Small Business Success Index 5

Index Score^*		Grade
SBSI INDEX	73	C-
Capital Access	67	D+
Marketing & Innovation	65	D
Workforce	76	C
Customer Service	88	B+
Computer Technology	75	C
Compliance	92	A-
*Index score is calculated on a 1-100 scale.

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Posts Tagged ‘Marketing’

38 Free Marketing Magazines, Books, Conferences and Other Resources

December 29th, 2011 :: Monika Jansen

Are you resolved to become a better marketer in 2012? Then get a head start by checking out this list of 38 free resources – from courses to magazines to events – that cover branding, marketing, market analysis, and press releases. You’ll stay on top of marketing trends and news, and learn tips and tricks from the experts.

Courses & Classes

6 Week Course in Branding by About.com
Marketing 101 by Kutztown University
Conducting a Marketing Analysis by Kutztown University
Fundamentals of Business Analysis by University of California
Inbound Marketing University by Hubspot, including certification

Magazines

Kindle Books

Marketing Associations

Sales Lead Management Association
Association of Strategic Marketing
American Marketing Association – not free to join, but chock full of great (free) resources

Events

Marketing Survey Resources

Press Release Resources

Image courtesy of creative design agency Arrae

Tags: Book, classes, courses, eBooks, Events, Marketing, marketing associations, marketing resources, marketing surveys, press releases
Posted in Marketing | 1 Comment »

5 Social Media Stats for Marketers

December 27th, 2011 :: Monika Jansen

The more you know about social media and its expanding user base, the better you can harness its communication powers for your marketing campaign. Luckily for you and me, the people at HubSpot and MarketingCharts regularly compile exhaustive data about social media sites and the folks who use them. I downloaded their PowerPoint presentation chock-full of revealing statistics that can guide you as you plan and implement your social media marketing campaign. I chose a handful of stats to share with you here.

If you’re not a numbers person, I promise it won’t be too painful. But, if you like to see exactly where your social media marketing efforts stands, roll up your sleeves and dig in!

1. People love hanging out on Facebook

You probably know that Facebook dominates the social space, but did you know just how dominant this powerhouse is? Facebook users spend an average of seven hours, 46 minutes per month on the site. Users of runner-up AOL Media Network spend only two hours, 52 minutes per month. So, users spend five more hours per month on Facebook than on its closest competitor, time-wise. These results are a good indicator of where you should be spending your time, too!

2. LinkedIn is great for marketing and PR

Don’t count out LinkedIn. Research shows a trend in LinkedIn’s growth over the past year. In one month (August – September, 2011), LinkedIn grew its U.S. market share of visits from 0.57% to 0.64%. It’s also a favorite among journalists; 92% of business journalists have a LinkedIn account. If PR is part of your job, you may want to try pitching on this site. And if you’re a B-to-B marketer, you should absolutely be using LinkedIn Groups to communicate with your customers, as the site hosts numerous professional and industry networking Groups.

3. Go mobile

Marketers should be watching the convergence of social and mobile closely. This year, twice as many people age 55 and over visited social networks on their mobile phones, compared to last year. Your customers are mobile, and you should be, too.

4. Social media influences purchases…

Social sites impact 35% of buying behaviors. That’s right–your tweets and wall posts have the power to directly affect purchasing decisions. Why not offer coupons and specials through social media channels to entice your customers even more?

5. …but is still intimidating to marketers

If you’re intimidated by social media, you’re not alone. 68% of CMOs reported being challenged by social media. Respondents described feeling unprepared for the demands of marketing on social networks.

Even after dividing respondents into two groups (outperforming and underperforming), 66% of the top CMO’s reported feeling unprepared for social media marketing.

So, what do you do? Do as I do, and look to the top experts for advice. I subscribe to tons of industry newsletters and read loads of reports and blogs just to stay on top of what’s coming next in social media marketing.

With so many opportunities for engagement and an ever-expanding reach, social media is proving to be a commanding force in digital marketing. To access the full PowerPoint presentation, visit HubSpot’s website.

