4 Traits of a Good ISP for Small Businesses
Whether you’re working from home or providing internet to your small business’s office, there’s more to consider when choosing an internet service provider (ISP) for business than for personal use. Even with an office of only 8 people, internet failure for one hour means an entire business day’s worth of productivity went out the window. While no internet service can be perfect all the time, some providers are more reliable than others. If you’re looking into a new internet service for your small business, be sure to keep an eye out for these criteria:
24/7 Customer Support
Technology is not always our friend, which is why you need the best friends you can find at your ISP. A quality tech support service will be available any time of day (if you work from a home office, you know 1am is not an unreasonable time to need service). The speed with which an issue is given attention and even the courteousness of the staff can make all the difference in the world when you are experiencing problems. Investigate whether your provider has local support that can visit your location if an issue cannot be resolved over the phone. Perhaps the best way to gauge the tech support is to ask friends who have used the service; if you don’t know anyone personally, check reviews on reputable consumer watch websites like consumer search.
IP Address Options
Your IP address, or the identifying number assigned to your computer as it connects to the internet, can take one of two forms: static or dynamic. Dynamic IP addresses draw from a pool of addresses that gets shared among other dynamic users. It usually changes each time the user logs in, and several users will often be assigned the same number at the same time. This is often the cheaper option of the two and is acceptable for less internet-dependent businesses. Static IP addresses stay constant and are recommended for VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) or for using your computer as a server. It’s more expensive than dynamic hosting and is allegedly less secure because it is easier to track an unchanging address — but it is indispensable when you have more rigorous internet needs. Make sure your ISP provides the IP Address options you need, and allow for changes if your needs change in the future.
High Bandwidth
Of course, no discussion about ISPs would be complete without touching on bandwidth. This number, measured in megabytes per second (MBPS), the big selling point ISPs use in their advertising, but you should be aware of the fine print. Bandwidth comes in two forms: upstream and downstream. Downstream bandwidth is the speed that users can download data from the internet – the bulk of most internet usage. Upstream bandwidth—the speed with which you can upload items—is typically a fraction of the downstream speed, but should be considered if your business requires large files to be uploaded on a frequent basis. Be cautious when comparing advertised bandwidths; usually, the number you see is the maximum speed under the most optimal conditions. The actual speed may be lower, so you should investigate the minimum guaranteed speed.
Included Security
A good ISP will include a security package for you. Security is important for any user, but it’s crucial for a business owner. Features should include firewall protection, which is software or hardware that protects your computers against outside attackers. Both hardware and software firewalls offer specific advantages, but the best protection includes both. Other security features an ISP may offer include virus protection and identity protection software, data backup, and network monitoring. Evaluate the security features offered by various ISPs to determine who offers the most; if you are sold on an ISP that offers less free protection than the competition, they may offer more if you tell them you are considering another company that offers more.
About the Author: Chris Turberville-Tully is a marketing strategist for NewNet, a UK-based internet, hosting and networking solutions company. NewNet services include data centres, dedicated servers, web hosting, business ISP and more. Follow NewNet: http://twitter.com/#!/NewNetISP
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The 5 Dirty Secrets to Writing a Great Review
We’ve all come across awful product or service reviews online. There’s just so many ways that a review can end up being useless – poor writing, no real advice, biased opinions, overly “salesy” content, no accountability, etc. But sometimes, even a well-written review that offers a clear opinion of the product’s usefulness isn’t enough. Product reviews are incredibly important – Bloomberg Businessweek reported in 2009 that 70% of Americans consult product reviews or consumer ratings before buying. Also, in 2011, Cone Communications released a study claiming that 87 percent of consumers confirmed their decision to purchase after reading a favorable review.
It also showed that 80% of consumers have changed their mind based on negative information found online. So, good product reviewing skills can make or break your sales and affect the amount of money you’re getting from your affiliates. Luckily, there are some common-sense ways to take your reviews to the next level.
#1 – Take a Unique Angle
People can get reviews almost anywhere. Sites like Amazon, ConsumerReports, Yelp, ConsumerSearch, Epinions, Trip Advisor, and Customer Lobby all provide reviews of products and services. The quality of these reviews vary wildly, but the sheer amount of them means one thing – you need to stand out. Why should somebody read your review as opposed to 1,000 others? Using an interesting angle can garner some attention. Humor is always good, as long as your review still provides real information that a reader can use. Check out some of Amazon’s funniest user reviews for inspiration. You can also try formatting the review in a unique way, such as creating a fake interview, a top 10 list, or an FAQ.
