Marketing Blog for the Small Business

"Long-tail" keywords have been a hot topic. According to the experts on Entrprenuer.com, it's the way to go for connecting with your niche and they will launch you in the customer's buying cycle at exactly the right time. This is true for both your web site and any online advertising you place your mark and draw your customers from, such as GSS. Long-tail keywords are more specific, rank better in the searches, and grab those customers who know exactly what they are looking for and want to buy.

So what is a long-tail keyword?

Long-tail keywords are the terms you can use for either SEO on your landing pages on your site or any other site you use to advertise, such as a blog, GSS, etc. They are generally 4 or more words that include synonyms to describe what it is you do or sell.

"A person's buying cycle can be broken down into three phases: interest, research and purchase. As people get closer to the purchase phase they tend to longer, more specific keywords in their searches. This means the traffic you get from your long-tail keywords is far more likely to lead to a purchase than the traffic resulting from your short keywords." (Derek Gehl, Entrepreneur.com)

However, if you lead customers that are ready to make that purchase to an ad/web page that doesn't sell them the highlights of what it is that brought them there, with specifics, such as images, descriptions, reviews, links, and ways to easily contact or make that purchase, you're not finishing the conversion for them. The buying cycle could be broken easily if what they get from their specific search is a very broad reflection of what it is you can provide for them and at worst no ways to contact and move further easily. Don't make all that research and hard work into a dissapointment for both you and your customers. Provide shoppers with the information they need to follow through.

I am not the most organized person, but I pride myself on being able to clean. (When I finally get around to it!) Over the years I have found so many great cleaning tips to make life easier and I wanted to share them with you.

1)  Removing Blood from Furniture - Use hydrogen peroxide to remove blood from clothing or furniture. Rub gently.

2)  To keep ants out of the house, find where they are entering the house and sprinkle a “barrier” of cinnamon or any type of ground pepper to block their way. The spices are too hot for the ants to cross.

3)  Use paint brushes to dust cracks and hard to reach places in telephones, stereos, etc.

4)  Set aside a regular short period of time each week for the family to straighten up the house. It teaches good habits to the kids and gives the family a project to do together. Everyone will feel better when the job is done, and might just look forward to the day when they know things are going to be neat and organized.

5)  Cigarette burns in carpeting can be repaired by cutting the blackened fibers from the hole. Squeeze liquid glue into the hole and fill with fibers trimmed from carpet remnants.

6)  Place a shallow dish of baking soda behind the toilet to absorb bathroom odors.

7)  Freshen a Garbage Disposal: Sprinkle baking soda in it along with a few drops dish-washing liquid. Scrub with a brush (a new toilet brush works great), getting under the rubber gasket and all around the inside. Then turn on water and the disposal and flush thoroughly For a fresh citrus scent, throw in a few cut-up lemons or limes and run them through, too, using lots of water.

8)  Photos Stuck Together: With a hair dryer on low, slowly melt them apart.

9)  For roach problems combine equal parts boric acid (a powder sold in hardware stores and drugstores) and sugar, mix well. Sprinkle in crevices. Put the powder in jar lids; place lids behind the fridge and under sinks.

10)  Shower Doors: Spray Resolve Spot Remover for carpet and fabric on the shower and wipe with a clean dish sponge. Every bit of the soap scum will come off.

11)  Smelly Sneakers: Simply fill knee-high stockings with unused kitty litter, tie the ends and tuck them in your shoes overnight for a quick refresh. Add baby powder, too! Another refresher for smelly sneakers is to simply take a few teaspoons of baking soda and put in the center of a cotton cloth. Tie the cloth and rubber band the edges securely creating a baking soda sachet, put in the shoes overnight. These sachets can be used over and over in any kind of shoe.

12)  Sour Sponge: Soak the sponge in lemon juice and rinse it out. This will remove the odor for good but keep in mind that it is important to either dispose of, microwave, or run your sponge through your dishwasher regularly to keep bacteria from growing.

13)  Pam will also remove paint, and grease from your hands! Keep a can in your garage for your hubby.

14)  Easy eyeglass protection … to prevent the screws in eyeglasses from loosening, apply a small drop of Maybelline Crystal Clear nail polish to the threads of the screws before tightening them.

15)  Clean a toilet -Drop in two Alka-Seltzer tablets, wait twenty minutes, brush and flush. The citric acid and effervescent action cleans vitreous china.

A Few Statistical Reasons to Care about a Social Media Strategy (per Cisco blog)

  1% increase in word of mouth advocacy equates to $16M extra sales for the average large company.
  1% reduction in negative word of mouth for the average large company results in $49M in additional sales.
  Social media tools such as RSS feeds, podcasts, blogs, and video on demand have reached over 50% penetration in B2B usage.
  Social media is the second most utilized resource for accessing information relating to purchasing decisions for IT Decision makers.

The Realities of Implementing a Social Media Strategy

According to Forrester Research's Michael Greene social media should indeed be part of all marketers' plans, "particularly tactics that are free or require more time than budget." Greene then continues with "[s]ocial marketers should concentrate on using the inexpensive and free tools that energize their active and influential customers..."

Other social media experts will tell you that when it comes to blogging, posting your own entries are not the end of the effort. What you also need to do, they say, is reciprocate by posting comments on others' blogs.

Whether you're an entrepreneur, small business owner, or marketer for a large company, you should understand the value of a social media strategy and that the above insights are sound in and of themselves. However, you also need to be clear that nothing is free when it comes to your or your team's time. Particularly for entrepreneurs, social networking efforts must not override operational or marketing basics. It is actually pretty easy to get sucked into the whole online social scene, and forget how it should fit into the rest of your arsenal of marketing tools.

Social Media in Perspective

Why Big Brands Struggle with Social Media

List of the activities you can inadvertently find yourself compelled to focus on

  Build your network per social site (aka, LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etcetera).
  Build your network per social site (aka, LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etcetera).
  Respond to incoming emails or IM from site "friends."
  Update your current status (some sites, like Twitter, seem to encourage minute by minute updates).
  Join, upload profile, and track social network groups (there are thousands you can join per site).
  Compose compelling entries on your blog (ideally every day if not more often).
  Track and comment on your select group of favorite blogs (just how many is the right amount BTW?).
  Set up and track widgets.
  Track everything you say, where, and to whom.

And finally, you should monitor and evaluate the return for your online networking time and effort to determine how it is impacting your sales, your business, your reputation. To give you an indication of how timing consuming tracking your social media can be, there are now sites that offer online management tools to do so.

For larger organizations with dedicated social networking personnel, the process and tracking can be a more streamlined endeavor, and with metrics in place easier to track in terms of the return for the effort. For small business entities it can be very tricky and overly time consuming.

Doing it Yourself or Outsourcing

Determining how much time and effort to allocate to social media depends upon a number of factors:

As an entrepreneur, if social networking comes naturally to you then you're ahead of the game. But as mentioned before, you will need to pace yourself and not get caught up in online networking activities that distract you from imperative operational responsibilities. If your core competencies do not include social media, then spend time researching it, find out how it fits into your business plan, and size up what your options are.

There are now companies that now offer to write and manage your blog for you. And while that might be an alternative approach to consider, you also need to consider that a personalized blog is then out of your hands. If this second-hand blogging becomes a trend, it then negates the very purpose of blogs, which had been to express unique and personal observations, not to mention the fact that you are now basically out of the loop. On the other hand, you can consider hiring a writer who proves they can provide your blog voice and work with you to keep you in that loop.

The good news for small businesses looking to launch a social media strategy there is third-party help available. There are reputable companies that can help develop a practical social media strategy, including Marketing Communications Think Tank; there are companies that can help implement and monitor programs. Stay tuned to our blog to learn about one such resource.

The most important aspect of social media you need to remember is this. While social media can be a marketing tool, it is more about community outreach. As such, it is very important that you consider your company's goals, objectives, audiences, and messaging before launching into a campaign for it. Below are a few links to some related insights.

