Get Me In Google's Internet Marketing Blog

No Pain, No Gain - Let Problems and Pain Guide Your Marketing

Jason Rudland — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 07:15:00 GMT

Problems and pain are a wonderful thing in the world of marketing. There is nothing quite as effective as pain to focus the mind , and nothing so motivational as a problem to unite the workforce. I love problems and pain, it feeds my marketing, and, if you know how, it can guide yours too.

I wonder who it was who first coined the phrase 'no pain, no gain.' Probably Charles Atlas or other such picture of muscular achievement. What they meant, of course, was if you want to reach your physical goal, you will have to go through a rigorous and sometimes painful exercise regime. As with exercise, in marketing without the pain there can be no gain.

Identity the pain

It is astonishing how focused people can be when they are in pain. Although I'm probably not talking about physical pain here. I'm talking about business pain. Maybe the pain of losing clients, or the pain of unhappy clients. One of the first things we do as marketers is to create marketing personas of our typical clients. The personas will have specific pain-points, and for your marketing to be successful, it is crucial you identify your clients' pain points.

Solve the problems

If you make a list of the pain your potential clients' have, at the root of the pain will be the problem. Letting people know how you solve those problems is the beginning of a successful marketing campaign.

Without your potential clients' pain you can have no gain!

How To Turn Your Website into a Sales Funnel?

Jason Rudland — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 08:21:00 GMT

The Internet is awash with brochure websites, but, especially now, no business can afford to fund an insanely expensive electronic business card. It's time to put your website to work and turn it into a sales funnel.

What is a Brochure Website?

Typically, a brochure website is one with maybe 6, 10 or even 20 pages which are mostly static. The pages will talk about products, service and the accomplishments of the business. Don't forget the 'links' page - surely the strangest concept of the brochure website. Why on earth would someone be interested in a bunch of other random companies I know?

Okay, so I'm being a little cruel about brochure websites. They had a role. It was to be the businesses presence on the Internet ten or twenty years ago, when 'being there' was all that was required. The serious identifier of a brochure website is one that makes you no money.

What is a Sales Funnel Website?

You can identify a successful sales funnel website by counting the money you have made from it. It's as simple as that. There are, of course, other features which tell you the website is a sales funnel.

Remarkable Content

You will notice remarkable content - that is, content which is about how to solve the potential clients' problems. It not all about me, me, me, and how wonderful the business is and what great products & services they have.

Compelling Offers

A sales funnel website will contain a range of compelling offers. Compelling in that it addresses a pain-point experienced by the potential clients. There will also be a range of offers - top, middle and bottom of sales funnel. i.e. appealing to people at different stages of the buying cycle.

Today it just is not enough to have a website. If you can't count the money you have made from it, it's time to give it a kick up the backside and put your website to work for you.

How to Ruin Your Website Lead Generation with Business-speak

Jason Rudland — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 07:15:00 GMT

There's a phenomenon I notice maybe once or twice a week, and it always give me a smile. Now, I am the son, and the son-in-law of GPO-trained telephone exchange operators. Before the days of British Telecom and fibre-optics there were telephone exchanges filled with row upon row of female telephone operators patching through calls by plugging in cables into a matrix of sockets - just like you see in old movies. In those days the GPO (General Post Office) ran the phone system, and drummed it into the phone girls they were to speak in clipped standard phrases, using the Queen's English - they all had a telephone voice.

You could be forgiven for thinking the days of the 'telephone voice' were over, but you would be wrong. Not only has it lasted in the ex-telephone operators, but it has morphed and found a new home as business-speak and is thriving.

Give Business-speak some down-time

Have you ever had a normal business conversation with someone when they have switched into business-speak? You will know when they do, as they seem to detach from any type of personality and start spewing pseudo-legal-gobledegook. You know the type of thing: 'helicopter views' and '101% commitment to successful customer transactional interactions.'

(why, oh why, aren't people satisfied with 100% anymore - it means full, everything, completely. If my glass is 101% full I have a puddle on the floor)

This type of business-speak often finds it's way into the website copy. People rarely read a whole web page, and honestly who can blame them when it filled with incomprehensible rubbish. It's bad enough when a website talks only about the company and how wonderful it is, but it's even worse when translating it into plain English gives you a headache.

Be Happy & Put on a Human Face

Business people are still human beings, even when they are at work. They still react emotionally, and make emotional decisions. When preparing your website copy, write as you speak to a friend. Use as few words as possible. Leave 'that', 'indeed', and 'notwithstanding' in the dictionary.

In your website copy, talk in plain English about how you solve your clients problems. Don't talk about your business and how great it is.

5 LinkedIn Lead Generation Ideas

Jason Rudland — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 07:57:00 GMT

If you're in a B2B business, then LinkedIn is a powerful tool for you to establish connections and start creating relationships with your target market. Here are 5 lead generation ideas you can use with LinkedIn.

Check out those who have checked you

LinkedIn will tell you who has viewed your profile; monitor this at least weekly. If someone has viewed your profile on LinkedIn the chances are they are interested in you in some way. If you research the list of people who checked you out regularly you will be able to identify those who are a good fit for your business. It's time to send them a message or inMail.

Create a hit-list with LinkedIn Search

LinkedIn's advanced search features are truly phenomenal. You can filter the entire LinkedIn community by industry, company size, seniority level, geographic location and much more. Once you have a hit-list of those who match your idea client profile, research them and make contact.

Show off (with modesty) with LinkedIn Answers

LinkedIn Answers is a forum where anyone can ask for help with issues they are facing in their professional lives or business. Somewhere, someone is asking a question you can answer right now. Find the question and answer it. Show off the depth and breadth of your knowledge & experience. Remember to not to be critical or condescending, though.

Cut the Twitter Apron Strings

LinkedIn, like Twitter uses the concept of updates - a short sentence letting people know what you are doing or thinking. Most people simply hook this up to their Twitter feed. Problem is, Twitter & LinkedIn are vastly different audiences. If you break the connection and update LInkedIn with more professional updates - like recent accomplishments, or professional tips - you will stand out of the update crowd.

Social Proof is Key

It's vital to reassure your prospects that you are who you say, and you can do what you claim to do - Social proof is key. Asking and giving recommendations on LinkedIn is a great way of achieving social proof. Ask your existing clients, business partners and even your suppliers.

Facebook is no good for B2B, eh? Try LinkedIn for Facebook

Jason Rudland — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 08:52:00 GMT

Using Facebook for business has always been a challenge in the B2B space. Not necessarily because its difficult, but because people just don't get how to use Facebook for a B2B business. There is no doubt B2C has always been a more natural fit. However, its all about to change - enter 'LinkedIn' for Facebook.