To put it simply, it’s good to provide more than just product specs and your opinions. Talk specifically about how you used the product in different situations and how it performed. Rather than saying, “The iPad 2′s battery life is indeed an improvement,” it would be more interesting for a visitor to read that “the new iPad’s battery lasted for my whole 9-hour flight from Detroit to Amsterdam.”
#2 – Involve Your Readers
Make sure that you have a comments section at the end of your reviews. Getting a large discussion going can be good for SEO and can increase your accountability. How exactly do you get a discussion going? Well, the first trick is to ask questions. For example, you could end a review of a wireless Internet provider by asking something like, “What would you choose? Is slower speed acceptable if the price is right?” Also, try encouraging your readers to leave comments within the review. For example, you could write, “The modem and router I received took me an hour to set up. (Please comment to let me know if you had the same problem or if I was just doing something wrong.)”
Another way to involve your readers would be to ask for their opinions before you write your review. This way, you can compare what you found to what some of your readers have been saying. For example, you could reach out to UserName2011 through email to ask if he or she has ever used a certain wireless provider. Then, in your review, you could write something like “Reader UserName2011 had similar problems,” or “Although I didn’t like this feature, reader UserName2011 absolutely loved it.” This will help establish a community, which is always helpful for building a site and maintaing credibility.
Getting your readers to post reviews of their own can also help you provide excellent information on a larger scale. For example, you could ask your readers to review a certain wireless provider while mentioning their location. Then you could compile that information into a large article called “wireless Internet by zip code.” This would be extremely helpful to anyone considering using that provider.
#3 – Actually Review the Product
This shouldn’t be a “dirty secret,” but unfortunately, it is. Too many unhelpful or downright fake reviews flood the Internet – remember when Belkin was paying people 65 cents per review to leave positive feedback on their routers being sold at Amazon, Buy.com, and NewEgg regardless of whether or not they actually used them? It’s very easy to hide behind Internet anonymity and claim that you’ve reviewed a product when you haven’t. Of course, you’ll never gain credibility or long-term success this way. (Not to mention, researchers are starting to develop software that spots fake reviews.)
The other problem in this category involves using a product or service but not being an authority on the subject. For example, I could get my hands on the newest Fox oboe model. I could write an eloquent, SEO-friendly review discussing its appearance, dimensions, and materials used for manufacture; however, this wouldn’t change the fact that I know nothing about oboes. A review of this type isn’t really a review, it’s basically just a regurgitation of product information. Don’t attempt to review something you’re completely clueless about – write about things in which you can provide an informed opinion.
#4 – Make Comparisons
Think about some recent purchases you made – you probably had to decide between more than one option. This is the case for everyone, and readers love to see reviews that compare two similar products. For example, which title sounds more interesting – “iPhone 5 Review” or “iPhone 5 vs. Blackberry Bold 9900: Which is right for you?” Other examples include:
- Blogger vs. WordPress
- Southwest Airlines or American Airlines?
- Spotify vs. Grooveshark
[http://www.wikinoticia.com/images/bitelia/bitelia.hipertextual.netdna-cdn.com.files.2011.04.Spotify-vs-GrooveShark1.png]
#5 – Add Your Own Images or Videos
Adding an image of you holding a product or using a service adds instant credibility to your review. It shows the reader that you actually used the product. Even better, a video can allow your readers to specifically see what you’re talking about while you opine. Not to mention, video allows you to add more interesting and possibly humorous details to your review. Photos and videos constitute unique media that’s only available on your site. You can then distribute videos on sites like YouTube and Facebook for promotional purposes. So, don’t just find a stock photo of the iPad 2, create a video showing yourself actually using it. Your readers will be getting a high-quality, insightful and informative review that will keep them coming back to your site.
About the Author: Mitch O’Conner is an online marketer and writer. When he’s not busy testing sites, generating traffic or writing content, he enjoys spending time with his wife and kids, watching TV, playing games or going camping.
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18 Tips to Establish and Grow your Small Business
When establishing a small businesses there are always several key factors that need to be considered so that you are prepared for and understand all of the hurdles that will be placed in front of you. By complying with legislation and managing your time efficiently you will be able to remain on top of everything. This article will consider ways in which you can minimise the input you have to invest and still achieve the results you hope for.
