Search Engine Guide : Small Business Search Marketing

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How to Make Decisions That'll Rock Your SEO Campaign, Part II

by Stoney deGeyter

Yesterday we looked at five decision making strategies and applied them to SEO. Today we'll conclude with an additional five ways to help you make better SEO and business success decisions.

Take time to get all the facts; conjecture leads to crisis.

There are two sets of facts that you need to have before moving forward with any type of SEO strategy or fix. The first is understanding what the problems with the site are, and the second is knowing what can or cannot be done to fix them.

When putting together your options for moving forward, understanding these facts will help you sort out which options are viable and which are not. Moving forward without being fully aware of all the facts leads to poor decisions based off of an incomplete or poorly considered set of options.

Once you know the problem and have a set of options to work from, you then need to be sure to fully understand the potential implementation of each of these options. Some options are simply not as workable on some sites as on others. Knowing what you're working with and how each option may play out within the confines of your site matters a great deal.

Consider the consequences of each action.

As an SEO we have to be fully aware that every change to a site could have potentially negative consequences. Granted most strategies have been proven to produce a positive impact on websites, but this isn't true 100% of the time. Some changes will have a positive long-term impact but have a severely negative short-term effect.

Before moving forward with any change to a site you have to consider both the long- and short- term consequences. Any short-term negatives have to be weighed against the overall long-term gains. In many cases the overall gain isn't worth the losses that'll happen in between. A good example of this is changing URL structure just to get keywords in the URLs. The gain will be minimal while the temporary loss in rankings can be significant.

Make sure your expectations don't exceed your potential and your resources.

One of the hardest thing to do in SEO is to manage expectations properly. An SEO selling their services will often promise miracles to get the sale but then tell the client not to expect miracles at all. SEO is never a magic solution and often times what we think will be an easy job turns out to be anything but. It's like peeling back the layers of an onions. You get one problem solved and that uncovers several more problems.

One of the primary issues with keeping expectations in balance is ensuring that client knows what they can expect for the investment they have made. Sometimes you promise little but the client expects a great deal, even though they are paying for very little. It's important that the client knows what they'll be getting for the service they have paid for and understand that sometimes you have to pay more to get more.

Time is your most limited and valuable resource. Don't wast it.

My personal philosophy on time is don't do yourself what you can pay someone else to do for you. Especially if you know they can do it more quickly and efficiently.

As they say, time is money.

Every small business owner has this dilemma. How much should they do themselves versus how much can they afford to hire someone to do for them. When it comes to SEO, the business owner must decide how much of their own time can be dedicated to doing the detailed work, or if their time is better spent elsewhere, like running the business.

SEO isn't difficult but it does require knowledge. Most of that knowledge is available for free, but that doesn't take into consideration the cost of your time to learn it, implement it and then to ensure each strategy is performing effectively.

On the SEO side, the client is paying for results. There are a lot of things we can spend our time doing for a client, but first and foremost our time must be spent where it will provide the greatest return. This is especially true when budgets are limited. We must put often balance between doing what's important and doing what's urgent. And sometimes we can't do both.

One note to business owners who hire SEOs to do a job for them. Realize that any time they spend taking your calls and answering emails is time away from the work they could be spending on your account. That's not to suggest that your time isn't wisely invested in getting updates, however having to constantly be reassured means that the SEO is spending that time talking rather than doing.

Allow yourself a 10% risk of being wrong, a 50% likelihood of something going wrong, and a 100% commitment to survive it all.

There are many precautions that we must take in life but hope that they won't be unnecessary. Just like insurance, we need to have it but hope to never have to use it. When moving forward with your SEO campaign there are are certain mental precautions that we must understand in order to be prepared for, however unlikely they may be.

The first is that you may be wrong. Shocker! Whether you're wrong about implementing this strategy over that strategy, or choosing one path over another, you have to be content with knowing that at some point or another you'll make a bad decision. Nobody is 100% perfect 100% of the time. Some SEO strategies are implemented based on past performance from other sites, but there is no guarantee that the same strategy will work for this site. Be prepared to be wrong.

You must also be aware that doing all the right things correctly, something may still go seriously and unexpectedly wrong. There is no clear path into the future and only hind site is 20/20. Be prepared for disasters but hope they never come.

Finally, no matter what, you must be committed to overcoming all obstacles and generating your own success. Life throws curve balls and SEO is not an exact enough science to be smooth sailing all the way. So whatever happens, being prepared for the possible but accepting only victory is the only sure way to success.

