How to Use Video to Improve Google Ranking & Conversions | WebProNews

How to Use Video to Improve Google Ranking & Conversions | WebProNews

Online video is consuming the web as we know it whether you like it or not. Some prefer text content over video in most cases, and that's ok too. I don't think text is going anywhere, but demand for video is on the rise from both consumers, and businesses looking to stay on top of their marketing. Just like not all text is great, not all video is great, but when done well, I think you will find that it offers plenty of reward.

Continue reading How to Use Video to Improve Google Ranking & Conversions | WebProNews

For more information about website promotion, visit www.web4business.com.au

Internet Marketing - SEO - Debunking the Top 10 Search Engine Myths

Internet Marketing - SEO - Debunking the Top 10 Search Engine Myths

We've all done it at some point in our professional lives. We search a keyword that describes our business only to scratch our head as to how our competitor's website shows up on the top of the list instead of ours. If you've gone one step further and read about Search Engine Optimization, then surely you have come across the conflicting information online.

One article tells you to do one thing while another tells you to do the opposite. Which one should you believe?

Continue reading Internet Marketing - SEO - Debunking the Top 10 Search Engine Myths

For more information about small business marketing, visit www.web4business.com.au

Do Your Customers Trust You?

Do Your Customers Trust You? WebProNews

Making a purchase online, especially a substantial one, can be a nerve-wracking process for a consumer. The primary problem, aside from price, is trust. Shoppers negotiate their relationship with the vendor in much the same way they negotiate relationships with any stranger: by seeking information.

What an online vendor lacks (and what becomes a disadvantage) is one-on-one interaction with the customer. As such, the customer must put forth additional effort to find out about a product for sale. Making this task easier can make all the difference in closing a sale.

According to GetElastic, an online retailer should strive to answer these customer questions ahead of time to reduce purchase anxiety ....

Continue reading "Do Your Customers Trust You? WebProNews"

For more information about running a small business and website design, visit:
http://www.web4business.com.au/

Website Design - Frequently Asked Questions About Websites

Website design article - Frequently Asked Questions About Websites

For many entrepreneurs, getting a website designed is a very scary and overwhelming task. Most people don’t know where to start, what questions to ask and they don’t understand the process. So if you are thinking of getting a website designed, here are answers to some frequently asked questions, which you may have wanted to ask:

1. What is a domain name?

A domain name is like a street address or telephone number. The domain name points visitors to you on the Internet. The domain by itself is not your email or web address. The domain name, however, forms the base from which these addresses are derived.

For example:

Company Name: Websites 4 Small Business
Domain Name: web4business.com.au
Web Address: http://www.web4business.com.au/
Email Address: info@web4business.com.au

2. Do I need to register a domain name to have a website?

The simple answer is NO. You do not need to have your own domain name. Your website can be created and hosted without it. Your website address will look something like this: www.web4business.com.au/JBCleaning OR www.ozemail.com.au/~JBCleaning

The only advantage of not registering a domain name is that you will save yourself a few dollars. The disadvantages of NOT having your domain name include ...

Continue reading Frequently Asked Questions About Websites


For more information about running a small business and website design, go to:
http://www.web4business.com.au/

Website Design - Enhance your website with free google gadgets

Website Design - Enhance your website with free google gadgets

If you are wanting to add a bit of ooomph to your website without having to spend thousands of dollars on developing your own applications, you can take advantage of Google’s Free Gadgets.

What are Google Gadgets?

Google Gadgets are visually appealing mini applications such as clocks, weather globes, media players etc that add interactivity to your website.

There are several thousand free gadgets available in the following categories:

News
Tools
Communication
Fun & Games
Finance
Sports
Lifestyle
Technology ...

Read more of the article - Website Design - Enhance your website with free google gadgets

For more information about website design and running a small business, visit
http://www.web4business.com.au/

Website Design - Does Your Website Need an Extreme Makeover?

Articles - Does Your Website Need an Extreme Makeover?

It was Friday night and I was enjoying a quiet dinner at home, when suddenly CRACK! – part of my tooth broke off!!!!! “Damn” I thought, “Now what?” I immediately went online to see if I could find a dentist that is open on Saturday morning. So I searched and searched.

The good news was there were plenty of dentists in my area … the bad news was that I couldn’t find whether they were open on Saturdays. After looking through various websites for about an hour, I narrowed it down to three dentists, who were open on the weekend. But in the end there was no competition as only one of the dentists had a professional looking website! ...

Read more on Does Your Website Need an Extreme Makeover?

