Moe Tamani's Internet Marketing and SEO Blog, Articles and Search Engine Optimization Tips » Business

3 SEO Options for Your Business

MoeTamani — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 18:54:25 +0000

3 SEO Options for Your Business

internet marketing Articles from Moe Tamani, the SEO Services Consultant.

Companies interested in doing SEO find themselves in an interesting conundrum. Do they:

1. Contract out their SEO to a reputable internet marketing agency?

2. Hire an SEO expert to work in-house? Or

3. Dump the job on someone already working in the IT department and let him be in charge of his own on-the-job training?

The most important thing these companies need to determine is whether or not they can get in-house results that will match those provided by experts in from outside internet marketing agency. If you are in this conundrum now, you will likely find that it is possible to get outstanding results fro an in-house SEO expert—but those results will cost you.

Most SEO experts already know that giving the SEO task to someone who already works in house is the least effective of the above options. While some of these in-house IT folks do a bang-up job with SEO, most of them do it halfheartedly, if at all. The greatest risk in giving the job to an in-house IT person is that he or she may actually do more harm than good by using tactics that will put your company at risk of being penalized. They may even cause your site to be removed from search engine indexes altogether. SEO experts who are hired after the in-house IT person has given it a shot say that the bulk of the work lies in actually “undoing” what the in-house person did. In other words, they have to take everything apart completely and then put it back together again. Not only have that, but they frequently had to petition search engines to remove penalties incurred by the in-house “expert.”

Now that we know that giving the job to someone who already works in house is not the optimal solution, the question becomes whether to hire an expert into your business or whether to outsource the work to an internet marketing agency.

The Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization reports that hiring an employee with previous SEO experience can be quite costly. For potential employees with more than five years of SEO experience you will probably pay between $100,000 and $200,000. For those with less than five years of experience the price drops to between $60,000 and $100,000. If they don’t help you understand anything else about SEO, these numbers should help you understand just how valuable a good SEO expert is to your company and how detrimental it could be to your company to give the job to an in-house employee with no previous experience in SEO.

On the other hand, consider the advantages of outsourcing your SEO to a reputable company. Most SEO companies will have more than five years of total experience in the field and will easily cost you less than $60,000. A good SEO company also has the advantage of having worked on many, many websites, which will benefit you greatly. Someone you hire to work in-house probably won’t have more than five or six websites under his or her belt.

Of course, there are some advantages to hiring an in-house SEO expert. An SEO company isn’t going to go out of business if it doesn’t get the job done, but an in-house SEO expert will feel the pressure of making sure that your website performs quickly. If an in-house person needs to speak to a number of executives at one time about SEO objectives he can do so almost immediately. It may take more time for an outsourced SEO expert to find the time to meet with everyone.

While hiring an in-house person may be a good way to meet your company’s SEO needs, an SEO expert or internet marketing agency can meet the same goals at a fraction of the cost. Even if you do choose to hire an in-house expert, remember that outsourcing is always an option.

3 Keys to Startup Success

admin — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 19:40:19 +0000

3 Keys to Startup Success

internet marketing Articles from Moe Tamani, the SEO Services Consultant.

Here are 3 keys to saving yourself an enormous amount of time and expense as you prepare to start your own business.

1-Don’t Spend a Lot on Marketing…at First. This may sound like a crazy notion, but don’t spend a lot on marketing until you’re clear about your business. This sounds crazy because, if you’re starting your own business, then you should know exactly what your business is about. But part of starting your own business is running into brick walls and changing directions when necessary. What this amounts to is the fact that your business will look very different one year out than it did on your first day. So don’t spend a ridiculous amount of money on marketing until you’ve hit those brick walls and are very clear about the direction you’re heading.

There are some things you can spend money on at first. These things are critical items that don’t cost much money. These things include business cards and brochures. Try printing your own business cards on your computer instead of paying a printing company to do it for you. You can also create a text logo rather than a full color graphic, at least for the first year. Or you can get a starving graphic design student to create a logo for you on the cheap. Rather than spending a fortune on your website, purchase a domain name and start a blog. Later, when you’re clear about your vision, you will be able to work effectively with a web designer to get exactly what you want.