Efficient Time Management
It is far too easy, as a small business owner, to become distracted by the day to day issues that need dealing with, and thus forget the bigger picture. It is important to allocate time for strategic thinking and planning so that you can enable your business to grow around you. By utilising things like outsourced IT you will be able focus your time and energy on the more important strategic elements of your business. Business IT support is just one way in which you can reduce the day to day burden of running your business, but the key is really to plan your time efficiently:
Daily and Weekly Tasks:
- Respond to correspondence. It is important to always respond to customers and business partners promptly.
- Review the effectiveness of current marketing campaigns by analysing response rates.
- Organise staff workloads, job delegation and seek to motivate employees.
- Leave free time to deal with urgent occurrences. Note that if you do not build this time into every day, an urgent occurrence will damage your other services unnecessarily. It is better to have free time than to be short on time.
Monthly Tasks:
- Review performance. You can review your performance by considering, sales, cash flow and results against projections and historical results.
- Review projections for coming months in relation to current performance.
- Consider operations in relation to your overall business strategy. Always remember that your business strategy needs to be a working document which develops and evolves as your business does.
Half-Yearly and Annual Tasks:
- Review employee performance. Assess your employees against tasks you have set them, their overall profit generation and their potential for progression. Having regular performance checks will enable you to keep track of development and performance, as well as creating an incentive for continuous commitment.
- Consider the value of your suppliers. It is sensible to review your suppliers regularly. What was once the best deal may not be any more, so shop around regularly and change suppliers if deliveries are consistently late.
- Prepare annual accounts. The process of information collection should be continuous and the more you do on a short-term basis, the easier the end of year accounts will prove to be.
Complying with Legislation
Legislation compliance is a task which needs to take place throughout the year. Whilst managing this efficiently is important, it must be considered in isolation of other tasks so that there are no mistakes in this costly area of business. There are 8 key elements to consider with regards to legislation and it is important to plan these effectively so that you are not hindered by a sudden rush to comply:
- Pay your taxes on time.
- Comply with Occupational Health and Safety requirements to create a safe working environment.
- Be sure to follow employment legislation accurately and effectively.
- Fulfil directorial responsibilities.
- Follow privacy legislation when sending emails and contacting people.
- Ensure that you are utilising all IT resources legally because unlicensed software use is a crime.
- Obtain the appropriate business license before operation begins.
- Be sure to abide by intellectual property and trademark rules.
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Key SEO Copywriting Tips for Start Ups
Understanding how to utilize the web is a crucial component in the success of a modern start-up. While social media driven businesses are becoming popular, you’re doing yourself a great deal of harm if you neglect the best source of potential customers that exists online: the search engines, and especially Google. SEO (search engine optimization) is the art of gaining high search engine rankings. SEO copywriting is the art of making sure your content not only ranks highly in search engines, but also persuades visitors to your website to buy from you.
Using Keywords on Your Site
Most start-up entrepreneurs have a vague idea that they need to know about “keywords,” but they don’t have a clear understanding of what that means. Here’s a quick breakdown of what you need to know.
Keywords are simply words or phrases that people search for at a search engine like Google. You want to do some keyword research to find out what people are searching for that relates to your product or business. You can use the Google Keyword Tool for an overview, or a paid product like Market Samurai for a more in-depth analysis of keywords.
Each of your web pages should be built around one main keyword phrase and two or three secondary keywords. The main keyword should appear in the Title of the web page, the page URL, the Description, the first headline, and it should make up 1-2% of the body copy. (If you’re using WordPress to build your site, you can make all this a lot easier by installing the All in One SEO Pack plugin).
Crafting Persuasive Web Copy
That’s a basic introduction to keywords – now you also need to understand the psychology of online selling. Just getting people to your site from the search engines isn’t enough – you want them to take some action. That action is called your Most Wanted Response. This could be making a purchase, signing up for an email list, or submitting contact details. It might even be as simple as clicking through to another page on your site. Each page should be written with a Most Wanted Response in mind. With sales pages, the Most Wanted Response is obviously to get an order there and then.
To be persuasive online your site must convey a sense of authority and trust. People are wary of Internet scams, so before anyone will punch their credit card details into your website they need to feel you are “legit.”
Your copy should also emphasize the benefits of what you’re selling rather than just the features. A feature is something the product has – a benefit is something it actually does for the buyer. For instance, if you’re selling a Spanish learning product, you might mention it includes interactive lessons. That’s a feature – but what’s the benefit to the customer? The benefit is that they can take advantage of the fast learning they would have in a class environment, without even having to leave their house.
