What do backlinks and signposts have in common?  They point the way; give us direction, showing us the path to take.  Without the proper direction, we would find ourselves going around in circles, never finding our desired destination.

Pointing potential customers to your website is every email marketer’s goal, big or small.  Without website traffic, there can be no conversions, without conversions, there will be no income.  You cannot remain neutral; you must have some definite goals in mind, with specific and carefully researched strategies, with which to carry them out.  Like a wise investor, you need to incorporate a diversified portfolio, knowing that one marketing plan, will never be enough.

Welcome to the World of Backlinks

If you have any knowledge about Search Engine Optimization, you have no doubt come across this term.  Backlinks (also termed Inbound Links) are links that direct traffic back to your website, or a particular landing page on your website.  As more and more people rely on the Internet to promote their business, backlinks are now considered one of the main building blocks for smart SEO website strategies.

Why are backlinks so important?  Because search engines like Google give more relevance and credit to those websites that have more backlinks than the others, when they do a search query.  We need to insert a caution here.  Search Engines also consider the quality of the links.  Inbound links should come from other sites whose content is relevant to yours.  The higher the relevance, the great their quality is considered.  For example, if a website is all about health related issues, and you are promoting travel, that backlink would be assessed as having no relevance.

Don’t try to fool the search engines.   Many webmasters do whatever they consider necessary to influence the search engines with as many external backlinks as possible which has been termed “Link Farms”.  Because of these deceptive practices, a search engine’s criteria for quality inbound links has become even tougher.  Those pages that are determined to be link farms are negated and can put your site in danger of being banned entirely!

Reciprocal Linking.  When web sites link to one another, either directly or indirectly through different website pages, a search engine considers those links to be reciprocal links.  As a person is judged by the company they keep, your backlinks will be judged by your reciprocal partnerships.  In other words, don’t hitch your wagon to a bad apple.  When you apply your personal rules in friendships to your reciprocal links, you will become more cautious and choosy on whose company you want to keep, making sure that webmaster is using white not black-hat SEO techniques.  For further reading on this, please see Google’s explanation on Link Schemes.

Some handy tools for your backlink building campaigns:

• Domain Stats Tool:  Displays the backlinks of domains in Google, Yahoo, and MSN.
• Backlink Builder Tool:  This tool searches for websites that have relevant themes and content related to your site.

Web Directories

Web Directories are like an Internet phone book.  Filling out a web directory, as in a phone book, helps you get found.  You can list your services, information or products for sale.  With each directory, you choose a category under which you want your business to appear.  Another great advantage is that a Web Directory lets you pick your own keywords, also called tags.  These tags are used like search phrases when someone searches a directory for a particular service or product.  This is another way of creating a backlink to your website.  Most directories are free and do not require a reciprocal link (a link back to their site.)

Article Directories

Writing and submitting articles to articles directories are another great source when creating valuable backlinks.  Most article sites are free.  The only drawback is that it can be a tedious process.  While some submission sites just ask you to submit an article, on the fly, the better ones will require a double opt-in sign up, with a required step-by-step article process submission form.  The good news is that you are allowed to put your website and email as a signature in each article.  It is a great way to get your name, company, and personal voice out into cyberspace.  For further reading…

Forums

Forum signatures are an easy way to obtain backlinks from topic related discussions. Adding your backlinks to a forum signature when posting your responses is another way of getting your company noticed.  Make sure that your responses are valuable and real.  Do not try to sell yourself on a forum.  Many forum moderators constantly scan the communications for spammers, and will quickly blacklist you if they see a sell in your response.

Blogs

Blogs are not only a great way to get backlinks, but give you a chance to write about the industry, product, or service that you represent.  They open dialogues with your clients and give prospects the chance to exchange ideas and thoughts with you directly.

This is not an exhaustive discussion.  They are many doors and roads to follow when growing your ROI.  Research, read, check, test and prove what works for you.  Perhaps in your future blog, you will be able to share some valuable information with us.   Understanding and apply SEO is a continual learning process and experience, in which we are all students.