Ideas for Managing a Social Media System

90Blog

Social Media as a Synergistic Marketing Tool

Just the other day my son Cole, who is seven years old, came up to me and told me he wanted to start his own business. I found it such an honor that he came to me about his goals, seeking advice and help. With his two new business ideas I told him he could create a Shop Spot for each to advertise online. His eyes and smile grew so large. It was the neatest thing to see him so proud and excited. The first idea he thought of on his own was making bracelets. He’s really into crafts, gardening, and mulching. So we talked a little while about the basics of learning a business and what he needed to do to start one. Then I gave him the idea to start his own mulching business in the spring. This child loves everything about mulch! He is such a hard worker, does a great job, and enjoys his work. He even moved around some of my plants in our landscaping once, claiming they looked much better in their new position in the landscape. He is thrilled to start his new businesses and plans to market to neighbors, family, and friends. We intend to create a flyer together and a Shop Spot ad for both of his new adventures.

My other son Carter wants to be just like Cole and has already told his preschool teachers all about his new business with his big brother. He told his teacher, "In the spring I will be setting up a jewelry stand outside my house...you know, just like a lemonade stand but its jewelry. You have to come over and see our jewelry." His teacher got such a kick out of the whole thing. I can’t tell you how special it is to see your children have such a drive and joy in learning new things. I never would have expected them to come to me so soon about their entrepreneurial spirit. It goes to say, you’re never too young, nor too old.

I fell victim to the 'free' seminar again. You know the free-tele-seminar-that-promises-everything-but-delivers-nothing-and-steals-90–minutes-of-your-time kind. Have you been there and done that like I have?

I have been suckered several times now. Why did I think this one would be different? Well, the sponsors were well-known names and the hook---an ex-booker for Oprah was scheduled as a guest. Sounded great! I signed up for this 90 minute event, which promised to teach how to get free publicity by getting on national television. They really wanted ME to attend, too! I got about five reminder e-mails in two days. I passed on giving out my cell phone number to receive a reminder text message---overkill, I thought.

I stayed on the call for the full 90 minutes, hopeful of learning even a smidge of new ideas or few tidbits about getting free publicity or inside tips to get on Oprah. Instead, I experienced an elegantly crafted infomercial from start to finish. The tele-seminar was emotionally charged and animated with canned laughter from the guests and former clients who chimed in enthusiastically with their endorsements for the company's upcoming New York seminar.

The 'free tele-seminar' was all just a pitch for the company's seminar. Even so, I felt a tiny hook until...I figured the 2-day seminar would be expensive, maybe $1500 or so---but try $5,400!  WOW!  Transportation and lodging were NOT included. Beats my budget.

Unlike the condo timeshare events where you KNOW it is all promotion, and get a free night’s lodging or meal for your time, this tele-seminar abused my time and didn't share any value. I paid for my long distance charges too. Even the 'call handout' was meaningless--- just a few key words followed by blank lines, almost like providing college ruled paper.

What did I learn? Maybe there is no such a thing as a 'free' tele-seminar that's worth my time. I have yet to find one. Does anybody out there have any tips or suggestions?

As a final note---in 48 hours, I have received 6 (and increasing) e-mail solicitations to jump on their gold plated bandwagon to spend $5,400 to enroll for the New York seminar and on their next 90 minute ‘free tele-seminar’. No thanks. I’ll pass.

If you're looking for that unique gift for a darling little one, then you've come to just the right spot. Bumble Bee Designs offer some of the cutest baby clothes and booties you will ever see! They have baby jackets, booties, hats, blankets and many other cute accessories. Bumble Bee Designs' products are all original designs, handmade and hand embroidered, right down to making the roses and pansies using only the best quality fabrics and ribbons. So if you want that perfect gift for a new baby, baby shower, or to spoil your own baby, you've found just the right one.

Bumble Bee Designs customer service is exceptional. They are always there to answer your questions and to help in any way. So please have a browse. We know you'll love what you see!

A Girl Shop Spot Favorite Feature #1052:
Hand Embroidered Baby Clothing

You may have recently received an e-mail promo from Yahoo! advertising their services for small business, entitled “Stop Making Excuses. Start Making Sales.” Their starter plan has everything you need...so they claim. I know they are trying to target women, but the quotes make it sound degrading. "It's probably complicated. Maybe I can't do it." Most women owned businesses are online and very capable of utilizing online media and not to mention very smart about researching different venues to advertise their business. They don't make those excuses. They are go-getters and do what it takes to become successful.

If Yahoo! really thinks small business owners will believe that if they set-up a shop with Yahoo!, they will automatically be making sales, guess again. I'm not saying anyone who owns a small business shouldn't advertise with Yahoo! or use their services, however, I would question if they really can target and drive my customer's interest to increase sales. For a site that targets the masses, that's what they are good at, but it's obviously a lot harder for them to segment. So, how are they to really deliver cost effective advertising and increase my sales when their advertising department doesn't know their own audiences and how to deliver a message without alienating others?

So we'll give them the benefit of the doubt that they are targeting women who have a small business but don't have an Internet presence. But, if Yahoo! can't properly segment in their e-mail campaigns, what makes you think they can properly market and segment to your customers? Shouldn't they be profiling their customers in order to target each need of the small business owner? I'm sure these needs can fall into a few main categories. And if they intend to send an e-mail to all women marketers, shouldn't it be less subjective?

Ok, so the title is a little harsh, but it's what I’ve been feeling for quite some time now and I finally feel the urge to talk about it. Why can social networking get so dreadful? Because now there are so many rules, strategies, hours needed to either abide by, learn, and dedicate to. We already have too many things to worry about in the online advertising world and now we have new community rules to follow for each, new strategies to follow in order to become successful at it, and it takes hours of dedication. Other than it being a great place to make new friends, how are we to maximize return for our businesses?

1)  Be Selective:  Social networking sites are everywhere, so pick only the ones you know you’ll have time for and that reach your target audience. Not all social communities are as they seem. Because we all have the same 24/7, be selective and research before joining.

2)  Do More Than a Follow:  If you only have time to anwser friend requests, it's not worth it. Whatever your goals are for networking, simply answering a request by clicking follow will not give you much in return.

3)  Organize Your Time:  Donate a day or two each week for a few hours to the communities you choose to give back to and share. Create a separate file folder and move all incoming requests and e-mails to that file until it’s time to SN.

4)  Diversify:  Diversify where you're seen online, not putting too many eggs in one basket. If you joined a .ning already, look into other sites that offer something different.

5)  Utilize Web 2.0 and SEO:  Be sure to pick sites that incorporate Web 2.0 and SEO tactics in order to optimize your web presence. In 2009 and moving forward, business owners must concentrate on the New Models for SEO which include some SN sites. “Many more consumers reach marketers through intermediary properties. These include blogs, social networks, photo sharing sites, Twitter, Wikipedia, and countless other sites that tend to rank increasing well in search engines. That means marketers have to shift their mindset from optimizing their Web site to optimizing their Web presence.” (Shop.org SmartBrief, What Search Will Look Like in 2009)

6)  Create a Plan:  Create your list of SN sites and the goals next to each. It may sound too simple to need to create a plan for your SN but it’s much easier to look at the whole picture this way. For instance, if your goals are simply to just find support and make friends, then each quarter assess if you are receiving these things from each site. If you joined a certain site for optimizing your web presence, are you being found in the search engines? If you joined to increase your brand awareness, are you receiving valuable targeted traffic and an increase in growth by WOM?

Following these tips will help to relieve the dread of social networking, while establishing true ROT. Always repeat questions 1-6 when re-evaluating where to be seen and where to leave.

I met a woman last week at a party and she introduced me to her business. As we got around to discussing her business and marketing, she seemed to be very closed minded about web advertising, marketing, blogging, and e-commerce. She was very familiar with creating income through her home parties and believed only what she was told by her company, that e-commerce would damage their home party sales. What the company seemed to not grasp was that there are other ways to market online than through just e-commerce. Even so, to rely on one source of marketing for income seems to narrow the potential of what other forms can do for both the brand and sales. Most product and service research is done online. Even product sales online have experienced double-digit growth.

She really didn’t understand that advertising online can correlate with offline sales. After a failed attempt to explain it to her I realized she was just comfortable in doing what she was familiar with. Something I see with people and small businesses daily. They can’t think out of the box, step out of their comfort zone, and realize the potential in something different.

FACT:  Online brand recognition, advertising, networking, and marketing does take a lot of time and effort, but it can pay off greatly for any business. Some time should be dedicated to Internet marketing for both online and offline businesses for survival in the years to come.

TIP:  Marketing of any kind takes time. Just because one form of selling works great for you now doesn’t mean that it will in a year. Be sure to measure what's working and what's not. Make changes as needed. Continually ask yourself what are the most cost effective, yet smart ways to get your name out there through different types of media. As you've probably already heard, putting all your eggs in one basket is not recommended. Make sure to be seen wherever and whenever you can online and off.

