While the debate for bailing out the hegemonic players on Wall Street rages, what shall become of the small businesses on Main Street? As the automakers receive attention for the 250,000 employees in their guard, what will befall small businesses, who, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce, employ more than 50% of all American workers?
Entrepreneurs Left on Dry Shores – Yet Again
The sad and unfortunate truth is that small business owners are left to their own devices, once again. In the land of golden opportunity, the only entrepreneurs that achieve the American dream are those who build upon their own bootstraps instead of fancy IPOs, historical bail-out packages, and costly lobbyists – and in 2009, this same story shall prevail. Never mind that the Small Business Administration reported that companies with less than 500 employees account for nearly 80% of all new jobs. Forget the fact that millions of small businesses also require credit to continue operating. Without loud lobbyists, the cries of small business fall to the wayside amidst the deafening bear trampling of all those on Wall Street.
Navigating Your Small Business into Profitable Waters
With the clear understanding that the government is only sheltering corporations with publically traded NYSE and NASDAQ symbols, how can entrepreneurs and small business owners weather the recessionary storm? The umbrella that will protect the bottom line in 2009 will be internet exposure. Reaching customers across economic and global lines, the internet can expand your client base much wider than even the busiest Main Street. Considering that most of your existing customer base will be reducing their spending budgets, it is simultaneously important that you diversify and ideally expand your potential pool of clients.
However, with nine out of 10 small business owners surveyed by Microsoft adCenter fearful that PPC would prove too expensive, which online advertising strategy proves wise in this economy? Indeed, the power of SEO comes to the rescue once again. An abundance of studies demonstrate that the vast majority of internet users prefer to click on organic search results, instead of PPC ads – which bodes well for you, the savvy webmaster and entrepreneur, because SEO is much more cost-effective than paying for advertising. While the adage, “content is king,” continues to hold its crown in SEO, there are creative strategies you can employ to further harness the power of content to benefit your bottom line:
While small businesses may not have seven-figure marketing budgets found in publically-traded corporations, entrepreneurs do have the creativity and resourcefulness that trump Fortune 500 companies. Staying in profitable waters in this tumultuous economic storm means fully maximizing the potential profits the internet can bring to your bottom line.
Read moreWebmasters who wield the powerful sword of content reign king in the online realm. However, not all content is created equal, and to tap into the minds of consumers, it is important that your freelance writer is crafting psychologically powerful prose. With this in mind, there are three important guidelines that should shape any freelance writer’s repertoire.
Avoid Negative Verbiage
The human mind is unable to process negative images. Can you imagine not feeling an emotion, or not seeing an image? For example, when you read the phrase, “do not fall down the stairs,” your mind automatically pictures yourself falling down the stairs – and then negates this image. Nonetheless, the negative image has already made an impression on your mind.
Research shows that consumers enjoy interacting with companies and websites that are positive and upbeat. If your content psychologically creates a negative image, this does not bode well for your reader’s sub-conscious impressions. Subsequently, a versed freelance writer will ensure that your content strikes a chord with the reader through positive impressions, instead of negative images.
Understand the Formula E > L
At our very core, human beings are emotional creatures. If your emotions are engaged in a heated battle against logic, the former will win. Human beings are governed by emotion, despite logic’s endeavors. Therefore, if your freelance writer can trigger emotional chords with your reader, this translates into powerful content for your website.
Tap into Psychological Similarity
By our very nature, humans automatically feel a rapport with others who are similar to them. This truth is evidenced by the prevalence of cliques and social groups that dress alike, work in similar professions, live in the same neighborhoods, and share identical interests. Inherently, we like others who we feel are just like us.
To capitalize upon this psychological factor, your freelance writer’s content should identify with the reader. Throughout the content, there should be elements that help the reader relate with your website and company. Make the reader feel an affinity through similarity, and your website becomes deeply compelling.
