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Why SEO is important for SMB

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Search Engine Optimization is so crucial to small businesses and yet so few even try SEO. When a customer wants to find a product in their local area their first instinct is to Google it. If your website does not appear on the first page of Google for their search query then you are probably going to miss out on that sale.

With the help of SEO your business will be able to reach a countless number of customers from the web. The problem with SEO though is people want results right away. Most businesses will try it for a couple of months and when they see no results they give up. SEO takes time to build up your website and make it turn from nothing into something that will show up in Google’s search results.

SEO doesn’t have to break the bank either. There are thousands of ways to promote your businesses website for free on the internet. Whether its creating a creating a blog, using websites like Twitter, Myspace, Digg, Youtube, Facebook, and Linkedin. Using social media websites for SEO is a cheap and cost effective way to get your business out their and help establish your keywords.

The key part of it all though is making sure you have a great website. Your website needs to be top priority. Whether it’s doing it yourself or paying someone to help, it is crucial to make sure your website is setup correctly so that it looks good to customers and that it is designed so that Google will have it show up in the search engines.

The entire goal here is to draw customers in using search engines. It may seem at first impossible to climb to the top of Google’s search results for your keywords, but if you stick to it you can attract a giant customer base just by using the web. The fact is if you are not doing it your competitors are.

Top 11 SMB Trade Show Do’s and 10 Don’ts

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Trade Show Booth

Trade Shows are a great way to market your product. Trade shows help increase company visibility by putting your audience in a place that you can directly connect with them. You also are able to direct contact your manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers, retailers, and value-added resellers.

A trade show though can be expensive with costs including plane tickets, shipping your supplies, equipment costs, and booth cost. With costs being so high return of investment is crucial. If done right a trade show can be the perfect opportunity to catch the attention of a wide audience of customers and can prove to be less expensive at reaching your customers than other alternatives like billboards, television, and newspaper advertising.

To help you here is a check list of 11 do’s and 10 don’ts:

Do List

  1. Pick a good spot for your booth around the front or center to get better traffic.
  2. Invite clients to stop by your booth via blogs, email, postcards etc…
  3. Be alert and inviting. Stand near the front of your booth and be friendly.
  4. Survey your prospect. Ask what do they want and or need.
  5. Be able to state what your unique selling proposition is within 10-20 seconds. Focus on what your product or service can do for the prospect.
  6. Booth Layout is Key! You have about five seconds to capture the trade show attendee’s attention before they are gone. Have a featured discussion display or plasma flat screen with a presentation in an easily accessible area where several people can hear and see what you are presenting.
  7. Lead Follow-up: Work out a system for capturing, qualifying and following up on leads.
  8. Properly Staff your Booth. Have sufficient staffing to allow for rest and eating breaks.
  9. Make a Lasting Impression: Make prospects glad that they stopped by and met you and your company.
  10. Dress appropriately for your company and the target of the show.
  11. Get Trade Show Internet for $299

Don’t List

  1. Don’t sit at your booth when prospects are present. Stand, be ready to engage all potential customers.
  2. Don’t eat, read or otherwise be distracted at your booth.
  3. Don’t engage in conversation with your fellow workers when attendees are present.
  4. Stand in a friendly manner that is welcoming to attendees.
  5. Do not use the phrase “Can I help you?” — The nearly automatic response to this question is “No thanks, just looking.”
  6. Do not hand out brochures to everyone. Until you have qualified the lead and they have expressed an interest, keep the marketing material in your own hands. Handing out brochures at initial contact may inhibit a deeper conversation.
  7. Do not fail to assess the client’s needs before providing a solution.
  8. Do not fail to be impeccably dressed and groomed. You only have one chance to make a first impression.
  9. Do not leave the booth unattended and do not take your stand down before the exhibit ends.
  10. Do not fail to follow up on requests for information. It is imperative that you do what you commit to in the booth.

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Obama Works On Mandated Sick Days

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Obama Pushes For Goverment Regulated Sick DaysIf you are feeling sick today it may be ok to go ahead and call of work. Early this month the House of Representatives held a hearing on a bill to make Mandatory sick days a requirement for employers. If the bill (that will be voted on this spring) passes offering paid sick leave will no longer be an option.

The Health and Families Act (HFA) that is being pushed by President Obama will force employers who have 15 or more full time workers to offer 7 days a year in sick days and part time workers are not left out. They will be giving a prorated amount of sick days based on how much they work.

If a company already offers sick days to their employees they won’t need to change any polices as long as it is equivalent to what would be required by the HFA bill. Although if a company now offers more days than the bill makes mandatory, it will not allow the changing of their current polices. That means companies won’t be able to reduce vacation time to offset the costs of additional sick time. And some experts interpret the provision to mean companies offering a general PTO bank would need to add seven sick days in addition to what’s already available.

