Calculate the ROI of your SEO Campaign and Get Rid of the Guesswork

For many years the search engine optimization work I have done on my own sites has been pretty hit and miss.  My SEO strategy basically consisted of researching the search volume of keywords via wordtracker or the Google keyword tool and making a list based on what search terms were products I actually sold on my ecommerce sites.  I would then create lists and sublists and assign articles to be written to my team of writers in the Philippines.  Their assignment was to basically write anything as long as it made sense and they used the keywords in their articles.  I would then assign the link builders to distribute the articles online and use the keywords in the author resource box.  I did a whole lot of other things such as building a network of mini sites where each site used 80-100 different keywords as well as building up web 2.0 properties that also linked out using 20-100 different keywords per site.  If I had to illustrate it, I would say that it was more like a shotgun blast approach to marketing.  We would fire the shotgun and hope that some of the bullets hit their target and stuck.  This strategy works.  It still works.  It will probably always work.  But this strategy left me feeling like I was guessing at what I was doing and made it nearly impossible to tell which strategy was actually working and which strategy was generating the most results and highest return on investment (ROI).

As I was talking to my business coach the other day I was telling her how motivated I am for this next coming year.  I was telling her that I finally feel like I am at the place where I know the formula.  I know my analytics.  I know my conversion rate at the keyword level.  I know how much traffic is generated per month and per year for specific keywords and where I am currently ranking for each of those keywords.  I know that if I improve my ranking from number 13 to number 1 for a specific keyword then my sales should increase by x amount of dollars.  I know my profit margin on sales and how much money is left over for marketing after expenses.  With all that information I can take my SEO knowledge and invest the specific budget of marketing dollars for a specific keyword and know that it is going to take x amount of time to achieve top ranking and make a profit.  I know which keywords are more profitable and which ones are a complete waste of time and resources.  The guesswork is gone and success is in the numbers.

So let’s get started!

How to determine the ROI of your SEO Campaign!

1. Build Your Website.  Make sure your website is SEO friendly and follows best practices for your visitors.  Focus on the adding features that will improve the conversion rate of your site as well as make it extremely easy to navigate.

2. Install Google Analytics or other favorite analytics software and track your sales and conversions at the keyword level.  This step is essential.  If you are not tracking your sales and conversions at the keyword level, it will be impossible to determine which keywords to focus your SEO campaign on.

3. If your site is new or does not yet have analytics data, then set up some PPC tests.  This also must be done correctly and at the keyword level so that you can track the impressions, click through rate, and conversions.  Set your ppc budget high enough so that your ads will show but not so high that you lose your shirt (or house) in the process.

4. Determine the average transaction value of an order.  If you can, also determine the lifetime value of a customer.  This is particularly true for sites that have a low front-end, but offer a membership or other products.

5. Narrow your list of keywords to the top 20-100 based on search volume and the conversion rate for your site.

6. Record the following info into an excel spreadsheet:

a. Keyword
b. Global Search Volume Exact Match
c. Monthly Search Volume Exact Match
d. 50% of Monthly Search Volume
e. Actual Page Views
f. Average Transaction Value
g. Current Organic Rank
h. Conversion Rate
i. Profit Margin

7. Determine what percentage of traffic you are currently receiving by dividing the Actual Page Views by the Monthly Search Volume.

8. Determine your annual sales by multiplying your actual page views by your conversion rate and the average transaction value and by 12 (for each of the 12 months).

9. Determine what your annual sales could by if you were ranking number one for the keyword by multiplying the 50% of monthly search volume by your conversion rate and the average transaction value and by 12 (for each of the 12 months.)

10. Subtract the number from the calculation in step 8 from the number in calculation in step 9.  This is how much your sales could increase if you moved from your current organic search rank to be number one in Google for your keyword.

11. Repeat the above for each of your keywords and determine which keyword will give you the most increase in sales.

12. Calculate your Annual profit margin and divide it in half to determine what your marketing budget should be for each keyword.

Although the above 12 steps might seem overwhelming at first, most of the steps can be outsourced to a virtual assistant for a few dollars.  The most difficult part, the analysis, should be done by the business owner or search marketing manager.  Also please note that the 50% click through rate for a number one organic listing is only an estimate.  The actual percentage rates are only known by the search engines themselves.  If you do the analysis however, you can safely determine which keywords will be the most profitable and know where to focus your efforts on for your search engine optimization campaign.

For a personalized ROI report for your business and to determine which keywords are the best to focus on for your site, give us a call!

Make More Online Sales – 5 Tips for Success

Budding entrepreneurs face the same issues as those who have been operating an online store for years, mainly how to increase conversion and make more sales. While optimizing pages pushes you up the rank ladder, you’ve got to be able to make sales once the buyer is on your site. Here are 5 tips to help you do just that.

Create Content that causes a response –
Everyone with an online store has some experience with creating content for pages. Whether you offer a product or service, writing compelling copy is a high priority. Consumers need to know that you have what they need, but they don’t want to be sold. The fickle nature of an online shopper can be a challenge; but when you write content that is read, understood, and reacted to, you have gained a leg up. How do you do this? Simply put, you acknowledge what problem the consumer is facing, expand upon the problem just enough for them to know they need to change it, and then you promote how your product solves that problem or fills a need.

Create Urgency –
Some ecommerce entrepreneurs have experienced great success with limited time offers. When a site visitor knows that a deal is only on the table for so long, they are more inclined to hit the buy button. Stores that utilize this sales method are successful when their offers really do expire. If your site promotes a limited time offer, but it seems to be ongoing, you run the risk of losing credibility with customers.