Many online advertisers also assume that if they aren’t getting direct sales from an e-commerce site, that it’s not working. But in fact online advertising is just the same as anything else. Just because people aren’t buying doesn’t mean they won’t remember you when they’re ready to make that purchase. Statistics show product and service research is done mostly online. Be sure to think out of the box when creating your marketing plan so your business has great representation when they do!

IN SUMMARY:  It’s good to be found anywhere you think your audience may be and to create an online media plan. Have a budget in mind and weigh the site’s audience, brand message, professionalism, resources, tools, and costs to you and your business.

As promised, here is the second installment of our interview with Sara. This time the main topic is taking the business Green.

From a business as well as social responsibility standpoint, turning Three Little Ziglets into a green operation has been an imperative. What has the transition process been like?

First of all, and because our business caters to children, Three Little Ziglets has been on a mission to produce safe as well as attractive furniture collections. So from the beginning we have pursued suppliers that offer safer materials. Our ultimate goal is to be 100 percent organic.

We wanted to work with sustainable or recycled materials whenever possible. We were delighted to find a supplier who manufactures furniture with Rubber wood. Rubber wood is the basis for Latex. In the past, once the latex material was extracted the trees were simply discarded. Our supplier now takes this discarded wood and recycles it for furniture. It’s a hard and durable wood so it’s perfect for this purpose, perfect for our collections.

Secondly, we now use either low or no V.O.C. paint across all of our collections. We are able to incorporate vibrant and long lasting colors while delivering the lowest toxic product possible.

Our latest quest is for a range of fabrics that a) are manufactured from sustainable or recycled materials and b) facilitate the durability, style, and color for which our collections are known. When it comes to upholstery weight fabric this is particularly challenging; however, with the interest in green alternatives, manufacturers are developing more and more options all of the time.

All in all we’re very happy with our progress and look forward to meeting our goal to be 100 percent organic sooner than later.

Let’s get back to running the business and its marketing. What other observations would you like to share with our audience?

Here are some quick business/operational guidelines. When it comes to small business production, a good general rule of thumb is to plan to spend double the time and cost that you initially estimated in your business plan. Additionally, know that you will end up dedicating more time to production, as opposed to design and management, for longer than you’d planned.

Treat your top performing vendors well. Good and dependable extended partners like these are by no means a dime a dozen. Protecting these relationships will—-in the short and long term—-save you money, time, and anxiety.

Be smart about your customer relations. If a production problem arises and it will in fact impact delivery, let your customer know and always, always be prepared to offer solutions. Find out what is more important to the customer, whether it’s the delivery time or expectations they have about the product. And then let them choose the solution that works for them.

For many entrepreneurs control is an important aspect of having one’s own company. That said owners will continually be tested as to the amount of control they will be able to maintain. So allow yourself the grace of considering less control in some areas in order to keep it in others. And I cannot stress enough that you will put in lots of hours into your business, regardless.

On the marketing front, providing samples is important, if not essential, as a marketing tool for furniture companies like ours. As Three Little Ziglets has over 40 boutiques nationwide, our swatch program is integral to helping our distributors be more successful with sales. Whether you sell furniture, clothing, skin care, or other consumables, implementing a samples program could help you dramatically increase sales.

FINAL THOUGHTS FROM SARA

Please let your audience know that in this economy they may need to remind their client base why they still need their product or service, what the value proposition is.

For example, while Three Little Ziglets products are certainly high end, our clients know that purchasing from us is a prudent investment. Our collections adapt with the growth of their children. Individual pieces can be changed out over time, like replacing a crib with a big kid’s bed, while keeping the integrity of the overall look intact. Desks or vanities can be added once children are in elementary school. Or the bedding and accessories can be changed for a new look. Planned well, our collections can see a child up through high school.

Make your product/service very user friendly. Tell the client that you care about their time, threir convenience, their investment. Make life easy for them and they will appreciate that. Use that in your marketing.

For example, we know our customer is very busy, so it is our goal to make their lives easier. We know this particular client wants a custom look, but doesn't have the time or know-how to put together the look. We do that for them by coordinating bedding, furniture, and portable wall murals. We also made sure that our website is VERY USER FRIENDLY. Our clients are very busy, tired from working, taking care of kids, etc. They don't want to go to several sites to find what they need or to trying to remember where each cute item was. We put our site together like a recipe. We have a picture of the final product at the top, with all of the items needed to complete the room below. Very easy to imagine what you will be getting, and very easy to use.

Best of luck to all of you entrepreneurs and happy selling!

Sara Zigman's business began as a local custom design house for children's furniture. Since then 3 Little Ziglets has grown to offer a range of collections of furniture and accessories, which allows parents one-stop shopping and the ability to create "enchanting environments" for their children. The company now has distribution partners across the country and international expansion is on the horizon. Sara has painstakingly built her business that continually evolves while success milestones and business challenges are met. 3 Little Ziglets is the 2008 Winner of the Dreamtime Design Award from Pregnancy Magazine.

By all accounts Sara's business is a success, and the bottom line is that she loves what she does. What we want to share with you is the reality of what it takes to build a business, and the importance of marketing.

You say that marketing 3 Little Ziglets virtually never stops. Would you care to share with the readers what this means and give them some tips?

Sure. First and foremost, I recommend that you have your business cards with you at all times and share them whenever you can, because you just never know who you will meet that can help your business, who may become a prospect. Generally speaking, you must handle all of your interactions with care, because business opportunities can spring up from anywhere.

The very first thing we did with regard to marketing was build a website, as we believe this to be the cornerstone of any marketing effort.

We knew immediately that it was crucial that we produce a high-quality website, one that properly showcased the quality of our products. We invested a large percentage of our budget in top-notch photography from a renowned national photographer, and we spent 18 months planning and building the site. The end result was well-received and we were very pleased with the results.

What we learned was that we needed to find creative ways to drive traffic to the site. So we pursued web ads, such as Girl Shop Spot, made pitches to target bloggers, and took advantage of other online opportunities. And we continually test everything.

What has been most helpful to me is Google Analytics. It's a great tool. Every night I review the statistics, and find out what's working and what's not, and then amend promotions as needed. I can target by region or even location. In the process of monitoring and streamlining campaigns our page rankings increased from 17 - 20, depending on the search term, to Page 2...in 6 months. You can guess where we're headed from here.

Public Relations is another key component to marketing 3 Little Ziglets, and another activity I have thus far handled myself. PR, and press coverage in particular, is very time intensive, yet very important to helping build the company's credibility and cache. Plus, winning recognition such as the Dreamtime Design Award not only adds to the company's reputation, the personal reward it brings is impossible to put into words. It certainly makes all the hard work worth the effort.

What are some of the most important lessons you have learned in the process of building your business?

Probably about the most important lesson I've learned as a small business owner is that I must count on myself, not to depend too much on others. And while it's virtually impossible to do, you must know about all aspects of what you do, however you can. Finding people who are committed to quality work and who have a strong work ethic is a difficult task, so be prepared that you may not be able to delegate operations as soon as you had planned.

Sara, with your work and personal schedule, you said that you generally get about 4 hours of sleep a night. How do you keep yourself motivated? And what closing recommendations would you make to our readers?

Every night I have a ritual that is both relaxing and energizing. At around midnight I take a break AND tune into Donny Deutsch's show, The Big Idea. It runs from on CNBC at 9:00 PM and 12:00 AM, CST. It's awesome! It's a combination of pep talk, business advice, and amazing interviews. About Donny Deutsch: www.cnbc.com.
My dream is to be on that show!!

As for recommendations I would make to other entrepreneurs, I'd say remember that you are your own project. And since running your own business takes so much time and energy, you should have a passion for what you do. In fact, do not attempt it otherwise—-because you live and breathe it 24/7. There is no on and off switch. And there is no time out; your business is always where you are. My iPhone and I are glued at the ear. Also what I have learned about virtually anything related to my business is that quality always wins over quantity.

Everyone must find their own rhythm when it comes to blending work and their personal life. One of the reasons I work late at night is because I devote a lot of day time to my now 11 year-old triplets. These wonderful human beings are also the muses for my furniture collections.

Finally, one other thing I do for myself as well as others is mentor. I mentor college art students (arts of all kinds) on the practical side, i.e. sales, marketing, and business, of their planned creative career paths. I want them to have all of tools for success in their hands, to help them better drive their own destinies.