Image courtesy of creative design agency Arrae

Tags: Facebook, LinkedIn, Marketing, marketing statistics, mobile, online buying, pr, public relations, social media
Posted in Marketing, Social Media | 1 Comment »

The Four “R’s” of Working with the Media in 2012 #12SMBTips

December 26th, 2011 :: Karen Axelton

This entry is part 12 of 12 in the series 12 Ways to Makeover Your Business in 2012

Jennifer Nycz-Conner of the Washington Business Journal (@wbjonline)

Been a while since you’ve seen your business in the news? The media are your friend; work with them! Whether it’s a big sale or a special event, learn the four R’s of working with the media and your company will be in the newspaper in no time! Jen imparts her first-hand experience on how you can successfully work with the media to see your name in the headlines.

About Jennifer Nycz-Conner: Jennifer is a multi-faceted journalist who thrives on juggling work in print, on-camera and online. For the past six years, Jen has served as a feature writer and columnist for the Washington Business Journal, a business weekly in the Washington, DC, region. Her weekly column, “Working the Room,” chronicles office life and the after-hours networking adventures of some of Washington’s top business leaders and appears on the paper’s Back Page photo round-up.

Special Offer from Network Solutions: Ring in the New Year for your small business with a new domain name. This month only, purchase a domain name for $1.99, the lowest price of the year. This offer expires December 31. Visit this special offer site to redeem. Terms, conditions and limitations to this offer apply. Happy Holidays!

Tags: Marketing, small business
Posted in Marketing, Small Business, small business | No Comments »

How to Find and Add Facebook Apps to Your Facebook Page

December 22nd, 2011 :: Monika Jansen

Sure, there’s an app for just about everything these days, but how do you put those apps to work for your online marketing strategy? While an article about using apps effectively could easily turn into a multivolume work, this article will focus on using Facebook apps as part of a successful social media strategy.

What exactly is an app?

They may sound cute, but the little applications (apps) that live on your Facebook page are powerful engagement tools. Native Facebook apps can be found on the left sidebar of your page, and they include Photos, Videos, Links, Events and Notes. When you install a third-party app, you are using an application that someone other than Facebook has developed.

To view your apps, click Edit Page on your Facebook wall. These are the apps you have now. To get more than just the basic Facebook-issued apps, you’ll need to find and install them.

When you search Facebook for additional apps to install, you may find it difficult to distinguish an app page from a regular fan page. Since even apps have fans, or “likes,” you should check for a Go to App button, the app classification, and an Add to My Page link. These are indicators that you have found an app.

Since apps are a dime a dozen, and you don’t want to waste your time on inferior apps, check to see how established it is before installing. The Monthly Active Users figure will show you how many people are currently using the app, which means someone out there is finding it useful and worthwhile.

The Hunt for Facebook Apps

Of course, if you know the name of the app you want, finding it will be a cinch. Simply use the search tool within Facebook, and filter by Apps in the left sidebar.

If you see a cool app in a posting on your news feed, explore it by clicking on any links found within the posting. This tactic only works if the app has posted to your newsfeed. Otherwise, a bit more sleuthing will be required.

You can study the bottom of Facebook pages to see which apps are being used by that organization. Check for a link to the app’s external website or a link to the app within Facebook. If you cannot find a link, the app either doesn’t have this feature or it is a custom app created specifically for that page (in other words, the organization paid to have it created just for them). In the case of a custom app, you may be able to locate an attribution to find out how the custom tab was created; again, check the bottom of the page for this indicator.

If you don’t have a particular app in mind, you can use www.Appbistro.com to find a selection of Facebook apps to get you started.

Installing Your Apps

When you’ve found an app you’d like to try out, you may run into a few snags, depending on the app’s installation requirements. If you’re lucky, the app will install easily from within Facebook. However, some apps have a smoother installation process from their external website; many of these websites provide you with step-by-step instructions for installing their apps.

