Connectivity
Receive our complimentary email newsletter with insights on all forms of design, including graphic design articles and web site marketing trends.
BY TERRI FINCH HAMILTON
PHOTOS: TJ HAMILTON
Branding expert Connie Sweet has some business advice for you, woman to woman.
Steer clear of those business card companies that offer pre-made designs anyone can choose.
“You don’t want the same business card someone else is using,” Sweet says. “You could attend an event and discover three people have the same business card design as you do — a yoga instructor, a hair stylist and a dog groomer.
“If you don’t recognize the importance of your business image, how can I feel confident you will provide the individualized service I would appreciate?”
That’s one kind of insider tip you’ll find at a gathering of WISE women.
Sweet co-founded WISE — Women in Successful Enterprises — in 2009 with friend and fellow business owner Floriza Genautis.
Both are successful entrepreneurs with impressive resumes. They decided to round up some other successful women to see if they could bolster each other.
“There are a lot of organizations that serve start-up companies and offer classes, but once you get past that start-up phase, you no longer get that level of help or collaboration,” Sweet says.
WISE is designed for women who already have their business feet wet — but who want to continue to succeed and grow. It’s a “bridge organization,” Sweet says, that helps women business owners gain certification, corporate connections, government contracts and networking.
The group has worked with the Center for Empowerment & Economic Development and introduces members to the Women’s Business Enterprise Council, an initiative of CEED that provides opportunities for nationally recognized certification of businesses that are at least 51 percent owned, operated and controlled by a woman or women.
Women who own businesses have interests and needs that not all women share, Sweet says. “Women’s conversations often center around families and children,” Sweet says. “But for business owners, a good portion of our lives is about our businesses. When we meet people at PTA meetings, we’re often just not on the same page.”
WISE offers an opportunity for women in business to connect with each other.
“We can gain a lot of information from each other,” Sweet says. “We share resources, share tips. We gain so much from each other. That’s a powerful thing for women who often feel they’re out at sea, on their own.”
Maureen Fitzgerald Penn felt that way when she left her job as marketing and development director for Catholic Charities West Michigan in Muskegon to start her business, Penn & Ink Communications, in 2008.
“I thought, ‘How do I begin this? I’m hanging up my shingle but I don’t have any contacts in Grand Rapids,’” Penn says.
Joining WISE changed all that. Penn met other women business owners, made friends and acquired a few clients.
Now, years later, the group is still valuable, she says.
“Once you’ve been in business a few years, you need to grow,” Penn says. “You have to step out of your comfort zone and approach larger companies with bigger needs. WISE has helped me break down the barriers so I can do that.”
Penn is on the group’s advisory board — they call themselves “advocates” — and helps plan each year’s events.
“We decide on the speakers and events based on our own reality,” she says. “What are the issues we’re facing? What questions do we have? Then we find speakers to address those needs.”
Events set for this year:
- “Common Negotiation Mistakes and How to Avoid Them.” Speaker Penny Rosema, a professional buyer, shares negotiation tips March 12.
- “How to Get in with Community Media.” A panel of media experts shares tips at a gathering at the mlive hub May 7.
- “Building Success from Scratch,” a presentation by award-winning chef and restaurant owner Jenna Arcidiacono from Amore Trattoria Italiana Aug. 20.
Each year WISE also hosts an event designed to give back to the community.
This year they support the American Diabetes Association at a Nov. 5 event.
“We’re reminding other business women that a social conscience should be part of your business,” Penn says.
While there is a cost to attend WISE events (and non-members are welcome, too) it costs nothing to belong to WISE.
“We formed this group just as the Michigan economy was flailing,” Sweet says. “We decided we weren’t going to saddle people with an annual membership fee.”
Sweet and cofounder Genautis met through another organization, Alliance of Women Entrepreneurs.
Sweet is founder of Connection Group, Inc. in Lansing. She creates distinctive brands that connect with her client’s philosophy and business strategy.
Her resume of graphic design jobs includes time at ad agencies, educational institutions, non-profit organizations, publishing houses and governmental offices.
Genautis is the principal founder of Management Business Solutions, a professional staffing firm specializing in placing candidates in the areas of accounting, finance, human resource, information technology, sales and marketing and engineering.
The tips and resources WISE members share are valuable, Sweet says, but the laughter is pretty great, too.
