card networking directory for users to establish contacts with each other. Each business card is listed with an email id and a contact number.- ProSkore – An online professional community where members are ranked according to their overall reputation – which includes their social networks as well as their professional experience and recommendations they receive through the PROskore community. Konnects – Konnects enables members newspapers to  engage with their readership and become the central hub of their social network community.  The Social Media features allows readers to provide feedback and add their content Lawyrs – A professional social networking community for lawyers. Linkedin – LinkedIn is a professional social networking website for business users and the the most popular professional business site out there. For more information you can read my post on Linkedin. mediabistro.com – mediabistro.com is  an online community that is dedicated to anyone who creates or works with content, or who is a non-creative professional working in a content/creative industry. That includes editors, writers, producers, graphic designers, book publishers, and others in industries including magazines, television, film, radio, newspapers, book publishing, online media, advertising, PR, and design. Ryze.com –  is a business social network. Members get a free networking-oriented home page and can send messages to other members. They can also join special Networks related to their industry, interests or location. Spoke.com – Spoke allows business professionals to create user-friendly profiles of companies and people in a smooth and organized process that replaces existing inefficient data gathering techniques. Profiles are shared with the community at large, including peers, partners and industry experts – all able to interact and collaborate to create relevant insights about people, companies, industries and trends. Viadeo - professional social network XING – XING is a  social network for business professionals. Members network from different industries, find jobs, colleagues, new assignments, cooperation partners, experts and generate business ideas. Family CafeMom – CafeMom is a social networking site for mothers to connect and share thoughts with each other. CommonGate – CommonGate is an open  social network and blogging of theme-based communities (Gates) where people can make l connections and share relevant  content with friends, family and colleagues. This  social network enables users to create their own social network. The social blogs contain posts from any of the members, a communal voice within the site. eFamily – A premier social network to connect with family members and relatives in a private and secure environment. Famster – A private secure social network for family members. Geni.com – An exciting social networking site enabling members to create their family tree. All Geni users can share an unlimited number of photos, videos, and documents with their families.  Geni’s Pro subscription service allows users to find matching trees and merge those into the single world family tree, which currently contains nearly 60 million living users and their ancestors. Genoom – Genoom is a social networking platform designed to build private family networks. With Genoom, users can create their own family network and genealogical family tree to connect with relatives from around the world. From centralizing current family connections to discovering and sharing ancestral information, Genoom offers users a secure, private, and interactive family networking environment on the Web. Kincafe – An ideal social network for families to connect with their beloved ones. Kinzin – Kinzin is a Social Publishing® service for groups and individuals to privately share photos and create personalized print products. These printed materials are for  Parents for sharing with families, Coaches for sharing with teams, Teachers for sharing with students’ parents, Businesses for sharing with employees, Hobby group leaders for sharing with members, Camp counsellors for sharing with parents, Event hosts for sharing with guests. Baby Center –  BabyCenter is  a social network  for parents. It is the Web’s #1 global interactive parenting network, with more than 100 million parents.  Baby Center provides moms with advice from hundreds of experts around the globe, medical advisory board-approved information, friendship with other moms, and support at every stage of their child’s development. Minti – A collaborative parenting site. LifeTime Moms  –  social network and resources for mothers myfamily.com – An excellent way to connect with your family members. OneGreatFamily.com – An online shared database with combined knowledge and data at a single place. OurStory.com – OurStory enables users to share stories of their families with others. The Family Post – A sharing network for communication with family members. Are you looking for Business loans?  Learn more about Business Loans at: www.vms-washington.com and ask about the Durbin Amendment that was passed on October 2011 and how it will help you lower your credit card rates.
View Separately

Social Media A-Z

I have noticed that when the  topic of social network is raised, it usually turns to a discussion of Facebook. Granted it is the biggest player on the planet however it is not the only one. Ok, at some point in the discussion it may get to Linkedin, Google Plusand Twitter (which by the way is a microblog not a network but it is so widely used it surfaces regardless of what topic is being discussed). The reality is,  although these are the “Big Four”, there are so many to choose from and depending on “your fancy” or strategy you may want to develop a presence at other networks as a starting point. Now that I have planted this seed in your thinking, where do you start?  There are so many out there – really. So whatever your passion, go and find your network. If it doesn’t exist, hey create one!

So for this post, I thought it might be useful  to share what is out there. Or at least start a list to tantilize your taste-buds. There is a good Mashable resource on 350 sites.  However, as this reference is from 2007, I have used this as a starting point, removing the sites that no longer exist and adding new ones.  I intend to keep this as a live rolling list that will be updated regularly. I will attempt to publish biweekly, as I research the sites and add to the list.  Feel free to share any sites with me too! Hey, let’s develop our own community of sharing social networks and the associated reviews! Looking forward to hearing from you. In the interim, knock yourself out with the list below!

Books and Community

  1. BookCrossing.com – It’s the World’s Library. It’s a smart social networking site. It’s a celebration of literature and a place where books get new life. BookCrossing is the act of giving a book a unique identity so, as the book is passed from reader to reader, it can be tracked and thus connecting its readers. There are currently 980,418 BookCrossers and 8,340,566 books travelling throughout 132 countries. Our community is changing the world and touching lives one book at a time.
  2.  Bookins.com – Book sharing website that enables members to exchange used books with each other in real time.
  3. BookMooch.com – Users can exchange books with others through points. Users gain points when they give books to others.
  4. GoodReads – is the largest site for readers and book recommendations in the world. They have more than 6,500,000 members. Goodreads users recommend books, compare what they are reading, keep track of what they’ve read and would like to read, find their next favorite book and form book clubs.
  5. Library Thing - A book network community of over a million members
  6. PaperBackSwap.com –  the site help avid readers swap, trade & exchange Books for free.They  only pay for the delivery charges.
  7. Read It Swap It – A free service that allows users to exchange books with others.
  8. Revish – Revish is  community for book lovers, letting them write reviews of their favorite books,  join groups, and  maintain a reading list.
  9. Shelfari – Shelfari is a popular social networking service for book lovers by amazon.
  10. Socialbib – Book swapping network between students.

Professional Business Networking & Community

  1. ArtBreak – ArtBreak is an artist community for sharing and selling artwork.
  2. Atomic Reach - Atomic Reach is a social publishing network  that connects companies and brands looking for high-quality content.
  3. Blogtronix – Blogtronix promotes corporate social networking, multimedia microblogging and cloud hosting.
  4. DoMyStuff – An online community where busy people can quickly find Assistants to complete their chores. The Assistants you’ll find on DoMyStuff.com are individuals and businesses located near you who compete by bidding to run your errands. This bidding system ensures that you find the best people to do your stuff at the lowest price.
  5. Doostang – An career community with over 750,000 elite professionals with inside access to thousands of jobs from top employers.
  6. Empire Avenue - Empire Avenue is a game platform  and online community where you earn virtual currency for being social — the more social you are, the more virtual currency you will earn. In addition to gaming, there are groups and social networking for a wide assortment of professionals, hobbies or general interests.
  7. HR dot Com -  Human Resources Professional social network. members share their expertise, network with other HR executives, continue their education. …
  8. iKarma Inc. – iKarma is an online professional and relationship management  network that is focused on attaining customer feedback and ratings for professionals in a social network media.
  9. ImageKind – ImageKind is a community and marketplace for professional artists.
  10. Jambo – Jambo  provides a Mobile Membership Directory that works like a radar to give any group of people the ability to detect, search, browse, and connect to each other, when they happen to be in the same city and as close as a few blocks away,
  11. Jigsaw – An online business card networking directory for users to establish contacts with each other. Each business card is listed with an email id and a contact number.-
  12. ProSkore – An online professional community where members are ranked according to their overall reputation – which includes their social networks as well as their professional experience and recommendations they receive through the PROskore community.
  13. Konnects – Konnects enables members newspapers to  engage with their readership and become the central hub of their social network community.  The Social Media features allows readers to provide feedback and add their content
  14. Lawyrs – A professional social networking community for lawyers.
  15. Linkedin – LinkedIn is a professional social networking website for business users and the the most popular professional business site out there. For more information you can read my post on Linkedin.
  16. mediabistro.com – mediabistro.com is  an online community that is dedicated to anyone who creates or works with content, or who is a non-creative professional working in a content/creative industry. That includes editors, writers, producers, graphic designers, book publishers, and others in industries including magazines, television, film, radio, newspapers, book publishing, online media, advertising, PR, and design.
  17. Ryze.com –  is a business social network. Members get a free networking-oriented home page and can send messages to other members. They can also join special Networks related to their industry, interests or location.
  18. Spoke.com – Spoke allows business professionals to create user-friendly profiles of companies and people in a smooth and organized process that replaces existing inefficient data gathering techniques. Profiles are shared with the community at large, including peers, partners and industry experts – all able to interact and collaborate to create relevant insights about people, companies, industries and trends.
  19. Viadeo - professional social network
  20. XING – XING is a  social network for business professionals. Members network from different industries, find jobs, colleagues, new assignments, cooperation partners, experts and generate business ideas.

Family

  1. CafeMom – CafeMom is a social networking site for mothers to connect and share thoughts with each other.
  2. CommonGate – CommonGate is an open  social network and blogging of theme-based communities (Gates) where people can make l connections and share relevant  content with friends, family and colleagues. This  social network enables users to create their own social network. The social blogs contain posts from any of the members, a communal voice within the site.
  3. eFamily – A premier social network to connect with family members and relatives in a private and secure environment.
  4. Famster – A private secure social network for family members.
  5. Geni.com – An exciting social networking site enabling members to create their family tree. All Geni users can share an unlimited number of photos, videos, and documents with their families.  Geni’s Pro subscription service allows users to find matching trees and merge those into the single world family tree, which currently contains nearly 60 million living users and their ancestors.
  6. Genoom – Genoom is a social networking platform designed to build private family networks. With Genoom, users can create their own family network and genealogical family tree to connect with relatives from around the world. From centralizing current family connections to discovering and sharing ancestral information, Genoom offers users a secure, private, and interactive family networking environment on the Web.
  7. Kincafe – An ideal social network for families to connect with their beloved ones.
  8. Kinzin – Kinzin is a Social Publishing® service for groups and individuals to privately share photos and create personalized print products. These printed materials are for  Parents for sharing with families, Coaches for sharing with teams, Teachers for sharing with students’ parents, Businesses for sharing with employees, Hobby group leaders for sharing with members, Camp counsellors for sharing with parents, Event hosts for sharing with guests.
  9. Baby Center –  BabyCenter is  a social network  for parents. It is the Web’s #1 global interactive parenting network, with more than 100 million parents.  Baby Center provides moms with advice from hundreds of experts around the globe, medical advisory board-approved information, friendship with other moms, and support at every stage of their child’s development.
  10. Minti – A collaborative parenting site.
  11. LifeTime Moms  –  social network and resources for mothers
  12. myfamily.com – An excellent way to connect with your family members.
  13. OneGreatFamily.com – An online shared database with combined knowledge and data at a single place.
  14. OurStory.com – OurStory enables users to share stories of their families with others.
  15. The Family Post – A sharing network for communication with family members.

