Where to find your Web site links

We’re sure you’ve heard over and over again how people linking to your site can help increase your Web traffic.  However, there is a limit to the links.  You really don’t want to go overboard.  Better for you to have quality links over quantity.  It’s equally important for the links you post on your site.  According to this MSN article, “I’ve seen sites with 25 high-quality links outperform those with a thousand or more low-quality links,” professes Shari Thurow, a Chicago-area search marketer and the author of “Search Engine Visibility,” a 2003 book with a second edition published in August 2007. “Small businesses should focus on getting 20 high-quality links — all relevant to your business,” says Elisabeth Osmeloski, a former SearchEngineWatch.com editor who is now director of online media at travel site Zonder.com. 

So here’s some tips on getting those quality links!

1. Take your time in finding links.  Don’t add all the links in one day.  Spread them out over a period of time because it gives you time to do your research and find those that are high quality.

2. Don’t feel forced to reciprocate to a site that has posted your site on theirs.  If you don’t feel the quality is there, don’t add it. 

3. Check what links your competitors have.  And always check to see what other links a site features.

4. If you’re not sure, add the nofollow tag to the link.  By including the code rel=”nofollow” after a URL in any “href” link you include, you’re telling a search engine that you can’t vouch for the quality of that site.  Otherwise, the search engines hold you responsible for that link.

Some good places to obtain links include:

• Trade and professional organizations.  These have a lot of important content relating to your company’s business and industry.  If you are a paid member to a group, most often a link should be included from the organization’s page.  Make sure to contact them if not.
• Social networking sites in your industry.  If you have a Facebook fan page or LinkedIn profile, you can link to it.  But avoid the general social networking sites.  If you find a good one for your industry (more and more are popping up daily), try to contribute an article or information and include a link back to your site.  And think outside the box.  Real estate sites like Zillow and Trulia count as social networking for the real estate industry.
• Noncompeting sites in your industry.  Mortgage lenders should link to Realtors, real estate attorneys, home inspectors, etc.  And the same is true for those other small businesses. 

Some not-so-good places for links:

• Web rings
• Generic, free directories.  Oftentimes your e-mail address will be spammed and it’s not a reputable site for your industry
• Guestbooks

Just make sure to do your research prior to adding links or having your link appear on another’s site.  If you don’t trust the company, you can ask for your link to be removed, too.

Visit us online to get your Web site up and running!

E-mail marketing tips for new subscribers

 

It’s always great news when you get someone new to sign up for one of your e-newsletters online.  Whether it was a referral, someone who came across your Web site, or a friend or past client, you’re thrilled for the opportunity to sell your products or services to a new customer.  Now is your opportunity to nurture this relationship and make sure the customer is getting everything that he expects.  You don’t want to bombard him with e-mails, either.  Here are some tips for new subscribers, auto responders, and when you have to say good-bye.

New subscribers:

You definitely want to make a good first impression when you get someone new interested in your e-newsletter.  Once you have the new prospect’s e-mail address, send them a welcome e-mail with a personalized note.  You’ll also want to set the stage for what’s to come.  Tell them how often they’ll be hearing from you, the type of information you’ll be sending (coupons, newsletters, etc.), and who it’s going to be coming from so they can add it to their address book.  Otherwise, it could end up in their spam box or junk mail folder.

Send them the last e-mail that went out to customers so they’re not waiting a month (if that’s your frequency) for the next one.  And in your e-mail, include a link to past newsletters they can view online or other online discounts for subscribers.

Auto responders:

All auto responders should have a call to action without asking for someone’s business.  You can have a link in the e-mail for an online discount or free consultation with you about purchasing a home.  Some readers aren’t ready for the whole enchilada when they give you your e-mail address.  Keep these messages less frequent than those you send to your regular subscribers.  You don’t want to bombard them with information and prevent them from signing up.  A monthly e-mail is a good starting point. 

