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Absolutely! A corporate or small business blog is one of the best ways to share information about your products and services, current events and sales promotions or press your organization has received. A happy accident of sharing this information is that your company blog posts add relevant content to your website which offers a better chance of appearing in search engines such as Google and Yahoo. A third benefit is when you add scheduled corporate blog posts your small business website will get higher marks from the search engines because not only is the content relevant, it is current. Relevant plus fresh content equals SEO (search engine optimization) or higher search results.
Not every visitor who comes to your website from a search may result in a phone call or a sale but like all advertising, marketing and sales, it’s a numbers game. The more people who engage with your blog and your corporate website the more likely you will enjoy increased company sales from your blogging. By posting relevant blog content you become the trusted source for your visitors and existing customers for information on your product or industry.
Proactive planning can determine how often you should post a new blog entry
There really is no on-size-fits-all formula for small business blog posting, anymore than there is a one-size-fits-all marketing plan for small business. It really depends on the goals you have set for your digital marketing. It also depends on how much time you have to feed your blog or the budget to outsource it to an marketing company.
Now, there are success stories about small business blogs that have become income generators in and of themselves. If your corporate blog attracts 1000’s of daily website visits you may want to plan daily blog posts. However most small business blogs primarily serve as information tools, and as a portal to add relevant website content to increase website visits through SEO. The way Connection Group approaches client blog scheduling is to determine the role of the blog in each small business marketing plan. We recommend creating an editorial calendar for your blog posts. Our e-marketing packages that include blog posting, e-mail newsletters, and social media we develop a monthly plan. For instance if your company hosts an event for small business owners every January all of the content scheduled for the month of January will include information about the event. All of this will be in your editorial calendar. Including your blog updates in a small business editorial calendar helps you know what you will be covering each month and will help keep you on a schedule. Whether you write blog posts daily, weekly, bi-weekly or monthly a plan is a must.
Embrace the power of content on your small business blog
Each blog post should offer insight into your corporate philosophy, industry standards, details on a product or service you offer, or changes that may effect the customer. Seek content that will increase the visitors understanding of the subject. Help your customers make educated choices and purchases. Just as the visitors to your small business blog are researching, be sure to research the content for your corporate blog posts. Research but no stealing! Sharing the most current information available is important just avoid plagiarizing others work.
When you are satisfied with the information you have written for your blog post, add an image. Statistics from 3M corporation and Zabisco state that 90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual, and visuals are transmitted to the brain 60,000 times faster than text! Increase your website visits by using original graphic designs, photos or videos to connect and engage with your audience. Select only images that that are free from copyright. See the article in our e-newsletter about copyright issues and images.
Your blog is posted – Now, how do you increase your website visits?
Integrate your blog with your website
The first step is to make sure your small business blog part of your corporate website, not a separate page. There are many free blogging software options available and it is very easy to tie them into your existing small business website. Contact your web design and development company to create a seamless integration of your blog and corporate site. The biggest benefit is if you have a visitor to your blog, in the eyes of search engine tracking, you have just increased website visits. Other benefits are a custom designed blog will be consistent with your corporate brand and your complete website user interface is built into the blog so the visitor can easily click over to other website pages.
Include tags in your posts. Tags help people find your information more easily when they are searching the web. For instance for this blog entry on our website I would include small business blog, and small business website design and development as tags. Because we offer those services and those services are discussed in this blog adding them as tags show our website and our blog are relevant when people search for small business blog or small business website design and development. When visitors click on a tag in our posts they will see a list of previous posts that relate to those subjects.
Include comments on your blog. Comments show that you are open to feedback, good or bad. Allowing comments on your blog shows your visitors that you want to communicate with your customers. Comments may also help you determine what your visitors are looking for, give you ideas for future articles, and comments may use keywords that will come up in searches too. Do make sure you moderate your comments though! Even with strong spam filters blogs are petri dishes for spam – check them regularly. We set up our comments to be pre-approved prior to posting just for this reason. As visitors begin to interact with comments you will build a community and advocates for your brand on and offline.