Are you looking for Business loans?  Learn more about Business Loans at: www.vms-washington.com and ask about the Durbin Amendment that was passed on October 2011 and how it will help you lower your credit card rates.

Source: vmswashington.wordpress.com

4 Simple Ways to get rid of Traffic and Build Your Business We’re going to talk about four ways that you can – starting today – lose traffic to your website or blog, yet still come out ahead in the long run. Clean Your Room You are a dirty (dirty, I said) little social media user, aren’t you? When’s the last time you cleaned out your Twitter account? Purged your Facebook friends? Took a really long, hard look at your LinkedIn connections. Your audience should make you proud, plain and simple. If you haven’t taken the time to clean out your audience, how do you know who’s really there? Sure, you can automate some of these tasks with monitoring tools like TwitSweeper – a service that scans yourTwitter followers for spam and blacklisted accounts each week and sheds the riff raff automatically – but the onus is on you. Think like a kid on this one: If you have so many toys in your toy box that the lid won’t even close, who are you going to get to the ones you really want to play with? You can’t. Because they’ll have fallen to the bottom of the box. Cultivating and curating your audience is a neverending obligation. And by ditching the wrongs, you make room for the rights. The people you truly want to develop relationships with. Loss: People who aren’t really customers or never will be. Gain: Space for real fans and time on your end to spend with them. Quit Acting Like You’re Walmart You do not have something for everyone. I promise. This is a short point, but great businesses are built because an audience knows how to use that business. Walmart is great if you want to go fill your cart with piles of crap, heave that crap into the back of your car, and then heave that crap into your house. Don’t make your audience heave and haul crap from place to place. When you take the time to admit what it is that you love, what offers you the smartest profit margins, and makes you smile at the beginning and end of every day – that’s what you should be focusing on.  The people who wanted to heave and haul crap? Sure, they’ll go away. But the good news is you’ll have a lot more time to spend on the audience who will gravitate toward who you are and what you do…and that’s because people who get what you do will refer you to people who need what you have to offer. And then suddenly, being Walmart doesn’t matter anymore. You’re a specialty bistro. Loss: Time wasted on trying to serve people things you don’t love serving. People who don’t really know what they want and don’t understand enough about you to bring you more loyal customers. Gain: Focus. Fans who know who your brand is and what it’s all about so they can hand-deliver more people just like them to your doorstep. Have an Opinion If you’ve ever stopped by RedheadWriting, you know I’m not afraid to have an opinion. It’s time to stop thinking that having an opinion is bad. When’s the last time you went to a dinner party and everyone around the table agreed on every single topic discussed? It’s the same way with brands and their audiences. We won’t always agree with our customers and customers won’t always agree with us. But great brands are willing to take a stand and abide by a certain set of beliefs. People will fall by the wayside – but that’s just it. They’re people. They have their own thoughts, feelings, and beliefs. Just like your very human brand. Don’t believe me? Think of one (just ONE) wishy-washy person in your life you’d be willing to throw yourself in front of a train to save. (Aside from a relative…) You want to cultivate an audience for your brand that will throw themselves in front of trains for you. And wishy-washy just doesn’t get that type of fan in your corner. Oh, and I might as well tell you now: You’re going to tick some people off along the way. It’s okay. Because by ticking them off and sending them away, you’re keeping the ones who truly matter and eventually, attracting more people just like them. Loss: The fear you’re going to offend some folks (because you are). The people who are easily offended by who you and your brand truly are. The people who never really liked YOU in the first place. Gain: People who share similar views and even when they don’t respect you and your brand for putting it out there. Say No (duh) With everyone crawling out of the woodwork saying that Pinterest is social’s destination-du-jour, maybe your brand should be the one saying no. Maybe you should say no toTwitter. Quora. Facebook. Honestly, maybe the only place you should be is LinkedIn or perhaps an industry-specific forum in addition to your blog (do you need a blog?). The beauty of our business climate is that it’s ripe with choices. It’s also a time- and soul-sucking curse. It’s time you say no to outlets that don’t serve you or your audience. And if you’re afraid of the 38 users you might miss on Pinterest by focusing on your 3800Facebook fans who chat, share, like, and promote your brand and result in conversions, I’ve got news for you. Those 38 people? They’ll still be on Pinterest if and when you decide it’s a good move to spend your time there. And if they’re not, well – no loss, really. Saying no in the social realm is something that we must get better at in business. It’s okay to while away the hours on one site or another sharing funny images and whatnot, but our businesses deserve a definitive NO. By walking away from outlets that don’t serve you OR your desired audience, you can stop being a follower and become a leader. Which is why I’m betting you went into business in the first place. Loss: Tendonitis caused from a wicked case of Helium Hand (you know, saying yes all the time). Audiences who aren’t interested enough in you or what you have to offer to understand where YOU live and hang out with you there. Audiences who probably aren’t very committed to a platform to justify your investment in it – especially if it’s the Next Big Thing. Gain: Smaller audiences that will – if they’re committed to you, find you in the places you dospend time. Time to focus on the outlets that mean the most to your brand and audience. A greater understanding of your brand and its audience, as you’ve listened to who they are, what they want, and where they live enough to know where you’d be best off spending your time. Are you looking for Business loans?  Learn more about Business Loans at: www.vms-washington.com and ask about the Durbin Amendment that was passed on October 2011 and how it will help you lower your credit card rates.
View Separately

4 Simple Ways to get rid of Traffic and Build Your Business

We’re going to talk about four ways that you can – starting today – lose traffic to your website or blog, yet still come out ahead in the long run.

Clean Your Room

You are a dirty (dirty, I said) little social media user, aren’t you? When’s the last time you cleaned out your Twitter account? Purged your Facebook friends? Took a really long, hard look at your LinkedIn connections.

Your audience should make you proud, plain and simple. If you haven’t taken the time to clean out your audience, how do you know who’s really there? Sure, you can automate some of these tasks with monitoring tools like TwitSweeper – a service that scans yourTwitter followers for spam and blacklisted accounts each week and sheds the riff raff automatically – but the onus is on you. Think like a kid on this one: If you have so many toys in your toy box that the lid won’t even close, who are you going to get to the ones you really want to play with?

You can’t. Because they’ll have fallen to the bottom of the box.

Cultivating and curating your audience is a neverending obligation. And by ditching the wrongs, you make room for the rights. The people you truly want to develop relationships with.

Loss: People who aren’t really customers or never will be.

Gain: Space for real fans and time on your end to spend with them.

Quit Acting Like You’re Walmart

You do not have something for everyone. I promise. This is a short point, but great businesses are built because an audience knows how to use that business. Walmart is great if you want to go fill your cart with piles of crap, heave that crap into the back of your car, and then heave that crap into your house.

Don’t make your audience heave and haul crap from place to place. When you take the time to admit what it is that you love, what offers you the smartest profit margins, and makes you smile at the beginning and end of every day – that’s what you should be focusing on.  The people who wanted to heave and haul crap? Sure, they’ll go away. But the good news is you’ll have a lot more time to spend on the audience who will gravitate toward who you are and what you do…and that’s because people who get what you do will refer you to people who need what you have to offer.

And then suddenly, being Walmart doesn’t matter anymore. You’re a specialty bistro.

Loss: Time wasted on trying to serve people things you don’t love serving. People who don’t really know what they want and don’t understand enough about you to bring you more loyal customers.

Gain: Focus. Fans who know who your brand is and what it’s all about so they can hand-deliver more people just like them to your doorstep.

Have an Opinion

If you’ve ever stopped by RedheadWriting, you know I’m not afraid to have an opinion. It’s time to stop thinking that having an opinion is bad.

When’s the last time you went to a dinner party and everyone around the table agreed on every single topic discussed? It’s the same way with brands and their audiences. We won’t always agree with our customers and customers won’t always agree with us. But great brands are willing to take a stand and abide by a certain set of beliefs. People will fall by the wayside – but that’s just it. They’re people. They have their own thoughts, feelings, and beliefs. Just like your very human brand.

Don’t believe me? Think of one (just ONE) wishy-washy person in your life you’d be willing to throw yourself in front of a train to save. (Aside from a relative…) You want to cultivate an audience for your brand that will throw themselves in front of trains for you. And wishy-washy just doesn’t get that type of fan in your corner.

Oh, and I might as well tell you now: You’re going to tick some people off along the way. It’s okay. Because by ticking them off and sending them away, you’re keeping the ones who truly matter and eventually, attracting more people just like them.

Loss: The fear you’re going to offend some folks (because you are). The people who are easily offended by who you and your brand truly are. The people who never really liked YOU in the first place.

Gain: People who share similar views and even when they don’t respect you and your brand for putting it out there.

Say No (duh)

With everyone crawling out of the woodwork saying that Pinterest is social’s destination-du-jour, maybe your brand should be the one saying no. Maybe you should say no toTwitter. Quora. Facebook. Honestly, maybe the only place you should be is LinkedIn or perhaps an industry-specific forum in addition to your blog (do you need a blog?).

The beauty of our business climate is that it’s ripe with choices. It’s also a time- and soul-sucking curse. It’s time you say no to outlets that don’t serve you or your audience. And if you’re afraid of the 38 users you might miss on Pinterest by focusing on your 3800Facebook fans who chat, share, like, and promote your brand and result in conversions, I’ve got news for you. Those 38 people? They’ll still be on Pinterest if and when you decide it’s a good move to spend your time there. And if they’re not, well – no loss, really.

Saying no in the social realm is something that we must get better at in business. It’s okay to while away the hours on one site or another sharing funny images and whatnot, but our businesses deserve a definitive NO. By walking away from outlets that don’t serve you OR your desired audience, you can stop being a follower and become a leader.

Which is why I’m betting you went into business in the first place.

Loss: Tendonitis caused from a wicked case of Helium Hand (you know, saying yes all the time). Audiences who aren’t interested enough in you or what you have to offer to understand where YOU live and hang out with you there. Audiences who probably aren’t very committed to a platform to justify your investment in it – especially if it’s the Next Big Thing.

Gain: Smaller audiences that will – if they’re committed to you, find you in the places you dospend time. Time to focus on the outlets that mean the most to your brand and audience. A greater understanding of your brand and its audience, as you’ve listened to who they are, what they want, and where they live enough to know where you’d be best off spending your time.

Are you looking for Business loans?  Learn more about Business Loans at: www.vms-washington.com and ask about the Durbin Amendment that was passed on October 2011 and how it will help you lower your credit card rates.

