Australian Small & Medium Business Marketing Blog

Stop The Excuses and Go Get Blogging

I suspect that the true reason why many small businesses dont blog is that are simply not used to doing it and therefore have some uncertainty about it.But the 2 biggest excuses I get from small business owners and managers is:

1.I don't have time
2. It might get out of control

Both are important aspects to consider but are reasonably easily overcome. Here's some simple thoughts to consider on each aspect:

1. As with anything else, if you don't have time, then delegate it. Nothing can be better for your SEO and Google ranking than to find a good writer who has expertise in your industry. Here's some places to look

ProBlogger, Performancing, or Craigslist.

And make sure you try a few people before you settle on the right person. You can normally find somebody reasonable for about $10-20 per post. Also consider paying staff or providing bonuses for posts that get published.

2. This is an easy one. Set your blog up so that everything is saved as draft until you have had time to review them and sign off on them.

So, its time to stop using excuses. The hardest part is often taking the next step.

Here's 2 possible next steps:

1. Do it yourself, or
2. Blogging is one aspect of the SEO work we do (and we also provide individual quotes to create blogs).

Digital Nomadding with Dell

  Digital Nomads is a new initiative just launched by Dell. They have created a site that is focused on people working in a digital, no set office, environment.

Of course, the site features the odd recommendation that a Dell laptop is essential for the small business owner who is on the move or has an interest in all things technology, its worth a look.

Small Business Marketing Coaches

Have you ever thought about using your skills to become a small business marketing coach?

I am pleased to announce the appointment of Distilled Marketing as the Australian/NZ Regional Manager for Duct Tape Marketing,

This new role includes co-ordination of Duct Tape coaches across Australia and NZ.

The Duct Tape Marketing approach received high praise from the likes of Harvard Business Review, Forbes Magazine, Entrepreneur Magazine, Dell, HP, Microsoft and Michael Gerber.

It has been described as the World's Most Practical Small Business Marketing Approach and is now emerging into Australia so the time is right to jump aboard.

More details on the idea of becoming a Duct Tape Authorised Coach.

Steven MR Covey and Free Coaching Excellence Series

Business owners and managers, you know how tough it is keeping up to speed in this modern world of rapid change.

Which is exactly why the Global Duct Tape Marketing Coaches Network brings to you each month a recognised expert that you can learn from without having to leave your office - and for free.

In fact, because of the fact that they're on at like 3am AEST, you might just want to wait until the audio is available and then download it and listen to it in your car or when you have a spare moment - or if you're an insomniac, by all means, get it live.

Past sessions that I highly recommend include Michael Gerber, John Batellle, and Tim Ferriss. And if you have an interest Stress Free Productivity - and you should have - David Allen is a MUST.

The August session will feature Steven M R Covey talking about leadership, authenticity and his new book Speed of Trust.

More on the Duct Tape Coaching Excellence Series.

More on Duct Tape Marketing and how we help small business get all the clients they can handle.

Twitter for Business - Free Beginners Guide

This is not the definitive guide to all things twitter, bit its a nice, simple, practical road map to show you how to start using Twitter to reach some of your business and marketing objectives.

Beginners Guide to Twitter for Business

Brought to you courtesy of Duct Tape Marketing.

The 10 Commandments of Small Business Marketing

Here's 10 small business marketing commandments that I like from my Duct Tape Marketing colleague in Atlanta, Scott Campbell:

I. Marketing is defined as getting someone who has a need to
   know, like and trust you…in that order. You can’t
   circumvent the process.

II. There is no mystery in marketing. The more people you
   communicate with and appeal to in a compelling way, the more
   business you’ll generate.

III. Unless you operate a monopoly, it generally takes 6 to 9
   contacts with a prospect before they’re ready to buy.

IV. Marketing never "ends" until you sell or close the business.
   effective marketing is like continuously building a house.
   Planning is the foundation and marketing activities are the
   bricks. Marketing contacts are never wasted…they’re
   small investments in a foundation that will eventually lead to
   business.

V. The most important aspect of effective marketing by far is
   follow-through. If you’re doing something, then half of
   the battle is won.

VI. You should be investing at least 5% of your ongoing revenues
   back into the business through marketing. It takes money to make
   money.

VII. If the business you’re generating is only as good as
   your last advertising dollar, then you’re not branding
   (differentiating) yourself. Effective branding is essential to
   taking your business to the next level.

VIII. Marketing today is an integral part of a small business.
   If you’re not devoting time and/or resources to it
   continually, then you’re at the mercy of the cycles and
   pitfalls of the marketplace.

IX. Due to its creative and reflective nature, marketing can and
   should be fun.

X. Marketing is not sales. Sales can have more immediate
   results. Marketing generally has a longer return on investment
   but because you’re communicating with the masses, has a
   much broader impact.

For more on Scott's work as one of Atlanta's top marketing coaches.

The Importance of Blogging

Don't take my word for the business benefits of blogging.

Listen to what the horses mouth (Google) has to say about it.

Beware of Triangular Linking

Reciprocal linking is the practice of exchanging links (coy A links to coy B and visa versa)

The more sophisticated version of this is triangular linking. At its simplest, this is the situation where coy A links to coy B which links to coy C.

Some consultants use it with their clients on a much larger scale and it can have significant benefits  - until, that is, Google or one of the other search engines discovers it and penalises you. Don't take my word for it, read what Google has to say.

What if you're already involved in this type of arrangement?

Well. you need to make a judgement call. One option is to pull out now and take a hit on your ranking. Another option is to devote time to building your natural links and then reduce or eliminate the artificial links.

The golden rule to keep in mind is "Is the action I'm taking motivated by a reason beyond just the SEO benefits". If the answer is 'no', don't do it. With artificial triangular linking, the answer is NO!

Small Business SEO Strategy - Keeping It Simple

Many small and midsized business owners are too busy to keep up to speed with the goings on in Search Engine Ooptimisation. But you should at least understand the basics.

There is more details in each of these but the secret to developing a high ranking for you website can be boiled down to 3 simple things:

1. Develop a website that is easy for search engines to find and crawl

2. Identify the search words (also called keywords) that prospects use in search engines to find your type of goods and services and then build those keywords into the website - both into the visible text of the site but also certain aspects of the non visible  HTML code.

3. Get important websites similar in topic to your own to link to you so that search engines get to understand how important you website is.

In summary, it boils down to Website, Keywords and  Inbound Links.

When you get all these right, you will find yourself zooming up the rankings.

SEO - Keeping Up to Speed

The increasing rate of change in Search Engine Optimisation makes it difficult for the average SME to keep up to speed.

One solution is to keep reading the posts on this blog.

But if you want to go to a deeper level, you can't go past Planet Ocean's Search Engine News. They provide a monthly update on what's happening, along with their book (The Unfair Advantage) which is updated monthly. All for USD24/month. For anybody whose business relies on search engine marketing, this is the best value for money on the planet (no pun intended).