Success is a path that must be paved by each person making wise decisions. Search engine optimization isn't an instant path to victory. There are still dozens of daily decisions that have to be carefully considered and thoroughly before action is taken. But once you have a history of making good SEO decisions, success becomes much easier.

Every day new habits are developed that help us better understand and implement the myriads of SEO strategies that we are presented with. With each successful decision, the next becomes easier and our rate of implementing a successful SEO campaign increases. Just as in all aspects of life, making solid SEO decisions leads us to a more assured victory online.

Check out our small business news site.

26.11.2008 19:42:04 - Search Engine Guide : Small Business Search Marketing

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Puppy's Picks - 11/25/08

by Jennifer Laycock

I scan hundreds of feeds and read dozens of articles each day so you don't have to. From the new "Twitter-bite" to small businesses turning to the web for cheap marketing, find out which articles I dubbed as must-read for the small business crowd today.

• I remember talking to my friend Matt Bailey earlier this year after a conference and hearing him talk about how he seems our industry shifting from the "sound bite" to the "Twitter bite." His point was that people would soon begin making their points in 140 characters or less, so they could easily be quoted on Twitter. Sure enough, Jim Connolly over at Jim's Marketing Blog has compiled 37 Marketing Tips in 140 Characters or less. (Via via Steve Woodruff.)



• If you've been playing around with Google's free Website Optimizer but wonder if you are missing the boat in terms of potential, you might want to check out a new book by Bryan Eisenberg and John Quarto-vonTivadar. Chris Sherman has a review of Always be Testing: The Complete Guide to Google Website Optimizer" over at Search Engine Land.



• There was a good post in the Bradenton Herald yesterday looking at small businesses and they way they use social networking sites and the web to market their small businesses. These are the local coffee shops, restaurants and other companies that compete with national chains while trying to hold tight to a budget. It's a good read to get a feel for how small businesses are beginning to embrace the web and includes a few bits of simple (and effective) advice.



• Mack Collier delivers another killer post over at Marketing Profs Daily Fix. This one outlines ten things every corporate blog should have. Ten, that's it, ten simple things. If you are blogging, or thinking of blogging, you need to read this list. From comment policies to recruiting your bloggers to RSS buttons, Mack gives you the run down of what you MUST know to get rolling.

Check out our small business news site.

26.11.2008 02:54:04 - Search Engine Guide : Small Business Search Marketing

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How to Make Decisions That'll Rock Your SEO Campaign, Part I

by Stoney deGeyter

There is something about taking everyday life lessons and applying them to specific business situations. We often hear proverbs and anecdotes that we can apply throughout our daily routines, but until we hear them placed into a specific context we are often left with bumper-sticker philosophies that have little practical application.

Last week I presented a two part series of questions that SEOs and clients must ask themselves in order to work together to create a successful optimization campaign. Each of those questions could have been posed of anybody for any situation. But by looking at each specifically in the context of SEO we were able to create a thought process that allows for specific application of those questions in the SEO / client relationship.

Today I want to take a set of guidelines about making good decisions and apply them to the SEO and business success environment. Every day SEOs and business owners looking for ways to improve their online exposure are faced with dozens of decisions. Any one of these decisions can breath life into a dying SEO campaign, push a successful campaign to greater success, or cause a site to crash and burn in the search results.

Here are the first five of ten decision-making guidelines that'll help you rock your SEO and SEM campaigns to success.

Never make permanent decisions based on temporary circumstances.

Rankings are volatile and frequently change as engines adjust their algorithms, new competition emerges and site changes are implemented. Sites that have held top positions for years can often find themselves displaced with the next algorithm update. Sometimes this can be a legitimate drop in relevance, while other times it can be a temporary snafu. Before making any sudden or permanent decisions, you must know the difference.

Every now and then we have a client that watches their rankings on a daily, if not hourly basis. If that ranking drops, for whatever reason, they are on the phone calling us to find out what's going on. Each time we stress the need for patience. Often times the adjustments are temporary and making any changes will be more likely to prevent the ranking from bouncing back.

At the same time, investigation is in order. When such changes happen, one must investigate the issue to determine if the change is a temporary glitch, or if it's the result of something else going on. Only once that determination has been made should any action be taken.

Don't let your emotions blind you to reason.