Opt-outs:

To make it easy for all your readers, make sure that every e-mail does offer the option of them being able to unsubscribe.  Make it as easy for them as possible so they don’t get frustrated.  If you get a few of these, use the information to help you determine what future customers are looking for from you.  Here are some tips on these.

1. You have 10 days by law remove an e-mail address from your list if it’s requested.  It’s best to do it as soon as possible, however.

2. Send them a friendly note that their unsubscribe request has been received.  Something along the lines of “We’re sorry to see you go but hope to see you again in the future.”  You can always leave a note on how to resubscribe when the time is right or if they unsubscribed by mistake.

3. Give these customers an opportunity to write why they unsubscribed.  You will learn so much from their comments.  If it’s because they were receiving too many e-mails from you, you might think about toning down the frequency.  If they didn’t feel your information was valuable, consider replacing some of your newsletter content. 

More tips for e-mail marketing can be found in this article.

If you’re ready to get your e-mail marketing messages out there, let us help! Visit our Web site to get started.

Make your Web site easy to find

As we’ve mentioned several times in the past, it’s so important these days to have a Web site that your clients have the ability to access. Whether you’re a Realtor or a small business owner, you want potential prospects and customers to be able to find out information about you online, and even order directly through it if they’re not local to your area.  However, these days, having a site isn’t enough.  You need to make it easy for your customers to find.  Don’t get lost in the “needle in the haystack” of all online postings.  Here are some tips to help make you stand out.

1. Make your site easy to find online.  You want your site to come to the top of the list when someone searches on a search engine.  This is called SEO, or search engine optimization.  You will come higher up on the list if the searches have keywords that match a lot of what is on your site.  This Google tool will help you choose popular keywords based on your site content.  Also look at keywords that your competitor uses. 

The other way you’re ranked is by having a lot of traffic through your site.  One way for the search engines to pick this up is if you have a lot of people with your site linked to theirs and vice versa.  Contact your affiliates to see if you can add their links on your site.  Make sure they agree to put yours on theirs, too. 

2. Register as many similar sites as possible.  You want to help your customers out who misspell your company name or put the wrong ending (.biz, .net, .org at the end of your Web address).  Try to register as many sites that are similar to yours as possible.  Try to obtain ones that are off by one letter or two.  That way, if somebody inputs the wrong information, they’ll still be directed back to your site.

3. Market your site offline.  Make sure it’s visible on everything you do, including in your e-mail signature, your letterhead, return address labels, etc.  Have you ever seen a commercial or an ad where they direct you back to the site for more info?  That’s what you want to do.  If you can afford to market it in the weekly paper or on the radio, by all means, do.  If not, make sure you find every free way to get it out there.  And remember, word of mouth is great free publicity!

4. Set up a fan page on Facebook or MySpace.  You can put your site information on there as well as advertise to all your friends and fans when a new product has come in, you have a new listing, or there’s important news in your industry.  This is also a great way to find out what your customers are looking for from you and reach hundreds or thousands of people at once with new information.

More tips on how to stand out can be found in this article. If you need help developing your Web site, or making it rank higher on the search engines, please visit us online.

Generate free publicity for your business

Anyone loves to hear the word FREE in this economy.  Whatever it takes to not have to spend a penny, right?  Well, if you’re trying to get your name and your business out there, and you want people to know who you are, you’ll want to take advantage of these tips, which offer some ways of obtaining free publicity.  Here’s some great ways to make yourself known, without spending a ton of money on a huge marketing campaign.

1. Learn how to write a press release and write one.  You’ll want a catchy headline and to make sure you cover the important information, such as who, what, where, when, why, and how.  When you open for the first time, you’ll want to send out a press release to your local media about the new business opening nearby.  But don’t think that’s the only time to get your information published.  If you’re offering a unique service or sale, write about that.  Maybe you’re the first one in the community to offer a 200% guarantee.  If the product doesn’t work, get your money back times two!  Find out what the most popular items sold around the holidays are and write a press release offering the top 10 items for your Christmas gifts.  Close down once a year and have your entire staff spend a day doing charity work.  The media loves this.  Or offer to donate one day of sales to a local charity.  View some more great ideas here.

