There must be some reason why some small businesses outperform others. Let’s pretend for just a minute that you own a small café in a part of town that is just about two blocks off the beaten path. Lunchtime crowds could be a lot bigger! You’ve noticed that your competition, who has higher prices and worse white bean chicken chili than you, and who is a whopping four blocks off the beaten path of the lunch time warriors has a steady stream of customers. Why? Stop wringing your hands. You’re about to find out.

Social Media Marketing: What It Can Do For You

Social media marketing translates to success. A successful social media marketing campaign can take your little bistro from barely making payroll to a booming success. It can move you from the back lot to the spotlight.

“But” you might say, “I’m a bistro. How can social media marketing do all that for me? You people are crazy! I have soup to make. See ya later!”

As astonishing as this might seem, and as offbeat as some of the most successful social media marketing campaigns are, they work. Stick with me, soupy sales, here’s why!

Social media marketing gives you the power to reach out to your customers any time of night or day.

Let’s say it’s 10 a.m. Bored office workers everywhere are looking forward to lunch. In fact, they’re asking each other: “What do you think, where should we go for lunch?” They check their twitter and facebook feeds to see what their friends are up to, and then, magic happens. They spot your tweet or your facebook status.

Their eyes light up, and they start to salivate. “Dude, let’s go to Soupy Sales! He’s got that awesome white bean chicken chili for lunch. Perfect weather for it. Man, he’s on Facebook…we better get there before it’s gone!”

At 11:30, you start getting busy. At 1 pm, you’re completely out of soup, salad, bread, soda, and those cookies you thought might sell well. And, best of all, you’ve convinced your customers that they should not pass up the opportunity to have lunch with you, because you’re just so popular.

While this is an admittedly simplified explanation of what social media marketing can do for you, it’s definitely food for thought. Whether you sell soup or landscaping services, you need to get in the game and stay in the game with social media marketing. So, find an expert, start a campaign, and watch your business grow faster than you ever thought possible.

Got a question or concern about your website?  Learn more about our website consulting service and how we can help you!

Glennette Goodbread, Owner
Premium Web Design and Hosting

If yours is among the many small businesses that has taken advantage of everything social media marketing has to offer, then you might find yourself struggling to keep up at times. You might wish you had more hours in the day to accomplish everything you need to do plus stay on top of all the latest social media marketing trends.

The Problem: Keep Up With Demands

Just about two short years ago, social media marketing was a bit less complicated than it is now. Business owners felt they could manage everyday tasks plus keep up with their Twitter feeds and Facebook fan pages. Since social media has enjoyed such a boom, there are a lot more options for monetizing as well as expanding marketing opportunities. If you’re trying to do it on your own, you’re very likely feeling completely overwhelmed.

You know social media marketing is important, and there is no way you could (or should!) cut it out of the picture. The question is, how can you take advantage of everything social media marketing has to offer, while running your business and living your life? If you are one of the millions of people who stay up until the wee hours administering a social media marketing campaign, getting a few hours of sleep, spending all day running the business, and burning yourself out completely in the process, then you need an answer – and you need it fast.

The Solution: Delegate

If you are tired of burning the candle at both ends, it’s time to do something about it. Hiring a company or individual who specializes in handling social media marketing for businesses can give you back some of those precious hours - last time I counted, there were still only twenty four of them in a day. By letting someone else wade through the heaps of information, manage your fans, friends, and tweets, upload your videos, and keep your blog moving, you can take back the hours you need to replenish yourself and truly enjoy your life more.

An added bonus: Using a firm that specializes in SEO and social media marketing can help your business grow in a whole new direction. Making this one simple change in the way you do business can make a difference in your company’s outlook – as well as your own!

Got a question or concern about your website?  Learn more about our website consulting service and how we can help you!

Glennette Goodbread, Owner
Premium Web Design and Hosting

Start an SEO Marketing Campaign With Keyword Research

Local business owners who succeed with SEO marketing can compete in an ever-changing marketplace, and can keep their businesses operating and thriving, even during challenging times like these. If you’re new to SEO, it is understandable that you’ll have a lot of questions. When we talk about how SEO works, there is a lot of ground to cover. Like anything else, you’ve got to have a starting point. Keyword research is one of the most important aspects to using SEO within the framework of your business.