Every feature corresponds to a benefit – it saves the customer time or money, or it just makes life easier in some way. Emphasize those benefits. Those are what people care about and what will ultimately make them buy.
Pleasing your human visitors should always take priority over making your pages “search engine friendly.” Some people get carried away with the need to get search traffic and they end up creating a lot of low-value content which has no real use to human visitors.
Don’t be one of those people. Stick to creating quality web pages and you’ll reap the benefits in the long run.
About the Author: Tom McSherry is a professional SEO copywriter and the founder of Premium Online Writing. His mission is to provide web businesses with a go-to shop for high quality written marketing materials and information product creation.
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How to Use Your Website’s Data to Expand Your Online Business
As web developers, we tend to obsess over other people’s website data, while tragically forgetting to leverage our own. Think about it. How much would you pay for a peek at your top competitors’ Google Analytics reports? But how much have you really paid attention to your own? With good search data on your site, you can monitor and optimize countless metrics that can bring your site to more SERPs, and more viewers. But many web developers fear that relying on Google Analytics can cause significant problems. So what programs are available that help you get the website data you need? And, more importantly, how can you use this data to launch an effective and long-lasting SEO campaign?
What Data Should You Be Tracking?
While the data you decide to track will depend largely on the goals of your site, most webmasters have a few key ways in which they would like to improve their overall site. In general, you probably want visitors to:
- Spend more time on your website
- Return to your site more often
- Convert on more affiliate products or offers
- Let other people know you exist
Additionally, you want to make sure that your site is properly optimized from a keyword, code, and content standpoint.
The most important data you should be tracking is keyword data. In a nutshell, you want to see what keywords people are using to reach every page of your site. The goal is to find low-hanging fruit that you might not have meant to target in your original keyword campaign. For example, you run a wireless Internet service affiliate site and notice that one of your pages (which you originally optimized for the phrase AT&T 4G Internet review) is getting a significant amount of traffic from people searching for comparison phrases like AT&T vs. T Mobile and AT&T vs. CLEAR Wireless. The page users are coming to, however, are not converting well and are losing out on traffic to a competitor.
You can use this keyword data to target a new keyword phrase, perhaps on a fresh page of content. You might choose to create a page targeting the phrase AT&T 4G Internet vs. CLEAR, for example. By doing so, you should begin to see a small boost in traffic over time, assuming the keyword phrase search data remains consistent.
Bounce rate is another vital piece of data that helps you improve and expand your online business. Let’s assume that your website data shows that some pages keep visitors on the page for around two minutes, while some see visitors leave in about 30 seconds. Worse, you have a couple of pages where visitors seem to leave within only a few seconds. What’s going on with those pages? We call this data “bounce rate.” Most data programs not only give you an idea of how long visitors stay on your pages, but where they go next.
To use bounce rate data to expand your online business, you have to keep two things in mind, which the good people at searchengineland.com point out in the article Two Simple Rules For Fixing High Bounce Rate Pages. First, consider what people might be looking for on your pages with high bounce rates. Are you really offering the information they expected based on their original search? For example, if visitors searched “dog food,” they’re probably looking for information on what to feed their dogs. Now, if your page is full of recipes on how to use dogs as food (gross…), you might be seeing a high bounce rate because visitors see that your page is not exactly relevant to their searches. You might need to rewrite the page, or create a new page that targets the keyword phrase more relevantly.
You can also examine how people are viewing your page “above the fold” (or before they scroll down) by taking a screenshot of the page and using a tool like Attention Wizard to create a heatmap. Check out the example heatmap we created below using Attention Wizard.
Ideally, you want the hot spots to be on conversion opportunities. You can see in the image that, in general, that does happen. But you also want to check to see if the chronological order of what visitors view follows a conversion path, darting to each ad, submission form, and company logo. But our example also shows that the page is missing a few conversion opportunities, primarily in numbers 6,8,9, and 11. Visitors expect something to be in those locations, but we’re not offering it. If your heatmap seems sporadic, your website might be confusing and frustrating visitors, which can cause high bounce rates.
What Software Can You Use to Track Website Data?
Now, Google Analytics is a fantastic tool. But it often takes a couple of days for data to show up. Worse, some webmasters fear the Google terms and conditions – which seem to imply that any evidence of link campaigning could get you banned/get your AdSense removed. Let’s not forget that Google has also recently announced that Analytics will no longer report search queries from organic search to “protect user privacy.” This means that your keyword data from Analytics will be pretty sparse from now on.