Hiring a freelance writer who understands these subtle psychological motivators translates into powerful content for your website. By tapping into a consumer’s psychology, you can motivate them into accomplishing your desired goal, whether it is to purchase products or become a dedicated reader.
Read moreAs economists forecast glum sales for this holiday season, retailers are working double-time to induce the holiday shopping spree – long before Thanksgiving and Black Friday are even on the horizon. In an effort to combat the worst seasonal sales since 1991’s recession, businesses have already launched bold holiday online content campaigns, even before the fall leaves change.
As an online business owner, how can you prepare for the dismal forecasts? While consumers are tightening their stockings, there are still four online content strategies you can enact to bring holiday glee to your bottom line.
September is not too early to begin online content marketing
Take a cue from the big box retailers, such as Target and WalMart, who have already launched their holiday promotions. If you start your marketing campaign in September, you have 100 days to capture the important Christmas sales. This gives you time to boost your SEO rankings with keyword-targeted content writing, as well as begin sending targeted newsletters or email campaigns to your customer list.
Your primary focus in September should be on adding SEO content to your website and blog, especially considering that Google’s update is forthcoming in late October. Thereafter, your freelance writer should switch to crafting powerful content for your email campaigns or newsletters. Newsletter content is especially powerful because you parade marketing material under the guise of valuable, helpful information. If you do not currently publish a newsletter, this is the season to begin!
In your early pre-season newsletter content or marketing emails, offer deals and sales that induce your customer base to begin buying gifts – long before their holiday budgets run dry come November or December. A powerful incentive this year is certainly free shipping, as customers are looking to save both on gas and shipping costs.
Offer personalized service
With major discount and luxury retailers alike clamoring for pinched pennies, the businesses that will win this holiday season are those that offer their customers personalized service. For example, whereas every other store sells candles, do they offer monogrammed gift wrap? While many electronics retailers offer Bluetooth phones, will they give away with each purchase a free $10 gift card – which makes a perfect secondary gift? Entice holiday dollars this year by offering service and incentives that go above and beyond the other retailers – and your bottom line will be cheery at the close of 2008.
Create an affordable online gift guide
As more Americans are worried about their budgets, helping them maximize their dollars will result in sales for your online store. In your newsletter content, create an affordable gift guide, including ideas for the $25 and $50 markers. Keep in mind that free shipping and gift wrapping are also enticing strategies for encouraging consumers to open their wallets.
Driving forth your holiday sales this year means capitalizing upon your online storefront. With prohibitive gas prices, along with consumers looking for online “deals,” you overcome many of the hurdles big box retailers face. Start in September with valuable, SEO content writing, and then transition into powerful emails and newsletters that offer tremendous value for the Christmas dollar. By embarking upon your online marketing campaign now, your holiday sales can definitively be jolly.
Read moreHave you ever looked over a glossy magazine advertisement and found yourself unable to find the company tagline? Or, have you driven down the freeway, blinded by a vibrant billboard – only to pass by not knowing who paid for the advertisement? The only responses these advertisements elicit are confusion, followed by laughter at the advertising firm and freelance writer responsible for the senselessness.
Cleary, these advertisements were a tremendous waste of money, and as a self-respecting business owner, you would never subject yourself to such ROI mockery. If this is the case, why are you not maximizing the power of the resource box for your article directory submissions?
Are you committing an online advertising sin?
Too many webmasters and business owners fail to realize the critical real estate an article directory’s resource box provides. Committing business-savvy sin, many webmasters simply throw a URL in the article’s resource box, or compose a biography that is drier than the Sahara.
If you find that your directory articles are not funneling in the level of traffic you would like, then it may be time to revamp your resource box. As freelance writers who are highly specialized in creating content for article directory submissions, we are happy to compose a powerful resource box that attracts your target audience. With that said, should you choose to embark upon this process on your own, there are several important aspects to incorporate in creating a resource box that maximizes your article directory presence.