Source: vmswashington.wordpress.com

Facebook: Five Business Success Tips List of tips that can help a business create fabulous Facebook pages. 1) Create a Page People Want to Visit. What is it about your business that would make people want to come back to the page often, or create a community atmosphere?  Whatever that is, make your Facebook business page reflect that — instead of just asking people to buy your products, or touting the virtues of your management team.  For instance, American Family Insurance drew nearly 40,000 “Likes” when it added a Teen Safe Driving tab to its Facebook page for parents and teens looking for ways to negotiate the rules for new drivers, and one  featuring storybook favorite Clifford the Big Red Dog encouraging families to offer “be big” ideas for improving their local communities. 2) Plan for Success. Creating a Facebook page for your business and hoping for success is like any other kind of  “pray and spray” marketing effort:  doomed to failure.   You need amarketing plan for your Facebook page before you start the process.  What tools will you use to drive traffic?  (Facebook ads?  Organic search?  Promotion in your company’s other marketing channels?  PR?  Email?  All of these plus banner ads on your other websites linking back to Facebook?)  Don’t forget regular content updates — and communicating with your friends and fans.  (Not all Facebook updates show up on people’s news update pages — you have to interact with them before your data shows up on their update pages.) 3) Find Your Place. If you run a bricks-and-mortar business, find your place on Facebook Places, and encourage check-in and mapping.   (Set up your Foursquare presence at the same time, if you haven’t already.) Like other aspects of your Facebook business page, think carefully about how you can interact with your customers to encourage them to use Facebook Places, and what benefits your company can get — and offer to your guests — through Facebook Places. 4) Participate in the Conversation. Facebook is a place where people talk — and they expect others to talk back.  It’s not just a place where they are going to click “like” every time you post something new — even if they do like it.  So be prepared for comments, criticism, suggestions, and questions — and don’t automatically block or delete anything negative.  Remember, if you block an unhappy customer from posting on your Facebook page, they are perfectly free to post on their own — or start a page that highlights a customer service problem. 5) Select the Right Tools. Small businesses often start their social media marketing effort using free tools — but businesses in regulated industries such as insurance, financial services, and healthcare probably need the more robust compliance, monitoring, approval, and management tools available with social CRM tools like Socialware or Actiance.    For a list of free and paid tools, with examples, check out the downloadable presentation from a recentwebinar on the basics of social media marketing in a regulated environment. Why hasn’t your processor mentioned the Durbin Amendment?  Learn how to lower your card acceptance cost: www.vms-washington.com and ask about the Durbin Amendment that was passed on October 2011 and how it will help you lower your rates.
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Facebook: Five Business Success Tips

List of tips that can help a business create fabulous Facebook pages.

1) Create a Page People Want to Visit. What is it about your business that would make people want to come back to the page often, or create a community atmosphere?  Whatever that is, make your Facebook business page reflect that — instead of just asking people to buy your products, or touting the virtues of your management team.  For instance, American Family Insurance drew nearly 40,000 “Likes” when it added a Teen Safe Driving tab to its Facebook page for parents and teens looking for ways to negotiate the rules for new drivers, and one  featuring storybook favorite Clifford the Big Red Dog encouraging families to offer “be big” ideas for improving their local communities.

2) Plan for Success. Creating a Facebook page for your business and hoping for success is like any other kind of  “pray and spray” marketing effort:  doomed to failure.   You need amarketing plan for your Facebook page before you start the process.  What tools will you use to drive traffic?  (Facebook ads?  Organic search?  Promotion in your company’s other marketing channels?  PR?  Email?  All of these plus banner ads on your other websites linking back to Facebook?)  Don’t forget regular content updates — and communicating with your friends and fans.  (Not all Facebook updates show up on people’s news update pages — you have to interact with them before your data shows up on their update pages.)

3) Find Your Place. If you run a bricks-and-mortar business, find your place on Facebook Places, and encourage check-in and mapping.   (Set up your Foursquare presence at the same time, if you haven’t already.) Like other aspects of your Facebook business page, think carefully about how you can interact with your customers to encourage them to use Facebook Places, and what benefits your company can get — and offer to your guests — through Facebook Places.

4) Participate in the Conversation. Facebook is a place where people talk — and they expect others to talk back.  It’s not just a place where they are going to click “like” every time you post something new — even if they do like it.  So be prepared for comments, criticism, suggestions, and questions — and don’t automatically block or delete anything negative.  Remember, if you block an unhappy customer from posting on your Facebook page, they are perfectly free to post on their own — or start a page that highlights a customer service problem.

5) Select the Right Tools. Small businesses often start their social media marketing effort using free tools — but businesses in regulated industries such as insurance, financial services, and healthcare probably need the more robust compliance, monitoring, approval, and management tools available with social CRM tools like Socialware or Actiance.    For a list of free and paid tools, with examples, check out the downloadable presentation from a recentwebinar on the basics of social media marketing in a regulated environment.

Why hasn’t your processor mentioned the Durbin Amendment?  Learn how to lower your card acceptance cost: www.vms-washington.com and ask about the Durbin Amendment that was passed on October 2011 and how it will help you lower your rates.

Source: vmswashington.wordpress.com

5 Easy SEO Tips for Small Businesses The old saying “If you build it, they will come” does NOT apply to your Web site; you’ve got to do more than simply publish it and one of the best things is to increase your position on the search engine results page.  A beautifully designed website is great for a company’s image. However, the same website with no traffic is bad for business. Read these five easy non-technical SEO strategies to improve your websites visibility and traffic. Step One – Google Local Business ListingIt is no secret; Google is king of the search engines. This is why the majority of your SEO efforts should be focused on having your website indexed by Google. It is not likely that your small local business will be able to compete with large national companies, their keywords and SEO efforts. However, it appears Google has realized this and has accommodated the small local business owner by creating free Google Local Business Listings. Many times if a Google user searches for a particular business niche and types in a city, the Google Local Listings will appear before all other listings. Also, new technology (mainly smart phones) allows for Internet users’ geographical location to be automatically updated and provided to the search engine. With automatic location updates, Google Local Listings are very important for relevant searches (the best example could be the use of the service for a local restaurant or store). Because of this, it is important that all small businesses claim and optimize their Google Local Business Listing. Claiming and updating the information can be very beneficial from a business standpoint by attracting new customers and improving online presence. Claiming a Google Local Listing is simple, free and quick. All you have to do is sign up for a Google account and claim your business. Once signed in you will be able to optimize your account by entering in your services/products, updating your location, providing contact information, uploading images/video, and adding other relevant business information. After your updates are complete you will be sent a PIN and need to enter it in order for the listing to be seen by Google users. *Be sure to read the Google user agreement and follow all of the conditions in the agreement. Failure to do so could result in the removal of your Google Local Business Listing. Step Two – Begin Blogging on your Website Blogging is a very important aspect of SEO. Today’s search engines love new, fresh content and a blog is the best and easiest way to generate fresh content on your website. Many of the pages on your website are most likely static and change infrequently. This alone can keep your site from appearing in search engines. A blog serves several purposes for your business and website. Foremost, a blog is a great way to interact with your current and future customers. It allows your company the opportunity to discuss important news and information quickly, easily, and affordably. A blog also allows your company to be seen as an authority in your industry – resulting in increased customer trust and respect. Blogging allows your business to showcase it’s strengths by putting the company’s expertise into words. A blog can also make your company larger through sharing and linking. Every new reader that shares your article could potentially assist you in gaining new customers! Each blog entry should focus on one topic and should attack one keyword or phrase. The title should contain the keyword or phrase and encourage reading, filled with useful, relevant information. These are just a few great ways to use your business blogas an SEO tool for your website. *A business blog should be considered even if you are not interested in SEO. Step Three – Social Bookmarking for Traffic Once you have completed steps one and two, it is time to start driving traffic to your website using free social bookmarking tools. There are a number of social bookmarking websites,Digg, Delicious, StumbleUpon, Reddit, and many more; each is a great way of introducing Internet users and search engines to your website and content. Every time a new blog entry is written, it should immediately be bookmarked on the social bookmarking website of your choice (or all of them). Bookmarking each new blog entry helps increase links to your website and provides an easy way for interested readers/customers to find your website and content. By bookmarking the pages and new content of your website, you are helping search engines quickly locate your website and index new information. If your bookmarks receive additional attention from other users, of the bookmarking website, search engines will notice this and give your site much more attention. The effects of social bookmarking can last many months, but it is best practice to continually and consistently update your website content with new blog entries and same day bookmarking. http://www.ebizmba.com/articles/social-bookmarking-websites is a great list of the 20 most popular social bookmarking websites. Step Four – Utilize Twitter Effectively If you are serious about SEO and creating a strong online presence for your business, you should sign up for Twitter. Twitter is a free service that allows users to follow other users and share information. Twitter is great for business! Twitter allows small businesses to easily and freely connect and communicate with new customers. In addition, it is a great business networking tool that can help small businesses interact and connect with other successful companies. Do NOT use Twitter to continually spam other users with links to your website. Doing this will accomplish nothing, except for zero followers and zero benefits from the service. Instead, use Twitter as a way to meet new people and share relevant information in your industry. Once you have created a decent following (60 followers), you can begin tweeting links to new blog entries and information on your website. Search engines will follow the links and quickly index your website. Should your tweet be retweeted by another Twitter user, search engines will give even more attention to your Twitter account and website. These are just a few of the great uses Twitter provides small businesses. Step 5 – Get Links through Directories Inbound links are very important for SEO. Inbound links are other websites linking to your website. Inbound links can be difficult to obtain, but the easiest way is by submitting your website to directories. Not all directories are created equal; links from unrelated websites could have zero SEO influence and serve no purpose (for instance, it makes no sense for a plumbing company to submit their website to a massage therapist directory). Each industry tends to have established niche directories with relevant information and good link quality. So, do some research and locate directories that relate to your industry and submit your website. Many of these directories are free but some charge a listing fee. Every company interested in SEO also needs to submit their website to the DMOZ Open Directory. The directory is free and very important for SEO. *Before submitting your website to DMOZ, be sure to read the user agreement and do not violate any of the conditions. That’s all! There you have it – five easy non-technical SEO steps for small business owners. It is very important to note that these are just a few techniques to increase search engine visibility and increase website traffic. However, using these strategies on a poorly designed website with bad navigation, bad code, bad title tags, bad keywords, and other negative attributes will not provide the same results as would be seen on a website designed for SEO, which focuses on easy navigation and search engine accessibility. Why hasn’t your processor mentioned the Durbin Amendment?Learn how to lower your card acceptance cost: www.vms-washington.com and ask about the Durbin Amendment that was passed on October 2011 and how it will help you lower your rates. 
View Separately

5 Easy SEO Tips for Small Businesses

The old saying “If you build it, they will come” does NOT apply to your Web site; you’ve got to do more than simply publish it and one of the best things is to increase your position on the search engine results page. 

A beautifully designed website is great for a company’s image. However, the same website with no traffic is bad for business. Read these five easy non-technical SEO strategies to improve your websites visibility and traffic.

Step One – Google Local Business Listing
It is no secret; Google is king of the search engines. This is why the majority of your SEO efforts should be focused on having your website indexed by Google. It is not likely that your small local business will be able to compete with large national companies, their keywords and SEO efforts. However, it appears Google has realized this and has accommodated the small local business owner by creating free Google Local Business Listings. Many times if a Google user searches for a particular business niche and types in a city, the Google Local Listings will appear before all other listings.

Also, new technology (mainly smart phones) allows for Internet users’ geographical location to be automatically updated and provided to the search engine. With automatic location updates, Google Local Listings are very important for relevant searches (the best example could be the use of the service for a local restaurant or store). Because of this, it is important that all small businesses claim and optimize their Google Local Business Listing. Claiming and updating the information can be very beneficial from a business standpoint by attracting new customers and improving online presence.