Many webmasters, as a result, choose to use other software to safely track website data. Get Clicky and Woopra are among the most popular.
Get Clicky offers a powerful website data tracking tool, which allows you to check all of the data available on Analytics. Two areas you should pay close attention to are “Traffic Sources” and “Locale.” Traffic Sources helps you identify which countries your visitors search from. If you’re getting a significant amount of traffic from France, you might consider offering a french language version of your website, or at least try writing some content that targets French users in some way.
Traffic Sources is also a great piece of data that gives you some insight into how your various campaigns are working. This section reveals whether you’re getting significant traffic from advertising, or whether most of your traffic comes from links or organic search. This data can help you determine whether you need to bump up your link building campaign, or whether your advertising is not providing a good ROI.
Woopra is a very clean looking program, and helps you check out some very specific pieces of website data in real time. One great feature is “Visitor Engagament,” which tells you what people are doing on your site (reading, writing, or idle). Of course, you can also check other data, like which browsers your visitors use on your site more often, what language they speak, what operating system they’re using – almost everything.
If you’re struggling with conversions, or watching hopelessly as people go to your competition, you might be surprised at just how easy of a fix most problems can be using your own website data. Before you launch a massive link building campaign that could cost thousands of dollars, try looking at your own website data to find problems on your site. If you would like to expand your online business, using your website’s data should be your first step.
About the Author: Mitch O’Conner is an online marketer and writer. When he’s not busy testing sites, generating traffic or writing content, he enjoys spending time with his wife and kids, watching TV, playing games or going camping.
Photo Credit: Eric Fischer
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Succeeding with Virtual Business Today
Big changes are afoot in how America works right now. The financial threats of lower-priced rivals from overseas, the improved effectiveness of a virtual business model and a fresh American desire for better quality of life have caused the radical work shift. Virtual business, remote work, telework, distributed work, virtual staff like executive assistants, virtual teams– call them what you wish– are now part of the corporate vocabulary.
Virtual Work – Changing the Landscape
I spoke with Alan Blume, author of Your Virtual Success: Finding Profitability in an Online World. Alan’s opinion is t that virtual work is changing the very heart of cities and urban centers, how we live and aggregate as people. As more business is performed from remote locations, cities are quickly becoming cultural centers where you find more entertainment than business. We just don’t need to be “at the office” like we used to. Look no further than the commercial office space real estate debacle in recent years and you’ll get the point. Companies who don’t adjust won’t be able to attract the best employees or survive economically, and may soon end up like the newspaper industry. Alan brings out more points and subtleties in his video interview.
Small Business in the Virtual World
If you run a virtual business like I do, or are thinking about one, Your Virtual Success is a resource you should pick up. It provides an easy to read, yet content-filled set of actions for you to take to…
- Transform to a virtual business from your day job
- Launch a virtual business quickly
- Establish niche branding and image
- Sell and market your business virtually
- Qualify and contract virtual talent– from anywhere!
- Test and expand your business
The author Alan Blume “eats his own dog food” as he told me once, in that all the recipes in this book he uses for his own organization. I was most fascinated by some of the non-traditional sources to find freelance talent; for example, Craig’s List. I thought Craig’s List was a refuge for con artists, crooks and the occasional murderer, and no doubt those folks are out hunting for the unprepared. There’s a lot of talent on Craig’s List too, which I found out. I found my graphic designer for this business’ logo and discovered my web designer via carefully specified postings on Craig’s List. Lots of other freelance sites are out there as well such as Odesk and Elance. There are always diamonds amongst the bad seed that exists online and the instructions in the staffing chapter of how to divide the good from the bad are by themselves worth reading this book.
Tools of the Virtual Trade
There are many tools in this work for small business owners to think about, whether it’s the use of online video that you can now advertise your business much more cost effectively than ever before, or ways to test new products and services and adapt to the feedback you receive on the fly, reworking as you go. So many things exist today for you to benefit from in order to compete with larger companies and lower-priced rivals, and you may soon be forced to.
When you read a book like this, you begin thinking about work in a different way. The author tells his Tale of Two Nephews and lets the reader decide which version of success he’d like to have; the overworked, overstressed 9 to 7er or the guy working his bathrobe. When I read how the author runs his own company I was envious, because I’m not there yet, but I am on my way. This book has many of the same qualities as the Four Hour Work Week by Tim Ferris, without the concentration on world travel and focused a little more on developing your own virtual enterprise from a sensible standpoint.