Include share buttons in your blog. Make it easy for viewers to share your website content. One share from a high ranking social media influencer can increase website visits astronomically. The ability to share across social media and email is how videos and blog entries go viral – this is an easy way small business blogs can get noticed.
Promote your blog. When you have posted a new blog entry promote your blog in all your marketing outposts. Social media is a great platform to share your blog posts, twitter, Facebook business pages, Linkedin profiles and industry specific groups and social media channels get the information to targeted groups. Include your blog link in your email signature and add a snippet of your current blog posts to your email newsletters.
Are you a small business who doesn’t have time to blog?
Connection Group understands that small businesses are limited with time and resources to implement all the marketing components that will help build their corporate brands and increase website traffic. We have developed a variety of e-marketing packages to suit the variety of requests our customers need. We’re here to help you build connections and reach your target audience – if you just need a monthly blog entry, a combination of e- mail marketing, social media and blog management we have monthly packages that will suit your small businesses goals and budget. We offer a free half hour consultation to discuss what digital marketing elements will fit you best.
Give us a call or shoot us an email today. We appreciate feedback on our blog content and encourage additional insights readers can share to help other visitors learn more. Please add your comments or questions below.
Stay connected!
A copyright is a form of Intellectual Property as are patents and trademarks. Copyrights are the most common form of we encounter in everyday business and personal use. We learned about copyright and plagiarism when compiling our first report for grade school. The same rules apply with internet content. You research multiple sources to gain an understanding of the subject or a clear visual and then interpret it in you own words or creation. When you add a direct quote or paraphrase content, seek permission and include the credit where it occurs and also at the end.
When you use photos or graphics do your best to contact the original creator to get permission for use and always name the artist underneath the image. We often have customers send us images they have found in Google Images. Unless you have permission to use these visuals from the original artist they are not legal for use in your digital or print marketing pieces. I know Google makes it really easy, one search and you find the most awesome artwork ever! But hands off unless you want to get slapped with a copyright infringement.
If hiring a photographer or a graphic design studio to create original images is not in your budget for small projects, there are other options online. Many stock photo websites have visuals, including videos, that companies can purchase for use in their blogs, websites and corporate marketing pieces. The graphics and photos vary in size, resolution, cost, plus have levels of permissions and use. Be sure to read agreements closely prior to purchasing and downloading. Most of the restrictions with stock art is that you do not use it for use on items you will be reselling. For instance an original rendering of an owl you purchase and download can be used on your website, brochure, and all your company brand items however you may not be able to print greeting cards with the same owl on it and offer them for resale. Connection Group holds some subscriptions to a few stock art sites and if you are looking for a particular subject Connection Group may be able to purchase them for your use and save you from the sometimes high cost of subscriptions that you don’t plan to use frequently.
Knowing the high amount of copyright abuse on the website you may want to add the copyright symbol and user agreement on your website. Obtaining copyrights for your original work is easy and inexpensive. Go to copyright.gov and for $35 you can apply for legal ownership of your creations online. Having a copyright on your website or printed piece doesn’t ensure your original work will not be stolen, but it does give you legal grounds to take legal actions if you find someone has infringed on your copyright.
For more answers to common copyright questions this page has a pretty comprehensive list. Otherwise, if you don’t know – don’t do it.
There are so many blog entries, emails and webinars titled “The top 10 Things To Do To Market Your Business “. We have posted or shared a few in social media ourselves. It’s a catchy title that does well with search engines and covers some general steps important to all small business marketing.
The articles declare ‘You must post the exact amount of recommended Facebook posts each day, you must use an animal in your logo, you must create YouTube videos till the break of dawn, you must kiss every baby…’ because that is what the most popular marketing guru of today said you should do.