Here are three things that will make the process of keyword research geared toward eventual SEO marketing a lot easier. Don’t worry – once you get started, you’ll find it’s easier than you may think.

Tools Are Important!

Google’s Adwords for small businesses costs a little money, but is one of the easiest, most comprehensive tools you can use to research keywords. If you want to get your SEO marketing campaign up and running quickly, hiring an expert to do the research for you can take the frustration as well as most of the time out of the process. While you might feel tempted to do SEO marketing research all on your own using free tools, keep the fact that your time is valuable in mind, and weigh the costs of using that time to do your research versus using your time in a more profitable way.

Get In The Back Door

If your business is in a specific niche – let’s say, restaurants in Washington, DC, then you might have a tough time trying to outrank top competition. So, shoot for the back door. Use the fact that many consumers use misspelled words, and keep that in mind while you’re looking for the right keywords to use within your SEO marketing plan. In addition, think about using words that competitors might not have thought of, and think about using various combinations of keywords to help your local business rank better.

Be Specific!

Combine keywords so your site is easy for search engines to find. Using our DC restaurant example, let’s say you offer sushi. Use combinations of the words “sushi”, “Washington”, and “DC” instead of just using the word “sushi” to try to rank. Test this out for yourself: Type “sushi” into your search box, and look at what comes up. Next, type “sushi Washington”, and you’ll see some better results. Finally, type “sushi Washington DC” and you’ll see a comprehensive list of restaurants that rank for sushi in DC. Failing to be specific is a major waste of time and money, so don’t skip this step!

With just a little knowledge of your own, as well as a clear goal in mind and a smattering of professional assistance, you can conduct your research quickly and start optimizing – it’s money well spent, especially when you consider the fact that SEO marketing is one of the best ways to make your business, whatever it may be, better than ever.

And now I'd like to invite you to contact us today to order your Search Engine Ranking Report and/or Search Engine package today!

Glennette Goodbread, Owner
Premium Web Design and Hosting

Your small business has finally gone online, and you're starting to see some success – congratulations! Let's take a few minutes to discuss blogging as a tool for marketing your products and services. I have found, in talking to business owners, that there is some confusion about blogs – what they are, why they exist, and whether or not blogging is beneficial.

What Is A Blog?
A blog, short for “Web log” is a way to inform the world about what you have to offer. It's usually written in an informal, easy to read format. Many people like to include a shot of humor into their blogs, while others are all about business or promoting special deals. In a nutshell, a blog is a way to get people to notice your company. If it's fun and entertaining to read, or if it contains special information that the customer has not been able to find anywhere else, you're likely to have made a new friend for your business.

This being said, you've got to know how to write and use your blogs so that Google notices them and picks them up when people are searching for the product or service you are trying to promote. You can write all day, but if you don't optimize, you're basically wasting your time.

Why Is Optimization Important?
Optimization gets you noticed. People who are searching for what you have to offer will click on the results that show up at the top of their search – so you want to place yourself or your business into a position to get those clicks. You want to be noticed!

If you don't optimize, your blog won't be helpful. Sure, you may have some customers who know about it follow and comment, but you won't be using it as an effective marketing tool. You'll never be able to attract new business with a blog that is not optimized.

Top Optimization Tips

• Be specific! Name your location and your service specifically.
• Find out what keywords are most often associated with your business, and use them!
• Don't be afraid to get help. An experienced SEO team is worth its' weight in gold.

Got a question or concern about your website?  Learn more about our website consulting service and how we can help you!

Glennette Goodbread, Owner
Premium Web Design and Hosting

LinkedIn is a social network that is geared toward linking together small businesses. This network – well over twelve million strong – provides an opportunity for folks to stay in daily and weekly touch with their current clients, as well as their potential clients (leads).

Here is a short list of the ways that you can use LinkedIn to improve your chances at small business success!