You can get through this book in one sitting, but you should circle back with a highlighter or ball point pen to some of the key sections and references Alan gives. Bookmark the appendix Rolling Pipeline Report, Prospect Scorecard and Sample Order Confirmations as documents that can form a basis for tracking and running your virtual business.
About the Author: Is your business giving you the profits and passion you want? You can use virtual technologies to supercharge your results in aVirtual Mastermind Group forming now and learn more about the Mastermind Process in this FREE Video. Karl Walinskas is the CEO of Smart Company Growth, a business development firm that helps small to mid-size professional service firms build competitive advantage in an online world of sameness. He is author of numerous articles and the Smart Blog on leadership, business communication, sales & service, public speaking and virtual business, and Getting Connected Through Exceptional Leadership, available in the SmartShop.
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Get a Business Black Belt in 5 Simple Steps
Many small businesses fail these days without the process or discipline to be successful. When all the excuse-making is said and done, do you have the will and the skill to survive and thrive?
A few weeks ago I watched the culmination of 4 years worth of work that started at the ripe old age of six. Huh? As impossible as it seems, 4th graders can set a goal, concentrate on it (kind of), and steadily realize it one step at a time. I’m talking about my son Jack, who just attained a black belt in Karate. This was a big deal to all the kids and adults in his class, reminding me of accomplishing my Eagle Scout as a teenager, and this dad was beaming!
These guys boggled the mind, and on the tough 6 hour day of final testing and ultimate celebration, it was remarkable to see not only Jack but everyone in the class crackle with an accuracy you wouldn’t think conceivable.
So how’s this pertain you as a business owner? Here are 5 Steps in Black Belt Mastery for your organization.
Increasing, Controllable Objectives
Do you know how many colored belts you need to get through in order to get a black belt? 13 of them! Somewhere one of Gary Larson’s talking animals is saying “What the?!”
There is white, white & yellow, yellow, orange, green, blue, purple, purple & yellow, brown, brown & yellow, red, red & black (danbo), and finally, black belt.
Each one of these is a little step along the way, a tiny goal that makes the final goal more attainable. It takes a few years, and the Masters of Karate understand that.
Your business needs big, hairy, audacious goals to be certain. It gives you the brass ring to pursue. But break that down into process steps that demonstrate small successes, advancements toward the main goal.
I help companies get noticed using web video promotion. I put sound, entertaining and informative video interviews together and work to get clients on a timetable of video releases. We may shoot all the videos together for convenience, but the procedure is staged with small, press-release style videos that are easy to develop and publish.
Develop a Procedure and Stick To It
Processes are like noses in business. Everybody has one. Guess what? I don’t have to have the strongest sense of smell in the world to know when something stinks, I just need to use the nose I have.
So it is with processes. Jack’s black belt training requires a philosophy, knowledge of seemingly irrelevant things, and little memorized routines called forms that the students use to establish physical eye to hand coordination and control. Does Jack’s school use the greatest process to train Karate? Who knows and who cares! They use and follow a process and stick to it.
In the video example above, content creation is a procedure. The questions and answer format is a simple, fill-in-the-blanks questionnaire for creating the compelling content that the executive needs to connect with his target market.
I don’t care if it’s the best technique in the world and neither do the companies who hire me. I step into a vacuum void of leads, and my techniques are better than the ones that the marketing team doesn’t have.
Keep At It!
Many a night my son got back from Karate at 9 pm, and then we fought our way (literally) through his homework until 10:30 or so. Ever try to keep a 9 or 10 year old focused on academics at 10:00 at night?
The goal progression and training was so focused and disciplined, it required numerous hours to accomplish mastery at each of the belt levels I described. Credit the little guy, he put in the time with a little arm twisting.
In Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers, I learned it takes 10,000 hours to attain mastery in any discipline, be it athletics or computer programming. True success outliers are those that either by luck or by plan find a way to get those 10,000 hours under their belts.
What about you? What does your business stake it’s claim on being the best at? Have you put in your time? Can you? You must practice your business guitar until your fingers bleed, my friend. The sales guys aren’t going to get good at making calls until they are making 125 a week or more, each and every week, over and over again. Lessons from a 10 year old.
Find Cheerleaders
Whenever the Karate students test for their next belt, whether it’s a brown belt or a 4th degree black belt, the Dojo is filled with rabid fans, both other students, parents and friends. It gets loud, with board breaking being the culmination of the demonstration. The students punch and kick boards to raucous applause, and you can feel the energy encouraging the youngsters who may miss on the first few tries. Actually, I’ve seen 6 years olds kick a board until his foot was throbbing in pain until he broke it, limping off the mat to a standing O.