For more information about website design, go to
http://www.web4business.com.au/

Website Marketing - Using Blogs as a Free Marketing Tool For Your Business

Articles - Using Blogs as a Free Marketing Tool For Your Business

I admit I stuck my head in the sand when I first heard about Blogs. It was just too hard (so I thought) - another new technology to master and I wasn’t even sure of the benefits, so I ignored them for a while.

Then I attended a marketing seminar where a whole session was devoted to Blogs - how simple they were to set up and use and what unbelievable benefits they provided for a business. And the best part – most of them are free!!!!

So what exactly is a blog?

A blog is basically a journal that is available on the web. The activity of updating a blog is "blogging" and someone who keeps a blog is a "blogger." Blogs are typically updated daily or weekly using software that allows people with little or no technical background to update and maintain the blog.

Read more about Using Blogs as a Free Marketing Tool For Your Business

For information about creating a website for your small business, go to:
http://www.web4business.com.au/

Small Business Finance - How to Use Other People's Money

Small Business Finance - How to Use Other People's Money

How to Use Other People's Money for Your Business

'Money is a terrible master but an excellent servant.' - P.T. Barnum

John Ray, the famous 17th century author, was known to have written the aphorism, 'Money begets money.'

In the business world, I'm sure you've also heard the saying, 'You've got to have money to make money.'

There are countless sources of cash, but by far, the best one to utilize for your business is ... other people's money.

Perhaps one of the greatest 'secrets' of the richest people in the world is summed up in those 3 words: Other People's Money - OPM for short.

Articles - How to Use Other People's Money

For information about running your small business, visit
Websites 4 Small Business

Business Marketing - How To Write Press Releases That Get Published

Business Marketing - How To Write Press Releases That Get Published

Do you want to know the secret of writing a news release that will get published? Here it is:

My secret for publicity success, developed from rigorous self assessment, after having sent out over a million faxed news releases on behalf of over 2,000 clients:

'Tell me a story, give me a local news angle, touch my heart (make me laugh or cry), hit me in my pocketbook, make my stomach turn over, or grab my gonads.'

Do this as many times as possible in a one page news release in 30 seconds or less and you will succeed in getting publicity.

A few years ago I spoke at the National Public Relations Society meetings in Omaha. I found out that most publicists at most big PR firms don't have a real clue about how to write a news release to get news coverage. They write corporate fluff.

Rarely do you see them create something that makes an editor drop what he’s doing and pick up the phone and call. And yet this is what you want an editor to do.

Read more on Business Marketing - How To Write Press Releases That Get Published

For more information about website design and small business, go to:
http://www.web4business.com.au/

Search Engine Optimisation

Articles - A Down and Dirty Guide to Search Engine Optimisation

A Down and Dirty Guide to Search Engine Optimisation and Positioning

I've been asked here to sum up what everyone should know about search engine positioning.

First, two caveats:

1) Search Engine Positioning is only a tiny part of the big Internet Marketing picture. It takes time and there are other things that will pay off far more in the long run.

2) This is a gross simplification of the whole process.

With that said, let's dive in.
1. This discussion will focus on spider engines. That is, an engine that goes to your site and indexes you based on what it finds. Directories are a whole 'nother ball game (which we will address in another article). Good examples of spiders are: Infoseek, Excite, and AltaVista.

Read more about Search Engine Optimisation

Websites 4 Small Business
http://www.web4business.com.au/

Free Website Promotion

Free Website Promotion - How to Get Free Super Powerful Publicity for your Business:
by Ivana Katz

Having worked with a large number of small business owners, one common mistake I see over and over again is the obscene amounts of money they throw away on advertising. Many of them believe the more money they spend, the more business it will bring. WRONG!!! WRONG!!! WRONG!!!

So what’s a new entrepreneur to do?
It’s simple!!! Write articles.

Writing articles is an excellent way for you to get free publicity. Getting an article published is free and some publications even pay for your contributions. The publicity you receive by having your article published in a newspaper, magazine or website can be worth thousands of dollars in equivalent advertising space. Well written articles yield better results than advertisements and earn you respect from customers, who see you as an expert in your field.

Read more about Free Website Promotion

Websites 4 Small Business
http://www.web4business.com.au/

30 Ways to promote your business on a shoestring budget - Tip 30

30. Joint Ventures

A joint venture is an agreement in which two or more businesses work on a project for a set period of time. Joint ventures can be long-term or short-term. With joint venture you can:

(a) Build long lasting business relationships.
(b) Increase your credibility by teaming up with other reputable, branded businesses.
(c) Get free or discounted products and services.
(d) Set up most joint venture deals with little or no money.
(e) Gain new leads and customers.
(f) Offer your customers new products and services.
(g) Get rid of your extra inventory.
(h) Find and create new distribution channels for your products.

