Be Proactive!

Lots of people complain but fail to do anything to turn their Websites into proactive marketing machines. And there are a number of actions that can be taken, each of which can boost the traffic flow and (if applicable) sales. If your Website is not living up to its expectations, find out why and do something about it.

Sometimes, just the simplest action can make all the difference. Don't be afraid to experiment. Read and learn; educate yourself...or hire someone knowledgeable to audit your site and make suggestions. But whatever you do, don't just sit there and let it go on. Every Website has the potential to become a mean, lean money-making machine...yours included!

Analyzing Your Website Traffic

The key to improving your site is diligent review of the its statistics. Your hosting vendor typically provides a report capability as part of their service. Checking these on a regular basis offers valuable insights into visitor behavior and clues to how you can make your site more productive. For example:

• On what page do most people enter your site?
• How long do they stay?
• Where do they exit your site?
• Where are they coming from?
• Where do referrals come from?
• What external links are sending the most traffic to your site?
• How often are search engine spiders crawling your site for updates?
• What keyword searches are sending most people to your site?

Reviewing these stats and thinking about them is the quickest way to enhancing your site. For example, if most people enter your site on the home page, but leave with 10 seconds or so, then you know that your homepage needs a little work. Also, one linked site is sending you most of your referral traffic, perhaps a closer business relationship with that site is in order. If Google is not regularly crawling your site, maybe you should re-submit to them. Think about it...

The Joy of Being an Entrepreneur

Sometimes, when I get up at 3AM to finish a project, I question my sanity and contemplate getting a "real job" with scheduled hours and a steady paycheck.

Then later, after finishing and watching the sun come up, I take my dog for a walk along the rural backroads in northern San Diego county, and I know why I do this. It's the freedom to manage my own time that keeps me going. And I remember the 1 1/2 hour commute every morning, the endless stress and often having to work for "intellectually challenged" executives. Suddenly it all comes into perspective - Yes! This is why I do it....the freedom to control my own life, to manage my own destiny.

Your Website Selling Proposition

Every Website needs a "unique selling proposition" in its initial view (above the fold). This statement explains what differentiates you from the hordes of competitors and the benefits to the viewer. Remember, you have about ten seconds to capture the interest of a Website visitor, so make your selling proposition compelling!

Pace Yourself!

It pays to "come up for air" every now and then. Having just completed a three-week, heads-down project with a firm deadline, I was feeling like a zombie. Taking time out to re-charge the batteries is important. From now on, I'm going to bring some balance into my consulting life, mixing bike riding and coffee with friends along with the work.

Guess it's never too late to learn...

New Sales Position in a Start-up?

One of the best ways to quickly generate qualified sales leads is through pay-per-click (PPC)advertising with Google. To do this, you need:

1. A Website
2. A landing page that can only be reached through the PPC ad, where you essentially present your sales argument and somehow capture the visitor's vital statistics (name, email, etc.)
3. A motivating incentive (e.g., discount on services, free whitepaper or product, etc.), coupled along with a sense of urgency (Today only!).

The PPC ad must be carefully prepared to ensure you only receive click-throughs from qualified prospects. Otherwise, PPC advertising can cost you a bundle. ;~(

Make a Weekly Plan

Most businesses can benefit by setting aside time to plan out their work week. The simple exercise of establishing goals to be accomplished each week can make a tremendous difference. Success comes from having a strategic plan that is broken down into weekly tactical plans. Think of it as a roadmap to get you where you want to go.

If you have employees, holding a Monday morning staff meeting is an excellent opportunity to review the past week’s events and progress while establishing objectives and deciding priorities for the current week.

I’ve always found that taking time at the end of each week to document accomplishments provides an opportunity to assess what works and what doesn’t. While things are still fresh in your mind, you can gain insights and brainstorm ideas and priorities. Then set it aside for the weekend (schedule permitting) and use this material for the Monday morning staff meeting. Often you will find that it percolates in your mind over the weekend and reflection brings refinement which helps you on the road to success.

Why Employ a Marketing Consultant?

Most people are good at one or two things. Successful people learn to focus on areas where they can be most effective and to acquire talent to address their remaining needs. This is where a marketing consultant can help.

A good marketing consultant is someone who has been in the trenches him (or her) self. With his (her) experience and skills, they should be able to quickly identify what needs to be accomplished to satisfy your objectives. Moreover, he (she) should be able to prepare a comprehensive plan and implement it for you at a reasonable cost.

At Pacifica Endeavors, our clients can expect to receive a many-fold return on their investment in marketing. Our fees are recovered many times over through increased sales resulting from leads generated through innovative marketing programs.

You Gotta Love Press Releases!

Press releases are a wonderful vehicle for getting your message to the marketplace. They create visibility, enhance credibility and, when placed online, live on forever.