Claiming a Google Local Listing is simple, free and quick. All you have to do is sign up for a Google account and claim your business. Once signed in you will be able to optimize your account by entering in your services/products, updating your location, providing contact information, uploading images/video, and adding other relevant business information. After your updates are complete you will be sent a PIN and need to enter it in order for the listing to be seen by Google users.

*Be sure to read the Google user agreement and follow all of the conditions in the agreement. Failure to do so could result in the removal of your Google Local Business Listing.

Step Two – Begin Blogging on your Website

Blogging is a very important aspect of SEO. Today’s search engines love new, fresh content and a blog is the best and easiest way to generate fresh content on your website. Many of the pages on your website are most likely static and change infrequently. This alone can keep your site from appearing in search engines. A blog serves several purposes for your business and website.

Foremost, a blog is a great way to interact with your current and future customers. It allows your company the opportunity to discuss important news and information quickly, easily, and affordably. A blog also allows your company to be seen as an authority in your industry – resulting in increased customer trust and respect. Blogging allows your business to showcase it’s strengths by putting the company’s expertise into words. A blog can also make your company larger through sharing and linking. Every new reader that shares your article could potentially assist you in gaining new customers!

Each blog entry should focus on one topic and should attack one keyword or phrase. The title should contain the keyword or phrase and encourage reading, filled with useful, relevant information. These are just a few great ways to use your business blogas an SEO tool for your website.

*A business blog should be considered even if you are not interested in SEO.

Step Three – Social Bookmarking for Traffic

Once you have completed steps one and two, it is time to start driving traffic to your website using free social bookmarking tools. There are a number of social bookmarking websites,Digg, Delicious, StumbleUpon, Reddit, and many more; each is a great way of introducing Internet users and search engines to your website and content. Every time a new blog entry is written, it should immediately be bookmarked on the social bookmarking website of your choice (or all of them). Bookmarking each new blog entry helps increase links to your website and provides an easy way for interested readers/customers to find your website and content. By bookmarking the pages and new content of your website, you are helping search engines quickly locate your website and index new information. If your bookmarks receive additional attention from other users, of the bookmarking website, search engines will notice this and give your site much more attention.

The effects of social bookmarking can last many months, but it is best practice to continually and consistently update your website content with new blog entries and same day bookmarking.

http://www.ebizmba.com/articles/social-bookmarking-websites is a great list of the 20 most popular social bookmarking websites.

Step Four – Utilize Twitter Effectively

If you are serious about SEO and creating a strong online presence for your business, you should sign up for Twitter. Twitter is a free service that allows users to follow other users and share information. Twitter is great for business! Twitter allows small businesses to easily and freely connect and communicate with new customers. In addition, it is a great business networking tool that can help small businesses interact and connect with other successful companies.

Do NOT use Twitter to continually spam other users with links to your website. Doing this will accomplish nothing, except for zero followers and zero benefits from the service. Instead, use Twitter as a way to meet new people and share relevant information in your industry. Once you have created a decent following (60 followers), you can begin tweeting links to new blog entries and information on your website. Search engines will follow the links and quickly index your website. Should your tweet be retweeted by another Twitter user, search engines will give even more attention to your Twitter account and website. These are just a few of the great uses Twitter provides small businesses.

Step 5 – Get Links through Directories

Inbound links are very important for SEO. Inbound links are other websites linking to your website. Inbound links can be difficult to obtain, but the easiest way is by submitting your website to directories. Not all directories are created equal; links from unrelated websites could have zero SEO influence and serve no purpose (for instance, it makes no sense for a plumbing company to submit their website to a massage therapist directory). Each industry tends to have established niche directories with relevant information and good link quality. So, do some research and locate directories that relate to your industry and submit your website. Many of these directories are free but some charge a listing fee.

Every company interested in SEO also needs to submit their website to the DMOZ Open Directory. The directory is free and very important for SEO.

*Before submitting your website to DMOZ, be sure to read the user agreement and do not violate any of the conditions.

That’s all!

There you have it – five easy non-technical SEO steps for small business owners. It is very important to note that these are just a few techniques to increase search engine visibility and increase website traffic. However, using these strategies on a poorly designed website with bad navigation, bad code, bad title tags, bad keywords, and other negative attributes will not provide the same results as would be seen on a website designed for SEO, which focuses on easy navigation and search engine accessibility.

Why hasn’t your processor mentioned the Durbin Amendment?Learn how to lower your card acceptance cost: www.vms-washington.com and ask about the Durbin Amendment that was passed on October 2011 and how it will help you lower your rates. 

Source: vmswashington.wordpress.com

How to Get Over 100 Tweets on Autopilot on Each and Every Post You Write I am asked over and over again how I manage to get over a hundred tweets per post on a regular basis. The answer is actually quite simple and, in many ways, very obvious: it’s all about networking and collaboration. Here are my 7 ways to get an impressive number of retweets nearly on autopilot. 1. Quantity Matters I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again – quantity of your Twitter followers does matter. Of course, I am not discounting quality either. As a matter of fact, we will talk about it a little later. You have to admit though: with 32K+ followers, my posts are much more likely to get retweeted for that reason alone. I can see that those of you who are following me @VMS_Washington are raising their eyebrows: 32K? What is he talking about? The thing is that my followers are divided into 6 different Twitter accounts. Not only this strategy helps me to get the maximum number of followers in the shortest period of time, but also every time I send a tweet about my blog post, I get 6 RTs instead of one. Bottom line for me was that quality is important for networking, but without quantity yoursocial media traffic generation will go down the drain. 2. Quality Is the Key Now that we talked about quantity, here’s what I think of quality when it comes down to social interaction. It’s IMPERATIVE. You have to respond to your followers. You have to initiate conversations with them. You also have to initiate/follow/respond to tweets from more influential bloggers you’d like to get to know better or rather be known by them. For every tweeted post from my own blog, I retweet several posts by other bloggers. 3. Collaborate In other words, create a small group of bloggers in the same niche as yours and agree to add each other’s RSS feeds to your Twitter accounts, whether you use MarketMeSuite, Hootsuite, or Twitterfeed.com. It goes without saying that you need to choose wisely here. If your group gets too big, it’ll be too difficult to know who is holding their side of the bargain. Smaller group is best, and by that I mean 15-20 bloggers – that’s my sweet spot. So now, every time you publish a post, it’ll be automatically RTed by everyone in your group, as well as you’ll be automatically RTing their content, so it doesn’t appear like all you do is self-promote your own blog. Quality issue: since you need to limit the number of bloggers in your group (in my opinion), you HAVE TO make sure that: 1. These bloggers have a substantial influence in the twittersphere. Always try to make sure that the bloggers you recruit have at least the same or ideally many more Twitter followers and their content gets RTed by their followers (just take a look at the number of RTs they get on their own posts). 2. Also, make sure their content is of quality – since you’ll be automatically RTing it, it’d better be good or you’ll loose credibility with your own followers. Where to find collaborators: everywhere. Literally. Look for blogs in the same niche that you like and contact their owners, explaining the benefits of collaboration. Check out the people you follow on Twitter – the ones you’d really like to connect with – and send them a DM or, better yet, go to their blog and use the contact form to get in touch with them. Look for existing collaboration groups you can join. If you notice the same people RTing each other’s content, chances are they are in a group of sorts. Be creative and don’t be afraid to create your own group, if you can’t find any to join. Hint: Skype is a perfect place to create a group like that. That way you can always send everyone a message to share your post on different networks. 4. Send Email to Your List Every time you send an email to your list letting them know you’ve got a new post up, make it easy for them to RT your post right from your email. That way, even if they don’t have the time to read your post, they still might RT it, IF you make it simple. I, like most bloggers I know, use Aweber for my email autoresponder and as of right now there’s no way to add social media sharing buttons to your emails.However, I found an easy way to do it directly from an email through a free service called ClickToTweet. It’s rather simple, really – you write a tweet the way you’d like to, include your shortened link and your @Mention and click “Generate Link!” And voila – you now have a link you can add to your Aweber or whatever other autoresponder you are using and all your subscribers have to do is to click on it to retweet. 5. Show Favoritism It’s funny because I use them a lot to bring my new Twitter followers back to my blog, yet I completely ignore my own inbox since it takes so long to get rid of a bunch of spam in search of a couple of legit messages. Well, what happens is that not all messages are spam and some of my followers sometimes request that I take a look at their blog posts and RT them. Once I do that, I, per Kristi’s suggestion, keep their ID in a text file and occasionally ask them to RT one of my posts that I really want to do well. 6. Use Triberr.com Triberr.com is still a fairly new service created by Dino Dogan geared specifically towards forming groups with one common purpose – to RT each other’s stuff. This has recently become my trump RT card. Because of the kind of tribe I am in, my content has quite a reach, and yours can too. 7. Use Plugins Definitely, make it easy for your readers to RT your content. Here’s what I use on my blog to encourage RTs: 1. Social media sharing buttons to the right of the page. It’s not a plugin I use; these are hard-coded into my theme and are actually pretty easy to add. The reason they are hard-coded is because of speed – I don’t need yet another plugin to slow down my blog. If you don’t know how to do it, just choose one of the multitude of social sharing plugins. 2. I also use Twitter @Anywhere plugin at the end of each posts – it’s one of the easiest ways I found to get your readers to RT your content because all it takes is one click. 3. CommentLuv Premium: the recent paid version of the famous plugin has significantly increased my reader engagement by offering them a choice to RT my post, “like” it on Facebook, or click on +1 in order to get access to their last 10 posts. Marketing Takeaway Some of these methods require some initial investment of time and / or money, but once set up, they can run on autopilot, which is my favorite part about this whole Twitter promotion process. Are there more ways to promote your post on Twitter and get more RTs? I am sure. Are there any more automated ways to do it? I doubt it. Final word of wisdom: the number of RTs your post gets is not always reflective of the amount of traffic you might get. A high retweet number is nice to have for social proof and self-satisfaction, but you should never rely upon your RTs alone to bring you traffic. Why hasn’t your processor mentioned the Durbin Amendment?Learn how to lower your card acceptance cost: www.vms-washington.com and ask about the Durbin Amendment that was passed on October 2011 and how it will help you lower your rates. 
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How to Get Over 100 Tweets on Autopilot on Each and Every Post You Write

I am asked over and over again how I manage to get over a hundred tweets per post on a regular basis.

The answer is actually quite simple and, in many ways, very obvious: it’s all about networking and collaboration.

Here are my 7 ways to get an impressive number of retweets nearly on autopilot.

1. Quantity Matters

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again – quantity of your Twitter followers does matter.

Of course, I am not discounting quality either. As a matter of fact, we will talk about it a little later.

You have to admit though: with 32K+ followers, my posts are much more likely to get retweeted for that reason alone.

I can see that those of you who are following me @VMS_Washington are raising their eyebrows: 32K? What is he talking about?

The thing is that my followers are divided into 6 different Twitter accounts.

Not only this strategy helps me to get the maximum number of followers in the shortest period of time, but also every time I send a tweet about my blog post, I get 6 RTs instead of one.

Bottom line for me was that quality is important for networking, but without quantity yoursocial media traffic generation will go down the drain.

2. Quality Is the Key

Now that we talked about quantity, here’s what I think of quality when it comes down to social interaction.