Take a Cue from the Grocery Store Checkout –
Every time you go through the checkout line at the grocery store, there is a certain temptation to grab that pack of gum or candy bar; and these aren’t even things that you need! In your own online store, you can create this same “impulse buying” scenario and thus increase your sales. For instance, If your site sells clothing, then you could promote a belt or other accessory. Just about any niche has its own set of add on products that can work to get you more sales. Another way to get customers to look at additional purchases is to link from one product to another that compliments it.

Pricing: It is what it is –
The last thing a customer wants is to encounter hidden charges that pop up during the check out process. For this reason, it is best to practice full disclosure right on your product or service page, to include shipping charges if there are any.

Give Something for Nothing –
Along the lines of pricing, a huge bonus is to offer free shipping to customers. Some companies do this on orders over a certain price, while others offer free shipping on the majority of their items. When offering free shipping, you need to make sure that you can do this without losing money on the item being sold.

In building your online store, there are plenty of things to think about; site design, vendor relations, and more. In all that you do to attract new customers, also make sure that you create an environment in your customer service department that will enhance customer relations and bring your customers back time and time again.

Optimizing Your Twitter Background

In business, the name of the game is recognition. Business cards carry a logo or image that piques interest and makes you the one people remember. Today, instead of merely exchanging cards and numbers with peers, people are turning to the mega success of social media to make business connections and gain an audience.

At this point, there is no need to tout the benefits of Twitter. If you’re not using it yet, get on board now and start tweeting your thoughts, your ideas, your favorite quotes, and maybe a coupon or two for your business. But don’t just do it; do it with style.

Think of your twitter background as your business card design. Under Twitter Settings, there are template designs that can be used to spruce up your profile. But why stick with status quo when you can outdo the competition. On Twitter, you are building a following. Those who follow your tweets may visit your page a time or two. And when they do, why not give them a glimpse into what your business is all about? Using photographs, patterns or a business card style background, your profile can stand out when others will be forgotten.

There are a few ways you can add photos to your Twitter background. One, you can use a background generator like Twilk. This online generator takes your friends’ profile photos and turns them into a collage background for your profile. While this can be fun, it doesn’t do much for branding your own business.

To really do up a profile that you can customize to your business, all you need is a little help from Photoshop and a bit of imagination. Using a Photoshop image, the left hand side of your Twitter profile can be set up with your logo, business card image, or custom graphic that changes right along with any special deal you may be running at the moment.

Filling the entire background with one large image is a possibility if you have Photoshop. Filling the background is best done with an image sized at least 1280×1024 pixels in size, preferably larger. Depending on the background and whether or not it can be nicely blended into a solid background color or not, sizes from 1600×1200 and even up to 2048×1600 for some backgrounds is recommended.

Not up to speed with Photoshop? That’s ok. You can still create an eye-catching Twitter background by uploading any image that you have taken, it just might take some resizing to get it to show up just the right way. Another option using photos is to Google search “tile background”; doing this will result in thousands of downloadable background options. You can show off the nature lover lurking inside of you, or display an image that compliments your business.
Your Twitter background has the ability to work for you just like a business card or brochure does. Utilize the space on the left side, and even a bit of the top of the page, to promote something, anything pertaining to your business or service. Creating a professional-looking Twitter background makes a stellar first impression and will help you pick up followers simply because you have caught their attention when so many other profiles failed to create interest.
Your profile may only be seen by one person one time, but the result could very well be worth any time and effort you have put into your profile creation. Now multiply that by all of the “one persons” who may view your profile only one time and consider the possibilities! Get creative, have fun, and start tweeting!

Utilizing Social Media is Beneficial for Your Small Business

As if you needed reminding, social media is the way to go when you are building a business of any sort. There are even authors using Twitter to build up their following! Seeing that, there should be no reason whatsoever for any small business owner to pass up the opportunity to work on branding and using social media to do just that.

A funny thing has begun to happen in the world society over the past several years; a reverting back to the days of our forefathers so to speak. When grandma and grandpa went to the country store in their small town or village, they knew the store owner. They knew who was selling them flour and sugar and coffee. While for some years, society as a whole became seduced by the “get it quick, get it cheap” lure, people all over the globe are now seeing that cheaper isn’t always better, and that fast doesn’t compare to trust when it comes to getting a product or service you need.

With the birth of the internet came a huge opportunity to expand your reach as a business owner, or start that business you never would have in the first place. But online business comes with its own set of obstacles; the biggest one being the desire of consumers to have a familiarity with the companies from whom they make their purchases. When people enter in that precious credit card information upon ordering your product or service, they want to feel as though they are handing cash over to the local store owner, just like grandma and grandpa did.

How do you do this when your business is online? It’s all about social networking, my friend, so hop on board and start learning how to make the most of sites like Twitter and Facebook while the getting is hot! Let’s take a look at just a few specific ways that social media can help you grow your small business:

The world is aflutter with tweets from the bustling site, Twitter. It seems that everyone from Al Gore to Miley Cyrus has something to say! Using Twitter allows you access to your core customers in real time, that’s the draw. To be truly successful, don’t focus solely on business topics. Be real, be you, be known.

Facebook is a great social site for businesses because it gives the ability to create not only a profile but also a fan page. This customizable page allows you to place coupons for your customers and post business updates that they may find interesting. Keeping your Facebook fan page up to date is as important is tweeting several times each day.