In your small business, you may do all the work but don’t go it alone. If your spouse is not on board and wants you to go get a real job, it is incredibly hard to succeed in spite of that lack of support. But, if he or she is cheering you on every time you fail, you ‘ll find a way to run your way to the finish line too, even while limping across with a sweaty smile on your face.
Get Back on the Horse
How many of Jack’s class failed doing their forms or breaking boards or sparring? All of them, many times over. Gentle correction from the professor, try again. As part of Jack’s final black belt testing, he had to come up with a staged self-defense skit with other kids his size. He and his partner tried about a dozen things in the weeks prior to the big day, each time failing, adapting, getting creative, failing again, and changing tact again until finally a success!
I market my own company with this blog and my website mostly. I fail regularly to get a conversion, or to get the copy right, or to finish the squeeze page the way I wanted. I post articles that I think are home runs and less than a dozen people read or re-tweet them. I just have this belief that when all is said and done I will run out of ways to fail and find just the right mix to get the results I’m looking for. No I’m not going to mention Thomas Edison, damn! Just did.
So if you’ve gotten this far you’ll understand that the Business Black Belt is not the Karate Black Belt or the Six Sigma Black Belt. It’s not certified by a governing body. It’s you as a business owner demonstrating the resolve, determination and self-control to adhere to the steps in this post to burst through your boards and achieve ultimate success.
About the Author: Everyone in the dojo notices a blackbelt. Are customers, partners and employers noticing you? SmartVu video interviews get you on the map! Karl Walinskas owns and operates Smart Company Growth, a business growth firm that helps white collar professionals. Stop in to check out the Smart blog or get special informational goodies for aggressive entrepreneurs and business owners looking to break out.
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5 Tweaks for Small Business Web Content
Google has once again tweaked its search engine functionality to put renewed stress on quality sites – and one of the criteria for quality is content that has been recently posted. If you’re a small business you aren’t going to out-design larger competitors but you can make your site more compelling with a few personalized steps. You can also bring more immediacy to your product lineup by changing the focus of your front page or your blog section on a regular basis.
1. Make your words count
By now every business professional understands that people read web pages differently than they read printed documents. It’s more accurate to say that the typical web surfer scans rather than reads. That’s why a few sentences or a brief paragraph accompanied by an image of some sort is far more effective than a page of detailed information. Brief statements that cause a site visitor to click over to a more detailed description or illustration are proven tools on a website; but you want your visitors to seek out that sort of detail rather than have no other visual introduction to your site.
2. Make your blog a promotional tool
This is not as easy as it sounds, but the idea is to have your blogger write occasionally about actual cases of product usage where the product was purchased through your site and perhaps the client received some support on putting that product to use. A few elements have to come together here: you need either someone in-house that can write or a blogger that is familiar with your market niche.
3. Put video to work
You can provide video shots of a product on display or in use. A video insert can also feature a satisfied customer, if you have local sales where you can tape customers who are a car ride away. It shouldn’t take your marketing person long to learn how to hold a camera steady and how to edit a piece so that conveys the message you want. You can use video for a knowledgeable presentation on a product as well from you or one of your employees, but stay away from the “talking head” shot. Your presenter should be working with a product or with a graphic aid of some sort.
4. Customer testimonials never hurt
Quotes from a customer who has had a positive experience are even better if they are accompanied by a visual of some sort – photo or video – illustrating your product as it has been installed or put to use. If your customer is a few states away, find one that is supportive and ask for a photo or two. Many people can take decent snapshots today with their phones.
5. Focus on quality and experience
If your business has been open for a while, you can talk about your successful growth and steady expansion of your customer base. If it’s a new business, provide some evidence of related experience so that potential customers understand your depth of knowledge in your particular commercial field.
About the author: Bob Hartzell has been writing for five years about education, business and other life essentials on a variety of websites. Much of his recent work has been about the online master’s degree and its value in career enhancement, for those who are not yet working for themselves. He lives in Maine where many a small business operates out of a converted barn or farmhouse.
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Online Marketing for Small Businesses – a Social Media Primer
Small businesses that use online marketing have a number of tools at their disposal, including blogs, search engine optimization, review websites and other inbound marketing techniques. However, what may end up being the Internet’s most important contribution to advertising and brand awareness is social media networking platforms. Sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and even Yelp! are wonderful devices that make reaching out to customers simple and, most importantly, cheap.