• As noted, use LinkedIn to stay in touch with people who resonate with your business. These can be current clients, potential clients, or folks who are interested in your business or have similar or related businesses.
• Ask your peers about their vendors.
• Trade services.
• Use the LinkedIn’s Groups directory to search for industry associations and networks. Find out which conventions your peers (and possibly your competition) is attending (or are likely to be planning to attend). Similarly answer questions and show your expertise.
• Use Group Answers (pull-down menu in Groups) to see what questions people are asking (and who those people might be!)
• Fund Raising: Though you might not actually ask for help raising funds for your venture, just being connected to the right people may provoke them to offer you assistance.
• Combine your efforts with other social networking accounts such as Twitter – or even Facebook (You can actually sync your contacts between LinkedIn and Twitter.).
• Provide links to your small business blogs to show your expertise in your area

Make sure you abide by the rules that LinkedIn sets for business and small businesses. You want to avoid any association with spamming.

Like any other business-related activities, this can all take time. Yes, you have to check in daily and spend time reading other people's blogs and questions and answers. But using them also adds a certain mystique to your corporate image. Do you want to be seen as the conventional, stodgy homegrown business? Or do you want to be seen as an entrepreneur?

Finally: Be forewarned: Like other social networks, LinkedIn can become a respite away from business-related business. Be mindful of this and steer clear of the temptation to socialize. Keep community and business functions separate, or better yet, hire a firm to take on some of the most time consuming social media marketing tasks for you. Your time will be your own, and everything that needs attention will be handled immediately.

Got a question or concern about your website?  Learn more about our website consulting service and how we can help you!

Glennette Goodbread, Owner
Premium Web Design and Hosting

It’s time to demystify getting traffic. The reality is, it’s not as hard as you think. It does take work – But it’s not difficult work. How do you drive traffic to your website consistently? Here are several proven traffic sources and methods to help you consistently bring people to your website.

A Content-Filled Newsletter

You’ve probably heard the expression “the money is in the list.” This is SO true. Website owners who put off building their list until sometime “later” are majorly missing out.

The time to start building your list is now.

The attitude you should take with your newsletter is to build your following or audience. The attitude shouldn’t be one of trying to SELL them.

A 90% content to 10% sales ratio is about the maximum amount of selling you should do. Remember: The goal is to build an audience over the long run, not to try and make as many short term sales as possible while burning out your audience.

Leverage High Quality Content

High quality content is what will bring you the most traffic over time. To build a business successfully means to have high quality content that people want to come back to and send to their friends.

What’s the best ways to leverage high quality content?

The most obvious way is to put it on your own website. You should have more high quality content on your own site than any other site.
Another way to leverage high quality content is to have your content published on other people’s websites. One great way to do this is to guest write for other blogs.

What does this mean? Basically, you write a piece of content exclusively for someone else’s blog or website. The article is highly informative and really hooks others in. At the bottom of the article is a link pointing back at your site.

There are many places you can publish your content. These include article directories, other people’s blogs, Squidoo & Hubpages and more. The bottom line is to really get your content out there to as many people as possible.

Explore Other Methods of Traffic

Try publishing a YouTube video and see what happens. Experiment with PPC to see if you get a good response. Start a Twitter or Facebook page and see how your audience responds.

Once you start getting decent traffic from your website, expand out to other methods of gaining traffic.

Chances are, only a couple methods will really work for you. But if you don’t try it out, how will you know?

Interviewing Other Experts

One great way to gain both traffic and credibility for your website is to interview other experts on the topics they’re known for.

This does two things. First, it provides high quality content for your own readers and subscribers. But it also links your site with the person you’re interviewing.

The person you interviewed will often post a link to the interview on their own website. Even if they don’t, you’ll still get massive credit in your industry and in the eyes of search engines for interviewing those experts.

If you interview 10 experts, you will almost certainly get at least 5 backlinks back, resulting in both increased rankings and a lot of traffic.

There are many ways to drive traffic to your website. The most important thing is that you’re implementing something today. If you take action, you will always see results. Select the one that appeals the most to you and put it into action now. Gauge the results, then take the next action from there.

Got a question or concern about your website?  Learn more about our website consulting service and how we can help you!

Glennette Goodbread, Owner
Premium Web Design and Hosting

Social networking can seem a little daunting if you’ve never dipped your toes in. There are so many different sites – What is each one about? Which ones should you sign up for? How do you use them? In this crash course, you’ll learn enough about each social network to get you started.

Facebook
Facebook is the largest social networking website in the United States and Europe. Its main features are that you can add your friends and stay in touch, as well as see a constant news stream about what’s going on with the people around you.