With all of the sites one can use – Facebook, Twitter, Yelp, etc – it’s easy to get caught up in “out there”. To really make a connection, it is highly recommended that any business also have their own blog or social hub that is updated regularly. Really, this is the whole purpose of making noise on other sites, to get people to visit YOUR site! This is where you can speak in your own voice in your own area of expertise. A blog or social hub is where you can offer great tips and tricks of your trade and create a reputation that will draw customers back to your site time and time again.

Each of the areas of social media marketing takes time. But as a business owner, your main focus is to bring more business through your doors – real or virtual. By spending necessary time getting to know your customers through social media, you will win trust and grow your business big.

Strategic Internet Marketing

Even during times of recession when it seems like many major companies are focused on downsizing, you can grow your business in such a way that it will thrive once the good times begin rolling again. The internet marketing strategies that you engage in over the next several months will lead you right down the path you want.

 

Consider this: more than two thirds of all consumers visit the Web for when seeking information on their desired type of product or service. It is due to this reason that the majority of companies have switched their marketing gears over recent years. However, that does not mean that one should focus solely on internet marketing techniques to build their business. Press releases in your local paper and of course stellar customer service are still good ways to grow your clientele.

 

Email marketing is a strong strategy, especially when the target audience is prior customers or those you may have met at market fairs of some sort. People who have willingly given you their email will be more likely to peruse a usable newsletter full of tips and information that will help make their lives easier. Remember, when you have something of value to offer, your word will be read.

 

At a time when people are seeing less revenue generated, it may seem like the time to abandon costly pay per click campaigns. I wouldn’t necessarily say stop this practice altogether, because you want to maintain high visibility. However, slower times can be the best times to review and analyze the pay per click campaigns and Adword campaigns you are running. Minimizing to very focused terms may help you gain more relevant and qualified traffic.

 

In fact, investing some time in really taking a good look at all of your internet marketing strategies can give you a good picture of what is really working for you and what is not. Change is inevitable and making changes will definitely be a necessity for you at some point in time. Looking at results from your current efforts should show you the direction you want to focus on in the coming months, and will also show you mistakes you have been making. Mistakes are wonderful learning experiences if you grow from them.

 

For instance, if you have been submitting articles to directories for the past year and you’re not seeing much traffic come from them, consider changing the location of these articles. Perhaps the same articles would receive more attention if placed in a blog relevant to your niche product or service. Perhaps you need to look at outsourcing blog writing to someone who has the time and expertise to read and respond to blog posts on your behalf. Perhaps creating articles for Squidoo and Hub pages is the way to get more exposure in a social networking manner. The real point is that if you try looking in different directions for your internet marketing, you just may be surprised by some astounding results.

The Way To a Truly Powerful Press Release

Using press releases to build up your company’s reputation is a smart idea. First of all, press releases are an economical way to advertise. Second, a good press release tells the public about you or your company in third person form, which can – if written well – come across as a recommendation. But jumping right into writing a press release isn’t something for everyone. If you are really in a hurry to get started with putting good information out on the web, then I would highly recommend hiring a professional to write up your press release for you.

Why hire a professional when you are the one who knows all about your company? Simple: because the general public does not want to read a long information sheet detailing the history of ABC, Inc. Writing a release that contains general company information or what your company has done this week (unless it leans to the philanthropic side) will simply not get anyone’s attention.

The key to press releases is that you want to grab the reader’s attention in a short amount of time. Think about it like this: you wouldn’t strike up a conversation with someone in line at Starbucks and tell them the entire history of your company. If anything, you may make a few statements that will entice your target audience to want to know more. This is what you want your press release to do – just grab someone’s attention and get them to link back to your company page.

Step one is a great headline. You’ve got to put yourself in the shoes of the person you want to attract and think of a catchy headline that will make them read the entire press release. Say your company donates to a charity such as the local blood bank; your press release could say “ABC, Inc. Is Saving Lives Again”. This is marketing folks. If you’re boring, you won’t get read.

Next, your press release will need to be short, sweet and to the point. Avoid placing anything mundane into a press release. Also avoid putting in more information than absolutely necessary. Press releases need not be any longer than 200-400 words to grab attention. Remember, you can always link back to a full document with further information on what you are advertising. The point of your press release is to tease the reader to want to read more.

Press releases can also be a part of your SEO campaigns. Just as your web pages contain certain keywords with the right density so should anything you release out onto the web. Optimized releases have worked to increase rankings as well as traffic to a site, so go for it! Not everyone is set up for writing, so if you haven’t begun making the most of this marketing effort because writing your own press release is a daunting task, then find the help of a professional. The rewards are well worth the investment.

Work More Efficiently With Basecamp

Those who work on multiple projects with several clients and team members know how difficult it can be to keep communication streamlined and stay on track throughout the duration of the project. In the past, there would be phone calls flying back and forth with notes scribbled on a notepad or transcribed into a word document. Then came email, and files upon files would be filled with emails that had been printed out or those emails sat in files on computers that were quickly overloaded.

Now you can ease the stress of project management by implementing the tool that is Basecamp. Using this collaboration tool, you will be amazed at how easy it is to facilitate smooth transitions between several projects at one time, even when there are several team members involved in each project!

Key benefits to Basecamp are file management, features and flexibility. Files can be easily uploaded to the specific project in which they belong with notices being sent to those who need to receive the file. Basecamp offers all the features busy managers need and doesn’t overwhelm you with features you don’t need. Your Basecamp profile can also be customized to your project and company! Using the message boards, communication between team members is facilitated and encouraged through ease of use. These benefits combine to give project management a whole new direction.

Using Basecamp’s Dashboard, you can get an overview of each project you’ve got stewing. On this page, you will be able to track milestones and deadlines as well as see new messages and files.

