| LED Digest 2554: Marketing for Small Business |
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================================================== The LED Digest Moderated Discussion List "Effective Online Advertising, Since 1997" Data > Information > Knowledge > Wisdom www.WillMaster.com/Master : the LED's Key Sponsor Master Series Software - Get Connected with Your WebSite www.SEOToolSet.com/training/ : the LED's Premier Sponsor Bruce Clay's Search Engine Optimization Training & Certification ================================================== List Moderator: Published by: Adam Audette LED Digest adam, led-digest.com http://www.led-digest.com .............................................. December 13, 2007 Issue no. 2554 .............................................. .....IN THIS DIGEST..... ==== CONTINUING ================= <Moderator Comment> ~ Pubcon Shout-outs --== Text Resizing Option? ==-- ~ Rupert Dick ~ Shelly Cole --== Link Strategy ==-- ~ Michael Martinez --== Small Biz Marketing [was: Trends] ==-- ~ Michael Linehan --== International SEO ==-- ~ Shelly Cole ======== CONTINUING =============================== <Moderator Comment> I'm hoping Mari Bontrager's question from yesterday gets more than one response, I think it's an important topic for the LED (web marketing for small business). It brings us back to practical stuff every website can use. Pubcon was a great experience. The sessions were excellent, if basic, but the Q & A format really brought out some interesting responses from the panelists and that was the most beneficial part of the sessions (for me personally). And the real value is in the networking and socializing you can do at these events. You can learn more over a beer with 1 or 2 people than you can in a crowded session hall. I had a great time meeting a bunch of folks I've only known online. Big thanks to classy Lee Odden of http://www.toprankblog.com for the video interview and Bruce Clay for a great chat http://www.bruceclay.com. Bruce is one of the most old-school SEOs on this list, having first posted in issue #9! Serious bragging rights. Alas, I didn't get to meet Lisa Barone, the super smart blogger behind http://www.bruceclay.com/blog/, but did get to finally meet Aaron Wall http://www.seobook.com in person, whom I've known online for many years. Shouts also to Jill Whalen http://www.highrankings.com, Todd Mintz http://www.sempdx.org, and David Mihm www.davidmihm.com. And of course, Derrick Wheeler who I can't link to since he doesn't have a site (and I'm not linking to Microsoft, heh!). I went with a few friends, Jeff Tirey is an old school search marketer from http://www.pre23.com fame, who just launched http://www.mongoosemetrics.com with Brad Reynolds. And I had the pleasure of meeting the great Jim Varga of http://www.neofill.com. If you're ever in Vegas, do yourself a favor and see Cirque Du Soleil "Ka." It's pretty insane: www.cirquedusoleil.com/cirquedusoleil/ka/. Thanks for the tickets, Jim! Have a great Thursday, Adam ------------------ From: Rupert Dick Subject: Text sizing > I am creating a new site and was > wondering if I should offer visitors > the option to change the size of the > text using a script or CSS. - Cyril Hallard, LED Digest 2553 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1968/190/ Dear Cyril I always personally rely on the ability of browsers to allow larger text size - people needing larger script will use this. If you have a complex site then you may wish to have control over how it looks in set sizes but generally this is not necessary. Make sure your site uses relative css statements for fonts - we use 2 css sizes (font-size:small; & font-size:x-small;) and if we want a large size then sometimes < font size=+1 >. Best wishes Rupert Dick http://www.ukvillages.co.uk -------- new post - same topic -------- From: Shelly Cole Subject: Text sizing I think that depends on your "market". Really, the only time I've needed to do this was for sites that were targeted at seniors, or those with disabilities. Usually they already know about the browser's ability to resize text, so adding this feature is a "nicety". So if your market is older citizen's, then sure, it's a nice thing to do. Truly, it's easy enough to do (I, myself have done it several different ways for different clients who have requested it). So if you wanna, go ahead. If that's not your target market, then I'd just look at your desire to do it. Again, if you wanna, go ahead. it's a nice addition that some will use and some will not. ;) I *will* say this: use a server-side script to make it happen. Javascript (or any other kind of client-side scripting) for this kind of thing is a bad choice. So if you do it, do it right ;) ~Shelly Cole ========= Begin Sponsor Message ========= We like our customers so much we offer a club to play in! Every customer is eligible for membership at no extra cost. Monthly perks and specials prices plus other member perks Join the Valued Customer Club 'cause VCC members get great deals. http://willmaster.com/vccLED ========== End Sponsor Message ========== -------- new post - new topic -------- From: Michael Martinez Subject: Link strategy > I plan to write to webmasters of those > sites, pointing out how many visitors I'm > sending them, and saying I'll promote them > to a short list on my home page if they'll > link to me. Is this kosher? - Shaun Johnston, LED Digest 2553 Your linking program should have a goal other than "just to get more links". Why are you sending traffic to THOSE particular sites? What is the purpose of the page of links? The real difference between being a resource and being a link builder is that the resource doesn't care about how many inbound links it gets. A legitimate directory offers value through the editorial selections it makes. People may or may not appreciate that value but as long as you send other sites traffic you stand a pretty good chance of attracting the kind of natural linkage (from both the destinations you help and the visitors you help) that you really want. If you have business relationships with those other sites, you may have legitimate reason just to ask them to link to you. Some merchants will even link to affiliates that perform well (or perhaps for some other business