2. Offer your knowledge to those in your community.  Local libraries love offering programs to their residents.  Realtors can conduct a seminar on how to find a bargain property.  Tax accountants can offer one on the most important information to know for tax season.  A hairdresser can do a demo of some more unique styling tips.  You can go through the library or even hand out flyers to your customers saying you’re offering a seminar or class for free and to pass the information around.  There’s another great reason for a press release!

3. Hand out business cards everywhere.  You’ve probably seen bulletin boards and local shops to put a business card.  It can’t hurt.  That’s another great area to post information on a class.  Start up a conversation with the person working out on the machine next to you at the gym.  Leave a business card with your tip for the waiter.  Getting an oil change?  Let the mechanic know what you do and hand them a card.  You never know when your services will come in handy. 

4. Barter products and services with another company or business.  Post information on your Web site about them, and make sure they do the same for you.  This way you’re both being advertised.  Develop relationships with others in a similar industry.  Realtors will want to suggest references for home inspectors, attorneys, and lenders for their clients to work with.  A marketing company will want to suggest someone who handles computer networking and Web site design.  Make sure that if you’re giving out referrals that you ask for them in return.

5. Get creative with your Web site.  Let customers send an e-card for free from your Web site to someone else.  That way your information is displayed and it won’t cost anyone money.  Of course, you’ll also want to offer an online newsletter that anyone can access.  Have online only coupons available that people can print and bring in for discounts.  Make an area that people can donate to the charity you’re going to be helping out throughout the year.

Some more great tips can be found here. We’d love to hear what other great tips you know of to generate free publicity. Please leave us a comment below. Also, make sure to visit our Web site here if you need marketing assistance or know someone who does.

Keep customers for life with these tips

We can’t stress enough how important it is to stay in touch with past customers since they can be your best source for referrals.  Small business owners and Realtors all know that you build your customer database with past customers and you should have many repeat clients throughout the years.  There are important strategies to learn about how to make sure a first-time customer is a lifelong customer.  If you are happy, your customers will be happy.  Here are a few of the tips:

1. Expect the best from your customers.  Don’t meet someone new and worry that they won’t pay on time and haggle them about your payment deadlines.  Don’t think they won’t show up for appointments and remind them how busy you are.  Expect that they will be a customer who pays on time.  From the very beginning, treat your customers with respect.  Expect upfront that they will be one of your best customers.  This will help keep your relationship a long-term one.

2. Beat their expectations.  Of course, it’s important to have quality products and offer what it is you are promising in your marketing pitches.  That is the first step.  But once you have that under control, go beyond the norm and what is expected.  If you’re a Realtor, offer to help them stage their home at no additional cost.  Send them articles about their neighborhood they would be interested.  As a small business owner, if you have a customer looking for a product that you don’t stock, offer to find it for them.  If you have someone who can’t get to your store during business hours, offer to have it open when they’re available or help them order online.  By exceeding expectations, you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how loyal your customers can be.

3. Incent customers to want to remain your customers.  Offer a loyalty program for repeat customers.  For instance, they can regularly get a discount on regularly priced merchandise or free shipping with every order.  Realtors can offer money back on their commissions or always provide a $250 gift card to a home improvement store upon closing.  And always provide an incentive for customers who offer you referrals.  Always send a handwritten thank you note with a token of thanks, whether it’s a $5 Starbucks gift card or a coupon for a free dinner at a local restaurant.

4. Listen to their opinions.  Find out what products you don’t have that you should offer because it’s what your customers are looking for.  Ask for suggestions on store layout or how you can speed up your service to make them happy.  By implementing their ideas, they’re more likely to come to you in the future.  Not only that, but it’s an other easy way to earn their referrals.  They’ll know that you’re likely to listen to what they have to say.

More great tips can be found in Jeff Wuorio’s article here.

completeREsources Chicago prides itself on customer satisfaction. We are available for all of your marketing needs. Give us a call at 773-267-6167 for help with your next project.

