Are You Really Ready to Build a New Website or Blog?

If I had a $1,000 for every time I heard one of the below statements, I’d be retired and sitting on a warm beach right now!

I had a website built by some guy. It’s never worked.
We have a website, we just need you to help us get more sales.
My current website is fine. However, it doesn’t show up on Google and nobody knows we exist.
Our website is fine, it really is. I just need more customers.
We don’t have budget to invest in market research, business planning, strategy development, internal training or planning right now. We just need a website and Facebook page with lots of likes.
Can we meet to talk about a strategy to generate revenue for my business? I don’t have any money because I already spent it on the last agency that built my website, Facebook pages, printed collateral and new business cards.
Will you consider revenue share? We know our website is going to kick butt but we just don’t have any money right now. You can be a millionaire with us if you just help us for free right now!
This post is not for the social faint at heart. I am going to tell you what others want to tell you but don’t have the guts. It may not be what you want to hear. Yet it is likely what many of you NEED to hear.
The others in your social business and digital marketing ecosystem may have not told you what I am about to tell you because they wanted to sell you the website, coaching, training, Facebook pages, logo, video, Google Adwords setup or who knows what. Or maybe they haven’t told you because they don’t know how to fix it.
Your current social media efforts are not working because you started at the wrong place.
Failing to plan is planning to fail.

Change your thinking. Think digital social fabric, not website or Facebook page.

You need to quit thinking you “need a website.” The truth is you don’t. If you don’t know your audience, and don’t have a plan, the last thing you need to do right now is build a website that will be nothing more than a band-aid to a much bigger problem you may not know you have.
You can download our POST Audience Analysis Worksheet here. It will get you off to a good start in prioritizing and analyzing your audience.
Don’t even think about building a website if you can’t answer the majority of these questions:

• Who are you?
• What are you to your target audience?
• Who is your target audience?
• What are their demographics? Psychographics?
• What are their goals? What keeps them up at night?
• Why do you need a website?
• What do you want to achieve with it?
• What are your goals, objectives? What does success look like in 3 months, 6 months, 1 year?
• What will you do to inspire, connect and engage your audience when they land on your website? What will you do to inspire them to stick around for longer than 30 seconds?
• What do you offer that the other 100 websites or businesses just like yours don’t already offer?
• Why should anyone care that your business exists? Why should they care your website exists?
• How will you nurture relationships?
• How will you communicate with them? What tone do they speak in?
• What social platforms are they hanging out on?
• Who do they hang out with?
• Why do they hang out on those platforms?
• When do they hang out on what social platform?
• How will you earn their trust, build credibility?

I could list 100 questions here but won’t. I think you get the point. We help our clients from entrepreneurs to Fortune 50, answer these questions every day with our social media and social business audits, social business and social media strategy development, consulting and execution services. I’m speaking from experience, not theory.
We often work more on the inside of organizations than we do on the digital outside because that is where most businesses need help. It’s important you start from the inside out. As Sandy Carter of IBM states, “culture eats strategy for lunch.” I agree with her statement 100% even though I am a lover and strong believer of strategy.

You are the Thread of the Social Fabric

What is the social web today? It is not a singular website, Facebook page, Twitter profile or Google + account.
It is not one singular blog post, tweet, status update, or pin. It is not one single experience but a series of experiences.
A series of conversations that weave a beautiful, relevant, vibrant, dynamic, breathing fabric that connects consumers, influencers, business leaders, moms, dads, entrepreneurs, teens, teachers, plumbers, gamers, programmers, geeks, fashion models, comedians, sailors, photographers, entrepreneurs and even grandma.
It connects them via threads of conversations, posts, pictures, pins, quotes, content, education, inspiration, laughs, prayers and even tears.
If you are not a positive contributing part of this intricately weaved social fabric the chances of you seeing any real return on your investment in your website or other digital assets are few and far between.

You need an integrated social business platform.

You need to develop an integrated business platform that will inspire, connect, entertain and attract your target customers to you. It must inspire, educate and engage them in a way that builds trust, nurtures relationships and makes them know you are relevant to their business and / or life.
I know it may not be what you want to hear from me when you fill out a web form on our website. We’ve had many business leaders asking for help making their current, broken platform work.
The truth is if your website is built on old technology, doesn’t have a user experience designed for your target audience it is often more cost efficient for us to start over than to clean up what you have. The reason is that your current digital platform is a mess. It was probably done by someone that didn’t understand or work under the constraints of what I describe in this post. They instead sold you on a random act of marketing, random act of social media or random act of website. It’s simply not how it works folks.