“What I’ve gained most is friendships,” Sweet says. “This is an open, diverse and welcoming group. And I want women to know that having a successful business is within reach for all of us.”
For more about WISE, including upcoming events, visit wiseconnections.org.
Article by: Stellafly
Google Has Done it Again… small businesses need mobile friendly websites – STAT!
If you haven’t heard already you may be one of the few left on the planet who doesn’t live and breathe all that is the internet. What is being referred to as “mobilegeddon” (don’t you love tech-nerds?) or, Google’s mobile website algorithm change has launched. Small businesses need mobile friendly websites now more than ever. What the change means to small businesses who do not have mobile friendly websites is that your company website will not come up in mobile Google searches or if it does, it will come up so far down it might as well not come up at all. Read more…
On the Blog:
Connect With Your Inner Marketer
Ready for growth? Slow down for a moment and think about what your company does best:
- What are customers asking for?
- What do they appreciate most?
- Who are they?
- Where do they hang out?
- What’s hot right now in your industry?
- Can you pitch to media?
Once you have the answers determine which channels will be best to broadcast your message and reach your target audience. Online, print, conferences, tv, radio, social media, blogs, e-newsletters? Do you have media contacts? Is your service or product available in a small geographical area, do you sell throughout your state or internationally?. Read more…
Monthly Spotlight
Local Small Business Website 
After trying over 60 jury trials in his nearly 38 years practicing law as a partner in top firms in Lansing, Michigan, Mark Hoover has launched a new practice. Hoover opens his new law practice June 1, 2015 in which he will emphasize civil mediation for legal disputes throughout Michigan.
Connection Group provided design consultation service, custom logo design, and responsive website design. Mixing a classic font with a clean, balanced layout for Hoover’s logo combines contemporary and classic styling that helps to define his visual brand and is appropriate to the traditional formality of the law industry. Mark Hoover’s new website hoovermediation.com implements a responsive WordPress theme. The website offers information and instant credibility for prospective law firms who will be referring mediation cases. The wordpress CMS website offers easy expansion and can grow as Hoover’s practice grows.
Action Beats Intention
Ready for growth? Slow down for a moment and think about what your company does best:
- What are customers asking for?
- What do they appreciate most?
- Who are they?
- Where do they hang out?
- What’s hot right now in your industry?
- Can you pitch to media?
Once you have the answers determine which channels will be best to broadcast your message and reach your target audience. Online, print, conferences, tv, radio, social media, blogs, e-newsletters? Do you have media contacts? Is your service or product available in a small geographical area, do you sell throughout your state or internationally?
As much as we’d like to offer a step by step marketing formula for you to follow, all business marketing solutions are different. From retail stores, e-commerce shops, member based nonprofits, trade associations, healthcare, higher education, or service companies, each has a unique selling proposition. A thorough understanding of your business and your market is critical to discern the best approach and components for a successful PR, advertising or marketing campaign to bring positive results. If you can take the time to connect with your inner marketer you will have the answers you need to put a plan in place customized for you.r business.
What is your company doing currently and what has worked in the past? Although internet marketing. social media, email marketing, and cable tv has changed the marketing and PR landscape, traditional media such as tv and radio can still be effective for many industries. Combining traditional and non-traditional marketing channels with advertising and PR, can help you reach multiple markets all the while keeping your brand messaging consistent.
Regardless of your budget and your goals adopting integrative marketing practices is the best approach for small business marketing campaigns. By coordinating different promotional methods that reinforce each other, your marketing objectives can be achieved. For instance, create a targeted email to your contacts and design a website landing page with a strong call to action. Or volunteer to speak at a local event and reach out to media for local radio or tv interviews to increase exposure for the event and your brand.
How do you choose the media channels for your campaign?
One of the best ways to begin, besides working with a marketing firm, is to know where your customers get their information. Another way is to take stock of what your competition is doing. Where are they advertising? Do they have an outside sales force? Are they selling to customers in a unique way? For instance are they offering package purchases or free items, extending credit, etc.? Are they getting interviews in media? Are they filling the radio airways with radio spots? Even if they have a higher budget for marketing and advertising you can adopt some of the marketing methods they utilize to reach your customer just on a lower scale.
Are you a member of a trade association or do you subscribe to industry publications? These are also great resources for learning what similar companies are doing successfully. Keeping current with your industry news can also offer newsworthy tips to pitch to media for free PR.