reason). In such a situation, I think telling them about the traffic you send would be helpful. However, if all you're doing is building links, I think your time would be better spent improving the value of your site to your visitors. Regardless of how valuable it is now, you should be able to improve that value every now and then. Michael Martinez http://www.michael-martinez.com/ -------- new post - new topic -------- From: Michael Linehan Subject: Marketing trends > What are some specific, useful marketing > activities for small business owners? - Mari Bontrager, LED Digest 2553 Well, I hope you didn't implicitly mean "Internet" marketing, Mari, because that question got me going on marketing. Some ways a small business owner can strengthen their marketing follow. Some are tactics. Some are ways to enrich any tactic. Some are ways to increase profits. - To start, make specific goals and plan and put in writing. - Referral systems: Referrals are critical, but usually they are just left to "happen". This can be made enormously more powerful by systematizing. - Network furiously! (With the right people.) - Do not try to be all things to all people. Identify your best possible clients and focus on them. 20% of your clients bring 80% of your profit. (Well - the principle's good.) So identify the characteristics of the 20% and then find more of them. - Three ways to grow: more clients, sell more to each client, sell more often to each client. Do all three for maximum growth. - Follow-up: Everyone knows follow-up is crucial, but how many do it systematically? Leverage follow-up by using CRM software - client relationship management. Daylite for Mac. Maximizer for PC. Oprius (online) for either. - Develop a Unique Selling Proposition - what's special about you. One marketing truism goes, "If you don't have a competitive advantage why bother trying to compete?" Critical, critical and critical. - Direct mail or email - to current and past customers and to qualified, non-spam lists. - Focussed direct response ads only. No shotgun marketing - just throwing information out into the wind hoping it finds a person or two to stick to. - Joint ventures. - Increase perceived value: through prospect and client education. Dont assume they understand. Fully articulate the benefits of your product or service. Lead with benefits; back up with features. - Develop a back end: something further to sell to clients: then something after that: and after that. - Risk-reversal: The usual is something like, "Satisfaction guaranteed." That puts the burden on the client to judge a rather vague term, 'satisfaction'. Make specific, concrete and performance based. - Lock in sales in advance e.g. discount on 1 yr memebership, or quarterly garden maintenance. - Learn how to formulate powerful headlines. - Communicate personally and frequently with clients: by phone, letter, or visit to maintain positive relationship. Statistically more communication = more sales (as long as the communication has value). - Reposition as an expert in your industry, as the source of industry information. Aim to become dominant. - Become a personality to clients; use own name, not just company name. - Develop a media profile. - Special Events or Information Nights: regular or wild events. - Advertise only vertical target ads e.g. tech-mags, trade industry publications. - Public Relations but the right stuff; customers just want to know Whats in it for me? - Point of Sale promotions - Add to the normal purchase a complimentary product or service when you know they need it. Something that is easy and cheap for you but very valuable to a client. - Change profile to be more up-market: raise prices. - Offer greater or larger units of purchase (like Costco). - Decrease the rate of attrition by follow-up. - Endorse others products to your clients - for a commission. Have others do for you. - Educate customers to use/participate full-out. - Price inducements for frequency. - Decrease overhead. - Write articles for paper media. - Write articles online. - Do all this, and everything else, *strategically*. Just as the synergistic effect of implementing content development, optimization and linking together is much greater than the simple arithmetic sum of the parts, so too the synergistic effect of an integrated, sequential, systematic marketing implementation is much greater than the sum of the parts. (The strategic plan for a given company is where a lot of the 'why' is contained. E.g. networking is #1 for one company, irrelevant for another. So there is no 'why' that covers everyone. It's all about the strategic goal and plan.) Obviously, many of these points could each be a 2-hour workshop, and there are many more. Must --- stop --- typing ---- Michael Linehan, Marketing Alchemy www.marketing-alchemy.com -------- new post - new topic -------- From: Shelly Cole Subject: International SEO > Don't mention anywhere on your site terms > like "UK English" or "British English", this > really winds us up. It's just English, it's > our language remember (the clue's in the > name). It's bad enough that you've butchered > it, please don't imply that you invented it > too. - Barry Mills, LED Digest 2551 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1966/190/ Sorry - I HAVE to put in a little funny here. I read this and I giggled so much I started crying. I come from Hicktown, USA. One of my BIGGEST pet peeves is something that my hometown redneck counterparts love to say: "Speak American, dammit!" Every time I want to make fun of my redneck heritage, that's definitely one thing I say - with a really nasty southern drawl (and if I can, I'll muster up some spit after I say it, too LOL) I can't *stand* it when people say that. It's *English*. "American" isn't a language - it's a culture. (Of course, if even 20% of the people in my hometown actually knew what "culture" is, aside from shootin' deer and drankin' beer, I'd be amazed.) Just thought I'd say that and give you "Yanks" over there somethin' to chaw on. ;P ~Shelly Cole (c) Copyright 1995-2007 Orange Wheel, LLC. All Rights Reserved. ----------------------------------------------------------------- "The heart of a fool is in his mouth, but the mouth of a wise man is in his heart." - Benjamin Franklin |
