Every small business needs some kind of framework to keep themselves on track and not get lost in the weeds of the Internet. Here are a few tips you can use for your small business to help your marketing efforts, improve your online/social efforts, and get more exposure.
Make sure you keep your daily, weekly, monthly tasks clear so you don’t get started into a social media project that becomes more than you bargained for. You are better off having 2 or 3 social media outlets that you are STELLAR on, opposed to 10 where online ghost towns because you’re too busy jumping from one to the next.
Provide Value
Rehashing PLR articles bought for 10c per 100 words and then spinning them on a blog is NOT the way to make your small business look like you have a niche value for what you do. What is does is make your business look desperate. Take the time to write articles that relate to your line of work, where you are an authority on the topic. DIY guides, mini-lessons, strategy, whatever the article may be about depending on what it is you do is what you need to be writing about and sharing with the community. Answer questions potential customers might have so when they search for that question your website already has the answer in the form of a post or article that is explaining it in vivid detail.
Win customers over with quality. The net is huge. What sets you apart is the value you can provide.Keep it Fresh
Ever go to a website and the last post was 846 days ago and the last Tweet was 439 days prior?
I bet you didn’t stay long. Keep your content fresh and flowing. Need ideas for new posts? Use the news to find angles that your line of work intersects with. Trending topics on twitter if you can find a good story where your small business fits in, great! Don’t be afraid to go outside the box and get creative. Search engines KNOW when you have an outdated website. You want them to be voraciously taking content away from your website so make a habit to post up something daily, weekly, monthly, whatever your schedule allows. Don’t sacrifice quality for quantity. Most people and potential customers would rather read 2 great articles a month from you opposed to 6 crappy ones.
Trying to trick Google is a stupid idea. No matter how smart you are, or how great the stupid scheme you found at 3am on the ‘net tells you it is… ITS NOT! The resources of the major search engines dwarfs the peddlers of schemes and scams that insist you will get a million hits overnight. Put in a solid effort and work hard on your online presence. Nobody told you it was going to be easy. The competition is phenomenal out there and they want the customer just as bad as you, if not more.
Linking 101 – Make it relevant
Run a shoe company? Don’t buy 10,000 links from a horse farm in China because you thought the back links would help you. You’re better served using that time and money to make industry contacts, related forums, magazine sites, etc. Keeping the links that go in and out of your site relevant to your topic and niche is a great way to set your site off in the right direction from the start. Reach out to establishments that would need your services or have the customer base already and see if you can get advertising with them. Be creative in your outreach. Take your time and build your links with quality in mind.
Quality Quality Quality
It’s the new buzz word that really should not need to buzz to get into the minds of small business owners. QUALITY. It’s a theme to everything I believe and do. If you are going to take the time to start and run a business, why are you not going to take the time to do your online interactions with the same gusto? When you need to write, do it well and take your time. Need to plan a marketing campaign? The same, take your time and put quality first.
The internet has made the cheap fix the norm and it’s a horrible thing. You can find thousands of similar websites out there in certain niche markets because they don’t offer anything different. There is no quality control whatsoever and as long as they can eek out a couple bucks they don’t care. Guess what? People notice. Your potential customers will notice. Take the extra time to make sure your small business is putting quality content out. Don’t be afraid to wait the extra day to post something because you want to grab a few more facts or add a chart in the morning.
People say content is king. They’re WRONG. Dead wrong. QUALITY is king, always has been.. always will be.
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