Avoid Random Acts of Marketing!

Random Acts of Marketing (RAMs) will eat any morsel of a chance of ROI for lunch before you have time to open the fridge to see what your options are.
One of the biggest misconception is that you can just “do social media” and have overnight success. Many preach this and tout that you can just jump on Twitter or Facebook and you can be an overnight millionaire. While this may have happened for a few, it doesn’t happen for the majority. What these folks are really selling is quick fixes, band-aids and random acts of social media and marketing. I am not stating you shouldn’t hop on Twitter or Facebook. I am stating you should not expect overnight results.
If you do the double click on the folks preaching overnight success you will find many of them learned the hard way, though they may not tell you such. Many took years if not decades to finally make money online. Few of them have real business experience outside of their own internet marketing startup. Yes, they may be able to help you get where you need to go eventually based on tactics and a random set of deliverables. However, you need to know where you are going, first. This post is dedicated to those who of you who don’t know where you’re going and why you are going there in the first place.
If this post resonates with you, take a deep breath. It’s time you slow down to speed up. You may need to take a step back to take two steps forward. Quit listening to every self proclaimed “social media guru” selling you every Pinterest, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google + class and instead do what you know needs done.
It’s time you plan yer’ work and work yer’ plan as Granny would say! It’s time you get in the head of your target audience. It’s time to truly understand what it means to humanize your brand, story telling and your conversations.

The Language Is Changing

The social fabric is speaking a different language today than that of the days of corporate websites, collateral and traditional advertising. If you don’t learn the language you are going to be left behind in a big way. It IS the reason why your website is not working. So quit blaming it on the web developer you hired. He or she probably did what you told them to do. Stand up, take responsibility for your business and do what needs to be done, period!
If your current methods aren’t working, then fix them. We are happy to help you but we can’t help you unless you want to help yourself. Help me help you. Change your mindset and delete the notion of overnight success from your thinking.
Achieving real results is going to take commitment, research, analysis, late nights, and hard work. Quit cryin’ and do something about it. If you want help, call us. No, we can’t meet with you for free to help you plan your strategy and put a proposal the size of Texas together that you’ll try to go implement yourself. We can spot these “free lunch” seekers from a mile away ;)
For the brave and the strong we promise to work in the trenches with you. We will help you answer all of the above questions and more. We’ll help you develop and execute a strategy, plan, and integrated digital platform that will simply kick butt! If you don’t call us, call somebody. Your excuses are done. You can and will do this!

http://www.business2community.com/online-marketing/are-you-really-ready-to-build-a-new-website-or-blog-0464177

Working From Home In Times Of The Global Meltdown

The recession has struck the world badly and it is going to last at least till 2010 as reports predict. Businesses are going to plummet more than they have done till now, and the ones that will bear the biggest brunt of the meltdown will be the big corporate industries. Already there have been several millions of people put out of their jobs and there will be more casualties among the service sectors of the world. What is most significant to note is that this is a global effect and very soon even the companies that seem unshakeable on the surface are going to see the effects of this worldwide phenomenon.

At the same time, analysts are putting forth several solutions to keep your daily bread and butter, so to say, in times of this great recession of the first decade of the 21st century. One of these solutions that are being spoken of very emphatically is multilevel marketing. Experts are pitching in with ideas how multilevel marketing could rise to greater prominence in these troubled times and actually be a solution to various people's financial problems.

There are many things to indicate the possible occurrence of this trend.

 

1.            Firstly, the factor that business opportunity is almost a work-at-home opportunity helps. There are no big corporate entities running the show here. The small time entrepreneurs that are hooked into most business ventures are sure to sally forth and make much more than their living.

2.            The very concept of having your own home business is a minimum-expense proposition. While other companies are trying to cut down costs, that would never affect the home business enterprises because they don't have any costs to speak of. The whole idea works through referring other people to join the network and promote the company's products. Among the scores of other costs that are saved, the savings on advertising are immense.