Using inexpensive services like PRWeb to distribute a press release online is an excellent means of garnering widespread coverage of a product announcement, big sales win or an upcoming event. The beauty is that you can embed links so that your press release drives interested traffic back to your Website! And since online press releases float around the Internet forever and get picked up by press sites and newsletters, they provide a plethora of one-way links to your site, thus driving up your search engine ranking.

Don't just send out your press release online. Local newspapers and industry periodicals are always eager to get "filler' materials. If you mail or fax your press release to them with a cover letter, they will likely print it.

So, one simple document gets a lot of attention. Try accomplishing one press release monthly with embedded links. It's a cheap way to boost your Website traffic and capture more sales leads.

Credibility in Today's Business World

I'm amazed whenever I come across a small business that still doesn't have a Website. Even in this day and age when Website hosting is dirt cheap, some businesses lag behind. It is essential to your credibility to have a Website...and not just any Website, but a good one that presents the image of your business that you want to communicate to your target market.

A well-planned Website ultimately translates to more customers and more money in your pocket. It doesn't have to be a huge Website, nor are e-commerce and other "bells and Whistles" required. It just has to be pleasing to the eye, easy to navigate and contain useful information for clients and prospective customers. Oh yes, be sure to let interested visitors know how to contact (or locate) you.

The final step is to at least complete the meta tags before submitting the site to search engines and relevant Internet directories. These include the Title, Description and Keyword tags. If you really want to get a lot of traffic from your Website, get a professional to optimize it for the search engines. And once your Website is active, promote the heck out of it!

It Pays to Have a Plan!

There's an old saying, "How will you known when you get there if you don't know where you're going?" That's why having a well-conceived business or marketing plan is so important to the success of a small business.

Every hour spent in the planning process will save you hundreds of dollars down the line. Because it's time-consuming, sometimes difficult, and entrepreneurs are eager to jump in and get going, upfront research and planning are often neglected. Yet, it always comes back to bite you in the butt! The bottom line - you can discover pitfalls and miscalculations upfront or you can trip across them down the road after spending a lot of money.

That said, I'm off to enjoy a mental health day skiing the slopes of Snow Valley in the San Bernardino Mountains of southern California. We have it all - I can ride my bike 15 miles to the beach, or drive a couple of hours and be in beautiful mountains. No wonder the whole world wants to live in sunny San Diego.

Half of Marketing is Just Doing Something!

Quite often, small business people are so tied up in running their business or servicing customers that they forget to carve out time for marketing. I know this is particularly true for those who sell a service (such as consulting). Then one day, you come up for air and discover that the sales pipeline is empty.

It take discipline to set aside time and funds for marketing. But without doing so, small business people fall into a vicious cycle of "feast or famine." The secret is to launch some ongoing marketing programs (such as pay-per-click advertising) that generate a steady flow of sales leads. You also have to schedule time weekly to devote to marketing activities, for without them your company will have to be pretty darn lucky to grow.

Just doing something - anything! - to create market awareness of your product or service is better than doing nothing. Try committing at least two hours weekly to marketing and you'll see a difference!

Put Your Business Online - Step One: Put Up A Website

Hi Everyone:

Most people just starting a business - and even those who have their business off the ground - realize that online marketing has huge benefits, but don't quite know how to go about it. There appear to be lots of confusing choices... and most look expensive.

But the potential rewards of Internet marketing are so huge that you can't ignore them. Right away, a Website gives you a worldwide 24 x 7 x 365 audience, putting you up there along side the big guys. In the virtual world, small businesses can have as much clout as big corporations.

So step one is to get a website if you don't already have one! The good news is that there are ways to have an effective online marketing platform for just pennies a day....IF you are willing to do a little work yourself. If not, hire someone affordable like me to do it for you. But whatever you do, GET A WEBSITE up and running that sells your products or services. And since it takes a while to get noticed by Google, Yahoo, MSN and other search engines, the sooner you get your Website up, the better.

For those of you who need a primer in setting up an online business, download "Put Your Business Online," which is written for non-techie novices. It explains everything you need to know to get started with creating your website and promoting it. You will be amazed how fast a business can grow through online marketing.

Marketing Consulting for Small Business People and Entrepreneurs

Hello fellow small business persons and entrepreneurs!

Welcome to the Small Business Smart Marketing blog. My name is Al Kernek, and I'm one of the Principal Consultants for Pacifica Endeavors LLC, a marketing and sales consulting firm located in sunny San Diego whose customers are people just like yourself.

You can check out our Website at www.smallbizsmartmarketing.com, but why not hang around a bit and take a look at our blog too? Be sure to bookmark it because we give away lots of valuable free advice to those who are starting a business or who already have a small operation underway.

Feel free to contribute to the discussion by leaving a comment or asking a question. We update this blog nearly everyday. Enjoy!

Al