Once considered a luxury, (hey I am dating myself), cell phones are now falling out of everyone’s pockets, including kids.  Having a cell phone is like having a watch; you can’t leave home without it.  How exciting it once was to receive a call outside the home!  You felt important, privileged, and singled out from the crowd.

In 2010, from Nextel to Blackberry to IPhone to Android, the transformation of that little cell phone, coupled with the latest state of the art technology, has overwhelmed and excited even us die hard techies.

Nope, it’s not just for texting and taking pictures anymore.  Cell phones are being used to help people in developing nations, bringing global awareness of their needs, raising their living standards, along with diagnosing their problems!

Mobility and literacy
“A variety of other applications for cell phones in remote areas are also being developed, including some aimed at improving coordination in areas where transportation both for people and goods is often unpredictable. One such system, called Transport Link, also developed in NextLab, is a way for people who rely on infrequent bus service to get timely updates on when the next bus will come through their area or to arrange informal transportation with others in the area who have private vehicles.”  Read Entire Article

Predictions for 2013
“Yet, personal mobile devices with Internet connectivity encompass a broad array of devices and with a wide range of functionality that continues to evolve and expand rapidly.  To put this in perspective, the number of mobile devices accessing the Internet is projected to reach 1 billion by 2013 based on research by IDC.  Say “mobile” to most marketers and they think cell phone, maybe SMS (define).”

Mobile E-Marketing Strategies
From an e-marketing perspective, this leads to increased complexity and expense. In order to integrate a mobile strategy to take advantage of this evolving market, here are some basic suggestions:

Conform your e-marketing campaigns for mobile surfers. Make sure your mobile campaign can be easily read on a mobile smartphone.  Most mobile shoppers are looking for high priority items, quickly scanning the surface in between meetings and travel.  They want to find what they need quickly.  As with any email marketing campaign, use brand name they will recognize, with a visible call to action.  Don’t forget to include your phone number, e-mail address, or Web site on the bottom.

Mobile Demographics

Before starting a mobile-oriented marketing program, gather your demographics.  Survey your customers and prospects, finding out which devices they use and what type of mobile content they’d like to receive from you.  Don’t forget to find out what your competitors are creating and sending.

Create a Mobile Website

“Think of where customers are when they access your information and include critical information like phone number, store hours, location and/or directions,” recommends Microsoft Mobile Solutions Specialist Steve Siegel.

Register and Index your Mobile Site on:

• Yahoo.mobi
• msn.mobi
• Google Mobile
• aol.mobi
• 4info.mobi

Based on Nielsen tracking, mobile search grew 102% in 2009.  Remember you can’t be found if you aren’t there.

Mobile Metrics
* Count the number of impressions from mobile Web sites.
* Track your mobile marketing advertising results.
*  Monitor social media stats related to mobile communications.

As the variety and power of mobile devices continue to grow, marketing strategies need to evolve as well.  Remember, whether or not you have a mobile strategy, your prospects and customers are already receiving your competitor’s marketing messages via these devices.  Don’t be left behind.  Your ROI is depending on it.

Whether for your own company or the one you work for, beginning your adventure in the social media world of digital communications is a good decision.

Social Media has become one of the most aggressive ways to promote your site or business, increasing back  links, resulting in additional website traffic.  For any business counting their costs, while weathering a bad economy, social media has become a lifesaving path.

Social media is all about conversation.  It is a very appealing way to create relationships online – giving a face and voice to small and large businesses.  This strategy can easily add to an email marketing campaign, whose name and brand begin to take on a more personal and widespread public recognition.

Beginning your SM Campaign Strategy – Before jumping in head first, you need to know what tools you will be using, as well as the information you want to share.  As with any email marketing campaign, research, time, and strategy must always come first.  Here are a few tips:

Preparation and Research

• Create an audience persona. What does your target audience look like?  As an email marketer, demographics is a survival word.  Get an image of your audience, age, gender, spending and surfing habits, what sites they visit, and how they use the Web.  This forms your foundation.

• Check out your competition. Find out what your competition is doing in the social media arena.  What are they talking about, what are they writing about.  See what kind of responses they are getting.

• Policy Guidelines. Make sure your company has a social media policy in place.  Guidelines are needed for any employee that engages online conversations representing your organization.