2- Sell Quickly. When you first start out, you need the shortest sales cycle possible. Make sure that at least one of your products or services costs between $100 and $300. This gives prospective customers the option to check you out and see what you have to offer. The risk is minimized for both of you. Additionally, avoid the trend of not publishing your prices online. Let potential customers know at the beginning what your products or services are going to run them. When you’re ready to offer bigger-ticket items, those prices can be negotiated, but let customers know what to expect right away at the beginning.

Another important thing you can do is keep track of your processes as you go along. Resist the temptation to “go with the flow” as each new project comes along. Every time a client asks you about a new project, you should have a clear idea about the steps it will require and the time it will take. This will ensure that you can set your prices early and accurately.

Finally, make sure that you have at least one product or service that you’re willing to sell for a low amount or even give away. Ideally this is something you can upsell, or a product that will cause your customers to refer others to your business.

3- Be Technologically Proficient. It’s no surprise that fluency in technology goes a long way toward a successful business. But you really can’t overestimate the importance of technological proficiency. Start by taking a class in any programming language. This will make it easier for you to communicate with programmers and understand the limits of available software. It will also help you get over a potential fear of technology that can limit you immensely.

You can also make a big difference by making small moves. Update one page of your website every week instead of tackling the whole thing at one time. Use electronic billing rather than waiting until you have the resources to automate your receivables and payables.

You’ll find that, as your business grows, hindsight will tell you how you should have done things differently. But if you follow these three steps, you’ll start out ahead of the curve and see profits more quickly.

9 Keys for Successful Business Blogging

admin — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 13:29:16 +0000

9 Keys for Successful Business Blogging

internet marketing Articles from Moe Tamani, the SEO Services Consultant.

It seems that some business owners are reluctant to start business blogs for a variety of reasons. Some are afraid that they’ll burn out and lose followers after working hard to get them. Others are afraid that they won’t have anything to say. Still others are afraid that the time commitment will be too much to manage. If you’re one of these people, stop making excuses and start blogging! Here are 9 keys for successful business blogging.

Have a Conversation. The point of a blog is not to lecture, nor is it to push your products and services. Instead, the point of a blog is informal, informational communication in which your readers can learn more about you, your products, and all that your business has to offer them. By engaging potential customers in conversation, you give them the opportunity to learn to trust you, which increases the likelihood that they will purchase your products or services. You don’t have to be clever or cute, just honest and open.
Know Who’s Reading. What kinds of conversations will interest your readers? You need to have this information before you even write your first blog post. It’s hard to have a conversation with someone about whom you know nothing, so find out who’s reading and what interests them.
Regularly Publish. People will stop visiting your blog if you stop publishing. And even if you start back up again, chances are they won’t be following you anymore. So update your content regularly—once a week at the very least—and comment at least that often as well. You’ll do yourself a favor by publishing daily if you can hack it.
Let Them Know Who You Are. People will be more willing to share information about themselves if they know who you are, so include an “About Me” page on your blog. You don’t need to tell your whole life story, just a bit of personal background and a summary of your professional experiences.
Use Your Voice. Use the conversational style that’s most natural for you. If you’re naturally sarcastic and clever, throw a bit of that into your writing. But don’t force humor if it’s not natural for you. Readers want you to be transparent, and that means being true to yourself in your writing.
Engage Other Bloggers. Read other blogs and comment on them. This is a great way to keep up with what’s going on in your industry and to get fresh content.
Don’t Get Anyone in Trouble. While it’s important for your blog to be conversational in style, it’s also important for your blog to be professional. All of your posts should be professional and all of your comments should be professional. Never write something until you’ve thought through it first. Remember that you’re not only representing yourself, but also your entire company.
Write Well. You’re not in the running for the Nobel Prize for Literature, but you still want your writing to represent your company well within the blogosphere. Use correct grammar and spellcheck everything before you publish. Potential customers will never take you seriously if they perceive that you are unable to communicate in writing.
Follow Your Bliss. Don’t force yourself to regularly write about things that don’t interest you. Of course you’ll occasionally need to stretch yourself by writing about industry trends that may not interest you all that much, but try to stick with topics that get you fired up. You need to learn how to convince others to take interest in your industry, your company, and your product, and the best way to do that is to write with passion and integrity.