There really is no one-size-fits-all marketing plan for any business. Will a turquoise tupperware cereal bowl look good in all of our kitchens? No, and tupperware knows this, so they offer web and print catalogs to see other colors and size options to suit the need of each customer. Each industry, including marketing, serves the client best when it is personally customized to fit the true need.
The best small business marketing methods are authentic, sustainable, and focused.
Understanding these three concepts will help you reach your small business marketing goals plus save you time and money. Instead of clothing yourself in someone else’s wardrobe, do your homework and determine what will suit you and your customer best for the long term.
Create an authentic small business marketing message by being yourself
- Can you add humor to a technical demonstration to help people understand it better?
- Do you work best with people one on one? Set up individual appointments instead of group meetings
- Are you an energetic people person? Networking groups will be a great place to start making connections
- Are you a natural teacher? Seminars or webinars can demonstrate your skill and desire to help others.
Establish sustainable small business marketing practices
- Don’t make promises or claims you can’t keep. The most valuable customer is the repeat customer. Your company and your product or service needs to deliver on your promise.
- Be realistic, how much time do you have to do marketing tasks each month? Can you handle 10 social media posts each day or attend all the meet and greets in town, every month?
- Look closely at your budget. Do you have $200 dollars to allocate to your monthly marketing or $2000? A budget spread out each month throughout the year to build consistency in key media will show a greater return than spending a large chunk for a one time promotion.
Your communications are focused and connected
- Start with a plan, don’t throw ideas at the wall to see what sticks, take time to develop a small business marketing plan that can be updated each year
- All small business marketing materials are presented with constant brand messaging
- Determine results, review reports, remember to ask new customers how they heard about your company.
Your small business marketing needs to stand out from the mlieu to compete with large big box stores, and large corporations. The best news is small businesses have the advantage to make personal connections with your customers and develop brands that are that are sustainable and profitable.
Stay connected!
Other marketing blogs of interest:
Raising a puppy and building a brand ain’t what it use to be.
Media Savvy Business Marketing
Brochures… Illustrations… Design…Oh my!…
Connection Group was recently contracted by the Barry Eaton District Health Department to assist them in educating the public on routes throughout the Charlotte area for safe biking and walking. This project is an initiative to get people moving and increasing health and wellness in our community.
We created the brochure layout and also recommended design and printing of full color posters to be posted by area retailers and organizations to build awareness of the routes for their customers and encourage employees to get bike or walk into work.
We love projects where we can incorporate a variety of skills and this one is a great example. Planning the placement of the information, choosing the colors and creating the illustrations while making sure all phases were completed in the time frame agreed including printing and delivery allow us to ‘show our stuff’ and ease the burden for our client. It is our pleasure to bring these types of communication to the community in the clearest most attractive format. Download the map from the BEDHD website.
Sentiment never goes out of style.
When you go to your snail mail box and sort through your packet of envelopes which ones get opened first? The electric bill, the direct mail piece from your auto dealer, or the card envelope from a distant friend or relative. Exactly! We all love a personal, heart felt greeting and cards are a perfect way to reach out to others and let them know you are thinking for them. A quick thank you card for someone who has helped you or a customer who you appreciate doing business with or a holiday card to celebrate are great ways to stay in touch personally and professionally.Another option is to send electronic greeting cards. Connection Group has created a variety of custom designs in various topics that you can share with your contacts for free. Some e-greeting cards have been associated with viruses, rest assured Connection Group e-cards are virus free. Safely send to your hearts content! If we are missing a category please let us know we love designing the cards and having them shared. Email a greeting today! We also welcome you to share them on Facebook and Pinterest so others may enjoy them as well.
Email Scam for printing quotes and other fakes
On the Blog
If you have received a scammer email, or ‘sold’ an item to a scammer, please enter the senders email in a comment below. Others who receive the email can search the email address and find this thread and be forewarned.The post for August blog entry was suppose to be Pinterest – Pinning for Profit: How to Maximize Traffic and Sales through Pinterest. However, in the last few days we have been reminded of the proliferation of scams in today’s digital world and we decided to pose a few words of caution…
Read the rest of the article on the Connection Group blog.