• The Designated Blogger. It is very important to designate a blogger.  Whether you hire a freelance blogger, or give someone in your organization this opportunity, this is a serious commitment.  Blogging needs to be consistent, live conversations need to be monitored.  Give this serious thought – you need the right person creating the right voice and conversations.

• Goals and Meetings. Have your plans and strategies clearly defined.  Make time for follow-up meetings on the outcome and results.  This is a learning process.  You can easily modify ideas and content along the way.

• Interesting and Relevant. Whatever message you put out there, cannot be taken back.  People are stressed, quickly skimming through titles and bits of conversations, as they surf.  Take the time to surf around at what your target audience is talking about on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter.  Do not let stress or urgency make your efforts sloppy.

Don’t forget to have fun. Social conversations should have some lightness about them.  We are not engaging in metrics or behavioral sciences.  Bring a bit of fun into this.   The very fact of the enormous proliferation of social media, proves that people want a more personal relationship and voice with those they do business with or buy from.

Here are some of the top SM sites in which to get started – Click Me!

Google has given us a brand new toy, Google Buzz.  Google Buzz is a brand new way to have conversations about things that interest you, while enabling you to share updates such as photos and videos with family and friends.  There is no installation.  You simply open up your Gmail account, and there it is.  At least, that was my experience.  No warning, just a cute little colorful icon waiting to be pushed.  Sharing information is faster than ever.   A possible new email marketing tool?

All responses will be sent by Buzz directly to your inbox – in actual real-time.  Buzz is also available on certain cellphones and smartphones, so you don’t have to be in front of your computer to create or read a Buzz.

Google Buzz  seems to be Google’s strongest and boldest attempt to get into and build a strong and popular social network.  They have taken and implemented the best of the most powerful social media programs like Twitter and other social services, combining the most popular elements together into one aggressive package.

Importing into Buzz
Do you use Flickr, Picasa, or Twitter?  Now you can automatically have those items imported into your stream.  Buzz will even recommend items you might like based on your friends’ preferences based on their activities.  Instead of building their own social network from the beginning, Buzz is now an integrated key part of their Gmail, with its own distinct icon tab underneath the inbox.

Even though thousands use Gmail, there are still plenty of people without Gmail accounts.  Will Buzz be enough to entice new users to sign up and start using an email service just because of Buzz?

A Bit more Complicated
Twitter is so simple.  If you have created a public account, anyone can see and follow your tweets if they have decided to follow you. It’s as simple as that.  With Buzz, it is not that simple because there are public and private buzzes.  Buzz will create plans for business and educational users.  So public buzzes may only be available within your particular organization or school.  You will have the option for a private buzz to designated individuals within your network.  Remaining flexible, it becomes a bit more complicated.

When users were asked why they are using Buzz, here are some of their reasons:
1.    Easy to use
2.    Simple interface
3.    No setup – Automatically embedded into Gmail.
4.    Users feel they get a wider and quicker global connection

How will G-mailers respond?  Will we buy into this quick sharing of information and brand new communication tool for social media?  Google believes we will.

If you would like to see a video introduction, along with a more detailed explanation of Google Buzz, please go to Google’s Official Blog about Google Buzz

If you have chosen to try email marketing, you have chosen a good path.  Email marketing is still one of the most cost-effective ways to promote any business.  While balancing your business and life in a tough economy, the tough need to be creative and resourceful.  Using email marketing campaigns enable you to be creative, while learning who your niche market is.  As you know, with any serious investment risk, planning and strategy need to be included to achieve successful results.

How do you Get Started?
There is a learning curve when it comes to sending out direct email marketing campaigns.  You may find yourself having difficulty trying to figure out your first step.  We have anticipated that question and hope that this article will help provide you with good basic starters to get you up and running.  There are no pat answers, so you need to see what will work for you within your budget and time frame.

Mailing Lists for Targeted Email Campaigns

Without a mailing list, you have no one to send your e-campaigns to.  But how do you start?  Normally, there are three options:  Buying a list, renting a list, or creating your own.  If you are a new business, the last choice may be impossible, even though it is the best one.  You may not have time to wait, and need to start somewhere.  Here are your options:

1.    Renting an Email Address List
Renting an email address for direct email campaigns can be very cost-effective.  Whether obtained from email campaigns, direct bulk email marketing, or an email newsletter subscription, these email address lists are a valuable source of sales and leads.