The simplest way to get started adding apps within Facebook is to click the Add to My Page link on the left sidebar; this is easier than taking the Go to App button route mentioned earlier. Once you click the Add to My Page link, select the page where you want to add the app from the pop-up box that appears. Click the Add to Page button.

Navigate to the page where you added the app, and locate the app on the left sidebar. Click on the app to check for additional steps for configuring the app. If there are more steps, follow them through to completion, and you’re ready to go!

If you want to move the app’s position on your left sidebar, simply click the Edit link under your app list, and drag the app to the desired position. After your apps are organized how you’d like, click Done to save the new positions.

Do you have a favorite Facebook App that you find particularly useful? Save our readers some app hunting time, and share it in the comments section below!

Image courtesy of creative design agency Arrae.

Tags: Facebook, Facebook apps, Marketing, social media
Posted in Marketing, Social Media | 2 Comments »

5 Ways to Use the New LinkedIn Company Pages to Grow Your Business

December 20th, 2011 :: Monika Jansen

Are you doing all you can to leverage LinkedIn’s engagement opportunities?

Recently, LinkedIn made some changes to provide even more ways to communicate with clients, employees, and industry peers through its Company Pages. Now companies can make status updates on their pages, enabling followers to receive news directly from them. Since keeping up with changes to all the social media networks can be a job in itself, I’ve studied tips for getting caught up with everything LinkedIn.

Here’s what you need to know:

1. Optimize your Company Page for better engagement

There are over 2 million businesses with a company page on LinkedIn, so how do you make yours stand out?

First, you’ll want to make sure your company page is appealing and primed for engagement. LinkedIn allows you to use rich media content, such as YouTube videos, images, and hyperlinked banners, to make your page more engaging and visually interesting, so be sure to take advantage of these features.

Next, use your company overview page to tell potential customers what you can do for them – don’t forget to use keywords to attract your target market. The overview page is a great place to pull in your blog content by inserting your feed URL, too.

Another place to focus some attention is your products and services pages on your profile. Including images, lists of key features, links to promotions and even videos can help customers find the information they want about your offerings.

After sprucing up your page, be sure to enable the page for status updates and designate who can post updates. Now, you’re ready to begin updating.

2. Build your LinkedIn community

Just as on Facebook and Twitter, you’ll need to build your community of followers before you can really see any payoff from your efforts. Even if your business is very small, you can create a vibrant community of super-targeted followers to expand your reach on LinkedIn.

If you haven’t already, ask employees to follow your page and share status updates with their LinkedIn connections.

You can also follow the pages of vendors, customers, prospects and companies within your industry or geographic location–hopefully they will follow you back.

You can even send calls to action to follow your page to your personal connections, your database of customers, as well as post similar calls to action within relevant LinkedIn groups.

Like any other online community, you’ll have to work to grow your LinkedIn company page following, but the targeted connections made here can be well worth your efforts.

3. Provide helpful, industry-related updates

LinkedIn provides the perfect platform for building your credibility as a knowledge leader or industry expert. The professional aspect of LinkedIn’s community means its members are focused on improving their knowledge base and careers. Spark their interest by posting tips and insights that will help them succeed.

If your company helps businesses with their marketing, provide free content that will help your followers achieve their marketing goals. Likewise, if you sell software applications, teach your followers how to leverage these technologies to make their companies more efficient.

4. Engage with others through their updates

Don’t be shy–if you want to get on the radar of companies that are important to your business, engage with their status updates. Publicly thank them for information, make suggestions you think they’d appreciate, and by all means share their valuable content.

LinkedIn is a great place to talk shop about issues surrounding your industry, so jump into the conversation with potential vendors and partners. Maybe they will reciprocate your kindness and promote your business, too.

5. Measure and monitor for success

LinkedIn has a useful Analytics feature, which can help you see how well your efforts are paying off, but the best way to see how well you are engaging your target markets is to study your company profile’s landing page. Check here often to see who has communicated with or commented on any of your company’s updates.