Next time: Sara will talk with us about the why and how of greening her business.

I've written a post or two on other blogs and forums about why small businesses should take advantage of this new and ever so popular trend, but I have failed to reiterate what I have come to learn, and many may be questioning. Is Video Marketing Overrated? The stats would tell you no, but I am hear to speak otherwise and these are my conclusions on why.

1)  Brand Recognition:  Video Marketing is great for brand recognition. Many marketers have taken this route over television commercials in hopes to achieve brand awareness on a large scale. And why not, if it fits the audience and the person watching, it can help your brand stand out. Video marketing makes all this possible with a very affordable price tag. But these outlets in which we broadcast must be the proper channels in order to relate to our customers. What we are feeding them at that time specifically must meet their needs at that given moment.

2)  Sales:  Video Marketing is not to be relied on to bring in the sales. First, I think the confusion lies in the type of business, type of video, where it is posted, and what the bulk of viewers are looking for. Most videos are viewed for pure entertainment.

I've seen companies spend a lot of money on producing a video in hopes to see large conversion rates from it. It really all relies heavily on the audience composition and what they are there for. For example, YouTube.com is mostly used for entertainment. Not that you can’t upload any video, but most are searching and wanting to be entertained.

So that brings us back to sales. How will that convert your video to sales? Most likely one looking to be entertained isn’t ready to get out their check book, but they might be ready to look into you’re company further. That’s why it’s so important to fit the video to reason for viewing. A company would be much better off creating a video to entertain with a call to action to get noticed on YouTube.

3)  The Overrated Part:  All the numbers we're seeing about the increase in popularity from video marketing are real. The overrated part comes from what they are viewing them for and how videos reach their target. Right now video marketing is overrated because:

1.  The numbers are mostly coming from people looking for entertainment. Videos today are mainly used and searched for this purpose. Online video watchers don’t want the commercials and to be sold. That’s why they left the television. Online they are in control of what they watch.
2.  The channels aren’t organized; there is so much noise and not enough collaboration on how and where to post.
3.  Videos are popping up now like banner ads once did, un-wanted, in your face, and such a huge annoyance. If companies would follow a simple formula on what, who, when, and where to post, we wouldn’t have to go through the overrated part, we could all start benefiting from positive and favorable brand recognition we all desire, which ultimately makes us all happier customers.

Do you remember that movie "You've Got Mail" with Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks? I loved that "Little Shop Around the Corner." I think back on it now and wonder why they didn't re-open that Little Shop after Meg and Tom got together, for it's just not the same walking into a huge book store, cold and lost, searching for that little something from so many shelves. For what ever reason it might be for you. I prefer to shop at smaller shops around the corner or down cyber lane. They all bring something special and just for a few moments, I get to stop by, relax, and find something unique, something that will make me smile every time I look at it.

I often do think to myself, it was such a pleasure buying this, in that moment, and from that woman behind the counter. For "Little Shop Around the Corner," it was the pride and the joy of Kathleen Kelly (Meg Ryan) following in her mom’s foot steps, helping support children's literacy, and the passion she had for knowing each book a child could take home and cherish. I step back and think that it must be like this for each shop owner, their pride in sharing a little piece of what they cherish. There is definitely something really special about each small business I run into everyday on Girl Shop Spot. I love to discover them all, for what they all offer us is truly unique.

For those of you who are looking for that "Little Shop Around the Corner," to warm a child’s heart and feed their imagination, there can't be a better choice than down cyber lane at The Lollipop Book Club. Please stop by, visit them today, and buy a gift of books for a child to cherish always.

Even in the best of times we've seen brick and mortar, as well as e-commerce retail businesses miss a number of opportunities to better market their store and products. Nowadays it's absolutely crucial to leverage every asset you have to win customers and sell inventory.

So here are Marketing Communications Think Tank's (MCTT) 11 top marketing tips for retail businesses:

1)  Location:  You've heard it before and it's so true, selecting the right location for your store is critical.

2)  Lighting:  Especially if yours is a clothing store and second only to location, good lighting is your most important investment (and asset). We're not kidding here, you can loose significant business if your atmosphere and product displays are hampered by a bad lighting system.

3)  Website:  Demonstrate you're serious about your business and that you plan to be around for a while. There are many inexpensive resources for creating and hosting a site, so after lighting the cost for creating a web presence should be your third priority. No excuses.

4)  Directory listings:  Make sure people can find you! There are a myriad of online and offline directory options, so before you spend any money on other advertising vehicles cover your directory bases first. Always, always include your website address.

5)  Customer service:  If you're going to be in retail, you had better be prepared to provide good customer service. No one wants to buy anything from crabby people. So unless you are selling something indispensable or buyers cannot get it anywhere else, you and your staff are your most important marketing assets.

6)  Online marketing sites:  There are TONS of options here and this can be a highly affordable way to make your business more visible and sell more effectively. Sites like Girl Shop Spot are a great start!

7)  Social Networking:  If you haven't already, get connected to your buyers, your community—-online and offline. These people are your core market in one way or another. If you or your staff have time, launch a blog and/or forum to develop a line of communication with your audience(s). Look into online professional social networks. Join a trade or local business association if relevant to your business.

8)  Local Advertising:  Perhaps your business can benefit from online and print newspaper advertising, coupon mail bundles, billboards, radio, TV, and other local advertising. These local advertising mechanisms can be very effective for your business, used wisely. Spend time researching your options, the costs, and the projected return for your investment.

9)  Offers:  Depending upon the type of retail business you have, it may benefit from running specials, offering product samples, or inclusion in co-op promotions with other local vendors. The possibilities are endless. Just remember to do your homework before you plunk down your hard-earned money. DO NOT IMPULSE BUY! Create an advertising plan and budget and generally stick to it, bearing in mind that you do want to remain open to surprise opportunities (just remember you will have to amend your advertising budget accordingly). Run your numbers before launching into any sales or specials, to make sure the volume sales you seek offset your costs.

10)  Merchandising:  Organizing, grouping, and displaying your products is very important. Messy or crammed merchandise is a real turn off. An easy to navigate store with clearly designated areas and thoughtful displays enhances the shopping experience and improves sales.

11)  Lighting:  Did we mention the importance of lighting? Never, never underestimate the power of lighting. It can literally make or break a customer's shopping experience. Bad lighting example/clothing store changing room: "OMG, do I really look like that? I look hideous in everything I'm trying on. I'm going home." Good lighting example/jewelery store display: "Isn't that diamond ring gorgeous? Look how the light makes it sparkle? I must have that now."

Did you know that AstraZeneca, which manufactures breast cancer drugs Arimidex and Tamoxifen, founded the National Breast Cancer Awareness Month in the year 1985? The aim of the NBCAM from the start has been to promote mammography as the most effective weapon in the fight against breast cancer.

In 1993 Evelyn Lauder, Senior Corporate Vice President of the Estée Lauder Companies founded The Breast Cancer Research Foundation and established the Pink Ribbon as its symbol, though this was not the first the ribbon was used to symbolize breast cancer. In the fall of 1991, the Susan G. Komen Foundation had handed out Pink Ribbons to participants in its New York City race for breast cancer survivors. (Wikipedia)

Early detection, access to mammograms for all women, enlightened treatment, and ultimately eradicating breast cancer are the aims of this organization and its campaign---with over 20 years commitment to these goals. This month GSS encourages everyone to support the cause to win the war on this devastating disease.

To find out more about Breast Cancer Awareness Month click here: http://www.nbcam.org

We are the first company to offer advertisers a new method of measuring activity from advertising. And the best part is, you only pay when shoppers show interest in your ad by interacting with your page. We believe that there is a real need for a more comprehensive internet advertising pay structure. In the current economic times, companies are looking for ways to cut costs, but still remain competitive. The Pay-Per-Interaction (PPI) model, allows companies to do both. And, Girl Shop Spot is here to bring it to you.

How it Works

What you will receive are daily and monthly snapshots of each specific interaction category along with the total number of interactions. These results that can be further dissected by the images, Must Haves, and Sale and Specials Coupons, with a detailed summary of how many interactions per each item.

The date, time and IP address is recorded with details on where they found your Shop Spot page from, whether it be Google, Live, Yahoo, another GSS Shop Spot under Favorite Spots, GSS search, GSS home page, your Featured Ad, or GSS Great Sales results page.