Make sure you schedule marketing time

We’ve talked the past few weeks about making sure your marketing messages were going to the right target, how to improve direct mail campaigns, certain mistakes not to make with your marketing.  While those are all important topics, it’s equally important to make sure you have time in your schedule to get your marketing done.  And we don’t just mean a few minutes on Tuesday and an hour on Friday afternoon if you get a chance.  You need to plan a schedule.  Just like anything else (an appointment with a client, a teleseminar on the housing market, etc.), you need to schedule time in your daily or weekly schedule to get your marketing done.

There’s two easy ways you can set this up.  The first is to break the activities up by working on a theme for each day of the week.  For example, Monday would be a day for communications.  This can be posting blogs, Facebook, Twitter, etc., catching up on e-mails for the past week, or creating a new telephone script.  Tuesday could be client day.  Meet with clients, schedule time to meet with clients, handle paperwork related to clients.  Other themes can be writing (blogs, newsletters, articles, ad copy), research (test new marketing, collect new e-mails for e-newsletter, develop new ideas, find articles for newsletters), administrative (paperwork, pay bills, create to-do list), Web site (new pages, collect new e-mails, respond to leads, add photos), etc.  You should have no problem breaking down your week into five days so everything can get done.  Then set time in your daily schedule to accomplish everything.  Try not to answer phone calls and e-mails throughout the entire day.  Block off two one hour periods (once in the morning and once in the afternoon).  It will help you to accomplish a lot more.

The other way to set up your schedule is to devote a day of the week to a particular marketing activity, rather than a theme.  For example, Mondays could be about sales.  You could spend that day working on e-mailing your lists about a new promotion, writing copy for your next direct mail piece about your monthly sale, or make every Monday a sale for your business.  One day could be about adding to your client database by collecting new e-mail addressesand contacting past clients for referrals.

However you choose to set up your schedule, the most important fact is that you have a schedule.  Don’t just say I’ll work on it in the hour you have free time.  Schedule it in there.  You’ve heard the saying, “It’s as important to work on your business as it is in your business.”  Make working ON your  business a priority.  Promise not to go home for the day until you’ve touched base with 5 past clients.  Jody Gabourie, the Marketing Plan Queen, offers more tips here. For help with your marketing pieces, please visit us online.

Don’t lose customers with these marketing mistakes

One quick mistake in your marketing message or delivery might not only make you lose a customer, but could keep you from gaining a new one.  These tips should help keep you on track to make more money, and not lose any!

1. Signing up customers to your newsletter without permission.  Do you ever hand someone your business card and then start receiving their e-mail mailings or newsletter?  It’s very common, and unfortunately, could break a customer relationship.  People want the option to opt-in to these mailings.  They don’t want to receive it without being asked first.  This is especially hard if you just meet someone.  You want to develop a relationship first.  You also want to have the freedom to look at their information and then determine if you want to be on a mailing list.  If you send these newsletters out, make sure you have a sign-up form on your Web site or in your e-mail.  And always ask permission when meeting someone new if you can add them to your list.  Don’t just assume they want to be on it.

2. Changing your message because you didn’t get enough sales.  It’s also very common to see an advertisement: 30% off everything until Wednesday!  Then Wednesday is crossed out and it says 30% off until Friday!  You’ll create a much more powerful message if you stick to your word.  If you didn’t get enough sales, save the promotion for a few weeks.  It creates a lot more urgency and shows your customers that you are willing to offer promotions.  You’ll seem desperate for business if you keep changing your current promotion.  It can make customers think you’re going out of business. 

3. Making everything urgent.  Sending out mailings that say “Urgent!” or “Open Immediately!”  This tactic can definitely work, but once is probably best.  If customers continue to see the same messages on all of your mailings, they’ll know it is just a tactic and probably put it right in the garbage bin.

