Are you afraid of wasting money on Internet marketing/online advertising? The idea of paying per click for visitors who may not buy could be frightening to you. A lot of website owners believe that Internet marketing campaigns will bleed a lot of money before they become worthwhile. You don’t have to fail miserably to figure out how to succeed. You can learn from the experts who’ve made mistakes and developed winning formulas for internet marketing. Even if you’ve only got a small marketing budget, it could make a big difference. Here are some low cost / big impact tips from a business consultant who helps small to medium-sized UK businesses. Create and Optimize a Website Do you have a website? What is it currently doing for you? A website should be more than an online brochure. It should be a beacon that attracts traffic. But it shouldn’t end there. Once the traffic arrives on your website, you need to convert – Read the full article
Christmas is fast approaching. It’s time to start making those wish lists. Sure, family and friends will have their usual go at giving and receiving, but small business owners, Internet marketers, technology professionals, and entrepreneurs are entitled to have their own holiday fun, too. So, in lieu of technology and Internet marketing coming together in the most wonderful time of the year, Lakeshore Branding presents its Holiday Gift Guide 2010 – Small Business edition. An Android mobile device: If you’re tired of hearing how awesome the iPhone is, but still want to experience what it’s like to be part of the ongoing smartphone revolution, then an Android-powered mobile device is an equally viable alternative. The Android app marketplace has over 100,000 apps, so you’re not really going to miss out on a lot should you decide to shun Apple. Android phones, moreover, are available on most major U.S. carriers. Check out our top picks: HTC Droid Incredible: Launched last spring, – Read the full article
A number of the world’s biggest businesses and brands are using Twitter. Chances are, they’re also using Facebook. And their employees are using LinkedIn, to connect with other professionals. How do you, as a small business owner, set yourself apart from the competition? Obviously you’ll have to be more creative with leveraging social media, and with finding alternative platforms where you can engage with customers. You’ll have to seize overlooked opportunities for marketing, or create these opportunities where none exist. Start by knowing there are other social networking tools in town. Like Flickr, for example. Okay, so we can almost hear you say it. Flickr? Really? How do you use that for marketing? Um, isn’t Flickr a picture community for hobbyists and photographers and artists? Just like Vimeo is a video community? And doesn’t Flickr explicitly say that you can’t use the site for commercial purposes? All of the questions above have a point, but that doesn’t mean you can’t – Read the full article
We’re sure you’ve heard of The Social Network, this new movie about the founders of Facebook. It opened earlier this month and so far, from what we’ve been hearing, it sounds like this 120-minute thriller-docudrama-comedy will be making plenty of noise at next year’s Oscars. You should see The Social Network if you haven’t done so yet. Not only is it a thrilling closer look at what went on behind the creation of today’s biggest social networking site; it’s also a really, really good movie. You don’t even have to be a Facebook fan to enjoy it. Directed by David Fincher (Seven, Fight Club), written by Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing, A Few Good Men), and starring Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Brenda Song, Rooney Mara, and huge pop musician Justin Timberlake, The Social Network – as Rolling Stone describes it – “brilliantly defines the decade”. Of course, if you’re a startup, small business owner, or marketer, you also might want – Read the full article
In its effort to bring together today’s most dynamic business leaders and entrepreneurs, Business Network Chicago (BNC) is holding a panel discussion on Wednesday morning to help business owners and professionals establish themselves and foster successful relationships in the city’s business community. Entitled “Panel Discussion on What does it take to run a small business”, the event will be held on February 10 at the Wells Fargo Advisors, Adams and Canal, 3F South Riverside Plaza in Chicago. The agenda is to share resources, best practices, and experiences crucial in supporting BNC’s members – startups, small business owners, and solo entrepreneurs, among others – and helping them lead a successful company. The discussion will feature four panelists: Pattie Cagney Sheehan, marketing and advertising professional and cancer recovery advocate; Donald Strzepek, owner of leading Chicago jeweler The Tucker Company; Priscilla Taylor, owner of a Maui Wowi Hawaiian Coffees & Smoothies franchise; and Lakeshore Branding’s very own Chris Campbell, visionary entrepreneur and SEO – Read the full article
We all know that in this modern world, online marketing is growing at a rapid rate. We are the information generation and have it all at our fingertips. This has been further advanced by having smartphones at our disposal, all day every day. Hence, the growth of mobile marketing has been very evident over the past few years and there is every indication that it will continue to grow. On the Rise This year, mobile marketing spending is expected to increase by over 75% with mobile ad spending reaching over $1.1 billion; it is expected to reach $2.3 billion in 2013: a staggering amount to say the least, and a clear indication that the trend is only just beginning. There are more than 370,000,000 iOS and Android devices floating around out there with over a million activated every day. And to top this off a study has shown that by 2013, 80% of major U.S. brands will be using mobile – Read the full article
Small businesses have a daunting task as they compete with larger companies that boast more resources and staff. How can a small business compete for a share of the search engine market with so much stacked against them? Here are some tips on creating an SEO strategy for your small business: Learn from the Competition Promodo’s SEO specialist Anna Moseva suggests starting your small business SEO strategy with a thorough analysis of the competition. You’re probably familiar with piecing together keywords on Google in order to figure out what people are searching for and what’s already out there by way of content, but Moseva advises that you take the top 20 results in Google and analyze their Alexa Rank with the SEO Quake plugin for Firefox. Once you know the top sites among your competition, you can analyze the kind of traffic they generate and which keywords and adwords are linked to their sites at SEM Rush. This technique will – Read the full article
We talk to small businesses and startups all the time that are looking for affordable solutions to build a really sweet, easy to use website. In this post we have compiled 81 high-quality and premium business WordPress themes. We have spent countless hours searching for stunning, user friendly, business oriented WordPress themes. If you think this post is awesome make sure you save it on Delicious you can Digg it or let your followers know on Twitter. If you have a favorite theme that we missed please be sure to let us know and leave a comment below, Enjoy! Vision WordPress Theme $35.00 | Demo | Buy Chalong WordPress Theme $35.00 | Demo | Buy WP Pro Real Estate 2 WordPress Theme $35.00 | Demo | Buy WP Sharp WordPress Theme $35.00 | Demo | Buy Collection WordPress Theme $30.00 | Demo | Buy Luxuos WordPress Theme $35.00 | Demo | Buy Creator WordPress Theme $45.00 | Demo | – Read the full article