3.            Then there is the fact that the Internet itself is gaining prominence because it is easily accessible to everyone. People are looking for job opportunities on the Internet like never before and certainly the home business opportunities seem much too enticing to resist, whether they are for some supplementary income or even as a main source of income.

These are some indications that your own home business is going to become a greater phenomenon than it already is during the recession. The process of this has already begun, which is clearly seen with the great number of business opportunities websites that have made their appearance on the Internet since 2006.

Crossing the Borders—Some Tips for International Online Marketing

Points Farther Beyond
You start your business. People get to know it locally. It does well. You get a little bigger regionally, again with more success. Then you stretch out to clients across your country. Now you are really cooking, doing your job well, and bringing in the financial rewards. That’s it. There’s nowhere left to go. Right?
Well, not exactly.
If you reach this point in your online business career, you’ve done well. There’s often no reason to go beyond this point and you can continue running your business at that optimum level, on that desired scale. But if you want to go a bit bigger, if you want more exposure, you might start thinking about international online business marketing.
With the Internet being what it is today, there aren’t a lot of borders that can’t be crossed by a well-experienced online business pro. In fact, it’s quite a lucrative opportunity to take your products and services to clients across borders and overseas—you are creating a bigger name for yourself by doing so. But crossing borders of international business means that you will need some preparation to be ready for the international online business game.
Passport to Success
Research and homework are what you need to be doing in your role as an international business marketer, and you have to be prepared to do a lot of it. Which countries you want to target, what products or services do the citizens of that country crave, what sort of regulations there are for web site marketing: all of these matters need to be addressed if you are going to take to the high seas of international online marketing. Paying close attention to what regulations you have to follow and what certifications you may need before your venture begins are key here. For example, you might be able to market in Scotland a bit easier than, say, Myanmar.
Factored into all of this are costs. You are likely going to have to develop an international product line with new languages in order for the locals to understand, and you’ll likely have to develop this all under slightly different sales circumstances. This costs money, so be sure you check exchanges and learn how to charge, collect fees, invoice, etc. With your online marketing material, things like search engine optimization (SEO) costs and advertising fees, plus any taxes are all things you need to consider when it comes to costs.
New strategies of marketing are worth looking into as well. Other countries might respond better to a particular format of marketing than the ones you typically use. Your work in video search engine marketing (SEM) might have faltered at the local level, but producing a video under new international video SEO standards could reap new benefits due to those clients responding better to visual media than the local clients do, for example.
Guided Help and Assistance
You can’t predict a lot about the world these days, except the ironic fact that it’s unpredictable. The world changes all the time—politically, economically, and socially. The biggest problem you face with doing your online business internationally is trying to predict the future and then continually adapting your business to suit your predictions. Some independent business pros working on the Internet have a better natural skill for this than others. They can see new trends, often very early on, and are able to intuitively fix their business to match what’s in demand.
Don’t sweat it if you don’t have this sixth-sense-like ability. You’re only human. However, it never hurts to hire someone who does. Hiring out an SEM service that specializes in doing business online over multiple borders, even if only on a short-term contract, can help make your business formidable on international terrain. Like a traveler who’s new to foreign land, getting some outside, expert advice on digital international business trends can be an excellent guide to help your business last longer in new lands, with new people.
To get more help on all your SEO, web site design, and web traffic needs, e-mail Numero Uno Web Solutions Inc. at info@numerounoweb.com.

http://www.business2community.com/online-marketing/crossing-the-borders-some-tips-for-international-online-marketing-0462359

How To Distinguish A Business Scam From A Genuine Opportunity

Home business itself is not bad at all, but there are some unscrupulous elements here as in every other place that are giving it a bad name. However, if you know certain things that you must look out for, you will find that this not bad at all. Here are some tips that will help you select a genuine business opportunity.

Beware of Pyramid Schemes

The main reason why the fair name of home business got sullied was because of the pyramid schemes. These pyramid schemes also follow a network building principle where every person that signs up into the network has to pay some money. The only intention here is to get as many people into the network as possible. The bad thing about it is that there is no product to sell! This is an empty scheme where people induct other people and go on making money. Though these pyramid schemes are banned in most places of the world, there are some that operate clandestinely still. Make doubly sure that the network you are planning to join has something to sell and is not a pyramid scheme.