Three ways to maximize your article directory submissions’ power
Benefit the reader: Attracting a reader to your website means enticing them with benefits. Although these may not be tangible, wording them in a beneficial manner will sub-consciously trigger the reader to click on your website.
Do you have articles or case studies published on your website? Or will you be giving away a free white paper or ezine? Encourage the reader to expand their knowledge base through visiting your site and enjoying these giveaways. Even if you only have product descriptions and sales copy, ask your freelance writer to make even this content sound compelling. For example, if your website simply has product descriptions of cell phones, your freelance writer could write, “Learn how the right cell phone can reduce your risk of brain cancer by visiting our website today.” Providing the reader with a clearly defined benefit will prompt them to take advantage of the opportunity and visit your site.
Incorporate your branding: You should view your article directory submissions as another arm of your strategic marketing efforts, and therefore, you want to ensure that your branding is cohesive across all your advertising mediums.
At the close of the resource box, feel free to include a “soft sell” or tagline for your company – which ideally will tie back into the “benefits” portion of your resource box.
Touching back upon the cell phone website, an effective tagline that brings together both the beneficial and branding elements could be, “Dedicated to saving consumers money and protecting their health, Mr. Cell Phone evaluates all products with a meticulous eye for quality and safety.”
Include SEO details: Article directories are an excellent online marketing tool, especially when it relates to SEO. Indeed, you enjoy the back link derived from the article directory, but you can take the SEO benefits one step further by hyper-linking the keyword in question. Therefore, if you want to boost your website’s ranking for “cell phone reviews,” you should hyper-link that particular keyphrase with an appropriate URL. From a SEO perspective, this is more powerful than simply listing the URL to your website.
The resource box should not be viewed as an opportunity to toot the author’s horn, nor should it be an empty space filled with one lonely URL. Instead, take advantage of article marketing to build your branding, traffic, and SEO. In addition, you will never have to worry about other webmasters and business owners laughing at your “advertisement” that neglected to include a tagline.
Read morePresidential campaigns have been won or lost throughout the simple power of mass media. John F. Kennedy’s charismatic TV presence is credited for wining him the election against Richard Nixon, while Ronald Reagon’s acting experience bode well for his all-American character portrayed through the silver screens. In 2008, Obama may win the presidential race through his popularity online – easily symbolized by the incredibly viral video “I got a crush…on Obama” that has been played over 100 million times.
In the 2008 election, internet content is quickly replacing the power of television appearances in determining our country’s future leader. In fact, according to research conducted by the PEW Internet and American Life Project, 46% of Americans utilize Internet content to obtain information regarding the presidential race. More than 35% of Americans watched political videos online, tripling this PEW bellwether since the 2004 election.
Understanding the value of internet exposure, Obama has become a forefront runner in utilizing the web to rally his supporters. The use of social networks, online video, and user-generated content in favor of Obama has given him a strong online edge against McCain – meaning that the Web 2.0 icons of content may play a large role in determining who the next American president is. Is it only a coincidence that 74% of Obama’s internet-using supporters obtained their political news online, while only 57% of Clinton’s did?
We know that content is king in building your presence online. However, with the 2008 presidential elections in mind, is content now presidential? The talking heads and freelance writers are saying yes.
Read moreWe know that in the English-speaking internet realm, content certainly remains king. Whether your freelance writer is performing your content management on the stock market meltdown or creating directory articles on the latest diet pill, it is this content that propels your website forward, both in terms of SEO and traffic. However, could English content be trumped by Chinese characters?
Explosion in Chinese internet strokes
Chinese internet users continue to explode in growth, starting with a measly 620,000 users in 1997 to 210 million this year. According to the Chinese government and the Wall Street Journal, the number of Chinese internet users will soon surpass America. As it currently stands, China is only five million internet users short of trumping America as the champion of the world’s internet usage.