Another helpful way to choose your approach is to answer the question: Do you have more time or more money in this stage of your business? If you have more time than money PR may be your best option. If you have a good story to pitch to media and it gets picked up the return can be tremendous.
Not sure how to pitch media? Or are you nervous about being in front of the camera? Check out our favorite media coach, Michigan’s own media goddess Shawne Duperon at ShawneTV.com. Shawne speaks to groups and offers media mastery bootcamps where you can learn what to do and what not to do when pitching to media. She has cds and programs with Michigan media contacts, on camera tips, and even tips for make up application for tv spots. Follow Shawne on Twitter or sign up for her email announcements that contain seasonal pitch ideas for a variety of industries.
What is the message you want to pitch?
Determine your marketing goals and determine the next steps to reach them:
- If you want to increase sales, do you need to increase your customer pool?
- Have you added new products or services that could benefit your current customers?
- If you want to increase brand awareness, what topics are hot right now that relate to your industry? Can you pitch to media?
- Are there trade shows, expos or networking events your company can attend or sponsor?
- What other marketing channels/methods can you integrate for a greater return?
- Historically what sales and marketing efforts have worked best? (advertising, brochures, etc.)
- What is your competition doing?
Marketing and media options:
Advertising:
TV, Radio, Magazines, Internet Advertising (Google Adwords, Yahoo, Facebook, Niche Websites/forums, etc.) Billboards, Newspaper and Directory advertising, etc.
Marketing:
Internet marketing, Social Media Marketing, Print Marketing, Direct Mail, Network Marketing, Marketing Research, Market Analysis, Specialty Promotions, etc.
Public Relations (PR):
Press Releases, Writing & Media Distribution, Interview Opportunities, Publicity Campaigns, Consulting and Strategic Planning, Product/Service Launches, Press Kit Creation, Event Publicity and Promotion, Event and Trade show Management, etc
Sometimes you have to dive deep for the answers to all of the questions above but they are always there. If you are having a hard time tapping your inner marketer, take a good customer to lunch and ask them the questions you need to know. Contact us it you need help creating your marketing plans or cleaning up your corporate brand visuals.
Stay connected and pitch to media!
Choosing the best font or knowing different names of fonts wasn’t high on most business owners mind when I first launched my graphic design career. Most didn’t know what a typeface or font was. With the advent of desktop publishing the world finally understood how dramatically the tone of a magazine or brochure could change based solely on font selection. Today new fonts are introduced daily and small businesses grapple with choosing the best font for DIY brochure designs.
A font by any other name is still a font…
Let’s address that statement that new fonts are created everyday. There are a plethora of fonts out there and a large number of free fonts on the internet. Designing a professional typeface or complete type family is a very technical and precise skill. Take caution when you are choosing fonts for your graphic designs. It’s best to choose a font from a well known font foundry when you can. Some of the free fonts you find online have issues such as not having glyphs or punctuation marks or even numerals. Other concerns may arise with free fonts when turning your promotional materials over to a print professional. If the font you chose is inferior there may be issues. If the chosen font for your DIY brochure design crashes the printers equipment you may encounter most costs and delivery delay. There are also viruses that weasel their way into downloadable free font files – take caution.
Here a font, there a font, everywhere a font font…
Fonts are to graphic designers as shoes are to women. So many fun, grungy, vintage, classic, groovy, elegant, contemporary, stylistic fonts out there! Fortunately, cloud storage and hard drives are much bigger than standard closets. Font hoarding has yet to become the next reality TV show. I must still caution constraint! Just because you have a few hundred (thousand) fonts at your disposal does not make it okay to use them all in one event flyer or postcard. Step away from the type tool.
You’ve seen the flyers in local venues. The ones with purple script font headlines with green BOLD heavy san serifs with cowboy ugly fonts for the body copy. And let’s not forget the Old English script in all caps. Every graphic designer dies a little when we see these freaks of nature. Rules people – follow the rules!
10 Commandments for choosing the best font
- Keep with two main fonts for professional promotional print materials
- Choose fonts that either contrast or conform with each other
- BOLD is for emphasis – do not bold your entire brochure
- Is it legible? Frilly fonts with lots of swooshes can be hard to decipher – especially when used in small point sizes such as body copy
- Opposites attract – pair a thin font with a fat font or a clean sans serif with a frilly script
- Matchy – matchy – choose an elegant san serif for your headline and similar in weight serif font for body copy
- For print items body copy is most legible in a serif font
- Online studies show san serif fonts are preferred for quick reads and legibility
- Ornamental fonts (like Old English) were not designed to be used all caps (see #4)
- Match font style to your message. Example: Don’t use comic sans for serious information and don’t use helvetica for a party invitation headline.