What is the Membership Fee?

It is normal to have to pay something when you are signing up, but you have to check carefully how much you are paying. Generally, membership fees in multilevel marketing ventures do not go beyond $200 and even there, you are getting a complete kit, with the product included. The kit will contain a manual about the product range, an instruction guide for you, the product samples and various other things such as pins, stickers and banners that you can use for the promotion. The more the amount of stationery you get, the more genuine the scheme is likely to be.

Is Their Plan Convincing?

You have to keep your discretion about you at all times. Do not sign up on the first instance. When an opportunity looks good, first do some research on it. Go to Internet forums and see what people are saying about it. Meet a representative and speak to them. Ask questions and seek answers. Only when you are properly convinced that their plan is workable must you sign up.

Do Some Background Checks

Find out since how long this company is working and, if possible, find out how many people there are in the network. But that is not to say that newbie companies are all bad. If their policy is very clear and transparent and you are convinced, you can surely go ahead with them.

 

Are You Choosing Your Prospects Carefully?

Multilevel marketing is a people's game. It is solely dependent on the people that run the show by joining in the network. Everyone that comes in has to move the baton forward; that's how MLM runs. It all boils down to this – you have to choose your prospects carefully. This is not just so that they go ahead and join your MLM network but also so that they move things ahead by being constructive and expanding their own downlines. Without that, your network is not going to move ahead at all.

 Now, if your MLM prospect is not worthy, there are many problems that can happen.

They will not join the network despite your best efforts at convincing them, and that will only lead to frustration in you, even to the point of demoralizing you about the whole idea.

Even if they join the network, they may not be instrumental in expanding it, creating a kind of a block in the way of progress.

Both these things are bad for the MLM business. That is precisely the reason why network marketing professionals speak so much about choosing prospects intelligently so that the network actually moves ahead because of them and so that they do not become liabilities on others who are already in the network.

In fact, this explains why network marketing professionals have begun taking to the Internet so hugely to expand their businesses. There is one great benefit about online promotion – you can make interested people come to you automatically. The prospects that you get with your online marketing methods are those that have already mentally bought the idea; you only have to convince them now to physically join into it.

See, when you use something like article marketing to promote your MLM concept, most of the vital information about your concept is already there in the article. Who will read your article anyway? Only people who are looking for a good opportunity like this and have searched on Google or Yahoo! or somewhere will reach there. When your article interests them, then and only then will they click on the URL of your website and visit it. So that means these people are already presold on the idea.

The same applies to people who click on your URL below the blog posts that you make. The best flow of targeted prospects comes from an opt in list that you have them fill out with their email ids in exchange of a free eBook or a free newsletter or something like that. These people are your best prospects.

Of course, you can get a good prospect base even from seminars that you conduct from time to time, but that is an expensive affair. The best and cheapest prospects for your MLM business always come from your Internet promotional strategies.

10 Tips On Choosing A Good home business

 

1.            Are you convinced with the product that you will have to sell with the business opportunity? If not, there is no reason you should go ahead with it.

2.            Are you convinced of their business plan? Most importantly, have you understood it thoroughly and will you be able to explain it to others in the same way your business representative does it for you? If the business plan is complicated or if you think you will not be able to explain it to others, you can give this one a miss.

 

3.            Do they insist on some unreasonable membership fee? Most home businesses are low investment opportunities. If you have to spend more than $200 to be a part of the activity, drop it.

4.            You must get a complete kit when you join. It should contain a detailed instruction manual and a manual about the product you will be selling too. It should have several things that can help you promote the product such as stickers, buttons and pins, etc.

5.            How are your immediate upline members? Your leader, the one who explains the business to you when you join, must be friendly and even charismatic. He or she must be able to help you initially in convincing people to join.

6.            Does the business hold seminars to induct more people frequently? Remember that without such contact programs, it will become difficult to bring more members to the network. The physical approach is unbeatable. Also, leaders must be present at these seminars to speak to the people and convince them.

 7.            Does the business have an online presence? Without that, you can give all hopes of earning good money. The best way to bring in more people is through the Internet. The business should use these opportunities to the maximum extent.