Stop trying to think of reasons not to blog and just do it. Following these 9 keys will get you off on the right foot.

5 Keys to Successful Business Blogging

admin — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 16:10:21 +0000

5 Keys to Successful Business Blogging

internet marketing Articles from Moe Tamani, the SEO Services Consultant.

One of the most difficult things to learn as a small business owner using the internet for inbound marketing is how to create good content. Business blog content has to walk the fine line between being the same old advertising spiel and still being useful for marketing purposes. Here are 5 ways to ensure that your business blog will enhance your business.

Optimize Your Content. Every post you write needs to be optimized. That’s right…every post. Start off by determining how successful your content is. How many people read your post and how long did they stay on your page? How did they get to your post? Did they comment on it? Use this data as you create future posts. It can help you discover what kinds of content people found interesting. Finding out where they came from can help you discover what other kinds of information interests them as well. This information can be invaluable as you determine what kind of content you will create for your business blog.
Engage Your Readers. When you readers are engaged in your content, they will react. They will leave their own comments and then direct others to your posts via Twitter, Facebook, or their own blogs. You need people to react because their actions vis-à-vis your posts will dramatically increase the number of people who are exposed to your blog. If the 20 people who read your post simply read it and then click on to the next site they want to visit, you’ve reached 20 people. But if each of those 20 people then tell 20 more people about what you’ve written, you’ve reached exponentially more than that!
Balance Your Content. This is where things get tricky. You need to find a good balance between content that brings readers to your site and content that results in sales. Unfortunately, there is no magic formula to help you do this. You need to find the balance that works for your website and your readers using the metrics discussed in #1.
Find Your Own Style. Even if the extent of your writing experience is limited to a high school term paper, you probably still have style rules ingrained in your head. Forget them. Find your own style that works for you and for your readers. That may mean sticking primarily to bulleted content. On the other hand, it may mean using long, flowing prose. But throwing out style rules doesn’t give you license to be sloppy. Typos, bad grammar, and abhorrent spelling make you look unprofessional, not hip. Find your own style, but keep the quality of your writing top-notch.
Toot Your Own Horn. If you’re not going to toot your own horn, then it simply isn’t going to get tooted. When you publish your content, don’t stop by simply publishing on your blog. Post it to your Twitter and Facebook accounts, too. Talk about it among your social network in real life. When visitors comment on your stories, comment back. This can take some doing since you’ll be getting comments on multiple sites, but people will be more apt to come back if they feel like you care what they have to say.

Engage your readers, balance your content between information that drives sales and information that attracts readers, find your own style, optimize your content, and talk about what you’re doing. These are 5 steps to successful business blogging. And while they might take some getting used to, especially if you’re already familiar with traditional marketing strategies, they will pay off in the end with increased sales and customer loyalty. Make them work for you and watch your business grow by leaps and bounds!

5 Free Ways to Build Your Brand

admin — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 18:05:22 +0000

5 Free Ways to Build Your Brand

internet marketing Articles from Moe Tamani, the SEO Services Consultant.

If you own a small business, you may have already given up on the notion of branding yourself. After all, that’s something that only big companies with big budgets can afford, right? Not so fast. Here are 5 ways to brand yourself for free, and maybe even make a little bit of money in the process:

1. Develop for Display. If you can create visual brand that stands out from the crowd and looks hip and edgy, you can actually get people to pay you for the privilege of displaying it. Extreme sports companies like surfing, skating, and snowboarding companies have been doing this for years. The challenge is in creating something striking enough that people not only want to buy it, but also want to display it so that others will see it as well. You’ll find that people will gladly display something that looks cool, and that others will even pay you a small fee to display your brand for you.

2. Label Everything. Add your logo to the things that your customers already buy from you. If you’re a café owner and you provide boxes for patrons who want to take food home with them, brand the packaging in which they’ll be carrying their items. Include contact information on the brand. Add logos to everything you can think of. People carrying your items will be doing your advertising for you all day long!