What busy managers may appreciate the most is their ability to create To-Do lists and milestones that will keep team members on track. Placing such items in Basecamp instead of simply sending a memo or email to team members is a better way to ensure work is monitored daily by all involved in the project.

You can also track time on Basecamp based on the To-Do lists you have created. Tracking time is as easy as clicking on the Time icon in Basecamp and then choosing a date when work was completed, the person who completed the task, and the task that was completed. This information is then saved in Basecamp but can also be exported in comma separated format into excel. Time tracking can be built right into the To-Do list by clicking Edit on the To-Do list and enabling the time tracking function. When you do this, a clock will be displayed next to each task on the To-Do list and time can be entered by clicking on the clock.

In addition to having the ability to send messages and create easy to follow threads in the message board, Basecamp also provides a chat feature. This feature is in real time and is widely used for Q&A with team members and clients at the beginning and end of a project. Even if you do not utilize the Chat feature, the Message board with threads can contain all pertinent information and allow communication to remain consistent throughout the duration of your project.

“Basecamp takes a fresh, novel approach to project collaboration. Projects don’t fail from a lack of charts, graphs, stats, or reports, they fail from a clear lack of communication. Basecamp solves this problem by providing tools tailored to improve the communication between people working together on a project.”

SEO Scores BIG for You

Over the past few years, research has shown that more than 70% of online consumers set out to find a product or service by hitting the search engines.  With numbers like that, any business owner can see the immense benefit of optimizing their web pages to rank high in those search engines.

Just in case you are just getting started, I’ll quickly recap the basics of this valuable business building tool.  Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is a method of getting a website to place higher in search engine listings.  Typically, the higher a site ranks in search engine listings, the more traffic it will receive.  Wikipedia states that “optimizing a website primarily involves editing its content and HTML coding to both increase its relevance to specific keywords..”

So, that pretty much spells out the What and the Why of SEO.  Optimizing your web pages to contain the most relevant keywords and content helps your site to show up sooner when a consumer enters in what they are searching for.  And showing up within the first page of results increases your chances of site visitors.  Research has shown that consumers rarely search past the first three pages of search results, with most site visitors coming from the first page.

With all the other methods of marketing to choose from, years have gone by with business owners missing out on the FREE advertising they could be getting by just using quality optimized content on their web pages.  Maybe this is because the task of optimizing web pages can be time consuming for those who don’t do it regularly.  If this is the case, such business owners can benefit from working side by side with a professional SEO writing service to get their site noticed.

So why should you invest in content and organic rankings (ranking that isn’t bought through costly pay per click campaigns)?  Here’s one reason that should top all others.  Studies have shown that consumers are much more likely to click on organic listings over sponsored ads.  Even though a sponsored site may have the exact product or service the consumer needs, the subconscious mindset is that they don’t want to be sold on what they need.  Organic rankings come across as more of a recommendation versus a traditional ad.   Not only are these listings more likely to generate traffic, but they also carry a higher likelihood for conversion.

When done correctly, search engine optimization can increase the web traffic your site sees, bringing in people that are actually looking for what you are offering.  Clearly they want what you have to offer because they typed in the keyword or phrase that directly relates to your site.  Because understanding the ins and outs of SEO can take some time, it may be most helpful to have a professional SEO help you target the right keywords and make sure users actually see you.  This can ensure not only that you are visible, but also that those who see you really are looking for what you have to offer.

Start Ranking Now - Benefits of Outsourcing Work

I can remember even back in the 90’s companies were turning some of their tasks over to an outside business.  Most of my first paychecks came from a company outside of the one I actually worked for.  Back then, it seemed like outsourcing was limited to payroll, human resources and possibly IT services.  That is not the case anymore.

More and more, companies throughout the world are realizing the true benefits of outsourcing work to professionals outside of their own organization; and they span much farther than just cutting operational costs.  Even with many coming to this realization, there are still plenty of companies out there who have yet to learn that the lowest price doesn’t necessarily equal the best proposal.  While some get lucky in their overseas outsourcing efforts, many more find that their attempt to save a few dollars wound up costing more in the long run after work had to be fixed.  When you take into consideration the fact that you are saving thousands of dollars by outsourcing instead of hiring a full time employee, you can find it in the budget to make sure you hire a professional that is an expert in their field.

So it’s clear that money can be saved through outsourcing work of all sorts.  What other benefits can be gained by hiring someone outside of your company to handle tasks?  The most frequently cited improvements shown from surveys included better ability to plan, higher levels of operational reliability, and more rapid implementation of new strategies and initiatives.  Now, when you are in the process of trying to grow your business (as so many of us are right now), all of these benefits are quite worthwhile.

Through outsourcing, a busy CEO can plan for the future of videos used on his site instead of spending days on end trying to write a video script and set up video equipment.  Through outsourcing to U.S. writers, a business owner can focus on fulfilling orders instead of increasing web traffic through proper SEO practices.  Just these two tasks alone save months of work and thousands of dollars when they are outsourced to a startrankingnow company that specializes in this type of work.

Another way that outsourcing work such as writing and internet marketing benefits a company is in the time it saves a business owner from either both learning all the latest and greatest techniques and requirements and from having to find and train an employee in them.  Even if you were to learn SEO and video marketing, for instance; anytime there is a change, you would have to be on top of it in order for your marketing efforts to pay off the way they can and should.  Better to hire a professional marketing service to handle those tasks because it is their job to stay abreast of all the latest tools of the trade and all avenues they can utilize to help you grow your business.