Monitor the updates from the companies you follow by checking under “Companies” on your home page. Or, visit the “LinkedIn Companies” home page to see a concentrated stream of the same updates. Checking these places often will help you stay on top of the conversation in your industry and jump in with comments when appropriate.

Have you taken advantage of LinkedIn’s new company page features? If so, let us know how you like them by leaving a comment below.

Image courtesy of creative design agency Arrae

Tags: analytics, engagement, LinkedIn, LinkedIn Company Pages, Marketing, social media
Posted in Marketing, Social Media | 1 Comment »

3 Ways SEO Will Help You Optimize YouTube Videos

December 16th, 2011 :: Monika Jansen

We all crave a YouTube success story. We upload videos about our products or services – perhaps a new product demo or an interview with the local news channel – and dream of the millions of hits we’ll get overnight that will lead to a huge increase in business.

In reality, over the next few days as you eagerly check the stats, even after posting a backlink to the video on your website, in your blog, and on your Facebook page, you sheepishly realize your video is, to put it mildly, not exactly a Number One hit. Out of 14 hits five are from your immediate family and three are from your employees.

Fortunately, there are a number of small tweaks you can make to get the most out of your YouTube videos. It’s all about understanding search enginge optimization (SEO) and marketing your video as dynamically as you market your company, products and services. A great example of this can be found in The Sales Lion’s “Video Marketing and YouTube for Small Business Success: Anyone Can Do It.”

1. Pick the right keywords

Use Google’s Keyword Research Tool or a similar free online product to figure out what customers are searching for – and pick up some pointers in Greg Jarboe’s article on Search Engine Watch, “YouTube Keyword Tool and Video Optimization Techniques.”

Some of the search terms people use are odd and nonintuitive, so don’t skip this step. If you sell toasters, and you don’t know that your potential customers search for “bread griller,” that missed connection is costing you views.

2. Add your keywords everywhere

Clever and pithy video titles don’t get pulled up in search results, so feel free to make it long enough to include all of your search keywords. For example, “Bread Griller Toaster Heater” is going to draw in more hits than “Our New Product!”

Follow the same rules for the video description, tags and your company profile. The more frequently your keywords appear, the more often potential customers will be directed to your video.

3. Give them information they need to take action

Now that people are finding your video, give them enough information to make an impact and spur them to take action. Upload your transcript to make your video extra-searchable, include call-to-action overlays to let potential customers know where they can go for more information, add your website address to your video, and include an annotation to direct people to other videos or subscribe to your channel.

Image courtesy of creative design agency Arrae

Tags: keywords, Marketing, Search Marketing, social media, Videos, YouTube
Posted in Marketing, Search Marketing, Social Media | 2 Comments »

4 Ways to Keep your Blog’s Visitors

December 14th, 2011 :: Monika Jansen

Picture this:

You’ve got a deadline, and you need information on social media statistics - fast. You plug your keywords into the search bar and get hundreds of pages of search results that are a mix of website pages, articles on digital media publications and blog posts.

Like anyone else sorting through search results, you hurriedly scan the list, clicking one site, scanning it, hitting the back arrow, and moving on to the next one. Each page you visit gets a cursory scan. You make a decision quickly on whether or not that link contains the information you need.

Too often, good blogs lose out on new blog readers because of a few key factors. In those few seconds between the website loading and your reader scanning the page, you can easily lose a potential reader. Keep your blog readers (both new and old) by putting the following tips to work:

1. Check your bounce rate

Your bounce rate is a great clue as to whether or not you are holding on to your blog readers. A bounce rate is just about what it sounds like – how many users came to your site and bounced right back off without clicking anywhere else. This likely means they thought your information would be interesting or helpful, but in the end decided it wasn’t.

2. Check the rest of your stats

Analytical metrics exist for a reason. Invest in free software to keep track of the locations, ages and interests of your potential audience, as well as which sites you receive click-throughs from. Do your users usually come from social media sites? Do they stumble upon you? Visit you via a guest blogger’s site? Use this information to your advantage. Keep pushing out your blog content in those places that send you readers, and stop – or focus less on — pushing it to places that aren’t.