It’s IMPERATIVE.

You have to respond to your followers.

You have to initiate conversations with them.

You also have to initiate/follow/respond to tweets from more influential bloggers you’d like to get to know better or rather be known by them.

For every tweeted post from my own blog, I retweet several posts by other bloggers.

3. Collaborate

In other words, create a small group of bloggers in the same niche as yours and agree to add each other’s RSS feeds to your Twitter accounts, whether you use MarketMeSuite, Hootsuite, or Twitterfeed.com.

It goes without saying that you need to choose wisely here.

If your group gets too big, it’ll be too difficult to know who is holding their side of the bargain.

Smaller group is best, and by that I mean 15-20 bloggers – that’s my sweet spot.

So now, every time you publish a post, it’ll be automatically RTed by everyone in your group, as well as you’ll be automatically RTing their content, so it doesn’t appear like all you do is self-promote your own blog.

Quality issue: since you need to limit the number of bloggers in your group (in my opinion), you HAVE TO make sure that:

1. These bloggers have a substantial influence in the twittersphere.

Always try to make sure that the bloggers you recruit have at least the same or ideally many more Twitter followers and their content gets RTed by their followers (just take a look at the number of RTs they get on their own posts).

2. Also, make sure their content is of quality – since you’ll be automatically RTing it, it’d better be good or you’ll loose credibility with your own followers.

Where to find collaborators: everywhere.

Literally.

Look for blogs in the same niche that you like and contact their owners, explaining the benefits of collaboration.

Check out the people you follow on Twitter – the ones you’d really like to connect with – and send them a DM or, better yet, go to their blog and use the contact form to get in touch with them.

Look for existing collaboration groups you can join.

If you notice the same people RTing each other’s content, chances are they are in a group of sorts.

Be creative and don’t be afraid to create your own group, if you can’t find any to join.

Hint: Skype is a perfect place to create a group like that. That way you can always send everyone a message to share your post on different networks.

4. Send Email to Your List

Every time you send an email to your list letting them know you’ve got a new post up, make it easy for them to RT your post right from your email.

That way, even if they don’t have the time to read your post, they still might RT it, IF you make it simple.

I, like most bloggers I know, use Aweber for my email autoresponder and as of right now there’s no way to add social media sharing buttons to your emails.
However, I found an easy way to do it directly from an email through a free service called ClickToTweet.

It’s rather simple, really – you write a tweet the way you’d like to, include your shortened link and your @Mention and click “Generate Link!”

And voila – you now have a link you can add to your Aweber or whatever other autoresponder you are using and all your subscribers have to do is to click on it to retweet.

5. Show Favoritism

It’s funny because I use them a lot to bring my new Twitter followers back to my blog, yet I completely ignore my own inbox since it takes so long to get rid of a bunch of spam in search of a couple of legit messages.

Well, what happens is that not all messages are spam and some of my followers sometimes request that I take a look at their blog posts and RT them.

Once I do that, I, per Kristi’s suggestion, keep their ID in a text file and occasionally ask them to RT one of my posts that I really want to do well.

6. Use Triberr.com

Triberr.com is still a fairly new service created by Dino Dogan geared specifically towards forming groups with one common purpose – to RT each other’s stuff.

This has recently become my trump RT card. Because of the kind of tribe I am in, my content has quite a reach, and yours can too.

7. Use Plugins

Definitely, make it easy for your readers to RT your content.

Here’s what I use on my blog to encourage RTs:

1. Social media sharing buttons to the right of the page.

It’s not a plugin I use; these are hard-coded into my theme and are actually pretty easy to add.

The reason they are hard-coded is because of speed – I don’t need yet another plugin to slow down my blog.

If you don’t know how to do it, just choose one of the multitude of social sharing plugins.

2. I also use Twitter @Anywhere plugin at the end of each posts – it’s one of the easiest ways I found to get your readers to RT your content because all it takes is one click.

3. CommentLuv Premium: the recent paid version of the famous plugin has significantly increased my reader engagement by offering them a choice to RT my post, “like” it on Facebook, or click on +1 in order to get access to their last 10 posts.

Marketing Takeaway

Some of these methods require some initial investment of time and / or money, but once set up, they can run on autopilot, which is my favorite part about this whole Twitter promotion process.

Are there more ways to promote your post on Twitter and get more RTs? I am sure.

Are there any more automated ways to do it? I doubt it.

Final word of wisdom: the number of RTs your post gets is not always reflective of the amount of traffic you might get.

A high retweet number is nice to have for social proof and self-satisfaction, but you should never rely upon your RTs alone to bring you traffic.

Why hasn’t your processor mentioned the Durbin Amendment?Learn how to lower your card acceptance cost: www.vms-washington.com and ask about the Durbin Amendment that was passed on October 2011 and how it will help you lower your rates. 

Source: vmswashington.wordpress.com

Your Average Facebook Post Only Reaches 16% Of Your Friends You’re not unpopular, it’s just the nature of the news feed. Amongst all the business-related news at FMC, Facebook revealed that the average news feed story from a user profile reaches just 16 percent of their friends. Your actively shared links, photos, and status updates probably reach much higher than 16 percent of your friends, while more inane auto-generated posts about new friendships, wall posts, and articles you read may only be seen by your closest buddies. Overall, this is actually a good thing, because the reduced visibility of irrelevant content makes room for what you want to see. But don’t be alarmed if all your friends don’t like that awesome concert photo, they may just be offline. After his Q&A session about ads during the Facebook Marketing Conference, I followed up with Boland, asking if the 16 percent average distribution rate hampered communication. He defended Facebook’s news feed, saying “No, there are pieces of content you create that are interesting, and there’s some that are not.” And the 16 percent doesn’t just apply to users. Business Pages have the same average reach, which is why Facebook is launching its new “Reach Generator” to help marketers buy extra distribution of their Page posts on the ads sidebar, in the web and mobile news feed, and even on the logout page. The stat from Director of Product Marketing Brian Boland was backed up by VP Chris Cox who said this holds true “in aggregate across all profiles, all types of content, all interactions, all ages, and all demographics.” By reducing the reach of low relevance posts, Facebook leaves news feed space for compelling wedding photos, new job announcements, funny videos, and urgent questions. Still, it means the ambient intimacy of the news feed can’t completely replace the reliability for direct communication. Why hasn’t your processor mentioned the Durbin Amendment?Learn how to lower your card acceptance cost: www.vms-washington.com and ask about the Durbin Amendment that was passed on October 2011 and how it will help you lower your rates. 
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Your Average Facebook Post Only Reaches 16% Of Your Friends

You’re not unpopular, it’s just the nature of the news feed. Amongst all the business-related news at FMC, Facebook revealed that the average news feed story from a user profile reaches just 16 percent of their friends. Your actively shared links, photos, and status updates probably reach much higher than 16 percent of your friends, while more inane auto-generated posts about new friendships, wall posts, and articles you read may only be seen by your closest buddies.

Overall, this is actually a good thing, because the reduced visibility of irrelevant content makes room for what you want to see. But don’t be alarmed if all your friends don’t like that awesome concert photo, they may just be offline.

After his Q&A session about ads during the Facebook Marketing Conference, I followed up with Boland, asking if the 16 percent average distribution rate hampered communication. He defended Facebook’s news feed, saying “No, there are pieces of content you create that are interesting, and there’s some that are not.” And the 16 percent doesn’t just apply to users. Business Pages have the same average reach, which is why Facebook is launching its new “Reach Generator” to help marketers buy extra distribution of their Page posts on the ads sidebar, in the web and mobile news feed, and even on the logout page.

The stat from Director of Product Marketing Brian Boland was backed up by VP Chris Cox who said this holds true “in aggregate across all profiles, all types of content, all interactions, all ages, and all demographics.” By reducing the reach of low relevance posts, Facebook leaves news feed space for compelling wedding photos, new job announcements, funny videos, and urgent questions. Still, it means the ambient intimacy of the news feed can’t completely replace the reliability for direct communication.

Why hasn’t your processor mentioned the Durbin Amendment?Learn how to lower your card acceptance cost: www.vms-washington.com and ask about the Durbin Amendment that was passed on October 2011 and how it will help you lower your rates. 

Source: vmswashington.wordpress.com

5 Ways To Manage Social Media Overload Have you conversed on Facebook, tweeted your favorite articles, and checked into Foursquare yet today? What about pinned an image on Pinterest, bought or sold stock on Empire Avenue, and done whatever it is people are doing on Google+ nowadays? I won’t even ask about the number of blogs you’ve read or mobile apps you’ve used. Just thinking about these tasks can cause some to become overwhelmed—they experience “social media overload.” New social networks and tools are introduced every day, which means new challenges and questions for marketing professionals, social media strategists, and average people looking to brand themselves online. Which platforms should I use? When should I use them? There are only 24 hours in a day, how do I find the time to manage all my networks?! I’ll admit, there’ve been times I felt like I was stretched pretty thin trying to keep up with various obligatory social tasks. Thankfully, I no longer feel that way (most of the time). Here are a few of the steps I took that really helped manage the social mediaoverload. 1. Prioritize Which tasks are the most essential? Determining your priorities is crucial in managing your time online. When you are faced with a giant list of tasks that need to be done, invest your time and energy first where it will make the most impact, and later return to do tasks that aren’t as much of a priority. For me, responding to Facebook and blogcomments ranks above tweeting my favorite articles, so I do those first. 2. Filter If you always have hundreds of unread blog stories in your feed reader or you skip over a certain user’s updates on a routine basis, it’s time to get picky. There is such a thing as subscribing to too many things. After all, what is the point of following or subscribing to people if you never ever read what they are saying? I’ve cut down on the number of blogs I subscribe to, and it has helped a lot. There’s also something cathartic about trimming those lists, have fun! 3. Aggregate Applications like TweetDeck and HootSuite can do many things to help you save time and feel less overwhelmed. It is easy to save searches for terms, see direct messages and mentions from Twitter at a glance, and collect information from multiple platforms so you can read it in one place. Signing up for one of these tools (I recommend HootSuite) will save you time in the long run. 4. Automate We all have lives, right? This means we aren’t online all the time. Using a tool to schedule your updates means you can plan what to say and let the tool publish it for you at a specified time. HootSuite, TweetDeck and Buffer are all great scheduling applications to use. 5. Relax If you have to take a break from the Internet for a few days to interact with real humans (which I promise won’t kill you), know that it will still be there when you get back. On the Internet, everything is archived. If you feel like catching up after being gone for a while, all it takes is visiting a few RSS feeds or scrolling down some Timelines. Then, jump back in right where you left off. Part of the fun of social media can be trying different things and sorting through the chaos to find something you truly enjoy. If that chaos ever gets to be too much to handle, I hope these tips will help with your case of “social media overload.” Have you ever felt like you were spreading yourself too thin with social media? If you have other ways of managing overload let me know in the comments below. Why hasn’t your processor mentioned the Durbin Amendment?Learn how to lower your card acceptance cost: www.vms-washington.com and ask about the Durbin Amendment that was passed on October 2011 and how it will help you lower your rates. 
View Separately

5 Ways To Manage Social Media Overload

Have you conversed on Facebook, tweeted your favorite articles, and checked into Foursquare yet today? What about pinned an image on Pinterest, bought or sold stock on Empire Avenue, and done whatever it is people are doing on Google+ nowadays? I won’t even ask about the number of blogs you’ve read or mobile apps you’ve used. Just thinking about these tasks can cause some to become overwhelmed—they experience “social media overload.”