4. Spending it all in one place.  Don’t blow your entire marketing budget on one expensive TV ad or national magazine appearance.  It could be great to get new customers, but once you’ve done that, what’s left for other marketing?  Make sure to evenly spend your marketing dollars and find the best ways to do that based on your customer profiles.  We blogged a few weeks back about sending clear messages to the right target group.  Don’t get all excited about a new advertising stream without researching it first and determining that it’s right for you and your business. 

5. Fixing what isn’t broken.  Some companies think changing their marketing pieces is necessary, even if they’re still getting great success with the same old pieces.  This isn’t necessary.  If it’s working, that’s fantastic.  Don’t just assume you need to change something because it hasn’t been done in a while.  Use test markets and get feedback before trying something new. 

You can find more common mistakes in this article. Visit us online for help designing your marketing piece!

Your best tips for social networking

We’ve previously talked about how important social networking and social media can be to your business.  It’s great for making connections with past clients, former colleagues, and even high school and college classmates.  You can introduce your business to them in a less formal environment and get the word out about what you do. 

Lee Odden, an online marketing blogger, recently got 26 of his best tips on how to use social media for your benefit.   We’re going to post some of our favorites and why they’re so important.  Everything in bold is an actual tip.

1. Listen first. Don’t be the bullhorn in the party. Social media is a conversation, not a one-way stream.  A lot of people gave advice on listening.  Don’t constantly be the one putting your marketing and advertising out there.  Listen to what your customers have to say and how they interact with your online presence.  Find out what’s important to them.  Do they want to see more photos of your products?  Would they like you to blog on a daily/weekly/monthly basis?  If you just go out there talking about your business without listening to what people want, you’re really doing it all for naught. 

2. Find your employees who are passionate about social media and involve them — passion shows and they’ll do the best job.  This goes hand in hand with another tip: Have at least one person know whats going on and monitor / update in a genuine way the different social media profiles.  Find somebody that knows what they’re doing.  If you’re your only employee and you’ll be doing the updating, make sure to research how to post and upload prior to starting out.  You are representing yourself and your company, so you want to do it right.  And once you start, make sure you continue to update online, especially if you promise your clients and customers a weekly promotion or blog.  They’ll expect to see it, so you need to make sure it’s there.  If you don’t have an employee, maybe think about hiring a high school or college student who has an online presence.  They might know some tricks of the trade to help you out.

3. Don’t pretend you aren’t a company. Yes you’re hanging out with the cool kids on facebook but we know what you really are.   You need to act like the company that you’re representing, which is yours.  Be professional in your posts.  Of course, you can still have fun in your comments and your posts, but don’t change who you are.  If you have teen-aged clients, don’t talk to them like you’re their buddy.  Continue to represent the professional side of your business.  It comes across as a lot more genuine and makes you appear more credible.  Social Media is like a digital porch. People like coming to chat if the home owner is authentic!

4. I would tell them to DO IT! If they are not a part of their conversation, someone else is controlling it.  What this one means is, if you’re not on the social networking sites, your competition probably is!  Would you rather your competition be out there and communicating with your potential clients? Of course not.  If you visit Facebook, for example, a lot of stores and restaurants are now posting their promotions online and getting fans to follow them when something new happens for their business.  Yes, eventually, more stores and businesses will do it, too.  But won’t you remember the first ones?  Won’t it be more likely that you’ll have one book store that you’re interested in rather than 12?

Do you have any more important tips for these sites?  Please leave us a comment or visit us online.

Learning about your customers will drive up sales

Do you ever feel like you’re stuck in determining what next promotion to offer?  You realize that you haven’t put items from your fall collection, for instance, on sale yet, so maybe you should give that a try?  You should recognize that by learning about your customers and their past purchasing habits, you can earn more money by appealing to them.  Marketing Professional Ray Boucher has written an article on five important things you should know about your customers.  You’ll want to go through your database and make note of these, as it will greatly improve your marketing effort and sales in the future.