Think there is risk in outsourcing because an outside company does not have a vested interest in your business?  This is an understandable concern.  However, when you take the time to ensure you are working with a reputable company like Start Ranking Now, you can rest easy that they understand taking care of your business IS their business.

Social Media Marketing - Social Media Marketing for Growth

Here’s what I see as the big dilemma of online business:  people don’t like to be sold.  This mindset held by millions of consumers worldwide produces highly fickle shoppers that will bounce from a website quickly if they feel the old “car salesman” push.

Where does that leave growing businesses when trying to get the word out about new products features and benefits?  Pay per click campaigns can quickly add up to large amounts of investment for customers who click on your page and then leave.  They also can sit idle because consumers who see those links on the search engine as advertisements will simply skip over them and move on to search results that show up organically. 

What does this one behavior tell you about online shoppers?  I think it says that consumers like recommendations from other consumers over sales pitches from the store that has exactly what they are looking for.  This behavior also accounts for the widespread popularity of Social Media and Social Media Marketing.  First let’s look at Social Media.

Typically, media refers to news and print.  In regards to marketing, using traditional media techniques, called industrial media”, can be so costly that a small business could never hope to invest in marketing of this kind.  Social Media is generated by users, not manufacturers.  Take YouTube for instance:  this highly popular site is filled to the brim with videos ranging from funny animals to business techniques.  What is special about YouTube is that the videos posted there are done so by users, not employees of the company. 

Social media can take many different forms.  These include weblogs or social blogs, podcasts, internet forums, pictures and video.  Just about everyone with a MySpace profile has favorite pictures and videos plastered through their site pages, as well as their favorite playlist.  What happens in Social Media is that users are now active participants in the whole online experience.

Now, how does this apply to your business?  Easy.  Keep in mind that people do business with people they know.  Up until now, it has been a bit of a difficult task to earn the trust of the average fickle pickle consumer.  But for the business owner who utilizes powerful Social Media Marketing techniques, business has never been better.  Becoming active on Social Media sites such as Twitter, YouTube or even Facebook and Myspace allows a company to reach out to the public in a way that is non-threatening. Startrankingnow is a good example to this.

Creating a blog is another way to interact with consumers.  Setting up and posting regularly about general issues relating to your business without pushing a product or service shows them that you are a good source of information, not a salesperson.  When first getting into the blogosphere, it is wise not to talk much about yourself.  Here’s another wise tip:  people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.  Show that you care about the thoughts and opinions of others when posting blogs and you will gain a reputation that will eventually lead to increased site traffic and sales. 

Importance of Pinging Your Blog

Up until recently, most people wouldn’t be able to discern the meaning of the word Ping if not related to Ping Pong.  But now, with the ever advancing technology of the internet, Pinging is an everyday occurrence. 

Remember that old movie with Kevin Costner, Field of Dreams?  Probably the most famous line of the movie was “If you build it, he will come”.  So famous is that line, in fact, that it has been used all over the world in all sorts of situations.  While many mistakenly thought that they could build a website with a great product or service and “they would come”, they quickly found out that ecommerce just doesn’t work that way.  Pinging can help change all that. 

Here’s how it usually happens:  Mr. Entrepreneur delves eagerly into the fascinating ecommerce world after searching high and low for the right product to sell or service to offer; After the product is in place, Mr. Entrepreneur builds a pimped out website with graphics and images that will attract the customer, maybe he even writes a few articles and places them on distribution sites or creates a blog that he posts to every week.  He then sits back and waits for them to come.  In doing all of the work to increase web traffic, what Mr. Entrepreneur misses is the key factor of HOW.  How do they know to come if they aren’t told where to go?  They will only come if you tell them to!  Pinging takes care of that.

According to Wikipedia, Pinging is described as “In blogging, ping is an XML-RPC-based push mechanism by which a weblog notifies a server that its content has been updated.”  You’ve got to love layman’s terms for describing a high tech process!  The inner workings of pinging are not what is really important to an ecommerce business; what IS important is that it works; and by that, Mr. Entrepreneur earns business. 

As a website owner, you are the CEO of your own business – the driver of your own destiny.  Your most valuable asset in building your business is your time.   You have spent that time choosing a product or perfecting your service.  You have spent it in learning the basics of web development and in hiring a team of professionals to handle tasks you are not skilled at.  Because you have spent your most valuable commodity getting your business going, it is pretty clear that you desire success as the end result.  Without employing the power of the Ping, you may be missing the big boat.  What pinging does is gets the word out that your marketing avenue, typically a blog, has updated.

There are multiple services that can ping a blog.  Instead of spending your time, your greatest asset, to find out how and what and where to ping, contact the professionals at StartRankingNow and have them take care of the service for you.  Not only can they ping your blogs to the most used sites; they can even write the blogs for you!  Those who are serious about increasing web traffic will be pinging.  Otherwise, they simply are not making the most of the marketing opportunities available. 

Smart Realtors Use Search Engines for Marketing

In decades past, a Realtor would spend a sunny afternoon baking cookies and welcoming guests at an open house, and they would actually drum up a fair amount of business this way.  Who would have thought that a time would come when a Realtor would benefit from SEO? 

Well, the time is here and the Realtor who can grasp the concept of SEO will gain a leg up on the competition.  In order to do that, the basics of SEO for Real Estate will need to be understood.  Just what is SEO anyway and what does it have to do with selling houses?  According to realtor.com, over 80% of all home purchases start on the Internet.  This creates a unique problem for Realtors to create a web presence that will show clients who you are.