New social networks and tools are introduced every day, which means new challenges and questions for marketing professionals, social media strategists, and average people looking to brand themselves online. Which platforms should I use? When should I use them? There are only 24 hours in a day, how do I find the time to manage all my networks?!

I’ll admit, there’ve been times I felt like I was stretched pretty thin trying to keep up with various obligatory social tasks. Thankfully, I no longer feel that way (most of the time). Here are a few of the steps I took that really helped manage the social mediaoverload.

1. Prioritize

Which tasks are the most essential? Determining your priorities is crucial in managing your time online. When you are faced with a giant list of tasks that need to be done, invest your time and energy first where it will make the most impact, and later return to do tasks that aren’t as much of a priority. For me, responding to Facebook and blogcomments ranks above tweeting my favorite articles, so I do those first.

2. Filter

If you always have hundreds of unread blog stories in your feed reader or you skip over a certain user’s updates on a routine basis, it’s time to get picky. There is such a thing as subscribing to too many things. After all, what is the point of following or subscribing to people if you never ever read what they are saying? I’ve cut down on the number of blogs I subscribe to, and it has helped a lot. There’s also something cathartic about trimming those lists, have fun!

3. Aggregate

Applications like TweetDeck and HootSuite can do many things to help you save time and feel less overwhelmed. It is easy to save searches for terms, see direct messages and mentions from Twitter at a glance, and collect information from multiple platforms so you can read it in one place. Signing up for one of these tools (I recommend HootSuite) will save you time in the long run.

4. Automate

We all have lives, right? This means we aren’t online all the time. Using a tool to schedule your updates means you can plan what to say and let the tool publish it for you at a specified time. HootSuite, TweetDeck and Buffer are all great scheduling applications to use.

5. Relax

If you have to take a break from the Internet for a few days to interact with real humans (which I promise won’t kill you), know that it will still be there when you get back. On the Internet, everything is archived. If you feel like catching up after being gone for a while, all it takes is visiting a few RSS feeds or scrolling down some Timelines. Then, jump back in right where you left off.

Part of the fun of social media can be trying different things and sorting through the chaos to find something you truly enjoy. If that chaos ever gets to be too much to handle, I hope these tips will help with your case of “social media overload.”

Have you ever felt like you were spreading yourself too thin with social media? If you have other ways of managing overload let me know in the comments below.

Why hasn’t your processor mentioned the Durbin Amendment?Learn how to lower your card acceptance cost: www.vms-washington.com and ask about the Durbin Amendment that was passed on October 2011 and how it will help you lower your rates. 

Source: vmswashington.wordpress.com

Blog Placement for SEO: Subdomain vs. Subdirectory In my last article, you learned about the benefits of having a business blog if you’re a large corporate brand. Making the commitment to have a blog is simply the first and maybe toughest step. This is a step that over 50% of corporations still haven’t taken. Once you’ve made the decision to adopt a business blog for your brand, there are a lot of things that have to be done pre-launch in order to make it successful. I’ll discuss in an upcoming post why there are many more things to take into consideration as a corporate brand in order to launch and run a good business blog. However, the first question is typically fairly simple, but can have a number of SEO ramifications. That question is: “Where should the blog live in order to get the maximum SEO benefit?” This is a question I’ve gotten many times, and it can relate to a blog or to regular websites (with franchises or many offices). I’m sure there are many differing opinions on this topic, and if we were talking about regular sites and not just blogs I may have varying opinions on a case-by-case basis. However, I’ll list the scenarios in order of most to least impactful based on what I know and my opinions about SEO and blogging. 1. Blog Placed in Subdirectory (Ex: yoursite.com/blog) This situation for me is the most ideal from an SEO standpoint. I prefer to use a subdirectory (or “subfolder”) over a subdomain or external site any day. Matt Cutts agrees with me: “My personal preference on subdomains vs. subdirectories is that I usually prefer the convenience of subdirectories for most of my content. A subdomain can be useful to separate out content that is completely different. Google uses subdomains for distinct products such news.google.com or maps.google.com, for example. If you’re a newer webmaster or SEO, I’d recommend using subdirectories until you start to feel pretty confident with the architecture of your site. At that point, you’ll be better equipped to make the right decision for your own site.” Rand Fishkin agrees with me too, but does go on to detail compelling usage examples for subdomains: “Starting a blog? I almost always recommend yoursite.com/blog over blog.yoursite.com.” Advantages: Subdirectories tend to inherent some of the ranking benefits of the root domain. Inbound links coming into the blog subdirectory and/or its blog posts can build more ranking value, page authority, and link juice for the root domain. Utilizing the blog as a subdirectory, you can use blog posts to better enhance the root domain’s authority (and ranking ability) for a given topic by building hubs of content around that topic and cross-linking to key pages on the root. Any social sharing equity is passed back to root domain. Easier to organize content within the blog Easier to create and manage from a server perspective. Disadvantages: Typically longer URL than below Authority and link equity may diminish as your get deeper into a subdirectory structure – farther away from the root (ex: yoursite.com/blog/seo/google) Won’t have the ability to achieve as high a level of SERP saturation as you would with subdomains. 2. Blog Placed in Subdomain (Ex: blog.yoursite.com) This is the second best option in my opinion for SEO. A subdomain is basically a separate or third-tier website that just so happens to be residing off of the root domain. Search engines typically view them as wholly separate entities. I would only use this if the blog was completely separate to your services (or if your site infrastructure does not allow you to add blogging software to the root domain). Advantages: Typically shorter URL than above Can pass some link value back to the root domain through cross-linking within template and articles. Can achieve a higher level of SERP saturation as search engines can rank more than the traditional 2 listings per site – multiple pages from your root domain as well as your subdomain. Disadvantages: Subdomains DO NOT always inherit any or all of the positive metrics and ranking ability of their root domain (i.e. link equity, ranking equity, age benefits, etc). Some subdomains get zero benefit from the root domain they are on (ex: sites like WordPress.com where anyone can create their own subdomain and begin blogging). If you get inbound links to the subdirectory of the blog, it will build equity for the subdirectory. However, since it is technically a different site, it will not inherently pass that juice back to the root domain. More difficult to create and manage from a server perspective. 3. Blog On External URL (Ex: someothersite.com) Having a separate site as your blog – while better than nothing at all – is the least ideal solution of the 3 solutions discussed. Again, I would only use this option if the blog was completely separate to your services (or if your site infrastructure does not allow you to add blogging software to the root domain). A great example of this would be if your company had an unrelated sponsorship that had enough interest to warrent its own blog. Advantages: Can pass some link value back to the root domain through cross-linking within template and articles. Can achieve a higher level of SERP saturation as search engines can rank both your corporate site and your external blog. May allow you to have multiple blogs covering distinct topics, each on their own domains – as opposed to just one to one. Can provide coverage for services/topics that are unrelated to your business – i.e. sponsorships. Disadvantages: Could create brand confusion if not design and branded appropriately, and consumers could be unaware that it is your property at all. External blogs WILL NOT benefit from any ranking equity that is garnered from your root domain. Links to your external blog and its articles will not pass along equity for your root business domain, but will instead only build equity to the external site itself. Will not have the advantage of using this blog content to build authority around a subject for your root domain. Again, it’s another site you’ll have to manage from a server perspective. 4. No Blog Okay, so you’re one of the over 50% of corporations that still aren’t utilizing blogging for your business. If you read my last article and still aren’t convinced of the benefits of blogging, where is your head at? If you review the advantages I’ve detailed and still feel as if there isn’t a direct business impact that can be made to correlate to being worth your time, then maybe you’ll never understand. If that is the case, here is the advantage to not having a blog… Advantages: You can sit back, relax, and count your money because you don’t have to worry about the complex issues that come along with having a blog like good branding, creative content, increased social sharing, enhanced customer engagement, more site traffic, better SEO results, etc. Disadvantages: I can’t say that you’d have worse SEO results by not having a blog, but I can’t say that they would be any better either. Less opportunity for social engagement. Less opportunity for interaction with your customers. Less opportunity for traffic and exposure for your website. Just get a blog folks – it will make everyone happier! Why hasn’t your processor mentioned the Durbin Amendment?Learn how to lower your card acceptance cost: www.vms-washington.com and ask about the Durbin Amendment that was passed on October 2011 and how it will help you lower your rates. 
Pop-upView Separately

Blog Placement for SEO: Subdomain vs. Subdirectory

In my last article, you learned about the benefits of having a business blog if you’re a large corporate brand.

Making the commitment to have a blog is simply the first and maybe toughest step. This is a step that over 50% of corporations still haven’t taken.

Once you’ve made the decision to adopt a business blog for your brand, there are a lot of things that have to be done pre-launch in order to make it successful. I’ll discuss in an upcoming post why there are many more things to take into consideration as a corporate brand in order to launch and run a good business blog.

However, the first question is typically fairly simple, but can have a number of SEO ramifications. That question is:

“Where should the blog live in order to get the maximum SEO benefit?”

This is a question I’ve gotten many times, and it can relate to a blog or to regular websites (with franchises or many offices).

I’m sure there are many differing opinions on this topic, and if we were talking about regular sites and not just blogs I may have varying opinions on a case-by-case basis. However, I’ll list the scenarios in order of most to least impactful based on what I know and my opinions about SEO and blogging.

1. Blog Placed in Subdirectory (Ex: yoursite.com/blog)

This situation for me is the most ideal from an SEO standpoint. I prefer to use a subdirectory (or “subfolder”) over a subdomain or external site any day.

Matt Cutts agrees with me:

“My personal preference on subdomains vs. subdirectories is that I usually prefer the convenience of subdirectories for most of my content. A subdomain can be useful to separate out content that is completely different. Google uses subdomains for distinct products such news.google.com or maps.google.com, for example. If you’re a newer webmaster or SEO, I’d recommend using subdirectories until you start to feel pretty confident with the architecture of your site. At that point, you’ll be better equipped to make the right decision for your own site.”

Rand Fishkin agrees with me too, but does go on to detail compelling usage examples for subdomains:

“Starting a blog? I almost always recommend yoursite.com/blog over blog.yoursite.com.”

Advantages:

  • Subdirectories tend to inherent some of the ranking benefits of the root domain.
  • Inbound links coming into the blog subdirectory and/or its blog posts can build more ranking value, page authority, and link juice for the root domain.
  • Utilizing the blog as a subdirectory, you can use blog posts to better enhance the root domain’s authority (and ranking ability) for a given topic by building hubs of content around that topic and cross-linking to key pages on the root.
  • Any social sharing equity is passed back to root domain.
  • Easier to organize content within the blog
  • Easier to create and manage from a server perspective.

Disadvantages:

  • Typically longer URL than below
  • Authority and link equity may diminish as your get deeper into a subdirectory structure – farther away from the root (ex: yoursite.com/blog/seo/google)
  • Won’t have the ability to achieve as high a level of SERP saturation as you would with subdomains.