Just tell me the best font for DIY Brochure Designs already!
I already did. I will be more concise – there is no one-size-fits-all best font for every DIY brochure design. It is all so relative, don’t you see? The best font for a DIY brochure design for a restaurant could be a flowing script or a weathered grunge font – what kind of restaurant is it?
Maybe you’re a professional business consultant who advises senior care facilities on end-of-life concerns? The best font for your senior care facility brochure would be a clean, clear font that can be read easily by aging eyes. Are you a home builder or construction company in need of a brochure that speaks to both the man and the woman of the house? Maybe a mix of a script font with a heavier block sans serif font will work? Because of the many variables when it comes to the message, your prospects, and the product or service you are offering there is no true best font for your DIY brochure.
The best approach to choosing a font and designing your company brochure is be sure it is legible. Be clear, legible, and sane – no dysfunctional color and schizophrenic font use! You don’t want your prospects running away screaming amateur, amateur! Keep the information you want to share and the people you want to share it with in mind as you design your company brochure. Remember what your company brand message. Marry the fonts and visuals with the brand message and you’ll make a connection with your target audience.
If you haven’t heard already you may be one of the few left on the planet who doesn’t live and breathe all that is the internet. What is being referred to as “mobilegeddon” (don’t you love tech-nerds?) or, Google’s mobile website algorithm change launched last week. Small businesses need mobile friendly websites now more than ever. The algorithm change was announced two months back very clearly by Google and they actually went ahead and launched it on the pre-determined deadline, Tuesday, April 21, 2015. What the change means to small businesses who do not have mobile friendly websites is that your company website will either not come up in mobile Google searches or if it does, it will come up so far down it might as well not come up at all.
I can hear some of you now, ‘So, what? Most people search our site from a desktop computer.’ ‘We provide a service, people don’t search for us on their smart phones or tablets, they wait until they get home and research on their computers.’ Not so my friends. “In the final three months of last year, estimated 29 percent of all U.S. search requests – about 18.5 billion – were made on mobile devices.” – comScore.com
The increase in numbers from desktop to mobile searches will continue to grow. The largest percentage of mobile searches currently are done by people shopping for products, however local services searches are not far behind. “Searches with local intent are more likely to lead to store visits and sales within a day. New Google research says that 50 percent of mobile users are most likely to visit (the store) after conducting a local search, while 34 percent of consumers on tablets or computers will go to a store.” – Search Engine Watch
Mobile searches are steadily increasing for local services including, home healthcare services, restaurants, home improvement services and more.small businesses need mobile friendly websites now to come up in those search inquiries.
“According to Google, 56% of searches on smartphones have local intent. ” – Wordstream
Google is the top-ranking search engine claiming two thirds of United States web searches and even more in other countries. Mobilegeddon has the potential to effect sales volume especially for small businesses who have not had a strong reason to upgrade to a mobile friendly website yet. If we give an example of a residential home builders website in Lansing who has not upgraded the website since mullets were in style, compared to a national residential home builder with a mobile friendly website targeting Lansing clientele – where would you place your cards on search results?
Not sure if your small business website is mobile friendly or not?
Check out Googles “Mobile-Friendly” test page in its developer section. Type in your website URL (domain name) and see the results. (https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/.
Mobile Friendly Website Solution for Small Business
If you do not have a mobile friendly website and you are ready to make the change, you have a few decisions to make. First you can choose to keep your desktop website as it is and create a completely separate mobile website to satisfy mobile users (and Google!). The drawback to this solution is you now have two websites you must maintain. The other option is a responsive website. Responsive WordPress websites format to fit which ever screen size a visitor is using. On a desktop monitor the website looks good on the screen without unplanned scrolling or clicking. On a tablet it condenses slightly to fit the screen with limited scrolling and on a smart phone the navigation will collapse to a drop down screen. All of this is automated with a responsive website design. The other benefit of a responsive website design with WordPress is small businesses can now update their own website without programming knowledge. Updating is also easier because you only have to update one site instead of a desktop website and a mobile website.