Unfortunately, not every small business owner is internet-savvy enough to instantly capture a broad and deep customer base. This can make engaging with users on these services intimidating. With a little bit of practice and some clear guidelines, such efforts can actually be quite successful. Here are some of the most important lessons for using these social platforms to garner leads and additional business.
Establish a Policy
No two companies use social media in exactly the same way. For instance, some may choose to simply make Facebook posts and tweets messaging tools that inform customers about the latest promotions and discounts that an organization is running. Others may choose to use these services to actually contact customers and offer them deals and savings. Either way, be sure to set up some guidelines that will keep an organization’s tone consistent throughout a campaign.
Designate Users
In keeping with a consistent feel, it is a good idea to establish which employees will actually generate content for a social media website. The importance of these services is making it so that some organizations choose to hire full-time networkers to maintain their various profiles. However, this may not be necessary, depending on a business’ intent. Either way, choose an employee who is somewhat tech-savvy, grammatically sound and can maintain a level of professionalism that won’t sully a company’s good name.
Coordinate With Other Efforts
The odds are good that a business using social networking websites will have at least some other efforts ongoing in the online world. If this is the case, coordinate social media messages and profiles with them. Blogs and Facebook posts can link to one another, while promotions being held should be advertised as much as possible on these platforms. Even something as simple as the images and fonts used in traditional advertising should match those used on Twitter feeds and blogs.
About the Author: Guest Post by Myron Corp. Located in Maywood, New Jersey, Myron is a global provider of imprinted promotional products and works closely with businesses to integrate these products into their marketing mix. Myron manufactures quality items such as promotional calendars, personalized pens and other giveaways and corporate customized gifts designed to build brand awareness and customer loyalty.
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Remember Visual Hierarchy in your Advertising
Whether you are creating bill board, an exhibition stand or leaflet you need to pay attention to how you will direct people around your publication. The concept of visual hierarchy is one of the first things that graphic designers learn and it allows you to emphasise important elements in your publications with ease.
In fact I’m using it right now and you’ve probably used it today as well. Visual hierarchy is useful when it comes to creating attractive, easy to read adverts, ensuring that potential customers easily absorb your message.
Contrast
This will come up again and again in this post, but anything that contrasts from the rest of a piece will stand out and be seen as important. For example if you pattern of blue dots with one red dot then the red dot will immediately be noticed.
Size
It is fairly obvious that larger elements tend to be ‘heavier’ than smaller elements. So the more important the image is the larger it should be in comparison to other images. So you would usually want to make the most important part of an image the largest. Though there are exceptions to this rule. For example a single small but contrasting element surrounded by larger elements, will stand out creating a vulnerable impression.
Position
In Western cultures we tend to scan pieces from the top left to the bottom right in an ‘E’ pattern. Having said that the first place we tend to look at is the centre. So a distinctive central image will attract the most ‘weight’ and after that whatever is in the top left corner. Think of a billboard as opposed to this article. Probably the first thing you notice when you look at a billboard is near the centre. In contrast when you look at this article the first thing you notice is the title. This is because there is nothing distinctive in the centre, just a block of text.
Position has another crucial role. If you arrange everything in an organised pattern then anything that breaks that pattern will stand out. (Type dare to be different into Google Images to get an idea of what I’m talking about).
Colour
For some reason different colours tend carry different weights, with red and black seeming to be the ‘heaviest’ with green and yellow being the ‘lightest’. You will see over and over again red being used to distinguish an important item, think of fire extinguishers and alarms, there is a reason why they tend to painted red.
Whitespace
Whitespace, though it can be blackspace, or green whatever your background colour is really, helps to organise the information and prevent it appearing overwhelming. If you have ever tried to scan a long text message for details you will know how annoying a stream of text is. By putting spaces between elements then it allows you to group them.
Grouping
By grouping elements together you can show that they are related. For example without reading this paragraph you can still tell all the words are related because they are closer to each other than they are to the words in other paragraphs. In addition the whitespace between the paragraphs helps to establish them as separate groups. You can also establish relationships by repeating elements, so for example the sub headings in this article are seen as a group because they bolder than the rest of the text.
I hope this article has helped give you a basic idea of the principle behind visual hierarchy and how they can help make you publications easier to read and more informative. There is a wealth of information out there which can help you understand
About the author: Daniel Frank regularly blogs about marketing and design is currently writing on behalf of Nimlok Exhibition Stands.
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