Through GSS you know you've made an impression from your ad. But what’s even better is that you can measure specifically what they are interacting with, and from where they are coming to find you. Not only do you streamline lead generation, your Shop Spot literally becomes an online marketing laboratory. You get to test and retest promotions, experiment with your product or service mix, and refine your communications with prospects and customers.

How is Pay-Per-Interaction^TM (PPI) different from other forms?

On GSS, the seller has the opportunity to create an interactive ad that is full of images and content in order to measure what's working, what people are interested in, and what they click on to learn more. Why wouldn't they? The more things you offer your customers to interact with in an online ad, the more qualified your leads become, which in turn lowers the bounce rate of that ad that you would typically pay for in Pay-Per-Click advertising. You may be thinking how? Before potential customers contact you, click to your site or must haves, they have already learned about your business and what you're selling. These leads have already been pre-qualified and that's something you want to pay for.

Pay-Per-Click advertising is short text ads, typically found on very large search engines. There are other advertising sites that may offer an image and short decsription with the Cost-Per-Click model. These ads can produce a click but often times create high bounce rates. This overall makes you pay more for your leads, it's not measurable other than the traffic and you are paying for the initial click to you.

If you're an entrepreneur or small business owner, you may have a business plan, maybe. But do you have a marketing plan? If you don't, you could be spinning your resource and creative wheels. You could be spending money that will not serve your specific needs. You could be jeopardizing your business and sales goals. You may be spending an inordinate amount of your time on one marketing activity to the detriment of others or more importantly, operational priorities.

Here are three fundamental reasons to create and then monitor a marketing plan for your business.

Reason Number 1

Create a marketing program that maximizes its success rate. Taking a high-level and cohesive approach will assure a more cost-efficient, affordable, and results-generating program.

Having a plan will give you the grace to:

  Implement marketing activities that best suit your business and your budget.
  Consider how well each component compliments the others; how the sum of the parts can produce more       dynamic results.
  Think about how you can leverage results as well as resources.
  Develop a program that is scaled to your needs and helps you amortize your costs.
  Monitor its success and make changes if/when needed in order to keep on course with reaching your goals.

Reason Number 2

Prevent kneejerk or impulse purchases. If you don't take the time to layout a marketing strategy and consider the cost-to-result ratio, you may become prey to impulse buying decisions or kneejerk reactions to competitive actions.

If you don't have a plan and budget to refer to, you might just drop some precious funds on something that will end up having little impact toward your goals or worse cost you more and possibly leave you unprepared to cope with the fallout of an ill-conceived decision. Plus, you divert time and energy from more important endeavors.

Here are some sample impulse marketing decision scenarios:

  You're contacted by a rep for an online directory that has a limited-time offer for a top position sponsored listing and in order to secure this top position the company needs your commitment right now. If you take the offer you'll have to spend some time creating the account, uploading information and perhaps even create an ad you weren't prepared to create.
  You're in Real Estate and you heard a competitor is launching a mobile marketing campaign. Just then you're hit up to jump on the mobile marketing bandwagon by a service provider. You sign up for what turns out to be a very expensive program and you haven't thought through how you will actually field the inquiries or considered how to adapt your online presence to accommodate mobile prospects.
  You hear that social networking is the thing to do, so you decide to dive in and start setting up accounts, initiating a blog, and uploading blog comments...without realizing that you need to carefully orchestrate it all in order to protect your interests.
  SEO. It's out there and you know it matters to your website visibility. A company with Pay-Per-Something just called to make you an offer of a lifetime, but they don't even know what your business does. Do you chance signing up and then hope that you understand how it works and that the claimed "hits" you pay for are legitimate?

And there are many, many more scenarios from local school advertising calls to event marketing opportunities and mobile search sponsorships. The list is simply endless. With a plan in place you are far less likely to make snap purchasing decisions, decisions that can derail your overall efforts and possibly sabotage the results you seek.

Save yourself! Separately SEO, mobile marketing, and social networking could easily become full-time activities. You could find yourself totally sucked into spending all of your time pursuing any of one of these marketing nirvanas. But will they make your business successful? Will they drive sales and on your timetable? Can you keep up with how often the rules change? Can you imagine being able to produce a blog entry...every day, for instance?

Know what you can do yourself and how much time you personally can devote to your selected marketing activities. If you can hire someone else to do some of it for you, it may likely be much more cost and time effective to do so. If you are running your own business you can ill afford to spend a hefty percentage of your time on one marketing activity, let alone several.

So know yourself, know your business, and then spend time laying out a marketing strategy that will help you achieve your goals, protect your resources and assets, best utilize your time and talents, and allow you to monitor progress.

We're excited to announce that we have a few really cool Shop Spots that can assist you with marketing on a startup budget. You can find these helpful businesses with their information and links below. Since we've been on the topic, Cost Effective Advertising on a Budget, I would also like to share with you InsideCRM's 101 Free Offers List and Coupons, for "Marketing on a Startup Budget."

  Marketing Communications Think Tank

MCTT is about strategic, solutions-based, and affordable marketing. We are your partner, not in word but in deed. Your success is our prime directive. We're here to make you look great. And we'll never waste money, resources, or your time in the process. Never. MCTT is proven to be the most effective and affordable marketing think tank you'll ever work with. Challenge us to offer up a solution to your greatest marketing problem.    Learn More

  Retroboutiques Web Design

Web Design for the startup, small home business, especially for the mom! Different than the rest, no cookie cutter designs here! Fun, funky, retro, feminine and girly, calm, cool, wild and loud, pastels, hot colors, muted toned down, mod, hip and chic, we do it all....partner with an easy to use web host with super duper easy content management...stop by, look around, contact me with questions...do it...you know you want your own business...affordable, friendly, and fun...lets build your business together!

Special  Website templates start at only $100.00!   Learn More

  Love It! Designs

People love working with me not only because I'm good at what I do, but because I'm easy to get in touch with, easy to work with, timely, honest and reliable. Plus, I often work during non-traditional business hours (as well as traditional ones), which means you'll usually get a quick response from me. Additionally, I'm quite affordable compared to most established graphic designers. I have a standard hourly rate, but can work with flat rates if need be.   Learn More

  Sweet Boutique Design, LLC

Specializing in affordable trendy, hip, boutique website designs. Custom e-commerce sites, brochures site, business card sites, informational site, blog designs, shopping cart installation, shopping cart license, logo design, print design, and graphic design.    Learn More

As we've stated in last blog entries, it's vital to advertise online for small business success. But let's face it; we can't simply afford all the advertising that is out there. So how does a small business achieve a great online presence? Well, it's funny because not only small businesses should take the following into account, but the larger, more established businesses as well. Heck, one could even hire someone for such a presence with all the possibilities that are out there today.

Below is a list of quite a few sites every business should consider in their online media plan. Starting with social networking sites and ending with classifieds. Some of these sites may take higher priority to others depending on your target market and niche. The possibilities are endless here. Be sure to join and comment on forums and groups specific to your niche that may not be listed below. There are many other smaller localized sites to look into as well. It may seem overwhelming at first but the key is to pick your target and diversify, so you're not putting all your eggs in one basket, or in one online medium.

This has been a work in progress. Please feel free to contact us to include sites you feel we've missed out on. Our team will review for inclusion in another post.

Short Cuts to the GSS List of Coolest Sites to be Seen On!

	Myspace  A place for friends.
	Facebook  Facebook is a social utility that connects you with the people around you.
	Ladies Who Launch  Network for lady entreprenuers, business magazine, & more.
	Flickr  Share your photos. Watch the world.
	WomanOwned  Small business networks & resources for women in business.
	Viewpoints  Find reviews from people like you.
	Plaxo  Stay in touch with the people you care about.
	Indiepublic  Indie Community. If you're an artist, designer, retailer, blogger, we've saved a seat for you.
	Stuffable  Where cool people come to show off cool stuff.
	Epinions  Unbiased reviews by real people.
	Squidoo  Share your knowledge and passion with the world.
	BzzAgent  We are the leading word-of-mouth media network.

	StubbleUpon  Discovers web sites based on your interests.
	Digg  Discover the best of the web.
	Wists  Shareable image bookmarks for any page on the web.
	Ma.gnolia  Discover, share and discuss the best of the web.
	Del.icio.us  Bookmark things for yourself and friends
	Google Shared Stuff  Easily share any webpage with your friends.