The HFA was introduced in the Senate a few years ago and failed to move. But that was the post Obama ere. So far, no states have made sick leave mandatory – measures have failed in California, Ohio, New Jersey and Washington. Three cities – San Francisco, Milwaukee and Washington, D.C. – have passed mandatory sick leave laws.

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Growth of On Line Sales

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Business Owners Increase SpendingA recent study shows that 97% of small business owners are fearful about the economy but a large part of those concerned still plan on spending more money on advertising. The report shows that most of this increase will be targeted on line.

Although some businesses will lift spending in areas, the research shows that an increasing amount of small business owners question whether mass media advertising can reach the market they want. But they all agree that advertising plays a crucial role in the future of their businesses. Broken down by specific media, 44% of respondents ranked online advertising as effective, followed by direct mail (32%), Yellow Pages (28%), and newspapers (27%).

These finding show that while same companies are cutting back others agree with the statement that, you can gain market share while marketing when your competitors are trying to save money. 74% of business owners feel their company must be one of the first two or three that come to a customer’s mind when they need what the small business owner is selling.

Source: www.maketingvox.com

Tips For Hiring A Great Employee.

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Business Hiring Tips
For a business owner, be it small or medium, when you hire that first employee, it’s a day of celebration. It means you are in a position to expand and make your business a stronger place. But before you choose the new employee, there are a few things you should consider.

1.Before bringing in candidates to interview, make a list of 10 buzz words that are important to your small business. They can range from “fast-paced” to “money-making” and then be on alert for resumes that use identical or similar words.

2.Hiring is not a perfect process. It is highly subjective and based on a good deal of soft information. So, whenever possible, have at least one other person carefully interview the final candidates for a position. You may to be surprised with a fresh perspective.

3.Don’t be in a rush to hire an employee. In today’s world things can change quickly. Make sure you are hiring at the right time for your business. Many companies hire too soon and pay for it as time goes on. Keep in mind when you hire someone, you are taking on their income and future. That is a big responsibility.

4. List your goals for the new hire. Do you want someone who can fill in on short notice when you need to take a day off, or do you want someone who can work a regular schedule? Do you want someone who can meet with clients, set their own schedules and attend meetings and events on your behalf, or do you simply need someone who can pick up your overflow? These are things you need to make clear in the interview.

Listen to your gut; your intuition is the most powerful hiring tool there is. If some thing doesn’t feel right, then it may not be. This is your business you’re talking about so go with what you feel. At the end of the day you want to bring the right people into your family and you want this new member to help you in continuing to expand.

Credit Card Companies Saving Themselves

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Today credit card companies are doing more and more to try and save themselves from the crisis that is effecting so many of our financial intuitions. But in reality they may just end up losing and hurting their customers. The latest scheme now being used by some credit card companies involves watching where and how you use your credit card. When they observe purchases that they deem to be a characteristic of a risky customer they play to lower you credit limit and even possibly closes your credit card.

As credit tightens the credit card companies only want to give credit to the people that are 100% sure to be responsible customers and pay back their debt. They will also keep track of what you say when you call the customer service number in order to figure out if you are a risk for the company or not. The top places that could hurt you when using a credit card are: Bars, nightclubs, gambling institutions, cash advances, charging the necessities, marriage counseling, and massage parlors and strip clubs.

The credit card companies are now starting to look at the lifestyles of their customer and decide whether or not they are the type of customer they want to do business with. Not all credit card companies are of course adopting all of these tactics but the trend is disturbing. For example Visa may not have the same list of purchases that are disapproved of as American Express, and the next company may have no such policy at all. Each company is developing their own model that they go by to determine what and who is a risky customer making risky purchases.

Cost Cutting Tips for Small Business in Today’s Economy

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Are you brainstorming on how to cut costs to ensure that your small business can survive and even thrive in these economically challenged times? With Wall Street, bail outs and gas prices it can be scarier than the ghouls on Halloween just to turn on the news. Here are some ideas to consider while you are brainstorming.

The Little Things – Adjust the temperature when no one will be in the office, invest in water filters instead of bottled water, use energy efficient light bulbs, save energy by trading in the big CRT monitors for flat screens or take energy saving a step further and trade you desktops for laptops.

Operations – Embracing the Internet can save you ink, paper, stamps and time. Emails are a free instant way to send documents, flyers, bills and with electronic signatures you can practically throw your stamp machine out the door.

Many bill pay options are available through your bank which will eliminate buying checks and also the late charges when snail mail doesn’t get your payment there on time

Investing in a scanner will allow you to scan documents to send via fax on the web. A fax service like Fax Zero is very cost effective offering faxes for free if you allow them to tack on an advertisement.