Considering that many of America’s major internet players, such as Yahoo and Google, have content specifically geared for China demonstrates the tremendous economic power behind the five-starred red flag. However, what does this mean to the webmaster?
How American webmasters can capitalize on the Chinese internet
Chinese ecommerce still only accounts for 1% of the overall internet usage, but it is the sheer population size of the Olympics-hosting country that presents tremendous profitability. Indeed, too many venture capitalists have heard the pitch, “If only every person in China bought one of these widgets, we’d be the next Google…” yet this argument still holds true when it comes to Chinese internet usage – especially when it relates to advertising opportunities.
In the second quarter of 2008 alone, China’s internet advertising hit 2.8 billion yuan, which is equivalent to $411 million US dollars. This is significant growth from the 2.2 billion yuan the country saw in its year-to-date online advertising revenues. Therefore, even if ecommerce transactions represent a small percentage of usage, there is ample opportunity for the webmaster – American or Chinese – to create resources that serve as excellent grounds of earning advertising potential.
Perhaps the next service freelance writers should offer is custom content in Chinese.
Read moreIn the SEO battle, growing your backlink troops are a critical part in climbing to victory in the search engines. On July 24th, your battle was just made easier. The mammoth search engine powerhouse Google has announced that it is giving away direct backlinks…in a sense.
A unit of knowledge, a backlink of optimization
With the launch of Knol (which is Google’s categorization of a unit of knowledge), Google is creating a hybrid competitor to Wikipedia and Associated Content. Knol is Google’s take on a community-contributed encyclopedia, but with the inclusion of opinionated slants.
For example, instead of having one dry entry defining “freelance writer,” Google’s Knol encourages many entries and opinions regarding “freelance writers.” As a nod to Google’s dedication to the free flow of knowledge, the entries will not be edited, nor blessed or disgraced. Instead, the author has the free reign to be the freelance writer, editor, and publisher all together.
If you are already writing content for directories, or hiring article writers, then publishing on Google’s Knol is an easy addition to your article marketing SEO strategy. Google’s launch of Knol presents a perfect opportunity to continue to develop your online authority, as well as enjoy a potential backlink from the foremost online powerhouse itself.
How Google’s Knol will work
Within your Knol page, you or your freelance writer can include a wide variety of information and resources related to your subject matter. As indicated by the Knol screenshot, you and your article writer can compose valuable, in-depth information, including photos and links to related resources. If your website has solid information related to the Knol, then you can link your website to your Google Knol – which gives you that powerful backlink directly from the search engine mammoth itself. Even if you have a retail website, you can link to informative articles on your blog that are related to the topic matter.
Google has indicated that they will rank their Knol pages based upon their current search engine algorithms. Depending upon the quality of the content your freelance writer composes, your specific Knol page will be ranked appropriately in the Google search results for the specific term. Therefore, if you write or hire a freelance writer to create a truly valuable, in-depth resource, then you will most likely be ranked highly in Google search results – which then gives that backlink to your website even more weight in SEO.
Additional marketing perks with the Knol
For PR purposes, you can also include an in-depth personal biography, including your photo and affiliations. This increases your authority online, which subsequently boosts the credibility of your website and professional endeavors.
In addition, you cannot discount the amount of exposure you will receive through Google’s Knol pages. If you create a valuable Knol which is ranked highly in the search engines, then natural traffic will come through your Knol, bringing you and your website even greater publicity to your target audience.
As a further brownie point, you can even opt to include Google Adwords on your Knol! Combined with the SEO benefits, publishing on Knol certainly makes your investment in a quality freelance writer worthwhile.
Read moreAs the economic walls in the United States crumble from the force of a recessionary disaster, many business owners and webmasters are scrambling to keep their revenues afloat. In May and June, American consumer confidence hit a 16-year low, according to the Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index – meaning that consumers are tightening their buckles, wallets, and even piggy banks.