3. Wear It! People will pay to wear a T-shirt with a cool logo. Just look at the souvenir stands after any concert and see how much money people are willing to part with just so they can wear their favorite band’s logo. But don’t be fooled into thinking that you have to charge an arm and a leg for a T-shirt or pair of shorts with your logo. Charge just a little more than cost. The real profit comes from the publicity you get as your loyal customers advertise you on their clothing.

4. Use Everyday Items. Think about the number of reusable shopping bags you see every day. Conscientious consumers are willing to pay a small price to do the right thing, including using a shopping bag that has information about the business that sold them the bag all over it. People feel good about acting responsibly, in this case by cutting down on plastic bags, and they’ll pay you for the opportunity to do so.

5. Give Away A Little to Make a Lot. This is the idea of giving away a free sample, although it can also apply to those who are selling services as well as products. If you own a massage studio, offer free five-minute massages in a public, highly-trafficked area. If you own an inflatables company, set up your wares in a place where children will be present and invite them to play for free for several minutes. While you’re giving away your “free sample,” let potential customers know more about your business and what you can do for them.

It all boils down to two major questions that you need to ask yourself: Can you turn your logo into something that people would be willing display or even be willing to pay you to display? And can you offer a sample of your product or service for a small fee in a high-traffic area? These two questions are the basis of a great brand-building campaign that is not only free for you, but could also be the source of a small profit.

Let’s face it, you’re not a multinational company with an endless marketing budget, but you do have plenty of opportunities to make yourself known on a local level, and that’s really where it counts. And if your business is mostly online, you can focus on your own little niche.

Top 3 Reasons to Embrace Word-of-Mouth Marketing

admin — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 17:42:05 +0000

Top 3 Reasons to Embrace Word-of-Mouth Marketing

internet marketing Articles from Moe Tamani, the SEO Services Consultant.

If you are the owner of a small business, it’s not news to you that you simply can’t put the same amount of money in your marketing budget as can large, multinational corporations. The good news is, however, that you can level the marketing playing field by embracing word-of-mouth marketing. Word-of-mouth marketing works to your advantage because nothing is more compelling to a potential customer that hearing rave reviews from a current customer. Social networking has taught us that most people make their buying decisions based on what they’ve heard from people they trust.

When you embrace a word-of-mouth strategy for marketing your product, you’re investing in everything it takes to get a gut-level, emotional reaction from potential customers and from your employees. When you start with your employees, you’ll find that they are more creative and productive. And when your employees improve their performance, your business benefits with increased cash flow. Here’s how word-of-mouth marketing translates into increased profits.

1. Fewer Advertising Expenses. Turning your customers and employees into your own advertising agency saves an enormous amount of money. But you have to remember that this is a long-term strategy. Your goal is to build a following of satisfied, loyal customers who will not only continue to patronize your business but who will be so enamored with your product or service that they will be compelled to tell others about it. Think of it as creating a community of people who have been positively affected by what you have to offer.

2. Less Time Invested. As more and more potential customers hear about what you have to offer from your current customers and employees, you’ll notice a shorter sales cycle. If a potential customer has already heard glowing reviews of your product or service, it will take far less time for her to choose your product than if she had never before heard of your business.

3. Repeat Customers. People who have had a positive experience with you one time are much more likely to turn to you again for future needs.

If you are able to make a meaningful connection with employees and customers, they will perceive that they have no choice but to tell others about their experiences with you. They tell others, those others decide to do business with you and become your new customers, and then those customers tell others about their experiences. It’s a perpetual motion enterprise that does nothing but benefit you in the end.

But the key to making this word is making your customer happy. Many consumers, burned by poor customer service experiences, are looking for reasons to be unhappy about their interactions with businesses. So when they finally have a positive experience, they can’t help but tell others. Same goes for employees. Our society is entrenched in an attitude that work is simply a way to put food on the table. But if your employees have a positive experience with you, if they feel like their work adds value, and if they feel truly engaged with you and their employees, they’re going to have wonderful things to say about your business.

