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Don’t Waste Your Money on SEO

Posted by Bill McKinney on
 11/07/2008

Search engine optimization – SEO – is usually the first thing that comes to mind for business owners who want to get better results online.  Is SEO a waste of money?  It can be – or it can be your best investment for online success.  The difference is in how you get started.

The purpose of SEO is to get your website to the front page of Google search results (yes, there are other search engines, but Google is the prize).  You want one of your pages to be in the top ten results that Google displays when one of your target customers types a keyword or keyphrase relevant to your business into the search window.

Unfortunately, too many business owners waste their SEO dollars by optimizing their sites around the wrong key words and phrases – either keyphrases that have very little search volume, or keywords that are so competitive that it’s impossible for a new web page to get first page ranking any time soon.  Neither approach will bring traffic to your web site, which is the whole point of SEO.

How do you avoid those mistakes?  Know your keywords, and know your competition.

Know your keywords.  How do you know which keywords and keyphrases your potential customers are using to search for your business? Ask Google. Google’s AdWords Keyword Tool will tell you exactly how many people are using exactly which keywords and keyphrases.  Go to https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal and type in the keyphrases you think people might use to search for your business.  You’ll get the actual search volumes for those phrases, along with a list of synonyms and related phrases, including their search volumes.  Type in the URL for your website (or a competitor’s website).  You’ll get another list of relevant keywords and keyphrases, along with search volumes. Set aside the keyphrases that don’t have significant search volume.  Focus on the most searched phrases.  Optimize your web pages only for keyphrases that actually get searched – that’s where the traffic is.  It’s simple, it’s obvious, and it’s all too often overlooked. Read More→

Categories : Internet Marketing
Tags : ,

November Productivity Tip

Posted by Cynthia Kyriazis on
 11/01/2008

We’re approaching the end of another year. And isn’t it true–the older you get the faster time seems to fly by. Now’s the time to start thinking about the life you want in 2009. Are you ready to tackle those habits that have been preventing you from keeping commitments to yourself?

Here are your productivity tips for this month:

1.      Make it a goal – The philosopher Neville said “Don’t think OF your goals, think FROM your goals.” Are your goals your wish or someone else’s? If you can’t get excited about it, then it’s probably not something you should identify as a goal right now. Setting a goal has to do with actually seeing it…wanting it…tasting it.

2.      Make it a priority – there are a million things that can get in the way of getting to your priorities. Identify the types of thoughts that get you off track. The next time you need to work on a priority and you hear those thoughts say ‘thanks’, push that first thought aside and climb into that which is most important. It will feel a lot better.

3.      Make it an action – Planning is critical. But implementation is the objective. What actions can you take to execute on priorities in order to reach your goal? Take the action now and reap the rewards in the future.

Categories : Productivity Tips
Tags :

QuickBooks 2009 is here!

Posted by Teri Milligan on
 10/31/2008

Here are a few of the enhancements designed to make your work in QuickBooks easier, faster, and more accurate:

1.        There’s a new button up on the toolbar called “Company Snapshot”.  On one screen, you can see an income and expense graph, customer, vendor, and account balances, plus your reminders.  Pick either this or the “Home” page as your default view each time you open the program.

2.       The online banking feature has been simplified to make it easier and quicker to match or enter downloaded transactions.  Automated routines and naming logic help make sure that transactions are properly categorized.

3.       Multi-user enhancements include the ability of one user to run a report while another creates an invoice.  They have also enabled back-up in multi-user mode so users  won’t have to switch to single-user mode to back-up files.

Visit my website and click on the button, “Order QuickBooks” for a chart detailing all of the upgrades in QuickBooks 2009.

Categories : QuickBooks Tips
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Politics in the Workplace

Posted by Christopher Olmsted on
 10/30/2008

As Election Day approaches, politics inevitably seeps into the workplace. What if employees become disruptive, argumentative, annoying, or just plain unproductive on account of politics in the workplace? Does an employer have the right to limit political activities of employees in the workplace?

The answer is: “It depends.” In the private sector, in some jurisdictions, it is unlawful for employers to prevent employees from engaging in political activities or affiliations. But that does not mean employees are free to engage in any kind political activity on the clock, in the workplace.

In California, for example, Labor Code Section 1101 makes it unlawful for an employer to make, adopt, or enforce any rule, regulation, or policy: (a) Forbidding or preventing employees from engaging or participating in politics or from becoming candidates for public office. (b) Controlling or directing, or tending to control or direct the political activities or affiliations of employees.  Labor Code Section 1102 makes it unlawful to coerce or influence or attempt to coerce or influence his employees through or by means of threat of discharge or loss of employment to adopt or follow or refrain from adopting or following any particular course or line of political action or political activity. Read More→

Categories : Employment Law
Tags : ,

Your Self Esteem Advisor

Posted by Cynthia Kyriazis on
 10/15/2008

In my last issue, I shared information on the advisor we have who talks to us about others. Today I’m covering the one who talks to us about ourselves. It’s called the Self-Esteem advisor.

This is all about the type of advice you give yourself…about yourself. From some of the assessments I have conducted, sometimes this advice is not very kind. In fact, it can be quite unforgiving towards us. So I frequently ask, who’s in charge? You or your advisor?