Actually it's not LinkedIn at all, it's a LinkedIn competitor called BranchOut. Effectively it provides LinkedIn-style functionality on the Facebook platform, and it's growing at a phenomenal rate.

The hidden business community on Facebook

There has always been a myth that Facebook is not for business. Facebook is very close now to reaching saturation point for every working adult in the UK, and of course many of these people are business owners, or make buying decisions for businesses. The people have always been there, but they have not necessarily been wearing their business hat. But that's okay, people are still people even when they are at work. The key to reaching them is to connect socially and get to know them. Eventually, they will check you out professionally too. It is harder, but it works.

BranchOut on Facebook

BranchOut is a Facebook app which adds some key LinkedIn style functionality to Facebook. BrankchOut's tag-line is 'Career Networking on Facebook', and that's pretty much what you get. It's the essential items of LinkedIn. It allows you to connect to other Facebookers in a business mindset, it shows degrees of separation, it allows endorsements.

In short it allows you to be a professional on Facebook. I recommend you check it out. Feel free to connect to me!

What To Do If Your Clients Don't Use The Internet

Jason Rudland — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 07:15:00 GMT

Oddly this is a question I seem to be hearing more now, than I did a few years ago. Odd, because the Internet is that much closer now to saturation point where everyone is connected. But I'm still asked what to do when your clients aren't on the Internet/email/social media.

What it means to be offline

Today, more than ever, it's actually quite difficult to function without being connected. When most people say their clients are not on the Internet, they really mean they don't think their clients use a computer to transact their purchases. But, even those people who fight against technology find it difficult to get on without using the Internet. Suppose you have a technophobe who wants to make a purchase. He sees an advert on TV which may be a fit for him - but the advert only gives a Facebook URL, and no phone number. Maybe he wants to compare prices, so he telephones a list of suppliers (assuming he can easily get a list without the Internet.) Sales departments frequently refer clients to their websites.

People today are almost forced to go online to make a properly researched purchase.

Suppose our potential purchaser does not have a computer. Does he have a mobile phone or an iPad? Were getting down to tiny numbers of people who don't have any of these devices.

The Field of Dreams

I would bet the writer of Field of Dreams had no idea how overused his phrase If you build it, they will come would become. But, here we go again - if you are a supplier of a particular product or service, and you publish information and resources via the Internet formatted for desktop & mobile devices, your clients will damn well get connected. If you build it, your clients will find it.

It's a very, very rare person who will refuse to go online in any form despite the solutions to their problems being there. This type of person is soon to be extinct. Your clients may not use Social Media and Desktop computers and iPads and mobile phones and eMail, but they are bound to use at least one of them.

"I'm Gonna Come 'Round Yer House & Get Yer, Sonny!"

Jason Rudland — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:09:00 GMT

Everyone knows spam is bad. No one likes receiving it, but yesterday I received a death threat from someone who thought I'd spammed him. This was a first for me, and it made me think about how important is it for business to firstly be able to know what is, and is not spam, and secondly, how to deal with spam if you get some.

I was sitting at my desk as usual, and the phone rang. I answered and without the usual pleasantries my mystery caller made his first announcement.

"Spam is illegal in the UK." He said.

"Erm, yes. It is." I replied.

"I know where you live." He then reeled off my address, and told me he'd been on the Companies House website and had got the director's (my) home addresses.

"What's your email address, I'll make sure..." I said.

"Oh no, you 'aint getting any information from me. If you email me again, sonny, me & my mates will come round your house and get yer."

Clever, I thought. He's is trying to hold my email list hostage. I can't remove him because I can't identify him, and if I email again, he will presumably put his plan to get me into action.

He then started to repeat his threat, and I started to laugh, which made him really, really angry. I hung up.

How to recognise spam

My potential assassin had made some seriously wrong assumptions. First of all, I had not emailed my list yesterday. The email he was describing was not from me. He has assumed because it contained my name & email address, I'd sent it. Spammers today are a little more sophisticated than putting their own name & address on the emails for the cops to find them. It's the easiest thing in the world to fake the sender's details.

Genuine emails will contain the sender's name, postal address and an unsubscribe link. None of which he found on the offending email. He had resorted to working out my website address from the fake sender's email address, scouring my website to get my phone number, and using Companies House to get my home address.

The rule of thumb is if it's genuine spam, you will not abe able to trace it - not even the cops find that easy.

What to do if you get spam

It's more important what you don't do: my potential assassin has committed a really serious crime by making a death threat against me. I registered it with the police, just in case he spray-painted the outside of my house at a later date. They were actually much more interested than I thought they would be. Because I know he was on my website, I pulled the logs at their request and they are going to trace him. Even his dynamic IP won't protect him. His irate phone call could end up in a jail sentence.

If you get spam, mark it as spam. Your spam filter will deal with it from that point on. If you get an email which you don't want just click on unsubscribe.

Finally, and most importantly, never forget the Internet is never, ever anonymous.

How to Double Your Small Business by Thinking Differently

Jason Rudland — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 08:53:00 GMT

When I started Get Me In Google! I had a self-limiting belief, which could have cost me half my business. Like a good Inbound marketer I started by writing out a personas for each of my typical target clients. One thing they all had in common was their location – they all existed in the UK. Although I didn't specify (back then) I had the picture in my mind they were all in England, and probably in or around London. Today, half of my business comes from outside the UK. It stands to reason if I can double my business by being a global small business, so can you.

Get Your Internet Marketing Working

Okay, so I'm in the Internet marketing game, so it's easy for me to say this. However, its astonishing how many businesses don't take their Internet marketing seriously. They tinker around the edges maybe automating their social media, or they do a little PPC and they may even hire an SEO firm to 'get optimised.'

Tinkering really doesn't cut it today (if it ever did); if you want your website to be a provider of a stream (or torrent) of high quality leads you must adopt Inbound marketing and make your website a profusion of knowledge, tools, resources, advice and remarkable content. Think of it as one of those market stools where the fruit & veg are beautifully manicured and neatly ordered into rows, and so plentiful it spills onto the street in an explosion of colour and fruit & veggieness magic.

Set Up For Global Domination!