The business owner or the SEO (if they are different) can often find themselves heavily invested in achieving "top rankings". We've convinced ourselves that the only way to be successful is to have our keyword rank in the number one position. Logically, however, we know this isn't true. There are many different things that factor into success, and search engines are (or at least should be) just a small part of that. Nobody should place the whole of their business success in Google's hands. Especially considering the volatile nature of the search results.

While reason can tell us that the higher the ranking the more traffic you'll receive, but traffic alone is not what you're after. The most crucial thing to being successful is getting more sales while maintaining lower expenses. While you need to have traffic to get sales, increasing traffic isn't always the best way to achieve it.

This is especially true in SEO where targeting certain keywords may bring an abundance of traffic but low conversions and other keywords will bring lower traffic but greater conversion rates. Similarly, changing a title tag may cause a drop in rankings but may also be more compelling and entice more clicks to the site than the better ranking title tag generated.

SEO is about the big picture and we can't get wrapped up in the smaller issues. That's not to say that we should do nothing, but we must be reasonable about what is the right course of action and what action is truly producing the best results for the business.

Surround yourself with sharp people and draw on their gifts, without being intimidated by their expertise.

People are often intimidated by those who know more than themselves. In SEO this mentality can keep us away from seeking out people who may be able to help us in ways that we cannot achieve for ourselves.

In running an SEO firm, I strive to employ the "Robin Hood" model, at least as it was relayed to me by a friend who actually read the book! From what I understand, Robin Hood would not allow someone to be a part of his gang that couldn't beat him in a fight. In order to be successful, Robin Hood brought in only people who were better than him.

This principle applies throughout business and SEO. One person simply cannot have the monopoly on all SEO and web marketing knowledge. Therefore it is important to rely on others who know more and can do better than we ever could. With this model, I find that I learn many new things about SEO from those whom I employ or communicate with because they are in different trenches than I am. At the same time, they learn from my differing skills and expertise as well.

In some cases it's easy to find people to perform certain jobs, especially when we know we have little or no knowledge of that particular area. But in areas where we know we are strong, it's often difficult to bring in others who are just as strong, if not stronger. Especially when they have their own style and way of doing things. SEOs and business owners can benefit a great deal by finding people who's skills overlap and ideas can be bounced off each other, creating far more success than any one could do individually.

Take time to consider all options.

With all the options there are at any given moment of an SEO campaign, it is important that you take adequate time to consider each option carefully. While we can often get far on gut instinct, the first option isn't always the best option.

In SEO, there are times where one set of options will conflict with another leaving you to have to chose which is the best route forward. Other times you simply only want to implement one change or new campaign at a time in order to know what's effective and what's not. In these cases, proper decisions can be made only once all the options are presented and thought through.

Do you change a title tag? Increase or decrease keyword usage? Go out and get more links? Employ a social media campaign? Do you have the budget for one and not another? What is most likely to improve the results? Which is riskier?

These and many other questions must be asked and analyzed before moving forward with any one-single option. And once you decide to move forward, monitor carefully. If the results are negative, go back, undo, and try something different.

Choose your battles.

You can only do so much at a time. One of the things we come up against in performing SEO is budget vs. time. In SEO there are simply an unlimited number of options before you at any given time but you must pick and choose what you can and want to do.

In many cases the fight isn't so much about budget or time, but it's about approval. We often find we can do little more than make certain recommendations and then it's up to the client to do the rest. We can push hard and potentially sour a good relationship, or we can move on to other things that can and will be implemented.

Each decision must be weighted with the potential benefit, both in terms of immediate and long-term success for the optimization campaign and the client. Deciding what to do and when is as important as just about any other decision you can make.

Later this week I'll continue with Part II, providing five more decision making strategies that can be applied to creating a successful SEO campaign.

Check out our small business news site.

25.11.2008 19:06:02 - Search Engine Guide : Small Business Search Marketing

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Wal-Mart Puts the Kabosh on Links to Black Friday Ads

by Sage Lewis

Search Engine Journal reports that Wal-Mart is telling the search engines no links to their black Friday ads; their legal team is even taking action against sites attempting to publish related content. Sage speculates whether Wal-Mart is really that stupid or if this is just some kind of weird marketing ploy. Also in the news are Google and Yahoo. Learn about Google's customizable search feature, SearchWiki, and expect to see Google Ads in more diverse places like finance, news, images and YouTube. Yahoo gets some attention with their Glue Topic Pages, a way to get universal, blended search content.

Check out our small business news site.