Save on Cards and Announcements
Save 15% on your next design and print order of full-color cards and announcements. Get a jump on your holiday cards this month! Check out some of our previous projects, and contact us to start crafting your new business stationery today.
If you have received a scammer email, or ‘sold’ an item to a scammer, please enter the senders email in a comment below. Others who receive the email can search the email address and find this thread and be forewarned.
The post for August blog entry was suppose to be Pinterest – Pinning for Profit: How to Maximize Traffic and Sales through Pinterest. However, in the last few days we have been reminded of the proliferation of scams in today’s digital world and we decided to pose a few words of caution.
We are a marketing and graphic design firm in Lansing Michigan area specializing in Brand Marketing. We also provide print estimates for businesses print marketing. We have an email on our website for visitor inquiries and we also have an online estimate form. The online estimate form is protected from spammers by a captcha which helps filter the real from the fake inquires. However, it is not fail proof, nor is the email link on the website.
In the last week we received these second email this year from a Rick Barry seeking a printing estimate. Now, we provide printing quotes and print services but we are primarily a marketing and design firm. Customers do not usually just call on us for a printing quote. Our existing customers may request print estimates for the graphic design projects we have developed for them but seldom do we have someone contact us just for printing. That was my first red flag. The next caution was there was no contact information other than the email they sent form (scammers usually use a free email service like g-mail, hotmail, yahoo, etc., and lastly there was no company name given anywhere in the message.
My initial thought was this was another print service company phishing for prices (yes, it happens in every industry). Upon further research we discovered this is a wide spread scam. Had we provided a quote the scam would be for them to accept it and send us a pdf to print from. They then provide us credit card billing information. As the project moves forward some emergency will come that requires a shipment out of the country and they insist on using a specific shipping company that, of course that comes up with an exorbitant shipping cost, that then is added to the bill and they have you charge it all to one credit card. Within a few days the card is charged back to you and you are stuck with shipping fees, taxes, paper and employee time to prepare the project.
Some of the other names associated with this particular scam are: joshuaandsonsinc1@yahoo.com, jsperling45@yahoo.com, rickbarry55@gmail.com, david.may55@gmail.com, baron.davis89@gmail.com, zimlinefreightco@rediffmail.com, atlanticgoose@usa.com, david.may55@gmail.com,
Other cautions to avoid online scams:
- Look at the-mails you receive – especially those that say the purchaser has paid you. Look to see where those have come from. If it says “You have received money from ___@___.com via Paypal. Make sure the actual email is from Paypal an email address. Even if it has a Paypal or recognized logo – the scammer can get that off any website and recreate an email with the stolen logo.
- If there is no artwork provided and they place the order for a printing project.
- They don’t ask questions or negotiate. Everyone trys to negotiate price these days or asks about payment structure, etc. when they are ready to place an order.
- Be wary of any excuses or emergencies that come up during the process.
- If you receive unsolicited inquiries about services you typically don’t provide at random.
So friends, be careful. Not just with online print estimates but with selling products online, even if it is just an occasional item on CraigsList or Facebook. If you are selling to someone you do not know, don’t ship anything, don’t accept any form of payment other than cold hard cash or a cashier’s check. If you accept a credit card payment, look at the processing time the merchant takes to confirm the payment before shipping the product. Just this week a family member was taken for $900.00 through CraigsList for a MacPro she was trying to sell. She received an email noting that the recipient had deposited the payment in her Paypal account so she shipped the laptop. Unfortunately the payment never ended up in the account. The scammer gave a ton of reasons why the payment wasn’t showing up, blaming Paypal, saying she would ship the MacPro back… now there is no computer and no $900.00. I have advised her to contact authorities here and where she shipped it… we’ll see…
Be Proactive Against Scams for Printing Quotes and others:
- If they change the delivery from pick up to shipping. Check the address in Google maps or Mapquest, etc.