To learn more about Joint Ventures, visit:

www.howtowritehypnoticjointventureproposals.com

There are many excellent ebooks on internet marketing. I would strongly recommend you pick up at least one or two and start reading. For a list of some great electronic books and tools, which are available for instant download, visit:

http://www.web4business.com.au/BusinessTools.htm

Websites 4 Small Business
www.web4business.com.au

30 ways to promote your website on a shoestring budget - Part 29

29. Viral marketing

On the Internet, viral marketing is any marketing technique that induces Web sites or users to pass on a marketing message to other sites or users, creating a potentially exponential growth in the message's visibility and effect. One example of successful viral marketing is Hotmail, a company, now owned by Microsoft. Their strategy is simple:

(a) Give away free e-mail addresses and services,

(b) Attach a simple tag at the bottom of every free message sent out: "Get your private, free email at http://www.hotmail.com" and,

(c) Then stand back while people e-mail to their own network of friends and associates,

(d) Who see the message,

(e) Sign up for their own free e-mail service, and then

(f) Propel the message still wider to their own ever-increasing circles of friends and associates.

Some viral marketing strategies work better than others. Below are basic elements you should try to include in your strategy.

(a) Give away products or servicesMost viral marketing programs give away valuable products or services to attract attention. Free e-mail services, free information, free "cool" buttons, free software programs etc

(b) Provide for effortless transfer to othersThe medium that carries your marketing message must be easy to transfer and replicate: e-mail, website, graphic, software download. From a marketing standpoint, you must simplify your marketing message so it can be transmitted easily and without degradation. Short is better.

(c) Scale easily from small to very largeTo spread like wildfire the transmission method must be rapidly scalable from small to very large. Ensure you have enough resources, such as mail servers and staff that will be able to handle the increase in business.

(d) Exploit common motivations and behaviorsClever viral marketing plans take advantage of common human motivations such as greed, the desire to be cool, hunger to be popular, loved, and understood.

(e) Utilize existing communication networksEach person has a network of 8 to 12 people in their close network of friends, family, and associates. A person's broader network may consist of hundreds or thousands of people. People on the Internet develop networks of relationships, too. They collect e-mail addresses and favourite website URLs. Affiliate programs exploit such networks, as do permission e-mail lists. Learn to place your message into existing communications between people, and you rapidly multiply its dispersion.

(f) Take advantage of others' resourcesThe most creative viral marketing plans use others' resources to get the word out. For example, affiliate programs place text or graphic links on others' websites, authors give away free articles, news release can be picked up by a large number of publications as they form the basis of articles seen by hundreds of thousands of readers.

Ivana Katz
Websites 4 Small Business
www.web4business.com.au

30 ways to promote your website on a shoestring budget - Part 28

28. eBay

If you sell products (as opposed to services) in your business, one of the best marketing tools you can use is eBay. eBay is a community where individuals and businesses can buy and sell a vast range of new and used items at fair market prices.

The main reasons why you should sell on eBay include:
- You can sell little or lot of practically anything from antiques to cars.
- Gain access to the millions of eBay buyers worldwide.
- Feel safe with policies and protections of the Community.
- Sell as an individual, small business, enterprise, and more!

For more information visit: www.ebay.com for selling globally or www.ebay.com.au for selling within Australia.

Ivana Katz
Websites 4 Small Business
http://www.web4business.com.au/

Recommended Reading - The Big Book of Small Business

The Big Book of Small Business

In The Big Book of Small Business, Tom shares his hard-earned lessons on how to become an enlightened, effective leader, and on how to do the small things right so the big decisions work. This all-in-one toolbox for small businesses is jammed with warm-hearted, tough-minded practices and street-smart tips, covering every aspect of a growing business:

Starting, funding, and getting your new business off the ground
Crafting a mission and growing a corporate culture that works
Hiring the best people and maximizing their potential
Communicating and negotiating with your employees, customers, and suppliers
Creating processes for continuous innovation and growth
Protecting your business from unforeseen dangers
Planning for growth
And much more . . .

As thorough as a textbook and as lively as a news magazine, The Big Book of Small Business is the most comprehensive and practical book on how to take a small business to the next level, and an indispensable slingshot for the million.