Operating a global small business is pretty easy, but there are some prerequisites which are essential to make it a reality:

Get used to online meetings. I hear lots of business owners saying how their service is a personal one and a personal relationship is essential. But, is that not true of every business? You don't actually have to meet people to develop a great relationship. Use video conferencing and online meeting software like Skype & GoToMeeting. You'll probably save a fortune in petrol too.
Put your finance operations in the cloud. Most accounting packages now have the option to eMail invoices & statement. Accounting packages like Kashflow even have plugins which can automate the credit control process. You will also need to get used to people paying you via direct bank transfer or PayPal.
Use Google's non-search functionality. When I get down to the nitty-gritty of money, I always have Google open so I can convert my prices into the local currency. For example if I need to quickly convert £1,000 into US Dollars, I simply type '1000gbp into usd' and click search. I also make frequent use of Google's 'time now' function. If you need to know if it's a good time to call someone in Las Vegas, simply type 'time now las vegas' and click search.

Remove yourself from a dreary economy

There is lots going on in the UK & EU economies right now, and many people are struggling. One great tactic you could use is to focus your efforts on another country where the economy is doing better. I have found businesses in certain other countries to be able to afford more, and more switched on to what I sell.

Develop your product or service

Not every product or service is a natural fit at first glance. For example, if your business model involves visiting the client regularly, you may need to develop a slightly different model so you can deliver it remotely. Don't just dismiss it out-of-hand. It could be a very expensive decision!

How To Use LinkedIn To Build Your Reputation

Jason Rudland — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 07:15:00 GMT

Most business people these days recognise LinkedIn as a powerful lead generation tool. Even those who shun 'social media' are rarely talking about LinkedIn. It's professional atmosphere, maybe, provides a comforting and familiar environment in which even the most traditional of business owners can thrive.

As in real life, your virtual online life as a business person will rise or fall based on your reputation. Social proof is a massive motivator for buyers to chose one supplier over another. As humans we like to be like sheep in this respect - we just love to do what we see everyone else doing. So, how can you project your reputation online?

The ol' boys network

I invented LinkedIn in the early nineties. Or at least, that's what my mum will tell you if you ask her. As a young man in business back then, I was frustrated at being frozen out by what I saw as the ol' boys network. People would buy from the people they knew, even though what I was offering was better and cheaper. (Okay, not that much cheaper!) My response was to build a new boys network online. To cut a long story short, it was a great idea, but ultimately I didn't know enough about how to get financing for such a venture back then. It closed pretty quickly, and a few years later I became aware of LinkedIn.

As with the ol' boys network and my ripped off idea, LinkedIn - the key is the connections you have. Before you can build an online reputation, or transfer your real-life reputation online, you have to build your network. So here are some quick tips:

Make sure your LinkedIn profile is 100% complete
Invite your email contact list to connect (your business email contacts, not your companies mailing list)
Invite everyone you meet, speak to or interact with on a professional level

Social Proof is Key

Once you have your connections in place it's time to ask for some recommendations - these are the social proof to those inside and outside your network that you are a good person to work with.

Don't invite just everyone to give you a LinkedIn recommendation, but just those who you've interacted with and can vouch for you in some way. Maybe you presented a seminar - the attendees could write a review for you. If the seminar was free I'm sure they'd be delighted.

All in all, LinkedIn have done a pretty good job with my idea. I give them my blessing. But it's up to you to put your best foot forward on LinkedIn. One of the most effective and powerful ways is to use social proof and get lots of LinkedIn recommendations.

Three Social Media Blog Posts You Should Read

Jason Rudland — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 07:15:00 GMT

Today's the day for my big social media webinar How To Become a Social Media Superstar! (it's free, starts at 2PM, and there is still time to register.) So, keeping with the theme, and to celebrate some great social media blog posts from across the 'net, here are three great posts which taught me something, or made me think.

Social Media Tools & Tech – 15 Tips to Not Lose Your Mind!

As you work to kickoff your social program, more deeply integrate social media into your business or wherever you may be in regard to social media adoption, don’t lose sight of the art of social media. Social media is more than tools. The tech is the easy part. Figuring out how to inspire, educate and engage your audience after the Facebook like or follow is of most importance.

LinkedIn 277% More Effective for Lead Generation Than Facebook & Twitter

Social media can be a huge contributor to a company's lead generation efforts in both B2B and B2C. But how efficient are the various different social channels in directly driving leads? In a recent study of over 5,000 businesses, HubSpot found that traffic from LinkedIn generated the highest visitor-to-lead conversion rate at 2.74%, almost 3 times higher (277%) than both Twitter (.69%) and Facebook (.77%).

Social Media Cheat Sheet For Small Businesses [Infographic]

Column Five have put in the work so you don’t have to – they’ve put together a Social Media Cheat Sheet for small businesses that covers the ins and outs of the social media ecosystem and can help you navigate the major social media sites on the web.

There you have it, three social media posts you should give a read. If you've not had your fill of social media, then you can always attend my webinar, or register anyway to watch the recording if you've already missed it.

Don't Market Your Business Like Tim-nice-but-dim's Evil Twin

Jason Rudland — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 07:15:00 GMT

Last week I was working happily at my desk when the phone rang. I broke off from what I was doing and the conversation went something like this:

"Hello, Jason Rudland Speaking." I said.

"Yah, can I speak to Jason Rudland?" The caller said in an oddly aggressive Tim-nice-but-dim voice.

"Speaking."

"I've got some information on investments that are growing very fast." blah, blah, blah. "Fine wine." Blah, blah, blah. "Bloody massive returns." Blah, blah, blah. "If I send this to you, will you read it?"

"What?"

"Will you read it?" He said with irritation.

"I don't understand what you are offering me?"

"It's an investment."

Now I could have a little fun. Having worked at a stock broking firm for many years, I am very aware of compliance regulations for investments. This guy should not be cold calling me offering an investment. I'm not sure, but I suspect that includes fine wine.

"An investment." I said. "Are you regulated by the FSA?"

"We don't need to be regulated by the FSA, we are regulated by" blah, blah, blah. "If I send you the information are you going to read it?" In a thinly-veiled-anger tone now.

"No. I am not at all interested in any investments." I'd switched off the alarm-bells ringing in my head, as they were not telling me anything I didn't already know.

"Why?" His tone switched from anger to dumbfounded-at-my-stupidity.

"Because I recently saw a TV program which exposed fine wine investments as a scam." I said.

"Well, all industries have the good and the bad. All I want to know is..."

"It's not your fault." I interrupted, "I don't know enough about wine to know if it's a scam or not. Therefore I cannot invest."

Click. He was already dialing the next punter.

Now, I'm not much of a gambler, but I'd bet this was a scam. However, it did make me think how terrible it would be if they were a genuine business. Tim's evil brother with his quasi-posh accent, oozing arrogance, could just be making the wrong impression. His pushy attitude could simply be ignorance.