But it all starts with you. You have to give your employees a great experience. Their great experience will inspire them to help your customers have a great experience. Your customers inspire their circles of friends, and you find yourself inspired once again. And that’s when you see that it’s possible to compete with huge companies and their gigantic marketing budgets. Those big companies simply can’t create the kind of community loyalty that you can create through word-of-mouth marketing. No budget of any size can inspire people and make them want to come back for more, simply because they made a meaningful connection of integrity and honesty.

So embrace word-of-mouth marketing and see what a difference it can make for your business!

5 Ways to Make Social Media Work for Your Business

admin — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 13:45:28 +0000

5 Ways to Make Social Media Work for Your Business

internet marketing Articles from Moe Tamani, the SEO Services Consultant.

Owning your own business is difficult enough without having to worry about finding the perfect balance of marketing strategies. Stick solely to traditional marketing strategies and you’ll find yourself potentially missing an enormous demographic. Try to milk the internet for all it’s worth and you’ll find yourself completely overwhelmed by the number of tools and application available for internet marketing. But what if you used social networking sites as a happy medium between traditional and hard-core internet marketing strategies? Using this one tool could make a huge difference in your business without overwhelming you altogether. Here are 5 ways to get started using social media in your marketing strategy.

1. Create a Strategy. Your competitors have already created a strategy for using social media, so chances are you’re already behind. This means thinking intentionally about how to use social media instead of randomly opening an account here and joining a group there. Spend some time determining the kinds of sites available and evaluating what role they might have in your marketing strategy. Then make a plan to use them consistently and effectively. If you just “go with the flow” you’ll be wasting your time and effort.

2. Brand Building. Social media marketing is like having one enormous billboard advertising your company. Everything you post, every tweet you write, and every comment you make should be treated as a chance to show your audience what your business is all about, what you value, and what you stand for.

The first step to consider is creating a business blog. Chances are you have employees who are already involved in social media in one way or another, so ask them to post some articles to the blog. Be sure your blog includes your logo, a picture of yourself, and any other tools that will help you promote your brand. Use your company’s colors as background on your blog and as wallpaper on your Twitter profile.

3. Choose Wisely. Don’t feel like you need to use every single social media site available. Stick with a few and spend time using them to your advantage. Choose sites that help you connect with your target demographic, that help you show off the components of your business that interest potential customers, and that will be most helpful in connecting potential customers to your business.

4. Find the Right Balance. Social media is so popular that it might initially be difficult to find the right balance between it and traditional marketing strategies. In the end, they should all work together to serve your business effectively. Start with LinkedIn and create a business profile where you can post testimonials and make connections with your customers. Then create a Facebook group tied to your industry or product.

Finally, use Twitter to create a village of those with interest in your industry. Connect traditional strategies with online strategies by printing your Twitter ID on business card and make a place on your website that shows visitors where they can connect with you using social media.

5. Mobility. Many platforms allow you to communicate in real time by downloading applications to your phone. Imagine what you could do as a business owner attending a conference. Sharing with your readers what you’re learning, as you learn it, is a great way to build rapport with and interest in your customers.

Overwhelming or not, young people are exchanging information and making decisions based on social media sites. If you’re interested in connecting with them as they age, procure more discretionary income, and spend money on things that interest them, then you need to find a way to connect with them now. And you need to make sure you’re defining your business online rather than waiting for others to define you in your stead. Get connected online and let the world know who you are.

7 Steps to a Great Hire for Small Businesses

admin — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 22:26:36 +0000

7 Steps to a Great Hire for Small Businesses

internet marketing Articles from Moe Tamani, the SEO Services Consultant.

If you’re a small business owner, then you know the importance of hiring great employees with the least amount of expense. Not only do you want to hire qualified employees who will work for a wage that you can afford, but you don’t want to break the bank in the process of recruiting. Here are 7 steps to hiring the right person for the job.

1. Clear Job Description. The first thing you need to do is to create a clear and concise job description with as much detail as necessary. This is only way to make your expectations clear and to measure an employee’s job performance. Don’t do anything else until you have a job description in hand.

2. Clear Qualifications. Be as detailed as you need to be in order to be clear about the qualifications that you require. This is the place to go into detail about the work environment, as well as the skills required to do the job well. This puts everyone on the same page as far as expectations.