In many places in the world, “Facebook me” is a common phrase. Being on Facebook will allow you to stay in touch with people you may otherwise slip out of contact with.

Twitter
Twitter specializes in fast, sound-bite sized 140 character messages called “tweets.” These can be anything from quick life updates to business tips.

Twitter utilizes a “following” system, where you can “follow” other people to see their tweets and others can “follow” you to see yours.

Blogging
Blogging allows just about anyone to publish a website quickly and easily. Through blogging, people who wouldn’t otherwise start a website can quickly become ranked in the search engines and publish their ideas to a lot of people.

A blog is short for “Web Log,” a sort of online journal. Blogs tend to be updated more often than other websites.

LinkedIn
LinkedIn is like Facebook for professionals. You can upload your resume, work history, references, and testimonials as well as have professional relationships online.

In many industries, especially tech related industries, your LinkedIn profile can be as important if not more important than your physical resume.

Digg & Reddit
Digg and Reddit are voting based news sites. Other users submit articles which are then voted on by the users. When you browse the front page, you’re presented with the highest rated articles.

That means that your news is chosen by democracy and end users rather than by magazine editors.

StumbleUpon
StumbleUpon is a unique social networking site that helps you randomly find websites that you might enjoy. It does it through a combination of the interests you provide as well as your previous habits.

Here’s how it works: First, you install a browser toolbar. When you want to “StumbleUpon” a new site, just click the Stumble button and you’ll be taken to a random website that the system thinks you’ll like.

Meetup.com
Meetup is another popular social networking website. With Meetup, however, most of the interaction happens in person rather than online.

Meetup helps create physical meetings where people get together around various topics, from philosophy to dating to hiking.

Taking Your First Steps in Social Networking
As you can tell, there are all kinds of different social networking sites out there. The best way to learn is to just pick one or two and get started. It’s a lot easier to learn than it looks!

Got a question or concern about your website?  Learn more about our website consulting service and how we can help you!

Glennette Goodbread, Owner
Premium Web Design and Hosting

Having laser sharp focus is crucial to your long term success. Having a good idea and sticking with it until it either succeeds or fails is actually a vital skill, a skill that many entrepreneurs unfortunately lack and fail as a result.

Results Come with Persistence, Not Singular Spurts of Effort

Entrepreneurs often feel powerful spurts of desire, of determination, of feeling like they’re willing to do whatever it takes. Feeling that way for a few days or weeks isn’t an uncommon feeling.

However, to really succeed you need to be able to stay motivated and inspired about what you’re doing for months and years at a time.

Business is not a short term game. You have wins and you have losses. It’s a matter of persisting through all the ups and downs to the final result of real success. That takes time and focus.

Improve Your Focus With Productivity Systems

Your habits play a large role in how focused you stay.

One habit that many successful business people have is planning their day at the beginning of the day. When you wake up, the first thing you do is get out a sheet of paper and write out exactly what you want to accomplish today.

Then, write out what you want to accomplish this year. Then your five year goals, your 10 year goals and your 25 year goals.

If you have inspiring goals set, this will help you stay focused on both the short term actions and the long term picture. Doing this every day will help you stay totally motivated to do what you need to do to succeed.

Be Focused, But Stay Flexible

As an entrepreneur, it’s important that you’re able to adapt to your environment and do what’s necessary to make your business succeed.

This and staying focused may sound like contradictory concepts, but they’re actually very complimentary.

Most experienced business people agree that business seldom goes as you expect. If you have one plan to generate traffic, one plan about what to sell, one plan about how your business should look and you’re not willing to change strategies, chances are you won’t make it in the long run.

However, don’t confuse flexibility in strategy with actually bouncing around completely different paths. If you bounce from trying to do PPC affiliate marketing to trying to be a top blogger to trying to trade Forex online, you are certainly destined to fail.

On the other hand, if something isn’t working then don’t bash your head against a wall trying to make it work. Instead, be willing to be flexible and adapt. Being able to hold both focus towards a goal and flexibility in the method of getting there is crucial to success.

Know your goals. Know what's important to know. Know what you need to do on a day by day, week by week, month by month and year by year basis. Stick to your plan and stay focused!

