January 2015

On the Go SEO – Apps to Help You On the Road

January 20th, 2015|

It doesn’t matter if you’re a small business owner or work for a huge corporation, there is a good chance that you will be working on the road at some point. Just because you have to travel doesn’t mean that your content marketing schedule should suffer. Apps make everything in life simple. Seriously, there is an app for anything you could want, and that includes on-the-go search engine optimization and content writing tools. So, pull out your tablet or […]

How to Choose Shopping Cart Software for an Online Business

January 6th, 2015|

With more consumers turning to the web to convenience shop and compare prices, it’s easier than ever for a brick & mortar business owner, startup or entrepreneur to make money of the ecommerce revolution.  The first step is securing the right hosting provider.  Next is getting your website online, complete with an integrated shopping cart.

While some folks use sites like Etsy and Artfire to sell products direct to the consumer, opening a webstore with proper shopping cart software on […]

December 2014

Say Cheese! Easy Steps to Add Optimized Images to Your Content

December 29th, 2014|

It takes more than just well written pages and optimized content to make a well-rounded website. You’ve finally gotten your business blog up and running and you’ve even optimized all your content for SEO. But, as always, there is something more you can do.

Think back to when you were a kid and actually enjoyed sitting down with a book. More than likely, it was one with rich and colorful pictures. Images are an important part to content and assist […]

Create Marketing Emails Your Customers Actually Want to Read

December 15th, 2014|

Most business owners have been here:  how to figure out how to engage customers, sell more products, or just keep their brand at the front of a customer’s mind.  It’s not uncommon for businesses to default to email marketing via promotions or a newsletter – or some mix of both.

While newsletters and email marketing are one of the most common forms of engagement, it’s extremely difficult to do them right.  The difficult comes in because email newsletters feature a […]

Ecommerce Trends for 2014

December 9th, 2014|

If you’re a small business owner heading into 2014, congrats on surviving the onslaught of holiday shopping season and resulting returns and exchanges that follow.  Unfortunately, this isn’t time for snoozing and putting your feet up now that the chaos is over.  You need to refine your ecommerce strategy for 2014, because the landscape is continuing to change with emerging technologies.  Success throughout 2014 and beyond depends entirely on your ability to adapt.

Here are some ecommerce tips and trends […]

Upgrade Hosting and Build a Better Website in 2014

December 4th, 2014|

Being a small business owner with a website presence can be hard work.  You’ve got to moderate community response, create content, update existing content, monitor analytics and performance, and follow up on errors that are reported… the list goes on.  With a little design overhaul this year and an upgrade to a better hosting provider you can make your website more responsive, more user friendly and more visually appealing.  Here are a few tips to build a better website […]

November 2013

Create Marketing Emails Your Customers Actually Want to Read

November 13th, 2013|

Most business owners have been here:  how to figure out how to engage customers, sell more products, or just keep their brand at the front of a customer’s mind.  It’s not uncommon for businesses to default to email marketing via promotions or a newsletter – or some mix of both.
While newsletters and email marketing are one of the most common forms of engagement, it’s extremely difficult to do them right.  The difficult comes in because email newsletters feature a […]

Google Hates Mobile Websites – Make the Switch to Responsive Website Design

November 6th, 2013|

There’s been discussion around the growing popularity of responsive website designs replacing mobile sites, and how responsive designs affect SEO efforts.

Businesses have been under the gun to focus on developing mobile websites for their business – separate sites that are designed to display better on a mobile device than a computer.

The downside is that these mobile sites are a completely different version of your website, so that means every update you make has to be done again on the […]

October 2013

Business Blogging Tips – How to Make Your Blog More Personal

October 4th, 2013|

When it comes down to doing business with customers, there’s really no replacement for in-person interaction.  That’s now how we do business now though.  We talk to customers around the world through digital channels without ever hearing their voice or seeing their voice.

Still, having that personal connection is one of the key things that can drive conversions in business and create long-time customers.

You have to reach for that personal touch through all of your marketing, especially your blog.  So […]

Pour Awesome Sauce on Your Email Marketing To Drive Sales and Conversions

October 1st, 2013|

Every time you email a cold contact list, pretend a kitten dies.

That might be a bit extreme but email marketing is a serious business.  If you’ve ever hesitated before sending an email out to a group of contacts – wondering how it would be received – then there’s a good chance you could have done something a lot better.

And I’m not talking about typos, glaring mistakes and orange boxes.

Before you send your next message on its merry way, here […]