3. Transparency. If you hide information from potential employees, it’s only going to result in heartache. Be clear about everything you expect and put it down on paper. Inform everyone, current employees as well as those in your candidate pool, about how the process is going. You’ll build the trust with current employees and future employees, resulting in higher loyalty and job satisfaction.

4. Look Internally. Now that you’re clear about your expectations, the next step is to begin recruiting. The logical place to begin is with current employees. If you’re not in the position to hire current employees for an open position, go to them for hiring suggestions. What kind of team member are they looking for? What’s missing within the structure that will help them do their jobs better? Do they know people who can get the job done?

5. Ask Questions. Once you have possible candidates, vet them within your existing community of employees. The information you glean in this step is invaluable and can help you avoid awkward situations.

6. Put One Person in Charge. Appoint one person within your company to be the contact person with potential candidates. This streamlines the process, helps avoid communication issues, and protects a candidate’s confidentiality. This person should manage all interactions between potential candidates and your company.

7. Expand your search. If you’ve heeded the above steps and still haven’t found the perfect candidate, then it’s time to expand your search. One option is to take out an ad. If you choose to do this, be prepared to be bombarded with emails, phone calls, and resumes from an overwhelming amount of unqualified people. If you still want to go this route, just make sure you don’t print the name of your company. Competitors don’t need to know what you’re up to.

Another option is to utilize the services of a recruiter. Recruiters can bring amazing candidates to you, candidates that they’ve already screened, thereby saving on the amount of time you waste talking to halfway-interested, unqualified people. But the truth is that it’s hard to find a top-notch recruiter. There are too many opportunities for conflicts of interest and shirking of standards and loyalty.

If you choose to use a recruiter, find out how big their pool of candidates is. They’re not allowed to recruit from companies with whom they already have a relationship, so you run the risk of using a recruiter with a small candidate pool. Get testimonials, at least five, from satisfied customers. Never pay a recruiter’s expenses unless you’re recruiting for a top-level executive position. Finally, put down deadlines and timelines in writing and be clear about what penalties they will incur if they miss those deadlines.

In all you do, remember that, as a small business owner, you should always try to get the most for the least.

The Entrepreneur’s 8 Tips to Making it Big

admin — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 18:20:17 +0000

The Entrepreneur’s 8 Tips to Making it Big

internet marketing Articles from Moe Tamani, the SEO Services Consultant.

Every entrepreneur dreams of making it big! Here are 8 keys to making it happen.

1. Don’t Do It if You Don’t Love it. You’re only going to succeed if you love what you’re doing. Your love for your business is what keeps you going even when things look bleak or, worse yet, boring. Your passion it what gets you out of bed everyday to face what it sometimes thankless work. If you don’t really love what you’re doing then you’re not going to see it through to the finish. Never make money your primary goal. Your primary goal should be to have fun doing what you love.

2. Be Relentless. Persistence is often the only difference between wild success and abysmal failure. If you’re challenged, stand up to the challenge, whether it’s another person or a business setback. If you back down, you’re going to lose respect for yourself and doubt your ability to make your business succeed. If you truly believe in what you’re doing, then stand up to whatever tries to get in your way.

3. Negotiate. Aim high and settle if necessary. Taking less than you wanted isn’t always a bad thing.

4. Dream Big Dreams. What is it that you want most? Imagine what your business would look like if you had everything you could possibly ask for and then do everything in your power to make that vision a reality. We are almost always limited most profoundly by our own fear of success. Don’t be afraid to make decisions that lead to success, and don’t be afraid to win. The challenges will still be there when you get to the top, so don’t be afraid to succeed for fear that you will no longer be challenged.

5. Dare to Be Different. You’ll probably find that, whatever your business idea is, someone else though of it first. So set yourself apart from the competition. Do things people don’t expect you to do. Be unconventional. Try something new just for the sake of trying something new, whether it’s redesigning your product or papering your walls with inspirational quotes. If you surround yourself with the unconventional, you are more likely to think unconventionally. And in the business world, that’s a good thing.