Got a question or concern about your website?  Learn more about our website consulting service and how we can help you!

How would you like to purchase a bunch of great products for just $5?

Solo Masterminds is putting on a May Madness Sale that is chock-full of five dollar deals from some of today’s most brilliant online women business owners.

You can get some great deals for just $5 including:

• Kindle Action Guide
• Cartoon Marketing Graphics Galore
• Facebook Timeline Cover Photos
• The WAH Organizer
• Meal Planning Tip Pix PLR
• $120 Worth of DIY PLR
• Email Newsletter Templates & Training
• PLR Article Rewriting
• One Hour of Virtual Assistant Help
• Working with Brands
and so much more!

This sale only happens once a year and the quality of the products and services offered are always top-notch.

If you want to get awesome products and services at an unbelievable price, you only have until May 15th, then the sale is over until next year.

You don’t want to miss this May Madness Sale, so go on over and see what we have to offer for $5; there really is something for everyone.

Oh, in case you might be wondering, I have a couple $5 deals for sale at May Madness - look for the Carton Graphics deal and the Social Media Marketing deal!

You know your small business exists. You probably spend a good portion of every day running it! The question is, how can you get people who have never been there before to notice you? Google Places is one great way to do it. Whether you are on a well-travelled corner, or if you’re tucked away on a winding country lane, Google Places will inform potential customers about your location, as well as give them information about the products or services you offer.

Why Google?

While there are other search engines out there, Google is by far the most popular, as well as the most comprehensive of them all.

What Is Google Places?

Google Places is a free service offered by Google, to help business owners inform consumers about their hours of operation, products and services, special offers, and more. Your business can display photographs and videos on Google Places, and you can communicate with clientele and get important feedback that can help you improve your bottom line.

What are Google Places Tags?

Google Places offers and additional service that places special tags that look like coupons over your business. Tags are a way to stand out to potential customers, and while they don’t improve SEO rank, they do create better perceived value.

Why Google Places Works So Well

According to the folks at Google, one in five internet searches are directly related to locations. Since Google Places allows business owners the ability to update their offerings in real time, customers can find you and you have the opportunity to create a sense of excitement by adding special coupons just for customers who find you on Google Places. Add Google Places for smartphone users, and you just might see your business improve by leaps and bounds.

The bottom line is, your customers and potential new clients are looking for what they want on Google, and if you are there, you are going to be noticed. No one can pass up a great deal, so come up with a promotion, put it up on your Google Places Place Page, and watch the magic happen.

Got a question or concern about your website?  Learn more about our Local Search Profits package and how we can help you!

Glennette Goodbread, Owner
Premium Web Design and Hosting

Website design software is everywhere, and so are website design companies. You can even design your own website for free, if you so desire, on many different site builders. Considering the many options that exist, it’s completely understandable that small business owners often feel a sense of confusion when it comes to building a website. While there are many extremely desirable elements to website design, there are also some things you should avoid. Here are five website design mistakes you should be careful never to make.

Mistake #5: Using PDF Files Instead of Pages
It might be tempting to scan existing documents into pdf format and upload them onto your website. Give visitors a link to click, and up comes your pdf. Easy, right? Wrong! People hate finding pdf’s on websites. They take a long time to load, and they can be hard to read. Take the time to create a new page that contains the pertinent information. You can build links and backlinks, add great photos, and make your page a pleasure to visit instead of an irritation. Annoyed visitors leave a site and look for a better one – so skip the pdf’s.

Mistake #4: Using Bookish Text
People want information fast. They want to scan your site and see whether you have what they are looking for. So:

• Do not make your site look like the page of a book. Keep it interesting.
• Use photos and vary the text size to highlight different areas of your page.
• Use bulleted lists and quick paragraphs with headers that tell the visitor what they’re going to find under that heading.
• Make your site interactive. The more fun people have when they visit your site, the more successful it will be.

Mistake #3: Building A Flashy Site That Is Too Complicated For Users To Navigate
You can have the most beautiful looking website in the world, but without elements that are properly built using proven website design techniques, your site will be just more pretty pictures – and the internet is full of those! People want to go to a site, find what they are looking for, and leave. The better and faster the internet gets, the faster people expect sites to work.