They could have handled it so differently. Not set off any alarms. They could have been my trusted investment advisor.

Presumably he thought I had tens-of-thousands of pounds to invest (which I understand these fine-wine scams require). Maybe I should be flattered I was on his radar? However, if I really was in the market for an investment, I would be Googling to research where to put my money. I would certainly have been curious about an eBook called "How to build a successful fine wine investment portfolio." I would have downloaded it and read it. No need for "If I take the time and effort to send you some information, will you read it? Will you? Will you?"

If the eBook made sense and the investment was a fit for my attitude to risk, I'd not mind if I got some more emails from them. In fact, I may look forward to them. Suppose those follow up emails taught me more about how to spot a good investment wine, or maybe invited me to a fine wine investment webinar. Sure, I'd be up for it.

Eventually I'd be calling them with my cheque book in hand. As long as I didn't encounter Tim's evil brother (there no place in sales for arrogance and pushiness in my opinion.) Instead, if I got to talk to a trusted advisor, who was simply there to help me achieve my investment goals, I'd now be the proud owner of some wine I could not drink!

The moral of the story: People buy on the advice of trusted advisors. Inbound marketing allows you to become that trusted advisor.

Creating The Best Blog Titles

Jason Rudland — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 07:30:00 GMT

Creating the best blog titles for a given post is as much a science as it is an art. While having a flair for turning a phrase is indeed a great way to attract attention to almost any written works, there are a few specific tips and tricks to bear in mind as you optimise your blog titles in order to appeal to search engines as much as your human readership.

Firstly, make sure that you decide on not only the best and most frequently searched keywords, but also keywords with a low competition. From there, make sure that you use these keywords as frequently as you realistically can within the body of the post itself (without it sounding unnatural), and then build a catchy blog title around the most relevant keyword or phrase that both describes the post's content, as well as enticing a reader to read on.

A bit of humour, well-used alliteration, and powerful or controversial (to a certain extent!) statements can all be used as excellent titles to a blog post, so it is important to learn how to optimise your writing style to suit the audience and keywords you wish to target online.

Once you have grasped the basic elements of creating the best blog titles for your post, you will find it far easier to adopt a familiar voice and pattern for the future.

Make sure that you keep turning out quality blog posts under a catchy title, and you will see your online popularity rise steadily as a result!

2 Must Have Inbound Marketing Tools

Jason Rudland — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 07:15:00 GMT

One of the key concepts of Inbound marketing is to join "the" conversation. That is, the conversation happening right now about you, your products or services, your brand or your industry. It is a sure-fire way to drive traffic to your website and generate leads. But how can you be everywhere at once? How can you filter out the noise of the Internet? It can feel like you are whispering in a nightclub, so here are two must have tools that will help you engage with the social media-sphere.

Google Reader

It took me a while to warm up to Google Reader, but now I would not be without it. Google Reader will help you track blogs, news and even questions being asked in your area of expertise.

Monitoring Your Favourite Blogs

Blogs are a fairly obvious use of Google Reader - you simply click on the orange RSS feed icon on your favourite blogs to add them to your feed.

Monitoring Your Industry News

Getting a news feed in Google Reader is less obvious. To stay up-to-date on industry news simply go to Google blogsearch and do a search on your chosen term. For example, if I wanted to track all "Inbound Marketing" news I would do a search for "Inbound marketing." At the bottom of the results page is a link which will add that Google alert to your feed - including all new blogs and news.

Monitoring Your Industry Questions

The next thing to add to your feed makes Google Reader the must have tool it is. Log in to your LinkedIn account and browser to LinkedIN Answers. LinkedIn suggests categories of questions which it thinks you are well placed to answer. In the right-hand column is an option to subscribe to the RSS feed!

You now have industry relevant questions directly in your Google Reader feed.

TweetDeck

Once you have blogs, news & questions in your feed the remaining part of the puzzle is social media. There are thousands of apps on the Internet to help you monitor social media, and ultimately you must choose the one which suits you best. However, I will recommend TweetDeck. especially if, like me, you are a devout Mac user.

Despite its name TweetDeck connects to your Twitter and Facebook accounts. It will then post a feed of your connections' social updates in columns. The clever part is when you configure it to alert you when you are mentioned or tweeted directly. These are the tweets you must reply to, if only to thank the tweeter.

Between Google Reader & TweetDeck you can effectively filter out the noise of the Internet and get a relevant and manageable feed of information which you can chose to dip in and out of throughout the day.

What is your favourite monitoring application?

Social Media is Rubbish for Business

Jason Rudland — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 07:15:00 GMT

As an Internet marketer I get a good feel for what does, and what does not resonate with business people on the Internet. Nothing, it seems, can excite people more than social media. When I say 'excite' they can be either for or against it; but whichever view they have, they are passionate about it.

I thought it was high time I wrote a blog post about what I thought about social media. All things considered I think social media is rubbish for business. Now, let me explain what I mean.

Scourge of Gurus

I often scour the web for new ideas; either to learn from others, or to inspire my own ideas. I suppose because social media is such a buzzword there seems to be a whole raft of social media 'gurus' who claim to be able to inundate you with new business via social media. It's compelling stuff, and I'll admit to being drawn in by it myself - to a degree.

The problem with gurus are they create a bubble of over-inflated promises which one day will burst. They promise the earth, but can rarely deliver. I believe these gurus have created a great deal of mis-information around social media and what it can and cannot do for business.

Rubbish for Business

Let me clarify what I mean by social media being rubbish for business. Social media is rubbish for driving qualified leads or sales to your door i.e winning new business. With the exception of LinkedIn, social media websites are a relaxed, casual and non-business places. Even in the straight-laced LinkedIn you cannot get away with selling.

Trying to sell in social media is like inviting your mates to your birthday party, buying them a drink and sitting them down to a presentation on why they should get their credit cards out and buy your stuff - there and then. It's very bad form, and you are likely to be spending your next birthday alone.

What Social Media Can Do For Your Business

Social media is, however, an essential tool for your business. It's not the place to sell, but it is the place to meet new people, engage in (non-salesey) conversation and recruit consumers. Consumers, that is, of your content, not your products or services.

Social media is a place to impress. By joining the conversation, and giving away a little of your knowledge & experience you will soon get an audience. If you persist, they will check you out, including your website. It is your website's job to turn content consumers into leads & clients.

What do you think about social media? Leave a comment below.