Communications and Travel can be very expensive. Cell phone service can run very high in roaming charges and long distance and so can traditional land lines, especially if you have more than one line. Digital phones can be a good alternative because many digital phone services have bundle options.

Traveling is expensive regardless of the means with gas prices are so high. Net Meeting might be an option at a fraction of the cost that can save time and money. Many of today’s laptops come with a built in camera so there is no extra equipment to buy and there are many options if you do your homework

Employees and Office Space – Embracing telecommuting can save you money from many directions. Less people means less office space and less energy needed for that space. This will make your employees happy because they will save in gas and wear and tear on their car. It also means less equipment to buy for training sessions because with the option of computer rental you can simply rent computers with the software installed so that you can spend your valuable time on training your employees instead of buying and setting up computers and software and not to mention the hours of do it yourself technical support.

If you really want to offer insurance to your employees try teaming up with other small businesses in a co-op purchasing plan. This is not only good for insurance but buying in bulk and other purchasing opportunities. Besides… it is just good networking.

These are just a few things you can do to cut costs and help your small business thrive in troubled times. Not only will you be saving your business but you will be doing your part to save the environment by saving in paper, energy, gas, chemicals. Telecommuters will be more likely to eat lunch at home which is not only healthier but cuts on trash and waste. Little things like these can change a lot.

Do you have ideas to share in saving money for small businesses? Please feel free to share them by leaving a comment.

Photo Storage Sites Becoming Popular

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Many web communities and individuals are taking advantage of sites like Flickr and Photobucket to view and share their photos. These sites are beneficial because individuals and organizations can upload their photos in a fast and convenient way. Rather than having the photos printed out, they can easily access them on the web for free.

Having the photos online makes it easy for a online users to exchange photos. Anyone can get an account and start uploading, sharing, and commenting on photos. Using these online hosting sites helps businesses who are involved in SEO work because their photostreams can be indexed by Google and their profiles can earn page rank. Flickr has made it possible for these individuals to create social networks around profiles and pictures.

These online hosting sites also have many features that make it more convenient to put photos online. The best thing about these sites is that they are free. Depending on the site, you can only upload a certain amount of pictures (Flickr allows 200MB and 3 Sets of photos) but if you are a paying member then you can upload as many photos and sets as you like. It’s also more convenient because users can group, sort, tag, comment and write descriptions for all of their photos. Flickr even allows you to map out where they were taken!

As more people are using digital media, we should expect sites like these to be used more often.

Benefits of Business Projectors

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Business ProjectorsBusiness projectors are today are becoming more and more of an invaluable tool in promoting business growth for SMB’s. Projectors can be used to accomplish a wide number of tasks efficiently such as training new employees, giving market proposals, and displaying important fiscal data. Getting a business projector often times makes good financial sense, from large corporations to small home offices.

Projectors display information in a precise and clear and are perfect for presentations and conferences. Business projectors allow the speaker to create dynamic and unique presentations to draw the audience in. Using projection equipment will get your point across more effectively than simply talking. Visual aide will also help the speaker keep his place and not get sidetracked. With the information displaying on a screen in front of you, viewers can take notes easier and a speaker will be more effective on a topic.

If you are thinking about purchasing business class projector, you may want to consider renting a projector first. Projector rentals are great for short term business projects such as new employee training and offer great diversity throughout the work place. Renting a projector will also allow a business to evaluate the projector and determine if they want to spend a large amount of money on a permanent projector.

E-Mail Archiving For SMB’s

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E-mail ArchiverAlthough SMB’s have been slow to adopt e-mail archiving solutions, mainly because of the cost, the adoption rates of e-mail archiving solutions have been growing steadily over the past two years. The fact of the matter is, an e-mail archiving solution in todays market can save SMB’s money.

SMB’s today are finding that they have too many e-mail in their inboxes, too much e-mail overall, and many SMB’s want to get their data off of their email servers to a secondary storage device. An e-mail archiving solution will solve all three of these problems. Accompanied with a spam filter, an a-mail archiving solution would increase the performance of your e-mail servers and increase productivity.

The possibility of a lawsuit is yet another reason to get an e-mail archiving solution. E-mail is becoming to play a huge factor in court battles and many businesses are expected to produce relevant e-mails and electronic evidence. Businesses can be held liable if they do not take the proper steps to maintain e-mail records.

It is estimated that businesses can not only mitigate their risk of lawsuit, but also save up to $100,000 in related legal fees and labor costs in the event of a lawsuit. Your SMB will also save money from improved e-mail server performance and productivity, lower storage cost, and overall operational and maintenance cost of your e-mail servers.

Source: ComputerServiceNow