Mistake #2: Preventing Smartphone Users From Accessing Your Site
This is a relatively new mistake in website design, and if you’ve got a website now, it’s worth looking into. Can people who surf the web on their iPhone, Droid, Blackberry or other smartphone get into your site? Can they find what they’re looking for, and navigate well? If not, your site needs first aid. Fast.

Mistake #1: Not Hiring A Professional To Handle Website Design
You might want to help your buddy who is learning about website design build his portfolio by building you a website, and while that might be OK if he has some experienced guidance, it also might ruin your chances of ending up with a great site that is both user friendly and high ranking. These days, website design is about a lot more than looking good. Hire a professional, and your site will do exactly what you need it to – gain you business, and increase your bottom line.

Got a question or concern about your website?  Learn more about our website consulting service and how we can help you!

Glennette Goodbread, Owner
Premium Web Design and Hosting

I'm super excited to share something with you today that I really feel will help you with your business. I've been a member of an online community, Solo Masterminds, for several years and the members of this group have helped me tremendously. You really need to check out if you are at all interested in improving your business.

Check out Solo Masterminds Now!

As a member of Solo Masterminds, you get:

* full access to the learning forum, which includes everything you need to learn to set up and manage a successful online business -- whether you provide services, sell physical or digital products, or recruit a sales team

* a community of supportive women entrepreneurs -- ask us anything, from the technical to the personal, and you'll get honest answers straight from the trenches

* weekly Monday morning breakthrough sessions -- start the week right with some motivation and actionable tips from business coach Kelly McCausey

* discounts on everything from VA services to information products

... and lots more!

We're women helping other women run profitable online businesses that fit our lifestyle.

Of course, we want you to make an informed decision about joining us. So we are letting you take a 7-day peek at the community. You get full access for 7 days at no cost!

I'm sure you'll love us and will decide to stay. And now, it's more affordable than ever.

For 3 days only, April 17-19, 2012, you can pay for your Solo Masterminds membership in 3 equal payments over 3 months. After that, you're a member for life! I can't stress how wonderful this is. You pay for 3 months and the resources and members are available to you forever. That's just awesome!

Remember, the 3-pay option is only available from April 17 - 19, 2012.

Start your free 7 day trial today and get the 3-pay option before it's gone.

Check out Solo Masterminds Now!

Glennette Goodbread, Owner
Premium Web Design and Hosting

PS: If you've been struggling to have a profitable online business, why not try Solo Masterminds for 7 days? You truly have nothing to lose. If at the end of 7 days you decide Solo Masterminds is not the right community for you, you can simply cancel!

What are you waiting for? Check out Solo Masterminds Now!

Angela Wills interviewed Glennette Goodbread for her Marketers Mojo podcast and we're happy to provide the link to it here so you can check it out.

Glennette Goodbread on Marketers Mojo Podcast

Angela's introduction:

"There’s a skill to finding and keeping great clients that our guest on this episode sure seems to have down. Glennette Goodbread of PremiumWebDesign.com is a professional if I ever met one. She’s focused on helping her clients achieve REAL RESULTS so they don’t just throw money away on a design that doesn’t do a thing.

You’ll learn a lot from this show, and from Glennette so have a listen and take some notes!"

The link to the show again is:

Glennette Goodbread on Marketers Mojo Podcast

Thanks so much!

Glennette Goodbread, Owner
Premium Web Design and Hosting

This is a guest post by one of my favorite resources for small businesses, Janet Slack. Janet is a well-known author, speaker and blogger on topics related to running a successful small business. Janet is a social media expert who mentors and coaches her clients to profit from their use of social media and to be smart and strategic about their business decisions.  Her free ebook Biz Tips: Entrepreneur Edition will give you dozens of ideas to grow your business and earn more income - one step at a time.

Facebook Timeline: How do I prepare for the new timeline?

If you have a business Page on Facebook, you are likely aware that your Page will convert to the new Timeline format on March 30th. In order to make the most of your Facebook marketing, there is considerable work that needs to be done before that transition. Here is my list of important steps to take:

1. Switch to preview mode – This allows you to work on your Page while no one else can see it. In preview mode, Page admins can see the Timeline, but other visitors see the old version. Don’t be in a hurry to “Publish”.