5 Ways You Can Make Your Tweets Go Viral Because Discombobulation Hurts (Please ReTweet)

Jason Rudland — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 07:15:00 GMT

Twitter is a great place to connect with new people for your business. There is an art to getting your Tweets ReTweeted, which, if you can master it, will spread the word about your business, products or brand far and wide. Here are 5 tactics you can use to turn your tweets viral.

1. Use the magic words

With Twitter, as with all effective Internet marketing, people consume information that is relevant to them. They need to know the "What's in it for me" factor. So use "You" or "Your" in your tweets. Tell people this is about them.

The other magic word is "Because." This lets people know why people ought to act, and act now.

2. Use the other magic words

The other magic words are the ones our mothers' drummed into us as children. "Please" and "Thank you." If you want people to re-tweet your updates, then simply say "Please reTweet" or "Please RT." When they do Tweet them back and say "Thank You."

3. Use an unusual word

Research show people are more likely to ReTweet a message containing an unusual word. The title of this blog, which was also tweeted when it was published, contains "Discombobulation." It means a slight feeling of unease. But I love this word, and use it whenever possible. It's unusual, slightly humorous, and makes people sit up and listen. If you are a reader of novels you are bound to have seen this trick being used. Once or twice in a novel you will come across a very uncommon word. Usually you can only understand what is being said by the context. This is a tactic which needs to be used with care.

4. If you don't ask, you don't get

This is related to my second point. Using good manners will encourage people to take the action you want. We all react better to people who ask nicely, rather than those who bark orders. However, it's also important to make sure you ask. Everyone is busy, and to ReTweet may only take a second or two, but unless you ask, it may not occur to them to do it. Put the idea in people's mind.

5. Give a little, or a lot

Make sure what you tweet gives away a little (or a lot) of your knowledge & experience. Now it may be quite a challenge to do that in 140 characters, however, you can always include a link to a blog post, web page or other resource which can.

These five tips will make your tweeting reach a bigger and better audience, and allow your potential clients to become consumers of your content. The next step is to turn them from consumer into customer, but that is another story...

If this blog post has been useful please Tweet it using the buttons on the left!

SOPA Law Endangers Your UK Business Too

Jason Rudland — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 08:35:00 GMT

Before the Internet was the mandatory business tool it is today, there was little impact on small business when another country changed its laws. If you were in the import/export business or a global player, then sure, there may have been some taxes or additional hoops to jump through, but you knew what you were getting into. Today, where the Internet has made traditional borders woefully outdated, law changes in other countries can make a real impact on your small business.

You may have heard about SOPA - the Stop Online Piracy Act. Its an attempt to crack down on people stealing copyrighted material using the Internet, which is a great idea. The problem is the astonishing powers this gives the US to shut down your website, or those websites that are essential to your business. If you think this can't effect you & your business, then think again.

Do you use any of these websites to promote your business?

Google
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
LinkedIn

These are all American companies which could easily be shut down under the proposed SOPA law - without warning. Under the law, they shoot first, and ask questions later. They shut you down, then you have to prove you are innocent. All these websites allow user generated content to be published, any of which could be copyrighted.

Does your business trade internationally?

Get Me In Google! is an English small business. Our intention was to sell Inbound marketing services to other UK-based SMEs. As it turns out, we have a large international audience, and geography simply is not an issue for us. As a result we have many non-UK clients. International small business is a reality today, and, if you don't yet trade internationally, there are many opportunities for you to do so in the near future. SPOA could sink your website.

Add your voice

SOPA is an American law, but its actually aimed at other countries. Add your voice to the campaign to stop SOPA, and to put in place a proper solution to copyright piracy instead. The first step is to visit Stop American Censorship, and sign the petition for those not in the US.

Newsjacking: How To Get a Free £1M Publicity Campaign For Your Business

Jason Rudland — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 07:15:00 GMT

Plain old public relations is still alive and kicking in this digital age. In fact, the four cornerstones of modern marketing are content marketing, search marketing, social media, and PR. However, the digital age has created a new way for anyone to get publicity worth £millions, for free - Newsjacking.

I first discovered the concept of newsjacking from David Meerman Scott's book Newsjacking: How to Inject your Ideas into a Breaking News Story and Generate Tons of Media Coverage, which shows step by step how to get your brand in the traditional news media, and written about by influential bloggers.

What is Newsjacking?

To understand Newsjacking, first you need to know a little about how journalists work in the modern 24/7/365 rolling news world. There is immense pressure when a story breaks; journalists need to find facts they can use in their story, and they need them fast. Inevitably they turn to Google to research the subject.

If the journalists find your blog articles talking about the subject of the news story, they will use it - probably cut and pasted directly from your article. And, crucially they will give you a credit. Newsjacking is when you publish information journalists can use in real-time.

How does Newsjacking work?

To effectively Newsjack a story, you have to be fast. The best way to explain it is to use the example, David used in his book. How the London Fire Brigade newsjacked the story about a fire on Richard Branson's Island, where Kate Winslet ran back in to a burning building to save Richard Branson's mother after it was set alight by lightening.

When the story broke, the LFB were on it like lightening (please forgive the pun!) They immediately wrote a blog and issued a press release offering Kate Winslet free fire safety training. She's broken the rules by re-entering a burning house!

At the same time the LFB were issuing their press release, there were hundreds or thousands of journalists Googling to research background to the story - of course, they found the LFB offer, and this became the 2nd paragraph of many of their stories.

By being quick-witted and proactive the LFB secure publicity for it's fire safety campaign which normally would cost millions. The techniques of Newsjacking can do the same for your business. If you would like to read more I recommend you buy & read David's book.

Do you have any tip or tricks to get publicity for free? Leave a comment below.

How To Sell For Your Business, Even If You're Lousy at Selling

Jason Rudland — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 07:15:00 GMT

First let me make a confession - I'm a lousy salesman; I can't (and won't) cold call, I'm useless at following sales methodologies and I get embarrassed talking about money. Yet, Get Me In Google is my business, and I'm the only person responsible for sales. I consistently hit ambitious sales targets, so how can I be a lousy, yet very effective salesman?

Let me deactivate my modesty chip for a moment. I may be a lousy salesman, but boy, can I generate a great lead or what! (Modesty chip reactivated.) And that is the key to hitting your sales targets, even if you are not a natural salesperson.

Sales is easier when you talk to the right people

People who cold call potential clients, so I'm told, have to trick gate-keeper secretaries into putting the call through to the right person, then, they have a matter of seconds to 'hook' their prospect into taking the call. They then battle their way through the conversation trying desperately to convince the prospect they need whatever they are selling. Some gifted people can do this naturally - I take my hat off to them. But, imagine how effective they would be if they were speaking to people who wanted the call and were already interested in what they were selling. Their productivity would go through the roof.