2.    Buying an email address list
The alternative to renting an email list is to buy the list.  Once bought, you have full control over your list sending out your own promotions, whenever you want.

3.    Building your own mailing lists
Building your own mailings lists takes time.  Your reward is the fact that you have managed to create a list of prospects who want to receive your information and e-newsletters.

An Optimized Website:

Getting on board with SEO: How do get started?  Here are some of the key things to know:

Keywords and key phrases: Know the right key phrases or key phrase optimization.  These are the words and phrases that will be picked up by the search engines when someone does a query.

You need the specific key phrases that describe your services or products, strategically placed within your content, thus allowing your site to show up on the first results page, of a search query commonly referred to as the (SERPs).  If you are not sure what those words are, go to Google AdWords – this site will help you determine what words come up in a search.  You can also put your competitor’s website URL in the search to see what keywords they are using.

Back links: Back links are links on one website that lead back to another.  Creating back links to your site is another way to be found.  Here are some suggestions:

1.    Articles: Write articles – get them published with your website and name as a signature.  There are at least 100 websites called Social News and Social Book Marking.  Write an interesting article about your field or something you feel strongly about.  Once published, your article will be parsed in the Search Engines and come up under the right keywords, as well.

2.    Press Release: If you are new and have newsworthy information to share, write a press release about your company or product and get it published on as many press release submission sites as possible.  Remember, it must have a common interest to your targeted audience.

3.    Reciprocal Relationships. Find products that compliment what you do and agree to put their link on your site, with a reciprocal back link to yours.

Networking and Sales Leads: Join Yahoo Groups that align with your goals and business objectives.  Answer questions poised by other members.  Show your knowledge and get your name out there.  Attend different events that partner with other organizations.  Make contacts as you create new leads.  Do not let them grow cold.  Reach out in someway.  Keep your name and company in the front of their minds.

Company Blog: Not only is this a great way to share information about your company or service, but you are communicating to your audience in a person voice.  Blogging is huge, and people love to share their opinions.  Start a conversation with your clients and prospects.  Let them know you are a person, not just a company.

Landing Pages: Before sending out any email marketing campaign, you must have a matching landing page.  This is page will have a specific and clear call to action.  Your page should match your campaign and create a strong sales pitch to the prospect upon landing.

Communication and Permission Email
Before sending any of your leads any email newsletters or campaigns, reach out to them in a personal email or phone call, asking them if they would be interested in joining your newsletter or reading your blog.  Don’t be labeled as a spammer.  Your reputation represents your company, product, and service.

Get informed. Any email campaign marketer needs to become familiar with The federal CAN-SPAM Act protects consumers against unwanted e-mail.

Becoming an email marketer is easy.  Becoming a successful one takes research, time, and planning.  Before taking the plunge, make sure you know how to swim.

Before you begin developing your new website, you might want to take some time and come up with a plan. That plan should include the way in which you’re going to use SEO to better market yourself online. If you wait until you finish writing your code and content for the site before you begin SEO, you will have wasted a lot of your time and probably money. Whenever you incorporate SEO, it’s necessary to adapt the code and content anyway, so why not use it from the very beginning.

SEO & Web Development

First, begin by planning your SEO project. Decide on the Web development technology you want to use to build your site and consult with a SEO expert and ask how easy it will be to incorporate SEO into the development itself.

Know your Customers

It’s also important to do some keyword research. You need to understand your customers if you plan on keeping them. Know how your customers describe your products or services and what their top searches are when they choose your business or company. If you understand this, you understand the key words and the content you need to use in your site.

Don’t forget about Content!

The most important thing you have to keep in mind for your website is content. If you have well-written, good content about the services and products you provide, you will certainly get more traffic to your site. Why do you think Wikipedia appears at the top of every search engine when you type in a key word? Because Wikipedia has at least one page that is multiple paragraphs dedicated to that topic, its history, its place in the modern world and so on. Don’t just mention your services, explain them and let people read about them. Became an expert on what your business has to offer and share it on your website.