2. Blog Placed in Subdomain (Ex: blog.yoursite.com)

This is the second best option in my opinion for SEO. A subdomain is basically a separate or third-tier website that just so happens to be residing off of the root domain. Search engines typically view them as wholly separate entities. I would only use this if the blog was completely separate to your services (or if your site infrastructure does not allow you to add blogging software to the root domain).

Advantages:

  • Typically shorter URL than above
  • Can pass some link value back to the root domain through cross-linking within template and articles.
  • Can achieve a higher level of SERP saturation as search engines can rank more than the traditional 2 listings per site – multiple pages from your root domain as well as your subdomain.

Disadvantages:

  • Subdomains DO NOT always inherit any or all of the positive metrics and ranking ability of their root domain (i.e. link equity, ranking equity, age benefits, etc).
  • Some subdomains get zero benefit from the root domain they are on (ex: sites like WordPress.com where anyone can create their own subdomain and begin blogging).
  • If you get inbound links to the subdirectory of the blog, it will build equity for the subdirectory. However, since it is technically a different site, it will not inherently pass that juice back to the root domain.
  • More difficult to create and manage from a server perspective.

3. Blog On External URL (Ex: someothersite.com)

Having a separate site as your blog – while better than nothing at all – is the least ideal solution of the 3 solutions discussed. Again, I would only use this option if the blog was completely separate to your services (or if your site infrastructure does not allow you to add blogging software to the root domain). A great example of this would be if your company had an unrelated sponsorship that had enough interest to warrent its own blog.

Advantages:

  • Can pass some link value back to the root domain through cross-linking within template and articles.
  • Can achieve a higher level of SERP saturation as search engines can rank both your corporate site and your external blog.
  • May allow you to have multiple blogs covering distinct topics, each on their own domains – as opposed to just one to one.
  • Can provide coverage for services/topics that are unrelated to your business – i.e. sponsorships.

Disadvantages:

  • Could create brand confusion if not design and branded appropriately, and consumers could be unaware that it is your property at all.
  • External blogs WILL NOT benefit from any ranking equity that is garnered from your root domain.
  • Links to your external blog and its articles will not pass along equity for your root business domain, but will instead only build equity to the external site itself.
  • Will not have the advantage of using this blog content to build authority around a subject for your root domain.
  • Again, it’s another site you’ll have to manage from a server perspective.

4. No Blog

Okay, so you’re one of the over 50% of corporations that still aren’t utilizing blogging for your business. If you read my last article and still aren’t convinced of the benefits of blogging, where is your head at?

If you review the advantages I’ve detailed and still feel as if there isn’t a direct business impact that can be made to correlate to being worth your time, then maybe you’ll never understand. If that is the case, here is the advantage to not having a blog…

Advantages:

  • You can sit back, relax, and count your money because you don’t have to worry about the complex issues that come along with having a blog like good branding, creative content, increased social sharing, enhanced customer engagement, more site traffic, better SEO results, etc.

Disadvantages:

  • I can’t say that you’d have worse SEO results by not having a blog, but I can’t say that they would be any better either.
  • Less opportunity for social engagement.
  • Less opportunity for interaction with your customers.
  • Less opportunity for traffic and exposure for your website.

Just get a blog folks – it will make everyone happier!

Why hasn’t your processor mentioned the Durbin Amendment?Learn how to lower your card acceptance cost: www.vms-washington.com and ask about the Durbin Amendment that was passed on October 2011 and how it will help you lower your rates. 

Source: vmswashington.wordpress.com

13 Tips to Get More Twitter Followers Today we’re going to talk about how to go about getting more followers on Twitter. Let me first preface this with one statement: getting followers is NOT the most important aspect of social media, building relationships IS the primary objective. Learn how to get more followers on Twitter. I provide 13 easy tips for getting more people to follow you and developing meaningful relationships on Twitter. By getting more followers you’re increasing your circle of influence and opening up many more potential opportunities to develop those relationships that are key to having a good social media presence and (if applicable) making it work for your business. However, by getting more followers you’re increasing your circle of influence and opening up many more potential opportunities to develop those relationships that are key to having a good social media presence and (if applicable) making it work for your business. Tip #1: Create a Solid Profile This one falls under the “duh” section, but many people/businesses don’t do it. Creating a Twitter profile that looks good, has some personality, and works to expand your network of followers can be done in a few easy steps. Create a Twitter username/handle that makes sense and is easy to remember. Mine is @vms_washington which is fairly simple. If it’s too late for you on this step, no worries. Fill out your bio completely. You have 160 character spaces, so make sure that you make your bio interesting while at the same time using the keywords that best describe you (or your business) – think of keywords you might want to show up for in a Twitter/Google search. Enter your location. I think that it’s really important to take part on conversations not just on a national level on Twitter, but on a local level too. If your location isn’t displayed in your profile, somebody local who doesn’t know you may be less inclined to engage you in a local conversation. Create a custom Twitter background image. Make sure that your custom background image lists your key details, as well as website and social media handles. Keep in mind that it will be positioned in the top-left of your screen, as well as whether or not you want it to be repeatable. I see some people who don’t have it repeating that don’t create an image that is wide enough or set a background color that blends well. Create a Custom Profile Picture. I can’t stress this enough. If you’re a person, use a picture of yourself. If you’re a company, use a logo or relevant picture. For me, this simple thing is often the difference between me following somebody or not. Link to Your Website. If you have a website then be sure to link to it. This is good for SEO and may drive a lot of referral traffic. Also, don’t link to a shortened URL in your profile (such as bit.ly or ow.ly), it’s just annoying and makes me think scammer or fake website off the bat! Tip #2: Cross Promote This is another simple thing that many people overlook. Just as I’ve said above, use your Twitter profile to promote your website, but conversely you need to utilize your website (as well as other web areas) to promote your Twitter presence. If your website gets a lot of traffic, please don’t let it go to waste by not putting an icon or link somewhere to your Twitter handle. It would be a damn shame. In addition, if you do things like traditional marketing or public speaking that takes place offline, be sure to always find a way to plug your Twitter handle (in addition to your website). Tip #3: Follow Others I call this the 80% rule. If you follow 1,000 people you’ll probably get around 800 people to follow you back. I’m absolutely not condoning following people that you’re not interesting in building a relationship or getting some type of useful communication from just to drive up your follower count. That pretty much defeats the purpose of using social media. What I am saying is that you should make it a habit to follow people first if they interest you. This could be as simple as making it a part of your daily routine. For example, if you’re surfing the web and find an interesting site or article, take the time to follow that person on Twitter. You may even take it a step further and maybe leave a comment or some type of feedback in addition to a follow. If that’s the case – WALLAH!!! You’ve just started the process of beginning a meaningful relationship with another person online. Tip #4: Re-Tweet Others I’m a huge proponent of this methodology. Nobody likes that friend that only talks about themselves and never wants to listen to or talk about what others are saying. Don’t be that Twitter user who is only interested in talking about yourself. If you find an article that somebody in your circle wrote interesting, or if somebody you know is promoting a worthy cause, then Re-Tweet that sucker! You’ll find that by helping others achieve their goals first (without expecting anything in return), you may be setting yourself up for a favor later on. It’s kind of a “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours” type of thing. BUT please don’t help others just because you want something from them. Help them because you want to! It’s just good karma. Tip #5: Promote Sharing of Your Content This especially applies if you’re a blogger like myself. Make sure you’ve got Twitter Re-Tweet buttons installed on your post pages. This will enable users to Re-Tweet your site’s content. This will do a couple of things: Drive more traffic to your blog. Everybody likes that! Expose your articles to that user’s Twitter circle. This is a giant black box if you think about it. Imagine if the person that RT’s your article has 30k followers? That’s 30k potential eyes on your content – who might then be inclined to follow you as well. Enables you to start a relationship. If somebody is nice enough to RT your article, be nice enough to follow them in return. This is a door-opener to beginning a relationship on Twitter. Tip #6: Be Worthy of Re-Tweet This tip is to ride on tip #5. If you want people to RT your content or tweets, it’s gotta be worthy of it in the first place. If you create content that is compelling and helps somebody learn something new or solve a problem, then you’ll probably find that you’ll get a lot of RT’s. If you content and tweets are as stale as a bag of chips left open overnight, then don’t expect much. Tip #7: Be Active, Send Tweets Often If you’re trying to build a Twitter following, it is imperative that you don’t let yourself go a few days – let alone weeks – without sending a Tweet out to your followers. I recommend sending at least 1 Tweet per day at a minimum to keep you top of mind to your followers, as well as to stay fresh. In addition, sending compelling Tweets frequently will increase the likelihood that your Tweets get Re-Tweeting. See tip #5 for reasons why that is important again. This is not to say you need to be spamming people with tweets all the time, as that shit can get annoying fast! Do that, and you’ll likely get more Twitter quitters than followers. Tip #8: Use #HashTags #HashTags are Twitter’s way to link conversations around the same topic together. Accompanying a Tweet you send with a relevant #HashTag may be a good way to show up as part of a Twitter search, and will enable people to see the entire string of Tweets associated with that tag – helping them to keep track of the conversation a bit better. Also, if you attend and event or speak at an event, create a hash tag for that event (ex: #epsmm10 which I created for a webinar series I did for Express Employment Professionals). This can be a great way to connect – and be connected – with everyone who attends and Tweets using that hash-tag. When people track these conversations back to you, the you’ll likely get followers pouring in. If you’re a speaker at an event and have created a hash-tag, then you’ve opened yourself up to lots of opportunities to be followed and to find more people to follow (see #3) – even if you forget to do tip #2. Note: The #HashTag that I created (#epsmm10) still shows up as a Tweet I’ve send and other users Tweets still have it in there, but when I perform a Twitter search for it, it shows no results. Not sure why that is? It is indexed in Google, but not showing in Twitter. Anyone who can tell me why that may be would be a big help. Tip #9: Establish Credibility This comes through the development of relationships and the expertise and credibility that may come from other areas. If you’re a famous actor, then this is easy. If you’re like me, it becomes hard work and a bit of a grind. Establishing credibility means being good at what you do, being worthy of a RT (see #6), and helping others (see #3 and #4). If you’re able to do these things well, people will be far more inclined to follow you. Tip #10: Fill a Need This one is a no-brainer as well, and probably should have been mentioned a little earlier on this list. However, like a tree it fell where it fell. Whether it be providing useful tips, information, laughter, sorrow, etc etc etc., if you’ve filled some type of need or desire that peaks somebody’s interest they’ll be far more likely to follow you. For me, I help people solve their problems around SEO, Social Media, and WordPress. A guy like @mikewhitmore who’s a social media strategist that provides me with the great blogs and  updates that my heart so desires. That’s a need, he fills it, which is why I follow. Tip #11: Try To Get Listed Getting listed on somebody’s Twitter list can be a very good thing. First off, like getting Re-Tweeted, being in someone’s Twitter list exposes you to a whole new network where you may not have been exposed before. People do not necessarily have to follow you to see that you’re on somebody’s list, but by looking at a person’s list they may decide to follow you. For example, I’ve created a list to help me keep track of my Local Seattle Twitter Connections. If somebody wants to get involved with other Twitter users here in Seattle but may not necessarily know who those people are, they may look at my list to see who they should follow. How do you get on somebody’s list: Fill a need (see #10) Be a specialist (I specialize in SEO, therefore I show up a lot in SEO lists) Be worth following & listing (see #12 and #6) I’m sure there’s more… Tip #12: Be Worth Following All of these other tips are great, but none of them hold a candle to this tip. Just be worth it! Be interesting or helpful enough for someone to take time out of their day to follow what you’re saying. A main goal of using social media is to become an influencer. An influencer is someone who holds enough sway with the common-folk to get conversations to impact public opinions – good or bad – by what they say. This often comes with flat-out being interesting enough to follow. So damn it, don’t be boring! Bonus Tip A quick and cheesy bonus tip… Tip #13: Pictures, Contests, and Prizes I read an article a while back from Kevin Rose, the founder of Digg.com on TechCrunch. In the article, he talked some about the impact that taking and posting amazing pictures (which have the potential to get viral exposure), as well as the impact of running contests and giving away prizes in exchange for getting more Twitter followers. In my opinion, these methods (while maybe getting you more followers) may be a little less organic and meaningful. But hey, a follow is a follow is a follow. Enjoy! To my readers: What methods have you used to get more followers on Twitter? Are there any experiences that you’d like to share that helped you gain more Twitter followers? I’d love to hear from you. Why hasn’t your processor mentioned the Durbin Amendment?Learn how to lower your card acceptance cost: www.vms-washington.com and ask about the Durbin Amendment that was passed on October 2011 and how it will help you lower your rates. 
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13 Tips to Get More Twitter Followers