25.11.2008 16:48:50 - Search Engine Guide : Small Business Search Marketing

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Is Yahoo Really a Moral Pygmy?

by Sage Lewis

This week's story of the week revolves around Jerry Yang, the former Yahoo CEO who agreed to quit after criticism in his leadership abilities arose for not accepting the Microsoft deal.� Sage provides some history and insight as to why there's more than the failed Microsoft deal behind Yang's less than stellar leadership role.� About a year ago, Yang was part of a Congressional hearing in which he and Yahoo were called "moral pygmies" and criticized in the case of a jailed Chinese dissident.� Yahoo handed over pro-democracy writings of a man to the Chinese government, which contributed to the man being imprisoned.�

Check out our small business news site.

24.11.2008 22:54:42 - Search Engine Guide : Small Business Search Marketing

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Remember, Social Media Are PERSONAL Communication Tools!

by Mack Collier

Plenty of companies and small businesses are curious now to learn how they can use social media to grow their businesses.� Unfortunately, far fewer businesses are willing to invest the time to understand what these tools are, and why people are so excited about using them.

A few nights ago, Amber Naslund put a one-word tweet on Twitter that perhaps encapsulated how she was feeling at that particular moment;

"Frustrated".

And she explains what happened next:

Within seconds, I received 24 (yes, 24, on a Friday night no less) replies from people asking what the matter was. I got another half dozen direct messages, some of which were from people I'd barely corresponded with but whose names and little 1″ faces I'd come to recognize. Everyone expressing concern and a desire to help.

And if you're a company that wants to start blogging, or start using Twitter, you need to understand why this happened.� It happened because people aren't on Twitter and aren't blogging so they will be in a position to receive your marketing messages.� They are using social media to connect with other people.

If you aren't willing to connect with your customers via social media as real people, then you are wasting everyone's time.�

Check out our small business news site.

24.11.2008 21:02:22 - Search Engine Guide : Small Business Search Marketing

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Are You Fighting the Etailer Price War or Circumventing it?

by Karri Flatla

According to the New York Times article Websites Wage Holiday Price Wars (Nov. 19, 2008), small and large etailers alike are facing some tough choices this holiday season. It would seem that in the end, everything really does come down to price. And if you're not willing to fight the good fight--or if your bottom line simply can't survive the battle--your ecommerce business is doomed. Or is it?

The article paints a picture of once profitable, even flourishing, etailers engaging in drastic price cuts or worse, closing up shop entirely:

"Internet retailers, trying to navigate what is shaping up to be the first truly dreary holiday shopping season ever on the Web, are engaging in price-cutting and discounting so aggressive that it threatens their profit margins and, in some cases, their very survival.

I'm not so sure we're getting the whole story here, not to mention that such attention grabbing headlines feed an already dangerous zeitgeist of a nation paralyzed by economic uncertainty. Is this the right message to send to small etailers trying to survive a recession that not even Alan Greenspan could have predicted?

Doesn't matter. You're in business for yourself, and as such, you can make your own informed albeit a little shaky marketing decisions, thank you very much.

So, if you have the patience, and can secure enough cash flow, now is as good a time as any to reposition yourself in such a way that price is not a central component of your unique value proposition (UVP). Consider the following strategies:

1. Checking your brand. Does your brand need tweaking or even a complete overhaul? Do the images and words on your website strike a chord with your target audience? Or do you come across as one choice of a seemingly homogeneous group of product offerings? If something makes you different--or if you just want to BE different--it's time to communicate that loud and clear.
   
   
2. Strengthening your brand. Can you push your brand deeper into the psyche of your target audience? Are you leveraging the tools of online marketing to their fullest? For example, social media can be powerful when done right, and it's easy on the budget if you're willing to use an audience sensitive medium in creative ways.
   
   
3. Adding value where there was previously none. Again, this doesn't have to break the bank to be effective. It could come down to something as simple as adding more educational content to your website (think blogging, article marketing and beefed up product specs and how-tos), or making customer service more readily available to prospective buyers (think Live Chat, email support, longer business hours).
   
   
4. Diversifying or dumbing down your product lineup. You may not have to do as much price cutting if you think strategically about the choices you're offering. If you're best seller has high margins, then consider axing a number of low margin alternatives. They only serve as a distraction. Conversely, you may need to create variety to increase the perception of choice and one-stop shopping.
   