1. What is the most popular purchased product or service?  Let’s use real estate agents, for example.  If you’ve mostly sold condos in the past year to first time buyers, you’ll want to start marketing move-up opportunities for them.  Try to send them information about 3 bedroom single family homes, or the benefits of selling in their particular complex.  For a small business that sells handmade jewelry, what is your most popular product?  Let’s say it’s a bracelet with add-on charms.  Consider advertising to past clients about the new birthstone charms you have available.  If you buy 1, get 1 free.  Try to think outside the box with what products are the most popular.  It should drum up the most new sales if it’s tied to that.

2. What are your customers spending on each purchase?  Let’s say that an average purchase goes for about $50.  Find out what your competitors are charging.  If they have similar products and price, if you offer a product for $44.99, you should get more sales since you’re selling at a discount. 

3. Find out how many of your customers are repeat customers.  First of all, here’s hoping that most of your customers are repeats.  You want to keep them in your database and contact them at least twice a year so they don’t go to your competitor.  If you have their birthday, make sure you send them a card.  Always send them information when you’re offering a new promotion. 

4. When are you getting most of your sales?  Is it typically in a certain month?  Is it generally on a Friday during the week?  By figuring this out you’ll be able to offer marketing that has promotions during the slower periods to help generate more business.  But don’t forget to still market during the busy times so that those times stay busy.

5.  Where do your customers come from?  Are you getting referred from a certain Web site?  That’s where you’ll want to put a lot of advertising.  Do you have a local shop where customers from a certain neighborhood come from?  Sponsor one of their little league teams. 

This information will be extremely helpful when planning your marketing.  Do you have this information and now need to design the perfect marketing campaign?  Visit us online for more information and a free quote.

How having a partner can boost your business

You’re probably working on overtime trying to build your business, beat your competitors, and save money during this recession.  You want to make sure you’re still in business and making money on your own.  What if we had a solution for a way to build up your business, for free??  Have you considered a joint venture?  A joint venture, by definition, is a partnership where people undertake an economic activity together and is a way to share knowledge and expertise.  Terrance Charles’ blog offers his take on the top three most effective joint ventures.

1. E-mail list swaps.  You can immediately add hundreds or thousands of e-mail addresses to your subscriber list by doing this.  So how do you find your swap partner?  If you are a subscriber to some marketing lists, try responding to some of the newsletters you receive to see if the authors are interested in a swap.  How about a past colleague you’ve reconnected with on LinkedIn or Facebook?  We’ve had real estate agents swap lists with financial planners.  You want to make sure you do this most effectively, though.  Let’s say you have a database of 500 current clients, past clients, and prospects.  Let’s take the example of the real estate agent and financial planner.  They decided to swap 10 names a week.  Why so low?  Because they each sent each person a note highly recommending the other’s service.  Then they called the new name and introduced themselves.  Then they each wrote a handwritten note thanking them for speaking with them and sending out a card.  It was then that they added them to their regular list.  So it took time, but the plan was for them to thoroughly introduce themself so they knew they were comfortable receiving their e-newsletters first.  It helped them achieve a lot more sales than just blindly adding names to a list.  So consider how you want to best approach this.  With patience and the right partner, you will no doubt have success this way.

2. Trade content.  Do you have another blog or Web site that you’re constantly reading?  See if the author will allow you to post their information on your site and vice versa.  You can add hundreds of views a day to your site by adding their visitors, as well.  And make sure you give them credit.  Link to their page from your Facebook or Twitter page. 

3. Teleseminars and webinars.  Terrance says, “For a JV, this is good because your building credibility and value for your subscribers and customers. Not only that, marketers are always looking for more content, so it usually get’s passed around on blogs, forums, articles and to their list. It doesn’t have to be a long teleseminar, it can be from 5 minutes to 1 hour, it all depends.”  You don’t even have to make it as formal as a teleseminar.  Just post a video on each other’s sites with some new content.  Posting videos is extremely easy to do these days with the new technology that YouTube and Facebook offers.

Hopefully this blog gave you some ideas on how to expand and build your business by forming a joint venture.  Once you’re ready to get those marketing pieces out to your lists, visit us online so we can create the perfect piece for you!