	Kaboodle  Have fun shopping with friends, share and discover new products.
	ThisNext  Recommend, share and discover great products.
	StyleHive  Connecting stylish people.
	StyleFeeder  StyleFeeder discovers products for you based on your unique tastes.
	Wishpot  Makes it easy for you to shop anywhere, keep all your finds in one place, & connect with friends.
	Zebo  Where friends help you get cool stuff.
	Woot!  An online store and community that focuses on selling cool stuff cheap.
	Buzzillions  Unbiased product reviews from actual buyers.
	Crowdstorm  Expert product reviews.
	Pronto  Get recommendations, compare & buy at the lowest prices.
	ShopStyle  Feed your fashion habit. All the stores you love. All in one place.
	Shoppero  Recommend. Discover. Make Money.
	Osoyou  Stare. Shop. Share.
	I Like Totally Love It  Products you didn't know you wanted but suddenly, like, totally need.
	BoxedUp  Organixe your internet shopping and make it more fun with boxedup.
	AgentB  a place for you to find and share great deals from across the Internet.
	No More Notebooks  Social Shopping has come Online. Create. Compare. Recommend. Discover.
	BunnyBot  Instant messaging, instant shopping feedback, instant fun.
	Desiresin  Add, share, rank, and find social shopping bookmarks.
	Product Wiki  Unbiased product reviews and information.

	Girl Shop Spot  A girl's best friend. Shop. Discover. Meet. Sell. (Only Pay-for-Performance)
	Mintd  Shop, buy & sell independent goods. (% of sales)
	eBay  New & used goods at low prices. (% of sales)
	Yahoo! Local  Find businesses and Services near you.
	Merchant Circle  Find new customers.
	Google Maps  When potential customers search Maps for local information, they'll find your business.
	Yellow Pages  Reach new customers with yellowpages.com.
	Smashing Darling  Leading the Indie Fashion Revolution. (% of sales)
	HGTV Marketplace  It's Shopping on HGTV. (pay-per-click)
	Beautiful Shops  Women entrepreneurs find success & happiness with online shops.
	Etsy  All things handmade. (% of sales)
	PriceGrabber  Comparison shopping, online shopping, product reviews. (pay-per-click)
	Google Adwords  Grow your business with Google. (pay-per-click)
	Amazon  Online shopping for electronics, apparel, computers, books, & more. (cost-per-click)
	Gifts  Wedding gifts, anniversary gifts, gift baskets, gift cards. (cost-per-click)
	The Rose Bridge  Fine boutiques at home & abroad.
	Find Gift  Find unique gift ideas & creative gifts. (pay-per-click)
	Google Product Search  Search for stuff to buy.
	Shopzilla  Comparison shopping online. (cost-per-click)
	MyStore  Buy or sell online for free.
	Like  Shop visually for shoes, handbags, and more.
	WahmsShoppes  Created to offer mothers in business an affordable eCommerce solution.
	Shopping  Online shopping, price comparison, product reviews. (cost-per-click)
	BizRate  Price comparisons & product reviews. (cost-per-click)
	Become  Compare prices & research products. (pay-per-click)
	Crafster  Crafting community, including craft forums about knitting, crochet, sewing and more.

	Plurk  Plurk is a social journal for your life.
	Twitter  What are you doing?
	Posterous  The place to post everything.
	Virb  Put all the things that make you you - in one place.

	Craigslist  Craigslists classifieds.
	Posteroo  Post your classified ads.
	HappyHippie  Eco-friendly retail direcectory.
	Oodle  Online classifieds - cars, homes, jobs, pets, & more.
	Pikaba  Community marketplace, online merchant network.
	CMather  Classified advertising for your products and services.

Have you ever been on a site where the product photos sparkle and scream out touch me, buy me, you have to have me? You’re thinking they must have spent hundreds to thousands of dollars hiring a professional photographer. Well that’s certainly one solution, but there are others out there I want to share with you. Easily learn how to make your products photos sparkle while doing so cost effectively. This article, "Glamour Shots: Inspiring Inventory with Free Image Editors," by Vangie Beal is an extremely helpful resource in doing so.

Whether you just built a site or looking to improve what you already have, there's one question that arises after many months of trying to increase sales online. What's wrong with my site?

It's best to look at your website as an interactive book that should serve the purpose of the reader. People visiting your site have a purpose, a want or need they are trying to fulfill. If your site is not serving it well and dishing out all that it's meant to be, your potential customer will leave within seconds. And what about the others who decide to stick around, thinking you have what they are looking for and are interested in what you have to say but can't figure out exactly what it is you do. So, here's a list of some pointers to help you determine what needs fixing on your site, web page, or any advertising for that matter.

  Your home page should state clearly what it is you do or sell, just like the cover of a book.
Does you logo, company name, and tag line speak the purpose of being in business to your audience clearly? What type of message are you trying to send them? How do you want them to feel when they first set eyes on your site? Many company names aren't obvious to customers what it is they do or sell. Spell it out for customers. Be sure to make your tag line and copy clear, interesting, and specific to what is you're selling. There's nothing worse than having potential customers wonder what exactly it is that you're selling.

  Can you navigate easily through other chapters of your book from the home page?
Can all your most important chapters be easily accessed from the home page? Be sure to make all your internal pages relevant to what you're writing about or selling on each page with no grammatical errors or incomplete descriptions. Reducing the amount of page clicks before reaching the check out or desired result is always recommended as well.

  Always update your content.
If you have a potential customer that comes back to your site to make a purchase a month later and you have outdated material, they are sure to leave and never come back. Be sure to update content as needed and on a consistent basis. This is also recommended if you want to keep your existing customers.

  Depending on what your site is for, be sure to go a step further than the other guy.
There are millions of books on "How to be Successful." What makes yours that much better? Where's the proof and testimonials? Express how you are different than the shop down the street or a click away who promises to deliver the same. Your content is always king and should shout out to your customers. It should come alive and reach your audience like nothing they've ever read before. It should be compelling, truthful, and exciting!

  Title tags should be included in your web pages, just as there are sub titles in the chapters of a book.
Treat each title tag like it's a sub title for a book. But it gets even better than that. You can make you tagging work for you. Relevant and concise title tags can bring in customers who were searching for you. Each title should include what customers will find on that page. Off purpose, irrelevant titles will only hurt your sales. Web pages without titles are like reading a book without chapters.

  Make it easy for customers to find and contact you.
There's nothing worse when you're trying to contact customer service or the owner and you have to hunt through the site to find out how. Have a contact us page that is easily accessible from all pages. Always check and respond to your e-mails promptly.

  Offer up a call to action.
You must entice your reader to want react. Picture this, you've just started reading one of the best inspirational books you've ever read and couldn't wait to pick it up and read it again. Throughout the day, it's all you could think about. The writer effortlessly primed you to want to practice the things that were offered in that book. Give your site the same enthusiasm by delivering a call to action. Make your customers see all the wonderful things they will receive in your copy and images when they contact, purchase, or visit. Give them a reason to purchase today whether it is through special offers, sales, promotions, and make it hard for them to forget you when they leave.

You've been looking at your stats and wonder why people are leaving your shopping cart before making the transaction. According to online shoppers from PayPal and comScore the top reason for shoppers to leave their cart was shipping fees. Customers are getting ready to check out and are shocked by the total after shipping costs. Since this seems to be such a concern among shoppers, promoting shipping discounts on your site, in-store, and just about anywhere you advertise seems to be a must in this market.

Many online shoppers are also looking for bargains, researching goods and services online, comparison shopping, shopping close to home, and want excellent customer support. More shoppers, 13% more, are turning to the convenience of shopping and buying online, however, if they aren't finding what they want within the first few seconds, they're gone.

"But unlike anxious online buying pioneers, buyers today are not worried about site security or whether their goods will ever ship. Instead, savvy online shoppers are looking for bargains. MarketLive said increased comparison shopping and search engine use caused the rise in cart abandonment." EMarketer

I have gotten really frustrated by phone calls and e-mails from link companies telling me they will get me top ranks for the broadest most irrelevant search terms for my businesses. I had it out once with the poor sales guy just taught the sales pitch of his business but didn't really have answers or a legitimate basis to state his claims from.