3. Rewrite what doesn’t work

Review how long users stay on your site. Check out which articles are being read and which are being left in the dust. Some articles pull their weight, some don’t. Ditch or rework the articles that aren’t receiving comparable hit stats; make your titles and keywords as accurate as possible in order to lead readers to the information they want.

4. Highlight your strong points

A popular sidebar feature on many blogs is a list of “Most Popular” posts. This will provide eye-catching content for new readers and quickly engage them with your blog.

Image courtesy of creative design agency Arrae

Tags: blog, blog readers, blog stats, bounce rate, Marketing, Search Marketing, social media
Posted in Marketing, Search Marketing, Social Media | 1 Comment »

How to Use Keywords to Improve Your Blog’s Search Results

December 12th, 2011 :: Monika Jansen

If you have never thought to use keyword research as a way to improve the visibility of your blog posts, think again.

Whenever we search for information online, what do we do? We do a Google (or Bing, or Yahoo) search. It makes sense, then, that if you want your blog to get found and read (and shared and commented on), you should include the keywords people are currently using in their searches.

For instance, I just did a search for web video templates for another blog post I was writing. Not only did I find companies that offer templates, but I found plenty of blog posts, articles, and videos about web videos in general and web video templates specifically in the search results.

Now, the term “web video” is a very broad keyword search term and is therefore pretty competitive. Whether you are a management consultant, graphic designer, plumber, or attorney, you’ll run into the same problem: broad keywords won’t help you get found because they are used so often.

You need to do 2 things to find better keywords: 1.) get more specific and find less competitive keywords, and 2.) hone in on those keywords that could generate huge traffic.

Let’s use an attorney as our example, because I know a bunch of super fun and very capabile attorneys who must compete in this very broad category.

Our attorney specializes in employment law; specifically litigating discrimination cases. He is writing a series of blog posts about employment law that are aimed at small businesses.

Using Market Samurai (you can download a free trial version that is good for 2 weeks), I searched “employment law” and got 47 million results. This blog post, though, is a guide for small businesses – that gets 15.2 million results –that focuses on racial disrimination – that gets just under 3.5 million results.

So you see, the more our attorney focused on keywords specific to this particular blog post, the better the chance his blog post will be found online.

To really take advantage of search engine optimization, our attorney needs to use those keywords in the title of his post, in subheadings in the body of his post, in the text itself (of course!), and in the image tags.

Try it yourself and see if it helps your blog posts generate more traffic!

Image courtesy of creative design agency Arrae.

Tags: Bing, blog writing, blogging, Google, keywords, Marketing, search engine optimization, Search Marketing, search results, seo, Yahoo
Posted in Marketing, Search Marketing | 2 Comments »

7 Ways to Integrate Social Media with Your Marketing Plan

December 8th, 2011 :: Monika Jansen

Social Media B2B recently published a fantastic blog post with very practical tips for integrating social media into your marketing plan. I have added to their tips other ideas I have seen used – or used myself – to bring you these 7 straightforward ways to improve your marketing efforts across the board.

1. Put your website in sync with your marketing plan.

If you are promoting something via social media – from a white paper to an ebook, guide, free trial or sample, or demo – make sure you send people somewhere on your website where they will find what they are looking for. It could be a landing page specifcially created for the campaign, or just an existing page on your website. Whatever it is, you need to make sure that it will lead people through the necessary steps they need to follow to get whatever it is you are promoting.

2. Make it easy for visitors to discover useful content.

Once you have someone on your website, whether it is that campaign-specific landing page or an existing page, keep them there with more useful content. Add links to additional content they might like, like other blog posts, ebooks, free samples, etc.