2. Add a cover image – This is the large photo or graphic that spans the top of the Timeline. The size of your cover needs to be 851 by 315 pixels. Facebook has a lot of restrictions about what can be included in this area. Read them here and follow directions carefully, especially in section IIIB.

3. Change your main avatar picture – The little square picture under your Cover used to be a long banner shape but is now 180 by 180 pixels. Use a logo or picture, but make sure it also looks good as a small thumbnail.

4. Write About copy – Now there’s a small About box below your avatar picture to write a very brief summary of your business. I suggest including a website or blog URL there.

5. Rearrange your tabs – Tabs now are more prominently displayed on the right below the cover. You can have up to 12 apps (tabs), but only 4 are displayed openly. Make sure these are the most important ones for your marketing strategy.

6. Change photos for tabs – Now you can also have a custon image or icon to encourage exploration of your tabs. These need to be 111 by 74 pixels.

7. Deactivate (or not) messaging – A great new feature of the Page is the ability to receive private messages from viewers. This setting is On by default and you need to decide if you will be responding in a timely way to anyone that sends you a message. If so, no work to do; if not, turn it off.

8. Clean up the Timeline itself – I suggest you spend some time going back over the items that have been posted on your Page. Eliminate (hide) those items that are no longer relevant, timely or that can tribute to a negative image. The Timeline is intended to make your history much more accessible to visitors so you need to review what they’ll be seeing.

9. Find items to pin and highlight – Pinning is a new feature that allows you to select a post to stay at the top of your Timeline for 7 days. Put a great promotion there, for example. Highlighting spreads a post across both columns of the Timeline and gives it extra notice. Have a plan for both.

10. Add business Milestones – This is another new feature that lets you add significant events in your business history. These posts also get lots of real estate and will stand out on the Timeline. Make sure to add some.

11. No more default landing tabs – New visitors to your Page can no longer be directed to a certain tab, but will land directly on your Timeline. You may need a new strategy for connecting with people who find your Page.

Follow Janet on Twitter | Like Janet on Facebook

That's it for today. Hope you enjoyed the guest post!

Is your site ready for Facebook Timeline?
March 30, 2012 will be here before you know it.
Contact me today if you need some help!

Glennette Goodbread, Owner
Premium Web Design and Hosting

You've heard it from me. Now I'd like you to hear it from Small Business Expert, John Jantsch

Well, there you have it! If you're ready to dominate Google Places and other local search directories, check out my Local Search Profits package now.

Glennette Goodbread, Owner
Premium Web Design and Hosting

Are You Sure You Hired The Right Local Internet Marketing Agency?

This is a guest post by Lynette Chandler.

As local small business owners, you probably get quite a few calls, emails and even regular mail from web design agencies. Every one of them promising professional web site setup, design and maintenance. If you are seriously considering creating or re-working your business website, it can be a challenge figuring out who to hire.

Before you write that check to the design agency, pause and consider ... Why are you getting a website built?

This is perhaps the single most important question that will put everything into perspective. My guess is, you are doing this so you can generate more business using the power of the Internet which is not slowing down, gives you faster, highly measurable results at a lower cost.

The bottom line, you aren't looking for a pretty website but one that will help grow your business. In other words you should evaluate the agency you hire based on this goal.

Here's the cold hard truth. When it comes to design only, anyone you choose - even a student - can deliver a decent looking site. Whether they can build a site that can sell your products or services is a whole other story.

Getting the site built is only part of the picture. In order to sell, you need a web marketing agency who can do most if not all of the following:

* How to build a site that looks nice, with great copy to grab
visitor attention, elements to capture contact information and work to
convert curious visitors to warm, responsive prospects.
* Help get your business get found when someone searches for similar
businesses nearby on their cell phone or computer.
* Understand and know how to make the connection between your website
and the mobile Internet whose numbers are set to overtake desktop
computers by 2015.

Know how is one thing. Do they have experience? Does this agency have a record of successfully selling anything online to anybody? If they cannot market products online, how effective will they be for you?

There are plenty of freelancers fresh out of school, in need of work who will pitch you their services. There are also plenty of web design agencies who are just that. Great at web design. You'd probably fall in love with the gorgeous sites they build for you.