When these people approach, don't waist your time. Or if you are interested in what they have to say, tell them this. I can get non-competitive words searches on my own and that is not something I see paying for. Tell them you're interested in well researched searched terms that will give me increase targeted traffic, high click rate without the high bounce rate. Yes, part of the bounce rate is about your pages and if your visitors are finding what they're looking for in the first few seconds, but well researched keywords can help with this also. I'll touch on that topic in another post. All in all, if they can't give you a guarantee and they don't disclose how they achieve this, I would not go a step further with them.

These are my 10 Tips in Achieving GREAT Search Engine Rankings

1)  RICH KEYWORD TAGGING: Be sure to research and use rich keyword title tags and Meta tags. Short to the point or descriptive keyword title tags are recommended, however, not any longer than 65 characters including spaces. Keep repetition of keywords to a minimum and stay away from unknown acronyms. Ask yourself what keyword phrases you would use if you were doing a search on your business. Be sure to make your tagging specific to what the page is about and include some of your keywords somewhere in your copy on the page but be sure to write naturally and not to over stuff keywords.

2)  BLOG: Make sure to have a blog to offer great insight to what your business is about. Be sure that your blog links to your business web site easily. Network with other bloggers on blogging communities by commenting and giving tips and insight to other blogs relevant to your field. Keep up with your blog by adding posts regularly and be sure to write for your audience. Reference other businesses and include links of high ranking sites with your content giving your readers good resources to turn to.

3)  SOCIAL MEDIA: Take advantage of other Social Media as well. Be sure to comment on other forums, give tips and insight to other bloggers, join in on social networking groups, and upload your videos on video sharing sites.

4)  GREAT CONTENT: Offer great content! Its true content is king. I've seen many e-commerce sights suffer here, where their pages are just filled with products and specs and not enough description or other informative/useful information. Always edit your work and check for grammatical errors. Make sure to update content regularly and add new quality content on a consistent basis.

5)  VIDEO SHARING: Create and share a video. The popularity of video will only get bigger, as well as video search. There are many video sharing sites you could post and share a video on, not to mention "How to" video sites are becoming more and more popular. Even the search term "How to" and "How to Videos" is a widely used keyword searched by many on the search engines. To learn more about how and where to market a video, please visit GSS's Video Marketing page, "How to Advertise a Video for Small Business Success."

6)  BACKLINKS: Build quality links (backlinks) to your site. Refrain form buying links or resorting to link farms from non-authority sites. Be sure to build your links naturally and with high quality sites similar to your business. Participating in social media mentioned in number 3, contacting similar businesses for link exchange or a review on their blog, distributing press releases, writing and submitting articles are all forms of natural distribution and will help with rankings.

7)  DOMAIN NAME: Include a keyword in your domain name. Many businesses make the mistake of naming their company after the family name or creating some wild made up name that is hard to remember. Create a domain name that has meaning to your business and its purpose will not only help with customers remembering it, it will help rankings.

8)  HTML VS FLASH: Use HTML versus image links and flash. Spiders can easily read html and have a harder time reading anything else. Image links are not recommend and do not assist with your pages ranking better in the search engines. When images are used in the body of your web page, be sure to create title tags for those images.

9)  SIMPLE NAVIGATION: Make navigation simple for the crawlers. Make sure all your important pages are easily found throughout the site and definitely on the home page. Check all links and be sure to fix any broken ones. Develop a site map not only for users but another for crawlers. This will help with getting all your pages indexed. Site map generators for crawlers can be purchased anywhere.

10)  OTHER USEFUL TIPS: If you would like to learn more about SEO or how to rank better in the search engines SEOmoz.org is a great resource for you. I'm not so keen on this articls's title...but, "Why Does Your Search Traffic Suck? The 7 Most Likely Reasons," by Randfish is a great place to get started on this topic. If your starting from scratch and want to learn more about SEO, "The Beginner's Checklist for Learning SEO," is another great article to turn to.

Summertime and the living is easy...or is it? Your kids are out of school for the summer. You want to enjoy time with them, BUT---how can you ever get in a day's work at home? The interruptions, the whining, the sibling bickering, are all normal. And they get bored, wanting you to drive them to activities. Plus, they just want "Mommy time." What's a mother to do?

If you have difficulty getting enough work accomplished during the summertime, here are 6 parent-coaching tips to consider.

1)  SET REASONABLE EXPECTATIONS: Unless you have a full-time nanny, you will not be able to put in the same hours as you do during the school year. Don't even think about it! So first...

2)  ESTABLISH A RANGE: Figure the minimum and maximum number of work hours you need to complete each week. Identify both necessary and special child-focused activities for the week. Plan your time to meet both family and work goals and...

3)  SCHEDULE: Make a tentative plan or schedule of how and when to complete those hours. But...

4)  BE FLEXIBLE: Relax and forgive yourself when the unexpected "time thief" arrives. Do not expect your day to be predictable when your kids are at home. Don't go there! Be sure to...

5)  MANAGE YOUR GUILT: You have chosen a home-based business. To succeed, you cannot spend100% of your time actively involved with your kids nor can your business success be the same when you are also an active parent. As a dedicated Mom and home-based business owner, guilt goes with the territory. Your guilt does not mean you are doing anything wrong. It can simply mean you have very high expectations for yourself. To ease your guilt, you can...

6)  FOCUS ON DIFFERENT PARENTING GOALS: Use your work time as a role model for your children on what good organization and hard work can accomplish. Help them learn an age appropriate level of independence.

For more parenting and relationship coaching tips, visit DrCoachLove.com.
Remember: We all have the same 24/7. What we do with our time becomes our priority. Make your time count.

The movie, "Sex and the City" has created a movement. A movement of women entitled to a night out with their gal pals since the series started. And, now even a crowd of teenagers have become avid fans of the show since airing on TBS. I know we've all gotten together from time to time, but hasn't it become much more common in the last few years. Isn't it much more common to tell your husband your running out with the girls and to call up your friends and tell them to meet you for a glass of wine at six. And, isn't it much more common to meet new friends online and join in on group discussions about where to go, the latest fashions, beauty trends, and to share funny or distrought child caring moments.

And, let's not forget the movement of supporting each other's small business success. Sarah Jessica Parker is not the only woman launching a business. There is an array of women launching small businesses for us to enjoy daily. Today, we are in a position where we are able to find and shop with one another and help create success for one another than ever before. And we get to share business insight and gain friendships along the way!

What a Movement it Is!

This new movement has brought about a new reason for girlfriends to get together. Of course there doesn't need to be a reason, but if there is, we'll be there. Today women love going out for a cocktail together and are finding more and more reasons why they should. With their hectic life styles, they are finding it even harder to find time for themselves. This is all the reason why it's so important to indulge with their girlfriends for a day out for lunch, shopping, and the spa or an evening sipping wine at a cocktail lounge. You're finding more at home parties too. There is a vast array of ideas we could all think about doing that would make the perfect girls' night out.

Even though Sex and the City came to us by storm, it is us who have actually created the idea. We are the women who make up the Girls' Day Out! We are the women entitled to it all...the fun, the shopping, the indulgence. Only through us and by us could this show and movie be a success! Not to mention the exceptionally great cast!

So, go ahead and pamper yourself and your friends...you deserve only the best!

Girl Shop Spot is always introducing new and exciting ways to market your business while providing smoother communications between buyer and seller. Now shoppers and business owners can ask questions, make comments, and get answers from other shoppers and the Shop Spot owners through the Shop Talk function on each individual Shop Spot page!

How it Works

On every Shop Spot page there will be a Shop Talk link in the contact us section and at the bottom of the page. Click on the link to start creating and click post when finished. All Shop Spot owners will be notified when a post has been made to their Shop Spot and can manage their Shop Talk by choosing which threads they would like shown.

How is Shop Talk Different?

Shop Talk is much different than your typical comments function found on other social communities and shopping sites. With Shop Talk you can manage and use as you see fit. You can actually:

  Use it as a forum or micro-blog on your Shop Spot page (see definition of micro-blog below).
  Create new topics, blog about your business, use to share exciting news and ideas, or for just about anything.
  Use as a teaser for your blog or as a primary micro-blog.
  Use as a forum to start a discussion.
  Stay connected by adding topics, asking and answering questions. Join in on other Shop Talks.

But the fun doesn't end there. To bring Shop Talk full circle, shoppers will also be able to:

   Initiate or choose topics, ask questions, and reply within the community.

And, the best is yet to come:

   Soon you will also be able to manage your Shop Talk's discussion threads. You'll get to decide which topic threads you want to showcase on your Shop Spot page under Shop Talk.