To order this book in Australia, click hereTo order this book in USA, click here

Ivana Katz
Websites 4 Small Business

30 ways to promote your website on a shoestring budget - Part 27

27. Word of mouth / Testimonials

Word-of-mouth marketing truly is one of the best ways to promote your business. The three most important things you can do to start the process of increasing your business through word-of-mouth include:

(a) Diversify your networks by becoming visible and active in the community. Participate in various networking groups and/or professional associations.

(b) Set up a contact list of businesses that are complementary and non-competitive to you. For example: a lawyer, an accountant, a financial planner and a banker. All of them have clients with overlapping similar needs. They can all work with and refer each other easily. Another good example is a florist, a photographer, a travel agent and a jeweler. A referral for one of them becomes a referral for all of them.

(c) Building your business through word-of-mouth is about cultivating relationships with people who get to know you and trust you. People do business with people they have confidence in. It's not what you know, or whom you know, it's how well you know them that counts. If you go into this process understanding this one key point, you will have a better opportunity to build your business through word-of-mouth.

Ivana Katz
Websites 4 Small Business
http://www.web4business.com.au/

30 ways to promote your website on a shoestring budget - Part 26

26. Postcards

If looking to target potential customers, don’t overlook postcard marketing. Postcards achieve almost a 100% readership, while being simple to use and inexpensive.

Postcards:
- keep your name in front of customers - generate a high return on investment - are flexible, informative and creative - have high impact and low cost

Postcards can be used to:
- generate website traffic and sales leads - promote new specials or company awareness - announce new products, websites, store locations - thank customers - use as a discount offer /coupon

Repetition is the key to effective marketing efforts and postcards offer an inexpensive way of doing it.

Ivana Katz
Websites 4 Small Business
www.web4business.com.au

30 ways to promote your website on a shoestring budget - Part 25

25. Print advertising

Writing the Copy

When it comes to print advertising, you have to get to the point—fast. Your headlines should motivate readers to want to read on to learn more about your product, price and offer. Effective headlines address a pressing customer need or desire. The reality is that people care more about themselves—and what you can do for them—than about your business. You'll get a much higher response rate when your headline quickly answers the question, "What's in it for me?"
In the body of your copy, offer an incentive for the reader to call you or come to your store. You may want to offer a discount or a free giveaway

Placing the Ad

Newspaper ads are very effective for businesses that market their products and services locally. Not only can you reach a large number of people in a specific metropolitan location, but you can also target prospects via their interests (in the sports, lifestyle and business sections, for example).
Advertising costs depend on a number of factors, including the size of the ad, where it's placed, the day it runs and so on. Call and request a media kit from the newspaper or magazine so you can determine what advertising steps you can take that will fit with your marketing budget.
Consider placing print advertisements in local publications, national publications, industry publications, target market specific publications, yellow pages, local directories, special catalogues

Ivana Katz
Websites 4 Small Business
http://www.web4business.com.au/

30 ways to promote your website on a shoestring budget - Part 24

24. Radio advertising

You may have shied away from radio advertising, thinking the cost would be well over your budget and it may very well be if you were to advertise on commercial radio stations. But have you considered community radio stations? There are hundreds of them around and the great thing is that they will reach your local market. For community radio stations in your area, visit your local yellow pages or search on the internet.

Ivana Katz
Websites 4 Small Business
http://www.web4business.com.au/

30 ways to promote your website on a shoestring budget - Part 23

23. Media Releases

Having a story written about you and your business will not only bring you lots of new customers (at no cost to you), but will also provide you massive credibility. Stories about you in the media are far more believable, powerful and attractive than any ads you could possibly run. People will trust and respect you instantly.

A media release (also called press or news releases) should provide enough details to be informative, but it should leave out just enough information to be tantalizing that the media person calls you to find out more.

Your media release should feature the following:

(a) The Headline This is 90% of your release. Your headline will do almost all of the work in attracting attention to you.

(b) The Summary This is the first part of the media release and should tell your story briefly.

(c) Credentials & Quotations Insert quotes from other people and include the person’s credentials

(d) Call to Action What do you want the person reading this release to do? You want them to call you for an interview. So provide your contact details and write a very brief outline of why you would be an interesting person to interview.

For more information about writing media releases visit:
PRWeb - Tell your company story to thousands!
Press Release - www.pressrelease.com.au
Elance - www.elance.com
PRNewswire - www.prnewswire.com
NewsBureau - www.newsbureau.com

Ivana Katz
Websites 4 Small Business
http://www.web4business.com.au/