Mobile-Friendly Website Design considerations:
- design web pages so that they load quickly
- make content easily accessible
- page scrolling up and down (as opposed to left to right swiping)
- make call to action buttons (like BUY NOW!) easily seen and touched even on small screens
- make your contact information clickable – click to call, click to map location
- make your text size large enough to read on small devices
No budget for a small business mobile-friendly website right now?
Or do you have a mobile-friendly website on order but all the local website design firms in Michigan or your state are booked solid a few months out? Since Google searches do show local listings first make sure all your local information is current. Get a Google+ page set up if you haven’t already, check your Yelp listing. Get your website listed on Google in Google MyBusiness section. These steps will help while you are working toward upgrading your website to mobile.
If you’re one of those small businesses who need a mobile friendly website right away, give us a call today! We are taking orders and turning custom designs around as quickly as possible. We also provide mobile-friendly Wordpress responsive website design solutions for those of you who want the freedom to access and update your own website .
Stay connected!
Is there value in getting listed in local web directories?
I know you’re getting the calls too. Internet marketing companies calling offering you website marketing solutions, asking if you know the value of getting listed in local web directories. We get them too.
What’s the big deal about getting listed in local web directories?
Although SEO protocol has changed and it is said there is not as much SEO value in being listed with directories there is still value in directories, especially niche directories and local directories. High traffic directories such as Yahoo Local, read more…
On the Blog:
7 Conscious Steps to Connect with Website Visitors
Internet marketing for small business, also known as web marketing, online marketing, digital marketing and online small business marketing is comprised of many components. Internet marketing encompasses several disciplines, involving everything from websites, email, search engine optimization (SEO),social media and more. There is no one-size-fits-all for internet marketing campaigns. Depending on your business and your target market, finding the right balance between the many options available may take some trial and error but this effort will often lead to great results in internet marketing. Read more…
Monthly Spotlight
Local Small Business Website
We love working with entrepreneurs – especially first timers. Our spotlight this month is on Mid-Michigan Window Cleaning. Raleigh Schefer recently launched his window cleaning business in the Lansing Michigan area.
Ralaigh knew a professional web presence was important to compete with his competition and demonstrate credibility to prospective clients.
Most small start up company budgets are tight and it is challenging to determine how best to stretch dollars. By providing a 3 page responsive website that can expand as the company grows and be easily edited in house, Mid-Michigan Window Cleaning is able to keep marketing costs under control and focus on growing and promoting their business.
http://midmichiganwindowcleaning.com/
I know you’re getting the calls too. Internet marketing companies calling offering you website marketing solutions, asking if you know the value of getting listed in local web directories. We get them too.
What’s the big deal about getting listed in local web directories?
Although SEO protocol has changed and it is said there is not as much SEO value in being listed with directories there is still value in directories, especially niche directories and local directories. High traffic directories such as Yahoo Local, Bing local, etc. increase your website exposure to visitors searching those sites. Also the more links you have directing back to your site the higher your website rank.
Can the guy on the phone help increase my website exposure?
After receiving call after call and claims Connection Group could be listed on all the top directories for $100 I decided to give one of the a shot. The package also included website SEO consultation and benchmark progress reporting for the lsitings. Since I had purchased other products from this particular company in the past they offered me a 50% discount – score! What American can resist a sale?
When the contract started they did a report to show where connectiongraphics.com stood at present with our listing and referral links. We received a grade of 87%. They confessed that was a pretty high percentage. Then my competitive nature kicked in. I thought if we had gotten this far on our own, maybe this top 100 corporation had some magic sauce that could get us to the coveted 100%! (Now is when you remind me how many times I have shared with you that there is no such thing as miracle marketing sauce – I hang my head in shame.)
In 30 days I received a report that our numbers had actually slipped one point even though they reported to have listed us a in a couple new directories. They explained that it was too early to see results but within 3 − 6 months we would see improved numbers. Paying $100 each month for 3 − 6 months. This is just to get 13% higher – remember we started at 87%.
At this point I am skeptical but you know I am going to get my $50 worth so I give them a call for the website SEO consultation that was included in the contrast. I was happy to know we were already implementing the suggestions they offered for website SEO. Sadly, the SEO questions I had for them were not answered. I continually heard “Well, that’s a good question! I don’t know if that works or not.”
Hmmm, no offer to look into my inquiry and get back with me, just, ‘I don’t know, good question’. I chose not to continue the contract after the first 30 days.
How hard is it to get listings in local website directories?