8.            Do you have enough people to back you and support you, at least initially? Are you a social person? Such things help in getting the initial members. It is a good idea to speak to some people in your immediate circle to find out whether they will support you by joining the network themselves.

9.            Do you have time for the activity? Remember that a business venture is not a get-rich-quick scheme. You have to put in effort. If you cannot, no such activity will work for you.

10.          What is the reputation of the company? This is highly important. The products will be sold faster if the company has some reputation. It is difficult to join newbie companies that no one has heard of, unless they have some highly innovative products that people would love to interest themselves in.

The Showroom Shuffle

Was it really all that long ago that “The Macarena” swept the world by storm and people were performing it everywhere? Of course that was before the rise in popularity of social media and a truly interactive internet.
In today’s news, and with the aid of internet acceleration, “The Harlem Shake” has become an overnight, international phenomenon. Best described as drunken, spastic, spontaneous line dancing, The Harlem Shake went viral in February 2013 and continues to gather momentum. If you’ve never heard of it, do yourself a favour and Google it right now to save yourself the embarrassment when it comes up in a future conversation with your friends or colleagues.
I must admit that I am more than amazed, considering the flamboyant and overt emphasis on promotion, that more dealerships haven’t already released their own YouTube versions of The Harlem Shake. I bring up The Harlem Shake as an example of how trends go viral globally and instantaneously at flash-fire speed in today’s connected world.

Most recently, I noticed a trend developing specifically in automotive retail that has the potential of becoming a viral phenomenon. It’s been termed “Show rooming.” Show rooming describes the growing practice of consumers continuing to shop online using their mobile devices even while they are on your lot, driving your cars, and interacting with your sales professionals. For the purposes of this article, let’s term the phenomenon ‘The Showroom Shuffle.’

Back in December, one of the dealerships I work with messaged me all excited, because they had just delivered a pre-owned Dodge Challenger to a customer who had watched one of their videos on YouTube where they had demonstrated the vehicle. The customer did this while sitting in the waiting area of another dealership! In fact, the customer was waiting to get into the F&I office to sign the contract when they decided instead to contact my dealer.

Think about that scenario again for a moment. The customer had already made a deal on a unit at another dealership, and before they could get the contract signed, the customer backed out, left the dealership, and bought instead from the dealership I am working with.
J.D. Power and others have published statistical data that speak to the phenomenon of Show rooming. According to their 2012 Automotive Mobile Site Study, 31% of in-market vehicle shoppers visited auto websites via their smartphones with over half of those shoppers doing so while physically at a dealership. Slap a little cold water in your face here, dealers...Your customers are still shopping you against other dealers right up until the moment they physically sign the contract!
So, how does your dealership defend the deal even when the customer is physically on your turf, but still shopping? And, even more fun when you are the competitor, how do you steal a deal from a customer who is actually seated at a sales person’s desk in another dealership? Two strategies:
First, do not have your salespeople away from the customer for long periods of time, especially during discussions of figures or negotiations. I am amazed at sales processes where the sales person leaves the customer sitting in the office by themselves while he/she goes and talks at length with the manager or spends a half hour getting the trade appraised while the customers are virtually unsupervised or unoccupied. What exactly did you think they were doing while your sales person was not in their presence? Instead, change your process to ensure the sales person remains with the customer most of the time. One last thing: Never, ever let them take the car on a test drive without your sales person accompanying them…duh!
Second, be available to online shoppers in real time, all of the time. This is where a mobile-enabled dealer chat and texting service like Contact At Once! is essential in today’s competitive retail environment. It’s not only necessary to place it on your website, but also at every touch point between you and the consumer. Think about it—a Show rooming customer is much more likely to chat or text you than to call you if they are sitting in front of your competitor. When you add chat or texting options like you would your phone number to your marketing, its proven that more of today’s smartphone and internet savvy shoppers will take you up on the offer to converse.
Remember, a deal has a heartbeat, a pulse, a rhythm. It’s all about timing. If that customer at another dealership is still shopping, you’re only going to get one shot and the window to respond closes quickly. When you’ve missed it, it’s gone. Do you want to be the victor or the victim? Be sure you’re equipped with the right tools and the right sales processes to win the conquest deal or keep the deal you thought you already had.

http://dealermarketing.com/internet-marketing/social-media/3057-the-showroom-shuffle