Considering that consumer spending constitutes 75% of the American economy, business owners are feeling the pinch from wallets snapping shut. Surveyed professionals who claimed that business conditions are “bad” rose from 29.7% in May to 32.5% in June, while those who argued that business conditions have been “good” fell from 13% in May to 11.5% in June.
Whether you operate a brick-and-mortar business in America, or are an international webmaster, the clinch in American spending impacts every business owner around the world. However, with intelligent marketing and savvy strategic positioning, you can maintain your revenues – or potentially grow your profits.
Strategy #1: Market Intelligently Beyond the Big Ad Spenders
As financial advisors are cautioning their clients, the key to overcoming a recession lies in diversification. Diversifying your client base is an important element of weathering the recessionary storm. The internet allows you to reach out to clients who were previously inaccessible, giving you an unprecedented ability to diversify your customer base.
Whereas paying for PPC becomes extremely prohibitive, especially when your budget is tight, search engine optimization becomes your best friend during a recession. Start a blog, which will infuse keywords that boost your SEO, as well as connect you with existing and potential clients. Or, you could hire a freelance blog writer, allowing you to focus on the operations of your business. Visit other popular, relevant blogs and comment on their posts, which also creates a backlink to your site. Write articles for publication in the article directories, or hire a freelance article writer (such as Communicate Better) to ghostwrite on your behalf. Find other websites and businesses that have a synergistic component, create a strategic alliance, and publish articles on their sites that will send a valuable backlink to your website.
Too many business owners limit their budget when a recession is on the horizon, yet this is one of the worst strategies you can implement in your business. Remember, marketing dollars are a wise investment, spent to generate business. Nonetheless, you can be smart with your invested marketing dollars, which goes furthest in achieving SEO and better rankings. Using intelligent keywords, publishing articles, and updating the content on your website will optimize your search engine results, giving you natural, free, and targeted traffic that easily converts into customers.
Strategy #2: Demonstrate Your Love for Existing Clients
Indeed, keeping an existing customer costs significantly less than attracting a new one – and this adage certainly holds true in a recession. Look to your existing clients, as these will be the revenue stream that will keep your business floating through the recession. As your competitors would like to increasingly attract your clients away, you must take precautions and extra steps to cement their customer loyalty. Stay in touch with your clients, and make sure that they know you are receptive to their needs and suggestions. You could even create a rewards program for existing clients, or offer them special discounts. By helping them when times are tough, their loyalty will repay you threefold.
Strategy #3: Keep the Pulse on Your Competitors
During slower economic times, your competitors will make changes to their pricing structure and product offerings. When you constantly keep your finger on the pulse of their activities, you can ensure that you are appropriately positioned in the marketplace. If your competition is offering major sales, make sure that you provide discounts to keep your clients and remain a viable player in the market. In addition, you may also gleam important marketing knowledge from their activities. For example, if you run a website selling herbal pills, and your competitor begins to branch out to reach the gym-crowd, then you may want to incorporate that target audience into your marketing efforts.
Strategy #4: Show Your Humorous, Fun Side
While economic times are tough, spirits are down and consumers are understandably melancholy by the lack of digits in their bank accounts. However, if you can keep the mood light and humorous, both existing and new clients will appreciate your fun side. In fact, according to Tom Peters, who is one of America’s top marketing gurus, 70% of all customers would instantly change brands if they find one that has more fun. This is why Virgin Airlines and Southwest beat out the “serious” airlines, Google wins over Yahoo and MSN, and Trader Joe’s wins greater fans than Whole Foods.
How does this translate to your business? In your marketing efforts, blog, newsletters, website content, and even your email correspondence, show off the personality of your company. Hire a freelance writer and explain to them the importance of being fun and humorous in your web copy. Feel free to include personal stories, client stories, fun adages…anything goes when it comes to relating with your clients and making them feel happier about being a part of your company’s family.
A recession does not have to force your company to suffer. In fact, with intelligent, creative, and fun strategies that cement your client base – and expose you to new customers – you can maintain your revenues through any type of economic turbulence.