There is value in getting listed in local directories and optimizing your website to come up higher in search results and it does honestly take time to implement. Getting listed in the top local directories doesn’t require a recurring $100 monthly fee through perpetuity. In many cases submitting your company to directories can be handled by an in house staff person. Here is a list of the directories we recommend getting starting with.
The basic free listings on these websites will work for most business needs. There may also be paid directories that are of value to your business. We recommend getting the free listings set up first and if a particular directory is driving traffic a premium listng may be of value.
If you find you don’t have the time to get this going we can dedicate the time to get you posted to all the directories on the attached list for $300.00. If you would like to continue and have us get you listed in custom directories for your industry or your locale we may need to add some more time and increase the investment – but I promise you you won’t be paying $100 a month indefinitely to get listed in only 5 new digital directories a month.
7 Conscious Steps to Connect with Website Visitors
Internet marketing for small business, also known as web marketing, online marketing, digital marketing and online small business marketing is comprised of many components. Internet marketing encompasses several disciplines, involving everything from websites, email, search engine optimization (SEO),social media and more. There is no one-size-fits-all for internet marketing campaigns. Depending on your business and your target market, finding the right balance between the many options available may take some trial and error but this effort will often lead to great results in internet marketing.
Inbound marketing components are used in concert with your website to convert visitors to customers. When visitors come to your website inbound marketing works to turn those in-coming prospects to customers. Inbound marketing works under the premise that your social media fans and website visitors are expressing an interest in your product or service purely by coming to your website or social media pages. The same can be said for phone calls coming in from direct mail campaigns and other marketing efforts. Inbound marketing puts practices in place to respond to these hot leads through office procedures, marketing automation software, online contact forms, visitor tracking and through email marketing.
Components of Internet Marketing for Small Business
1. Websites
Some small businesses still don’t have websites – yes, really! Many small business owners do not pause to consider that people search the web for everything. Even if a business is not selling online and the majority of customers or members don’t come from internet marketing campaigns people search for phone numbers, hours, etc. Having information online and available also establishes credibility.
Do you need to make updates? Businesses lose credibility points from visitors if they see a dated website design or information that isn’t current. Outdated information can be frustrating to the visitor and make it seem as if keeping your information (and your customers and prospects) in the loop is not important to you.
What steps can you take to get your website current?
2. Getting Customers to Your Website
Is your website address on everything? You have your website address on your business cards of course, but do you also have your domain name on your company vehicle, in tv ads, radio spots you are running and on all of your social media profiles? Are their places your customers frequent where you can post your website address? Do you include them in ads, social media pages plus blog, and email signature?
Where can you add your website address ?
3. Relevant Content / Keywords
Do you have information on all your products and services posted on your website? We’re you hoping to get back to that someday? Search engines rely on keywords people use when making a web search query. Adding the words and terms to clearly describe your products and services helps answer customer questions and it helps your website be discovered on search engines.
What products or services need more details on your website?:
4. Calls to Action
In every marketing effort a clear call to action helps to increase responses. Some websites require an email to access content, others offer a live chat option to answer customers in real time. Most website calls to action are requests to fill out online forms, including quote forms, make an online purchase, email, or pick up the phone. Online forms help to capture emails, phone numbers and other contact information of prospects. A clear call to action leads the customer smoothly onto the next step to connect with you.
Web savvy visitors have become hesitant to offer up emails or other contact information readily. Offering an item of value for free in exchange for emails or phone numbers is a great way to be able to follow up with interested customers. Some of the free value added items to offer your customers are e-books, free consultations, free trials and discounts . The key is to create a truly valuable item that your customer benefits from. Offering a download of a one page Top 10 list from your industry and calling it an e-book is not an authentic way to begin a trusting, long lasting business relationship— make sure you are giving value. Be careful not to ask for too much information from them. If you plan to send emails capture their name and email, don’t try and get their snail mail address just in case you need it in the future. The less information a visitor has to fill in the better.
What calls to action can you add to your website?
What can you say or offer to entice visitors to leave an email, call, or fill out a form?
5. Blogging
Company blogs serve as an outlet to post new information about products and services. They also help to educate prospects and customers about how your product or service can help them and they can recognize the value your company offers to them. Blogs can give updates to warranty information, announce new products, company press releases, samples of completed work, customer case studies and industry news. Adding a blog to your company website demonstrates your leadership in the industry and assists with search engine optimization. Consistent blog posts show search bots that your website has current information that should be indexed. Every time you update your site or blog you increase visibility to search engines.