- Search their name, email and other information online
- Be wary of those who have honorable or religious designations; Reverend, Honorable, etc. Scammers try to play on the sympathies of their targets.
- Check with snoops.com and other online sites to see if there have been other reports.
When you hear of these scammers, post their emails, phone numbers, names online – everywhere! Add them in comments below! It doesn’t have to just be the printers scam. The more we publicize specific scams and the scammers names, emails and tactics the more others can be protected.
Stay connected
Print is not dead! On the contrary print marketing has seen a resurgence over the last year. Although printing is expensive and direct mail postage adds even more costs, when crafted properly direct mail campaigns and print materials can be a cost effective solution to get in front of your target market.
We hear more and more how businesses are challenged with the many marketing options available to them today. Should they advertise on Facebook? Should they continue to pay monthly for an ad in a reference book that nobody seems to look at anymore? Should they create a monthly direct mail campaign of postcards highlighting specials or company services?
Then there are the internet marketing options; social media, blogs, and websites. All of these marketing opportunities can be overwhelming and the most important factor, your target audience, can be difficult to capture. If the only customer you are seeking is the twenty something or under, internet marketing solutions along with some tv spots are a viable approach. However, if your business target market includes people over the age of 30, you may want to consider combining your internet marketing campaign with a direct mail campaign.
Depending on your offer, message, and target audience Connection Graphic can suggest the best format, develop the content, and determine the approach – all with consideration to your time and budget. Maybe you have a comprehensive mailing list that you can reach out to with a direct mail campaign? Or maybe you are trying to reach a specific neighborhood or segment of the city? We can craft direct mail pieces that suit your needs and gets in the hands of your audience. Postcards are an economical choice and since there are no envelopes hiding the message an eye-catching design is hard to miss – even in an often full mail box. A well designed, colorful direct mail piece is always more welcome than a bill too! Give us a call today to schedule a 30 minute complimentary consultation. Or submit contact information here.
Call today to take advantage of August 2013, 15% discount on postcard design and printing 517-645-4387.
Social media has exploded in the past few years as a powerful tool for keeping in touch, both with your personal and business network.
Facebook alone has more than 1 billion users. If you’re a small business owner, you’re missing out if you’re not part of that community. Setting up a Facebook presence is not just using your personal profile to tell your family and friends about your company. This month’s issue shows you how you should use Facebook as a business owner. Please also remember to reference on social media ebook for more tips.
Learn how to manage your Facebook page below and scroll further to check out our special marketing offer this month – there are other ways to reach your target market in addition to social media….
Business or personal: Managing your company’s Facebook page
Facebook is a great tool for keeping in touch with your personal network. But did you know you can also set up a Facebook page to promote your business?
Even though Facebook allows companies and businesses to use their services for promotion, there are differences between a personal profile and a business page. In fact, Facebook’s terms of service don’t allow personal profiles to be used for professional purposes. And, when it comes down to it, there’s really no need to. Business pages offer so many benefits that are not available for personal profiles.
Read the rest of the article on the Connection Group blog.
Get in Front of Your Customer
Print is not dead! On the contrary print marketing has seen a resurgence over the last year. Businesses are challenged with all the marketing options available to them today. Should they advertise on Facebook? Should they continue to pay monthly for an ad in a reference book that nobody seems to look at anymore? The internet marketing options; social media, blogs, websites, can be overwhelming and the most important factor, your target audience, can be difficult to capture.
If the only customer you are seeking is the twenty something or under, internet marketing solutions along with some tv spots are a be the best approach. However, if your business target market includes people over the age of 30, you may want to consider combining your internet marketing campaign with a direct mail campaign.
Depending on your offer, message and target audience Connection Graphic can suggest the best format, develop the content, and determine the approach – all with consideration to your time and budget. Maybe you have a comprehensive mailing list that you can reach out to? Or maybe you are trying to reach a specific neighborhood or segment of the city? We can craft a direct mail campaign that suits your needs and gets in the hands of your audience. Give us a call today to schedule a 30 minute complimentary consultation. Or submit contact information here.