SEO is Search Engine Optimization.  According to Wikipedia, it is “the process of improving the volume and quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via "natural" ("organic" or "algorithmic") search results.”  It is important because it determines a site’s ranking in search engines such as Google.  The higher a site ranks then determines the amount of traffic it will see.  Ranking organically is more effective and far less expensive than attempting to drive traffic with costly pay per click campaigns.

The importance of optimizing your Real Estate web page is so that you get the visitor you want on your site.  What good does it do you if the visitors you are attracting are other professionals like yourself?  None at all.  You are trying to attract home buyers and home sellers, not realtors.  With that in mind, you can set out to optimize your site with basic words that a home buyer or home seller may use in a search; words such as “San Diego Realtor” or “4 bedroom home in Chicago”. 

Here’s the thing; it is ultimately a Realtor’s job to sell homes and take care of the needs of their clients, not write web pages and optimize them for keywords and phrases.  This is why the wisest decision a professional can make is to work with the writing team at Start Ranking Now.  Not only can you optimize your website to attract the targeted traffic you want and need to succeed; you can also establish yourself as an expert in your local area through the use of optimized articles that point back to your website.  Doing this develops your reputation and allows potential clients to feel as though they know you before they have ever met with you in person.

Because people do business with people they know, using SEO in your web content is smart.  It gets you more visibility (which is key for any Realtor) and a familiarity within the community.   So while you are busy putting up signs and baking cookies at your next open house, your website will be working to give you a face on the web.  Use Start Ranking Now to optimize your web page and get ready for business to boom!

Ideainterior.com is now in Puebla!

A lesson in marketing from Idea Interior

Idea Interior is the closest thing to Ikea in Mexico and I am glad to announce that we now have it in Puebla, Mexico! I have to say that I am hardly ever impressed with the marketing skills of new stores in Mexico, but Idea Interior sure knows their stuff.

Before the Grand Opening: A good name and good advertising

Prior to the big grand opening, Idea Interior announced that they were coming to Puebla by putting huge red banners all over the entire construction site.  Although we had no idea of what products were going to be sold, we guessed from the name that they would be selling furniture.  The huge red banners had the name and the date that Idea Interior would be opening.  They also had the unique selling proposition displayed on their banners that they would have over 10,000 square feet of floor space to see all their products.  The location chosen for the new store was ideal.  A new Wal-Mart was being built so they purchased the entire second floor of the new shopping center.  Timing was great.  They opened a few months after the new Wal-Mart opened and just before the holidays.  Opening just after Wal-Mart did, they were able to get foot traffic from Wal-Mart without having to compete directly with Wal-Marts grand opening. 

Opening Day

Although we missed the grand opening, we visited Idea Interior just a few days after it opened.  We were greeted at the entrance of the new shopping center by friendly sales reps dressed in red t-shirts and carrying huge signs, passing out well designed marketing brochures telling us about the new store convenienty located on the second floor.  Although we were going to get some quick shopping done at Wal-Mart, we decided to take a "quick" look around.  We were quickly impressed. 

Our visit to Idea Interior

Walking in the doors of Idea Interior the first thing you see are all the products laid out in a typical apartment like setting in the typical living space of 600 square feet.  Yes I said 600 square feet… and that is for the entire home in Mexico.  Puebla has a lot of new construction and the majority of the homes will range from 50-75 square meters with the average being 60 square meters… for the entire home.  The home usually includes the living and dining room, a small kitchen, 2-3 bedrooms, and a laundry area usually located in the back patio. We lived in such a home for our first 5 years in Puebla so I speak from experience of how important it is to be able to be extremely organized and have many items that can be decorative but extremely functional as well.  I digress.  Needless to say, we were impressed.  The first thing we see when we walk in was all the products laid out in the way they can be used in the home!  A complete kitchen was set up with fridge, chairs, tables, tableware, tablecloths, magnets, and so on! A very small bathroom was set up with a sink with built in cabinet for sale.  The sink literally measured six inches from wall to the edge of the sink.  The faucet was pointed sideways and a small cabinet was under the extremely space concious sink.  Trust me… Mexican bathrooms are usually very small so a small space conscious sink is a great item to sell in Mexico!  Two bedrooms were set up on display as well as a living room with couches, bookshelves, and even books.  Their marketing did not stop with just showing how the items could be used.  On every single item there was a little tag with the price and the words, "This product can be found in …. department."  Amazingly as well, the prices were extremely competitive. We are used to seeing products marked up 200-300% of what you would find them for in the states.  This was a great breath of fresh air! Yes, we were impressed.

As we walked a few steps into the store we saw some more product displays set up as living areas, but this time targeting the owners of larger living spaces.  This was great!  They started with showing how you can use their items in the smallest of spaces, and then upgraded to showing how to use their products in larger spaces!  As we continued our journey we quickly realized that this store was not set up like the typical furniture or home interior store.  Idea Interior did something I had never seen a store do before.  As we continued in, we found that we did not have to make a decision of what we wanted to look at first.  The entire store was set up on a single path.  You had to follow the path through the entire store to see things and there were NO exits!  (Yes of course there were emergency exits.) There was even a map outlining the entire walking course through their store showing you how long it was going to take you to get to a certain section.  After passing the initial entrance, the rest of the store had more of a warehouse type of feel to it.  Having already seen how all the products could be used, we did not mind at all the warehouse atmosphere.  Now of course if you see something, you will want to add it to your cart immediately, as going back to that place where you first saw it, would quickly become a hassle.  But how many people actually go back for something.  Most purchases are impulse buys.  By having the store set up where it is inconvenient to go back to pick up, I believe will further encourage people to add things to their cart.  They can of course always take it out later! 