6. Shameless Self-Promotion. Take some time to examine your strengths and the strengths of your business. Now, what can you do to let other people know about your strengths? How can you go about calling attention to the great things about your business that will compel people to seek out your products or services? Don’t be afraid to talk about yourself. If you don’t, chances are nobody will!

7. Trust Your Instincts. Be an extrovert. Ask everyone you know what they think about your business idea. When you feel like you have enough input, spend some time listening to your inner voice, the one that tells you if this is going to be a great idea or a bust. And then heed that voice, no matter how others might question your judgment or criticize your decision. Your gut is almost always right.

8. Be Great at What You Do. You’re never going to be successful unless you endeavor every day to be great at what you do. Being great is a choice you make, not something that just happens to you because you were in the right place at the right time. So choose greatness, intentionally and consciously, every day. And you will be great.

Success is a result of being proactive, of pursuing your dreams, of taking little steps every day that bring your goals to fruition. If you take the advice outlined above, you will see your business grow, and you will see yourself evolve into a great businessperson. Never be afraid of success. Make success the only thing you’ll settle for.

6 Reasons to Keep Marketing, Even During A Recession

admin — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 16:33:08 +0000

6 Reasons to Keep Marketing, Even During A Recession

internet marketing Articles from Moe Tamani, the SEO Services Consultant.

You can’t go anywhere right now without hearing about the economy. Food and gas prices are increasing, and although most of us aren’t running huge banks or trying to balance the federal budget, the stress of the current economic downturn is certainly trickling down to the point that we can feel it. But one of the last things that we want to do in the middle of a rotten economy is slam on the brakes of our own businesses, you know, just in case things get worse. Instead, one of the best things we can do, for our business, for our own sanity, and for the economy, is to step on the gas. Continue your inbound marketing efforts, publish articles that others will find relevant and helpful, and keep networking. Here are 6 reasons why you shouldn’t let the current economy keep you from focusing on your inbound marketing efforts.

1. Time Over Money. The good thing about inbound marketing is that it requires you to invest far more time than money. So take the time to work on your inbound marketing strategy and you won’t have to spend a dime.

2. Let People Find You. When you’re focusing on inbound marketing, you’re trying to make yourself visible to potential customers who will be interested in what you have to offer. You want people to come to you, so the first thing you need to do is to find out where they are. What forums do they frequent? Which blogs do they comment on? What social media sites do they use? When you answer these questions effectively, you can show up where the people are and motivate them to look at what you have to offer. As mentioned previously, this is a time-consuming effort rather than a money-consuming effort. What do you have to lose?

3. Look At Your Competitors. Marketing experts say that, during this recession, businesses will be spending more on online marketing than on traditional marketing. If your competitors are investing their time and efforts into inbound marketing, you can’t afford not to do the same.

4. Measure Everything. Successful inbound marketing is easy to measure. You can quickly tell where your leads came from, where your customers found you, and the efforts you made to which they responded. This kind of information is invaluable. Use it to help you figure out what’s working and what isn’t. Do more of what works. Do less of what doesn’t.

5. Always Improve. The information you receive from analyzing your marketing efforts should show you exactly where you need to improve. If you’re not using this information to improve your efforts, then you’re wasting your time.

6. Look Toward the Future. Marketing experts have proven time and time again that the best way to ensure a successful future is to continue investing in your business during tough times. You may not have much money to spend right, now, but that doesn’t mean your marketing efforts should come to a grinding halt. Be persistent. Keep plugging along. When things start looking up again, you’ll be ahead of the game.

When the money’s tight, our natural instinct is to stop spending, of course. Resist the temptation to sit on your hands. Years of research shows that cutting back on marketing when things are looking grim puts companies at a distinct disadvantage when things start looking more positive again. Take your cue from Rupert Murdoch, who continues to invest even when everyone else has thrown in the towel and decided that there’s nothing else to do but wait it out. And even if you don’t have piles of money sitting around, you can still invest a great deal of time in your marketing efforts. Find out where your potential customers are hanging out and engage them where they are. Spend some time figuring out where your efforts give you the greatest return on investment and make whatever improvements are appropriate. You’ll be glad you did in the long run.