Relationships are everything

As all pro-salespeople already know, relationships are everything in selling. Creating rapport is an essential tool in the salesperson's toolkit. Wouldn't it be nice if you already had rapport with everyone you spoke to on a sales call - even before the call.

Creating rapport with people you never met

If you do it right, your website can create a wonderful rapport with your potential clients even if you have never met or even spoken to them. The key is to give away a little of your knowledge & experience in everything you do. Identify your potential clients' pain points and write about how you solve their problems.

As you continue to help your potential clients with their problems via your website you will build trust and rapport. If you take it slow and resist the temptation to 'sell,' your clients will eventually want to speak to you in person. They will call you.

Square pegs & round holes

When I started out in business, many years before Get Me In Google, I was ambitious, broke and just a little desperate for clients. My desperation made me sell at any cost. I ended up with a bunch of clients who were difficult to please and hard to make a profit from - not a good fit. I know to reach my targets I need to be a little choosy about who I work with. I only want to work with win-win clients. That is, those people who I can do a great job for, and who are profitable for my business. I use my website to qualify everyone I speak to. As I build the relationship, I collect just enough information to identify the people who are right for me.

So, even a lousy salesmen like me can be highly effective at selling. Even I find it difficult to mess up a sales call where the person on the other end wants what I have to sell, has been qualified as a great fit for my business, and I have built trust and rapport with them before we have even spoken.

5 Business Boosters You Never Realised Your Website Had

Jason Rudland — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 07:15:00 GMT

It's easy to get tunnel visioned when you are in business and miss the overall picture of some of the tools you have at your disposal. Take your website for example; do you only generate new business from it? Here are some ideas of how you can use your website to boost all aspects of your business.

New Business

This is probably the most obvious use of your website, and the one people struggle to get working the most. Building a website which delivers regular, high quality leads is a big job, but there is no reason why every business can't be doing it. If you know your clients and their pain points, it's a matter of publishing your solution to their problems. Okay, it gets a little more involved than that - but that's the basis of it.

Retaining Clients

So, you've just signed up a new client and you're onto the next one. Did you know you can use your website to maintain a relationship with your existing clients? Did you know they are more likely to stay with you if you do? Why not use your website to distribute premium resources to your clients. Added value is reason to sign up in the first place, and then stay for the long term. For example, I did an exclusive webinar series for one of my clients clients. It was a win-win situation, my client retained his clients by adding value, and I had a chance of meeting potential new clients for me.

Recruitment

It costs an awful lot of money to recruit people. Wouldn't it be nice if the best candidates found you instead. By using exactly the same techniques you use to attract new clients, you can attract new employees.

Public Relations

Do you speak at events about your business? If you don't, is it because you are never asked? Is it difficult to find the right event to speak at? Using your website to attract people looking for new speakers you can get to choose the best events of the bunch, and you get to promote your business. You might even get paid!

Business Partners

Does your business need new business partners or investors? These people have pain points too - maybe they are looking for a strategic partner for their business, or they are looking for the right investment to make. If you use your website in the correct way, you can attract these people too.

I'm sure there are many other groups of people who could benefit your business if only you could communicate with them. Your website is not only about new business, it is your connection to every person in the Internet-connected world (which is pretty much everyone now.) Whatever people your business need, if you do it right your website can attract them.

Which Little (Internet Marketing) Piggy Are You?

Jason Rudland — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 07:15:00 GMT

So the story goes there were three little piggies...you know; houses of straw, sticks & bricks and a big bad wolf. It struck me today the life-lesson to be learned from the three little piggies, is also an essential lesson for every business owner and marketer. For the sake of our story, lets say the big, bad wolf is the 'tough trading conditions' I keep hearing about.

None of us, I hope, would seriously consider living in a straw or stick house (unless there is some super clever eco-house I don't know about.) Straw & stick houses would provide minimal protection from the elements, and, of course, make burgular's lives easy. However, I see business owners and marketers doing the equivalent of building straw and stick houses for their business. Let me explain...

A Broken Marketing Plan WILL Break Your Business

This new year, like last new year, we have a flurry of high-profile bankruptcies and takeovers. Businesses with outdated business plans who cannot adapt to trading in today's marketplace and sticking to their broken marketing plans with their heads firmly in the sand (or the clouds if they think their marketing plans can work effectively today.) Take Woolworths, for example; for years it hung by its fingernails 48 weeks a year, only to be saved at Christmas. Eventually, inevitably, it collapsed the moment market pressure was put on it. Woolworths' website, however, is alive and kicking today thanks to the fact the website and the shops were totally diferent businesses sharing a brand-name. One business had an outdated unworkable business model and went bust, the other still has a business model which works. Same products, same price, same name - different business model.

Don't Pretend You Can Do It All

Now, suppose you actually had to build your own house - from scratch. You would have to be physically fit and skilled at bricklaying, plastering, carpentry, plumbing, wiring...the list is almost endless. Would you seriously set out alone, with little or no money for materials to build? Okay, so there are very, very few individuals who could end up with a safe and secure house for their families to live in, but most of us would end up sitting in the middle of a building plot on a pile of rubble.

Worse Things Do Happen at Sea

Your home is less important than your business or job. Over my 42 years, I've had fortune and adversity ebb & flow with annoying regularly; whether it's in my personal or professional life. One thing I've learned is when adversity is upon you, it's always better if you have money. Sometimes money can solve your problem, or simply make the symptoms go away. If you are facing a dreadful personal tragedy which money can't cure or shield you from, money can make you feel secure at the very least. Ever heard the addage 'worse things happen at sea!' - you can be in exactly the same jam you are in on land, but at sea you are 1,000 miles from help. A financially secure business with a viable, well planned and executed, Internet marketing startegy puts your feet firmly on land.

The Conundrum

So why do people approach their business marketing as if they were rolling up their sleeves to build their own home?

The skills are not the same, but they are as many, and actually require more effort and experience to acquire. To build and run a safe & secure marketing strategy for your business you need to be a marketer, graphic designer, social media pro, programmer, writer....this list is also, almost endless.

Why are there startup businesses which spend their investment on offices, desks & stationary and yet only tinker with their marketing, hoping Twitter will magically deliver an endless mob of people beating down the door to buy their stuff? It is a viable solution to run many businesses from a cafe or your spare room and a £300 laptop, especially in the early stages. It's more important for startups invest in a professional marketing strategy.