Today we’re going to talk about how to go about getting more followers on Twitter. Let me first preface this with one statement: getting followers is NOT the most important aspect of social media, building relationships IS the primary objective.

Learn how to get more followers on Twitter. I provide 13 easy tips for getting more people to follow you and developing meaningful relationships on Twitter. By getting more followers you’re increasing your circle of influence and opening up many more potential opportunities to develop those relationships that are key to having a good social media presence and (if applicable) making it work for your business.

However, by getting more followers you’re increasing your circle of influence and opening up many more potential opportunities to develop those relationships that are key to having a good social media presence and (if applicable) making it work for your business.

Tip #1: Create a Solid Profile

This one falls under the “duh” section, but many people/businesses don’t do it. Creating a Twitter profile that looks good, has some personality, and works to expand your network of followers can be done in a few easy steps.

  1. Create a Twitter username/handle that makes sense and is easy to remember. Mine is @vms_washington which is fairly simple. If it’s too late for you on this step, no worries.
  2. Fill out your bio completely. You have 160 character spaces, so make sure that you make your bio interesting while at the same time using the keywords that best describe you (or your business) – think of keywords you might want to show up for in a Twitter/Google search.
  3. Enter your location. I think that it’s really important to take part on conversations not just on a national level on Twitter, but on a local level too. If your location isn’t displayed in your profile, somebody local who doesn’t know you may be less inclined to engage you in a local conversation.
  4. Create a custom Twitter background image. Make sure that your custom background image lists your key details, as well as website and social media handles. Keep in mind that it will be positioned in the top-left of your screen, as well as whether or not you want it to be repeatable. I see some people who don’t have it repeating that don’t create an image that is wide enough or set a background color that blends well.
  5. Create a Custom Profile Picture. I can’t stress this enough. If you’re a person, use a picture of yourself. If you’re a company, use a logo or relevant picture. For me, this simple thing is often the difference between me following somebody or not.
  6. Link to Your Website. If you have a website then be sure to link to it. This is good for SEO and may drive a lot of referral traffic. Also, don’t link to a shortened URL in your profile (such as bit.ly or ow.ly), it’s just annoying and makes me think scammer or fake website off the bat!

Tip #2: Cross Promote

This is another simple thing that many people overlook. Just as I’ve said above, use your Twitter profile to promote your website, but conversely you need to utilize your website (as well as other web areas) to promote your Twitter presence.

If your website gets a lot of traffic, please don’t let it go to waste by not putting an icon or link somewhere to your Twitter handle. It would be a damn shame.

In addition, if you do things like traditional marketing or public speaking that takes place offline, be sure to always find a way to plug your Twitter handle (in addition to your website).

Tip #3: Follow Others

I call this the 80% rule. If you follow 1,000 people you’ll probably get around 800 people to follow you back.

I’m absolutely not condoning following people that you’re not interesting in building a relationship or getting some type of useful communication from just to drive up your follower count. That pretty much defeats the purpose of using social media.

What I am saying is that you should make it a habit to follow people first if they interest you. This could be as simple as making it a part of your daily routine. For example, if you’re surfing the web and find an interesting site or article, take the time to follow that person on Twitter.

You may even take it a step further and maybe leave a comment or some type of feedback in addition to a follow. If that’s the case – WALLAH!!! You’ve just started the process of beginning a meaningful relationship with another person online.

Tip #4: Re-Tweet Others

I’m a huge proponent of this methodology. Nobody likes that friend that only talks about themselves and never wants to listen to or talk about what others are saying. Don’t be that Twitter user who is only interested in talking about yourself.

If you find an article that somebody in your circle wrote interesting, or if somebody you know is promoting a worthy cause, then Re-Tweet that sucker! You’ll find that by helping others achieve their goals first (without expecting anything in return), you may be setting yourself up for a favor later on.

It’s kind of a “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours” type of thing. BUT please don’t help others just because you want something from them. Help them because you want to! It’s just good karma.

Tip #5: Promote Sharing of Your Content

This especially applies if you’re a blogger like myself. Make sure you’ve got Twitter Re-Tweet buttons installed on your post pages. This will enable users to Re-Tweet your site’s content. This will do a couple of things:

  • Drive more traffic to your blog. Everybody likes that!
  • Expose your articles to that user’s Twitter circle. This is a giant black box if you think about it. Imagine if the person that RT’s your article has 30k followers? That’s 30k potential eyes on your content – who might then be inclined to follow you as well.
  • Enables you to start a relationship. If somebody is nice enough to RT your article, be nice enough to follow them in return. This is a door-opener to beginning a relationship on Twitter.

Tip #6: Be Worthy of Re-Tweet

This tip is to ride on tip #5. If you want people to RT your content or tweets, it’s gotta be worthy of it in the first place. If you create content that is compelling and helps somebody learn something new or solve a problem, then you’ll probably find that you’ll get a lot of RT’s. If you content and tweets are as stale as a bag of chips left open overnight, then don’t expect much.

Tip #7: Be Active, Send Tweets Often

If you’re trying to build a Twitter following, it is imperative that you don’t let yourself go a few days – let alone weeks – without sending a Tweet out to your followers. I recommend sending at least 1 Tweet per day at a minimum to keep you top of mind to your followers, as well as to stay fresh.

In addition, sending compelling Tweets frequently will increase the likelihood that your Tweets get Re-Tweeting. See tip #5 for reasons why that is important again.

This is not to say you need to be spamming people with tweets all the time, as that shit can get annoying fast! Do that, and you’ll likely get more Twitter quitters than followers.

Tip #8: Use #HashTags

#HashTags are Twitter’s way to link conversations around the same topic together. Accompanying a Tweet you send with a relevant #HashTag may be a good way to show up as part of a Twitter search, and will enable people to see the entire string of Tweets associated with that tag – helping them to keep track of the conversation a bit better.

Also, if you attend and event or speak at an event, create a hash tag for that event (ex: #epsmm10 which I created for a webinar series I did for Express Employment Professionals). This can be a great way to connect – and be connected – with everyone who attends and Tweets using that hash-tag.

When people track these conversations back to you, the you’ll likely get followers pouring in. If you’re a speaker at an event and have created a hash-tag, then you’ve opened yourself up to lots of opportunities to be followed and to find more people to follow (see #3) – even if you forget to do tip #2.

Note: The #HashTag that I created (#epsmm10) still shows up as a Tweet I’ve send and other users Tweets still have it in there, but when I perform a Twitter search for it, it shows no results. Not sure why that is? It is indexed in Google, but not showing in Twitter. Anyone who can tell me why that may be would be a big help.

Tip #9: Establish Credibility

This comes through the development of relationships and the expertise and credibility that may come from other areas. If you’re a famous actor, then this is easy. If you’re like me, it becomes hard work and a bit of a grind.

Establishing credibility means being good at what you do, being worthy of a RT (see #6), and helping others (see #3 and #4). If you’re able to do these things well, people will be far more inclined to follow you.

Tip #10: Fill a Need

This one is a no-brainer as well, and probably should have been mentioned a little earlier on this list. However, like a tree it fell where it fell. Whether it be providing useful tips, information, laughter, sorrow, etc etc etc., if you’ve filled some type of need or desire that peaks somebody’s interest they’ll be far more likely to follow you.

For me, I help people solve their problems around SEO, Social Media, and WordPress. A guy like @mikewhitmore who’s a social media strategist that provides me with the great blogs and  updates that my heart so desires. That’s a need, he fills it, which is why I follow.

Tip #11: Try To Get Listed

Getting listed on somebody’s Twitter list can be a very good thing. First off, like getting Re-Tweeted, being in someone’s Twitter list exposes you to a whole new network where you may not have been exposed before. People do not necessarily have to follow you to see that you’re on somebody’s list, but by looking at a person’s list they may decide to follow you.

For example, I’ve created a list to help me keep track of my Local Seattle Twitter Connections. If somebody wants to get involved with other Twitter users here in Seattle but may not necessarily know who those people are, they may look at my list to see who they should follow.

How do you get on somebody’s list:

  • Fill a need (see #10)
  • Be a specialist (I specialize in SEO, therefore I show up a lot in SEO lists)
  • Be worth following & listing (see #12 and #6)
  • I’m sure there’s more…

Tip #12: Be Worth Following

All of these other tips are great, but none of them hold a candle to this tip. Just be worth it! Be interesting or helpful enough for someone to take time out of their day to follow what you’re saying.

A main goal of using social media is to become an influencer. An influencer is someone who holds enough sway with the common-folk to get conversations to impact public opinions – good or bad – by what they say.

This often comes with flat-out being interesting enough to follow. So damn it, don’t be boring!

Bonus Tip

A quick and cheesy bonus tip…

Tip #13: Pictures, Contests, and Prizes

I read an article a while back from Kevin Rose, the founder of Digg.com on TechCrunch. In the article, he talked some about the impact that taking and posting amazing pictures (which have the potential to get viral exposure), as well as the impact of running contests and giving away prizes in exchange for getting more Twitter followers.

In my opinion, these methods (while maybe getting you more followers) may be a little less organic and meaningful. But hey, a follow is a follow is a follow. Enjoy!

To my readers: What methods have you used to get more followers on Twitter? Are there any experiences that you’d like to share that helped you gain more Twitter followers? I’d love to hear from you.

Why hasn’t your processor mentioned the Durbin Amendment?Learn how to lower your card acceptance cost: www.vms-washington.com and ask about the Durbin Amendment that was passed on October 2011 and how it will help you lower your rates. 

Source: vmswashington.wordpress.com