Link Building

It’s not fun and people wish they could ignore it, but you can’t if you want to have a successful site. For all those who are unfamiliar, Link Building is a process in which you create inbound links to your websites. Link building is necessary to get traffic and rankings. It gives your site exposure, credibility, and visibility.

It will be helpful for your business if you know about search engines and SEO. I recommend having some training for your staff, including the decision makers of the business. The more knowledge you have about the subject, the more equipped you’ll be for the development.

How will you market your site?

How do you want to market your site and your services and your products? First, what are your products and services? What do you want to be able to do online to see your services? What do you want to say about your products? How do you think your website will help? Do you want to use Social Media to expand your business? How will you use other sites to link your site? How will you get other sites to make a link for your site? What will the structure and design of the site be? You have a whole lot of questions to answer before you start.

You have to find a way to have your new site stand out from the rest of the sites that are selling the same exact products. Somehow you need to have creative content, good key words, great links, a media campaign, and web development that will incorporate all of these things. And there you have it folks; numerous reasons for beginning with SEO.

Keywords have become the foundation of any email or online internet marketing, including social media.  Without adding the right keywords and phrases in your website, you might as well set up shop in the desert. The whole goal is to be found.  Sounds simple, but it is not.

Understanding how keywords work, takes a bit of time and research.  The good news is, the Worldwide Web has all you need to know – and that information  is available, at the click of your mouse.  Here are a few simple strategies.

• Know How your Audience Thinks: Hey, I am  not advocating mind reading.  But you need to anticipate words that people might use when looking for your product or service.  It may not be the exact words you would have used for your product or service keywords, but if you don’t test your words, with the right tools, you could miss a sale.  At the end, it’s all about your target audience.  You need to understand how they search and think.  For example, a furniture company discovered the search word being used for sofa was the word couch.  They immediately updated their keywords and made an immediate sale.

• Relevance: When we search online, we have certain ideas and expectations of what our keywords will bring us.  If you are like me, and you start getting responses back that are not exactly what you had hoped for, you keep revising your search word and search phrase to get that perfect result. Your website content should match the keywords people are searching for.  If it doesn’t, they will leave your site and you will lose a possible prospect.

Here are some free tools related to keyword research and tracking:

• Social Media Keyword Research:   Social media is a great tool.  Find out what people are talking about and what words they are using that relate to your market.  You can create a list of those targeted words to use on your website.
  • TweetVolume: Enter keywords to see their frequency within Twitter
  • YouTubeKeyword Tool:  Find video related keywords and tags used – similar to the Google Keyword Search Tool.
• Google Trends: With Google Trends, you can compare the world’s interest in your niche market.
• Google Insights for Search: Compare search volume patterns across specific regions, categories, time frames and properties.

Keyword research is vital for your search engine and website optimization goals.  Your site must target the right keywords for a high ranking performance.  As important as it is to be found, you need to be found by the right people. This takes thoughtful planning and strategy.  Using the right tools can give your website a strong online presence.

Remember:  Don’t just spend your time and energy on the aesthetics of your site.   That would be like cooking a spectacular meal, with all the trimmings.  It may look and taste fabulous, but what good is it if no one shows up for dinner?

Website Optimization is the process in which you specifically design and fine tune your website content to receive a high ranking in the Search Engines.   E-mail and internet marketers know, that this is no longer an option if you are seriously marketing your business online.  It is an absolute must.

Whether you are starting a new site, or re-evaluating the old, you need to know the building blocks of success.  You are building an Internet presence and becoming a worthy competitor in this savvy, hi-tech world.

Where to Begin? Keywords, phrases, title, images, and text  all play an important and integral role in determining website rank.  Your content needs to be keyword rich.  What are keywords?  Simply put, keywords and keyword phrases are the words you want to be found under when people search.  Don’t make them up in your head!  If you want to see how people search for your product or service, there is a free and powerful tool called “Keyword Tool” by Google.

Another way to be “keyword creative” is to list the brand or model name, as well as the keyword.  If you sell telephones, you should also list the brand names like V-Tech, Panasonic, and Uniden.