Read moreIn the traditional business world, there was one philosophy that dictated whether your company would fail or succeed: “location, location, location.” Even in today’s financial and business services industry, this continues to hold true, whether you are vying for space in Times Square or in the Silicon Valley.
The Internet still commands ” location, location, location”
Interestingly, with the advent of the internet, the value of “location” still holds true. Although your location is not determined by how close you are to Rodeo Drive or Wall Street, it is still based upon traffic. A Wall Street address has been replaced by your rankings within search engine results, and “foot” traffic is now substituted by “click” traffic.
Indeed, the value of your online business is clearly and easily measured by how much traffic comes into website. The better “location” you have within the search engines, the more “click” traffic will visit your website, and the higher your value of success.
Although there are many SEO strategies employed by website owners, such as meta-tag information and keyword optimization, there has been one technique often overlooked by many webmasters: article marketing. In one fell swoop, article marketing not only increases your business’ location in the search engines, but also deepens your branding and gives you exposure to your target client base.
Publish one article, get significant benefits free
Article marketing is one of the most powerful techniques for search engine optimization. The adage “content is king” is reflective of the value of article marketing – as is the erudite concept, “publish or perish.” Considering that the search engine algorithms continuously feed off new content, you can nourish the bots (and your page rankings) by spooning “page-fuls” of delicious content in articles. In the interim, you also gain significant footing with your target audience, while you build credibility in the industry.
Capitalizing upon the power of article marketing can give your website the prime location it truly deserves. Turn your web address into the value of a Wall Street address through the power of Internet marketing.
Read moreThere is only one element that drives forth the revenue growth of your online business: traffic.
The volume of your traffic is the difference between life and death for your website. Unfortunately, with the skyrocketing rates of PPC, generating niche, targeted traffic to your website is no longer easy or economically feasible.
However, you can harness the power of traffic by befriending a superhero strategy – one that generates free, targeted traffic to your website. Here to save your website’s day are the humble, yet powerful, articles. Publishing targeted articles can drive exponential traffic to your website, making this SEO superhero your business’ most cost-effective, potent friend.
The adage “content is king” still reigns true, and publishing SEO articles is the ultimate way to build your online kingdom.
Increase your SERPs
Consistently publishing unique articles is the most important element to increasing your standings in the search engines – which is the key to capturing targeted traffic. With nearly 85% of all online business transactions initiated via a search engine, tapping into this powerful source of traffic is critical to unleashing the potential of your business.
When you regularly add new articles to your website, the search engine bots will return to your website frequently to crawl the new information. In turn, your relevant, fresh content will contribute to building your SERPs. When you are publishing new articles on your website, keep in mind the following SEO strategies:
Keep in mind that a high natural listing on the search engines is invaluable to attracting traffic. According to consumer research, 70% – 80% of users prefer to click on a natural listing, as opposed to sponsored ads.
Grow your valuable back links
A relevant, quality article should be shared with the world – while you simultaneously build the back links that increase your SERPs. Websites, blogs, and article directories all crave fresh content, and if you submit a well-written, valuable article, others will publish your content – giving you a valuable back link. The number of back links to your website plays a large role in your search engine rankings, and articles are a great way to obtain link partners.
Attract natural, targeted traffic
The entire purpose of increasing your SERPs is to drive in more traffic to your website. In addition to increasing your SEO, articles also naturally attract direct traffic. When you share and publish your articles with other websites, blogs, and directories, you automatically obtain free exposure.
A valuable, insightful, and helpful article will attract readers, who will be compelled to learn more directly at your website. In addition, the authoritative information you have shared with the reader builds your company’s credibility and legitimacy, which are important in converting traffic into monetized customers.
When you capitalize upon the power of writing articles, your website benefits comprehensively – not only from direct traffic and exposure, but from the long-term value of higher search engine page rankings.
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