What can you write about that will include your keywords within the context of your blog?:
6. Landing Pages
To highlight a special promotion, product, or service, create a landing page with a strong call to action. Landing pages are stripped down versions of your website that focus on the service or product you are promoting and that promotion only. The page should offer quick bullet information about the item being promoted. Include your logo, a form to complete the purchase of the promotion or a form that gathers information and has a follow up to the customer such as a free download. Landing pages have unique URLSs and are usually associated with a specific email, advertising, or internet marketing campaign. Landing pages can be tied directly to each media used in a campaign. This helps to provide data on what marketing methods received the most activity. You can then use this data for choosing the same or similar marketing methods for future campaigns. The unique URL’s make it easy to check analytics nd gather all kinds of information.
What information is of interest to your website visitors?
What can you offer in exchange for their contact information?
7. E-Mail Marketing
By now you have probably figured out what you will be doing with all of the emails you are capturing. That’s right, email marketing campaigns! There are a variety of ways to stay connected with your customers when you have their email. You can send individual personal emails, weekly or monthly e-blasts or e-newsletters that offer discounts, product updates, etc. You can also create automated emails when visitors perform a specific action on your site. Emails can also be formulated to send at specific times along the sales chain. Creating a process that responds intuitively to customer inquiries serves the customer quickly and makes efficient use of everyone’s time.
How will you use the email addresses you capture? (e-newsletters, send coupons/discount, etc.)
Another large component of internet marketing for small business is social media marketing for small business. When fed well and frequently, social media marketing campaigns can drive visitors to your website. Set your intentions and be conscious of how your internet marketing will boost you company brand and sales. If you have question or need help getting an inbound marketing campaign going, please give us a call. If you are interested in getting more of these detailed small business marketing tips be sure to check our workbook format e-book Mastering the Art of Marketing for Small Business for 2015.
Businesses and individuals with websites should keep an eye out for scams that they receive in the mail. These scams often target businesses with what looks like a bill or an invoice. Scams like this are an attempt to collect money for services that they don’t provide, are phishing for your financial information or looking to trick you into signing up for services that you don’t use.
Some examples of these are Website Hosting Invoices on places you’re not hosted and Website Backup services at a place that doesn’t have access to your website.
Be aware these scams are out there. If you are ever unsure about a bill or invoice, research the business online and contact your website administrator to find out if the bill is real.
Below is one example of an actual scam we received recently. WebsiteBackup.com sent out fraudulent invoices to people around the country asking them to send money to WebsiteBackup Company.
Ripoff Report is a great tool for finding and reporting scams.
Here is an example of a Ripoff Report Complaint about the scam campaign sent out in this example.
Keeping Your Website Updated
The 7 Chakras of a Connected Website
Having a website with a content management system (CMS) that is also a responsive website design is the best type of website for small businesses. CMS sites, such as WordPress websites, allow you to keep your website updated even if you don’t know web coding. CMS sites that are responsive can be updated easily and can be navigated smoothly on all devices including smart phones. Updating to a responsive website with a content management system is the smartest marketing investment a small business can make right now… read more…
On the Blog:
Professional Printing Checklist – preparing a digital file for print
In the age of digital apps, conscious budgeting and google images, small businesses are creating print marketing materials in-house. This isn’t always easy to do, but it can get simpler. Follow this professional printing checklist to prepare a digital file for offset or digital printing.Read more…
Monthly Spotlight
Kodiak Emergency Vehicles
We recently completed a new website design for Kodiak Emergency Vehicles. Owner and founder, Ahren Taszreak built his original WordPress site but wanted an update that reflected the growth Kodiak has experienced since it’s launch. We worked closely with Ahren and his office manager Deanne to create a site that highlighted the brands Kodiak represents and the expanded used vehicle department A large percentage of emergency vehicle searches are done on smart phones and tablets so a responsive website format was ideal.
In the short time it took to revamp the website, Kodiak moved to a larger facility and is getting so busy the web management Ahren planned to handle is now on Deanne. We spent an hour or so with Deanne training her in the CMS how to make pages edits, add photos and new used vehicle posts.
If you are planning to update your website we can train you or your staff to make edits, plus we are still here to keep your website current while you return to the business of running your business. Check out Kodiak-EV.com – on your desktop or smart phone!