To be consumed by self-criticism, fear, and doubt about yourself crates negative thoughts that prevent you from using your greatest talents and climbing to your highest peaks.

Did you know that 95% of the people in the western world strives to be ‘perfect’? It’s an unrealistic expectation that many people struggle to achieve. An equally high percentage of people feel their ideas are tied to their self worth which can cause us to try to impress others, pretend things are different than they really are, and experience shame because perhaps you failed at something. It advises you not to try again. For example, you hear ‘I knew I wouldn’t get that sale. I’m a loser.’

These types of feelings are based in fear. How would you feel if you were able to stop these thoughts and replace them with new, more self-encouraging ones? Read More→

Categories : 6 Advisors
Tags : ,

October is ‘Organize Your Files’ month.

Posted by Cynthia Kyriazis on
 10/01/2008

You know. Those 18,000 pieces of paper stuffed in that file cabinet in your office. Yup, that’s how many are in there. And it’s growing. The ‘paperless society’ has been discussed since the early 1970’s yet we now produce more paper today than ever before in the history of mankind.

Here are your productivity tips for this month:

1.      7 broad categories. Category names like Financials, HR, Clients, Suppliers, etc. No more than 7. You can have as many sub-categories as you want, but the original decision should be based on no more than 7 categories.

2.      Is it Financial or legal? If so, it lives under a different set of rules. Check with your CPA, attorney or insurance professional to learn more about retention schedules and before throwing anything out.

3.      Learn to let go. If the file does not have financial or legal ramifications or it doesn’t bring value, let it go. Throw it out. Shred it. Then save a tree by not printing everything you read on the internet. Less is more!

Categories : Productivity Tips

Keep Your Customers Coming Back

Posted by Linnea Blair on
 09/28/2008

Linnea Blair, Business Coach & ConsultantCustomer loyalty programs work big time for big companies but small business owners are often deterred from developing one because of worries about how much it would cost or how difficult it would be to organize and manage. As a matter of fact, the very same principles that keep customers coming back to big companies can be utilized to develop a small business scale loyalty program without a lot of cost and drama.

Make customers feel like ‘members’

Creating a ‘club’ that provides special incentives to members is one of the best ways to retain customers. This approach works because it is based on the primal human need to ‘belong’ to something – especially where belonging also makes us feel we are being treated as special.

Who gets to be a member? A customer loyalty program based on membership should convey a feeling of privilege for those selected so it can’t be open to all and sundry. Customers may qualify for membership either by purchasing their entrée or by dint of their past support and loyalty.

General Nutrition Centers, a specialty retailer of vitamins and supplements, offers a Gold Card membership program that provides discounts on products, personalized mailings and email on health related topics, product news and exclusive offers. GNC found that they could even use their program to actively iron out lows in their sales pattern by offering a special discount on sales made on Tuesday, traditionally their slowest sales day. Read More→

Categories : Customer Service Systems, Relationship Marketing
Tags : , ,

Your Online Strategy – A Reality Check

Posted by Bill McKinney on
 09/26/2008

“What’s your online strategy?” I recently asked a group of business owners this question, and heard everything from “I don’t think I really need a website for my business” to “I’m number one in Google for ‘widget installation’ and my Adwords ROI is over 200 percent” – quite a range of tactics, quite a difference in results. But these business owners all shared one thing in common – not one of them had a complete online strategy.

It’s a pretty good bet that you don’t have one either.

You may already get some good business results online. You may already use some smart online tactics. Congratulations for being ahead of the curve. But you can’t afford to be complacent. The competition is about to get a lot tougher, because every day more of your competitors are using the same online tactics you use.

Not only is your competition getting tougher, but the online environment continues to change. Every day more people use online search as their primary way to find a local business. Search engines like Google constantly adjust the way they rank sites in their search results. Endless new web-based applications are invented that could streamline your business operations. Business owners who stay on top of the changes are rewarded; those who don’t are punished. Which are you? Read More→

Categories : Business Strategy, Internet Marketing
Tags : , ,

Your Empathy-Intuition Advisor

Posted by Cynthia Kyriazis on
 09/24/2008

Empathy is the ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes. It’s about being able to see someone else’s world through your own eyes and identify with the other person’s emotions such as joy, pain, concern and frustration. This is generally based on a similar experience you have experienced in your own life.

Intuition is based on the observations of others you have stored in your subconscious over time. It works well with Empathy and can provide balanced advice about communicating with others– both at work and at home. When this Advisor is in balance, communications run smoothly. When it’s unbalanced, it can hurt or damage relationships.

Dr. Robert Harman was a social scientist who created the mathematical calculation that underlies 6 Advisors. He discovered that a person holds back a reserve of cooperation and productivity by an average of 40%. In other words, you can gain 40% more cooperation and 40% more productivity by actually listening to the person, rather than the chatter in your head.

If you are talking to a prospect, client, employee or family member, are you listening to your internal dialogue? Is it about you or are you hearing them? Are you open and accepting of their situation without judgment? Do you trust the accuracy of you intuition? Read More→

Categories : 6 Advisors, Personal Growth
Tags : , ,
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