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Category Archives: Entrepeneurship
Search Engine Optimization and Long Tail Keywords
Over the past year our company embarked upon an SEO experiment. We tested several techniques using numerous keyword phrases to determine how fast we could rise in the organic search engine results (the non advertisement results listed in a Google, Yahoo or Bing search). One of our primary target markets is insurance agencies, so we selected a dozen long-tail keyword phrases germane to this market. When we began this experiment, we were ranked very low, in some cases as low as page 10 on Google, in other cases we were simply unranked. Our goal was to rapidly reach page one on Google search results. Continue reading
Are the days of B2B cold calling/telemarketing over?
Telemarketing (or cold calling) can be very effective when properly approached and applied to a specific niche and B2B target profile. There are many newer methods of marketing B2B products and services, but highly targeted, niche cold calling can still prove effective for your B2B business. Ultimately, however, the days of cold calling will come to a close as eMarketing, Social Media Marketing, ePublishing and other web centric methods prove to be more effective and less expensive. But today, cold calling or outsourced B2B telemarketing can still be highly effective for certain niches and prospect profiles. Continue reading
When is the Last Time You Read the US Constitution – Take the July 4th Quick Quiz
When is the last time you (or your children) read the US Constitution, or for that matter, the Declaration of Independence? With our national birthday just around the corner, thinking about the Constitution seems particularly relevant. It’s great to go watch a parade, but you might find it truly worthwhile to take a little time and read our Constitution. Take the Constitutional quiz! Continue reading
Web Selling & Social Media Marketing Are Here to Stay: Your Virtual Success
Over the last seven years I’ve seen many millions of dollars exchange hands, rarely shaking someone’s hand in person. All prospecting, qualifying, presentation and closing has been done virtually with progressively more functional and extremely cost effective cloud computing tools. New innovations have been fast and furious, with social networking and social media marketing one of the most important, recent innovations. Continue reading
My Dog is a Marketing Genius
My dog Betsy is a West Highland white terrier, commonly known as Westie, and she is a marketing genius. Betsy is 14 years old and employs the best possible marketing techniques which we all can and should use. Betsy the Westie has clearly identified her target market. She has opted for a broad horizontal, cross demographic strategy, but after careful analysis has excluded infants and very young toddlers. Her target market is now 6 years and older. This was determined after multiple test campaigns with a variety of segments, identifying this younger group as never having food or treats. Further, Betsy found this group to have other issues, like stepping on her paws and tugging on her hair. Continue reading
If Someone Hands You a Scalpel, It Doesn’t Make You a Surgeon – You Should Think of Web Marketing in the Same Way
There are many powerful marketing tools now available, everything from eMarketing engines and Search Engine Optimization Tools to ePublishing and Web Seminar Software. Any of these tools can be very helpful to your business, but placed in the wrong hands, they can be extremely dangerous. Continue reading
Webinar Tomorrow: Blogging, Social Media and SEO for Lead Generation & Growth
A brief, complimentary web seminar on Blogging, Social Media and SEO – New Marketing Tools for Lead Generation & Growth is open to registrants. We will review the new rules which apply to marketing and why sooner is better when it comes to social media marketing. Topics include SEO, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, ePublishing, Blogging and social media marketing – live presentation of the Ezine dashboard and content centric approach to marketing. Continue reading
Office Buildings Are Obsolete and Offshore Drilling is the Result
These days, office buildings simply seem like an outdated concept, a horse drawn carriage in the age of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner jet, a stereo turntable in an iPod era. Of course towering skyscrapers and massive office buildings composed of brick and mortar, conference rooms and cubicles made sense at one time, but with the advent of pervasive internet connectivity and virtual meeting tools, these office buildings are rapidly becoming obsolete, resulting in unfortunate collateral damage like massive oil and gas consumption, unnecessary expense and wasted productivity. Office buildings, though seemingly innocuous, are one of the key catalysts causing us to use 350 million gallons of gas per day, and waste millions of hours of valuable time and productivity. My days are now comprised of a handful of Skype calls, several web meetings, eMarketing, SEO (search engine optimization), website makeovers, blogging and Social Media Marketing and Networking, all done in the internet cloud. Continue reading
Best Buy versus Amazon – and the Winner Is?
It all started in a seemingly unrelated manner; we needed to refinish our 23 year old living room floor. Time, children, parties, and our West Highland white terrier had taken their toll on the poor old floor; it was worn and tired, ready for rejuvenation. As with any project like this, there always seems to be unexpected collateral damage, though in this case, it was a surprising issue, revolving around a six year old Denon receiver that did not support the new HDI video connection necessary for Blu-ray DVD player, a recent birthday gift from my family. Continue reading
The Top of the Sales Funnel – Who Is Responsible?
The theory of an efficient sales funnel (or pipeline) is simple enough; pouring high quality leads into the top of the selling funnel will result in more closes flowing out the bottom of the funnel. Who is responsible to fill the top of the funnel, culling the suspects and finding prospects? Some companies call for that to be done by their salespeople, particularly small companies or bootstrapped companies. Many salespeople lament that filling the top of their funnel can be an arduous and challenging process. That’s why so many new salespeople fail; they are not savvy marketers and fail to fill up the top of their funnel with good quality suspects, then culling the suspects to identify high quality prospects. Insufficient qualified prospects at the top, invariably means inadequate results at the bottom. Continue reading