Placement of Keywords: Place your keywords throughout: header tags, titles, first paragraph of your body text, and the ALT Attribute of image tags.  The ALT attributes help get your images ranked higher for image searches.

How many Keywords/Phrases per Page? There is no right or wrong answer.  After researching this specific question for myself, the general consensus seems to be one keyword and phrase per page.  Others have suggested several more.  You will need to research your niche and see what others are saying and what their experiences have been.  You can also use the Google Keyword Tool to extract the main keywords of your competitor’s sites.  This will help determine what words they are using for a higher ranking.

Creating a Site Map: Site maps provide search engine spiders an easy access to site pages, as well as giving easy access to your site visitors.  Because search engines and visitors access your site map differently, different methods need to be applied that are friendly for both engines and search spiders. Google’s Tutorials on Creating and submitting site maps.

Search Engine Friendly: JavaScript and Flash navigation menus are cool, but  search engines don’t read JavaScript and Flash very well. Therefore, a workaround would be to have simple HTML links at the bottom of the page.  This guarantees a friendlier search engine page.

Submission to the major Search Engines and Directories. For a list of free directories, please visit:  Free Web Submissions.

Submission to Social Media: Social Media Sites are growing daily with thousands of new participants.  Submitting articles to these free sites, increases your Search Engine exposure.  Do you have a blog on your website?  It is time to create one.  Reaching out to clients and prospects with your personal voice puts a name and face on someone they can contact and respond to.  This is the age for personal communication.

Content is Still King: Nothing but nothing takes the place of  relevant and interesting content.  What good is it to have people find your site, and then click off out of boredom or frustration.  Is your content self serving?  No one cares if you think your company or product is the best thing since sliced bread.  People want to know, what’s in it for me?  Make sure your call to actions are clear and your text is to the point.  I personally hate going to someone’s site and having to keep scrolling and clicking to find out what I need to know.  Your most important information and capture leads, should be on your home page – standing out – easy to find.

Website Appearance:  I have been to many websites where the background was too distracting.  Make your site clean, use web safe colors.  Too many graphics and textures within your site make it hard to read and parse.

Lead Links: The most important links for any prospect to click on should be on your homepage.  Try to have your main links in plain sight.  I have seen websites that are literally over linked, if that is a real expression. Remember, most surfers have short attention spans and if they cannot see what they want quickly, they will most definitely find it somewhere else.

Promoting Your Business Online.  Today, many people search for local businesses on the Internet. Make sure they find you.  There are several ways to put your business and services online.  Please see our article entitled: Google and Yahoo Local Maps for Online Marketing.

Having done all, visit Google Webmaster Central and learn all you can directly, from the masters themselves.

I watch Fox News every evening.  OK I am addicted, I admit it.  Unfortunately, the economic news has not been very uplifting lately.  Every economist seems to have a different take on what we are experiencing.  But what we can ALL agree on is this one simple statement – the economy is not good.  Kind of depressing?  For small businesses or email and internet marketers that advertise and sell online, there is a light at the end of the tunnel – the news is not so dark.

This will be a good time to take a look at what people are talking about on the Social Networks.  Surf around on Facebook and Twitter.  Google blog posts for subjects that deal with your market niche.  What are the problems and concerns that are being voiced?

Offer Solutions that Meet a Need

Can you offer solutions and help?  Start spreading your internet voice and solve some problems for your clients and prospects that the current economy has created.   Are you up to and ready for a challenge?

Everyone loves tips on how to save money and time.  In our years of  experience and just living, all of us are experts in something.  Sharing your expertise and experience, without an agenda to sell, just might bring in an unexpected return.

The Economy is not a Crutch or an Excuse for Failure

Bad news is everyone and is affecting everyone.  It is times like this that you must rally within yourself and start your creative juices flowing.  Your goal is to be a catalyst – continuing to create interest in your services and products.

People are under a great deal of stress these days.  They are worried about their futures and hoping for better days.  So, here are some helpful suggestions to get you on a positive path towards creating  more opportunities to be seen and get noticed in a difficult economy:

Existing Customers are Crucial for Sustainability

All B2B and B2C businesses know that turning prospects into clients take time, planning, and trust.  But once you have created that trust, it is priceless.  The reason we exist is not because of a one-time sale, closeout, or discounted item.  The reason we can pay our bills is totally dependent upon our existing and repeat customers.