As we made our way through the store, something happened to us that had never happened before in Puebla, Mexico!  I know this will be hard to believe, and for some very hard to understand, but the workers in the store actually said "Hi" to us!  We were literally in shock when a guy carrying a cleaning bucket who was obviously part of the janitorial staff, looked us directly in the eyes, smiled, and said hi!  To our utter disbelief, this happened no less than 5 times before we made it out of the store.  Every time we walked by a worker, they greeted us!  What is even better is that they were not annoying sales people following us around the store trying to sell us things.  They were just simply friendly.  Digressing here… I don’t know about you, but I absolutely hate it when an unsmiling, unfriendly salesperson follows me around the store, two feet behind me, trying to wait on me… so annoying.  First they are in my personal space, second, they are not helpful, they don’t know enough to answer quesitons, and the net effect is to make me to want to get out of the store and annoying situation as fast as possible.  Not Idea Interior.  The workers were friendly and I knew they were there if I needed to ask a question. 

Idea Interior did not stop here though.  Half way through our visit of their 10,000 square feet I was feeling a little thirsty and tired.  Guess what they had!  A little rest area with a couple couches, a soda and snack machine, tables and magazines!  We bought a soda, sat down, rested, checked out the magazines, and basically got re-energized so we could finish our shopping trip. 

As we left, I noticed that they only thing missing is that they did not get my email address so that they could follow up the visit with a targeted email campaign.  I would have had someone standing at the exit with free soda and snacks and ask the customers as they left if they would like a free soda or snack and then ask them to take a quick survey and get their email address.  When we went back a few weeks later, I noticed that they now had a raffle promotion going on where they were offering a free entry in the raffle in exchange for contact info… so we were just too early for that.  I have to say, we were impressed.

Internet Marketing Lessons I learned from Idea Interior

1. Have a good name.  Be sure the domain name of my website is descriptiive enough so that people can figure out what I am selling just from the name.
2. Announce my site ahead of time.  Even if I just put up a name and date, announce the site to build up anticipation and advertise it.
3. USP.  No, not UPS.  Have a unique selling proposition that helps set my site apart from the competition.
4. JV Opportunities.  Look for joint venture opportunities to get traffic and customers from other non-competing sites.
5. Advertising.  Create great landing pages that advertise the offers and USP of my site and send the traffic to these landing pages when they come into the site.
6. Creative Copy.  Always show your customers how they can use your proudcts by using the FAB, feature, advantage, benefit method of copywriting.
7. Have different copy for different customers.  Think of your market and craft your salescopy for the different markets.
8. Live Chat. Be friendly to my customers and just say Hi!  Be accesible to them with an 800 number.
9. Funnel Marketing.  Have a specific sales funnel for my customers and know where they are at any given time in the sales funnel.
10. Look for ways to provide extra services that don’t cost me a lot but will mean a lot to my customers.
11. Create a list.  Don’t forget to get those emails so you can build your email list to send out future marketing campaigns!

 

How often do you buy a new laptop?

Well, it is that time again… a little sooner this time than expected.  My HP dv9408 which was purchased in July of 2007 has been giving me problems over the last year.  Lately it has been running hot and taking forever to boot up.  The main issue we have now is that when I leave it on and it is supposed to go to screensaver, it goes to a black screen.  When I come back and move the mouse or space bar, it does not respond forcing me to turn it off completely. It will then power up… but not fully turn on.  The blue lights on the keyboard light up but the screen does nothing.  It then turns on and off repeatedly until I turn it off completely again.  Usually after restarting it three times, it will start to work again.  Not last night!  This time I had to press F11 repeatedly, then F10, then F8… when nothing happened I called HP support.  After an hour of finally being routed to the tech support department, they admitted that the motherboard had failed and that there was a recall.  Since it was beyond the 1 year warranty, I was happy to find out that there was an extended warranty and that they would be sending a box to my house where I could pack it up and ship it back to them to be fixed.  Great news! ….. Only I am not in my "house" I am in Mexico!  Not to worry the tech support guy said… I had up to one year from July 2007 to return it. 

So, the laptop will get taken care of on our next trip to the states… most likely in March or April for the next Stompernet Live conference.  Maybe if we find someone taking a trip to the states sooner we can get them to take it back and then ship for us.  But even if we could do immediately, we would need to wait for it to get fixed which I hear is at least a few weeks… then wait for it to be shipped back to Mexico! Since I certainly cannot be without a computer for that long, it is time to buy a new one. 

When we first bought laptops we used to buy the top of the line with all the bells and whistles.  We soon realized that within 2 years we were ready for an upgrade or it was running slow, or other issues so now we focus on buying a mid-range laptop that will meet our needs for the immediate future.  For some time now I have wanted to get a Dell laptop for no other reason than it came in the color pink.  Why pink?  I have no idea.  One of those irrational desires that have no logical explanation but we still want.  Since I could not justify the expense of upgrading just because I wanted a different color laptop… I am actually a little excited I get to upgrade now.  Of course it also has to be 17" and have the number pad at the right.  Also got to have the extra loud speakers and a good video card for watching Stompernet videos! All the other technical stuff I will let my husband pick out.  As long as it runs fast and I can run all of my programs at the same time I will be happy!

Of course we have to price shop so after picking out a few options on dell.com.mx, we will be heading out to the local Costco and Sam’s Club to see what other options there are.  (No Best Buy here in Puebla yet though we just heard it will be coming to Mexico City soon!)  I don’t think that the stores here are going to carry a pink laptop so I am hoping that we can justify the price online over the prices and options in the stores.  If not, there is always 2 years from now when I will be buying the next one!