   
5. Improve the ecommerce experience. Making people feel welcome isn't just for brick and mortar shops. You have to do the same and more with your online store. If people feel ignored (copy that's not audience sensitive) or frustrated (navigation that doesn't make sense or a feedback form that doesn't work), they'll leave and do so without asking for help first. The NY Times article was right in pointing out that web shoppers are impatient because they know your competition is just a click away. Have your website reviewed for usability issues and fix them as soon as possible.

I'm not an etailer myself but I work with a few. They are a hearty bunch who want to deliver value for their customers' money. The main thing in today's world is to make sure you're delivering what the people want the way they want it ... just don't let them (or a headline) convince you that all they care about is the cheapest price. Because the decision to buy is never, ever just about the price.

Check out our small business news site.

24.11.2008 20:28:51 - Search Engine Guide : Small Business Search Marketing

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All Links Are Not Equal: Why Twitter Links Grow Conversation

by Jennifer Laycock

This morning I found myself in the middle of an interesting chat with Mack Collier on Twitter. It started when I joined in a conversation Mack was having about the metrics he measures when estimating the value of blogs. We kicked around the common ones like traffic, subscribers, links and number of comments. Then Mack made mention of how high his comments jump when he Tweets one of his own posts.

That got me thinking about a concept that's fairly obvious, but still gets overlooked by a lot of people. The power of social media links in terms of conversation instead of traffic. I still see far too much focus on the need to get your links out via social media because of the link and traffic potential.

In fact, I've ranted and raged against Digg marketing for exactly that reason. There's far too much focus on the quick traffic boost than on the engagement rate and long term value of Digg traffic. It's why I put very little focus on Digg when I work on social media campaigns.

Instead, I like to think about the social media sources that send engaged traffic. After all, I'll take smaller amounts of interested visitors than large amounts of "in and out" visitors any day. Why? Take a look at one of Mack's tweets from our conversation:

I talked about the traffic bump that comes with tweets and retweets earlier this year when I wrote my Twitter starter series. At the time, the focus was on the value of getting links to your best posts out there to the Twitterverse because Twitter traffic tends to be a mix of your loyal followers and your follower's followers.

When I originally wrote about the Twitter boost, I was talking about a boost in traffic. But in talking to Mack, I was reminded I'd overlooked the obvious. Twitter traffic is valuable because of how engaged it is.

The Make Up of Blog Readers

See, when you write a blog post and it gets linked from someone else's blog, you're going to get a mix of people types who see the link.

Since a portion of blog readers are simply that...readers...a good portion of the people who click through on the link to read your post are going to simply be...readers. They're passive participants...lurkers if you will. They read and absorb, but the process ends there. For the sake of my images, we'll dub them "passive readers."

The next most common subset of blog readers are the "quiet linkers." These are the folks who may pass on a link via email, add it to a social bookmarking service or even include it in a round up of posts...but that doesn't add much in the way of their own commentary.

The smallest set of blog readers are the "active voices." These are the folks who not only read and consider passing things along, but who add to the conversation. They may leave comments on the original post, add their two cents while linking from their own blog, or simply promote it with added commentary on the social media networks they frequent. While "active voices" tend to be the smallest portion of blog readers, they are often the ones who add the most value.

The Make Up of Twitter (Social Media) Users

The interesting thing about social conversation outlets like Twitter is how the makeup of users tends to flip flop. (I'd love to see an actual study on this...seems like a viable theory, but only some good third party user analysis could tell us for certain.)

The people on Twitter are there because they want to actively participate in a conversation. Sure, Twitter has it's share of lurkers, but the overall user base is far more conversational. That means a makeup of someone's Twitter users probably runs as a perfect flip flop of the average set of blog users.

That means you'll likely see a big difference in your response rates when you get picked up by another blog verses when you get picked up on Twitter. I've heard tons of people talk about Twitter and how many more comments they receive on a post once it's been Tweeted. (The same way we hear about traffic bumps when sites get Dugg.)

Finding the True Value of Traffic

It's been said a million times and a million ways by myself and others, but it is worth repeating. The true value in your blog traffic is in the visitors who add to the conversation and who engage with you to share their own thoughts, ideas and feedback. This concept is at the very heart of social media.

Social media gives you and your company a chance to find those voices...the people who are happy to share their insight so you can prove your business. It's these voices that will help you grow and change your company into the type of business that will make better decisions. Those better decisions will be the key to your company's success.

Check out our small business news site.