Unfortunately, the moment you get serious about marketing and leveraging mobile, you will find your site is far from adequate and probably have to spend more money and time re-tooling it.

The takeaway - hire the right people from the start. I've also dropped a few hints about mobile Internet. Mobile is crucial for local businesses because this movement is very real and all happening right now. So you definitely want someone who is capable or can work together with your web person to get your business mobile ready.

Want hard statistical facts how mobile Internet usage benefits your local business? Author Lynette Chandler invites you to grab a copy of her specially prepared report "6 Urgent Reasons Why Local Businesses Must Go Mobile Now" at
http://techbasedmarketing.com/local-business-go-mobile/

Who hasn’t been the victim of targeted email marketing, where someone has sold your email address and all of a sudden you’re the lucky recipient of things like “Try this little blue pill!” or “Use this credit card – you can’t live without it!” As a small business owner, you certainly don’t want to fall into the same category as these unwanted messages do: that category is Spam!

On the other hand, you can run an effective email marketing campaign that your customers will enjoy. Let’s take a look at what a good email marketing campaign is, and why it works so well for businesses of every size.

What Is Email Marketing?
Email marketing is a method for telling customers or potential clients about a product, service, or combination of the two, that you have. It’s a way to give them insight about what is going on with your business, and it’s a great way to build a good working relationship with them. This is particularly true if you have a consumable product or service. The fact is, people have a lot on their minds, and they are constantly barraged with a whole host of messages from every direction. Failing to communicate with your customers puts you at risk of being forgotten.

How Does Email Marketing Work?
While it is possible for a business owner to send out little reminders to a group of customers on a regular basis, doing it the old fashioned way is not the best use of your valuable time. Here’s the best way to do it:

1. Come up with a message, or set of messages. You might run regular sales or service specials, or want to promote a lunch or dinner special for your restaurant on a regular basis.
2. Remember, talk to people like they’re your friends, because in the end, they are. Customers can make or break your business, and you want them to love you. Make your message friendly.
3. Take advantage of an email autoresponder. Load your email contacts into the autoresponder, and get your message to your customers.

Just like every other aspect of online marketing for small businesses, using email marketing and autoresponders is something that requires a certain amount of finesse. Get together with your online marketing specialist, and create a specialized plan that will work wonders for your business!

Got a question or concern about your website?  Learn more about our website consulting service and how we can help you!

Glennette Goodbread, Owner
Premium Web Design and Hosting

PediatricianAlbanyGa.com is now for sale!

This website is ideal for a peditrician located in the Albany Ga area. The domain is keyword-rich meaning it includes keywords and will be easier to rank high in the search engines. You can always purchase drwhatever.com and point it to the keyword-rich domain name if you prefer to give out a different domain name.

This website will be sold first come first serve and we are contacting pediatricians in the area so you need to buy it before your competitor does.

Please call 229-869-1304 to purchase. I will meet with you to gather your information so that I can customize it to your practice.

Glennette Goodbread, Owner
Premium Web Design and Hosting

ChiropractorAlbanyGa.com is now for sale!

This website is ideal for a chiropractor located in the Albany Ga area. The domain is keyword-rich meaning it includes keywords and will be easier to rank high in the search engines. You can always purchase drwhatever.com and point it to the keyword-rich domain name if you prefer to give out a different domain name.

This website will be sold first come first serve and we are contacting chiropractors in the area so you need to buy it before your competitor does.

Please call 229-869-1304 to purchase. I will meet with you to gather your information so that I can customize it to your practice.

Glennette Goodbread, Owner
Premium Web Design and Hosting

Crissy over at Indie Biz Chicks is having a contest where you can win $500 from Apple.

Can you help promote it please?

All you have to do to promote it (and enter the contest while you're at it) is visit her site and leave a comment, tweet the post and then add a blog post like this one that says:

I’m posting this to enter a contest offered by Cashier Live, a point of sale software company, at Indie Biz Chicks. Enter to win here: http://www.indiebizchicks.com/wp/win-an-apple-giftcard/

She's drawing the winner on 9/26/11 at 5 p.m. EST so don't delay!

Disclaimer: I have not used Cashier Live but I will be checking it out!

Glennette Goodbread, Owner
Premium Web Design and Hosting