Why do established business spend £50k on executive cars when they have no realistic Internet marketing strategy? Why do they balk at paying £25k to put a professional strategy in place? They could secure their business' future by ditching the car, buying GoToMeeting, getting the Internet strategy sorted, and save £25k to boot.

Build With Bricks for a Secure & Bright Future

Businesses who survive and prosper in these 'difficult trading conditions' will be the ones which put their house in order by getting a professional marketing strategy in place. Sure, there may still be adversity to overcome, but the security of a sound Internet business strategy (and therefore business) will make even the worst crisis easier to bear - and just imagine what will happen in the good times!

The Rise of Kindle Marketing

Jason Rudland — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 08:37:00 GMT

Most of us have heard of Moore's Law: computing power doubles or halves in cost every eighteen months. This means it's never been a more exciting time to be a marketer. Technology and devices pop up almost daily offering the modern marketer new ways to engage with their audience and boost interactions, leads and sales. We can now add Amazon's Kindle to the ever-expanding list of Business marketing opportunities your business should be using.

If You're In Business, You're In Publishing

I was recently interviewed by a reporter who was writing a piece about blogging for business. I soon found myself telling him if somehow my blog was separated from my business it would be like ripping the heart and soul out of Get Me In Google! This blog is written into the very DNA of the company, and we could not thrive or prosper without it. I was making the point that if you are in business today you're in the publishing business. Those who think they are not, will soon either change their mind or change their job.

Take the four cornerstones of modern marketing: Search Marketing, Social Media, Content Marketing & Public Relations. Each of them require new, unique, insightful, remarkable content. The act of publishing it correctly will propel you to the top page of Google, spread you message virally, convert website visitors into leads and get your brand in the news. So where does the Kindle fit in?

Kindle Marketing

The Kindle is a remarkably simple idea that appears almost low-tech. A small device with a screen that strains the eye no more than a physical book, which can contain a whole library of books, magazines & blogs.

Now, I love reading for pleasure, and for me, for that, I will always buy a physical book. I have a totally nerdy relationship with physical books: they have to be hardback, they have to have an unclipped dustcover, no bumps, scratches or dents. First Edition. First Impression. I should probably see a doctor about it, I know.

My Kindle is a business tool. Part of my job is to constantly learn about the new opportunities, trends and technologies which can be used to market a business. Reading is a massive part of how I educate myself, and for that I use my Kindle. I can use Amazon to search & browse thousands of titles on virtually any imaginable subject. Savvy marketers are turning their quality content into Kindle books. Short, focused and useful. I pay a few quid to download a short book, I can read in a couple of hours. This is Kindle marketing.

Build your Reputation

Each of us in business has knowledge and experience of our own field. By communicating your knowledge and experience to others you can build a formidable reputation which will win you business. If you produce a Kindle version book and make it available on Amazon and your own website you cannot fail to enhance your reputation. Publishing a book - even a short Kindle only book - catches the eye, and earns you kudos.

Monetise Your Content

Turning your knowledge & experience in to Kindle books is also an excellent way to monetise your content. I often speak to business owners who are alarmed at the thought of giving stuff away as part of their marketing campaign. Maybe because it follows a more traditional marketing paradigm people are often more comfortable selling their content - which is exactly what happens when you sell a Kindle book. Not only do you earn a little money from your hard work, but you also get to build you brand and reputation. People who buy your book are well placed to become a mainstream client too, and if they are just information consumers who will never become a client, at least you have earned a little money from them.

Be a Social Educator

Unlike a physical book, reading a Kindle book is a social exercise. When you finish reading the book you are asked to rate it, and share your thoughts on Twitter. When you mark a phrase, sentence or paragraph, you can see how many other readers have done the same. You are in a virtual cyber-space book club!

By educating your readers about your products, services or industry (in the context of their problems) they will also spread the word about your book, and therefore your business.

Using Amazon's Kindle platform is an excellent way to build your brand, reputation and engage with your potential clients. What's better, you even get paid!

What my Father-in-law can teach you about Social Media

Jason Rudland — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 08:10:00 GMT

Christmas is well under way and we have it planned like a military operation, so we get to see everyone over the holidays. This year we visited my in-laws before the big day and had a delicious dinner and a great day. But, as we were chatting at the table I was stunned by how much my retired father-in-law knew about social media - not that he was aware of it.

Before he retired, my father-in-law was an executive in the oil industry. It involved jetting off all over the world, speaking at massive conventions and generally doing big business with JR Ewing-types. He was telling us how, as a young man, he had a problem joining such a massive company - how would he make himself stand out? How would he make his way in a business with so many people? His solution was genius. Although he didn't know it until I pointed it out, his solution was also a text-book example of how to promote your business in social media.

His solution was to 'be social'. He joined the company entertainment committee, he joined the squash-team - he regularly got his face in the company magazine. When he was at a company social event he made an effort to be friendly with everyone, to go out of his way to be helpful; his master-stroke did not take long to pay off.

In such a large business with so many people, it was not uncommon to have company meetings where the members did not know each other. Here's where the pay-off happened - the one face most people at these meeting could pick out of the crowd was my father-in-law - the friendly guy who is always in the company magazine. This is especially helpful when the 'big bosses' had been reading the magazine. Hs long and distinguished career is now a matter of record, but how does this relate to social media?

The way my father-in-law behaved in the 70's & 80's in the big oil companies is how we must behave in social media networks today. Join the groups, be social, be helpful, be friendly. Don't sell. Get your face (or in this case your social profile) known, build your reputation. In social media, your pay-off will be potential clients visiting your website who are already impressed with your reputation. Just like oil, powerful stuff!

4 Ways to Convert Visitors to Leads on a Website

Jason Rudland — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 07:40:00 GMT

The art of converting website visitors into leads is more subtle than many people think. It's quite difficult sometimes, as a business owner, to realise the people browsing your website may not appreciate just how hard you work, or how great your products or services are. It's easy to fall into the trap of thinking people understand what you do, and why they need to make contact with you.

When people arrive at your website they could be at any point in their buying cycle. They could simply be curious and trying out a search or two. Your website could be the first they have visited. Alternatively they may know they have a problem you can solve and they need to buy right now. Your website must cater for people at every stage of their buying cycle and not just the 'ready to buy now' people.

Your website must reflect your sales funnel; with the curious researchers at the top and the ready to buy at the bottom. One of your website's jobs is to engage with visitors at any stage of their buying cycle and move them to the bottom of the sales funnel where they are ready to buy.