3. Add social buttons everywhere.

Add links to your social profiles wherever it makes sense – your blog, home page, landing pages, “contact us” page, and even in your team’s bios (linking to their accounts, obviously – as long as they are using them for work-related purposes only). Make sure you tell your Web visitors what kind of information they can expect to receive when they follow you on Facebook or Twitter.

4. Support advertising.

If traditional print advertising still generates enough leads to make it cost-effective, don’t stop. Help it deliver an even higher return on investment by creating a blog post that provides more information on what you mentioned in the ad. You can also add a QR code to the ad that links to a page on your website.

5. Socialize email.

Go beyond adding social media buttons to valuable email marketing messages. Use social media to ask people to sign up for your email list and announce when those emails are going out.

6. Generate leads with keywords.

Search Twitter and LinkedIn for keywords that aren’t just industry-specific, but pain-point-specific as well. People complain about problems when they are looking for a solution, so take advantage of that!

7. Promote events.

Promote events on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and, if you are a bricks-and-mortar business, Foursquare. Add links to information in a blog post, a landing page with more information, and/or a site where they can RSVP or buy tickets (like EventBrite). If you use Foursquare, add a special badge for the event – or a special badge for your best customers only.

Image courtesy of creative design agency Arrae

Tags: Email marketing, Facebook, Foursquare, keywords, landing page, LinkedIn, Marketing, marketing plan, social media, Twitter, Website
Posted in Marketing, Social Media | 2 Comments »

6 Surefire Ways to Improve Online Marketing via Your Website

December 6th, 2011 :: Monika Jansen

Websites, white papers and blogs – there are plenty of sources out there for improving your online marketing strategy. They range from simple (set up a website) to complex (put together a fully integrated social media marketing program that uses Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Foursquare to promote your business).

Let’s keep it basic, though, and focus on 6 things you can do to improve your website:

1. Create clear and concise website content.

This is something I write about a lot. Be clear about the value you offer customers with straightforward, clean Web copy that focuses on benefits, not features, and avoids fluffy descriptions. Simply list what you do and how you successfully solve your customers’ problems.

To ensure it really is clear, ask friends and family who are not in your industry to read it. If everyone quickly grasps what your company does, great job! If not, try again or ask them for suggestions on improving the copy.

2. Add video.

One of the best ways to engage your prospective customers is by including a video that introduces your product or service in a quick and easy-to-understand format. You can make one yourself (just do a quick search for Web video templates) or outsource it to a graphic designer. Just make sure your video does not auto-play when a visitor first lands on your website.

3. Stay focused.

Keep your website content tightly focused on the benefits of your products or services. Do not expound at length on your background or why you started your company, or continually repeat yourself, a common mistake. Save all thought leadership for your blog, social media sites or your website’s resource center.

4. Go mobile.

If you have an app that can be used on mobile devices, like smartphones and tablets, let customers know on your home page – and link to the app on the App Store, Android Marketplace, Blackberry App World or the Windows Marketplace to make it easy for them to find and download it. Mobility is a major selling point for everyone who is busy, so this is a great way to grab their attention.

5. Tout free trials or demos.

If you offer free trials or demos of your product or service, don’t bury it in your website. Make that a visible, primary call to action on your home and contact us pages. I love it when companies turn those calls to action into big buttons so you can’t miss them.

6. Make signing up easy.

Help your buyers get started with your products or services right away by allowing them to sign up easily on your “home” and “contact us” pages, or by walking them through the steps they need to take to get going.

Do some – or all – of these things, and more of your website visitors will call or email you – and turn into potential customers.

Image courtesy of creative design agency Arrae

Tags: apps, calls to action, Marketing, mobile apps, online marketing, social media, video, web video, website content
Posted in Marketing | 1 Comment »

Small Business Success Index 5

Search Articles

Most liked posts

Recent Articles

Popular Tags

Categories

Posts Tagged ‘Marketing’

38 Free Marketing Magazines, Books, Conferences and Other Resources

The Four “R’s” of Working with the Media in 2012 #12SMBTips

How to Use Keywords to Improve Your Blog’s Search Results