   Anyone who contributes to a specific thread of your micro-blog or forum topic will receive instant messaging that a new post has been made from that thread, so Shop Talk gives you a hand-free way to keep conversations rolling.

So share, listen, learn, and prosper through GSS Shop Talk.

Micro-Blog Definition -

"Micro-blogging is a form of blogging that allows users to write brief text updates (usually less than 200 characters) and publish them, either to be viewed by anyone or by a restricted group which can be chosen by the user. These messages can be submitted by a variety of means, including text messaging, instant messaging, email, MP3 or the web. The popular social networking websites Facebook and MySpace also have a micro-blogging feature, called Status Update." From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

First Class Marketing

GSS is introducing a series of fresh, creative, and superior technology bringing you what you deserve...first class marketing and continued success. We have so much planned for you, so stay tuned as we continue to bring the very best in internet marketing.

The uproar between Yahoo! and Microsoft has brought me to this post in hopes that it will help you determine your site/business worth and the understanding of perspectives in evaluating such.

As it stands today, Yahoo! has turned down Microsoft's offer and Microsoft has chosen to withdrawal. While the offer may have seemed pretty close to what Yahoo! shareholders may have accepted to close the deal, it isn't what Jerry Yang has valued his company to be. The issue here is "to be" because that is the question every business owner should ask themselves when putting a value on their site/business. Jerry Yang from Yahoo! sees his company as worth much more in Microsoft's eyes, and what it is to become in his own. When speculating a company's worth, it's important to note the offerings and value the company is to bring in the future if certain criteria and developments are taken place.

Now obviously this is hard to determine, since two very intelligent businesses can't find an agreement; however, one can speculate that talks aren't over. It is only natural for Mr. Yang to negotiate on the appropriate value he feels his company holds to Microsoft. Mr. Yang also needs to remember a company is only worth what the buyer is willing to pay.

Have you ever contacted a merchant or service provider about an account problem and encountered attitude from the other side of the conversation? Have you been distressed about the issue only to receive not just a cavalier response, but one of flat out annoyance? If you requested a return call regarding a resolution, were you greeted with a sigh and then the distinct sound of a hang up?

Has your business day ever been interrupted by an 800 number caller who not only bombarded you with a steady stream of questions, but when you begged off from the intrusion you received a call back with the frothy inquiry, "did you just hang up on me?"

This is so wrong. Commando marketing must end. Entitlement business behavior must cease.

While the customer may not always be right, they should be able to expect polite and helpful service. They don't pay any company and its employees to be ambivalent to hostile toward them.

It's simply time to retire the Era of Entitlement to the annals of history.

With this goal in mind, I offer the following macro ABCs of Proper Customer/Prospect Interaction reminders:
a)  Treat customers like they matter (which, as it turns out, they do).
b)  Insist that all frontline company representatives be polite and solution-orientated. Train them if need be. Provide guidelines of proper behavior, including how to field difficult situations.
c)  Customer service should be exactly that. Rude personnel, customer run around, and failure to provide reasonable and timely solutions should not be tolerated.
d)  Never bully or impose on prospects. It will always backfire. I personally keep a list of companies that employ such tactics and go out of my way to avoid using their products or services.

After reading countless articles on recession and the economy, I decided it was time to write my thoughts about how I see the small business surviving. If any business can, shouldn't it be yours? Because so many large corporations are making cuts, laying off employees, and finding ways to survive by cutting the obvious, small companies can first take a look at the whole picture and then determine what steps are needed to move forward. I intend in helping you by writing this entry.

What do people do when there's a fire in the building? Run to the nearest exit. Since we can't escape a recession, how do we put out the fire? We can first help the situation by working to not add to the fire. If you take a look at past recessions, there is always a cause and effect of each. For instance, take the housing bubble. The last 5 years we were all chasing the American dream, buying homes, refinancing, and getting home equity loans because it was the thing to do, adding to the fire. Rates were low and demand was high because everyone wanted a larger piece of the pie. Now, everyone is feeling the pinch, of less home equity, credit card debt, and increase in gas and electric bills. Not to mention, costs of putting your children through school. So how will all this help my business? By taking a look at the cycles of a boom, recognizing signs of a fire, and keeping it at bay before one starts. Since we already have been alarmed of a recession, we need to keep business losses at bay by not running towards the exit door.

Are you ready for the good news? Despite all the talk of spending lows, recession, retail gloom, we can still keep our businesses afloat. You as a small business owner can re-assess a business plan, advertising, and pick up where corporations have left, making their cut back your gain. For a little extra confidence booster, try this. According to eMarketers, Multi-Channel Retailing report, who analyzes the features that contribute to making online product research an essential driver of offline retail sales. "Any retailer who isn't using the online channel to promote offline sales-as well as online sales-is missing a huge opportunity. In 2007, eMarketer estimated that store sales influenced by online research totaled $471 billion. Comparatively, retail e-commerce sales were $136 billion. Another way to look at it is that for every $1 in online sales, the Internet influenced $3.45 of store sales." So as a Girl Shop Spot advertiser you are ahead of the curve.

These are my suggestions in keeping the fire out at your shop:

1)  Whether you're a merchant online or off, it is vital to take advantage of online ads to promote spending. Advertise and promote your business on niche specific sites, where a click is a legitimate lead versus a browser.
2)  Try not to make advertising cuts, just be more selective and re-assess campaign possibilities. For example, everyone has headed for the exit signs on Google and Yahoo Ads. This makes it much more affordable and easier to reach your customers with all your competitors at bay. Try buying low cost ads on certain search engines and popular search sites that will help drive traffic.
3)  Negotiate for better rates in advertising. Since many have left the building, the opportunities should be endless here. Also, barter with like sites and businesses that can both benefit from the exposure.
4)  Support Commerce by Community. When you shop and spend, make sure to support your GSS Community. Shop with them when the opportunity presents itself.
5)  Participate in Co-Op Marketing and partner with a business that compliments yours for promotions, contests, and ads.
6)  Increase advertising budget if you can. By increasing your budget, your impressions increase, and with less noise, your impressions denote more bang for your advertising dollar.
7)  Create more than one way of purchase. If you're only an online merchant, find other sites that link directly to buy from you or that you can sell through. If you are a small business that doesn't have means to sell online, find other ways to achieve e-commerce. GirlShopSpot.com will soon be providing an e-commerce solution for you, at very minimal cost.

Whatever you do, don't get discouraged. Have faith and don't be afraid to ask for help from a friend, your community, and the one above. When this is all over, the ones who fought will stand strong, while the rest begin to run for the next big thing or exit sign. Consuming yourself in these things only keeps you from your main goal, success.

I need to get my hair re-colored, badly. I can't believe I still don't have it done. I'm quite vain about it actually. So why haven't I called for that appointment? Because it dawned on me that I don't want to go back to my current hair stylist.

I don't like that I have to make sure I call on the right day to set an appointment or I won't get a call back. I don't like feeling like I'm on display when I'm in such a vulnerable position (hair every which way, highlight foils that make me look like I'm receiving alien communications). I don't want my boyfriend to see me this way, so why would I want complete strangers to? I don't like the way my stylist's boyfriend or other visitors feel free to talk over me, or even comment on the progress. What is up with that?

Finally, two visits in a row I asked my stylist not to make my low lights so dark or the overall color so dark. She didn't take notes and sure enough, the next time I still ended up with darker color than I wanted.

How about you? Do you ask for highlights and end up with 1/2 inch of roots or color that's never consistant? How about a hair cut shorter than you asked for? Does it seem to you that stylists are trained in the art of torture? Holding the dryer in one spot for too long, brushing your hair like it wasn't attached, and poking you with the comb or scissors. Why is it that so many stylists insist on treating us this way? We're not mannequins, we're paying customers.

Here I sit, pondering how I will find another stylist that hopefully will work out better. I'm contemplating driving around and checking out the ambiance of each place first as well, to make sure I actually enjoy going on a regular basis. No, it's not the end of the world, but crikey, it's a pain.

So here is the marketing lesson within. We all need to be conscious about how we treat our customers. Do we offer an environment (brick and mortar or cyber) that is conducive to good business relations? Do we ask questions that allow our customers to be more comfortable, to be more open with what they need or want? Do we make it easy for the customer to do business with us? I for one am going to give this concept a lot more consideration.

And a note to all the wonderful hair stylists out there, please sign-up on GirlShopSpot.com so we can find you.