Create a compelling offer

Before we get into the specifics of what will convert those visitors into leads we need to look at the nature of the offers - they have to be compelling from the visitor's point of view. You have to put yourself in the shoes of your potential clients here: remember, they don't really care about how great you or your products/services are; they just want to know if you can solve their problem. So an offer of 50% off your gizmo may not be compelling at all if they don't already know how the gizmo helps them. Put yourself in their shoes and think of exciting, compelling offers.

Create an online tool

Online tools are an excellent way to get your website visitors to engage with you. Is there a calculator they will find useful? Can you produce a report? Maybe you can create an interesting quiz based around your product of service. An online tool is a top of sales funnel offer which will appeal to the curious and the researchers.

Write an eBook

Showing off your knowledge & experience is an excellent way to engage with your website visitors. An eBook is generally more akin to a PowerPoint presentation than an actual book, so you probably have the basis of a few hanging around in your archive already. Dust off your slide-deck from a recent presentation you gave and reformat it into an eBook. Remember to give it a great, compelling title - include the problem, your audience and your solution. for example, How Business Owners can Reduce their costs with widgets.

Run a webinar

A webinar is the big brother of an eBook. It allows you to show off your knowledge and expertise in a much more direct way. A webinar is a middle of sales funnel offer: it's educational like an eBook, but it requires some commitment from the web visitor. They have to give up and hour of their time, maybe more.

Give away a free trial

A free trial is a bottom of sales funnel offer. This is for people who are ready to buy, and want to be sure the fit is just right. People who take up a free trial already believe your product or service could be the solution for them; it's there to answer the remaining questions. If you can do that in the free trial it's very likely they will buy.

30 Website Traffic Secrets

Jason Rudland — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 07:15:00 GMT

Getting found online and driving lots of website traffic is the first step in a successful internet marketing campaign. I've put together a list of 30 short website traffic tips for you:

You can generate leads with less website traffic than you think
You don't need to double your website traffic to double your leads
Sharing blog articles in relevant Facebook groups will drive traffic to your website
Answering questions in LinkedIn Answers will drive website traffic
PPC advertising can be a cheap way to get web traffic
Google cares about the quality of its search results, and could not care less about your website traffic
Getting to the front page of Digg will drive thousands of website visitors to you site
The enormous effort involved in getting to the front page of Digg is rarely worth the effort
Low competition keywords can drive more web traffic than high competition ones
Submitting articles to ezinearticles.com and other similar website will drive traffic to your site.
Pay Per Click advertising is more effective if you link to a landing page, rather than your home page
Adding pages to your website regularly will impress Google
Inbound links account for 75% of the effort in getting ranked
Aim every blog at a different keyword
Put your keyword in the page URL
Put your keyword in the page title
Put your keyword in the meta keyword tag
Put your keyword in the meta description tag
Put your keyword in the <H1> tag
Put your keyword in the image ALT tag
Don't pay for links
Submit your website to directories like Dmoz
Tweet your keywords
Leave comments on relevant Facebook pages linking back to your blog articles
Contribute to Yahoo answers
Use social bookmarking for your articles
Create a 'lens' using Squidoo
Write guest posts on others' blogs
Leave comments on other relevant blogs
Produce resources others' will link to - link bait

It doesn't matter how great your business is or how clever your website is, without website traffic it is doomed to failure. Do you have any tips we should add to this list?

How a SME Blog can Generate Leads

Jason Rudland — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 08:31:00 GMT

As things stand right now, the simple fact is if you don't have a SME blog, you don't have a proper Internet marketing campaign. A SME blog is the cornerstone of Internet marketing, and can be a powerhouse of Internet lead generation. Here's how...and why...

Why a SME Blog is so important

The usual reaction I get when I suggest a SME blogs every day, is summed up as shocked horror. What are we going to write about? Why every day? We don't have time to blog!

You don't have time to blog? YOU DON'T HAVE TIME TO BLOG!....You don't have time to talk to hundreds and thousands of people who could buy your product or service every single day? Really? If a national newspaper offered to interview you about your business and publish it, would you have time? If BBC Breakfast wanted to put you on the sofa and ask you about your business, would you have something to say?

The fact is your SME's blog could be a powerhouse of lead generation if you put a little time into it. Much less time, and much less effort than attending a networking event.

Each time you blog you are in with a chance of ranking in Google (and the other search engines) for a particular keyword. Google count the number of pages on your website. Generally, the more you have, the better. Each time you blog, your page count goes up by one.

Inbound links are vitally important to ranking in Google. Blogs are great link-bait. People will link to good quality content.

SME Blog best practice checklist

Blog as often as you can - 100% of SME blogs who publish every day gain clients directly from blogging.
Chose a new keyword each time you blog to aim your blog at.
Give away a little of your knowledge & experience in each blog article.
Don't sell or talk about yourself. No one cares!
Include a call to action which is appropriate to your article.
Include an appropriate eye-catching image
Share your article with people you think will be interested.

If you blog every day, and follow the best practices you are certain to generate leads and sign up new business directly from your blog.

Links for 2011-10-17 [Digg]

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 00:00:00 PDT

How To Increase Your Website Traffic By Writing a Single Sentence
Today, I'm going to show you how to increase your website traffic - probably in less than a minute - by writing a single sentence.

Links for 2011-09-14 [Digg]

Thu, 15 Sep 2011 00:00:00 PDT

Does your small business need £20 million from Google?
The future of small business is data. Companies that gather, interpret and use data will survive. Find out how to gather essential data for your business.

Links for 2011-09-13 [Digg]

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 00:00:00 PDT

Your small business customers will pay you 346% more
Discover how you can get your customer to pay you 346% more, simply by using some simple but effective psychology.

Links for 2011-09-08 [Digg]

Fri, 09 Sep 2011 00:00:00 PDT

12 Blog Ideas To Inspire The Business Blogger
Finding inspiration to blog can be the hardest part, so here are 12 blog ideas to get your creative inspiration to blog for your business.

Links for 2011-09-04 [Digg]

Mon, 05 Sep 2011 00:00:00 PDT

What Marketing Lessons Can Business Learn From a 16-Year-Old Girl
Like or loathe the X-Factor, one of this year's contestants could teach many businesses a thing or two about Internet marketing. Find out how...

Links for 2011-09-02 [Digg]

Sat, 03 Sep 2011 00:00:00 PDT

7 Things You Can Do Today To Improve Your Website
Getting the basics right on a website and Internet marketing plan is easy - when you know how. So, here are seven things you can do today to improve your website

Links for 2011-08-17 [Digg]

Thu, 18 Aug 2011 00:00:00 PDT

How to use Technology for Business Growth
Technology for business growth is critical to success in modern businesses. Find out what you need and what it does!