Starting a New Business

Combining business with family isn’t that hard. About 15 minutes ago my family and I headed on to City Hall and started a new internet marketing business. The whole process took about 10 minutes- after filling out the forms, the required information and $25 fee. I really love starting businesses in the United States, really easy.

If you haven’t started a business and you’re thinking about it- now’s the time to start. After that we took a quick trip over to Oceanside Pier where my 3 kids are making sandcastles and new friends in the sand.

I really love internet marketing businesses.

Hackersafe A/B Split Test

Almost 6 months ago mostly due to high reviews and a great offer from www.stompernet.com we added hackersafe to two of our websites. As part of the offer we did an A/B split test to see if it really helped increase conversions or not. The A/B split test was run by Hackersafe and the results showed that conversions on our site increased 9.3%! Recently we just finished another A/B split test that we performed with google website optimizer (with the help of monitus.net!) and found that using the Hackersafe logo definitely continued to show an increased conversion rate! Off to test some more!

A/B Split Testing with a Yahoo Store

My latest adventure has been learning how to set up google analytics and use google website optimizer to do A/B split testing with my yahoo store. I can’t give a higher recommendation than to say that Michael at http://www.monitus.net is the guy you need to see.

First, monitus.net. Monitus.net is a service that you can pay a low monthly fee for to have your yahoo store set up with google analytics. One of the best features of monitus.net is the keyword monkey feature. With keyword monkey you can easily see which keywords converted. Each day you will receive a report for newly converting keywords and if you login to keyword monkey then you can see an easy to read chart of all keywords that converted as well as your conversion rate for any given keyword. This is great because then you can see which words you should be focusing your seo efforts on. Keyword monkey also tells you if the words are found in your store so that you can know if you need to create special pages for those words to generate even more conversions. I had google analytics set up for some time, but Keyword monkey is so much easier to read and understand. Also, if you want to use google website optimizer to do any type of a/b split testing with your yahoo store, then you will need help from monitus.

StomperMom.Com

Ever wondered how to homeschool 3 kids, take care of twin babies, manage the household, and run a full time business all at the same time? I have news for you. You can’t! At least not alone. Almost a year ago I joined an internet marketing membership site called StomperNet. Since then I have learned some important things about running an internet business.

1. You should be working ON your business and not IN your business.
2. Do you have a J-O-B or a business?
3. Is your business an asset that can be sold?
4. Don’t forget the most important thing: Spending time with Family.
5. Your income is the average of the people you hang out the most with.

Number One: This was me about 6 months ago. In between processing orders, answering the phones, and updating the websites to delete discontinued products, there was no time left to actual work on the business. I was so involved in the every day activities in became impossible to actually grow the business to the next level. Solution: Get out of the house and get an office. Hire a Manager. Train manager to do everything I do so that she can supervise all the other people I will hire. Second step: Hire a webmaster. Third: Hire link getters. Fourth: Hire someone to work on product updates and uploading new products to sites. Fifth Step: Outsource everything else and then train manager on anything I am still doing. Granted, these five steps took six months. It takes time to train people. But once you do, you can actually start working ON your business and not IN your business. It obviously also takes cash flow. You don’t want to go into debt to pay salaries, but you have to look at things ojectively. If I can pay someone $7 an hour to answer the phone, and I choose to answer the phone instead, then I am making $7 an hour! My job is not to answer the phone for $7 an hour! My job is to work on Traffic, Conversion, and Community.

Number Two. Do you have a J-O-B or a business? Do you HAVE to get up everyday and go to work or everything will fall apart? If so, then you have created a Job for yourself. Part of the beauty of being an entrepreneur is that you have FREEDOM to go and do whatever you want, whenever you want. If I want to take the kids to the park, I CAN…. because I have a business, not a J-O-B. You need to create systems and policies and procedures so that your office can run itself. If YOU are the center of every decision, then you have a job.

Number Three. Is your business an asset that can be sold? If every day you have to work 16 hours just to keep the business running, then you don’t have an asset that can be sold. You have a nightmere! If someone offered to buy your business tomorrow, do you have the systems in place for someone to come in and take over? It is as old fashioned as creating step by step flow charts for your workers using a program such as SmartDraw so that everything can be run without you. It takes time to think out and plan the flow charts, but once in place, everyone will know what to do and how to do it. Keeping good books is also important. No one is going to want to buy debt. Make sure to pay the sales tax you collect on time to the respective states and be sure to only go into debt for inventory and office furniture. Don’t bank on tomorrow’s income to pay today’s salaries.

Number Four. Remember why you quit your job! You quit your day job to be an entrepreneur so you could have the convenience of working from home and spending time with your family. Nothing is more important than the kids. If you don’t get that project finished, so what? Who is going to fire you? Your kids however, are only little once and they WILL remember that mommy or daddy put them first before their work.

Number Five. Brad Fallon said this at one of the live conferences. Your income is the average of the people you hang around. How true is that. Don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone and go out and meet people in a higher income bracket. It is not about the money. It is not about what THEY can do for YOU. It is about what you can learn from THEM. It is about the tips and advice you can think about and apply to your business. It is about expanding your horizons and seeing things from someone else’s point of view. Maybe spending $30 a month on pay per click ads is a huge deal to you. Wait till you meet someone who is spending thousands of dollars a DAY! Then ASK them for some tips! Believe it or not, people usually like to talk about themselves! They like to talk about their experiences and the their successes. Be genuinely interested in other people and don’t forget to help out those that are learning!