We all know how important building our customer base is.  But keeping your customers happy and satisfied is even more important.

Showing your appreciation to them, in tangible ways, will not only give them a lift, but keep you and your brand alive and in the front of their minds.

The Element of Surprise

Do you have a newsletter that you send out?  If you don’t, this would be an opportune time to do so.  How about offering a special deal or discount, just to your loyal repeat clients?  In a bad economy, any kind of valuable offer will be appreciated.

Reach out in a personal way.  Bring people in behind the scenes of your company.  An event, a promotion, or just some interesting comments from you on a personal note.  Let people know your voice.

Whenever I see a movie that I love, I always look for a special presentation called:  “Behind the Scenes” -  of that particular movie.  I find it fascinating to be able to find out what went on during the filming.  The stories are so interesting.  You start to feel that you know the actors and directors personally.

Be Generous in an Ungenerous Age

Donate some of your specials to a worthwhile charity.  People tend to have more respect for those organizations that give to worthwhile causes.  Don’t be surprised how wonderfully that will affect you and all those who work for you.

Create a Team Spirit

The most underutilized part of an organization is its employees.  Mangers and executives tend to forget that the “underlings”  are on the same ship, weathering the same storm and trust me, they don’t want to drown.

Call for a power meeting in your board or conference room.  Shock your entire staff  by sending out an internal email request, asking for some creative ideas for your marketing mix.  This is a win-win.  You will probably get some interesting responses but most of all, you have let them know that they are integral to your survival, and you have just created genuine loyalty and trust within your own organization.

Reality Check - Get out There
The same old just won’t work anymore.  Use this time to re-think, re-plan and  re-structure.  Dare to be different, and determine to be creative.  This is a good time to not only step out of the box, but to break the box open, completely.

Link Building is not cheap and can be pretty costly, particularly in competitive or popular markets. But there are ways to work around it, even if you are a small business with an even smaller budget, but are in need of expanding your online marketing.

It’s really all about exposure. Remember that saying, “all press is good press,” well it’s partially true. But it helps a lot more if the press is good.

Volunteer your areas of expertise

Within your company, you must have any area of expertise, some amazing service that you’re offering to your customers. So how can you market your skill to the world?

1)      Offer a service for free. Let the community know about your donation, by contacting community service groups and the local media.

2)      Contribute to a website. Write a weekly or monthly column in an area of your expertise.

3)      Don’t be scared to ask your loyal customers to link your business through their blogs, websites, or social media platforms. If they like you, they probably won’t be against expressing it on the Internet.

Let’s pretend you’re a veterinarian, but word of mouth is not really cutting it in terms of marketing. One way to help is by volunteering your services once a week to a local animal shelter.

Let the community know about your volunteering. This gets your name out there, your business out there, and people begin to trust you and your services. Maybe the local media will pick up on it or groups within the community will start publicizing your services. You’ll build up contacts. No matter what, you’ll be doing something good and you’ll get only good exposure from it. Basically this becomes your own marketing campaign.

Write for Blogs and Websites

Every time you read a magazine or newspapers, there are always columns out there, e.g. financial experts giving their expert opinion on the economy. You can become a guest writer for a blog or contributing columnist once a week. If you’re words are out there and the readers like your advice, chances are you can pick up some more clients right there and they’ll tell their friends.

Add Links

Find your business’s name online. There might be plenty of websites out there that mention your business, but they might not have links attached to the name. Email the host and try to get a link attached to your name.

Join Local, National, and International Business Groups

Become a member of various business groups that are related to your company’s interests. Link your website to their members’ directory. If they don’t have one, ask them if they can link your website on their site, wherever you are listed.

All of these ideas for marketing your small business take time and effort but it’s worth it. Most of these things are small and may be a bit tedious but they help. By having links attached to places where your name is mentioned is simple. By volunteering, you’ll feel good and you’ll get your name out there. By writing a column, people will begin to trust you as an expert in your field. Remember, it’s all about exposure.