Call today to take advantage of this months 15% discount on postcard design and printing 517-645-4387.
Save on Postcards
Save 15% on your next design and print order of full-color postcards. Check out some of our previous projects, and contact us to start crafting your new business stationery today.
Facebook is a great tool for keeping in touch with your personal network. But did you know you can also set up a Facebook page to promote your business? Continue reading to learn how.
Even though Facebook allows companies and businesses to use their services for promotion, there are differences between a personal profile and a business page. In fact, Facebook’s terms of service don’t allow personal profiles to be used for professional purposes. And, when it comes down to it, there’s really no need to. Business pages offer so many benefits that are not available for personal profiles.
Business-Relevant Information
Facebook’s pages are designed specifically to present information about businesses and companies. Unlike personal profiles, business pages don’t ask you for your company’s birthday or gender. Instead, you’re prompted to choose a category, and add a founding date, a mission statement, etc.
Facebook’s options for business pages also let you add information about your company, an option that’s not available for personal profiles. Whether it’s a list of products or services or a video introduction, you can customize your business page to let others know about your company.
>5,000 Fans
Personal profiles are limited to 5,000 “friends.” Why would you want your business page to have a limited audience? The point of social media, after all, is to expand your company’s network. Even if you’re a one-person business, surely you want to reach the most number of people (ie., prospective customers) as you can. One of the most important reasons for having a business page is that it allows you to gain unlimited fans.
Online Traffic Analysis
A very important feature of business pages is Facebook Insights. This is an application that gives you information about your customers, and how they interact with your Facebook page. It lets you see what’s working and what’s not. It’s valuable data that’s available only for business pages.
Admin Roles
The ability to assign admin roles to help you manage your Facebook business page is a time-saver. You can allow others to be your co-admin and assign specific roles based on what you want them to do. For example, you may choose to have an employee or marketing agency do some of the tasks for you, so that you’re free to focus on other aspects of your business. The available roles are Manager, Content Creator, Moderator, Advertiser and Insights Analyst. Even if you have several people, or an outside consultant, helping you manage your page, you still control how much access they will have to your account. With a personal profile, the only option is to give them your username and password.
Deals and Advertising
Facebook wants to help businesses gain a healthy online following. One of the ways they do this is by making it easy to advertise and offer deals. Facebook Offers lets your business promote a sale or special pricing. Promoted Posts are paid options that let you reach a wider audience. Neither of these is available for personal profiles.
Work-Life Balance
Many small business owners juggle work responsibilities and family life. This challenge extends to web interactions as well. So why combine your personal Facebook profile with that of your business? Keeping them separate allows you to effectively promote your business online, while still enjoying private interactions with your family and friends.
A Facebook page for your business is simply the right choice over a personal profile. Notwithstanding the terms of use, the many advantages it offers lets you launch, and manage, your Facebook presence more effectively. It’s what we use for our company and as a brand manager for small businesses. If you need guidance or help in managing your Facebook page, give us a call or send us an email.
New version of book website design by Connection Group
Original screen cap of the website.
This fabulous book is full of these gorgeous photos in full color that show off the wonders of Michigan County by County. Author Barbara Vandermolen celebrates her home state of Michigan by paying homage to each county in this recently released book “Discovering Michigan County by County” Your A-Z Guide to each of the 83 counties in the Great Lakes State. This tome is 616 pages of pure beauty. The photos alone will hold your interest and attract visitors to the fine Pure Michigan state. The author cleverly outlined each of the 83 chapters to feature details of every county in Michigan. Each chapter is an A-Z Guide of the county. “A” highlights agriculture, “B” features Bridges or Boats, etc. This informative book is a great find for travelers and residents alike. Clearly Barbara’s effort was a labor of love and Connection Group was honored to work with her to create a new website design that represents the quality Barbara has strived for and reached with this beautiful book. Read more or purchase the book.