24.11.2008 18:03:25 - Search Engine Guide : Small Business Search Marketing

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Twitter for Business: 10 Things to Consider Before You Get Started

by Beth Harte

Thinking about starting up a Twitter account for your business? Or considering allowing employees to use Twitter? Here are 10 tips to consider before getting started.

1. Decide before you join how you want to use Twitter. Will it be used for Customer Support (like Comcast does via @ComcastCares) or will it be used to offer promotional deals (like Zappos the on-line shoe site via @Zappos) or will it be to socially network to build up business?
2. If using a business name be sure to use something like "Name_Business Name" (Jane_ABCCompany). That way more than one employee can use Twitter and represent the company. Zappos does a great job with this one.
3. Be sure to use a photo (and not a logo), fill out the description (tell folks why they should be interested in following) and include a link to the company's website.
4. Let everyone be authentic. Twitter isn't about just tweeting news about your company or promotional deals. It's about developing relationships. If you or an employee loves music, let that come through too.
5. Realize that it will take time to develop a following.
6. Don't follow hundreds or thousands of people just because you can. Try to find those people in your target market or that have common interests. (Following too many people at once can make you look like a potential spammer)
7. So just how do you find people to follow then? Read Mack Collier's great post on this. He suggests using TweetScan and a few other interesting ways.
8. Have something relevant to say. For example, if you have your marketer's on Twitter, make sure they understand the industry well enough to have a conversation with people who just might be potential customers (and not fluff, deep industry knowledge).
9. Don't just take, share valuable information as well.
10. Have fun! Twitter can be a lot of fun from a business perspective. When people are real, it shows and that leads to a lot of great help and insightful conversations.

These are my 10 tips, what else can you add to help businesses feel more comfortable with using Twitter?

Check out our small business news site.

24.11.2008 02:49:35 - Search Engine Guide : Small Business Search Marketing

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Create Your Own Virtual Lobby

by Eric Brown

There are all sorts of ways today to connect with, participate and enjoy a conversation with your customer. There have been numerous posts about starting and maintaining a company blog, which is an excellent tool. Another favorable venue is to create a Ning site. It is a very easy application and can create a pretty cool place to have conversation and engage your customers. It is sort of like having your own My Space site, and very easy to update and foster community with your brand. Ning is an online platform for users to create their own social websites and social networks. Launched in October 2005. Ning was co-founded by Marc Andreessen and Gina Bianchini. Ning is Andreessen's third startup (after Netscape and Opsware), and gets much of its notability from Andreessen's successes with those companies. Ning hopes to compete with large social sites like MySpace and Facebook, by appealing to users who want to create networks around specific interests or have limited technical skills. The unique feature of Ning is that anyone can create their own custom social network for a particular topic or need, catering to specific audiences.

I was fortunate enough to be involved in a Social Web Site project, Trilibes, which is also a great Ning site launched and led by Seth Godin, who is coining a name for Social Networks as Tribes. It was by invitation only, and was an interesting� experience at watching and participating at how easy and how hard it can be to direct and lead a Social Site. It is in conjunction with his book appropriately named Tribes. There is certainly a lot of banter going about surrounding new media, social media, web 2.0 and social sites. There is myspace, facebook, flickr, YouTube and many more that all have a component of social connection. I am glad I was involved with the project and have learned a lot.

The way people purchase things today is changing before our eyes. We recently started a Social Network site on Ning, the Urbane Lobby. Like many other Social Network sites we have run into some snags, stalled membership, and lack of participation. We have regrouped and made directional corrections and believe we have an effective revised plan to give our residents enough reason and enough value to make regular visits, beyond just paying rent on line and placing a service request on line.

Our Goal; To provide our residents with an experience and value with a high enough return to create enough Customer Evangelists within our core resident base that they self rent our apartments. We are working hard to lead our resident Influencers within our core resident base, and have transitioned most of our marketing budget inward, to further focus on our existing residents. Only good things have happened from this move. Resident retention has significantly improved, and we have created a forum and a field for the Influencers to participate. We are learning as we go, but are seeing stellar results. �

You too should try out some of these new paths. Become familiar with them, use them. They work, and they will work for you too. The central theme of all Social Media is creating community and participating in the conversation. This is an excellent advantage for a Small Business. You too can create a virtual On Line Community with ease. Any questions, ask away, lets start a conversation!
�

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22.11.2008 16:43:13 - Search Engine Guide : Small Business Search Marketing